Chapter 92 p1
Chi Lin slept soundly that night, holding Lou Mi close.
Lou Mi turned off all electronic devices so Chi Lin could rest and be at her best for the finals tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Chi Lin woke up before the alarm.
She had just opened her eyes when Lou Mi, as if summoned, also woke up.
“What time is it?” Lou Mi’s voice was soft and sleepy.
“It’s still early,” Chi Lin said. “I need to get up and prepare.”
Lou Mi realized she had been using Chi Lin’s arm as a pillow all night and sat up abruptly: “Is your arm numb?”
Chi Lin moved her arm slightly. It was indeed numb…
But it was a minor issue, it would be fine after a bit of movement.
“It’s fine.” As she got up, Chi Lin asked, “What do you want for breakfast? I’ll order for you.”
“Are you having breakfast with me here?”
“I haven’t been around these past few days, I don’t know what you’ve been eating. I have some time today, I’ll make sure you eat properly.”
That thoughtful care again.
Lou Mi felt both happy and awkward, wanting to peek inside Chi Lin’s mind and see if she was looking at her, or at the “Empress,” who might look completely different.
“I can eat by myself,” Lou Mi said. “I’m a grown-up, I should be the one supervising you. Come on, what do you want? Sister will buy it for you.”
Lou Mi enthusiastically ordered a table full of breakfast for Chi Lin: porridge, coffee, fruits, vegetables, enough for a small army.
The nurse, struggling to carry the food, looked at Lou Mi curiously:
“Just the two of you, eating all this?”
Lou Mi said, “My little sister is still growing, she needs to eat more, thank you.”
The nurse glanced at Chi Lin, surprised that such a slender girl had such a big appetite, eating so much and still staying slim. It was infuriating.
After breakfast, Lou Mi browsed her phone, then put it down and announced she was going to watch the match live.
“Why?” Chi Lin thought she was restless and wanted to go out.
But seeing her expression, sensing another emotion, and recalling some of the online comments she had seen, Chi Lin understood.
“Don’t mind those things,” she comforted Lou Mi.
“It’s not about minding them or not,” Lou Mi said. “I want the world to see your true strength. Your hard work shouldn’t be tarnished by those malicious comments. What’s yours is yours, no one can take it away. Or do you not want me to watch your match? I’ve never cheered for you in person.”
Lou Mi’s initial fierceness, her eyes sharp, quickly softened into a playful tone, the sudden shift almost throwing Chi Lin off balance.
“But your injuries…” Chi Lin tried to persuade her.
“I’m the Empress, I decide.”
Lou Mi, seamlessly switching between being jealous of the Empress and being the Empress herself, looked at Chi Lin with imperial authority.
Chi Lin sighed, defeated:
“I’ll ask Uncle Lou.”
“Why ask Old Lou? I can make my own decisions.”
The final match of the Winter World Cup was scheduled for Saturday at 8 pm.
Before the tournament began, people had doubts about Nine Heavens, having lost two key players, A Bao and Xiao V.
They felt that Nine Heavens’ peak was over, even with HighTowerMiyuki, whose performance had also declined.
This year’s World Cup would be a turning point for Nine Heavens.
They might succeed in their transformation, or they might struggle.
The key to their success or failure rested on HighTowerMiyuki.
Everyone was waiting for her performance, but who would have thought that Nine Heavens, without their star player, would still dominate their opponents?
Lin’s appearance was a complete surprise.
Not just the professional player “Lin,” but also the popular online persona, the fairy sister. Her sudden rise to fame was baffling.
Whether she was a real person or a manufactured internet celebrity was a topic of much debate.
Now, her sudden appearance in the professional scene, instantly reaching the top and defeating seasoned veterans, made many suspect some kind of scheme.
Perhaps “Lin” was just a cover for Nine Heavens, a professional player using a pseudonym.
Or even HighTowerMiyuki herself.
Who else possessed such overwhelming power?
Her playstyle and movements weren’t something just anyone could imitate.
Even her disciple, A Bao, an incredibly talented player, hadn’t mastered HighTowerMiyuki’s essence before leaving Nine Heavens.
This “Lin” was ENIAC’s last resort, or perhaps even HighTowerMiyuki herself.
Many speculated this to be the case.
The skeptics believed that “Lin” was HighTowerMiyuki’s safety net.
If she continued playing under her own name and lost, it would shatter her legend, disappoint millions of fans, and make her a villain of the era.
But with this new persona, even if she lost, people would just think it was normal for a young player to lose, no one would blame her.
HighTowerMiyuki was getting old, she was scared, and she was hiding behind an alt account.
“ENIAC is scared, Nine Heavens is scared, and HighTowerMiyuki is even more scared.”
This sentiment had persisted since the last match.
These online criticisms shifted with the wind.
Before “Lin” dominated the competition, they called ENIAC crazy.
After “Lin” won the MVP title, they called HighTowerMiyuki a coward.
But for every hater, there was a loyal fan.
Lou Mi and Chi Lin had their individual fan bases, and the “Snow Vegetable” CP fans couldn’t stand it anymore, taking their battles from private groups to the public forums, arguing with the haters for days.
Lou Mi usually ignored these comments.
Over the years, she had developed a thick skin. She could see through their intentions, and engaging with them was a waste of time.
But this involved Chi Lin.
Chi Lin had stepped up to help when Lou Mi asked, without a single complaint, putting herself in the spotlight for Lou Mi’s sake.
She carried the burden of her nation’s restoration, had to deal with school and exams, and now had to play professionally.
Even if Chi Lin was a talented prodigy, she was still human and would get tired. Lou Mi couldn’t bear to let those malicious comments hurt her.
Today, no one could stop her. Lou Mi had to be there, to shut those bastards up.
