The Esports King of the Fish Pond Crashes and Burns

See the bonus chapters for the side couple in the collection next door.

[Upcoming: *Hello, Marriage? [Esports]*. I just quit my job and finished moving, so it may be a while before I start this one.]

When Lu Cheng was young, his parents split up and left him homeless, so he made a living by playing games.

His cousin felt sorry for him and sent him a big client: "A sweet girl support player is looking for a gaming companion. They're a rich idiot, so hurry!"

Lu Cheng: Sis, I'm a guy.

Cousin: Don't worry, voice changer.exe sent.

Lu Cheng: ...

That night, Lu Cheng trembled as he called someone "Hubby" for the first time.

He hadn't expected his hubby to be no idiot, have plenty of money, and be a ruthless jungle carry.

After two months of online dating, the carry suddenly asked, "If you're a guy, why do you keep calling me hubby?"

Only then did Lu Cheng realize the voice changer's trial period had lasted just one week.

He logged off at lightning speed and gave his hubby the full package: blocked on every platform.

*

Later, Lu Cheng became a famous esports femme fatale. He had dozens of jungle carries in his pond, and his hubby-calling skills grew more polished by the day.

His latest target was Gu Siyan, a top-tier star in the esports scene.

The cold-faced heartthrob was an untouchable beauty, and rumor had it that he was very much averse to men.

The two ran into each other in a ranked match, and Lu Cheng turned on his mic to fish for a reaction:

"Hubby, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Hubby, I'm your support. Are you unhappy with me?"

"Hubby, I want to play professionally too. Is your team looking for anyone?"

Gu Siyan: We are.

Lu Cheng: ?

After joining the team, the heartthrob was his beloved and respected captain.

Lu Cheng tried his best to act good every day. No more calling anyone hubby. He didn't dare.

Then one day, he saw a very familiar ID on his captain's phone.

It was still on his blacklist.

*

That summer, before Lu Cheng's underachieving childhood friend was dragged off to summer school, he forced a phone into Gu Siyan's hands and begged him to take care of his sweet girl support player.

She was sweet, sure, but unfortunately she wasn't a girl, and she'd given Gu Siyan the full package: blocked on every platform.

One day, after the team returned from dinner, they caught their captain pinning the new support player against the wall, his eyes dark and unreadable. "Why'd you stop calling me that?"

Lu Cheng rubbed his lips, rubbed raw and red as water. "C-call you what?"

Gu Siyan's hot breath brushed his ear. "Call me hubby."

[Little Scene]

When news broke that Lu Cheng had joined KG, the whole internet wrote him off and waited for him to make a fool of himself.

"He's better at seducing men than practicing."

"Did Gu Siyan get hit with a love spell?"

"Type 1 to check on KG's players' mental state."

Then the Swiss stage of the world championship began, and everyone was stunned.

The jungle-support duo shared one brain, tore through the league, and brought the former champions back to the top.

At the awards ceremony, the pink-haired boy kissed his FMVP medal and smiled at the camera. "My specialty is seducing men. I never said I couldn't do anything else."

Everyone: ?? That's putting it mildly.

[Reading Guide]

1. Set in Honor of Kings. The characters aren't based on real people. You can enjoy the story even if you don't play the game.

2. One-on-one: a bold in public, timid in private, green-tea kitty uke x openly annoyed but secretly doting, jealous, scheming seme. The uke has lots of big brothers who adore him.

3. A guy-dressing-as-a-girl trope and an online-dating-turned-disaster trope. The uke wears women's clothes in a few chapters.

[Upcoming] *Hello, Marriage? [Esports]*

During the summer split finals of the LOL league, an unknown, unhinged streamer was doing a co-stream.

"I'm so jealous of the red buff. It gets to snuggle up to God Ash."

"My darling got a pentakill? Don't get a pentakill, get me instead."

"Which lane is hubby going to gank from the start? I wonder if he likes top or bottom."

Comments: New here. Is the streamer always this unhinged?

Comments: That's what Ash's male fans are like.

Comments: The streamer just hit rank one on the Korean server. Why not go pro and chase your hubby?

Yu Xingchi gave a disdainful laugh. He'd had a crush on He Jin for five years. How could he not know that his dream guy never dated people in the esports scene?

After the match, Yu Xingchi went to congratulate He Jin on Weibo, and took the opportunity to post some very suggestive comments.

Before he could finish typing his dirty talk, a phone call summoned him away.

His academically gifted older sister had refused an arranged marriage with a wealthy family and fled overseas in the middle of the night. Yu Xingchi was forced to put on a little dress and pretend to be his sister on a blind date with an older man.

Yu Xingchi tugged at the hem of his dress in embarrassment, swearing he'd die before letting the old man touch him.

But the man wasn't old. He was handsome. And why did he look a little like He Jin?

He Jin, who had just rushed over from the arena, held out his long fingers. "Hello."

Yu Xingchi blurted out, "Hello, marriage?"

*

After winning the league championship, He Jin was summoned home in the middle of the night to go on a blind date in place of his missing older brother.

His young fiancee was a top student at a prestigious university, sweet and obedient. The moment she saw him, her ears turned red, and she was too shy to speak loudly.

He asked what she liked.

She replied, "Studying."

He invited her to duo queue with him.

She replied, "I don't know how to play... Only bad kids play video games."

The most daring thing she'd ever done was put on the little dress he'd given her and post a few selfies.

She even asked whether he preferred black or white stockings.

Then, during the All-Star event, his young fiancee took down a troll with a shoulder throw. He Jin happened to see it as she shouted, "You dare insult my hubby? Beat me in a solo first!"

Following the solo match records, He Jin traced the player to a very familiar ID. Just last night, that player had been competing against him for rank one on the Korean server.

Quite the act.

*

He Jin had a mysterious black notebook said to be full of every team's strengths and weaknesses, along with strategies for countering them.

One day, Yu Xingchi opened it by accident and found nothing but the suggestive things he'd said, each one annotated.

"Snuggle up? The kind with no distance between us?"

"I can get a pentakill on you too."

"I like you on top."

He Jin approached silently, his fingertips brushing Yu Xingchi's reddened eyes. "Starting today, shall we practice one strategy every night?"

Theme: Never giving up is the true secret to success