Chapter 7 — Guess, MVP Heiress Has Returned

The days leading up to the VCC qualifying round passed in a strange atmosphere: inside the gym, everything ran smoothly according to the discipline that Bach Khang established, but outside, the wave of public opinion continued to rise. Every day, Yen Chi receives several messages from near and far acquaintances, some curiously asking questions, some bluntly criticizing her for being "too much with her younger sibling". She read it through, then turned off the phone screen, not letting any words enter her mind for longer than a few seconds.

The secret to maintaining her spirit, in fact, is not innate insensitivity, but a discipline she has intentionally practiced since the first day of her rebirth. Every morning, before opening her phone, she spends fifteen minutes meditating in silence, reminding herself of her only goal: proving her worth through competition results. Every time a malicious comment flashes past her eyes, she asks herself a single question: "Will this help me win my next match?" If the answer was negative, she brushed it aside mercilessly.

"You really have a bravery of steel," Trinh Gia Linh commented during a break in training, looking at Yen Chi who was attentively reviewing the video analysis of the playing style of the opponent about to meet in the qualifying round, seemingly not paying any attention to the comments that had just appeared under Y Nhi's latest post. "In return, I would have gone crazy a long time ago."

"It's not that I don't feel anything," Yen Chi replied, her eyes still not leaving the screen. "It's just that I've learned how to classify my emotions. Whichever one helps my goal, I keep. Whichever one just causes useless agitation, I let it go."

Gia Linh nodded silently, sat down next to her, and looked at the recording together. The first opponent in the qualifying round is Hac Phong Gaming, a team with a playing style that favors speed and early dominance, famous for their strategy of constantly pressuring the mid lane right from the first minute of the match. Yen Chi spent many nights carefully studying every move and decision-making habit of the opposing mid laner.

"This team tends to roam to top very early, around minute three to minute five," she said, pointing to a paused video. "If I proactively split push quickly and retreat at the right time, I can make their jungle lane lose its gank rhythm, creating space for my top lane to develop."

Bach Khang, standing nearby watching the analysis, walked over and looked at the screen with approval. "Your analysis matches the data I collected from their last three matches. I will recommend to the head coach to adjust the top lane strategy to take advantage of this gap."

"Do you also research your opponents yourself?" Yen Chi asked, a bit surprised.

"That's my job," Bach Khang replied, his voice calm. "A good manager not only takes care of logistics and communications, but also must understand the expertise deeply enough to support the head coach in making the right decisions. I don't want to repeat the mistake of my predecessor - focusing only on pleasing sponsors and forgetting the professional foundation."

That sentence made Yen Chi smile slightly. She realized that the more she worked with Bach Khang, the more secure she felt about the road ahead - not because he promised to protect her unconditionally, but because he always put truth and strength first, exactly what she always desired but never had in her previous life.

The evening before the qualifying round, Yen Chi received a call from her mother. She hesitated for a moment then picked up the phone.

"Yen Chi," Hoang Thi Nga said, her voice somewhat tired, "I'm competing tomorrow, mom... I wish you luck."

Yen Chi was silent for a moment, touched by this unexpected greeting, even though it came late and somewhat hesitantly. "Thank you, Mom," she replied, her voice softening.

"Y Nhi will also watch your match," her mother added, her voice a bit questioning. "You... don't let your family matters affect your performance."

"I won't let it affect me," Yen Chi replied, her voice firm. "But I also hope you understand, no matter what the result tomorrow is, I will not change my decision about the playing position. That is not something that can be negotiated with family affection."

The other end of the line was silent for a long time, then Hoang Thi Nga sighed. "I understand. Anyway... good luck."

The call ended, Yen Chi sat silently for a moment, looking at the dark phone screen. She didn't know whether that wish came from a real change in her mother's heart or was just a forced social gesture, but either way, she felt a rare bit of warmth creep into her heart.

She put down her phone and reopened her tactical plan one last time before going to sleep. Tomorrow, the first match of the new season will take place, and that will be the clearest answer to all the doubts, detractors, and pressures that have been put on her over the past few days — not with words, but with her own performance on the field.

Lying down on the bed, Yen Chi closed her eyes, re-envisioning every detail of the prepared strategy, every action that needed to be performed accurately. She took a deep breath, feeling her heartbeat beating steadily and calmly — completely different from the panic and helplessness of the last days of her previous life. This time, she enters the battle not as someone trying to prove her innocence, but as a warrior ready to claim the glory that is hers.

She couldn't sleep right away. In the darkness, her mind wandered back to the last matches of her previous life - matches in which she played in a state of confusion, having to work hard to prove her innocence while also having to endure the scrutiny of her teammates. At that time, every time she stepped on stage, she trembled not because of professional pressure, but because of fear that the slightest mistake could be interpreted as evidence for a crime she did not commit. That fear eroded her performance little by little, until she no longer recognized herself on the court.

This time was different. Not because the pressure had disappeared - the pressure from family and public opinion was still weighing heavily every day - but because she had learned to separate fear and action. She allowed herself to feel the anxiety, allowed herself to feel pain when thinking of her father's disappointed eyes, and her mother's hurt voice, but she did not let those emotions creep into the moment she held the mouse, typed the keyboard, and made a decision on the arena map. She practiced that boundary endlessly during the first sleepless nights after being reborn.

Near midnight, there was a soft knock on the door. It's Bach Khang, carrying a thin file of documents.

"Sorry for being so late," he said as Yen Chi opened the door, "but I just received the final analysis report from the data team and wanted to show it to you before tomorrow's match."

Yen Chi received the document and skimmed through the first few pages - the statistical chart of the Hac Phong Gaming team's win rate according to each match time frame, the trend of selecting champions according to each round of selection, the communication habits of their squad through publicly recorded matches. She looked up at him, a bit surprised at this meticulousness.

"You did this until late at night for me?"

"For the team," Bach Khang replied, but his eyes were a little gentler than the way he usually showed in front of the group. "But also because I believe you deserve to have all the best tools to prove yourself, after everything you've endured these past few days."

Yen Chi was silent for a moment, a warm feeling spreading in her heart. "Thank you," she said, her voice sincere. "Not just for this document, but for trusting me from the beginning, when almost no one else did."

Bach Khang nodded slightly, did not say more, just looked at her for a moment then turned and left, leaving Yen Chi standing in front of the room door, holding a file in her hand, filled with a new determination. She closed the door, sat down at the table, carefully read each page of the document until she was truly absorbed in every detail, then turned off the light and went to bed, ready for tomorrow - the day when she will officially rewrite the first chapter of a completely different destiny.

Before falling asleep, she was able to text Gia Linh a short line: "Let's fight hard tomorrow, don't pay attention to the noise outside." Gia Linh immediately texted back a fist emoji with the words "Single round champion". Yen Chi smiled, put the phone in a drawer, leaving her mind completely blank, leaving only the steady breathing and deep sleep of a person ready for the first decisive battle of her second life.