Feng Yan’s retirement back then had already attracted a lot of attention in the gaming world.
Everyone expressed their confusion. There were also many malicious comments on the Internet. The fans expressed their understanding, but the anti-fans all expressed: “XH can’t take it anymore, so Feng Yan chose to stop in time. After all, in the next season, XH will definitely lose!”
The fans did not believe in such conspiracy theories at first.
However, they had already reached the selection round for the new competition. XH’s results were not good, and the rookies could not perform to their potential.
Of the five older players, some had been staying in the hospital to recuperate. Those who were no longer recuperating stayed with the battle team as logisticians to nurture the newbies’ mentality.
Only Feng Yan had left the team.
Initially, after he left the team, he’d wanted to stay on the team as a coach. If that had really been the case, the fans would not have had cause to dislike him.
However, as a coach, he did not work hard. In the early stages of the new season, he suddenly suggested quitting. Then, he would often disappear from the club!
When the XH fans saw that their beloved team’s results had become so bad, they were furious. They scolded the rookies, causing them to almost break down.
At this moment, Feng Yan stood up. He posted on Weibo that he wanted to give the rookies time and space to grow. If everyone wanted to blame someone, they could only blame the five older players for retiring too quickly.
The other four retired because they were injured in a car accident. Only Feng Yan retired of his own choice and announced it after winning the championship.
Everyone’s anger seemed to have found a breakthrough point. In an instant, they all rushed to Feng Yan’s Weibo and left comments, telling him to train the rookies well. Even if he’d left XH, he should not really leave.
“Don’t you want the love of the team and the friendship of your comrades?”
Feng Yan did not respond.
After that, someone took a video of him getting drunk at a bar and uploaded it on the Internet, causing a huge uproar.
The other four XH members retired because they were injured. Only Feng Yan retired for no reason.
In the beginning, everyone would take a guess if something had happened to Feng Yan’s family or if he had encountered some trouble.
If that were the case, everyone could understand.
However, it was as if there was a comment that triggered him. Feng Yan directly replied: “I’ve just earned enough money. I don’t need to work hard anymore.”
This sentence almost overturned the entire eSports scene.
The spirit of eSports was a dream, a dream of many youths.
However, in Feng Yan’s eyes, it was just a tool to make money. How angering was this?!
No one knew that Feng Yan’s arm was also injured. What everyone saw was the philandering and the entertainment spree after Feng Yan’s retirement. There was no sign of him in the XH club.
If he had gone to school or changed careers and slowly faded out of everyone’s sight, perhaps no one would have reacted that way.
However, he was drunk and frequented bars every day. He also diverted all the attention of XH’s fans onto himself. His reputation plummeted, and his fans could not stand his depraved look. It was as if his life had ended after he won five championships. Such an idol was not worthy of respect. Hence, there were many who left their fan club and stepped on him.
Their hatred was as deep as their love.
As a celebrity, it was his fortune and misfortune to have so many people paying attention to him.
Like right now.
Most of them were male esports fans, but Feng Yan was eye-catching, so there were also many female fans. The fans from Huaxia University surrounded him one by one and criticized him, as if they wanted to use this intense method to make him rise up:
“Trash, are you planning to become a parasite of society from now on?”
“Feng Yan, ever since you entered the industry, I’d been your fan and supported you for five whole years. But now, I have to say that I’m too disappointed!”
“You didn’t dare to accept defeat. We forgive you for choosing to retire after your teammates retired, but you shouldn’t have been so cruel to XH! It’s the first time for the five rookies, so how could you ignore them?”
“Don’t you know that even though Old Wang was injured, he still went to the competition venue to cheer for the team? Why didn’t you show your face? Does the new XH have nothing to do with you? Do you even have a heart?”
“Drinking, getting hungover, is this going to be your life for the next few decades? You won a few championships and have some money, so you think you can be like this? We really regret that the idol we supported has become like this!”
“Professional players should not get drunk often. It will affect their sensitivity. Let me ask you, can your hand still hold the mouse? You are too indulgent!”
“You’ve disappointed us!”
Fans’ curses and accusations came from all directions.
Qin Shuang and Flame Number One were shocked and wanted to protect Feng Yan and leave.
However, Feng Yan was too popular in the eSports scene. POG had become a national game. There were even clubs in university.
More and more fans swarmed over, surrounding them and not letting them leave.
Looking at the three people who were surrounded in the middle, He Gao pursed his lips. His fists were tightly clenched. The classmates beside him were still talking. “Eh, it’s really Feng Yan? But it’s not good to be surrounded like this, right? Forget it, it has nothing to do with us. Let’s go!”
As soon as he said this, He Gao had already turned around. His entire body was tense. When he looked at Feng Yan like this, his heart felt like it was being stabbed by a knife. He wanted to ignore everything and rush over to save him!
