108. The Match Schedule 【Extra Update 14/98】
==============================
Lin Nan was far from in the mood for a competition; he’d been fretting over becoming a woman for the past few days and had barely touched a game.
Fortunately, Chen Yao was in a good state lately.
“Give me Yasuo! If I lose, I’ll chop off my hand!” Right at the start of hero selection, Dong An was swaggering like a peacock, “Ban Garen and Teemo! I’m gonna crush the enemy this match!”
“The other side has several Diamonds; you might just crash and burn,” Chen Yao replied, shaking his leg, looking surprisingly relaxed.
Lin Nan was perched on the edge, propping his chin in his hands, staring at the character banning screen on his computer, occasionally sneaking glances at the audience, and quickly looking down again.
So freaking embarrassing!
He had never stood on stage to be cheered by hundreds of people. Just thinking about the earlier events gave him goosebumps.
But this match was more than just nerves; a student filming the live stream barged onto the stage with a stabilizer-mounted phone and aimed the camera straight at Lin Nan, refusing to budge.
Lin Nan’s lip twitched as he glared up at the dude.
“The audience in the live stream insists on seeing you,” the guy explained with an awkward chuckle.
“Are you gonna jump off a building if they tell you to?” Lin Nan, already in a bad mood, shot back without hesitation, “If I lose this match, I’m blaming you!”
“Blame me, blame me.” The guy nodded dismissively, then set up camp in front of Lin Nan’s computer, snapping away at his face.
Lin Nan was at a loss with such a thick-skinned person and could only try to ignore him. He casually said to Dong An, “Pick me a robot.”
“Come on, play Fizz like a girl!”
Despite the teasing, Dong An obediently picked a hero for Lin Nan, then curiously glanced over at the “We’re Outta Here” team nearby.
“Just look at that skinny dude!”
Just a glance elicited a fierce glare from the fiery girl, Li Sisi.
The moment the filming guy heard it, he scurried over to sh**t Li Sisi, but her temper was way worse than Lin Nan’s. Seeing him approach, she unleashed a barrage of colorful language.
“WDNM! Get lost!”
So, the guy recoiled and fled.
Lin Nan watched, thinking the guy really lacked intimidation. When Li Sisi cursed, she did it with such fierce confidence, while he always scrunched up his brows, making him look weak and a bit pathetic.
Li Sisi didn’t come from a well-off background; Lin Nan knew she was on government support, had to take loans for college, and juggled part-time jobs. It made sense for her to compete here if she was good at games.
After all, there was a chance to snag a cool grand, and it was just a few matches.
From the host’s introduction, Lin Nan also learned that Li Sisi was a Diamond player, specializing as an ADC.
Before long, the match officially kicked off.
That student with the phone reappeared in front of Lin Nan again.
Just the thought of his face going live and attracting hundreds of viewers made Lin Nan even more anxious. He wasn’t like those pretty girls or handsome dudes who loved taking selfies and hated being the topic of discussion regarding gender and looks.
But he knew without thinking that the live chat was already an uproar.
Because he wasn’t paying attention, Lin Nan floundered during this match, and while Dong An, playing mid Yasuo, got stomped by the enemy’s mid Riven, he kept crying for Xiong Da to help.
Fortunately, Chen Yao played steadily; even though Lin Nan kept messing up, he single-handedly pushed through the bottom lane. About seven minutes in, the enemy’s bottom tower went down.
Next came a chain reaction of taking dragons, heralds, and pushing mid towers. Though Chen Yao wasn’t a pro, he had ample experience in fast-paced high-tier games, leading the “Pipixia We’re Going” team to a crushing defeat—it all ended in just twenty-two minutes.
Finally, Lin Nan breathed a sigh of relief and shot a glare at the persistent filmer still focused on him.
Having been demolished all game, Dong An vented his frustrations at Li Sisi, “DNM! Is mid-lane your dad or what?!”
Once he cursed, he noticed no one on the other side was responding and suddenly looked all gloomy and pouty, losing the bravado he had before the match.
“I’m gonna check the live stream.” He must have felt embarrassed, leaving with just that awkward line.
Lin Nan noted this guy seemed to have a pattern of being cocky before getting wrecked, not unlike Vegeta.
The match hadn’t been very enjoyable; that filming guy nearly shoved the camera into his face like some kind of maniac—rude and uncultured.
It left Lin Nan fuming. If he could beat that guy, he would’ve found a chance to give him a piece of his mind.
“What’s with you? You won yet you’re still not happy?” Chen Yao, focused on gaming, hadn’t noticed how Lin Nan was doing.
Xiong Da, sitting next to Lin Nan, casually explained, “That live streamer was a bit much.”
“Really?” Chen Yao moved toward the audience, glancing up at the stage, noticing the guy with the phone was focused on certain attractive female players and good-looking spectators, clearly trying to spice up the stream.
He wasn’t a fan of such behavior either, wrinkling his nose and muttering, “Must be brain-dead.”
“I’m heading back; nothing to see here.”
Lin Nan sighed, turning to leave for the dorm. Chen Yao hurried to follow him, but when he looked back, he saw Xiong Da and Tu Junhui had settled down to watch the match too.
He caught up to Lin Nan with a smile, “Once this match is done, it’ll be a breeze. Win two more next week, and we can pocket that grand! Happy?”
“Not happy.” Lin Nan stuffed his hands deep into his sun-protection jacket pockets, deliberately mimicking Dong An’s swaggering walk to look like a tough guy.
Chen Yao was at a loss. Since Lin Nan confessed to his parents, he seemed increasingly fixated on gender issues, often putting on a manly facade, which from the outside was just him being a tomboy.
“Is it because your operation is coming up?” he guessed.
“Hmm?” Lin Nan looked up, confused.
“You’ve been more concerned about changing into a girl lately, right before the surgery?”
Chen Yao inadvertently hit the nail on the head, making Lin Nan’s face cloud over. He felt a bit embarrassed and turned his head away.
He had once hoped he could revert to his former self, but now he had completely given up on that wish.
Before becoming a fully-fledged woman, Lin Nan just wanted to remain a man for a little longer.
