Summary:
Pro Players Surround Lord Grim, Begging for a Match???
Notes:
This should've been posted much earlier but I was stuck in Wang Sheng's speech. My brain short-circuited with his dirty schemes.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Five days later. Lord Grim and Spring Night had joined the Guild Heavenly Justice together, causing a second wave of uproar from the GLORY community. On one side was a very famous player guild. On the other side were an immensely popular mystery character and a long lost stray Goddess. With these combined, they immediately began stirring up the news about them that in the past days were slowly dying down. Gossip immediately began to fly around.
They were indeed together. The rumors that Spring Night was seen with Lord Grim had been proven true! Lord Grim, could he be the newly retired God, Ye Qiu?!
Why did they join the Guild Heavenly Justice? Why not Excellent Dynasty or Misty Castle?
Simultaneously, Lou Guanning's marketing team also started their second move. All the big eSport platforms soon came out with another piece of news: Guild Heavenly Justice's leader Loulan Slash was planning on creating a team (Heavenly Sword) to join next season's Pro Alliance!
With the previous news of Lord Grim and Spring Night joining the Guild Heavenly Justice, everyone naturally assumed: That wasn't Lord Grim and Spring Night joining a guild, they were joining Heavenly Sword! A new team housing two Gods!
This news did not only stir up the GLORY fans, even the Clubs were alerted. After this news was verified, the Clubs immediately held their own emergency meetings. But they couldn't do anything. It was the same in the game. They could do nothing but watch as Lord Grim reached Level 52.
At this time, the subjects of the ruckus were really just peacefully leveling up their characters.
"They were being naive with their team roster, but they're being pretty mature in hyping the team up." Ye Xiu commented to Heavenly Sword's action.
Li Chunhua respected these bunch of young masters so she was a little concerned about them, "Mmn, breaking the message into two parts was indeed a good move. But with all of the attention they now have compared to their actual skill that didn't match their popularity......I'm afraid that when they got into the Alliance, they would be condemned."
Ye Xiu understood her, "Then team features..."
"I'm afraid none. Location, unique class, play style, strategy...." Li Chunhua think about her conversation with Lou Guanning a few days ago as she shook her head. This would really be hard for them.
"Wanna call them for a few tips and experience?" Ye Xiu suggested to his compassionate girlfriend.
Li Chunhua was touched, "Will you?"
"Call me hubby..."
"What?"
"I said call me hubby and I will help them." Ye Xiu seriously answered.
"You!"
"Mmn? It's okay if you don't want to." Ye Xiu said as he went back into clearing some monsters.
"H-hubby..."
Ye Xiu didn't expect her to do as he said. He was almost killed by a huge army of monsters that he accidentally aggroed when he heard the sweet voice of the girl calling him hubby.
Ye Xiu logged into his QQ account where the pro-players were coincidentally talking about him. He was about to type something out when Lin Jingyan yelled in one of the group chat.
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Tencent QQ (腾讯QQ)
____________________________________________________
Demon Subduer: What does he want!!!
Desert Dust: Drag him out and ask!
Troubling Rain: Ye Qiu! Come out come out come out come out come out come out!
Demon Subduer: Who can see if he's invisible?
Doubtful Demon: Sister Su definitely has it!
Troubling Rain: She's not online!
Desert Dust: Who can see if Su Mucheng is invisible?"
Crying Devil: Yunxiu definitely can.
Doubtful Demon: Yunxiu is online!
Windy Rain: Who said my name!
Chu Yunxiu clearly set her name as a keyword, so she was successfully summoned the moment someone mentioned her.
Troubling Rain: Is Su Mucheng online?
Windy Rain: Nope.
Troubling Rain: Don't lie to us! Actually, we're not looking for her. We just wanted to know how our friend Ye Qiu is doing nowadays.
Windy Rain: I'm not lying! I also want to know why did he drag Sister Li in that player guild!
