Chapter 49: [Chinese Kung Fu!]

What the—!?

Staring at the bill, which totaled over 5,000, Ye Bo felt as though he had been petrified by Sejuani's ultimate flashing right into his face.

To be fair, based on Jiejie's tone last time, he had anticipated that the place wouldn't be cheap.

Still, he hadn't expected it to be *this* expensive!

And even then, it seemed the other teammates had exercised considerable restraint out of consideration for his wallet, ordering a relatively modest amount of main courses.

Fortunately, as a mid-laner whose anti-gank instincts were maxed out, Ye Bo had prepared for this exact scenario by preemptively activating the "Future's Market" rune. He had secured a temporary line of credit in advance, saving him from total humiliation.

Now, Ye Bo finally understood.

How the hell Old Deng Bo had managed to play professionally for a decade and still end up deeply in debt on Alipay...

Of course, the main reason Ye Bo had dared to boldly offer to treat everyone was that his first month's salary was about to be disbursed, and surely it wouldn't be a small sum.

Having utilized Future's Market, he quietly leaned over to ask Jiejie one more question just as they were getting into the van.

"Hey, Jie, do we get paid in the middle of the month?"

"Yeah, I think so... Oh right, you haven't received your first month's salary yet!" Jiejie remembered belatedly, his mouth opening as if to inquire further.

"Ah, it's nothing, nothing. My mom gave me some pocket money before I left," Ye Bo glossed over it casually.

"That's good. If you're ever short, just let me know, I'll spot you first." Jiejie relaxed, then turned his head as another thought struck him. "Your solo queue rank should be high enough, right? EDG has strict training quota requirements for ranked ladder. Fall below the benchmark and you get fined. The absolute floor is Grandmaster 500 LP."

"Even Clearlove got fined 2,000 back in the day, haha!"

Ye Bo nodded, unconcerned. "Of course I'm fine. I'm top two on the Chinese super server, only got surpassed by a few points recently."

"Uh... I think they only look at the Korean server, though. We barely play on the Ionian server, just enough to hit the bare minimum quota. The environment on the Chinese server is kind of mid..." Jiejie scratched his head.

"Still, it should be fine. Just have a word with the coach when the time comes, it's definitely a minor issue."

Ye Bo nodded.

However, he had no intention of going to the coach.

After all, it wasn't as if he couldn't achieve the rank himself; he didn't want to resort to "pulling strings" or playing favorites over something like this.

The reason Ye Bo hadn't played on the Korean server previously was simple: maintaining a Korean server account long-term was too expensive.

With a minimum recurring monthly cost of a thousand yuan, combined with the high risk of account bans, his modest financial resources had forced him to stick exclusively to the Chinese server.

As for now, professional players were provided with official "super accounts" by their clubs—accounts that essentially started with extremely high hidden MMR.

Not only were they immune to bans, but climbing from unranked to the absolute highest tiers was remarkably fast.

Besides, Ye Bo had to grind ranked for practice in reality anyway; grinding a new account wouldn't take much time.

The moment they returned to the dormitory, Flandre slapped on his headphones and immediately went to dote on his 2D waifu—whom he had neglected for an entire week—giving himself a day of unbridled indulgence.

Ye Bo, on the other hand, summoned his interface once again.

He wanted to review the diary entries he hadn't finished reading earlier.

Flipping open the book, a newly unlocked chapter materialized before his eyes.

[March 11, 2023, Partly Cloudy]

[Xiaohu has left, and Angel has arrived. But the manager told me to hold on for one more year, and next year I definitely won't be a substitute anymore! Right, another most hopeful year!]

[Today our top laner Breathe came down with COVID, he was struggling to breathe even while talking. The coach asked me to sub in for the top lane. Not bad at all, looks like I'm still pretty important to RNG! Listening to Xiaohu's advice to practice more champions really pays off!]

[I am a brick in RNG's wall~ Wherever I'm needed~ That's where I'm hauled~]

——————

[Whoa, TheShy's laning is so terrifying. For the first time, I discovered that the top lane is such a perilous path... Seriously, what on earth are top lane Akshan and top lane Anivia!]

[Fans were saying today: If RNG loses me, it's like a fish without a bicycle, a sunny-side-up egg without leg hair, or braised pork mixed with shampoo.]

[The fans of our team are getting more and more talented. Even the insults directed at me are getting more and more interesting. I have to write them all down. It's wonderful, I love this place so much!]

[But I'm so envious of TheShy. He can pull out a completely different champion every single game. Akshan is so much fun! I've decided that starting today, I'm going to practice Akshan too! I must learn from him!]

[Hoping this year—well, there might not be a chance this year, so let's make it next year. Next year, once I secure the starting position, I will definitely exact my revenge on TheShy!]

[Sigh, it's just that I feel like there's never enough time anymore. Aside from regular practice for team and patch-meta champions, I only have a tiny sliver of time to practice the champions I actually *want* to play...]

"The year 2023??"

This latest diary entry provided Ye Bo with a wealth of new information.

Xiaohu leaving the team, Angel transferring—those were fine.

However, Ye Bo distinctly remembered that the state he had acquired earlier was that of Old Deng Bo from the year 2025...

How could this diary entry be from two years prior?

According to the description, Old Deng Bo should have claimed the starting spot by 2024, meaning his so-called revenge, successful or not, ought to have concluded in 2024 as well.

"Either Old Deng was still a substitute in 2024, or... TheShy stopped playing in 2024?" Ye Bo quickly deduced several possibilities.

