Reader Squeaker:

Someone on the Rise Community Discord server bought himself a brand new PC to play a 10 year old game! Worst of all it was a crappy pre-built from a big retailer. My senses are so offended that I felt the need to call it out here!

- Anonymous

Chapter 248 - We All Want to Smack Him

It was late at night. Zeng Rui lay on his bed, massaging his temples. The last couple of hours hed found any excuse he could not to call Lin Feng. Hed done his homework, mopped the floor in his bedroom, and even cleaned out his closet. Im going to have to accept this. I dont have to be his friend, just his teammate. Were on the same team now. Hes a good player and Im a good player. Whoever we are outside of the game is irrelevant. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Even if he is the thundering dumbass. He took a long, deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and then let it all out. Ok, enough self pity. He grabbed his phone and punched in the number Chu Fang had given him.

RING RING RING! RING RING R

The call connected and Lin Fengs voice rang out, Hello? Whos this?

Zeng Rui gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Why am I making this so difficult for myself? Im better than this. He opened his eyes and replied, Zeng Rui.

Zeng Rui? Lin Feng mumbled. Then he exclaimed, Oooh! Zeng Rui! Hey! Howd you get my number? And why did you call? Do you want some League tips? I can give you some tips! When you play Support, you want to buy support items! That way, you can help your ad-carry carry! Hahaha! Uh, oh. Oh! Chu Fang mustve given you my number!

Zeng Ruis eyebrow twitched, but he pushed himself through the strong annoyance he felt and asked, The vice president of the Shanghai Esports Association has informed you about the team, correct?

For the Winter Collegiate Cup? Lin Feng asked. Then without waiting for an answer he continued, Yeah! He did! Were going to be teammates! Awesome, right? And you dont have to worry, Ill carry you too!

Zeng Rui closed his eyes, trying to ignore his eyebrow that was twitching uncontrollably. Dont let him get to you. Youre better than this. Say what you have to say and hang up. He took another deep breath and on the exhalation said, The tournament is next month and I dont want to get knocked out early because you dragged me down. So lets schedule a day and time to get together and get a headstart on our preparations for the tournament.

Lin Feng laughed and replied, Dont worry so much! Im really good at the game too! Well win the whole tournament! Trust me! I got this!

Wha? Zeng Rui mumbled, dumbstruck. Win? Where the hell does this dumbass get all his confidence from? No. Dont ask him that. Dont give him the chance to say something stupid. Just stick to the script. Day, time and hang up. He said, Its great that youre confident, but we still have to practice. Lets meet after school tomorrow. We can go to a cybercafe downtown and get a first training session in.

Sure, sounds good! Lin Feng replied. Tomorrow after school! Its a date!

Zeng Rui shouted through gritted teeth, With the team! Were going to practice with the team! Ok, thats all. If theres nothing else, Im hanging up. See you guys tomorrow.

Lin Feng said, Huh? Hey! I know you meant the team! Thats what I meant too! And why the rush to hang up? Lets get to know each other a bit better! Have you done your homew

Zeng Rui ended the call and then turned his phone off. He slowly shook his head as he stared up at the ceiling. How in the world am I supposed to make this work? That guy is helpless. Whats wrong with him? Why do I have to play with such a thundering dumbass?

Lin Feng stared at his phone, speechless. He even forgot to take a bite from the chicken cutlet that lay on the desk in front of him. Then he turned to look at Su Xue, who sat next to him, and said, Why did he hang up so quickly? I just wanted to talk to him a little more!

Su Xue rolled her eyes and replied, Probably because the two of you barely know each other. Didnt you only meet him last week at the Finals? This phone call was probably the longest conversation youve had with him

Lin Feng shook his head, grabbing a piece of chicken cutlet and nibbling on it. Then he looked up at the computer on the desk, and the webcam fixed atop the monitor. Can you guys believe it? he said to the camera. He just hung up on me! I didnt even get to ask him if hed finished his homework! Its just so He shook his head again.

soooooooooo crueeel! YOU! Not that whoever the fk that dude was

RIGHT! This is viewer abuse! Viewer abuse I tell you!

serves you right!!!!! eatin all that delicious food without offering us some!!!!

dont blame lil bro the maid didnt offer us any! MAID! MAKE US SOME FOODDDDD!!!

yo, lil bro, maybe if you got him some food he mightve stuck around...

why do you two keep tormenting me with all that delicious food? IM TRYNA LOSE SOME WEIGHT OVER HERE BUT NOW IM ORDERIN CHICKEN CUTLET AGAIN! FOR THE THIRD TIME TONIGHT!!!!!

Su Xue smiled as she read through the messages. Maybe we can have a little get-together sometime and I can cook a big feast. That might be a fun thing to do. Maybe we can even do it in a restaurant! I could work in a real kitchen! Then she noticed Lin Feng absentmindedly chewing on a small piece of chicken cutlet. Whats got him down? She hesitated for a brief moment and then asked, What did that guy call you about anyway? Your tournament is over, right? You won!

