Chapter 7 — Middle Road Rules

"It's all because of you, blind man!"

Hoàng Hùng 'Gaur' was the first to break the silence. He threw the headset down on the table and pointed 'Compass' Tuấn straight in the face. "What the hell are you doing in the jungle without bothering to go to the top and gank once? I was pressed against the tower by them to the point I couldn't breathe. I was calling on fire, but you're still hanging around other people's red buffs to surrender your life!"

Tuấn didn't agree either, his face turned red, he stood up and argued. "If you're good, you'll go and join the army yourself! I just went to steal the talisman and three of them blocked me. You didn't even bother to teleport down to save me? Did you bring the Teleport auxiliary spell for show?"

"Should I teleport down to die with you?" Hùng roared.

"Stop it, you two!" Kiên '3G' from the other table interjected wryly. "It's because my 3G network is laggy. If I were present at that dragon phase, if I were to deal damage, they would be crushed!"

"Stop lying!" Tuấn turned his nose to Kiên. "When you're not lagging, you don't hit anyone. You only shoot at soldiers, and your damage at the end of the battle is lower than that of support Nam."

Nam was suddenly called into attendance, startled and cowered. "I... I didn't do anything..."

"That's right, you didn't do anything! As support, every time you see an enemy, you flash and run ahead, ignore the Gunner. If you want to play a game like that, then download the cat raising game and play!" Kiên was angry and vented his frustration on his shy youngest brother.

The engine room turned into a broken market. Blames and curses were thrown everywhere. No one admitted their fault, everyone thought that the recent failure was the fault of the others. The fragile bond that Đăng had just created yesterday completely collapsed after only fifteen minutes of play.

Bảo Châu stood behind, confused and not knowing how to intervene. She raised her hand to advise, but her small voice was drowned in the sea of anger of her four impulsive boys.

*BAM!*

A loud noise rang out, cutting off all the noise.

Everyone was startled and turned around. Hải Đăng just slammed his fist down on the keyboard. His face was cold and dark like a storm cloud. He slowly stood up, his eyes scanning the bewildered faces of the team.

"Are you done arguing yet?" Đăng raised his voice, his pitch was not high but it carried an oppression that made others not dare to breathe loudly. "If you're done, then shut up and listen to me. If you're not done yet, just keep barking, I'll go home."

No one dared to open their mouth. Hùng swallowed his saliva and slowly sat down on the chair.

Đăng walked into the middle of the room, folding his arms across his chest. "You guys think we lost because Jungle didn't gank? Because lag? Because Support was cowardly?"

He smirked, a smile full of sarcasm. "No. You guys lost because you're a bunch of selfish rascals. E-sports is a team game. But just now, I didn't see a 'team' at all. I just saw five anonymous, strong guys fighting each other."

Đăng pointed at Hùng. "You, Hùng. Do you blame Rung for not coming to the rescue? A true Top laner must know how to hold the tower and be self-reliant when he knows that Rung is busy fighting for another objective. You keep pushing soldiers up high without warding. If you get caught and die, it's because you're stupid, don't blame anyone."

He turned to Tuấn. "You, Tuấn. Do you think robbing the forest is good? Robbing the forest without communicating with teammates, without the support of me and Hùng, you went there to sacrifice your life for charity. Once you are killed, the whole map system collapses."

Đăng glanced at Kiên and Nam. "There are two of you. One blames network lag to cover up poor fighting positioning. One uses teammates as cannon fodder to keep him alive. The truth is, your skills suck. But the thing that's worth throwing away the most, isn't the skills."

Đăng stopped and typed each word one by one. "It's about trust. You guys don't trust each other at all."

Đăng's words were like knives piercing everyone's hearts. No one could refute it.

Bảo Châu bit her lip and looked at Đăng with complicated eyes. She knew Đăng was right, but the truth was always too cruel. She was afraid that these straightforward words would destroy their already fragile self-esteem.

"That's nice to say," Tuấn suddenly mumbled, his face red with anger. He stood up, picked up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder. "If you're good, go play 1vs9 yourself! I don't play anymore! I get scolded all day long, and if I lose, it's all on Rung's head. It's worth disbanding this tattered club!"

