Chapter Thirty-Eight: Murder to Vent One’s Anger

During the evening rush, since her home wasn’t far, Yuan Zhong slung her bag over her shoulder, rented a shared bike, and rode slowly back. The breeze brushed against her face, sweeping away some of the gloom.

Yes, no matter how terrible the day was, it was already behind her. Now was the time to savor her beautiful night, Yuan Zhong thought to herself.

She pressed down on the pedals, turning onto a quiet side lane. Here, the bike path was separated by a thick belt of greenery, peaceful and still.

Without realizing it, she had ridden for over thirty minutes. Yuan Zhong felt a bit tired, but her mood had lifted. She turned onto the main road, crossed the street, stopped to return the shared bike, and walked another ten minutes before finally reaching home.

After washing her hands, she took the food she wanted to eat from the fridge to let it thaw naturally, started the rice cooker, then went to shower and changed into her home clothes.

As she prepared dinner, Yuan Zhong deeply felt her parents’ loving care—half-prepared foods really were convenient to eat.

Very quickly, she had one meat dish, one vegetable, a soup, and a dessert ready. Yuan Zhong found it tastier than the set meals at the Japanese restaurant.

She started a show to accompany her meal, and felt something was missing, so she poured a little red wine—instantly, the atmosphere changed.

“Ah, life is truly wonderful.” Yuan Zhong swirled her wine glass.

After eating and drinking her fill, it was time for games. Yuan Zhong logged in; for once, Stingy Ghost wasn’t online, so she browsed around on her own.

An unreliable invitation popped up, and Yuan Zhong accepted.

“What a coincidence! Let’s play a round,” Unreliable said cheerfully. “I’ve been losing all afternoon.”

“That bad? I always hear you losing—is it bad luck or bad character?” Yuan Zhong teased.

“Hey, stop throwing shade at me! I’m a game streamer—losing so much is embarrassing,” Unreliable complained.

“Come on, I’ll carry you to victory.” Yuan Zhong spoke grandly.

At the start, Yuan Zhong picked Zhao Yun. While collecting blue, the enemy mage harassed her, slowing her development.

“Grab the river crab in mid,” she called, jumping to mid after finishing blue.

“Hey, your economy’s lower than their jungle—be careful,” said Unreliable, who was playing marksman.

“Relax, getting this river crab will fix it.” Yuan Zhong was confident, though reality proved tricky: the early delay meant her Smite was on cooldown, both the enemy mage and jungler showed up, while her own mage hid under the tower.

“If you can’t get it, just leave,” Unreliable reminded her.

Yuan Zhong sighed, “Too late, I’m done for!”

System prompt: Zhao Yun gave away first blood.

“It’s fine, their mage is skilled. Hurry up and farm,” Unreliable encouraged.

In the red zone, Yuan Zhong couldn’t help but call out, “Where’s my jungle?”

“I didn’t take red,” Unreliable replied. “Oh, I remember now—the support pinged for a group, probably took it.”

“The three bears went to mid, red to support, only a tiny bird left for me—barely enough to stuff my teeth! Can’t you leave a path for the jungler?” Yuan Zhong called out to the whole team.

The mid mage spoke up, “This jungler looks unreliable—I’m not leaving anything for you.”

“Oh come on! If you’d just helped, I wouldn’t have given first blood! The enemy mage comes to steal blue and harass, are you blind or lame?” Yuan Zhong spoke bluntly.

Mid mage: “You’re incompetent and blame others—useless jungler!”

Yuan Zhong rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Unreliable tried to calm things down, “Don’t get worked up—play well and dazzle them.”

Yuan Zhong: “Absolutely!” She went to mid to grab a wave of minions, waited for the next jungle spawn, and focused on farming.

The mid mage moved forward and was caught by the enemy jungler. He pinged for help, but Yuan Zhong ignored it, controlling Zhao Yun to head to another jungle zone to farm.

Mid mage: “Jungler, are you blind?”

Yuan Zhong: “You’re not worth saving.”

Mid mage: “Useless jungler!”

Unreliable quickly said, “She’s a pro—just a slip-up. Let’s unite; unity wins games.”

Immediately, a teammate agreed, and the mid mage quieted down.

Yuan Zhong concentrated on her moves. Unreliable and the support helped scout the enemy’s red zone, finding it empty. Zhao Yun rushed over and cleared half the jungle, boosting her economy.

Crouching in the grass by the development lane, Zhao Yun seized the moment and, with Unreliable and the support, took out the enemy marksman and support.

Unreliable quickly hit “Nice job.”

Yuan Zhong laughed, “You sound just like Stingy Ghost.”

“Oh, come on, you’re so hot-tempered playing games—don’t you know yourself?” Unreliable was full of grievance. “It’s hard for me to climb ranks… I have to flatter you while playing.”

“Stop it! I’m not a cat.” Yuan Zhong took the dragon and crouched in the mid lane grass.

“If only you were—a cat treat and a can of fish would do. Every time we play together, to avoid fighting, my gray hairs multiply,” Unreliable joked.

