Every afternoon and evening, Lin Nan was no longer without things to do.
He was getting tired of League of Legends, a game he'd been playing since middle school, but with preliminaries starting in just over a week, he had to give his all for that thousand yuan prize money.
So they'd play one five-man match at lunch and two in the evening. After each game, the four roommates plus Dong An participating via QQ video call would gather together to discuss why they lost or why their wins weren't impressive.
Throwing himself wholeheartedly into something—Lin Nan hadn't experienced this feeling since senior year of high school.
So he temporarily forgot about the abnormalities in his body, forgot about Lilith who had somehow gotten into his head, forgot about Lina at school who wished for his death every day.
"Hit him hit him! Chen Yao, don't hide behind me!"
"Holy shit! Dong An, why are you stealing my kill!"
"You're support, what do you need kills for!" Dong An roared indignantly through the headset.
"Xiong Da, be more aggressive with your jungle invasions! Your mid-jungle combo with Dong An is so strong, why aren't you hitting their jungle?"
"Tu Tu, TP!"
Lin Nan reluctantly took on the role of team captain. Fortunately, having watched plenty of competitions and livestreams in his spare time, he roughly understood recent professional scene strategies and methods.
His temper was normally decent, but after playing with them for several days, the hot temper hidden deep in his mind that belonged to Lilith was gradually excavated.
"Tu Junhui! Where was your engage!" After losing a team fight, Lin Nan furiously turned around, speaking angrily, only to see Tu Junhui also confusedly turning back, looking at Lin Nan blankly as if seeing a stranger.
Only then did Lin Nan realize his personality had been unconsciously influenced.
He froze, turned back around, his tone much softer: "Next time you and Xiong Da engage first. Don't get caught, watch your positioning."
Actually, Dong An also wanted to be team captain, but both he and Chen Yao had basketball training, so they didn't have much time to study this stuff. Since Lin Nan was the relatively free support on the team with sufficient rank to command respect, he became the shot-caller.
But he hadn't expected that being shot-caller would bring out his deep-seated explosive temper.
He was originally mild-tempered, basically the type of honest person who swallowed grievances, rarely getting angry. But just days after being influenced by Lilith, he noticed that abnormal hot temper.
However, emotional control was still relatively easy for the previous Lin Nan to manage. It's just that these teammates were too infuriating! This was supposed to be serious pre-competition training, but the mid laner played Yasuo, the jungler played Ivern, and the top laner refused to TP even if it killed him. Lin Nan felt he might be the only one taking this competition seriously. (TN: Yasuo mid is kind of a meme because he’s a skill intensive champion and is difficult to pilot for the inexperienced, Ivern jungle is more second support than jungle, and TP lets you teleport any allied trinkets or minions.)
After another game loss, Tu Junhui nonchalantly grabbed the beef jerky he'd brought from home and started chewing. Xiong Da helped by playing mobile games with his head down, while Chen Yao drank cola and laughingly teased Dong An on the other end of the internet.
Sure enough, he was the only one taking this competition seriously...
Lin Nan looked around and pressed his temples with a headache. These guys were ultimately just participating in the competition for fun—if they could make money while having fun, even better. But he was different; he was simpler—just for the money.
With a long sigh, he called out: "Let's discuss how we just lost."
"What's there to discuss? I'm going to shower first." Dong An on the other end was the first to escape.
Lin Nan wanted to find magic that could hit people through internet cables.
Seeing him hang up the QQ call, Tu Junhui also unhesitatingly stood up: "Then I'll go shower too."
A few days ago they might have found it novel, discussing and blaming each other after every match, but by now they were probably tired of it.
After all, for them it was just a game.
Lin Nan sighed lifelessly and pulled out his phone to check his account balance.
Five hundred.
Only a third of the month had passed, and he only had half his living expenses left. Part of it had gone to paying off remaining debts, and the rest was because he'd been eating slightly better recently.
Wasn't this to supplement nutrition to offset the negative effects of monthly blood loss!
Looking at their attitude, the path to making money through gaming competitions seemed full of obstacles. Lin Nan could only think of new ways to earn money somewhere, or go deceive someone...
So Lin Nan unhesitatingly contacted his uncle via phone.
"Uncle! I'm out of money!"
"Get lost!" Wu Guodong reacted very quickly.
Lin Nan unhesitatingly sent a butt-up emoji.
Whether imagining that scene or feeling uneasy about Lin Nan's shamelessness, Wu Guodong helplessly sent Lin Nan a thousand yuan.
Lin Nan happily clicked to accept payment.
If he'd known his uncle was this wealthy earlier, how could he have been unable to resist the temptation to unlock the enhanced reaction and temperature regulation magic? That way, at most he'd only be externally feminized now, not internally feminized as well.
Thinking of this, the slight shame he'd felt about asking for money instantly disappeared, his mind full of thoughts about bleeding his uncle dry.
"If all his money was with me, I could prevent him from spending money on those messy body pillows and games, mm." He muttered to himself, but Xiong Da, passing behind him, leaned over to glance at his phone screen.
Xiong Da still wore his expressionless face as he nodded: "You planning to spend 388 for a ten-pull?"
"This is my food money! And I don't play mobile games."
"That's a shame." Xiong Da's mind was full of mobile games.
Lin Nan found his spending philosophy quite puzzling. This guy would spend over a thousand yuan on mobile game top-ups but constantly complained with Tu Junhui about single-player games costing over a hundred yuan being ridiculously expensive.
But this was a rich person's confusion that Lin Nan couldn't understand. Forget single-player games—he had to think three times before buying a bottle of cola.
Having temporarily spared his uncle, Lin Nan turned around and focused his gaze on Xiong Da.
Xiong Da was about to go to the balcony to wash his "wife" when he suddenly noticed Lin Nan's gaze and asked puzzledly: "What?"
"I think you guys are way too careless about this competition!" Lin Nan righteously stood up and began presenting his improvised solution. "The Dorm 432 Gaming Act is hereby announced! If anyone makes major mistakes in games, they pay a hundred yuan fine for me to safekeep! After the competition ends, this money can become our celebration feast fund!"
Tu Junhui, who had just finished showering and came out wearing only underwear, immediately heard Lin Nan's speech and unhesitatingly rolled his eyes: "You must be an idiot."
He glanced at Lin Nan, quickly grabbed the pants on the table, and scurried back to the bathroom, shouting: "Holy crap! The AC is so cold!"
Lin Nan paid no attention to this clown, looking expectantly at Xiong Da and Chen Yao while attempting to bewitch them: "Look, all our recent losses were Tu Tu's fault..."
"You're sleepy." Xiong Da took his "wife" and walked to the balcony.
Lin Nan looked at Chen Yao.
"Sima Zhao's intentions are obvious to all." Chen Yao sneered. "Your embezzlement plan is way too obvious, isn't it?" (TN: Sima Zhao secretly wanted to usurp the throne from the Wei Dynasty Emperor, but it was obvious to all.)