"Wait a minute, if that's true, doesn't that mean Old Deng Bo spent a full two years painstakingly preparing just to practice Akshan for his 'revenge'!?"

With this thought, Ye Bo glanced over at Flandre, who was sitting across the room with a creepy otaku smile plastered across his face.

Well, it didn't seem entirely impossible.

After all, Old Deng Bo didn't have a system; his time was strictly limited.

Just as the diary stated, he had very little time to practice the champions he *truly* wanted to play...

Shaking his head, Ye Bo decided to claim his [Chapter Reward] first.

[Congratulations! Diary content unlocked: TheShy Arc]

[Congratulations! Host has completed the "Counterattack" ending for this arc. All diary functions for this arc have been unlocked!]

[Congratulations on obtaining: TheShy (S15) Training Ground AI Simulation Partner | 200 Counterattack Points/session]

[Congratulations on obtaining: TheShy's Insights on Distance Control!]

Since the hidden mission had already been completed in advance, no prompt banner had appeared.

As for the final insight on *Distance Control*, Ye Bo was immensely intrigued.

Remembering that he had just added TheShy on WeChat and previously agreed to schedule a solo practice match when they had time, a wave of anticipation washed over him.

For now, though, it was time to climb the ladder.

He requested an account from the management staff, leaving it sitting at the creation screen.

After a moment of thought, a mischievous gleam flashed in Ye Bo's eyes, and he typed out a brand-new ID for his Korean server account—

[Chinese Kung Fu!]

With a satisfied click of the confirm button, his Korean server climb officially began...

...

Two days remained until EDG's next match.

Outside of mandatory training hours, the entire team would stream their gameplay, bound as they were by commercial contracts.

Ye Bo was the sole exception.

Actually, Ah Bu had approached him earlier about signing an agency contract, but Ye Bo felt he didn't want to split his focus toward streaming, especially with more than half the year already gone.

Besides, if he genuinely felt like streaming on occasion, firing up a broadcast on Bilibili for his old viewers would be more than enough.

Ah Bu didn't push the matter either, figuring that since Ye Bo was on a short-term contract anyway and would need to re-sign next year, they could simply bundle it together then.

Meanwhile, a bored Scout had turned on his stream today to fulfill his required streaming hours.

Only, he was currently in a foul mood!

The coach had already given him a definitive answer, informing him that Ye Bo would be starting the next match as well.

Though deeply displeased, he could only comfort and reassure himself internally.

In the upcoming match, this guy was going up against Rookie!

In Scout's own estimation, Rookie possessed one of the top three laning intensities among all mid-laners in the LPL, making him one of his most dreaded opponents.

Compared to the likes of Doinb and Angel previously, Rookie's laning dominance was clearly operating on an entirely different stratosphere.

Scout firmly believed that Ye Bo's roguish roaming playstyle would be completely exposed and stripped away when confronted with Rookie's sheer laning prowess!

However...

Because Scout had been benched for two consecutive matches, compounded by a casual remark made by the *DewuSe* streamers a few days prior, various "rumors" had already begun circulating in the public sphere.

His livestream chatroom was currently overrun by trolls, eager to press every single sore spot.

[Streamer, streamer, the water dispenser is out of water! Grandpa is calling you! Go refill it now!]

[Uninformed spectator asking: is this the EDG mid-laner's stream? Oh, wait, it's the championship substitute's stream. Moderator! Send me a link to the starter's stream, I want to learn some real skills!]

[EDG management are absolute morons! Our Scout literally just carried them to a championship! The moment he turns around, they shove him onto the bench without a shred of gratitude! Trash club!]

[Sisters! Assemble! Let's go flood their official Weibo page!]

[Can Scout's stans get a grip? Spring split Flandre got rotated out by Xiaoxiang 12 times, Jiejie got rotated out by Junjia 17 times, why is your precious Scout the only one who can't be rotated? So precious, what, do you really think you're an FMVP?]

[For real. Even Faker got rotated out by Daeny, what makes you so special? If trash-tier duos like Xiaoxiang and Junjia can be subbed out, my master Ye is putting up performances like that—is there a problem?]

Scout's livestream chat was not the main battlefield for his die-hard defenders.

After all, many of his extreme fans didn't even watch livestreams or matches; they learned match results exclusively from Weibo hot searches and hadn't even downloaded streaming applications.

Coupled with the current contract rumors, his newly minted moniker of "The Thief Sage," and his disastrous performance in the spring split where he got completely outclassed by every tier-one mid-laner, his public reputation among casual viewers was far from stellar.

Consequently, a substantial portion of the chat was actively speaking up in Ye Bo's defense.

Moreover, Ye Bo genuinely hadn't done anything wrong; any rational, neutral spectator had zero reason to hurl abuse at him.

Scout glanced sideways at the chat, growing even angrier as he slammed the browser page shut.

Just then, the queue popped.

Entering the draft lobby, Scout pre-selected Zoe, then instinctively glanced at his teammates' IDs.

A few familiar names immediately caught his eye.

[T1-Zeus]

[T1-Gumayusi]

Right at that exact moment, a voice echoed from behind him.

A voice he was rather disinclined to hear.

"Oh, hey Yae-chan! Looks like the two of us got matched together!"

Having just finished banning a champion and strolling over to the water dispenser for a glass of water, Ye Bo glanced up and happened to spot a familiar ban phase on the screen.

Leaning in closer for a better look, his face drifted directly into the livestream's capture frame, instantly triggering a massive wave of hype in the chat.

"Well, what do you know! I'm on the other team!"