Fifteen-year-old Xia An meets fourteen-year-old Shi Rang during a promotion match. Shi Rang kills Xia An fifteen times in that match, causing her to lose her ranked promotion.
Later, at school, Xia An learns that the person who killed her fifteen times is a junior one grade below her. Back then, Xia An was free-spirited and gentle, like a sunflower basking in the light.
When Xia An turns eighteen, Shi Rang has just decided to pursue a career in esports. She takes the initiative and breaks up with him.
At the cold airport, with the whole city wrapped in the joy of the New Year, Xia An smiles through red-rimmed eyes and says, “Shi Rang, let's break up.”
Shi Rang freezes for a few seconds. After wavering again and again, he finally nods, as if giving in.
They break up on New Year's Day.
Two years later, Xia An becomes a game streamer and unexpectedly runs into Shi Rang again. By then, Shi Rang is an outstanding pro player. In just two years, he has become a starting player for his club, a god in the eyes of countless people.
Everyone knows how he worked his way up over those two years, from a third-tier team to a second-tier team, then to the bench, and finally to the top-tier starting lineup. He never once complained about how hard it was.
But Xia An alone doesn't know. When they meet again, Shi Rang doesn't kill her even once in the game. Instead, he makes her watch as he shows her how to lose.
Shi Rang says, “Do you regret it? Does it feel helpless?”
At that moment, Xia An's hands tremble, and her heart trembles with them, but she says nothing.
Everyone thinks Shi Rang is a soft-hearted god. When he runs into fans in a game, he goes easy on them. After a loss, he comforts his teammates right away. In other people's eyes, no one is as sweet and gentle as Shi Rang.
But only Xia An knows what Shi Rang is really like. He's sensitive and withdrawn, devious and vengeful, but only with her.
Esports is Shi Rang's lifelong passion, his faith for all his life.
And Xia An is the secret he wants to keep buried in his heart, the selfish desire he doesn't dare reveal, and the one person he loves with all his reckless abandon.
“Xia An, don't leave me again in this life. I can take care of you now.”
“Whether we're right for each other isn't up to the world. It's up to us.”
“The winner takes all. You have to honor your bet.”
“Breaking up isn't scary. What's scary is you disappearing. I can let you go. I only ask that you stay safe.”
“Xia An, you're my life.”
“Losing isn't scary. What's scary is losing the courage to face it again. No one wins forever.”
Theme: Be brave.
