Rise

After the first game ended, Su Xue immediately made a lobby for the second match. The players on both teams were the same, but the champions were different. This time around, Su Xue went with Jinx, while Lin Feng chose Ziggs. The players on Su Xue’s team couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when they saw this. Ziggs was no assassin. Lin Feng couldn’t possibly carry as hard with him as he had with that LeBlanc, right?

EveningSnowfall:「Water Wraith, I’m counting on you! If we win, I’ll give you the privilege of duoing with me!」

WaterWraith:「Can I pass on this privilege? I don’t want to lose…..」Su Xue glared at the private chat with Water Wraith, but then hit the play button. The game loaded up and everyone arrived on the summoner platform of their respective team.

Lin Feng’s Ziggs wasn’t overwhelmingly oppressive like his LeBlanc. Nor was he making flashy plays, dictating the pace of the game, or turning entire fights around by himself. He simply farmed the minion waves and the jungle and nothing else. Even so, the enemy team had their sights on him. Jarvan IV walked through his jungle to mid lane to help Syndra—played by Water Wraith—get a kill on Ziggs. Their hearts started racing in excitement.

It did not turn out as expected. Syndra engaged Lin Feng with Scatter the Weak. It hit an earlier placed Dark Sphere and shot toward Ziggs, who easily sidestepped it. Then Jarvan IV came running out of the river bush. He threw down a Demacian Standard and used his spear to fly toward it. Anyone in the way would be knocked up. But Lin Feng again easily had his Ziggs evade, this time with a Flash. After which he threw out a Satchel Charge, knocking Jarvan IV into tower range. Having lost his Flash in top lane just before, Jarvan IV could only use his own two legs to escape. He trudged through the Hexplosive Minefield Ziggs had thrown down, each little bomb damaging him and slowing him down. The tower had a field day on him. To make matters worse, Evelyn—the jungler on Lin Feng’s team—arrived and helped Lin Feng secure the kill.

Through his grey screen the Jarvan IV player stared dumbstruck at Ziggs, as did Water Wraith from the safety of his own tower. Lin Feng had played so passively until now. Neither of them expected his reaction speed to be so quick. He’d instantly seized the opportunity to turn the fight around and pick up a kill!

Lin Feng looked at the stream chat, which was being spammed with 666s. He pumped his fist and smugly declared, “I’m really good at Ziggs too!”

✹

The second game ended with a second victory for Lin Feng’s team. Su Xue had had enough. She grabbed him by the wrist and said, “You’re on my team now! Support me.” Her happy mood had turned sour after the last two games, both of which held zero suspense. How could anyone enjoy this! She had worked so hard on improving, yet Lin Feng took her spotlight and gave a true show.

“Oh, sure!” Lin Feng obediently switched over to Su Xue’s team and picked support Blitzcrank.

The spotlights focused on Lin Feng again. He supported his team by taking them on his shoulders and carrying them towards the enemy nexus. From the laning phase, where his every Rocket Grab landed accurately on Jinx—the enemy ad-carry—allowing Su Xue to pick up an easy kill. To the late game, where his mass silence and well placed wards brought an easy victory to his team.

When Su Xue made the lobby for the fourth game, the players on the enemy team started protesting.

「Give our mid back!!!」

「Stop hogging so shamelessly, maid!」

Su Xue was back in high spirits after winning a match. When she saw these complaints, she had one curt reply.EveningSnowfall:「Request denied!」

The inhouse went on until late at night, with midnight looming just an hour away. Su Xue was so focused on abusing Lin Feng to go on killstreaks that she completely missed the random viewers entering the stream. Some came for the gameplay, while others stuck around to stare at her facecam. At the end, nearly a hundred of them hit the follow button. This was how it worked. The bigger your stream, the likelier random viewers would enter the stream. Even if only a few of them actually stuck around, that was still a big deal.

Su Xue’s eyes went wide in shock as she finally noticed the number of new followers. She stammered a little, turning to Lin Feng with incredulous eyes and then back to the stream. It seemed like her dreams of making it big weren’t as far-fetched as before!

