TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 23

“Why didn’t we figure out this tactic back then?” Zhou Yanjun circled the collapsed area, scratching his head. “That was way too fast!”

“Probably because none of you could bring down the roof,” the Wild Hunter muttered, scrolling through the DPS list. He noticed Xia Xiaotong’s DPS had even surpassed Polaris_Fire’s, right around the time the little wizard was terrified out of his mind. Checking the damage details, he gaped.

He looked over at Xia Tong, who was now being comforted by the cat-eared girl like a mother soothing her child.

The cat-eared girl said, “Xia Xiaotong’s DPS was higher than AlasPig’s! That’s insane!”

Zhou Yanjun: “??? Excuse me, is that shade necessary?”

Cat-eared girl: “I mean it literally!”

Zhou Yanjun: “It was just for a moment!”

Cat-eared girl: “A high moment is still high.”

Xia Tong sniffled. “Fatty, you admit you’re AlasPig.”

Zhou Yanjun: “…You shut up!”

The Wild Hunter looked at Xia Tong with newfound awe, as though he were a cute little monster. “What kind of spell rotation was that?”

“It was Soul Shatter followed by Curse of Protection, then Soul Shatter again, and then Insight Key. Soul Shatter applies a debuff with a one-and-a-half-second delay.” Xia Tong replied, oblivious, pausing occasionally to sniffle.

“But you did four rotations in ten seconds! Sixteen skills!” The Wild Hunter’s eyes widened, and he lowered his voice cautiously. “…Are you using cheats?”

“Shoo, shoo!” The cat-eared girl pushed him away with a scowl. “That just means my little brother’s amazing! Don’t be so suspicious!”

“Young people are terrifying,” Zhou Yanjun said with a deep breath. “Hey, Xiaotong, the boss is gone. If you keep crying, I’ll start crying with you.”

“Right, right, there’s nothing scary anymore, is there? Why are you still crying?” The cat-eared girl chuckled, patting Xia Tong on the head.

“You don’t understand!!” Xia Tong’s sadness was painfully real as he wiped away tears. “I was standing there and wasn’t even as tall as those little monsters! I’m so weak! Waaaah!”

Zhou Yanjun: “…”

Bo Yu: “…”

Wild Hunter: “…”

The cat-eared girl awkwardly pulled her hand back, chuckling dryly. “The sorrows of humankind are truly unshared, huh…”

—

Lin Mingfei folded up his black gloves and slipped them into his pocket, lazily cracking his wrist.

“You actually carry gloves around with you? That’s some serious dedication.” Shi Ya nudged Lin Mingfei with his elbow. “What were you doing before you went pro, handsome?”

“Take a guess.” Lin Mingfei chuckled. “I just don’t want to leave DNA on him for evidence.”

“Right, DNA belongs with a cute lover, not with him. Does he even deserve it?” Shi Ya shook his head, feigning dismay as he patted his chest. “I’ll be honest—you’re pretty scary when you go all ruthless like this.”

“I don’t want to be this way, okay? I did try talking to him. He pushed me into it.” Lin Mingfei slipped a hand in his pocket, lifting his chin. “Laziness is human nature; he could’ve just admitted it, and we’d all have left peacefully. But he had to run his mouth, so I couldn’t help but itch to shut him up.”

Shi Ya dropped his gaze, lighting a cigarette, his handsome face veiled in a layer of melancholy behind the smoke.

“Feeling sorry for Ping Shuai?” Lin Mingfei asked, glancing sideways.

“No, just mourning our doomed team ambitions,” Shi Ya rolled his eyes.

Lin Mingfei sighed. “Yeah, now we’re back to being one short again.”

“You don’t sound too bothered?” Shi Ya turned, puzzled.

Lin Mingfei shrugged.

In fact, he didn’t quite know why he felt relieved.

Maybe it was the thought of not having to face parting with Xia Tong for a while?

Just imagining that little Omega looking sad, pouting or lowering those thick, wet eyelashes, felt like getting run over by a steamroller.

Lin Mingfei pressed his tongue against his cheek, hiding that little private emotion.

“What now?” Shi Ya asked.

“Head back for now. We’ll deal with things tomorrow,” Lin Mingfei said. “Need a ride?”