Tuấn pushed the chair and walked straight towards the door.

"Tuấn! Stop!" Châu called out in panic, intending to run out and hold Tuấn back.

But Đăng extended his hand to stop Châu. He looked at Tuấn's angry back, his voice sounded cold, without a trace of clinging.

"Just let him go. The door is always open. I told you, anyone who can't stand the heat should step out." Đăng was cold. "E-sports is not for cowards who only know how to blame and give up when faced with difficulties. If you want to be a loser forever, then please step out of this room. And never come back."

Tuấn stopped in front of the door. His hand tightly grasped the brass doorknob, his knuckles turning white. Anger, dignity, and hurt passion were torn in the sixteen-year-old boy's mind.

The whole engine room held its breath waiting for Tuấn's decision. The sound of the computer's cooling fan suddenly became obnoxiously noisy.

After a while, Tuấn slowly let go of the door handle. He turned around, bowed his head, and took heavy steps back to his chair. He threw his backpack on the ground, face down on the table, his shoulders shaking. No one knew if he was crying out of frustration or shame.

Đăng withdrew his sharp eyes and let out a small breath. He knew he was taking a risky psychological gamble. But professional E-sports taught him that, to forge a sharp sword, you must forge it in the hottest fire.

"Tomorrow, six o'clock in the evening," Đăng said, returning to his position and picking up his coat. "We will review the video analysis of the last defeat. This time, if anyone opens their mouth to blame someone else, I will personally kick that person out of here."

She turned to Châu and nodded slightly. "Manager Châu, please get me a list of (Draft) champions of the teams in the qualifying round. We have a lot of work to do."

Châu smiled, a bright smile mixed with gratitude. "Yes, Captain!"

That night, despite experiencing catastrophic defeat, deep in the heart of each HD E-sports member, a seed called "teammate" began to germinate amidst the ashes of decay.

Before leaving, Tuấn lingered alone in the computer room, his hands still shaking because his anger had not completely subsided. He sat down, reopened the recording of the defeat, and rewinded his disastrous forest robbery. For the first time, he didn't watch to find excuses, but watched to understand exactly where he went wrong.

Bảo Châu, who deliberately stayed behind to lock the door, caught that scene through the glass. She didn't go in right away, just stood quietly observing the boy who an hour ago was aggressively demanding to leave the team. When Tuấn finally turned off the phone and stood up to leave, Châu spoke up.

“Have you found anything yet?” she asked, her voice gentle, without any reproach.

Tuấn was startled and scratched his head in confusion. "I... I feel like I should have placed my wards before leaving. I was so impatient to get results that I took the risk."

“So you've learned more than in the meeting just now,” Châu smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "Đăng is right about one thing: scolding cannot teach anyone. Only looking back can we teach."

Tuấn bowed his head and said nothing more, but his steps leaving the computer room that night seemed much steadier than when he entered.

The next morning, when the whole team gathered as usual, Tuấn was the first to arrive. He sat quietly in front of the computer, practicing the ward control manipulation that Đăng had taught him over and over again, without needing anyone to remind him. When Hùng walked in, still sleepy, he stopped at the door when he saw that scene, a bit surprised.

"Hey, yesterday you wanted to quit the team, are you working this hard today?" Hùng blurted out teasingly.

Tuấn didn't turn around, still focused on the screen. "I've thought about it again. It's easy to quit the team, but I don't want to be the only one in the group who refuses to correct my mistakes."

Hùng paused, then scratched his head and sat down next to Tuấn. "Well... I'm also sorry about yesterday and blaming it all on you. Actually, I'm just as bad."

The two boys, who just yesterday were grumbling at each other like enemies, now sat next to each other, analyzing every wrong move in the defeat. Bảo Châu stood at the door, witnessed that scene, smiled slightly and then quietly retreated, not wanting to break the fragile moment of budding reconciliation.

When Đăng arrived, he saw the two of them engrossed in practicing together. They didn't say anything, just nodded slightly in approval and then walked in to start the practice session like every other day. Sometimes, the most valuable lessons didn't need to be said out loud.