“Don’t give me that. You used to train for over a dozen hours a day, and now you’re telling me a fifty-minute match is long? You must have been secretly putting in extra practice!” Coach looked at him with concern. “Don’t train for the next few days, don’t even log into the game, got it??”

Brian Carter knew exactly what was going on—he had indeed exceeded the doctor’s recommended training hours, and by quite a lot.

Since there weren’t any matches coming up, Brian Carter nodded. “Got it. Any progress on finding a new mid laner?”

“Can you worry a little less, given your current state?” After his lecture, Coach answered honestly, “Yes, the team has picked out a few candidates from the youth trainees, top-ranked players on the national server, and mid laners whose contracts are about to expire. We still need to evaluate and screen them one by one before we have a result.”

Brian Carter said, “Send me the list too.”

“Of course you’ll get it.” Coach suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose. “But let me say this first: we’re looking for a teammate, not a wife. Don’t be so picky—give others a chance to grow and improve… The ones you rejected last time have all been snatched up by other teams now, it breaks my heart…”

Brian Carter responded with a cool, indifferent “Mm,” thinking to himself that if finding a teammate were as easy as finding a wife, he wouldn’t have to waste so much time.

Chapter 3

The next afternoon, Ryan Cooper had just woken up when he saw several messages on his phone.

[Evan Clark: You awake, bro?]

[Evan Clark: I heard the platform is about to have another big overhaul. Tone it down on your streams, don’t curse people out so much.]

Ryan Cooper rubbed his eyes and replied, “Got it,” not taking it too seriously.

The platform’s overhauls were always about the same few things. He didn’t stream anything explicit or cheat, so the changes probably wouldn’t affect him.

It wasn’t time to go live yet, so Ryan Cooper decided to scroll through Weibo for a bit. He didn’t expect to see the same name flooding his feed as soon as he opened the app.

All the accounts he followed were esports-related, so naturally, the trending topics were too. Some had even climbed to the top of Weibo’s trending list and were staying there.

#Rumor has it Road will retire#

#Looking back on Road’s five-year pro career#

#The end of Road’s legend?#

……

Ryan Cooper blinked, his drowsiness fading a little.

He rolled over and lazily scrolled through his screen.

The “Road retirement” topic had already climbed to the number one spot on the trending list, even pushing last night’s semifinals out of the way. The buzz was off the charts.

But that was to be expected. Who was Road? He’d joined the struggling TTC team in the secondary league and led them to the LPL, then won the national championship at Worlds the following year. He’d been voted “Most Popular Player” two years in a row, was the backbone of TTC, and was now the most popular star player in the LPL.

Even a minor interview with Road could make the trending list, let alone something as big as retirement.

Several esports marketing accounts had already posted sentimental articles, and the comments were full of crying and broken-heart emojis. Fans all said they couldn’t believe it.

Ryan Cooper didn’t really believe it either.

There are only a few reasons a pro player retires—bad results, not strong enough, or declining hand speed. Judging by Road’s performance last night, all three could be ruled out immediately.

Ryan Cooper checked out TTC’s official Weibo. The last post was still last night’s semifinal match report.

Road’s own Weibo was even quieter—the latest post was an ad from a month ago.

[Evan Clark: Checked Weibo? Everyone’s saying Road is retiring.]

[Ethan Grant: Saw it. Where’s this news coming from?]

[Evan Clark: Seems like it’s an inside source. Heard Road has a hand injury.]

Ryan Cooper brushed his teeth while recalling Road’s performance in last night’s match.

Was that the kind of play someone with a hand injury could pull off??

He casually scrolled through a few of Road’s Weibo posts. Although Road himself hadn’t said anything, the comments were already full of messages from fans—mixed in with plenty of haters’ attacks.

[Road should’ve retired ages ago, he’s always been trash. Last night he hogged the starting spot and then missed the deciding game—was he trying to lose so he could shift the blame? His fans must just like his looks, right? The new junglers these past two years are way better than him.]

Ryan Cooper spat out the foam and hit repost.

[Soft: If someone’s better than him, name them for me, kid.]

—

Brian Carter only found out he’d been “retired” after waking up.

After a quick wash, he opened the door to find a slightly chubby figure waiting outside his room, looking a bit pitiful from behind.

Hearing movement, the person immediately turned around—it was the team’s support, Little Brian, who had joined the team the same year as Brian Carter.

“Bro.” Little Brian bit his lip, looking like he was about to cry but holding it in, and stammered, “…Are you really retiring?”

Everyone on the team knew about Brian Carter’s hand injury. Although the doctor said it wasn’t bad enough to stop him from playing, everyone was still worried all the time.

Brian Carter said, “Yeah.”

Little Brian was stunned, a thousand words of persuasion flashing through his mind, but in the end, he only managed to choke out, “So, so when are you retiring?”

Brian Carter zipped up his coat. “Two or three years from now?”