The earlier bustling group chat suddenly quieted down. Who among them didn't know the history between the Misty Castle and Spring Night? It also became worst when the character left the guild five days ago.
But contrary to what they had imagined, Chu Yunxiu had known and accepted it long before. If Li Chunhua was going to choose, she would surely join Ye Qiu instead of her.
This was the reason in her change of play style recently. They say that she was always bending in the face of pressure but they were wrong. It was supposed to be Li Chunhua's place. She was only supposed to be a support for someone that would take the lead. And in the years that had passed, Chu Yunxiu was always waiting for that person to lead her. But now, she understood that it would never happen.
She was not selfish. She didn't want to put her in a hard situation because of the past. Li Chunhua had promised that she would accompany her on stage and that they would take the championship together.
But she also once told to her the reason why she created the Misty Castle. She wanted to prove something to the guy she likes.
It's because of Ye Qiu, it's always been.
It was only natural that when everyone turned their back on the guy, Li Chunhua would choose to accompany him.
But joining a new team? She had expected that they would create a new team, not join a team that was rooted from the game.
It only made the situation look like Ye Qiu planned his retirement to join the Heavenly Sword. But everyone who knew him would know that he's not that kind of person. Excellent Era is important to him. He was once the Excellent Era himself. So why?
Chu Yunxiu sighed as she decided to break the silence herself.
Windy Rain: Why not try mentioning Ye Qiu?
Troubling Rain: @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu @Ye Qiu......
Troubling Rain: See? Nothing happened.
Desert Dust: Try a different keyword.
Troubling Rain: @One Autumn Leaf @One Autumn Leaf @One Autumn Leaf @One Autumn Leaf @One Autumn Leaf @One Autumn Leaf @One Autumn Leaf ......
Windy Rain: Should you still use 'One Autumn Leaf'?
Ye Qiu clearly had Lord Grim as his nickname when he messaged them not long ago. Would he still set One Autumn Leaf as a keyword?
The conversation quieted down a bit. Parting from one's own character was always a sad and painful thing. Ye Qiu was no longer One Autumn Leaf. Everyone grieved for him when the topic was brought up.
One Autumn Leaf: Who called me?
"......" Everyone was speechless. As of this moment, the only ones sending messages were the God level pro players. The other pros had all taken their seats and grabbed their popcorn as they watched the show unfold.
Troubling Rain: I didn't call for you. I'm looking for Ye Qiu!
One Autumn Leaf: Then why did you mentioned me? idiot!
Troubling Rain: F*ck! You're the idiot here. Your sister is an idiot! Your whole family is an idiot! Idiot idiot idiot!
Windy Rain: Okay kids. Why don't you try '@Lord Grim'?
Lord Grim: Hey! Who called me?
Troubling Rain: F*ck me. You were pretending to be dead! Shameless!
Lord Grim: Hi everyone!
Immediately, a huge wall of messages popped up, giving their respects to the God.
Troubling Rain: F*ck me! There were so many pretending to be dead!
Lord Grim: Okay. Done greeting. Bye.
Troubling Rain: You only said ONE sentence!!!!!!
Lord Grim: Don't compare me to you...
Troubling Rain: F*ck you! What have you been up to recently?
Lord Grim: Leveling up...
A train of hysterical laughter started up. Everyone knew what Huang Shaotian meant, but Ye Xiu's answer wasn't wrong. It was a classical example of an irrelevant answer.
Troubling Rain: Bastard! Who asked you about that.
Lord Grim: Then what did you want to ask?
Troubling Rain: What's up with you and Sister Li?
Lord Grim: We're doing great, love stronger than the wind and deeper than the ocean.
Demon Subduer: Congratulations! You finally got her heart.
Lin Jingyan took the opportunity to say his grace. He wasn't able to congratulate Ye Xiu before because he didn't like using Weibo.
Lord Grim: Thanks Old Lin! I will make sure that you will be the first to receive our wedding invitation!
