Under the official account’s post, fans had been spamming “^^ formations” for quite a while, but they still didn’t feel satisfied. After all, true devotion had to be expressed directly in the main idol’s comment section to really hit the spot.
— Huh??
…Wait a second, why is it that when I search “Wind,” “Fenglan,” or “Sui Ning,” none of these keywords show up on Weibo??
Comment: What’s going on? Did my app freeze? Did Weibo glitch out again??
Comment: Same here… damn it, release my handsome brother’s personal account already!!
Comment: I can’t believe this. I searched everywhere just to confirm one thing—Wind doesn’t have a personal account… ahhhh seriously?! I know PNG doesn’t want to affect players’ mentality before their debut, so they only let them open accounts afterward—but you’re a streamer! How can you not have your own account!! My Winnnnnd!!
Comment: Honestly, we livestream fans have been crying in the chat every day too. Homeless and miserable 5555.
Comment: Ugh, it’s so hard for me to fall for someone, and now you’ve made me lose so completely! Damn it!!
Comment: I’m losing my mind. Without a personal account, where am I supposed to dump all the dirty thoughts in my head?!
Comment: Add me as a friend upstairs!! I’ll be your solid emotional trash can!
Just as the fans suspected, to protect the players, Chen Chen ordered Sui Ning—after reading the comments under the official photo reveal—not to use Weibo at all until the team’s first summer match.
Especially after learning about Sui Ning’s “glorious achievements” from his talent show days.
“If you use it even once, you’ll drink three cups of the kitchen’s special nutritional drink,” Chen Chen said coldly. “Ji Yunyu, you’re in charge of supervising him.”
Ji Yunyu obediently replied, “Okay.”
Sui Ning: ……
Ji Yunyu tilted his head to glance at him.
Sui Ning straightened up. “I absolutely won’t touch it.”
The so-called “nutritional drink” was a freshly squeezed juice made from bitter melon and several other strange vegetables. Clean and healthy—but the taste… just thinking about the large cup he’d been forced to drink after his trial fitness test made Sui Ning shudder.
That thing had nearly made him vomit. It wasn’t like they were playing death-match tennis—no MOBA player’s life was in danger. There was no need to make him drink that kind of stuff…
He pressed his lips together, then simply uninstalled Weibo. He’d reinstall it after their first match.
The match schedule for the HPL Summer Regular Season had already been released. The opening game on June 1 would feature the spring runner-up HTG against the third-place team TL—an immediate clash of titans, bound to be brutal and attention-grabbing.
PNG’s first match would be on June 2, against AQ, another mid-tier team in the league.
Chen Chen cleared his throat. “Alright, fun’s over. The first match is in two days—time to focus.”
That signaled the end of their cheerful break. The PNG starters had to return to the nerve-wracking review-and-critique sessions.
Still, this time Chen Chen surprisingly gave them some rare praise for their training match’s performance. “From the recent training matches, our game tempo has been solid. Keep it up.”
“Patch 6.2 has strengthened the early-game Rift Herald buff, which now helps push towers. That’s meant to work with the new tower plating system.”
“This plating—commonly called ‘tower skin’—you’ve all seen how important it is,” Chen Chen said, standing before the three large whiteboards in the analysis room, marker in hand, writing and sketching.
He wrote two numbers and two formulas: 3, 14, 5160=800, 800 + (275 + 255) + 250 = 1450.
Top, mid, and bottom each had one outer turret. Before 14 minutes, each outer turret had five layers of plating—essentially five health bars. Destroying each layer granted 160 gold, so the plating alone on one tower yielded 800 gold.
And if it was the first tower destroyed in the game, the team would also get a First Tower bonus: 25–50 gold for everyone, and an extra 275–50 for the player who took it down.
So, a fully stripped First Tower could earn the team 1450 gold—while an ordinary kill only granted 300.
“If your lane’s outer tower gets completely taken down before 14 minutes, it’s basically like being solo-killed five times,” Chen Chen said, writing a bold “5” on the board.
He went over the numbers again and again. “Since the Rift Herald can help push towers, the analyst and I both believe its early-game value is now higher than that of the first dragon.”
Good boy Lin Zhaoxu scratched his head and raised his hand. “But in 6.2, the dragon also got changed—it spawns every five minutes now, and comes with elemental types like water, earth, wind, and fire. If a team takes four of the same type, they get the Dragon Soul. That buff looks really strong.”
Cheng Su calmly added, “Especially the Water and Fire Dragon Souls—one grants continuous HP and mana regen, the other increases damage and adds splash effects. The stats are quite high. And since the Dragon Soul buff is permanent, even death won’t remove it. It should be the key focus for mid-game fights.”
“Correct,” Chen Chen said evenly. “But the dragon’s element is random each time. Even if you’re lucky and get the same one all four times, it still takes 20 minutes minimum to secure the Soul.
