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It started in the summer break before the start of Season 11. Yang Haoxuan, erstwhile launcher of Team Void, had gone home to spend the summer visiting his family, hanging out with his cousins and old friends, and planning a trip or two to exciting climes with some friends. While summer had always been a good time for him to take a break from the grueling schedule of the regular season, Yang Haoxuan was a true professional and still maintained a minimum of two to four hours a day at the computer, practicing his skills and making sure that he continued to stay sharp.
Most of the team captains, including his own, were in Beijing, preparing for the Glory Invitational in Switzerland. While Yang Haoxuan wouldn’t be able to go and watch in person this year, he was definitely planning on watching the stream of the matches. That was pretty much the only thing that he and his fellow season 7 rookies had been speculating about for the past few weeks.
The members of the season 7 rookie chat had been basking in the reflected glory of having two of their number be a part of the team alongside legends such as Zhang Jiale, Wang Jiexi, practically all of the Golden Generation, and of course, the god himself, Ye Xiu. It was proof positive that the strength of season 7 outstripped that of previous seasons. Furthermore, with two of their own included in the team, they were often fed insider news about the goings-on at the training camp. It was the only way that Yang Haoxuan could live vicariously next to the legends of his profession.
Both Sun Xiang and Tang Hao were only able to chip in during their lunch breaks, or later during the evening downtimes after dinner and before bed, but to certain people who didn’t even make the team, the secondhand gossip was highly prized. Yang Haoxuan himself didn’t care too much about gossip. To him, it was simply idle curiosity. However, he had a fellow Void team member who cared very much.
“Haoxuan, you have to tell me everything.” Li Xun had cornered him as he was packing his bags in his dorm room, getting ready to catch the train home for the summer.
“But aren’t you friends with Fang Rui? Both of you debuted in Season 5 right?”
Li Xun sniffed haughtily, “That guy is useless. You can never tell if he’s making shit up, or if it’s fact.”
“What about Captain Zhou? He’s Season 5 too!”
“Are you serious. Have you seen any interview with Zhou Zekai?”
“...good point.”
“So it’s up to you, Haoxuan. This is our chance to learn more!”
“More of what?”
“I don’t know, anything interesting.”
Quite frankly, Yang Haoxuan didn’t think that there would be anything interesting to come out of this, but he faithfully kept Li Xun up-to-date with whatever useless little tidbits he got from Sun Xiang and Tang Hao. If nothing else, it kept Li Xun from pestering him with pleas to spill the tea. More tea. Any tea.
In any case, the news that he had to share with Li Xun was hardly earth-shattering. Chu Yunxiu and Ye Xiu smoked like cigarettes were going out of style (this wasn’t even news to anybody who’d been in the Glory Professional Alliance for longer than a year). Huang Shaotian hated okra, and the team would find ways to somehow make sure that there would be hidden bits of okra in his food (as far as pranks went, this barely even registered on any gossip meter as exciting). Chu Yunxiu and Su Mucheng had somehow persuaded Ye Xiu and Wang Jiexi to watch the latest palace intrigue drama that was all the rage that summer (mildly interesting, but utterly useless in terms of gossip quality).
In fact, Yang Haoxuan was expecting his summer to continue in the same idyllic fashion. Tang Hao and Sun Xiang sharing random information about their time at the training camp. Yang Haoxuan himself passing on all that information on to Li Xun and washing his hands off the matter entirely. All that changed one day when both Sun Xiang and Tang Hao pinged him in the rookie chat.
Season 7 Rookie Chat
One Autumn Leaf: @Translucent are your captain and vc really in a secret gay relationship?
Demon Subduer: @Translucent Isn’t that bad for team morale?
Translucent: What?
Flying Drops: Tang Hao, you’re saying that Li Xuan and Wu Yuce are in a secret gay relationship, and your first instinct is team morale ?
Soul Speaker: Tang Hao has different priorities from normal people
Bright Blossoms: Wait, Captain Li and Vice Captain Wu are dating? Confirmed?!!!?!!
Aweto: What kind of crack are you guys smoking right now
Translucent: STOP SPREADING RUMORS!
One Autumn Leaf: Our seniors said so tho
Translucent: Who did?
Demon Subduer: Huang Shaotian, Chu Yunxiu, Su Mucheng… even Yu Wenzhou and Xiao Shiqin agreed
Bright Blossoms: No way.