The viewers didn’t quite agree with the ending of the inhouse. They spammed chat, demanding at least one more game! However, Lin Feng looked at the clock and said, “It’s already past 11. I should go to bed.”

“Already? It’s a weekend, you know?” Su Xue asked in surprise.

Lin Feng scratched his head. “Yeah, but I have plans in the morning.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to meet up with that Tang Tang girl again?” Su Xue shot Lin Feng the side-eye.

The viewers immediately perked up their ears.

「is lil bro cheating on the maid!?!!?!?!」

「EVER HEARD OF MONOGAMY DUDE?????」

「hot damn! and here I thought you and the maid were exclusive」

“Hey hey! Enough, you guys! What's with this nonsense? How could I possibly be dating this snotty brat!” 

「tsk tsk the maid is jealous」

「A woman scorned is scary indeed.」

「poor girl, can’t compete with the young ones」

「Don’t worry xue xue, we’ll light a candle for you.」

Lin Feng shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I just promised to duo with her. I want to recruit her into my team!”

“This little punk says he wants to create a professional team. He thinks he can become the best in the world. Tell him guys, something is wrong with his head, right? Right?” Su Xue interjected.

The viewers were astonished. However, they quickly snapped back to their senses and started supporting him.

「Wow!!!! That’s some crazy dream bro!!!」

「you can do it man! we believe in you!!!!」

「I”LL MAKE A FAN PAGE!!! WE’LL BE YOUR GREATEST FANS!!!!!111」

“Okay! When I make the team, you guys can become our fans!” Lin Feng said happily.

Su Xue frowned. Where everyone else was all smiles, she appeared rather dissatisfied. “Hey hey, if you become his fans, what about me?”

「since when does a maid need fans?」

「yeah, wtf…. just keep pouring water for lil bro」

✹

Lin Feng woke up early. He threw some water in his face and then bolted out the door without even having breakfast. Not much later, he pushed the door of the NetCow Cafe open and found Tang Bingyao already waiting for him in her usual spot. “Hey!” he greeted, panting.

“Mhm.” Tang Bingyao nodded.

After Lin Feng sat down beside her, Tang Bingyao couldn’t help but turn to him and curiously asked, “So, when you were in such a rush to get back home yesterday, it was to help Evening Snowfall win a match?”

“Huh, how did you know?” Lin Feng asked in surprise.

“Oh, after you left I got those guys to show me what was going on. I saw most of it.” Tang Bingyao paused, then added, “That Rose really crossed the line.”

“Mhm!” Lin Feng vigorously nodded. “But it’s fine. I taught her a lesson!”

Tang Bingyao asked in a rare display of curiosity, “So, you live together with Evening Snowfall? Like roommates?”

Lin Feng nodded. “Yeah, the complex belongs to my aunt. Big Sis is one of her tenants, and she had a spare room, so I could move in. Oh! She also makes really good food!”

“Oh.” Tang Bingyao nodded. She stared deeply at Lin Feng and asked in a tone more serious than her usual self, “Are you two in a relationship?”

“H-huh?”

Tang Bingyao added, “That’s how it works, right? I read about it in these web novels.” She pulled open her browser and typed in a couple of keywords. Then, she turned her screen toward Lin Feng. “See? Look.”

“‘The Big Sister Next Door Can’t be This Cute’, ‘Love Life with my New Tenant’, ‘My Stepsister Grew up to be a Hotty’...” As Lin Feng read out the titles, his eyes went wide. He turned to Tang Bingyao in exasperation. “Tang Tang, what kind of things are you putting in your head…?”

It took a significant amount of time for Lin Feng to explain to Tang Bingyao that this wasn’t even remotely close to his relation with Su Xue. She was his roommate, his friend! Not his sexy stepsister who got stuck under the bed! Finally, he turned his focus to the computer in front of him. “Alright. Let’s play a game. I’ll go mid today!”