Zhao Yun took out the enemy mage. “You’re exaggerating. It’s normal to complain about bad teammates.”

“It’s how you complain—so fierce, you often make people angry. I’ve seen mutual insults, even rage quits. Games are for fun; harmony brings rank,” Unreliable seized the chance to preach.

“Right, games are for fun. But I won’t tolerate incompetence—if someone plays poorly, they need schooling. Some people just need it,” Yuan Zhong said, taking the enemy jungler’s head.

Zhao Yun’s economy soared, the highest in the match, and wherever she went, kills followed.

“Mid lane, am I still useless?” Yuan Zhong hadn’t forgotten the insult.

Unreliable quickly said, “I told you she’s a pro—pros slip up too, let’s be understanding.”

The mid mage said nothing.

Yuan Zhong continued, “Your mage is clearly clueless. I’ve watched you—listen up.”

Unreliable thought, here she goes again.

Yuan Zhong had no intention of holding back, “First, at the start, you saw the enemy mage disrupting your jungle, and you did nothing—no awareness. Second, mid lane river crab—you don’t know how important the first crab is? Yet again, you did nothing—stupid. Third, your jungle’s economy lagged, but instead of taking the enemy’s three bears, you took your own—helping them sabotage. Fourth, from the start until now, you’ve never supported top lane, went bottom once and returned empty-handed, and your mid tower has lost a third—your skills are poor. No, calling them poor is generous—you don’t even deserve the word ‘skills.’ With this awareness and operation, you’re a nightmare for teammates.”

Yuan Zhong took a breath and went on, “These could be forgivable, but do you know the real problem? You don’t know you have a problem; you think others do. Ten minutes in, you’ve been slapped in the face—how does it feel, brother?”

Mid mage: “Stop rambling—so what if you’re good?”

“If I’m good, no big deal; if you’re bad, that’s impressive. We just had bad luck today, running into someone like you—knows nothing, understands nothing, dumb as a rock but thinks he’s a genius. Damn! You died again—bye, no farewell!”

Then the mid mage quit the game.

Unreliable sighed, “Told you, some people are fragile—they can’t handle such ‘reasonable’ education.”

“Reality’s harsher—helped him wake up,” Yuan Zhong felt refreshed, slaughtering enemies with Zhao Yun, winning four-on-five and grabbing seventeen kills.

Unreliable was left speechless, “Let’s play another round.”

“Let’s see if Stingy Ghost is online. I told him two games a day.” Yuan Zhong checked her friends list.

“He’s on. I’ll invite him.” Unreliable replied, “Two problem children.”

“My apprentice is all about peace in the King’s Canyon—don’t say that,” Yuan Zhong said.

“In-game, he’s peaceful…” But his attitude of never distinguishing between right and wrong and always siding with his master was hard to take, though Unreliable didn’t say it.

“I think my apprentice has a genuinely good temper,” Yuan Zhong sighed. “So good it makes you feel bad to bully him.”

“Thank you, Master,” Stingy Ghost spoke up.

Unreliable secretly rolled her eyes: Here it is—the bootlicking attitude.

This game, teammates were quiet and responsive, giving Stingy Ghost time to ask, “Master, how was work today?”

Mentioning work, Yuan Zhong couldn’t help but sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Stingy Ghost noticed.

Yuan Zhong replied, “There was work to do, but people are still hard to please.”

Unreliable: “Who?”

Stingy Ghost: “Her master at work.”

Unreliable: “So you’ve taken a master too, Yuan Zhong? Then just learn from Stingy Ghost—the master will love you.”

Yuan Zhong: “If only it were so easy! I think she has issues with me—assigns tasks but doesn’t teach, picks faults, even blames me unfairly.”

Stingy Ghost heard Yuan Zhong’s voice quiver and quickly comforted her, “Don’t be sad—she’s probably just accusing without evidence.”

“That’s true, but it still hurts to hear,” Yuan Zhong said, “A whole day’s work, and in her eyes it’s all wrong.”

Unreliable: “Can you apply for a different master?”

Yuan Zhong: “There aren’t many people at my workplace, and I heard she’s favored by leadership—probably assigned to me deliberately. Besides, it’s only been two days, I can’t complain yet.”

Unreliable: “So you’ll have to keep at it?”

Yuan Zhong: “Afraid so, at least for now.”

“Poor thing,” Unreliable said. “Forget it, say whatever you want in the game—I won’t mind.”

“Mind? Go away!” Stingy Ghost snapped at Unreliable, “We’re helping you rank up, you should be grateful.”

Unreliable: “Alright, pro, my mistake.”

“Let’s not talk about these unhappy things. Tonight, I’ll play an extra round—I need more kills to vent,” Yuan Zhong said.

In the next two games, Unreliable and Stingy Ghost just watched Yuan Zhong collect kills everywhere; she didn’t push towers, had only one goal—slaughter, radiating an aura of wanting to wipe out the King’s Canyon.

“Hmm, a bit scary,” Unreliable said.

Stingy Ghost replied, “She must have suffered a big grievance.” Not knowing exactly what, nor able to help.