Troubling Rain: F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! You're marrying Sister Li? When? Where? How? Isn't that too fast? I haven't even devise my plan yet. Huh? Huh? Huh?
Lord Grim: What plan and who said that I'm marrying her now? But don't worry, we will definitely reach that part soon and all of you will be invited.
Troubling Rain: F*ck! Who ask you to flaunt your love? Be sensitive! I almost had a heart attack! Shameless! Shameless! Shameless!
Lord Grim: Oh? Then @Li Xuan @Han Wenqing, sorry not sorry!
Troubling Rain: D*mn! D*mn! D*mn! I did not mean that!
Vaccaria: crying emoticon*
Cloud Piercer: crying emoticon* +1
Swoksaar: crying emoticon* +2
Zhang Jiale: crying emoticon* +3
Crying Devil: God! Please don't remind me about this.
Desert Dust: Are you asking for a beating?
Lord Grim: Truth hurts?
Doubtful Demon: LOL! Gonna light a candle for these dead hearts.
Windy Rain: Stop pouring salt on their open wounds!
Troubling Rain: Let's go back to the current situation before this became a real life PK. What are you trying to do by joining that Heavenly Justice with Sister Li?
Lord Grim: Well, when you're playing Glory, joining a guild is a very normal thing to do.
Troubling Rain: Stop pretending to be stupid!
Lord Grim: Honestly, which one of you would take us in? If there is one, we'll go immediately. But the problem is that no one will.
Windy Rain: Only Sister Li is welcome!
Troubling Rain: Come to our Blue Brook!
Lord Grim: Do your words count?
Swoksaar: No!
This time, Yu Wenzhou answered the question. Because Huang Shaotian had hesitated, the 'cripple' had actually beaten him to the reply. Ye Xiu sent an emoji of a person putting his head to the table and hitting the table as he laughed out loud.
Troubling Rain: Fight me! One on one! Arena! I've been waiting for so long! Let's see if your unspecialized character is as strong as the rumors say!
Lord Grim: I'm only Level 52. Don't you feel any shame?
Troubling Rain: Fixed Field.
Lord Grim: Fixed Field? What can you do there?
Fixed Field destroyed any advantages in equipment and was a huge disadvantage for a God level account like Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain. A God level character's power came from their equipment advantage.
Troubling Rain: Come on come on come on come on come on!
Lord Grim: Come!
A train of shocked emojis followed his reply. No one had thought that the two would actually start a match. Little did they know that it was really Ye Xiu's reason for coming here.
_________________________________________
Within a minute, the global chat in Heavenly Domain exploded.
"OH MY GOD! Troubling Rain! At Redwoods Road!"
"Swoksaar spotted in the Entresol!!"
"I saw Cloud Piercer at Chalk Town..."
"Why is Windy Rain in Wilderness Town?"
"Demon Subduer..."
"Vaccaria....
"Desert Dust..."
"Immovable rock? It's almost 12, why are you here?" Some Dazzling Spring commented in one of the global channel.
"Five minutes left." With the word Dazzling, Zhang Xinjie had the idea who asked that question so he answered. Because of his reply, those who didn't believe the news were now convinced.
"WTF! Is this the end of the world? Are the Gods coming to save us???"
Even though everyone had logged in in invisible mode, when their characters stood in the crowded maps, the ID above their heads screamed for attention. Their names were shouted out and all ten global chats went in a frenzy.
That didn't mark the end of this flood of pro players. Other than a bunch of famous God-level characters, there were also many lesser known pro players who logged in. No pro player escaped the watchful eyes of the players.
In the Arena, Ye Xiu was doing what Li Chunhua wanted and was currently giving Loulan Slash's group a few tips. They had just finished a round of matches and the lovebirds were telling the group some problems they could work on.
Suddenly the bunch of famous characters entered the room. Loulan Slash's group were all shocked. This crowd had suddenly appeared like a storm. Famous characters had completely surrounded them.
