Chapter 392: It’s About How Hard You Can Get Hit and Keep Movin’ Forward
Shi Hang was in Team Rapids’ gaming room. Two of his teammates were playing duo queue on the computers and another teammate came walking in munching on some chips. Shi Hang watched them and sighed. We could’ve done better. I… I probably should’ve done a bit better. He took a deep, long breath and then said over his phone to Aurous, “Yeah, we played earlier today. Lost.”
“You lost?” Aurous asked, surprised. “You never lose! You’re bloody AyDeeCee! What happened? Did you fuck up? Or was it a team thing?”
Shi Hang looked at his teammates and chuckled. He shook his head and said, “Nah, the team played alright. I’ve just been out of it for too long. The new meta feels strange to me and I need a bit more time to adapt. Give it another week, two tops! Our teamwork and coordination will get up there and then we’ll be the team to watch out for!”
“So it was you who screwed up! Pity, dude. That’s a damn pity,” Aurous teased. He briefly paused, thinking about the high bar Shi Hang put up for himself and the damage fans could do to the mental fortitude of even the most talented players, and continued, “Hey, bud? Don’t let it get to you. This was your first match and it was against KG right off the bat! No one expected you to win this one. You’ll get more chances. Just chill and… You might wanna steer clear from social media for a couple of days… You know. The fans.”
Shi Hang laughed and said, “No worries. I’ll be fine.” He then cleared his throat and continued, “For you know, the heart of a fan is fickle. One moment, they love you. They want to have your babies and they worship you like a God, maybe even build a shrine in your name! But in the next moment, when you feel the spark of divinity that will grant you immortality, they tear it away from you! They strip you of every last bit of confidence you have! And then… Then they call you a steaming pile of trash and throw you in the gutter! They’ll charge you with the murder of their hopes and dreams and have you hanged it! That is the way of the fickle fan.”
Aurous snorted in laughter. He replied, “I love you, man. I fucking love you. That’s brilliant! But, for real. Don’t check your social media. I’m betting the fickle fans are already stalking you and waiting to unleash their fury on you!”
“Yeah, probably,” Shi Hang agreed, grinning. He glanced at his Toplaner who was still chewing chips and continued, “Don’t worry. I know the pressure and I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t think I could handle it. That said… Holy damn was Roundy good. That dude hard-carried the game with his Fiora. Seriously, we couldn’t stop him. We tried, but we couldn’t.”
“Sometimes, you’re a raging idiot. You know that, right?” Aurous snapped. “Stop complimenting everyone you play against! Your fans don’t care about who you play against! They care about the high hopes they have for you. You know that they come to the stadium to watch you hard-carry a game, right? Speaking of which, who are you playing next? Ready to get a pentakill against them and show everyone that you still have what it takes to be the best Midlaner in China?”
Shi Hang laughed and replied, “You’re going to love this! Next game is the one where I get to show to everyone that I still have what it takes to be up there with the best Midlaners of China! Wanna know why? ‘Cause we’re playing Hand of God!”