The E-Sports Captain You Know Chapter 3

After being verbally tricked by Po, Alex stood up from the gaming chair and stretched. It was already dark outside the window.

Since he stopped live streaming, many reporters who had added him as a friend have wanted to arrange interviews with him, and his email and private messages on Weibo have been filled up.

Many people on the Internet are wondering whether he is suddenly so high-profile because he intends to make a comeback, and many people think that he is just trying to attract attention and traffic.

How much strength does a former world champion, who dominated the arena when he was in service, have left after three years of absence? Some are optimistic, while others are dismissive.

Alex's eyes swept across the trophies and medals in the e-sports room that symbolized his past competitive days, and he pondered for a long time.

It has been three years since that contract ended, and he can finally choose to return to the court without any obstacles, but should he really go back?

Giving up the current stable job and life, going against the expectations of parents and elders, losing teammates who fought side by side with him in the past, and returning to that cruel and passionate arena alone in an uncertain state.

Alex didn't want to lie to himself, he admitted that he was hesitating. Although the fire of unwillingness in his heart drove him to keep training, three years was enough to wear down the fearless heart of a world champion.

This is what a human being is.

Alex reached out a hand over the back of the chair to turn off the computer, picked up his coat, went downstairs and out. When he passed by the familiar rice noodle shop, the feeling of hunger in his stomach brought him back to his senses.

After calculating the time, Ngu’s people should not have returned to the base yet. Alex walked in and ordered a bowl of fish ball rice noodles from a familiar aunt.

The store has been renovated several times in recent years, but the taste is still the same as Alex's memory. There were not many customers at this time, so the aunt brought a plate of edamame over to chat.

"Xiao An hasn't been here for a while, what are you doing recently?"

"I just finished a project. I should be able to stay at home for a while."

"That's good. We'll serve new flavors later and Auntie will invite you to try them." The owner gestured to Alex to try as well, then stuffed a handful of edamame into her mouth.

"What new flavor?"

"Italian-style soup noodles with Northeastern characteristics."

... Alex assembled these words in his mind, "Sauerkraut stewed with vermicelli?"

"It's German imported sauerkraut, Yunnan black pork and Italian macaroni."

Alex put down his chopsticks and nodded seriously, "It sounds good. I have something else to do later. Let's try the food first."

"Why are you lying? Auntie won't believe it."

"It's true." Alex said half-truthfully.

"Then can you tell Auntie what it is?"

"Hmm...play a game, win a world championship?"

... Auntie was silent for a moment, "Do you have world competitions for your projects?"

Alex finished the last mouthful of soup with a smile without explaining anything. When he was about to get up and leave, the shop owner suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Xiao An, come with your kids next time. I haven't seen you two come together in a long time."

"My child?" Alex thought the shop owner was joking again.

"He's the kid who used to come with you three or four years ago. He always followed you around, was cool and didn't talk, and ordered whatever you ordered."

Alex paused while holding the coat on the back of the chair, "Have you seen him recently?"

"He came last week. He has grown a lot taller, but I still recognized him at a glance. He ordered two bowls of your favorite fish ball rice noodles. I thought you were coming too, but in the end he was the only one there."

The shop owner was talking to herself when she suddenly realized that Alex had not responded for a long time.

She followed the young man's gaze outside the store. Opposite the clean glass door of the store, a tall and thin boy was standing under the warm yellow street light. It was unknown how long he had been standing there.

"Hey, Xiao Jin is here, and he said you guys haven't been in touch yet."

The aunt made a teasing sound, then stood up, opened the shop door and invited the boy outside to come in.

Alex sighed in his heart, watching the man who had grown up a lot more than he remembered walking towards him step by step in the chill of the night outside.

He was still at the final venue more than half an hour ago. Now he appears here, so he must have come here directly without watching the game.

The boy walked up to Alex, took the coat from his hand, straightened it out, and put it on his own hand.

"What?" Alex thought about what happened in the cafe a few days ago and tried to calm down first.

Hunter lowered his eyebrows and said obediently, "Brother, I was wrong."

Alex's eyebrows twitched unconsciously, and he vaguely remembered the scene that had happened here several years ago.

...

"Save, Alex?"

It was raining heavily outside. The rapid and continuous rain lines were clearly visible in the halo of the street lamps. In the rice noodle shop, a boy who was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old raised half of his head from the big bowl and repeated the name.

Alex slapped him on the head and said, "At least call me brother."

"I don't recognize my brother." The boy curled his lips.

Alex raised his eyebrows and looked at him. He had short, spiky red hair, a thin face, sharp eyebrows, a scar under the right eye, and wore a slovenly black leather jacket, a large iron chain around his neck, and a cold face full of hostility.

---He is quite handsome and can play the lead role of a bad boy in a youth TV series.

"Who went to the police station to pick you up in the rain in the middle of the night, who left your phone number for your statement, who kindly invited you to dinner? It was your kind and responsible online friend in the game." Alex pointed at himself with both anger and laughter, "Can you have a little conscience?"

The boy mumbled something, but Alex didn't hear clearly.

