For the past few days of training, everyone's phones had been collected and kept by Song Bo.
Bai Yu had gotten used to seeing messages from Lu Sheng first thing in the morning. Now, waking up to none felt unfamiliar. He got dressed, opened the window, and was brushing his teeth when Lu Sheng appeared, having heard the sound.
His shirt was still off, revealing his waist, though he quickly slipped it on. His eyes scanned Bai Yu before glancing behind him.
Bai Yu had no idea what he was looking at. He followed his gaze and saw that the bed was made, except for the pajamas he had just changed out of, which were still lying there.
After confirming no one else was around, Lu Sheng leaned closer to the window and asked in a lowered voice, “I was thinking about buying matching pajamas. What style do you like?”
Bai Yu: "........"
What was he even talking about?
Lu Sheng looked deadly serious, as if he were discussing something important. “I’ve thought it through. Since you don’t want to go public, we can’t use any obvious couple items. But something private like this should be fine, right? I figured if we can’t sleep together, at least matching pajamas can feel like we are.”
Bai Yu: ".........."
When had he ever said he didn’t want to go public? And who said being in a relationship meant you had to sleep together?
His mouth was still full of toothpaste foam, so he couldn’t speak. He just stood there watching Lu Sheng talk to himself.
Lu Sheng had his hands in his pockets, a calm and composed look on his face, as if he were being completely reasonable. “I’m worried I’ll pick something you won’t like. We get half a day off this weekend. Let’s go together.”
Since Bai Yu didn’t say anything, Lu Sheng took that as agreement. “Alright, then it’s settled.”
Just then, someone else came out of their room. Lu Sheng immediately acted like nothing had happened and walked off with the others. Even the way he walked looked exaggerated and put on.
Bai Yu spat out the foam and wiped his face.
The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed. Lu Sheng really was younger after all, always coming up with these strange ideas.
He put on his shoes and went downstairs. A new day of training had begun.
Bai Yu’s own training load wasn’t heavy. His main job was to assist others. During his free time, he kept an eye on other teams’ schedules and tried to line up scrims.
Rumor had it that TIN’s training was extremely intense. Besides domestic matches, they were scrimming frequently with international teams, clearly preparing for Worlds.
RAG’s ranking was high, but they had played one less round of matches. Whether they could qualify for Worlds was still uncertain, so their focus remained on the regional league.
After the regular season, scheduling scrims became much harder. Teams that didn’t make playoffs were already on break, and top-ranking teams were busy training with international teams. That left only a few domestic teams still actively scrimming, and the intensity wasn’t high enough to produce meaningful results.
Song Bo was getting anxious. “Should we try scrimming international teams too? Just to see new playstyles?”
Bai Yu disagreed. Normally, it would be fine, but with playoffs just around the corner, exposing the team to too many styles might mess with their rhythm.
Besides, TIN’s style was very representative of the domestic meta and differed significantly from international teams. There was also a matter of matchup dynamics. Even if they could beat international teams, that didn’t mean they could beat TIN. And if they couldn’t win the domestic title, Worlds would remain out of reach.
Bai Yu made a quick decision. “No international teams. Focus only on domestic ones. If we can’t get scrims with TIN or FFT, ask OT about doing pressure-training matches.”
OT was basically a domestic version of FFT. For pressure training, the effect would be similar.
That was when Song Bo had a realization. “Got it.”
He went to contact OT and collect data to make sure players’ time wouldn’t be wasted.
Pressure training meant that RAG would intentionally start with an economic disadvantage, then play out the match. It helped balance the strength gap and gave both teams a chance to grow. But it required precise calibration on Song Bo’s part.
OT agreed quickly. Song Bo took the session seriously. He ran tests in advance and continued adjusting during the scrim, gradually raising the difficulty until the intensity reached a peak.
RAG struggled throughout. The training was tough and effective, but it completely crushed their confidence.
Afterwards, Fang Zhixu started questioning everything. “Captain, are we actually improving? It doesn’t feel like it.”
Bai Yu had all the training intensity data. In fact, the session they had just finished was harder than any scrim with FFT and close to TIN’s level. But because OT’s style was different, it wasn’t a one-to-one comparison.
He had already discussed the approach with Lin Kun. They were using these matches to test the team’s resilience, so Bai Yu couldn’t tell them the truth.
He simply said, “It wasn’t that hard. About the same as playing FFT.”
Everyone: "........"
Qi Yi’s eyes widened. Xu Bo started wondering if he had fallen behind. Fang Zhixu looked nervous, and even Lu Sheng raised his head in disbelief. “What?”
Chen Shi’an, as usual, remained calm. He had already run the numbers and knew what Bai Yu was trying to do. He smiled. “Then I guess we have no choice.”
Bai Yu nodded. “We’ll increase the training load.”
