Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

The door to the practice room was suddenly pushed open a crack.

A staff member poked his head out and quickly scanned the room.

"Jiang Zhiyu," she called out in a low voice.

Jiang Zhiyu, who was repeatedly practicing the same action in front of the mirror, vaguely heard his own name and turned his head to look.

The staff member beckoned to him, signaling him to come out.

There were few people in the practice room at noon, and the athletes who were practicing did not notice the commotion.

Jiang Zhiyu gently pushed open the door and lowered his voice, "What's wrong?"

"Director Hong is looking for you," a staff member whispered a reminder.

He followed the other person to the program team's office area, stopped in front of a closed door, the staff member pointed to the "Director's Office" sign on the door, and then turned and left.

Jiang Zhiyu pushed open the door and immediately saw Lin Shi sitting on the sofa facing the door, laughing heartily. Several dishes were laid out on the table in front of him.

Upon seeing familiar faces, Jiang Zhiyu's tense back relaxed, and he said with a hint of helplessness, "I've only been here for two days."

Lin Shi defended himself: "I came to talk to Director Hong about something, and I brought you some food by the way."

Hong Liu, the tool person who had just been notified not far away: "?"

Jiang Zhiyu, who already knew Lin Shide's character, was too lazy to listen to his sophistry. He took a long stride and sat down on the sofa opposite him.

Lin Shi pointed to his face, quickly changing the subject: "Your mole?"

"It's too obvious, so it's been covered up."

Jiang Zhiyu gave a nonchalant reply, picked up his chopsticks, and took a bite of rice.

"No wonder no one recognized you."

Seeing that his ancestor, who didn't like to eat, was willing to do him a favor, Lin Shi patted his thigh in satisfaction.

"So what's up?" Jiang Zhiyu, who was engrossed in eating, glanced up at Lin Shi, interrupting his smugness.

Lin Shi suddenly looked troubled and ran a tuft of his already thinning hair: "The son of a relative of one of RXG's sponsors has run away from home."

"...What does this have to do with me?"

He's come looking for you.

"Cough cough—"

Jiang Zhiyu was caught off guard and choked on the soup he had just tasted, covering his mouth and coughing a few times.

Seeing this, Lin Shi hurriedly pulled out a few tissues and stuffed them into Jiang Zhiyu's hand: "Drink slowly, drink slowly! No rush!"

"He came to me, what does that mean?" Jiang Zhiyu suppressed a cough and repeated the question word by word.

The person who said this also felt it was a bit absurd, and shrugged: "They said they heard that you came to participate in this show and abandoned your blind date at the dinner party."

Hong Liu, who had been pretending to be mute, couldn't help but interject, "And then? Where did they run off to?"

"They didn't explain the specifics clearly... They were hesitant when they told me about it. I thought we could cooperate to look for it, but they still haven't sent a photo I asked for, and now they're not replying to my messages at all."

Lin Shi poured Jiang Zhiyu a glass of water and continued, "Anyway, just be a little careful from now on. If there are any problems, have Director Hong contact me."

Jiang Zhiyu brought the cup to his lips and took small sips, his voice muffled: "I know."

The lunch break in the cafeteria was almost over, and the sound of people walking by could be heard from outside the door.

He hurriedly finished the last two bites of his meal, and before leaving, he couldn't help but turn back and complain, "Don't keep coming here."

"Okay, sure."

Lin Shi smiled broadly, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of having Jiang Zhiyu project his emotions onto him.

Only he himself knows how difficult it was to transform the boy, who had just turned 16 and joined the club with a dark and cold soul, and who relied on hurting himself for pleasure, into the vibrant and hopeful person he is today.

After leaving the director's office, Jiang Zhiyu went downstairs through the stairwell and headed towards the practice room.

When we were two floors away from our destination, we could faintly hear conversations coming from below.

"What do you mean?" Mi Lan's voice was distinctive, and at this moment, it carried a suppressed irritation.

