Chapter 7: The Arrival of the Four Key Figures Who Weave Through the Story
Qi Fei’s computer had been left on ever since it was opened, the screen split between two surveillance videos. From that day forward, Qi Fei never left the house, spending most of her time in the bedroom. She watched videos and battle reports of professional players on her phone while keeping a close eye on the surveillance feeds. Occasionally, she would also check online forums to see how netizens were mocking her—it was a bitter kind of satisfaction.
Qi Fei carefully studied the game rules, the skills, and playstyles of each character. She wasn’t sure how difficult the game was for others, but for someone with a photographic memory like herself, mastering character abilities and gameplay was child’s play. As long as she remembered each hero’s skills and could apply them flexibly, how could there be any real challenge?
After reading online guides, Qi Fei understood one thing clearly: the higher your rank, the more viewers your livestream would attract. Her first goal was to raise her rank. Actually, the original player’s rank was not low—“Strongest King” at seven stars. While not the highest rank, it was respectable enough to be considered an expert among regular gamers.
After a full day of 1v1 matches, Qi Fei became familiar with all the heroes she had on her phone. After lunch, she settled in front of the computer and began her climb up the ranks. Unexpectedly, as soon as she launched the game, she received an invitation to play. Without hesitation, she accepted it.
Upon entering, she found that all five team members were present.
“Hey, [F], why haven’t you responded to invites these past couple of days?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve found other gaming buddies.”
“Hey, [F], why did you change your username?”
“Qiqi? [F], you’re not a girl, are you?”
Qi Fei had indeed noticed several invitations earlier but hadn’t responded as she was still getting familiar with the characters. Judging by their tone, these players were likely those who often played with the original player.
“Any problem with that?” Qi Fei asked.
Her voice surprised them, and Shilin immediately stood up: “Wow, there’s a girl in our team!”
“No wonder Qiqi never said a word before; she’s a girl.”
“Is Qiqi your name, miss?”
“Didn’t expect a girl to be so good at this game.” Looking at the chat, the first three usernames seemed normal—possibly real names—but the last one, the most talkative, sounded a bit juvenile:
[Suxiang]
[T]
[Chaoyang]
[Looking for Fun]?
Quite a name.
“Why so quiet, miss? Playing hard to get?”
Qi Fei smirked slightly. “Not being cold, you just talk too much.”
Her words sparked laughter from the others.
Suxiang teased, “You talk too much, no wonder the missy dislikes you.”
“By the way, Qiqi, where have you been this past week? You haven’t logged in at all.” Suxiang was genuinely curious.
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“Our team’s been missing you, and we keep running into useless teammates.”
Chaoyang nodded in agreement, “Suxiang’s right.”
“What does Qiqi usually play? Still a mage?”
Qi Fei was unsure. “You guys pick first, I’ll fill in.”
Shilin got up from the couch, excitement on his face as he looked at Suxiang: “Missy’s got some serious attitude.”
“I never expected [T] to be a girl; she plays really well.” After all, the girls he knew were all pretty bad at games.
After a match ended, Shilin was even more excited: “Qiqi, what did you eat? How did you get so good all of a sudden?”
“If this game didn’t ban cheats, I’d think you were hacking with wallhacks.”
Suxiang was genuinely impressed by Qiqi’s awareness and prediction skills. The enemy wouldn’t dare show their face because of her. She easily escaped a 1v3 and even got a kill. “Awesome, sis.”
“Come on, keep going.”
They all thought Qiqi only played mages since that was what she always used before, but who would have thought she was also amazing with assassins? Her hand speed was so fast the opponents never had time to react before being sent back to base.
The second match was even crazier. In a team fight, Qi Fei secured a pentakill.
“Triple kill!”
“Quadra kill!”
“Qiqi, don’t let him escape!”
They weren’t disappointed. She took down the last enemy with very low health.
“Pentakill! Amazing, Qiqi!”
Everyone else was ecstatic.
They thought they were going to lose because the enemy had the upper hand, but Qiqi singlehandedly turned the tide and pulled off a spectacular comeback with a pentakill.
“Qiqi, you’re officially my big sister from now on.” Qi Fei hadn’t even said much, but Shilin was already jumping with excitement.
“Impressive.”
Tong Sheng, who rarely spoke while gaming, couldn’t help but praise her.
This wasn’t a low-level match; players at this rank weren’t stupid, and their skills were solid. Yet, Qiqi led them effortlessly, dominating the opposing team with ease.
Qi Fei glanced at [T], who was respawning and rushing back. Her pentakill was not all her own doing; the teammates coordinated well, especially [T]. Though they barely communicated, there was an unspoken synergy between them.
For example, when Qi Fei said, “Go in,” [T] immediately understood without further explanation. When [T] said, “I got this,” Qi Fei knew what he meant and hid in the bushes to finish off enemies.
“How does [T] know what Qiqi wants to do?” Their brief, cryptic communication left the other three confused.
“Qiqi, [T], do you two know each other in real life?” Otherwise, how could you be so in sync?
That didn’t seem right; they hadn’t shown this before.
Tong Sheng asked, “Is it that hard to get along?”
Shilin, Suxiang, and the others were speechless.
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Shilin’s expression was indescribable. “You got me.”
Suxiang looked at Shilin’s sour face and said, “From now on, the assassin’s Qiqi’s. No stealing.”
Shilin was speechless. He specialized in assassins—what was he supposed to play now? Seems like he valued romance over friendship.
“Qiqi, why were you so low-key before? Your assassin skills are at least national rank level.”
“Don’t tell me you were just practicing heroes before.”
Because switching heroes felt like meeting a whole new player.
Suxiang was genuinely curious.
Qiqi said nothing.
Weren’t they told the original player was good too? Why such a big difference?
...
After playing all morning, the five of them showed dominance and pressure, wrapping up battles in about ten minutes on average. Almost every match ended with everyone earning gold medals.
The game ended only because Tong Sheng, with the ID [T], had to log off.
It had to be said, the synergy between the two was incredible. Not only did outsiders notice, even Tong Sheng felt like he’d known Qiqi for a long time.
Qiqi’s skill was definitely being held back before; the others were just following her lead.
After several matches, the three others began to understand the meaning behind the duo’s brief exchanges.
It truly felt great when teammates could understand you without saying much.
Seeing [T] about to log off, Shilin, though not fully satisfied, had no choice but to say, “When will you be back online, [T]? I’ll be waiting.”
“When is Qiqi free?”
At that moment, laughter came from the game chat. Wanyang had been enjoying the afternoon so much work was set aside.
Hearing that, he chuckled, “Looking for Fun, you’re being rejected, huh?”
Shilin was speechless.
Indeed, he asked [T] when he was free, only for [T] to turn and ask Qiqi.
What else could it be but being ignored?
Though Qiqi had been good before and held her own among them, [T] had been the best player in the group. Qiqi was just average, not holding back but not dragging behind either.
But after this afternoon, Shilin only felt one thing: He had been carried, completely carried, soaring on their coattails.
Qi Fei hadn’t even stepped outside the door lately. Hearing this, she said, “I’m free anytime lately. I want to raise my rank as fast as possible.”
“Why?”
No one had noticed Qiqi’s obsession with rank before.
Qi Fei paused but then said, “I plan to livestream once I reach a higher rank and make some money.”
Her words made the four of them simultaneously glance at Qi Fei’s game avatar.