One Autumn Leaf: Fang Rui had a lot to say about it too, actually. Kept on bringing up “Miss Wu” and insinuating stuff.
Demon Subduer: Yeah, and Li Xuan was blushing!
Demon Subduer: He kept raging and telling them to shut up.
One Autumn Leaf: He got really defensive over Wu Yuce
One Autumn Leaf: He was probably embarrassed.
Translucent: Wait seriously?
Demon Subduer: Well wouldn’t you be if other people read your sext log out loud?
Flying Drops: sext log???
Translucent: ...sext log...?
One Autumn Leaf: Yeah Yunxiu saw Li Xuan sexting Wu Yuce after lunch
Demon Subduer: She stole his phone and read some of it out to us, something about flesh tasting sweet and succulent...
One Autumn Leaf: Yeah and “once you start swallowing, you can’t stop”
Flying Sword: Holy crap
Bright Blossoms: Holy crap +1
Soul Speaker: Holy crap +2
Flying Sword: Now I need brain bleach
Aweto: Holy crap +3
Bright Blossoms: Now I need brain bleach +1
Soul Speaker: Now I need brain bleach +2
Aweto: Wait, is that why they kept getting best partners for so many years in a row?
Aweto: You know, moqi
Private Message from Li Xun to Zhou Zekai
Ghost Lantern: Yo, what’s going on over there? Haoxuan asked me if Captain was really dating Vice Captain. Did Captain tell you guys about his relationship?
Cloud Piercer: ha
Ghost Lantern:
Can you stop???? Is it confirmed???????
Ghost Lantern: And stop being so cryptic!
Ghost Lantern: Can’t you type a longer, less cryptic reply????
Cloud Piercer: practice
Ghost Lantern: Zekai. Seriously. Is it for real?
Ghost Lantern:
ZEKAI!
Ghost Lantern:
Tell meeeeeee
Ghost Lantern:
Stop ignoring me!
Ghost Lantern:
Come onnnnnnnnn
Private Message from Li Xun to Fang Rui
Ghost Lantern: Haoxuan asked me if Captain was really dating Vice Captain. Did Captain admit to it or something?
Boundless Sea: Hahahahahahahahaha. Please. Do you think Li Xuan is the type to do that sort of thing.
Ghost Lantern:
So is this something you jokers came up with or is it for real?
Ghost Lantern:
Fang Rui!
Ghost Lantern:
OY! Fang Rui!
Ghost Lantern:
Hey!!!
Boundless Sea: Sorry, practice starting. Gotta go.
Ghost Lantern:
Wait! Is it for real???????
Ghost Lantern:
Don’t keep this kind of gossip from me!
Ghost Lantern:
Were they really sexting each other????
Ghost Lantern:
Hey!
Ghost Lantern: It’s my team captain and vice captain okay!!!
Ghost Lantern:
Do you feel no shame?!?!
Season 5 Rookie Chat
Ghost Lantern:
@Boundless Sea @Cloud Piercer @Boundless Sea @Cloud Piercer @Boundless Sea
Ghost Lantern:
What’s going on over there?
Ghost Lantern:
Don’t leave me hanging
Ghost Lantern:
Come on!!!
Ghost Lantern:
@Boundless Sea
Ghost Lantern:
How can you do this to me…
Ghost Lantern:
Don’t be so mean
Rota: Wtf
Receding Tides: Can you stop spamming the chat?
Absent Sun: It’s summer break. Wtf
Cold Seasons: Ever heard of PMing somebody?
Carved Ghost: They’re probably in practice right now. You’ll have to wait until practice is over.
Ghost Lantern: OK
Ghost Lantern: Wait, how do you know they’re in practice right now.
Carved Ghost: Li Xuan told me.
Ghost Lantern: He did? When?
Carved Ghost: Just now. What are you being so impatient about.
Ghost Lantern: Just now?
Carved Ghost: Yeah, they were on their lunch break, so we were chatting for a bit.
Ghost Lantern:
Oh. OK.
Ghost Lantern:
What were you chatting about?
Carved Ghost:
…
Carved Ghost:
Have you heard of having a private conversation?
Carved Ghost:
It’s the sort of thing people do when they PM each other.
Rota: Li Xun couldn’t have a private anything if he tried.