He did not care about revenge or danger!
At that moment, a cold voice came from the noisy crowd. This voice was extremely penetrating. Even though the surrounding noise was deafening, everyone seemed to have heard it.
“You have no right to dictate other people’s lives.”
There was a sudden silence as everyone turned to look at the speaker. Outside the circle, the young woman with flowing red hair was walking slowly toward them.
She was wearing a black baseball cap and her eyes were filled with coldness. The coldness on her face seemed like it was going to burst out and freeze the entire place.
Xue Xi had already gained prestige among the girls.
Therefore, when she said this, the female fans calmed down and looked at Feng Yan, who was surrounded. Seeing that he was so down and out, they could not bear it.
Someone said, “Forget it.”
“Sister Xi is right. We shouldn’t be concerned about Feng Yan.”
The girls agreed, but the boys were furious. “Why should we let it go?”
Boys were usually more hot-blooded and more persistent in their love for eSports. Feng Yan’s words, “I’ve earned enough money,” had really fired up their hearts.
What kind of money did Feng Yan earn?
It was all the money that the gamers had spent on the game! The endorsement fee was paid by the fans! Why should he not be responsible for the fans?
A boy immediately said, “Xue Xi, right? I know that all the girls in the school like you very much now, but get out of the way. This is a matter between men. It has nothing to do with you!”
Xue Xi raised her brows.
After they’d reached the school, Cen Bai stayed at the school gate. After thinking about it, he felt that what they were doing was inappropriate. He then sent Xue Xi a message on WeChat and she rushed over.
She did not expect to encounter such a situation.
But did it have nothing to do with her?
When the girls heard the boy’s words, they were furious. “How is it unrelated? We girls are playing games too!”
The topic was diverted.
The boys had been tolerating the girls for a long time, especially the single boys. They said angrily, “Are you playing games? You’re playing us! F*ck, when I’m playing games, I hate matching up with girls. They keep calling out ‘hubby,’ ‘support,’ ‘support.’ They don’t want to play marksman. You treat us like your hubby, and when we’re in a team battle, you just want your hubby to protect you while running faster than anyone else! I always just pray that girls won’t play the game when I am playing!”
“Yes, I beg you. The stars that we went to great lengths to earn would fall just because we matched with you. There are also some guys who aren’t allowed to boost their girlfriends, so don’t make us!”
The girls became even more enraged. “That’s not all. How can you kill a group of people with one hit?”
The boy curled his lips. “It’s not that I like to beat a bunch of people to death, but girls are just not as talented as boys in gaming. Why are there no girls in eSports?”
The girls hurriedly shouted, “Who says there isn’t! There was one this year!”
The boys pursed their lips. “That’s the minority. And she retired after a match.”
Seeing that they still wanted to continue arguing, Xue Xi frowned and slowly said, “There are no men or women in eSports.”
The boy froze.
Xue Xi took a step forward and said coldly, “Let’s use the eSports scene to settle the matter!”
Everyone else was stunned. “What?”
Xue Xi took out her phone and opened the mobile version of POG. “Solo. Whoever wins will listen to the other.”
As soon as she said this, everyone fell silent.
After a moment, the boys burst into laughter. “Are you kidding me?”
“You’re playing solo with us. Wouldn’t we as good as bully you?”
“Exactly. If you lose and cry, we’ll be shameless! We can’t bully girls!”
Xue Xi had already logged in and slowly said, “Who wants to go first?”
None of the boys spoke at first. After all, it was too embarrassing to play solo in public with a girl! Everyone was a proud person, and no one wanted to bully others.
After saying this, Xue Xi raised her brows, seeing that no one was coming forward. “If no one dares to accept the challenge, then consider it your loss.”
The boys: “…” This was intolerable.
Hence, someone said, “I’ll go first!”
The surrounding boys laughed and said, “Brother Chun, teach her a lesson and let her know what eSports is all about! But don’t go overboard!”
“That’s right. Why don’t you play with one hand? Let her play with both hands. Don’t cry. It won’t end well!”
“Hahaha, aren’t you all being too funny!?”
When Qin Shuang, who was among the crowd, saw this situation, she seemed to recall the feeling of flying around freely at school back then. She covered her mouth with both hands and shouted, “Sister Xi, you can do it! Let them see how the word ‘face slap’ is written!”
“There are still people boasting!”
Brother Chun took a step forward, picked up his phone, and opened the game. After logging in, he said, “What’s your ID? I’ll add you. Wait, forget it, there are so many symbols in a girl’s name. It’s too troublesome to input them. I’ll go look for it from the people nearby.”
After saying this, he clicked on the people nearby and saw—