Chapter 47
The Seventh World’s fourth-anniversary event concluded successfully, thanks in no small part to the overwhelming fan response to the stunning appearances and seamless performances of Wuhuanxingyi and Jiduqiu. The fans were so enamored that even after the event ended, they lingered outside, hoping to catch just another glimpse of the two gaming legends.
It took considerable effort from the organizers to finally disperse the crowd.
However, the buzz continued to grow online. The Seventh World was already a popular game, with four years of enduring success and a large, dedicated fanbase. Seizing this opportunity, the organizers had preemptively arranged for the hashtag “Seventh World Fourth Anniversary Offline Competition” to trend, initially aiming to promote the game. But soon, the discussions in the trending topic were dominated by talk of Wuhuanxingyi and Jiduqiu’s striking looks.
The hype attracted even those who had never played the game, many of whom now vowed to download it immediately, eager to game alongside these “divine” looking players.
“The official team really hit the jackpot this time. I say, they should just allocate their promotional budget to Wuhuanxingyi and Jiduqiu from now on. Just have them make appearances now and then, and you’ll have a bunch of girls lining up to play this game.”
“Haha, that’s a solid suggestion! Let’s pitch it to Sister Ling; she might actually go for it.”
“Sister Ling must be grinning from ear to ear right now. Who would’ve thought that two such ethereal beings would emerge from what’s essentially a hangout for gaming shut-ins? They’re like the best brand ambassadors you could ask for—and free of charge!”
“No kidding, just having Wuhuanxingyi and Jiduqiu stand there, they’re like living advertisements. Didn’t you see? Someone’s already posted pictures of their performance online. With the stage effects, they look like they’ve stepped right out of the game.”
“The official Seventh World Weibo account just posted a video of their live performance. The comments section is going wild. Gamers are saying they’ve come straight out of the game, and even non-gamers are saying they could stare at their faces all day. Damn, it must be nice to be that good-looking! I want that kind of attention, too.”
…
After the event, the organizers hosted a dinner at a nearby five-star hotel for all participants, and naturally, the conversation centered around Wuhuanxingyi and Jiduqiu.
However, the stars of the show were absent, having been invited to a private room by the event’s top executives for a discussion.
The purpose wasn’t just to show them special treatment; there was something they wanted to discuss.
“I never expected the top players in our game to be so good-looking. And it seems like you two knew each other before this?” Sister Ling asked with a smile as she handed them both drinks.
They accepted the drinks politely, exchanged a glance, and Gu Yang smiled and nodded, “Yes, we know each other.”
Sister Ling, who had spent many years in the business world, was quick to pick up on things. The fact that Gu Yang had specifically requested to join Lin Xiaoran’s segment, without letting Lin Xiaoran know, made it clear there was more to their story.
But after hearing Gu Yang’s answer, she realized that this was a story she probably wouldn’t get to hear.
Not that she minded; she chatted with them briefly before getting straight to the point. “I have an idea I’d like to run by you two. Let me know if you’re interested, okay?”
“Please, go ahead,” Gu Yang replied.
Lin Xiaoran was a man of few words, so it was perfect that Gu Yang handled the conversation while Lin Xiaoran focused on his meal. He had been dragged to makeup and rehearsal earlier, leaving him with barely a bite of lunch, and was now quite hungry, paying little attention to anything else.
Gu Yang noticed how hungry he was; Lin Xiaoran even skipped his usual favorite shrimp, opting for the dishes closest to him, stuffing his cheeks full with food.
Unable to help but smile, Gu Yang moved the shrimp closer to himself and started peeling them as he listened to Sister Ling.
“Here’s the thing,” Sister Ling began. “In recent years, the e-sports industry has been growing rapidly. Our company has decided that starting next year, Seventh World will host a national professional league. The minor league will begin online next month. Since this is just the beginning, professional players will be recruited from the online game community. Currently, most of the teams that have signed up are collaborations between investors and in-game guilds. You two belong to Bihai Pavilion and Xuan Yu Sect, the top two guilds in the game, and both have confirmed they will form teams to compete in the minor league and try to qualify for the main league. I’m here to ask if either of you would be interested in joining the teams as professional e-sports players.”
The news that Seventh World would host a professional e-sports league had been circulating for some time. The grand scale of the anniversary event was partly intended to build momentum for the upcoming league.
However, Lin Xiaoran and Gu Yang weren’t aware of this, as they didn’t spend much time in the game outside of solo duels.
Hearing this for the first time, even Lin Xiaoran couldn’t help but momentarily shift his attention from his meal and look at Sister Ling.
But after a brief moment of surprise, he simply responded, “I’m not participating,” and prepared to continue eating.
Just then, he noticed Gu Yang peeling shrimp, with a pile of shrimp shells beside him and half a bowl of shrimp in front of him.
Gu Yang didn’t like eating shrimp, did he?
Well, it wasn’t that he didn’t like it. After staying at the Gu family for a while, Lin Xiaoran had observed that Gu Yang didn’t seem to have any strong preferences when it came to food. He wasn’t picky and ate everything, but he didn’t like to eat things that required extra effort, like shrimp that needed peeling.