Before 20 minutes, if we can control the tempo and snowball our lead, we can pull the economy gap by several thousand—or even ten thousand. By the time the crucial dragon fight happens, the enemy won’t be able to fight back head-on. Or we can just trade the Dragon Soul for Baron.”
He drew a simple map of the Rift on the whiteboard, circling the Baron pit. “Tactically, the new patch offers more playstyles. Before, teams preferred scaling and fighting late. Now, these new mechanics strengthen early- and mid-game skirmishes—laning, rotations, and teamfights are all more dynamic.”
“The early- and mid-game jungle-mid coordination will be crucial.”
“And not just that—these multi-timing matches will test your on-the-fly macro decisions. Communicate more, and make more calls.”
When it came to “shotcalling,” Chen Chen’s gaze lingered briefly on Sui Ning. “Our training matches have been going well, but that doesn’t mean others are weak. Keep working hard.”
“Understood!”
“Awooooooo—!”
“…Xiao Xu, what the hell are you howling for?”
“What? Coach just gave us a pep talk! I can’t let out a roar or two?”
“…Ugh, idiot.”
——
While the PNG team was fired up during review training at the base, their fans were just as hyped online.
After all, for most club fans, a player’s looks were just a bonus. Screaming about how handsome he was was fun for a bit—but what really mattered was skill.
Many fans, after saving the photos and drooling over them for half an hour, dutifully switched to Didi Video to search for highlight compilations of Sui Ning’s gameplay.
The first result was from an uploader named [C_Bot], who had made many edits of Fenglan—but hadn’t updated in a while. Next came [Feng-baoSlurpSlurp], a name that made its bias obvious—the whole feed was filled with stream recordings and highlight reels.
They clicked on the most-viewed one—uh, this one: [Top of the Server Ep.1: “Have You Seen the Color of the Stars?”] …what a nice title.
Curious fans clicked in.
Accompanied by the soft chime of colliding stars, as if wandering through a vast galaxy, they heard the playful, innocent voice of the Stellar Sprite - Aeria—
“I’ll tell you a secret~ My favorite color is purple! …Hmm, maybe pale yellow! …Or maybe a little red?”
“(Laughs) That’s the color of the stars!”
She laughed proudly. “Just like you!”
“Stop dawdling, I’ve been waiting forever—let’s go!”
Whether it was her nature or just defiance, even when facing her Summoner, she always sounded adorably commanding.
She blinked her bright eyes and reached out a hand to invite the Summoner along.
As her cheerful voice faded, the BGM swelled—heroic and grand. The lively live2D Aeria transformed into her in-game model, viewed only from the fixed aerial camera of the Rift.
And from that moment on, under the control of the server’s top-ranked player, she truly became a hero worth watching.
Comment: Again! A billion times!! I’m fired up!
Comment: Came for the hype—good luck in the Summer Split!! Go Wind!!
Comment: Aeria main here, bowing before the god of Aeria players. I could never pull this off in my life.
Comment: My mom asked why I’m kneeling while watching this video…
Comment: 2:51 — can someone explain that move? I slowed it down 4x and still can’t see it…
Comment: @dv415987 did a frame-by-frame breakdown next door—but even after watching, I still can’t do it ^^
“Come on, Wind’s just a rookie playing his first pro season—no need to exaggerate, right?”
Barely ten seconds in, one fan’s grin was splitting his face. “Don’t overhype it! This is just basic mechanics.”
His roommate, a fan of another team, shot him a deadpan glare. “…Basic mechanics, huh? Your team recruits one rookie, and you’re suddenly floating?”
Fan: “Hehehehe… cough.”
Roommate: “I swear I wanna smack you. Look at that smug face.”
Fan raised his chin. “What smug? I’m being modest! Modesty is a traditional virtue of our culture.”
Roommate sneered. “Then why are you smiling like that? Your mouth’s practically touching the ceiling.”
“I’ll smile if I want to! Smiling is my inalienable right as a citizen—hey! Stop! Don’t hit me! Damn it!!”
As he got chased and smacked around, the fan clutched his phone, trembling and refusing to look away from the screen.
When the blue-haired girl with the [Fenglan] ID solo-killed a pro mid at level 3, he grinned wickedly. “Woman… you’re good.”
When she dove bot lane alone, 1v4, and took down the enemy marksman, he flashed a row of white teeth. “Babe, that was sick!”
And when she danced through the jungle, in and out seven times, clutching to 30 HP and pulling off a 1v5…
“Holy—!” The fan froze, shoving his roommate away. “Stop hitting me! I can’t see! What the hell just happened?!”
Breathing hard, he rewound the video several times—but no matter how many times he watched, he could only barely track the Q-star trajectories.
How had they changed direction mid-flight? How had that R-blink been timed so perfectly, juking five opponents in a split second?