"No way. Are they here to kill us?" Xiao Bei gasped in astonishment.
Not long after, he proved himself correct. Though it was only Troubling Rain that fought with them, they were bitten black and blue.
"Is this a good idea? Their confidence were crushed!" Li Chunhua said.
"It's up to how they see it. They will enter the Alliance and will naturally encounter this level of pros. This time, they were able to see that not only you or me but there are many many more God-tier players they should prepare themselves for..."
Li Chunhua sighed, "How troublesome..."
"How are you?" Ye Xiu suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"Earlier..."
"That...we talked things out."
Earlier, it was not only Loulan Slash team that fought in the Arena. After them, Troubling Rain fought with Lord Grim and Windy Rain fought with Spring Night.
She wasn't troubled for what had happened. Chu Yunxiu requested for a battle, a closure she said. Li Chunhua took the battle seriously and didn't hold back even though she owed the girl a huge amount of debt. It was a sign of respect and Chu Yunxiu was happy for what she did.
Li Chunhua told the girl about the challenger league and she was thankful that Chu Yunxiu understood her. She finally set her free...both of them set each other free.
The next day, on all of the eSport platforms, from the Internet to print media, all of them had the same headline: Pro Players Surround Lord Grim, Begging for a Match???
The three question marks sparkled on the media outlets. The content talked about the huge crowd of pro players that had swarmed the Heavenly Domain and then entered the same room in the Arena. They weren't there to compare notes with each other, but rather there for a single person. In recent times, his popularity in Glory has soared through the heavens. Carrying a transforming Silver weapon and using an unspecialized, which had died out many years ago, the mystery man -- Lord Grim!!!
____________________________________________________
Tencent QQ (腾讯QQ)
____________________________________________________
Spring Night: LOL! Mystery Man! Gonna commend Lou Guanning for that! Hahaha!
Lord Grim: As long as you're happy.
Spring Night: ......
Lord Grim: But you also fought and I'm the only one being talked about?
Spring Night: Well, it's true that they begged you and not me. And I'm no mystery girl.
The pro-players begged Ye Xiu for a matched because of his unseen occupation and weapon and Li Chunhua only fought with Chu Yunxiu because of personal reason. The news was really on point.
Lord Grim: You're the mystery that I would never be tired to learn about.
Spring Night: .......
Lord Grim: Is being speechless the only thing you know?
Spring Night: Then what do you want me to do?
Lord Grim: Flirt with me...
Spring Night: I don't do flirt, I do love. I do, love.
Lord Grim: .......
Spring Night: See? You're also speechless.
_____________________________________________
While the two lovebirds were flirting with each other, the GLORY community was in chaos. That evening, the post interviews with the players were finally aired and the spotlight was on the Gods, of course.
Without a single exception, as if they had agreed upon it, all of the players directly confessed that they had ran over to watch because they suspected that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu. However, none of them said it in a completely certain tone of voice.
Chu Yunxiu: I was there to compare notes with Sister Li. I had really no idea that she was with Lord Grim.
Reporter: Then do you think Lord Grim is Ye Qiu?
Chu Yunxiu: He seemed to be close with Sister Li so...maybe?
Han Wenqing: Is there really a need to ask? You can easily deduce that yourself.
Reporter: So you knew?
Han Wenqing: I deduced it myself.
Reporter: ......
Zhang Xinjie: I was only there for five minutes. I sleep at 12.
Reporter: ......
What is wrong with Team Tyranny today?
Wang Jiexi: Probably? Playing an unspecialized requires knowledge and proficiency with every class. From what I saw from Lord Grim's performance, Ye Qiu is without a doubt the number one suspect.
Yu Wenzhou: An unspecialized is a class that cannot be controlled by a single person. But to be able to control one to such a degree, I believe that Ye Qiu is certainly capable of doing so.
Zhou Zekai: Hm, probably Ye Qiu...... because...... he's very strong.......
