Chapter 2 — Middle Road Rules

"What the hell are you doing following me?"

Hải Đăng stopped walking in the middle of the empty hallway of building B, turned back with a grimace. He pulled down his hoodie to cover half of his face, tried to walk quickly down to the cafeteria to buy a carton of milk and then went back to class to sleep. But from the moment the bell rang for lunch break, the tail named Bảo Châu kept clinging to him and wouldn't let go.

"I'm not following you. This is the school's common road," Châu calmly replied, clutching the class attendance book. "But if you admit you're Shadow, I'll go the other way."

"I told you that you got the wrong person. My name is Hải Đăng. I'm not dark or bright at all," Đăng rubbed his temples, feeling a headache starting to come. The peace he sought by transferring to this normal school is seriously threatened.

"Okay," Châu shrugged, took a few steps back, cleared her throat, preparing to take a deep breath. "HEY EVERYONE! DOES ANYONE KNOW PRODIGY SHADOW? HE IS AT..."

Before Châu could finish shouting the second sentence, Đăng rushed forward, put his hand tightly over her mouth, and pulled her down the dark stairs.

"You crazy guy! What do you want?" Đăng roared in a deep, hoarse voice, his flat eyes now shining with real anger.

Châu struggled to remove Đăng's hand and let out a triumphant sigh. "I want you to join Hoàng Diệu school's E-sports Club. Be a Mid-laner for us."

Đăng let go, stepped back, looking at Châu like she was looking at a strange alien creature. "Do you have delusions of power? No matter who I am, why do I have to join your bottom club? I go to school to study... no, to sleep. Not to play games."

"Because if you don't join, the club will be disbanded. And more importantly..." Châu took a step forward, pressing her face close to Đăng's chest. "If you don't participate, I will print a hundred flyers and post them all over the school, along with a screenshot of your hand from just now, proving that you are Shadow. The crazy fans in the school will tear you apart. Your old team will come here. Your peace will be over."

Đăng gritted his teeth. This brat really knew how to poke at other people's vital weaknesses. He left the professional world not only because of injury, but also because he was tired of the scrutiny, expectations and dirty media calculations of the E-sports world. He just wanted to be invisible.

"Where is your club?" Đăng asked coldly.

Half an hour later, Đăng stood in front of the living room door of HD E-sports, located at the end of the old practice factory row. The musty smell rushed into my nose as soon as the peeling wooden door was opened.

Inside was a mess. Five computer systems were covered in dust, including a CRT monitor from the old generation. Soft drink bottles, snack wrappers, and scrap paper were scattered on the floor. Two young men are sitting with their feet up on the table, one is engrossed in surfing TikTok, the other is cursing loudly because his teammates "trolled" him when he ranked.

"Is this your squad that will reach the National Semifinals?" Đăng raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Châu with a mocking look on his face. "I'd rather cut off my own hand than fight with these amateurs."

"They're... well, a little undisciplined, but they all have potential!" Châu quickly argued, ran in and kicked a few bottles into the corner of the wall.

She cleared her throat and slammed her hand on the table to attract attention. "Introducing everyone, this is Hải Đăng, our new member. Mid Lane position!"

The other two young men stopped the phone and looked at Đăng bewildered.

"I haven't agreed yet," Đăng crossed his arms across his chest, his voice steady but decisive. He turned to Châu. "I won't play. Your intimidation will only work so far. If you want to post flyers, go ahead. At worst, I'll transfer schools."

Having said that, Đăng turned around and was about to walk away.

"Stop!" Châu shouted. She knew she had crossed the line. Intimidating someone who is willing to throw away his entire top career is a wrong step. She must use another method. The only way E-sports lovers can understand.

"A solo bet," Châu said, her voice unusually firm.

Đăng stopped walking, but did not turn back.

"A 1vs1 game. Mid lane. No jungle farming. First tower or First Blood. If you win, I will delete all your photos, keep your secrets, and never bother you again," Châu announced loudly.