Another voice was also familiar; Jiang Zhiyu had just been stopped by the owner of that voice that morning: "I must debut."

"Did I stop you from debuting?! What are you doing trying to pull that stunt on me?"

"...I have no other choice."

"You did, didn't you jump on the bandwagon yesterday when you saw Jiang Zhiyu getting a first-class A and it was generating a lot of buzz?" Mi Lan's tone was full of contempt.

Upon suddenly hearing his own name, Jiang Zhiyu was forced to stop in his tracks, unsure whether to go up or down, and froze on the spot.

"Milan..." Wang Yan softened her tone, "You know my family situation..."

"Stop," Mi Lan interrupted him. "Don't try to put on your movie star act of imitating life and life imitating drama in front of me."

Wang Yan did not reply, and the two fell into a silence.

The third person on the stairs waited quietly for a while, estimating that the awkward conversation should be over, and was just about to continue downstairs.

"Yes, I'm ruthless, I'm hypocritical." Wang Yan's voice suddenly rose. "And what about you? You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, and everyone fawns over you whenever you want to do anything. What makes you so superior?"

Jiang Zhiyu abruptly closed his eyes, and Mi Lan below immediately exploded. He roared, "Wang Yan! Ever since you joined the company, haven't I been the one mentoring you? Now you're smearing me and using me. What have I said publicly?!"

I can't stay here any longer.

Jiang Zhiyu, who considered himself to prioritize avoiding trouble, decisively turned back and decided to take a detour from other floors.

Mi Lan was still yelling: "Before we even joined the show, you were spreading false rumors everywhere, saying I bullied you. Did I ever clarify anything? During the initial stage performance, you faked a fall and I wanted to help you up, but you twisted it into me pushing you. I don't even need to think about what people outside are saying about me. Have I ever explained anything? I still consider you a friend, so why am I still your teammate? Am I cheap?!...

The almost out-of-control voice was cut off as Jiang Zhiyu gently closed the iron door of the stairwell. The staunch materialist breathed a sigh of relief and began to seriously doubt whether he was having a bad day.

Jiang Zhiyu, whose path was blocked, took a long detour before finally returning to Class A's practice room. By then, the practice room had become lively, with many trainees from other classes wearing different colored clothes coming to Class A to watch and visit.

Jiang Zhiyu silently walked back to the quiet corner. He had just sat down cross-legged and was about to watch the instructional video again when he heard the door to the practice room being violently pushed open.

A loud creak drew the attention of everyone in the room.

The person who pushed open the door was Mi Lan. His face was ashen, his eyes were red, and he had no control over his expression whatsoever.

Following behind was Wang Yan, whose expression remained unchanged; he even smiled and greeted the others.

"Who has upset him again?"

A trainee from another class was quietly complaining to the person next to him, and just then the room fell silent for a moment, so his words were clearly heard by everyone.

His face flushed red, and he stood there, at a loss for what to do.

Neither Mi Lan nor Wang Yan seemed inclined to speak, and the eerie silence continued, making the trainee who had said the wrong thing even more embarrassed.

Meanwhile, a new round of criticism against Mi Lan also erupted in the Class A exclusive live stream room:

Is Milan a superhero?

Why is he so short-tempered? Living and working with him must be so exhausting. Another day of feeling sorry for his teammates.

"I had insomnia last night, which caused Milan to not get enough rest either. I'm really picky about my bed."

Jiang Zhiyu broke the silence, awkwardly trying to smooth things over.

Mi Lan, who had been standing quietly to the side, suddenly looked up at him, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

The atmosphere in the practice room instantly relaxed, and everyone tacitly followed the steps to chat.

"I'm having trouble sleeping too; the bed in my dorm is so hard!"

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't sleep well last night either. When I got up this morning, I wanted to kick the grass by the roadside!"

"At this point, I really envy people who have good sleep quality."

"Don't say anything, or you'll probably sleep even worse in the future."

Amidst the chattering and discussion, the tense atmosphere completely dissipated.