Two days before the TZG match, Yan Zhun was packing his luggage, preparing to leave.

The Coach sat next to him, trying to persuade him, "Is it uncomfortable staying here? Why do you insist on going back?"

Yan Zhun didn't even raise his head. "I'm disturbing your training here."

The Coach said, "Don't say that. While you're here, you can help me keep an eye on them."

"I have exams soon, I don't have time to be their sparring partner." Yan Zhun's tone was cold.

The Coach cursed him for being heartless, closed the door, and asked, "Are you really not planning to come back and play?"

Yan Zhun's eyes were downcast, all his emotions hidden. He pulled the zipper shut. "No plans to."

Slinging the bag over one shoulder, Yan Zhun walked out of the room. He saw Lin Xuhuan lying on the sofa, holding his baseball cap, looking at it from side to side, then bringing it close to his face to smell it.

Yan Zhun snatched the cap from his hand, frowning. "What are you doing?"

Lin Xuhuan's eyes widened innocently. "You can't buy these, right? I just wanted to take a look. Hey, what's that smell on your cap? It's strangely nice. No wonder you were holding it and smelling it for so long the other day."

The others, who were lying down and resting, gave the two a strange look.

Hearing this, the Assaulter put down the chicken wing in his hand. "Here, here, let me smell it too. Did you use cologne?"

Yan Zhun couldn't be bothered with him and put the cap on his head. "I'm heading back."

"Wait." The Coach stopped him and handed over something—it was two internal admission tickets. "Take these. The seats are in the front rows, and you can even go backstage if you want."

Yan Zhun looked at the TZG Team Logo printed on the tickets and took them. "Thanks."

Back in his dorm room, Yan Zhun casually tossed his backpack onto the desk, took out his phone, snapped a photo of the two tickets, and sent it to Pei Ran.

[Pei Ran: Hm?]

[Yan Zhun: Saturday, at the city stadium. It's a twenty-minute taxi ride.]

[Pei Ran: Okay, I'll help you post it on Moments]

[Yan Zhun: ?]

[Yan Zhun: Post what on Moments?]

[Pei Ran: Aren't you selling the tickets?]

Yan Zhun stared at those words for a few seconds, then directly initiated a voice call.

It rang several times before the other side picked up.

"Where do I look like a ticket scalper?" Yan Zhun asked.

Pei Ran was stunned for a moment. "I just saw Lin Xuhuan post on his Moments, selling two admission tickets. Aren't these his tickets?"

Yan Zhun: "..."

Selling admission tickets while earning a seven-figure annual salary, what the hell was wrong with Lin Xuhuan?

"It's not scalping," Yan Zhun said. "It's an invitation for you to watch the match with me."

Pei Ran was coloring a drawing. Hearing this, the tip of his pen paused, and he blinked his eyes rapidly a few times.

"There are no classes on the weekend. I'll pick you up. With internal tickets, you don't need to queue. If there's anything you don't understand, I'll explain it to you." Yan Zhun asked, "Are you going?"

The other end of the line was very quiet. Yan Zhun didn't speak either, silently waiting for his answer.

After a long while, Yan Zhun folded the tickets, just about to stuff them back into his backpack.

"I understand."

Pei Ran's tone was very soft. "I'm not a girl, you don't need to make a special trip to pick me up. Can we meet at the bus stop?"

-

This was Pei Ran's first time at a live match. They entered through the back entrance, and there weren't many people inside yet.

Knowing they were coming, Lin Xuhuan had told them in advance to come to the backstage area to sit for a while.

The other players were all deathly serious, but TZG had a relaxed air about them. They were used to playing in international tournaments and had long since developed the right mindset. When Pei Ran went in, he even saw their Assaulter playing Link-Up on his phone.

"Help yourself to the water. It's from the sponsors, all free." The Coach glanced at Pei Ran and said with a smile, "Yan Zhun, do you know why you can't successfully pursue anyone?"

As soon as he said this, both of them froze. Even Pei Ran's action of twisting the bottle cap paused.

Yan Zhun, however, was calm. "Why?"

"I gave you two tickets so you could invite a young lady, sit together, and foster some feelings. And you... you brought Pei Ran." The Coach said with a laugh, "Of course, it's not that he can't come, but you could have asked me for another ticket."

Yan Zhun said nonchalantly, "With so many tickets, you might as well leave them for Lin Xuhuan to build his fortune."

Lin Xuhuan exclaimed, "Hey! Those tickets were from a friend who couldn't make it and asked me to help sell them!"

The Coach scolded him: "Then you shouldn't have used your main account to sell them! It got screenshotted and posted on Weibo! You got flamed onto the trending list for no reason!"

After a bit of idle chat, the team began to discuss their strategy for the upcoming match.

The strategy had been decided long ago; they were just discussing the details again now.

Yan Zhun sat beside the Coach, occasionally saying a few words when called upon, offering a concise opinion or two from time to time. His tone was casual, but his eyes were very serious.

The two stayed in the lounge for a while before Yan Zhun stood up. "The event staff are about to come in to film a video. I'll take him out."

There were a total of sixteen teams in this competition. The lounges were packed in a dense row, leaving only a narrow aisle.

Halfway down the aisle, Pei Ran asked, "Have you competed before?"

"No." Yan Zhun said casually, "I quit the team two days before a match."

Pei Ran pressed his lips together and didn't ask any further.

Their seats were in the fourth row, close enough to see the screen without looking up. By now, the surrounding seats were already full.

The players took their seats, and the host began to introduce them one by one. The cheers were loudest when the TZG Team was introduced. When the camera focused on the TZG members, Lin Xuhuan even winked at it.

Just as the match began, Yan Zhun turned his head slightly and lowered his voice, "They're going to take the bottom-right wilderness area, planning to block the bridge."

Pei Ran paused for a moment before realizing Yan Zhun was commentating for him. "Do people block bridges in professional matches too?"

"Occasionally, it depends on the circle. If the circle spawn is good, they'll consider it. If not, they'll just farm in the wilderness; it's the same." Yan Zhun watched the players from another team who were about to run into Lin Xuhuan and said, "TZG is about to get the first kill."

Less than ten seconds later, the announcement of Lin Xuhuan killing an opponent popped up on the screen.

Pei Ran said, "You have a lot of confidence in him."

"He practiced on this terrain for several nights, just a few days ago," Yan Zhun said. "Even a pig would have gotten stronger by now."

Pei Ran: "..."

He even heard the girl sitting next to Yan Zhun chuckle.

Yan Zhun heard it too and lowered his voice even more.

TZG played decently this round. They took the bottom-right wilderness area, but unfortunately, the circle was unfavorable in the late game, and they placed third.

With Yan Zhun's commentary, Pei Ran miraculously understood everything. He frowned regretfully and was just about to speak.