Alex, a "kind and nice guy" who is actually not that old and is a sophomore in college, looked at the heavy rain outside the window and sighed for the umpteenth time that night.

A few months ago, Alex got into the popular new game Survivor, and quickly reached the top of the human character rankings using the id Save. By chance, he met the taciturn Ghost King Jin, who was at the top of the list.

The game Survivuor is easy to get started but not easy to play well. There are only so many people in the high-level bureaus. Alex and Jin run into each other every day. As a result, they became friends and exchanged contact information. Sometimes they would team up to play in a five-person team against humans and ghosts.

Alex had always thought that Jin was a college student who played games in his spare time just like himself. It was not until he received a call from Jin tonight that he learned that this famous Ghost King on the list was actually a minor who lived in the same city as himself. He was taken to the police station for being involved in a public security case. The police were worried because he was a minor, so they asked him to notify his family and friends to pick him up.

Then Jin called Alex.

"Hunter." Alex called out Jin's real name, "You really won't contact your family?"

The police told Alex that two roommates in the house rented by Hunter had a conflict and injured each other with knives. Everyone in the room was taken back to the police station to take a statement. Although Alex had many doubts, he respected Hunter's statement on the phone and did not ask too many questions. He lied that it was Hunter's neighbor's brother who took the person out.

"I have no family." Hunter said coldly.

"No?" Alex was so angry at this brat that he laughed, "Are you suffering from Chuunibyou? Did he pop out of a crack in a rock?"

... Hunter still had a cold face, "I came to Shanghai to work alone, no one cares about my life or death."

Alex was stunned for a moment. He thought Hunter was a rebellious teenager who ran away from home, but he didn't expect...

"How old are you this year? Don't you go to school anymore?"

"I'm seventeen, not a child laborer. I dropped out of school after the first year of high school. It was boring."

...

When Hunter saw that the overly handsome young man opposite him, whom he had just met for the first time, fell silent, he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable and lowered his head to drink two sips of soup.

Although he had long known how an uneducated and unskilled hoodlum like him would be viewed by normal people, he still felt a little embarrassed when his friends really looked at him that way. Although Alex... could not be considered a friend of Hunter.

"I'll give you money for your hard work later. If I see you in the ranking match next time, I'll let you go to the shelter. Today, I'm bothering you---"

"Where are you going? It's raining so hard outside." Alex held down the thorny kid, "The place you rented has been sealed off. It's late at night. You don't have much money on you, right?"

"I'm going to the Internet cafe."

"Are you of age?"

...

"Send the Buddha to the west." Alex clapped his hands, "Come on, come home with me and stay for one night."

Hunter's expression changed several times, "...I'm afraid your family doesn't welcome someone like me."

"Who said that?" Alex smiled, "My parents love to educate lost kids like you. They are all teachers."

"What did you say at the police station? I'm your guardian, right? Then just follow me."

...

Alex didn't tell Hunter that he didn't look cruel at all despite his tough talk. Instead, he looked like a poor puppy drenched by the rain.

Out of a sense of responsibility, Alex brought Hunter back home, and the relationship between the two became closer from netizens.

Later, Hunter began to call Alex "brother", and later, it became "Alex".

...

When Alex heard the long-lost "brother", he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Hunter still had his head lowered. He no longer looked like the thorny non-mainstream figure he did four years ago. His hair had turned black but was still spiky. His facial features, which had lost most of their childishness, revealed a dazzling edge. The scar under his right eye was mysterious and unruly.

This cool guy who has countless fans on the Internet and will be approached by eager girls to ask for his WeChat wherever he goes, is now holding Alex's coat with both hands, which actually looks absurd and pitiful.

"Brother, I was wrong." He repeated again.

Alex took a breath and sighed, "Aren't you watching the game at the scene? Why are you here if you don't want to stay here?"

"After the bp, there is no suspense. I wanted to see you, so I came directly."

Alex looked at the person in front of him. Compared with three years ago, Hunter's biggest change might be that his emotional expression had become extremely straightforward, so straightforward that even Alex was a little overwhelmed.

Thinking of the confession in the cafe a few days ago that made him doubt his ears, Alex sighed.

God knows he originally thought, "Just be magnanimous and make peace with this brat," and went to the cafe to keep the appointment. But first, the other party kept talking about what happened three years ago for a long time, and then he received roses and confessions from his former teammate. He was shocked and confused.

He even brought roses!

Alex originally wanted to leave this kid alone for a few months and wait until he regained his consciousness, but now seeing him standing there pitifully, he couldn't bear to do anything.

"Tell me what went wrong?"

... Hunter was silent for a moment, "Didn't you pick the right time?"

"Hmm?" Alex's eyebrows jumped.

"Not saying the right thing at the right time."

... Alex sighed, "Why don't you just leave? I'm afraid you'll make me angry again, and I'll be filmed and used as a guide."

"Brother, you saw what happened to Pink today, are you really not coming back?" Hunter appropriately changed the subject.

"Um?"

"It's been three years. I know you've never given up on Survivor, nor on us, your former teammates. Isn't now the best time to make a comeback?"

... Alex did not comment, "This has nothing to do with you."