“No, I drove today,” Shi Ya huffed. “Figured I couldn’t lose face even if we lost the match.”

“We didn’t lose. The only real loser is the one who can’t even make it to the field.” Lin Mingfei clapped him on the shoulder.

“See you at the base,” Shi Ya replied.

After a brief goodbye, Lin Mingfei returned to his car. Resting one hand on the steering wheel, his fingers tapped rhythmically along the rim. Moments later, his phone vibrated with an incoming call from He Youjin.

Lin Mingfei’s eyes lit up slightly.

As soon as he answered, a panicked voice burst through the line. “Zero! Help! Someone’s following me!”

Lin Mingfei let out a quiet “tsk,” frowning as he spun the wheel sharply. He asked in a low voice, “Where are you?”

He Youjin rattled off a street name nearby, and Lin Mingfei floored the gas pedal, speeding over. When he arrived, he immediately spotted a young man hurrying with a backpack—a tall, slim figure with black-framed glasses, who looked both sharp and scholarly. Lin Mingfei opened his car door and stepped out without a word, slipping on his black gloves as he walked.

“Zero!” He Youjin gasped in relief when he saw him, but as he opened his mouth to continue, Lin Mingfei gave him a firm pat on the shoulder.

“Stay in the back.”

“But there are a lot of them!” He Youjin said, worried.

“When it’s Alphas against each other, numbers don’t matter,” Lin Mingfei replied.

He Youjin’s face went blank for a moment. “Oh, right. I forgot you’re all cursed Alphas.” He quickly climbed into Lin Mingfei’s car. “Well, I’m out. You guys can go at it.”

Ten minutes later, Lin Mingfei returned to the car, unscathed.

“Give me a cigarette,” he said, extending his hand toward He Youjin.

“What? It’s over already?” He Youjin handed him a cigarette, looking stunned.

“Aren’t you glad you’re a Beta?” Lin Mingfei chuckled, blowing a few smoke rings. “So, what trouble did you get into this time?”

“I reported both my supervisor and the CEO.” He Youjin patted his backpack. “All their ten-year debt records are in here.”

Lin Mingfei sucked in a breath.

“Did you get a reward for reporting them?”

“Nope.”

“Aren’t you worried about them retaliating?”

“Well, they already fired me and hired people to beat me up,” He Youjin fumed.

“…So what was it all for?”

“I just can’t stand a speck of dirt in my eye!”

Lin Mingfei was silent for a moment.

“Your supervisor’s an Alpha, isn’t he?”

“How did you know?”

“…Just a guess.”

He Youjin was one of Lin Mingfei’s middle school classmates. Back when Lin Mingfei was skipping class to play games, He Youjin was already a terrifyingly brilliant student. He held a lifelong grudge against Alphas, stemming from a time a teacher’s Alpha child stole his scholarship.

Lin Mingfei quickly finished his cigarette, twisting out the butt. “Youjin, come be the manager for our club.”

He Youjin paused, then turned sharply to look at him.

“So, that’s why you’re suddenly being so nice!” He recoiled, glaring. “I knew you had an agenda!”

Lin Mingfei shrugged nonchalantly. “Yep.”

He Youjin threw his hands up in frustration. “Don’t think I don’t know what your club is like! I’m not working for an all-Alpha team again!”

Lin Mingfei raised an eyebrow.

“We’re not all-Alpha. We actually have an Omega now.”

“Your kind of club has an Omega? Yeah, right!” He Youjin glared at him.

“Seriously, there is an Omega at our club. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you a photo.” Lin Mingfei, calm and collected, took out his phone, flipped through his gallery, and pulled up a photo of Xia Tong.

The little Omega in the photo had a gentle, sweet expression with star-like eyes, glancing innocently and cutely at the camera.

He Youjin was a bit taken aback. “Damn… this Omega—”

“Adorable, isn’t he?” Lin Mingfei said, somewhat proud, pointing at the background of the photo. “He’s right at our club. If you join, you’ll see him. Our club environment is good now; you won’t be at the bottom of the food chain. Trust me.”

Feel free to donate for earlier/bonus chapter releases! Thanks for supporting me and enjoy reading 😀