Lin Jingyan: I've known Ye Qiu for so long and he's the only one that can give justice to an unspecialized.
Huang Shaotian: At that time, all of the Gods were present. To be able to fight with me to that extent, by using a process of elimination, he would be Ye Qiu.
Reporter: What about Zhang Jiale?
Huang Shaotian: Zhang Jiale? I called him before. He said he wasn't him.
Huang Shaotian had clearly known that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu long before this, but right now, he looked as if he had only figured it out after fighting him.
Reporter: Then what are your thoughts on the match?
Huang Shaotian: .................................
They didn't even need to try and dig deeper and they already had so much content to work with, perhaps even too much content. They didn't know if the space given to them was enough to write it all down. It seemed like they would need to pick out the important words from all of the other excess.
The reporters were always happy to interview Huang Shaotian.
Apart from Huang Shaotian, the other people they needed to interview was of course, Excellent Era.
Wang Sheng: When we first heard about this, we didn't dare believe. You might not know but our Guild Excellent Dynasty had many conflicts with Lord Grim in the tenth server. It was so unlikely for our God that already politely retired to run in the game and create chaos.
But then, if this is the truth, then we can only be happy for him. When he retired, he also tactfully declined the club's positions that we offered. We thought that it was because he wanted to finally live a life away from Glory. But now we heard that his Lord Grim joined the Guild Heavenly Justice? We really couldn't understand this action of him.
It's so saddening that he choose to retire and choose to take a different path from Excellent Era. But Ye Qiu will forever be one of us. We respected his decisions and we will wholeheartedly give him our utmost support.
However, the Glory Alliance was still a competition, after all. Even though Ye Qiu would always be forever our friend and founder, whether it is in the professional scene or the game, everyone should have a professional attitude.
I sincerely wish for Excellent Era and Ye Qiu's bright future.
That night, the interview created a huge uproar. Wang Sheng's statement expressing how he couldn't understand Ye Qiu's actions, how he was perplexed, and then his blessings, made Excellent Era fans who didn't know the truth very unhappy with Ye Qiu.
The following days, the issue still didn't show any sign of dying down. This discussion became larger and larger. Until Li Chunhua couldn't take it anymore and posted something on Weibo that created a bigger uproar than the unveiling of Lord Grim's identity.
____________________________________________
( Sina Weibo)
李春花LiChunhua V
You're perplexed? You think he should stay in your f*cking team to be a training partner? Thank you, but he's better than that!
____________________________________________
She didn't pinpoint who was that 'he' and what team she was pertaining to. But with the current issue, even an idiot would see through it. And as if this wasn't enough, the other Gods showed their support by reposting the post. Those who didn't know who was Li Chunhua or those who were not following her on Weibo, were immediately informed when their own Gods shared the post in their walls.
Excellent Era's PR Department was in chaos. They thought that Ye Qiu was smart enough to not make a move. In the entertainment industry, anything that you would say could be used against you and they knew that Ye Qiu was well aware of this. Who would have thought that his little girlfriend would be the one to make a move?
This became a sleepless night for them. But no matter who they call, no matter what they do. The posts about this couldn't be deleted and stopped from spreading. As if there was a more powerful side working against them behind the scene.
If elimination couldn't work, then they could only counter it. They prepared something that would discredit Li Chunhua so the public would doubt her. Leaving Misty Castle, killing Misty Castle's members, creating chaos with Ye Qiu, suddenly disappearing from the game. They prepared many materials but it was all in vain, for when they had successfully planted the trolls, the thread suddenly disappeared with a whoosh!
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( Sina Weibo)
李春花LiChunhua V
"Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction."
― Criss Jami
[For the old readers, this is the new added feature of my story. A microblog! lol. Every chapter has this. It's definitely related to the chapter it was posted with. But it is not related to the story flow. You can think of it as a private post or the character's e-diary]
For faster update please do follow the story on AO3. A kudos and comment will be much appreciated.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/23230501/chapters/55619407