Rise

Yang Fan snapped back to his senses. He stared at Ouyang in disbelief. “Hey, hey, Ouyang. I didn’t mishear just now, did I? Did you really say Tang Bingyao?”

Ren Rou also quickly regained her wits, her eyes narrowing into a sharp glare. “Ouyang, what are you trying to pull here?”

Lin Feng curiously interrupted, “Who’s Tang Bingyao? And what game?” But he was completely ignored.

“N-n-nothing! I’m not pulling anything! Rou Rou, think about it. Even if I had a thousand more guts, I wouldn’t dare! I’m serious!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and asked with a frown, “Does she even play League of Legends?”

Ouyang vigorously nodded. “Yeah! She’s an ad-carry main, and she’s really good! I’m not lying!”

Ren Rou’s eyes were filled with skepticism. “Really? How is it that I’ve never heard of her playing League? How did you find this out?”

“Hehe. You guys are really looking down on me here. Don’t forget, I’m the great Ouyang Decai!” Ouyang flashed a smug smile. “Anyway, when I went to the internet cafe a few days ago, I ran into her. She was playing a game of League. So, I watched her play for a bit, and you won’t believe this. She was hard carrying that match with her Jinx, getting triple kills and quadra kills everywhere! Before I knew it, the enemy nexus exploded!” Ouyang looked at everyone and paused for dramatic suspense. “I ended writing down her summoner name. Guess what rank she was.”

Ren Rou stared at Ouyang with an expressionless face. “Cut the theatrics, or do you want me to force it out of you?”

Ouyang shrunk back in fear. He obediently replied, “She’s Platinum 1 in the Ionia server!”

Yang Fan sucked in a breath of cold air. Ren Rou’s eyes went wide, disbelief plastered over her face. “You’re serious? If I find out you’re lying…!”

Ouyang pounded his chest. “I swear I’m speaking the truth. If I’m lying, may I never find a wife in this life!”

“Hmph! As if you ever could find one…” Ren Rou snorted. However, she finally started believing Ouyang. It would be a huge jackpot if they could add a Platinum 1 ad-carry to their roster. But she couldn’t help but worry. “Knowing Tang Bingyao’s personality… are you sure she'll agree to join us?”

Ouyang pounded his chest again. “Leave it to me, Rou Rou! I’ll get it done!”

Ren Rou stared at Ouyang before reluctantly nodding. “Alright, I'll leave it to you. Don’t screw this up! The game is tonight! If you manage to convince her to join, I’ll count it as a contribution to the class.”

✹

After Ren Rou left, Lin Feng finally found an opportunity to interject, “So, what were you guys talking about? What game?”

“Oh right! I suppose you don’t know!” Ouyang realized. “We’re having a friendly match with the class next door tonight. At the NetCow Cafe across the street.” Ouyang clenched his fist. “The honour of our class is at stake here! We have to win!”

Lin Feng’s eyes lit up. “Can I join?” Anything League related made his blood pump.

“Uh, you...?” Ouyang looked Lin Feng up and down with a skeptical gaze. “What rank are you?”

Lin Feng patted his chest with a proud look. “I’m pretty much a Challenger in the Ionia server!” If his elo back in season 1 were to be converted to a ranking today, he would be placed in Challenger, and at the very top of the leaderboards to boot. So, even though it sounded like he was bragging, he actually spoke the truth.

Ouyang immediately burst out laughing. “Haha! You really are bad at bullshitting, man. If you’re Challenger, then I’m a pro!”

Yang Fan also bursted out into laughter. “You really need to work on your bragging skills. Even if you told us you were diamond, we wouldn't believe you.”

Lin Feng furrowed his brows. “I’m serious. I really am! If you guys don’t believe me, just let me play a round tonight, and I’ll show you.”

“Ahhh! You crafty kid! I see what game you’re playing at. Nice try.” Ouyang patted Lin Feng’s shoulder with a look of appreciation. Then, his expression turned serious. “However, this match is just too important. We can’t afford to fool around! We have to play our five best players!”

Yang Fan glanced at Ouyang. “Correct. We can’t afford to fool around. Now, back to the main topic, are you sure we can rely on Tang Bingyao?”

Ouyang’s expression soured. “Hey, I already said she was reliable. You still don’t believe me? Oh, right! Lin Feng, next break we’ll go find Tang Bingyao. We’re going to convince her to join the team.”

Lin Feng scratched his head. “Eh…? Why do you need me?”

“Enough with the whys, just come! This is about our class' honour!” Ouyang replied.

✹

Second period was English. A dull 45 minutes later, the bell rang announcing the start of a 25-minute break. The students of Class 7 scattered into their own cliques and started chatting, some of them walking out into the hallway.

Ouyang grabbed Lin Feng by his arm and dragged him along to the front of the class. Only girls sat in this row, and aside from one lone girl, they’d all left for the ladies’ room. This lone girl sat right next to the wall, earnestly studying her English textbook.

Ouyang walked up to her with a bright smile. “Tang Bingyao, are you studying? You’re so hardworking!”

The girl raised her head and looked up at Ouyang and Lin Feng. “Do you two need something?”

Lin Feng looked at Tang Bingyao. Be it her looks or figure, she was no doubt very pretty. Her hair was neatly tied in a ponytail with her bangs flowing down in front of her forehead. But most striking of all was the unique air about her. At a glance, you could tell she approached life in earnest.

It sounded strange as it was incredibly difficult to describe things like ‘air’ and ‘temperament’ with words. But this was the feeling Lin Feng got from Tang Bingyao. She had a very unique and earnest air about her. In everything she did, from reading her textbook to talking with Ouyang, she appeared earnest. He couldn’t help but have a good impression of her.

Ouyang chuckled. “You see, it’s like this. Tonight, we’re going to play a game of League against Class 8. But we’re still missing an ad-carry. You’re a very good ad-carry, so I was hoping that you might be interested.”

Tang Bingyao thought seriously before shaking her head. “No, I’m not interested.”

Ouyang’s smile froze, which he quickly replaced with a sincere and meaningful expression. “Tang Bingyao, our class’ honour is at stake here! I saw you play League the other day at the internet cafe! You’re a Platinum 1 ad-carry on the Ionia server! With you, we will crush those guys from Class 8!”

Tang Bingyao shook her head again and flatly refused, “I’m really not interested.”

Lin Feng poked Ouyang in the side. “Hey, hey. I’m interested. How about you let me play?”

Ouyang shot Lin Feng a sharp glance. “Shush you! Stop messing things up!”

With a shake of his head, Lin Feng reluctantly closed his mouth.

Ouyang turned back to Tang Bingyao and gritted his teeth. “We’ll pay you ¥50 if you play with us!”

Tang Bingyao raised an eyebrow in surprise. She then started seriously considering the offer before finally shaking her head. She stuck out both her hands and raised eight fingers. “¥80.”

It felt like a knife slowly carving his heart out to Ouyang. He gnashed his teeth to bite away the pain. “Fine.”

Tang Bingyao cheerfully nodded. “Just tell me the time and place.”

Huh? ¥50? ¥80? Question marks filled Lin Feng’s head. However, even a dimwit like him quickly figured out what was going on. He immediately shouted in protest, “You’re paying her? Hey! I’ll play for free! Let me play!”