Chapter 4 — Middle Road Rules

"Is this all we have?"

Hải Đăng leaned his back against the edge of the scarred computer desk, crossing his arms across his chest. His cold gaze glanced over the four members standing in a horizontal line in front of him, looking like a militia and self-defense team that had just been called to gather in the middle of the night.

Bảo Châu stood next to Đăng, quickly opened her notebook, cleared her throat and proudly introduced herself.

"Dear coach and captain Hải Đăng, I would like to respectfully introduce the official lineup of HD E-sports! First, Top-laner position: Hoàng Hùng, nicknamed 'Gaur' Hùng. Strengths: Extremely loyal. He has only played one Gladiator champion since he created his account, and is fluent in SSS!"

Đăng raised his eyebrows and looked at Hùng - a tall, muscular male student with bulging biceps like a professional gym goer. Hùng nodded complacently.

"Loyal or lazy to learn?" Đăng said bluntly. "If the opponent bans that champion, are you going to use your biceps to smash the opponent's tower?"

Hùng 'Gaur' choked his throat, his face turned red but he couldn't argue.

"Next, Jungle position: Lê Tuấn, nicknamed Tuấn 'Compass'. Strengths: Extremely fast reflexes, monster eating speed is among the top in the school." Châu quickly changed the subject to remove the problem.

Đăng looked at Tuấn, a skinny boy wearing thick glasses. "Fast reflexes? Good monster eating speed? So why is his match history full of negative KDA (Kills/Deaths/Assist)? An average of 10 deaths per match?"

"Well..." Châu scratched her head and laughed. "Tuấn is born with 'lane blindness' syndrome in the game. He often finishes eating his home monster camp and then goes straight to the enemy jungle... and is ganged up by five people on the other side."

Đăng closed his eyes and sighed softly. A jungler—the role that required the most comprehensive tactical vision on the map—was blind. Great.

"That's not all! Gunner position (AD Carry): Nguyễn Kiên. Strengths: Very good kite flying skills (hit and run), good position holding." Châu continued.

Kiên raised his hand and waved. He was wearing a wrinkled uniform and was still dialing his phone continuously.

Đăng nodded, it seemed this was the only bright spot. "Maintaining good position is a prerequisite for ADCs. But why when I looked at your match history yesterday, the damage done in combat was so low?"

"Yes, sir," Kiên scratched his head and smiled shyly. "Because my parents cut off the Internet at home because they're afraid I'll fall in love with the game. I always have to sign up for a 3G package for a day to play. Every time I get into a team fight, the ping jumps up to 999ms. I always have to stand still and wait for death or automatically run back to the altar."

"A Gunner plays a prize using intermittent 3G network." Đăng repeated, feeling his temporal veins twitching. "What about the final position?"

"Support position: Trần Nam," Châu pointed to the shortest boy in the group, hiding behind Kiên. "Nam is the most gentle person in school. He plays Support because he wants to take care of everyone."

"In E-sports there is no place for useless meekness," Đăng said coldly, stepping forward to look straight into Nam's eyes, causing the boy to shrink his neck. "The Support's mission is to control vision, initiate combat, and even sacrifice himself to save the ADC. But when I watched the replay (video replay), you always hid behind the ADC. When you saw the enemy rush in, you used flash to run away first, leaving your AD to die miserably. Are you playing Support or playing survival?"

Nam lowered his head and mumbled: "Because... because the screen flashed red blood, I was so scared..."

The atmosphere in the engine room suddenly dropped. The four male members bowed their heads, no one dared to say a word. Hải Đăng's intimidating aura, combined with his sharp, ruthless, and heart-piercing analysis, made them feel like a bunch of clowns trying to wear oversized shirts.

Châu swallowed her saliva and quickly stood between Đăng and the other four people. She was afraid that Đăng would get bored and tear up the contract she had just signed.

"Hải Đăng, they really have many shortcomings. But we still have one month until the NHEC tournament. You have agreed to be the Team Captain and Coach. Please, help us!" Châu clasped her hands in front of her chest, her eyes shining with pleading.

