Jiang Zhun had a pair of hands that made even hand fetishists worship him, incredible mechanical skill, and one audacious line that went viral:
"Going pro? Some of the pros in VCT CN really should retire."
In just half a month of streaming, he went from completely unknown to famous throughout the Valorant community.
Before long, countless people were flocking to his livestream.
Viewer: Just a passerby here. If the streamer talks this big, why not go pro?
Hater: Only dares to show his hands. Bet he's a fat pig in real life, hahaha!
Streamer: I really am pretty average-looking. But you, hiding behind a screen and typing all that, must have sore fingers. If you put that speed into playing games, you'd be Radiant by now, wouldn't you?
He casually revealed his current rank: Radiant #2.
Fan: Violent kitty goes boom, hahaha! Shut those haters up!
Jiang Zhun's livestream had a strange mix of viewers:
A third were fans of his voice and hands, drooling in the chat every day; a third were bystanders egging things on and pretending to be someone else for laughs; and the last third were haters who both loved and hated him.
Just as his popularity reached its peak, Jiang Zhun suddenly stopped streaming and disappeared without a trace.
No one knew where he went. All they knew was that during his final livestream, Jiang Zhun had said in his lazy, infuriating voice:
"All right, all right, haters. I know you both love and hate your daddy. When your daddy comes of age, I'll give you a big surprise."
The livestream went quiet for a moment. Then the angry haters' comments flooded in.
Hater #1: Dare to show your face? I'll send you a Carnival right now!
Hater #2: If you dare go pro, I'll livestream myself eating five kilos of food!
Everyone thought Jiang Zhun was just a flash in the pan. As his popularity faded, people gradually stopped paying attention to the brash streamer.
Then, several months later, during the VCT CN regular season match between DXR and FLX, DXR's duelist Good was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a striking young stranger with pink hair.
DXR fans at the venue erupted.
DXR's form had been poor ever since they won the championship, and they'd even missed the spring playoffs. Now they'd replaced Good, their most consistent player, with some pink-haired baby-faced kid?!
"Refund our tickets! Refund our tickets!"
The furious fans shouted from below the stage.
But as the first map progressed, Jiang Zhun's astonishing Jett play and overwhelming performance shut everyone up.
When the voice comms were played back, everyone heard Jiang Zhun's clear, youthful voice and finally realized that he was only eighteen, a genius who'd appeared out of nowhere!
The haters in the livestream recognized Jiang Zhun's voice as soon as they heard it, and collectively lost their minds.
: Holy shit, isn't that Jiang Zhun? He actually had the nerve to go pro?!
: He never showed his face, so I thought he was a pig in real life. Didn't expect... he'd only be a little uglier than me.
In this match, DXR overcame their mental block and swept FLX 2:0. They hadn't beaten FLX in two years, but finally managed it after Jiang Zhun joined.
In the post-match interview, DXR captain Void, Gu Xingjin, took the microphone and spoke with calm conviction:
"I want to add one more thing about today's match. Jiang Zhun came of age today. This is his first birthday on the competitive stage, and I believe this victory is the best birthday present we could give him."
Gu Xingjin looked at the camera and smiled. "Happy coming-of-age day, Jiang Zhun."
*
After winning the summer split, fans voted to give Jiang Zhun a fan-service outfit: cat ears and a cat tail, preferably with a little cat-maid uniform too.
But on the day of the livestream, Jiang Zhun had a fever, and even the corners of his eyes were red.
On screen, the limp, pink-haired boy was slumped against his chair, trying to find the cat ears among the pile of gifts.
The fans were happily taking screenshots and admiring his looks when the screen suddenly flickered. A strong arm reached into view and scooped Jiang Zhun up, cat ears and all.
The next second, a very obvious smooching sound came from the livestream.
A man's voice rang out clearly:
"Why didn't you tell me you had a fever?"
"Sorry, Jiang Zhun has a fever. We'll make it up to the fans with the fan-service stream later."
The man ended the stream, but just before it cut off, the camera accidentally caught most of the scene.
Jiang Zhun was in the man's arms, the corners of his eyes red and his lips swollen, as if someone had just been rough with him.
???
The livestream exploded when everyone realized that the face and voice belonged to DXR captain Void, Gu Xingjin!
Fan: Holy shit! Why is my male god with my baby?!
Bystander: ??? Is this something I can watch without paying?
And a few mysterious shippers: Aaaaaah! The couple I ship is canon?!
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