Chapter 3 — Guess, MVP Heiress Has Returned

The Luc family's old house is located in a quiet alley, where Yen Chi grew up with many warm and heavy memories. She entered the living room at five o'clock in the afternoon, right on time, seeing her parents already sitting on the sofa, and Y Nhi sitting next to her mother, her hands clasped together on her lap, a familiar timid look.

Luc Thanh Nam, her father, stood up first, his face serious but unable to hide his expectation. On the tea table, a piece of paper was already placed, the ink was still fresh, the title "Application to cede official player position — VCC National Championship Qualifier" was clearly visible. Yen Chi looked at that piece of paper and felt like she was seeing the death sentence of her previous life appearing in flesh and blood.

"Yen Chi, sit down," Hoang Thi Nga said, her voice gentle but a bit forced. "Let's discuss this clearly with the whole family. There's nothing to be nervous about."

Yen Chi sat down, back straight, eyes not avoiding anyone in the room. She realized that from this moment, her attitude was completely different from her previous life - no longer the inherent timidity of a child who always tries to please her parents, but the calmness of someone who has died and understands the price of concession.

Luc Thanh Nam picked up the application and pushed it towards her. "You also know, the team's internal transfer period is about to end. The coaching staff is considering between you and Y Nhi for the official mid lane position. Mom and Dad think, you're the older sister, you already have a lot of medals, this year give her a chance, let her prove herself, what do you think?"

"I don't agree," Yen Chi replied, her voice not loud but so decisive that the whole living room seemed to pause for a moment.

Y Nhi raised her head, her eyes were red as if she was about to cry, her lips pursed. "You... you don't have to say it so directly."

"I'm just telling the truth," Yen Chi turned to look at her sister, her eyes did not contain any anger, only the cold calm of someone who had made up her mind. "The official mid laner position of the Bach Ung Gaming team, I won by playing performance, by training stats, by the head coach's evaluation over the past six months. This is not a gift I have the right to give to anyone, not even my biological sister."

"Yen Chi!" Luc Thanh Nam growled, his face slightly red with anger. "Can you hear me saying that? Have you forgotten everything your parents taught you from childhood?"

"Dad taught me that the strong must yield to the weak," Yen Chi replied, undeterred. "But have my parents ever asked Y Nhi if she is really ready for that position, or if she simply wants it because she has it?"

Y Nhi burst into tears, her voice choked. "Are you looking down on me by saying that? I train just as hard as you, it's just because I don't have as many official competition opportunities as you, so my performance hasn't been recognized yet!"

Yen Chi looked at her sister, a complicated feeling arose in her heart - both sad because she was still her biological sister, and tough because she clearly understood that behind those tears, her past life contained a smoldering jealousy enough to destroy her entire life.

"You're right, I don't underestimate your abilities," Yen Chi said, her voice softening a bit but her stance not wavering. "But the way to prove your ability is not to accept a position given to you by someone else, but to win it yourself with real achievements on the practice field, in friendly matches, and in the evaluation of the coaching staff. If the head coach, after objective consideration, decides that you are more worthy than me in this position, I will accept it without a word of complaint. But I will not arbitrarily withdraw just because of family pressure."

The room fell into a heavy silence. Hoang Thi Nga raised her hand to rub her forehead, her voice somewhat helpless. "Yen Chi, you are my older sister, why are you calculating with your younger sibling like that? In the past, you were not like this."

"In the past, I was wrong," Yen Chi replied directly, looking straight at her mother. "I used to think that giving in unconditionally was love, but I've come to understand that it's just the fastest way to lose yourself without anyone in your family realizing that loss until it's too late."

Luc Thanh Nam stood up, his voice raised, he rarely showed such anger. "Do you think our parents favor your younger brother? Do you think this is easy for us? We just want our whole family to get along. If you give in to your younger brother just once, what's wrong with it?"