Receding Tides: Li Xun couldn’t have a private anything if he tried.+1
Cold Seasons: Li Xun couldn’t have a private anything if he tried.+2
Operation: Quality Time
> Ghost Lantern has created the chat
> Ghost Lantern has renamed the chat to Operation: Quality Time
> Ghost Lantern has invited Translucent, Invisible, Blue Exorcist, Soul Defender, and Void Strike to the chat
Blue Exorcist: ?
Soul Defender: ?
Invisible: ?
Void Strike: ?
Ghost Lantern: We need to make sure that Captain and VC get more quality time together to preserve their moqi
Soul Defender: Where did that even come from
Invisible: ……...what?
Ghost Lantern: They’ve been hiding their relationship from us.
Blue Exorcist: ...what relationship?
Soul Defender: the hell?
Translucent: That captain and vice captain are in a secret relationship with each other.
Void Strike: ...secret relationship...
Soul Defender: What’s so secret about it. We see their relationship in front of our eyes every single day
Translucent: Not that kind of relationship, the other kind of relationship.
Blue Exorcist: I don’t get it.
Ghost Lantern: Haoxuan, tell them
Translucent: Apparently Captain was sexting Vice Captain after lunch
Soul Defender: ?!?!?!?!?
Blue Exorcist: omg
Invisible: …………………………….. I don’t wanna know
Void Strike: sexting???
Translucent: Chu Yunxiu stole Captain’s phone and read out the sexts. Tang Hao and Sun Xiang told me
Ghost Lantern:
In Season 5 chat just now, I was pinging Fang Rui and Zekai, and Vice Captain told me that they were probably in practice.
Ghost Lantern:
When I asked him how he knew, he said that Captain told him just now
Ghost Lantern:
[chatlog_screenshot.jpg]
Ghost Lantern:
See? He wouldn’t say what they were talking about just “private conversation”
Ghost Lantern:
If you were sexting you definitely wouldn’t want to tell people!
Void Strike: So… “private conversation” is code for Captain and Vice Captain sexting?
Invisible: Can we just… not bring up sexting and Captain and Vice Captain in the same sentence any more?
Soul Defender: What does this have to do with anything? Why should we care?
Translucent: Captain and Vice Captain lost best partners to Samsara this year.
Ghost Lantern: Captain mentioned a while back during lunch that he got so busy, he and Vice Captain needed more time together to organize the team for the season.
Blue Exorcist: Now that you mention it, Vice Captain always buys sour plum drink from the newspaper stand for Captain, even when he doesn’t buy drinks for the rest of the team.
Ghost Lantern:
Exactly, so we need to find a way to let them spend more time together.
Ghost Lantern:
It’s for the good of the team!
Ghost Lantern:
This is what I suggest...
Private Message between Li Xuan and Wu Yuce
Carved Ghost: Ye Xiu is really too OP to come up with a strategy like that
Crying Devil: Yeah, we should try it out next season
Carved Ghost: Probably have to modify it a little but I think it’s doable especially if Haoxuan gives us good ranged support.
Crying Devil: Yeah, the food here sucks. Lunch was disgusting
Carved Ghost: Are you serious, you’re in Beijing surely there’s good food somewhere
Crying Devil: Yeah, the cafeteria food here’s shit. We’ll probably go out for proper Peking Duck one of these days tho
Carved Ghost:
Damn don’t make me jealous
Carved Ghost:
My dad took us to this famous duck place in Beijing when I was a kid, and I still dream of it
Crying Devil:
Now I’m looking forward to it
Crying Devil:
I was worried it’d be too fatty and oily
Carved Ghost:
It is, but it tastes so good tho
Carved Ghost:
The flesh was so sweet and succulent
Carved Ghost:
The soup they make out of the bones was amazing too
Carved Ghost:
Once you take the first swallow, you won’t be able to stop until everything’s gone
Crying Devil: Miss Wu I looooove youuuuuu [smoochie_face.jpg]
Carved Ghost: ??????
Crying Devil:
You’re the sexiestaiaihjdnasdf
Crying Devil:
basdiok boyfrpqjkdsam
Crying Devil:
alusdjhfalisdgjkdi can’t wait to be back togeoqdfhakawherjd
Crying Devil:
Sorry these guys are being assholes
Carved Ghost:
lol
Carved Ghost:
Did Fang Rui steal your phone again?
Crying Devil: No, it was Yunxiu…
Carved Ghost: lol