“Mi Mi is discharged again?” Lou Lixing, receiving Chi Lin’s message, wasn’t surprised at all.
It would be surprising if Lou Mi actually stayed put in the hospital.
“Okay, be careful. Your mother and I will also be there tonight, have Mi Mi save us some seats. By the way, Little Lin, what’s your favorite cheering color? Red or green? Blue or white? We’ll buy some light sticks to cheer for you!”
Chi Lin: “…”
Chi Lin’s fan base had sprung up overnight. As she and Lou Mi arrived at the live stream building, they saw a hot air balloon floating in the distance.
Beneath the balloon hung a giant poster of Chi Lin’s smiling face, with the words “Young Master Lin Reigns Supreme.”
“Young, Young Master? Reigns Supreme?” Chi Lin’s hair stood on end.
This title was too much.
Having been a loyal subject her entire life, Chi Lin felt uneasy being labeled a rebel leader.
Lou Mi, enjoying the spectacle, pointed to the cheering fans in the distance.
Chi Lin glanced over and blushed.
The scene on the ground was even more extravagant.
There was a designated cheering area beneath the building. For major competitions, fans would arrive early to secure the best spots and display giant banners for their favorite players.
The entire right side of the building was covered with Chi Lin’s face, a sea of cheering fans.
The other side was Lou Mi’s cheering section. Whether Lou Mi was present or not, her fans were always there.
Their individual fan bases and the CP fans practically surrounded the building, leaving only small corners for other players’ banners.
Chants echoed through the air. Someone had decided that Chi Lin’s cheer would be “Young Master Lin Reigns Supreme,” and the Snow Vegetable CP fans combined their cheers, creating a rhythmic chant:
“Young Master Lin Reigns Supreme! Sister Lou Conquers All!”
The chants surged in waves.
The Nine Heavens team bus arrived, and everyone inside heard the cheers, looking at Chi Lin and Lou Mi in the back row with amusement.
Xie Buyu chuckled: “You two are about to conquer the world.”
Chi Lin pretended to look at the scenery, while Lou Mi accepted the attention with a smile:
“Ah, this cursed popularity.”
The match was about to begin. Lou Mi no longer needed the wheelchair and could walk on her own.
She took Lou Lixing and Peng Ziyuan to the best seats, then glanced back and told them to wait, heading towards the back.
“Mi Mi?” Lou Lixing, seeing her approach a group of fans, was slightly worried.
The security guards immediately focused on Lou Mi. She took something from her fans, causing a burst of screams, then went to Chi Lin’s fans, creating another commotion.
When she returned, she had a “Lin” sticker on her cheek and two small fans in her hands, one her own cheering fan, the other Chi Lin’s. She held them together, their translucent material making their faces overlap as if they were printed together.
She had wanted to get one from the CP fans, but their designs were all of the two of them almost kissing, a bit too embarrassing.
Lou Mi’s appearance at the venue caused a stir.
The internet exploded, saying that Lou Mi was desperately trying to prove “Lin” wasn’t her alt account.
The CP fans focused on the main point: Lou Mi was there to cheer for Chi Lin, holding her cheering fan and wearing her sticker, and they were ecstatic.
The Snow Vegetable CP group chat was a flurry of celebratory messages.
After their defeat against Nine Heavens in the previous match, FSH had spent days devising strategies to counter Lin.
Before the match, Lou Mi and the technical advisors agreed on a plan: Huhu would be the main damage dealer in the beginning, catching their opponents off guard.
Once they were thrown into disarray, Chi Lin would step in, disrupting their rhythm.
“They’ll definitely think Chi Lin is our secret weapon, our core player.” Lou Mi smiled. “Don’t forget, everyone in Nine Heavens is elite.”
As expected, FSH focused on Chi Lin from the start, trying to contain her.
Chi Lin willingly engaged them, drawing their attention while Huhu secured the first kill.
Huhu, usually a shy and reserved boy, transformed in the game, his playstyle aggressive and opportunistic.
Anyone targeted by him was as good as dead.
However, FSH was a strong team that had reached the finals, two of their core players consistently ranking in the top ten of Return to Jianghu’s global leaderboard. They were formidable opponents.
Huhu’s initial attack failed to secure a kill, giving FSH a chance to counterattack.
He was immediately surrounded, but Fu Tu and Xie Buyu, working together seamlessly, rescued him before he became the first casualty.
Just as they were covering Huhu’s retreat, the first kill notification appeared.
Lin had killed their mage!
The crowd erupted!
Lou Mi grabbed Lou Lixing’s wrist, her heart pounding!
Chi Lin’s reflexes and ability to seize opportunities were perhaps even better than Lou Mi’s!
In such a critical moment, she had reacted swiftly, using her teammates as bait, and launched a decisive counterattack.
This wasn’t something that could be learned from watching a few matches or attending a few meetings.
It was pure instinct.
The era of cold weapon warfare was a distant memory for Lou Mi, but watching Chi Lin’s relentless advance on the screen, she felt transported to a real battlefield.
Chi Lin had told her about her time on the front lines, commanding hundreds of thousands of troops in large-scale battles.
It was a brutal world, a life-or-death struggle.
Chi Lin had returned from the abyss of death, bringing back not just her life, but also a calm mind and vast combat experience.
Return to Jianghu, this ancient-style holographic game, seemed tailor-made for her…
FSH’s core players were strong, but they couldn’t gain any advantage against Chi Lin in one-on-one combat.
They were puzzled. This player was too fierce…
They had encountered many skilled and aggressive opponents in their professional careers, but this was different.
Facing Lin, it wasn’t like competing for a championship, but fighting for their lives.
She was giving it her all.
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