Lin Feng swallowed the piece of chicken cutlet and looked up at Su Xue. Oh, thats because were teammates now! Were going to play in the Winter Collegiate Cup next month, and he just called to plan our first training session. But hes so serious about it. I dont know why. I told him that too! Ill carry them to the title! Im really good at winning tournaments too!

Oh I s Wait, what? The Collegiate Cup? Su Xue asked, surprised.

you mean the national uni tournament!?

No way! Has lil bro become big bro? I feel like momma bear here, watching her little ones grow up. This, Im CRYIN CRYIN I TELL YOU! Please be our lil bro a lil longer!

uhhh I thought you were still in high school. How can you participate?

Lin Feng took another bite from his chicken cutlet before explaining, Yes, yes! That one! They made some changes, so now I can also play in it! They probably did it just so they could have me in it! Im really good at carrying my team to the title too!

Su Xue narrowed her eyes and said, And you didnt think to tell me that? Thats amazing news! This is such a great opportunity for you! Did you call your mother already? You should tell her! I bet shed love to hear about it!

i knew you were the best!!!!

Damn, the Collegiate Cup! Thats way more high level than a high school tournament!

I think my universitys team is also playing in it! Ive heard there are a ton of really strong teams playing in the tournament. Most of the top teams are all full of super high elo players! Dont underestimate them!

NO ONE CAN BEAT OUR LIL BRO! SECOND TROPHY INCOMING IN 3 2 1! WOOOOOOOO

hahaha! Can you imagine how crazy itd be if a high school team won the Collegiate Cup!!??!?! AMAZING!

Lin Feng ignored Su Xue and read the chat instead, grinning brighter and brighter. He finally struck his trademark victory pose and proclaimed, Ill bring that trophy home! Well beat all the university teams! And those two other high school teams! Im really good at winning too, you know!

The next day after school, the five members of the new Shanghai high school team met up at a cybercafe. Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao stood together on one side of a private room and Lin Feng, Tang Bingyao, and An Xin stood together on the other side. No one really knew what to do, what to say, or how to get started. They were strangers but also teammates. And not by their own choice. But the Winter Collegiate Cup was starting in a month and they had to come together as a team before then.

Lin Feng was the one to finally break the awkward silence. He waved his arms around and said, Why are you all so quiet? Were teammates! And were also going to be best friends! Right, right, introductions. He pointed at himself with his thumbs and said, Im Lin Feng! My friends call me Lin Feng! And Im the best League of Legends player in the world! He then pointed at Tang Bingyao and continued, This is the ad-carry of my new superteam! You can call her Tang Tang! He finally turned to An Xin and finished, This here is my oldest friend! She used to be round like a bun, so you can call her BunBun!

An Xin glared at Lin Feng before turning to look at Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao. She smiled and said, Hes right about one thing. Were going to be teammates. For the next couple of months, anyway. Lets all get along as friends. You can call me BunBun.

Zhang Hao glanced at Zeng Rui and then said, Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Im Zhang Hao, but my friends all call me Hao Bro. Ive been playing League for a while now and Ive been on Shanghai High Schools team for two years, I think? Or was it three? I dont remember

Thats the spirit! Nice to meet you, Hao Bro! Lin Feng said, excited. Then he turned to look at Zeng Rui and grinned. You dont have to introduce yourself! Were already really good friends anyway!

Zeng Rui felt his eyebrow twitching again, just like it had the night before. Friends? Us? He took a deep breath. Dont argue. Thats not going to get us anywhere. Just let him be. He nodded and said, Sure.

Zhang Hao looked over at Zeng Rui and asked, You two are really good friends? Since when? Is that why you kept calling him a thundering dumbass? Because you were already friends?

Zeng Rui shook his head and said, Drop it. Then he turned to look at everyone and continued, All right, lets focus on preparing for the Winter Collegiate Cup. I would like to start by playing a couple of games to see where were at.

An Xin smiled and agreed, I was also thinking thatd be a good first step. Itll give us a chance to see how everyone mashes together.

Lin Feng jumped at the nearest computer and sat down. He shouted, Yeah, lets play! Enough chit-chat! Then he opened up his League of Legends client and clicked on the play button. Oh! He looked over his shoulder and added, Who wants to play with me first? Get behind a computer already! Ill show you all how good my mid lane is!

Play first? Zhang Hao asked, confused.

Zeng Rui glared at Lin Feng and wanted to say something. But An Xin was a step ahead of him. She smacked Lin Feng in the back of the head and said, You idiot! Were playing a team game! Five versus five! Were not going to watch you duo queue!

Tang Bingyao nodded and added, Mhm, dummy.