Passionate boys and girls | school life | ensemble cast
Esports genius vs. natural-born prodigy
Cocky romantic vs. passionate girl
1
Wen Xia, always ranked first in popularity, finally met her match in her sophomore year.
Summer in the coastal town was blazing hot. A top-tier star of esports, whose face had taken over TV and the internet, transferred to Linhai No. 1 High School like a bolt of lightning.
Wen Xia had always topped every popularity list at Linhai No. 1, adored by teachers and students alike. For the first time, she felt her popularity was under threat.
Wave after wave of people came up with all sorts of excuses just to get a look at the "big star" everyone was talking about in Class One.
Wen Xia finally snapped. "Seriously? What gives him the right to act so cocky?"
Her friend Yun He gazed starry-eyed at Yu Xingye, who was playing on his phone in the seat behind them.
"He's not cocky at all. He's super handsome."
Wen Xia: ????
2
The school held an esports competition. Wen Xia, a natural-born prodigy who was good at everything except gaming, had a gaming buff of zero. The head of discipline ordered her to team up with Yu Xingye.
During evening study hall, Wen Xia reluctantly followed Yu Xingye to the multimedia classroom.
"Play a couple of matches against the bots to get used to the skills first."
Wen Xia confidently launched the game.
After the computer killed her solo for the seventh time, Yu Xingye stood behind her with a frown.
"Forget it. You're not good at this sort of thing."
In her seventeen years, this was the first time anyone had said there was something Wen Xia wasn't good at.
She squeezed her eyes shut, steeled herself, and blocked out the noise. Wen Xia insisted on finishing the whole match, then lost to the bots with a score of 1-17-4.
At the end, she turned around and glared up at him defiantly.
Yu Xingye's frown eased. He smiled at her lazily.
"But you're very confident."
3
Later, Yu Xingye led Team RT to the European and American world championship, sweeping the leagues there and claiming the world title.
Unable to resist the fans' enthusiasm, the host smiled as he interviewed Yu Xingye amid a sea of green.
"This is a question everyone's been dying to ask. What kind of person is our killer's ideal type?"
At center stage, bathed in dazzling light, Yu Xingye tilted his head and leaned toward the microphone, chuckling softly.
"Someone who's bad at games but confident anyway."
Reader's guide: Both leads are tops. No real-life models. Heavily fictionalized setting. The minimum age for professional esports competition is set at fifteen. The school-life portion is larger than the esports portion.
Slow-burn ensemble cast. Very passionate and chuunibyou. The leads aren't paragons of virtue; they're ordinary people who make mistakes and can be stubborn.
The first 50,000 words are free. Stop reading if it's not for you. No writing advice, please.
Theme: Don't give in. Close your eyes and keep moving forward.