…Damn it, since when did watching Wind’s gameplay require a skill level this high?! I can’t even follow what’s happening!!
His brows furrowed; he drew in sharp breaths, questioning life itself.
The music built to a climax—Sui Ning’s combo at its peak.
His roommate wandered over, slipper in hand, took one look—and fell silent.
After a long pause, he spoke with difficulty: “…You know, my team ELG’s kinda short on a mid laner. The transfer window’s still open for one more day…”
The fan chuckled. “Screw off.”
——
There were plenty of fans just like that. Only after watching every single clip and highlight of Sui Ning they could possibly find did they finally wail in despair—
…Shit, it’s over. I’m actually in love this time.
Handsome and skilled—this kind of player was an esports nuclear bomb. Under PNG’s official post with that trending tag, the comment section looked like a war zone.
By the end of the afternoon, there wasn’t a single PNG fan who didn’t know who Sui Ning was.
Little Shark could only cry tears of mixed pain and joy while still shamelessly negotiating with PNG’s higher-ups about Sui Ning’s streaming contract.
Comment: Help—help—without Feng-bao’s personal account I’m gonna die—am I an orphan?? Don’t I deserve a home??
Comment: Just watched his clips—IS THIS REAL??? The top player in the entire server, and he’s on my team?? Am I dreaming??
Comment: Not gonna lie, I got completely charmed by the blue-haired girl after watching those plays… and I swear I’m not into lolis!!
Comment: Same… I think that little blue-haired hero is actually kinda hot… even though she’s supposed to be cute.
Comment: I’m built different—my boy Fan’en’s already been licked clean by me. I just wanna rip my brother’s clothes off huff huff huff
Comment: No offense, but I wanna see Feng-bao cosplay Fan’en. Monk robes. Nothing underneath. ^^
Comment: Damn, I’m already done.
Comment: LMAO, does no one here talk about actual gameplay??
Comment: Then you start the discussion, keyboard warrior. Come criticize the top player’s mechanics, I’m waiting! Maybe also drag Coach Chen’s recruiting judgment into it—oh wait, you’d have to insult God Yue next door too. You got the guts to fight Crispy Duck’s fans head-on, huh? ^^
Comment: This whole thread feels like “Finally waited for you, good thing I didn’t give up.” I’m dying of laughter hahahahaha
Comment: ^^ Dumb trolls trying to stir shit. You think Feng-bao doesn’t have fans??
Comment: I refuse to believe someone can be this good-looking unless I see it in person. Already bought tickets for his debut match, hehe.
All afternoon, whether it was face fans or skill fans, everyone crowded into the hashtag plaza for #IsThisTheEsportsMaleLeadYouImagined?# Snacks and sodas were running out of stock as people screamed for Sui Ning to open a personal page—then started staging linguistic protests when he didn’t.
Those who knew what was going on realized there were still three days left before PNG’s summer season opener. Those who didn’t probably thought PNG had declared war on someone.
Soon, PNG’s hashtags shot into the top three on trending searches:
#IsThisTheEsportsMaleLeadYouImagined?#
#TheEsportsNovelMaleLeadFinallyHasAFace!#
#AHandsomeAndSkilledMidLaner#
In the topic plaza, aside from Sui Ning’s official promo shots, everything else was gameplay reuploads, marketing fluff, and deranged fan comments like “Aaaaahhh,” “awsl,” and “I came, thank you, I’m blessed.”
Even so, fans kept clawing through the chaos, desperate to find any new crumb to obsess over, just to soothe their anguish at having nowhere else to scream.
But—whether by coincidence or deliberate timing—the newly popular esports drama My Jungle Belongs to You, which had just started airing, had eerily similar trending tags: #ThisIsTheFaceofYourDreamEsportsHero#, #TheEsportsNovelMaleLeadFinallyHasAFace#, etc. Clicking in, however, showed only unfiltered photos of rising star Xu Meng—his pale, luminous skin glowing on camera, along with a few close-up shots with Pei Siyuan that had commenters squealing “kswl” (I’m dying of sweetness).
When the topic first hit the hot search, Xu Meng’s fans were thrilled and dove straight into the comments:
Comment: Trending!!! Finally! Mengmeng’s hard work is being recognized!
Comment: I’m so moved I could cry quq—he’s such a good boy, he finally got the love he deserves!
Comment: Been a fan since his Idol Gas Station debut—Lemonies will always love our baby Mengmeng!!
Comment: Everyone, go support Mengmeng’s new drama My Jungle Belongs to You! He’s acting alongside God Pei! Their CP chemistry is insane!
Comment: So excited! In the next episode they’ll be fighting side by side on the pro stage quq!! I can’t wait!
Comment: The original novel even had a head-pat scene on stage—and a kiss… hehe, can’t wait!!
Comment: ……
Comment: …… Did I just time-travel?? What the actual hell is all this???
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