So why was he taking the time to peel shrimp today?
Lin Xiaoran took another curious glance.
Gu Yang noticed his gaze, smiled a little wider, and still managed to speak to the slightly taken aback Sister Ling, who had been rather bluntly rejected, “He’s in his senior year of high school, preparing for the college entrance exams.”
Sister Ling finally understood, smiling and nodding, “Senior year, huh? Then, of course, you need to focus on your studies.”
Despite her understanding response, Sister Ling couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
After all, the e-sports industry was becoming increasingly driven by fanbases. A player with Lin Xiaoran’s looks would attract fans to the team, even if he didn’t perform well. Especially with the Seventh World just beginning its journey into e-sports, his participation would have drawn significant attention to the entire league.
She never imagined that someone who played the game so well would still be preparing for college entrance exams.
It might also be her own bias; she always thought that people who enjoyed playing games were probably not focused on their studies.
However, her disappointment was brief. She quickly shifted her attention to Gu Yang. She had originally planned to bring both of them over, each to join a different team, and with their experience in online games, the official hype could quickly create a “love-hate” storyline.
Now it seemed there was no chance for that, but having Gu Yang alone would still work.
“So, Gu Yang, are you interested?” Sister Ling asked.
“Can I think it over?” Gu Yang replied.
As soon as Gu Yang finished speaking, Lin Xiaoran beside him turned his head, his thick eyelashes fluttering lightly, clearly surprised by Gu Yang’s response.
Seeing his puzzled expression, Gu Yang couldn’t help but smile and handed over a bowl of peeled shrimp he had prepared, saying, “Eat first, I’ll tell you later.”
The confusion in Lin Xiaoran’s clear eyes vanished, and his lips curved into a slight smile as he began eating the shrimp.
Sister Ling, who was pleased by Gu Yang’s response and thought there might still be room for negotiation, suddenly froze upon seeing this scene. Her gaze kept shifting between the two boys across from her.
The reserved young man was now focused on eating the shrimp with a slight smile, which seemed to indicate he was quite happy. The other young man beside him looked on with obvious delight.
Feeling her gaze, Gu Yang looked up and met Sister Ling’s knowing, inquisitive eyes.
Gu Yang wasn’t embarrassed by being seen through; he maintained his sunny, confident smile and continued, “Give me two days. I’ll call Sister Ling then.”
Sister Ling, who had been eager to dig into the gossip, suddenly felt uninterested when faced with Gu Yang’s calm demeanor. She smiled and said, “Alright, we really hope you’ll join us. We’ll offer you a very generous contract if you agree.”
The offline competition in the afternoon had indeed taken up a lot of time. By the time they finished dinner, it was already past nine in the evening, and by the time they were done eating, it was nearing eleven.
The organizers had already booked a hotel for them, but Gu Yang and Lin Xiaoran hadn’t anticipated staying out so late, so they couldn’t return home that night.
Since learning that Lin Xiaoran was an omega, the Gu family had treated him like a protected species. It was late, so how could he not go home?
At that moment, Lin Xiaoran was on the phone explaining, “Grandma, Gu Yang and I are together, don’t worry.”
After some back-and-forth, Grandma Gu finally relented, “Let Gu Yang talk to me.”
The phone was handed to Gu Yang, and Grandma Gu immediately began her usual nagging, “Gu Yang, take good care of Xiaoran, understand? Don’t let him out of your sight. If it weren’t so late, I’d have sent a driver to pick you up. How can Xiaoran stay out overnight? Oh well, it’s too late now, and Xiaoran needs to rest. Just keep an eye out and make sure Xiaoran isn’t left alone. It’s too dangerous, you know?”
The call was on speaker, so Grandma Gu’s words were all heard by Lin Xiaoran, who leaned aside and couldn’t help but roll his eyes, feeling speechless about being treated like the focal point of protection.
Gu Yang looked at him with a smile and shook his head. He couldn’t help but think that maybe being with Lin Xiaoran was actually the most dangerous situation.
“Alright, I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to bring him back in one piece tomorrow. It’s late, so you and Grandpa should get some rest.”
After hanging up with Grandma Gu, Lin Xiaoran was about to head upstairs with the room key when Gu Yang’s phone rang again. Gu Yang checked and answered, “Uncle Yang, is there something up so late?”
After a brief exchange, Gu Yang’s brow furrowed slightly before he responded succinctly, “Handle it.”
He ended the call and handed his phone to Lin Xiaoran, who saw the message from Uncle Yang. It was a few screenshots from Weibo, revealing their personal information.
It turned out that their participation in the 7th World’s fourth-anniversary event had led to their performance video being uploaded online, and many netizens were amazed. Consequently, a lot of people were asking for information about them.
Coincidentally, someone who knew them had revealed their details.
While it wasn’t a huge issue, it was problematic since both of them disliked being disturbed, and with the college entrance exams coming up, it could be troublesome if someone went overboard and followed them to school.
Gu Yang knew that Lin Xiaoran disliked such things, so he had someone handle the information online.
Lin Xiaoran frowned slightly after reading the message. He indeed disliked this kind of attention, but ultimately, it was his own oversight for not anticipating that participating in an offline event could lead to such a situation. Were netizens really that idle?