"And if I lose?" Đăng turned back, smirking.

"If you lose, you must fill in the application to join the club and help us compete in the NHEC tournament next month."

Two young men sitting there playing games gasped. "Miss Châu, are you crazy? Do you know how to play games to ask for a solo?" one whispered.

That's right. Bảo Châu played games very badly. Her reflexes were slow, her ability to read situations was nonexistent, and she was only good at theory and organization.

Đăng looked at the small girl standing straight, her eyes shining with determination, mixed with stupid recklessness.

"You? Solo with me?" Đăng burst out laughing. Not a smile of disdain, but a smile that finds everything ridiculous. A guy who has never surpassed the Bronze rank wants to go solo 1vs1 to get First Blood with the former National Runner-up.

"Okay. Consider warming up your hands," Đăng pulled out a chair and sat down in front of a dusty computer system. He turned on the computer and opened the familiar MOBA game that he hadn't touched in six months.

Châu swallowed her saliva and quickly sat down on the computer opposite. Her hands trembled as she held the computer mouse. In this blood bet, she knew she was 99% sure of losing. But for the remaining 1%, she bets on luck.

"Let's make a room," Đăng said briefly, pulling out a familiar black medical mask from his pocket and putting it on his face.

The moment Đăng put on the mask, the atmosphere in the dilapidated engine room seemed to change. The lazy, life-boring aura of the unlucky student completely disappeared. His eyes became sharp, intensely focused, staring at the screen like a wild beast locking onto its prey.

The ghost "Shadow" has truly awakened, even if it's just in an old high school computer room.

Châu shivered. Isolate an optional match room (Custom Match), choose 1vs1 mid lane format.

The Ban/Select screen appears. Đăng didn't bother banning any generals, and immediately locked on "Zeta" - a famous Mage/Assassin general with extremely high difficulty, requiring directional skills and incredible keystroke speed to maximize damage. This is also the "closet" general that made Shadow's name.

Châu was sweating profusely. She scrolled through a series of generals, each name looked strange or too difficult to control. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and nose, randomly choosing "Goliath" - an extremely clumsy Tank general, with strong blood, moving slowly but with a set of skills to knock up enemies. An extremely poor choice for Mid, especially when facing highly mobile Assassins.

"A slow bull facing an arrow of light?" A young man stood watching and smacked his lips. "This bet has not yet been played but the result is known."

"Welcome to the Hall of Fame!"

The system voice rang out. The screen darkened and then lit up with a scene of a 1vs1 map.

Rumors about "blood bets" spread faster than the speed of the internet. Within just a few minutes, several curious students had gathered behind the two, secretly looking over their shoulders. A tenth grade boy whispered to his friend next to him, his voice full of doubt: "That class vice president must be really crazy, daring to ask for a solo with the number-one monster?"

Bảo Châu heard, but did not turn back to argue. She squeezed the mouse, her palms drenched in sweat. Her heart beat erratically, not because of fear of losing - she had mentally prepared for that from the beginning - but because of a strange trembling when she saw the change on Đăng's face. The moment he put on the black mask, his whole body seemed to be covered with an invisible layer of armor.

Đăng sat straight, his hands resting loosely on the keyboard and mouse in the correct posture that only professional players had mastered through thousands of hours of practice. He did not glance at Châu, nor did he pay attention to the crowd gathering behind him. For him, the moment the Ban/Pick screen appeared, everything around him disappeared, leaving only the map, cooldown time, and the killer instinct that had been dormant for eight long months.

"Five second countdown," the system's voice rang dryly through the computer room's old speakers.

Châu took a deep breath, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. No matter how miserably she lost, she still achieved what she wanted — getting "Shadow" to sit down in front of a keyboard, even if it was just for a meaningless game during the lunch break. As for winning or losing, she let fate and her clumsy fingers decide.

The most epic battle in Hoàng Diệu school's history officially began.