Training became progressively harder until everyone was at their limit. But each session still forced them to get back up and keep going.
Xu Bo had never been through such intense practice. After one session, he collapsed, panting like a dog. “Did I get worse? Why is this so hard?”
Actually, Xu Bo’s performance under pressure was excellent, even better than Qi Yi’s. But Bai Yu couldn’t say that.
“Maybe you’ve been slacking. I checked your schedule. You’re not logging the most hours, but you’re always the last one to leave. Xu Yibo, you need to work harder. Otherwise your teammates will leave you behind. Fang Zhixu will make fun of you.”
Xu Bo’s eyes turned bloodshot. He rolled up his sleeves and dove back in.
He could fall behind anyone, just not Fang Zhixu.
When Qi Yi came looking for reassurance, Bai Yu used a different approach. “I thought you did great today. You held off early pressure and really helped the team.”
Qi Yi’s gloomy expression instantly brightened. “I think I can hold out even longer.”
Training continued to be grueling as the playoffs approached.
Since they were ranked second, they had more time than lower-seeded teams, so the pressure was manageable.
The first match was OT vs. WG.
OT had scrimmed extensively with RAG recently, and both teams had benefitted. OT’s gameplay now reflected some of RAG’s strategies. Several teamfights caught WG off guard. OT even came back in two games and forced WG to reveal their secret draft in game three. Although OT lost, they still earned widespread praise.
For a lower-seeded team to push a top-five seed that far was impressive. OT and WG were not even considered on the same tier.
After the match, OT was thrilled with their performance. Their manager was glowing during the post-match interview and even thanked RAG for their support.
WG, on the other hand, looked like they had just eaten dirt. They won, technically, but were now furious that their ace strategy for IKG had been revealed. Their shot at Worlds had just become a lot harder.
Afterward, IKG’s fans flooded social media to thank OT. The OT manager replied cheerfully, “No problem.”
Bai Yu had watched the entire match and found it amusing. “Can’t believe OT actually forced out WG’s secret comp.”
Song Bo made a connection. “Do you think TUP could force FFT’s strategy too?”
Bai Yu had scrimmed with TUP several times, using pressure training as well. Their coach and players had been diligent, and he had already sensed how much they were improving.
“I think they can,” he said.
Just then, Zhou Xunwen returned to the room and began taking off his jacket. “Our second team made it to the final round.”
He handed some documents to Bai Yu, who skimmed through them and handed them back. “I haven’t had time to watch the second team’s matches. No idea how they’ve been doing.”
Zhou Xunwen hadn’t followed them either, but since they advanced, he just said, “They’re doing okay.”
When the second team was formed, Bai Yu had been busy with the regular season, so he handed the whole thing off to Zhang Peng. He had never really been involved, not even with coaching appointments. Their training schedules didn’t overlap, and the two teams had developed separate systems. Only Song Bo occasionally visited to exchange notes.
Bai Yu nodded and shifted focus back to the main team.
Then something went wrong with Lu Sheng’s setup. Training paused, and Chen Shi’an and the others gathered around.
Bai Yu tensed and quickly got up to check. It turned out Lu Sheng’s keyboard had broken. Since joining the team, this was already the fourth one he had smashed.
Normally, a player's keyboard lasted three to four months. But Lu Sheng was heavy-handed and trained more than anyone. On average, his keyboards lasted just two months, a pace Bai Yu had never seen before.
He tested the keys and noticed the axis was slightly off. It wasn’t too noticeable, but Lu Sheng was used to the feel. It would definitely throw him off.
Bai Yu pulled his hand back. “I have two spares of this model upstairs. Come with me.”
Lu Sheng stood up and followed. Bai Yu walked ahead and asked, “Did you go through keyboards this fast in North America too?”
Lu Sheng gave a casual "Yeah," as if it was nothing. "So I always stock up on a bunch. There was this one time when they were out of stock for months... nearly drove my manager crazy."
Bai Yu chuckled. That kind of situation really could be stressful. "How did you solve it in the end?"
Behind him, Lu Sheng’s voice came, lazy and unconcerned. "I ended up using one of my teammate’s keyboards... just made do."
Bai Yu suddenly stopped in his tracks. It was like he’d heard something unbelievable. He turned around and asked, "Which match was that?"
"Last year’s Rift Rivals... the semifinals, the match to get into the top two. I originally had two backups. I used one during the game, but my teammate knocked over a drink and ruined it. The other one was in my bag and got banged up... couldn’t use it either. The original one was already broken from me pounding on it..."
As he spoke, he noticed Bai Yu was looking at him strangely. He paused. "What’s wrong?"
Bai Yu’s gaze held a trace of awe. Suddenly, he stepped forward and cupped Lu Sheng’s face in his hands. "Lu Sheng, how did I never realize how amazing you are? You swapped keyboards mid-game and no one even noticed."