Chapter 47: Awakening, hunting time

The main purpose of this internet cafe trip, as agreed, was to dive into Valorant.

The others were fine, having some FPS game experience. After creating new accounts, they were all in the training grounds, getting familiar with hero abilities and maps.

Meanwhile, Chen Xinya, completely clueless about computers, was under Meng Zhi’s hands-on guidance, practicing how to grip the mouse with one hand and press WASD with the other.

“Like this, move the mouse. When the crosshair is on the enemy, hold down the left mouse button…”

For someone like Chen Xinya, Meng Zhi could only teach babysitting-style from the basics, holding her hands to guide her with the mouse and keyboard, helping her get used to PC gaming controls as quickly as possible.

Though Chen Xinya was still clumsy, she at least managed basic movement and shooting.

“How’s the teaching going?” About twenty minutes later, Zhao Meng tilted his head and asked: “Ready to try a match?”

“…Should be good enough.”

Meng Zhi glanced at Chen Xinya, who nodded earnestly, even clenching her fist and taking a deep breath to psych herself up, looking a bit nervous.

“Uh, it’s just a casual game. No need to stress. Losing doesn’t matter.”

“But… I’m scared I’ll drag you guys down and ruin your fun…” Chen Xinya said timidly.

“You’re overthinking it.”

Meng Zhi sighed: “First, we’re all on new accounts, just starting this game. Plus, it’s only a match, we don’t care about winning or losing.”

“Second, getting into a new game is like trying anything new. Feeling scared or frustrated at the start is normal. Just keep adapting.”

“Play without worry. The point of a game is always to enjoy it.”

Chen Xinya looked up at Meng Zhi.

As expected, when it came to games, Meng Zhi always had that calm, carefree, and relaxed vibe.

She really loved gaming.

“Alright.” After comforting her briefly, Meng Zhi sat back at her own spot and clicked start: “Here we go.”

An ordinary match began. Everyone quickly picked their heroes and entered the game.

Chen Xinya chose the stereotypical healer for female players. Not only was the character pretty, but if she didn’t know what to do, she could just stick behind teammates and heal, making it newbie-friendly.

Since everyone was on new accounts, the opponents were mostly newbies too. Once the game started, all ten players ignored utility coordination, charging out from one side of the map, holding left-click to shoot.

Meng Zhi didn’t enjoy smurfing, so she deliberately used a hip-fire crosshair, refusing to buy guns and sticking to the default pistol, running and jumping while fighting, having a blast.

Indeed, the most fun matches in a game were always the chaotic low-rank brawls.

Once in the game, Zhao Meng and the others got absorbed, forgetting Chen Xinya’s newbie status.

“Cover fire, cover fire! Yo, Lao Ma, why’re you chickening out? Go get ‘em!”

“Healer! Mom! Heal me, heal me!”

Meng Zhi didn’t aim precisely either, just hopping around behind everyone. If they died, they died together, and she was having a great time.

Occasionally, she glanced at Chen Xinya’s screen, watching her fumble in the buy menu, reading descriptions, or squeal in panic when an enemy popped up, spraying bullets into the sky.

When she finally managed to kill someone with random shots, she realized it and immediately turned to Meng Zhi, eyes sparkling:

“Wow! Meng Zhi! I got a kill!”

“Look, look! Quick, look! I got a kill!” She excitedly grabbed Meng Zhi’s arm, pointing at her screen, rambling incoherently.

“I saw… no need to get that excited, right?”

“I… I just wanted you to praise me…” Chen Xinya gave her a slightly resentful glance.

Meng Zhi looked at her, then quickly averted her gaze.

She vaguely remembered, in that other life, Chen Xinya had also tried gaming with her.

But compared to Valorant’s cartoony style, the realistic CS made her 3D motion sickness worse, often leaving her dizzy and nauseous before finishing a match.

In the end, she had to give it up.

But Meng Zhi knew Chen Xinya wasn’t okay with that. She’d secretly force herself to watch CS gameplay videos, even to the point of vomiting by the toilet before Meng Zhi found out.

After that, Meng Zhi barely played games anymore.

When Chen Xinya brought it up, Meng Zhi always brushed it off, saying work was too tiring to game.

But deep down, Chen Xinya knew. Maybe Meng Zhi stopped gaming partly because of her.

Maybe today, Chen Xinya was trying so hard to fit in with the guys, pushing through discomfort to play, just for a single “good job” from Meng Zhi.

“…That was awesome.”

When Chen Xinya looked up, Meng Zhi said casually: “Good thing you took him out. He was about to flank me. If he got me, I’d be dead. You saved the day.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Chen Xinya smiled brightly. A genuine, heartfelt smile.

As if she’d finally proven herself useful.

*

The next few matches passed in a similarly cheerful, lively atmosphere.

Though Meng Zhi’s team lost most rounds, the guys bickered and teased each other without ever genuinely getting upset or pressuring anyone, even joking with the enemy team for fun.

Chen Xinya was slowly getting the hang of the game, no longer as uncomfortable as at the start. She even managed to pick off one or two enemies per match.

Each time she got a kill, she’d excitedly wag her tail and share with Meng Zhi: “Hey, Meng Zhi! I got another kill!”

“Wow, I took out three! Am I awesome or what?”

“Meng Zhi, Meng Zhi, I’m coming to save you! I’ll heal you!”

By the end, Meng Zhi noticed Chen Xinya had fully embraced the game, diving in and genuinely enjoying it.

Watching her quietly from the side, Meng Zhi felt a sense of ease for the first time.

…A lightness she’d never felt when with Chen Xinya before.

Yes.

In that other life, being around Chen Xinya, even gaming, always carried a heavy pressure.

It was like she had an invisible gravitational pull, unconsciously dragging down those around her.

Meng Zhi knew Chen Xinya only meant well, trying to share her hobbies. But seeing her force herself to play until she vomited by the toilet, Meng Zhi had no choice but to abandon her beloved games.

During that time, Meng Zhi couldn’t even find joy in gaming.

She didn’t even know how she pushed through.

If Chen Xinya could always be like she was now, maybe everything in that other life would’ve been different.

Meng Zhi wasn’t sure if she should think that way.

“Why… why are you staring at me?”

Snapping back to reality, Meng Zhi realized she’d been gazing at Chen Xinya, making her blush shyly.

“Ugh, I died again.” Chen Xinya turned back to see her character gunned down, losing the round.

At halftime, Meng Zhi’s team had only one point, with a score of 1-11.

“The enemy’s kinda strong this time. Not newbies anymore.”

“Yeah, you’ll always run into a few skilled players eventually.”

While Zhao Meng and the others were a bit deflated from the beating, Meng Zhi noticed the enemy team typing in the public chat.

[cn dog]

[noob]

Zhao Meng and the others hadn’t noticed yet, but Chen Xinya, who was good at English, frowned after a glance.

“Meng Zhi, why are they…”

“Ignore them.”

Adjusting her crosshair to a cross, Meng Zhi sat up straight, a glint of ferocity in her eyes.

“If they score even one more point.”

“I’ll take their last name.”