“Don’t worry, the information was just posted. It should already be removed from the internet, so not many people will see it,” Gu Yang said, noticing the small signs of frustration on Lin Xiaoran’s face. He gently squeezed Lin Xiaoran’s hand and reassured him in a soft voice.
Lin Xiaoran nodded, and decided not to dwell on it. He was the type to regret and feel frustrated about things that had already happened, but only for a brief moment. It was pointless to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed; it was just a waste of time.
He then looked up at Gu Yang and asked, “Do you plan to become a professional player?”
Lin Xiaoran had wanted to ask this earlier during dinner. It was a bit surprising to him; he didn’t think Gu Yang seemed like the type to pursue such a career.
“Well,” Gu Yang hesitated for a moment, pulling Lin Xiaoran upstairs as he spoke, “to be precise, I’m quite interested in game development. I plan to study computer science in college and eventually start a business in game development. The esports industry is becoming more developed in the country, and future games will likely head in that direction. I want to try it out myself; it might be helpful for my future game development.”
Gu Yang’s voice was pleasant to listen to, usually carrying a lazy tone, but now it sounded different—though not serious, it conveyed a sense of earnestness and maturity.
Lin Xiaoran looked at him, seeing his well-defined profile and the confident smile at the corner of his mouth. Gu Yang seemed quite handsome with this serious and confident demeanor.
Lin Xiaoran suddenly recalled that Gu Yang was quite good at many games. He himself played games casually, but Gu Yang seemed to excel in several games. Previously, people thought Gu Yang was a poor student who only played games during class, but now it seemed he might have been preparing for his future all along.
Seeing this earnest and confident side of Gu Yang, Lin Xiaoran thought he looked quite cool.
Noticing Lin Xiaoran’s gaze, Gu Yang turned to him with a slight raise of his eyebrows, his amber eyes holding a gentle smile. He asked, “What do you think?”
Lin Xiaoran was momentarily taken aback, feeling that Gu Yang wasn’t asking just casually but was genuinely seeking his opinion.
He thought about it seriously and nodded, “I think it’s great.”
Gu Yang smiled and nodded, “That’s good. But since it’s the senior year, it’s quite hectic. I think I’ll wait until after the college entrance exams.” He then suddenly remembered something and looked at Lin Xiaoran, asking, “What about you? What do you want to do in the future?”
The topic had shifted unexpectedly, leaving Lin Xiaoran a bit confused, but he didn’t mind too much. “A doctor.”
“Studying medicine?” Gu Yang looked him up and down with a smile, imagining Lin Xiaoran in a white coat, and nodded approvingly, “Not bad, I think it suits you.”
As they talked, they had arrived outside the guest room. Lin Xiaoran took out the room key and opened the door. He waved to say goodbye to Gu Yang, but saw that Gu Yang had already walked past him into the room and pulled him in, closing the door behind them.
Inside the room, Lin Xiaoran watched as Gu Yang sprawled out on the bed, blinking in confusion. “What are you doing?”
It was almost midnight, and instead of going to his own room, Gu Yang was lying here. What was that supposed to mean?
Gu Yang turned on his side, propping his head up with one hand, and grinned at Lin Xiaoran. “Did you forget? Grandma reminded me to keep a close watch on you and not let you be alone. So… I’m staying here tonight.”
Lin Xiaoran: “…”
His thick eyelashes fluttered rapidly. Lin Xiaoran walked over and kicked Gu Yang’s foot, coldly saying, “Get out! Don’t make me get physical.”
What was wrong with this guy? Even though Lin Xiaoran wasn’t exactly the most self-aware omega, he knew he shouldn’t be sharing a bed with an alpha. Didn’t Gu Yang always remind him to be aware of his status as an omega? Why was he being so unreasonable today?
Of course, Gu Yang didn’t leave. He rolled around on the bed, moving away from Lin Xiaoran, and looked back with a mischievous smile. “What? Have you finally realized you’re an omega and are worried about… being with me?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Xiaoran shot him a cold look that effectively silenced him.
Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere with his teasing, Gu Yang awkwardly sat up, rubbed his nose, and cleared his throat. He wanted to say something to ease the awkwardness, but Lin Xiaoran suddenly walked over, bent down, and stared into his eyes.
Their gazes locked, and Gu Yang was momentarily stunned.
The excitement Lin Xiaoran had been holding back since the afternoon suddenly erupted, causing Gu Yang to lose control. He reached out to pull Lin Xiaoran closer, but Lin Xiaoran straightened up, distancing himself and looking down at him from above. “Gu Yang, you’re really strange!”
Gu Yang: “…”
Looking at his empty hand, which had failed to pull Lin Xiaoran closer, he felt a bit disappointed.
Lin Xiaoran continued, “You’ve been avoiding me until yesterday. Even when we had dinner together last night, it was still weird, like you were avoiding me. Now you’re not avoiding me anymore and even want to stay in my room!”
Gu Yang couldn’t help but reach out again, grabbing Lin Xiaoran’s wrist and pulling him closer. He looked up into his eyes with a smile and asked, “Do you really want to know?”