Đăng looked around the dilapidated engine room, the smell of sour sweat and instant noodles was overwhelming. Then he looked back at his signed membership application form. "The pen is dead and the chicken is dead". The person named "Shadow" is never allowed to go back on his word. Even if it was a promise to a ridiculous girl who defeated him with a stuck mouse.

"Listen here," Đăng turned around and slammed his hand on the table, causing all four boys to jump.

"I don't care how you fought before, how you were called 'Mobile Warehouse'. From this moment on, I'm your Captain. My rules are absolute. Anyone who can't stand the heat, the door is right over there, just pick up your backpack and step out. Does anyone want to give up?"

The whole room was silent. Hùng, Tuấn, Kiên and Nam looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison. They suck, but they really love E-sports.

"Good," Đăng smirked, the signature half-smile of the once famous mid lane assassin appeared. "Starting tomorrow, erase all your delusions. We'll start from scratch. Prepare yourself, because my hellish lesson plan will have no room for tears."

Bảo Châu stood next to him, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. Her heart was pounding. She did not know whether bringing the "death god" Hải Đăng onto the team was a blessing or a curse. But looking at his straight back and authority now, Châu knew that HD E-sports had finally found its true soul.

"Manager Bảo Châu," Đăng suddenly called, startling her.

"Yes... yes I do!"

"Tomorrow, clean up this pile of trash. Buy five rolls of cleaning paper, a bottle of glass cleaner, deodorant spray. And contact the school board to exchange all the computer mice. I can't turn trash into gold if even the combat tools are trash."

Châu pursed her lips, stomped her heels and stood at attention. "Obey Captain!"

The campaign to rescue the bookkeepers started with cleaning. Đăng put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room, leaving behind a turbulent new beginning for all five of them.

On the first day of cleaning the room, they found three boxes of network cables tangled into a block and a chair with a broken back. Kiên wanted to throw it all away, but Đăng forced him to sort it out: wires that were still usable, wires that needed to be wrapped, and wires that had to be thrown away. Châu said that the way she handles things was exactly the same as the way she looked at people, anything that was broken was immediately eliminated. Đăng did not deny it. He just said that a team should not be allowed to confuse temporary damage with irreparable damage.

To change tables, they must ask for the key to the equipment warehouse from Mr. Quang. The teacher asked the whole team to make a record of receiving the goods, clearly stating the machine number, status and responsible person. Hùng grumbled because it took so long, but Châu reminded them that if they wanted to be trusted, they had to know how to return what they borrowed. Đăng held a ruler to measure the distance between the two screens, leaving a path in the middle. The room was still old, but for the first time it seemed to belong to the people who were using it.

In the evening, a junior classmate stopped by and asked to try playing. Châu did not chase him away, but asked him to read the rules and choose a guide. Hùng accepted the job and spoke a bit bluntly, scaring his friend. Đăng pulled him back and told him to correct the way he spoke, not the listener. Hùng sighed and said again. The little boy sat down, both hands on the keyboard, and the room suddenly had another reason to light up.

The boy's name was Tín. He was in tenth grade and had never joined a club. He asked whether he needed new headphones. Châu said not yet; first he needed to learn how to take care of shared equipment. Tín sat next to Kiên, recorded each shortcut and asked why the team used a tracking board instead of just remembering it in their heads. Kiên explained that memory was easily distorted by emotions, while numbers help them see a recurring error. Hùng gave him a short try, but deliberately did not show him the way. When Tín panicked and pressed frantically, Hùng tried to laugh and then stopped. He told Tín to breathe, look at the map and choose one small thing. Tín followed suit, saving a teammate. No one clapped too loudly, afraid Tín would think it was luck and feel he had to repeat it. After practice, Tín cleaned up the network and asked if he could come next week. Châu gave Tín a calendar, clearly stating the starting time, ending time and homework section. The computer room had another light on, not because there was someone better, but because someone new was allowed to learn from the beginning.

Tín also carefully wrote down each person's name so he could greet them correctly next time. When Tín left the room, he turned around and asked whether he could borrow the rulebook to read. Châu gave Tín a photocopy and reminded him to return it before practice. Tín nodded, holding the paper like a ticket to a new world.