“Coach, the jungle carry ate all the steamed buns I just made for healing again!” I stood in the training room doorway, holding an empty steamer basket and watching Guan Wuneng sprawl in his gaming chair, rubbing his stomach. There were still crumbs of meat at the corner of his mouth. This was the same guy who’d just said, “The little chef’s cooking is nothing special.”
Who could have guessed that I, a socially anxious game design student, would combine cooking and alchemy skills to make steamed buns and become A University’s esports team’s “walking health-pack factory”?
When Lin Xiaoman got caught stealing mushrooms from my medicinal garden, she held up a glowing “Mana Mushroom Soup” and grinned at me. “Xichun, this pot’s on me!” Even our ice-cold coach blushed as he slipped me a note: “Make the team a pot of stress-relieving oxtail soup tomorrow morning. Recipe... I looked it up in three books.”
It wasn’t until before the city tournament finals, when Zhou Ran, a support player from B University, sneered, “Those lousy buns of yours won’t save the day,” that I lifted the steamer lid. This time, my “Master-Level Resurrection Bun” could restore teammates to full health on the spot.
Guan Wuneng suddenly leaned close, the tips of his ears red. “Xichun, when we win... could you steam one just for me, with rose filling?”
(P.S. Other people show off their mechanics when they game. I show off my spatula.
Now the whole Rift is asking: When will the support expert get a skin?)
