Does a Socially Awkward Competitive Gamer Have to Fight in the Palace? [Esports]

There's a secret saying in the league: if you can survive Dongfang Huiyun's palace-intrigue test, rookies will make their mark and veterans will find a new lease on life.

Dongfang Huiyun, mistaken for a master of palace intrigue, can't explain that she's bound to a palace-intrigue System. At first, her tactics even involved messaging her future teammates: "May I be emperor?"

Dongfang Huiyun is a socially anxious competitive gamer. The new manager at the big club bluntly told her that her planned position for next season was gone, but he could offer her a contract as a pretty streamer.

She refused, was suspended from training, and simply left.

But before her contract even expired, news came that the struggling team next door had bought her out.

The new club might be poor, but as long as she could compete, there was hope.

However, the team's starting jungler was its biggest weakness, and he bullied her. Relying on his seniority and relatives in management, he held on firmly to his starting position!

Dongfang Huiyun firmly believed that esports was decided by skill... o(╥﹏╥)o It was frustrating to be stuck by the water cooler.

The System she was bound to kept anxiously insisting that this wouldn't do.

With the struggling team about to lose its qualification match and go home for an extended break, Dongfang Huiyun was finally persuaded by the palace-intrigue System.

Let the palace intrigue begin, competitive gamer!

Nobody expected QDL to get anywhere when they couldn't regain their form, especially after they put in a substitute who had never played before in a match point game.

But QDL-Fan Song took the field and immediately scored a pentakill, carrying the whole team. They came back to win three games in a row, beating a veteran team and leaving everyone stunned. "Unbelievable! How have we never heard of Fan Song before?"

But after Dongfang Huiyun had "palace-intrigued" the starting jungler out of the lineup, she had to face the consequences.

Team fans: "The original jungler said he had something come up and couldn't play? I'll make sure he's kept busy. If he wants to come back, I'll get someone to deal with him. We absolutely can't let Fan Song get the wrong idea!"

The league's history now includes one of its most controversial players. Rumor has it she locked teammates in storage closets, sucked up to the coach to take their starting spots, played the Diamond Sutra a hundred times to drive teammates to attack someone, got right in their faces and hit them with her ultimate, beat them in one-on-one duels a hundred times, got teammates killed in matches, and forced them to change positions...

Whenever other players are on her team, both they and their fans worry that she'll drive them to the brink.

But if they play on the same team as her, they might break their club's record and make the playoffs with her. They might be inspired to play with confidence. They might become the missing piece of a championship team in the league, a cup tournament, or the world championship.

Fans who had just finished cursing Fan Song, after seeing the results, say to their favorite player:

"You got benched? That's because you suck. Fan Song doesn't start palace intrigue without a reason."

"You're on her team? Put up with it! I want you to win a championship!!!"

And the evolved Dongfang Huiyun holds her trophy and sighs, "It's so lonely~"

Please note:

The protagonist has her own principles, and rumors are not necessarily true.

I enjoy some non-extreme, literary-style rambling, and really want to see the protagonist say: "I'm the boss!"

There are jokes and references, but no specific real-life inspiration. Any resemblance is mostly coincidental.

There is no predetermined male lead. The heroine won't date while working as a pro, and is completely focused on her career. There may be one-sided crushes. Whether you ship anyone or not is up to you, and the author doesn't care either way.

The game takes inspiration from Honor of Kings and League of Legends. Its PC version is called King of the Alliance, and will be used to explain the hero mechanics in the mobile game Shining Stars.

The heroes are based on historical figures and myths.

The game is explained in the author's notes, and the main text will try to make things clear. If there are problems, it's because the game's official developers have bugs. The game developers have the sole right to explain things ◑.◑

Theme: A tribute to every storm of youth