Chapter 6 — Guess, MVP Heiress Has Returned

The news that Yen Chi was officially confirmed as the official mid laner spread quickly within the team, and not long after, spread to the entire fan community. Most of the reactions were positive — many longtime tournament followers still remember her impressive performances in youth tournaments, believing she deserved that position. But just a few days later, another stream of public opinion began to creep in.

It all started with a post on Luc Y Nhi's personal page, written in a meaningful tone, without mentioning anyone specifically, but everyone can guess the subject mentioned: "There are times when I feel like all my efforts are nothing compared to the huge shadow of those who went before. Not everyone is born lucky enough to be recognized from the beginning. But I will still try, even though the road ahead will probably be lonelier than I thought."

That post, with the image of Y Nhi sitting quietly alone in the gym, her sad eyes looking into the distance, quickly attracted thousands of shares. The comments below were filled with words of encouragement for the "poor girl who was overshadowed", mixed with many malicious speculations aimed at Yen Chi - even though she was never directly mentioned by name in any of the posts.

Trinh Gia Linh was the first person to discover and send the link to Yen Chi, his frustrated voice was clear through the message: "Look at this, it's exactly like 'crying online to get pity'. I haven't mentioned anyone's name, but anyone who reads it will know it's referring to you."

Yen Chi read the post and a creepy, familiar feeling rushed back. This was the beginning of the chain of events that destroyed her in her previous life — only this time, it came sooner, and she was fully mentally prepared.

"I predicted this would happen," Yen Chi replied, her voice so calm that it made Gia Linh somewhat surprised.

"Aren't you going to do anything? Just let it spread like that?"

"If I react right now, deny or argue publicly, I will only make the story even more controversial, and in the eyes of the public, I will become 'the strong bullying the weak' trying to silence my sister's voice," Yen Chi analyzed, her voice calm as if dissecting a chess game. "The best way right now is not to argue with words, but to let your performance prove itself."

Gia Linh was silent for a moment, then sighed. "You're so calm, I'm going to explode on your behalf."

"I was so angry that I couldn't sleep," Yen Chi said, her eyes slightly distant. "But I've learned that being angry doesn't solve anything, it only makes you lose focus on what's really important."

A few days later, a series of anonymous comments began to appear under posts related to the Bach Ung Gaming team, telling vague stories about "an older player taking advantage of his position to oppress his younger sister within the team", "the family had to intervene because the conflict was too intense". There is no specific name, no clear evidence, but enough to sow doubt in the hearts of a part of fans who do not clearly understand the inside story.

Yen Chi immediately realized that these were not random comments. The style of writing, the choice of words, the timing of posting — all have signs of a deliberately orchestrated campaign, not the natural emotional outburst of a simple sad girl.

She brought this question to Bach Khang during a break in the training session and recounted all the events of the past few days. He listened attentively, occasionally taking notes on the tablet, his face gradually becoming serious.

"I saw some of those posts," Bach Khang said. "The time they appeared was quite coincidental - right after the coaching staff announced the official lineup decision. If it was a natural emotional reaction, it would usually be scattered unevenly, but this is densely concentrated in a certain time frame every day, like someone proactively pushed for interaction."

"You think there's someone behind this?" Yen Chi asked, even though in her heart she already had a hunch about the answer.

"I don't have specific evidence to conclude," Bach Khang replied, "but from my experience in this world, a new player rarely knows how to run such a sophisticated media campaign on his own. There usually has to be someone with experience in public relations behind the consulting, or directly implementing it."

Yen Chi nodded, a vague feeling of worry arose in her heart. In her previous life, she never thought about the possibility of a third hand intervening in her family's conflicts — she always thought that everything was simply the result of personal jealousy. But now, with a more sober perspective of someone who had been through it all, she begins to wonder if behind Y Nhi's jealousy there was another force silently taking advantage of the situation for personal gain.

"I'll pay more attention," Bach Khang said, "but my advice to you right now is to stay quiet on social networks, don't respond to any comments, and focus all your attention on practice. The qualifiers are coming up, and nothing convinces public opinion better than a convincing victory on the field."

"I understand," Yen Chi replied, "I was planning to do that too."

That evening, when Yen Chi scrolled through her phone before going to sleep, she saw that Y Nhi's post had reached more than fifty thousand interactions, with hundreds of sympathetic comments for "the girl overshadowed by her sister's shadow". She skimmed through a few comments, a familiar feeling of injustice rising in her heart, but this time, instead of letting it drown her in despair like in her previous life, she chose to close her phone, take a deep breath, and tell herself: public opinion can be manipulated with emotions, but the results on the field cannot be faked.

She reopened the training plan Bach Khang had just sent and began reviewing every tactical detail for the upcoming qualifying round. Outside, no matter how noisy public opinion may be, in the gym, only the truth of the numbers and real skills will decide her fate.

The next morning, the atmosphere in the team dormitory was somewhat different. A few young players who had just joined, not understanding the inside story yet, began to look at Yen Chi with questioning eyes as she passed by the common dining room. A reserve support player, only eighteen years old, whispered to his tablemate loud enough for her to hear: "I heard that she pushed her sister very hard. Reading the post makes me feel so bad." Yen Chi did not stop, nor did she say anything to explain, she just quietly took her food and sat down at the familiar table with Gia Linh and Quoc Bao.

"Do you hear that?" Gia Linh asked, her voice somewhat annoyed on your behalf.

"I heard," Yen Chi replied, calmly picking up the food. "But I don't blame them. They only read one side of the story, and that side was told very skillfully, enough to evoke sympathy. Wanting to change other people's minds with words, especially when they already have prejudices, is almost impossible."

Dinh Quoc Bao, sitting opposite, put down his chopsticks and looked at Yen Chi with thoughtful eyes. "I find the way you're handling this very strange, like you've already considered every possibility. A normal person who's been falsely accused like this would have jumped up and tried to explain himself."

Yen Chi smiled faintly, not answering that question directly. She couldn't explain to Quoc Bao that she had experienced this exact scenario once before, had tried to explain herself by all means and received only deeper isolation. That valuable lesson, she will not repeat a second time.

"I just think, overreacting right now will only make things more confusing," she said instead. "The qualifying round is coming up, I want to put all my effort into it."

In the afternoon, while practicing alone in the team's gym, Yen Chi overheard a conversation between two logistics staff in the hallway outside, their voices echoing through the slightly opened door. "Miss Y Nhi has been going out to meet people in the sponsor's media department a lot lately. She's probably planning something." The other person responded, his voice more whispering: "Forget it, there's nothing I can do about the internal affairs between the sponsors and the players." The conversation quickly changed to another topic and then the two of them disappeared, leaving Yen Chi standing silently in the middle of the gym, her hands still clutching the dumbbells, her mind reeling with a vague but increasingly clear premonition: things were probably not as simple as a simply jealous younger sister writing a few sad status lines online.

She put the dumbbells back on the rack, wiped her sweat, and decided to share what she had just heard with Bach Khang as soon as she had the chance. If her hunch is correct, this could be just the very small tip of a much larger iceberg than she ever imagined.