Where Did My Esports Sub Go?

Shi Xu had dominated the pro scene for nine years, outlasting countless opponents and even a few substitutes.

The players who debuted alongside him were all starting to face the hard choice of retirement and finding new work, while he still stood tall on the battlefield, savoring the loneliness of being unbeatable.

Then, just after his team won the championship, they hurriedly signed a substitute who supposedly had grown up watching God Shi compete.

Shi Xu scoffed. Some little kid thought he could take the starting spot from him? He could go dream about it in his mother's arms.

But this young substitute was no pushover.

They said he was leagues ahead of everyone else in the academy. He led his team to victory in the Academy Storm Cup and decisively won the finals MVP. Plenty of teams wanted to lure him over with generous signing bonuses and a shiny starting position.

Shi Xu couldn't understand the kid's career plans. He had a starting position available elsewhere, so why come here and compete with him?

At any rate, POF was overjoyed to welcome its shiny new top-lane substitute.

Yet Shi Xu, who was known among young players across the league for positive traits like "gentle," "handsome," and "reliable," was the coldest person on the team toward his own substitute.

·

One split later, POF's management went through a shake-up and the owner was replaced. Soon afterward, Shi Xu's substitute vanished without a trace.

And so the topic #WhereDidGodShisSubGo# launched an internet-wide manhunt that lasted the entire transfer period.

Shi Xu's DMs were filled every day with the same question: Where did your substitute go?

Shi Xu: Polite smile. I want to know where my substitute went too.

After the transfer period ended.

POF manager: Stay strong, stay strong. Your substitute only went to the rival team to start as their top laner.

Netizens: Backstabber. Little traitor.

Shi Xu: He has his reasons. Nobody is allowed to insult him.

·

Time slowly dulled everything.

But when POF hit a low point after its starting jungler retired and the team suffered a crushing loss in the World Championship quarterfinals, getting mocked by the whole internet, #WhereDidGodShisSubGo# returned once again, flooding the web.

It was ridiculous. The player had already spent an entire split as a starter on another team, yet still couldn't shake the label "Shi Xu's substitute."

This time, Shi Xu's DMs were flooded again.

But he didn't respond. He simply turned to look at the young man sitting beside him, trying out for POF's starting jungle position.

Under the confidentiality rules, he couldn't reveal a thing this time.

At the computer, Qin Zhuo seemed to sense his gaze and looked up with a well-behaved smile. "Brother Shi Xu, from now on, I'm not 'God Shi's substitute.' I'm... 'God Shi's jungler.'"

Tips:

1. Shi Xu: the most formidable solo-lane player, the most fiercely competitive starter, the gentlest man. Qin Zhuo: always striving, always fighting, just to make it to Brother Shi Xu's side.

2. Both leads are each other's only partners, one-on-one romance, happy ending.

3. The game is an original 5v5 MOBA. The characters and game are not based on real people or games. Please don't overthink the details. Thanks, everyone! ^v^

Theme: If you want to win, work together to claim the championship.