"I lost my entire career, dad," Yen Chi replied, her voice not shaking even though she was having to suppress a pain in her heart as memories of her past life came rushing back - the image of herself huddled on a cold floor, alone, waiting to die while her whole family had long since turned their backs. "My parents call it 'giving in once', but for me, it's trading my whole future in exchange for temporary peace at home. I've made that trade-off before. And I won't do it again."

Y Nhi stood up, tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling and filled with hurt. "You talk like I'm the one stealing your position. I just want a chance, why are you so selfish?"

The two words "selfish" rang out in the living room like a familiar knife, exactly what the whole family had used to accuse her in her previous life. But this time, Yen Chi did not back down from it.

"It's not selfish of me to keep what belongs to me," she replied, her voice slow but each word as firm as a nail. "Selfishness is when one person demands that others make unconditional sacrifices for themselves, without ever asking themselves whether it is fair or not."

The air in the living room seemed to freeze. Luc Thanh Nam stood silently, still holding the form in his hand, not knowing what to do next. Hoang Thi Nga looked at her eldest daughter, something like confusion flashed through her eyes, as if for the first time she realized that her always obedient and tolerant child had now become a completely different person.

Yen Chi stood up, looked at the form on the table one last time, then turned to her parents. "I will not sign. If the coaching staff makes any other official decision based on expertise, I will respect it. But I will not personally lose the position I have won just because of pressure from my own family."

She turned and walked out of the living room, leaving behind the heavy silence of her parents and the choked cry of her sister. Stepping out the gate, Yen Chi stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Her heart was still beating fast, not because of fear, but because of the strange feeling of relief of someone who had just removed the chains that had been attached to her for a lifetime.

She knows, this is just the beginning. The family will not let go easily, and Y Nhi - with what Yen Chi witnessed in her previous life - will not stop at these tears of self-pity. But this time, Yen Chi is prepared to face everything, with strength, with reason, and with a heart that has learned to love with limits.

On the way back to the team dormitory, Yen Chi's phone rang. It was a message from my mother, just a few words: "Think again, don't let things go too far." Yen Chi looked at that message for a long time, her finger hovered over the screen but didn't type anything back. In her previous life, she would immediately call to apologize, would blame herself for causing tension in the family atmosphere, and then finally give in just in exchange for a few gentle words from her mother. But this time, she put the phone in her pocket and did not respond.

She walked slowly through the small park near her house, sat down on a stone bench, and let the emotions she had just pent up during the family meeting subside. It wasn't that she wasn't heartbroken — how could she not be hurt when she had just argued with her own parents, when she saw her younger sister sobbing because of what she said. But that pain is different from the pain of my previous life. In her previous life, she was in pain because she gritted her teeth and endured it, because she swallowed all the bitterness back inside to keep the peace. This time, she was in pain because she had to face the truth that her family's relationship had never been fair, but at least, it was the pain of someone standing up straight, not the pain of someone kneeling.

She took the notebook out of her bag, opened it to the page where she wrote the words that morning, and read it again to strengthen her determination. In the distance, the sound of children playing in the park rang out, life continued as normal as if no storm had just swept through her heart. Yen Chi took a deep breath, stood up, and continued walking towards the team dormitory - where tomorrow, an important practice session to prepare for the VCC qualifying round will begin, and she will prove with her own hands that today's decision is not selfish, but fair.

That night, lying in bed, Yen Chi replayed the videos analyzing the gameplay of potential opponents in the qualifying round, trying to focus all her mind on her expertise so as not to get caught up in chaotic emotions. But in a corner of her mind, she still couldn't help but wonder: this time, when her sister no longer gives in easily, how will Y Nhi react? In her previous life, Yen Chi's weakness personally created the conditions for her sister's malice to flourish. This time, when that door was closed from the beginning, how quickly will the true person hidden behind that weak appearance be revealed?

She didn't have a definite answer. But she knows one thing: no matter what happens next, she will no longer be a passive victim waiting for her fate to take its course.