Chapter 24: Thoughts Running Wild

“Can you hear me?”

It was a melodic, feminine voice, gentle and refined. It didn’t carry that flirtatious sort of lilt to it, nor was it extra sugary sweet. Rather, the tone felt more reserved, dignified.

And when Yu Luocheng heard that voice, his whole body began quivering from head to toe!

It was a lonely gamer’s fondest dreams come true!

It washed over him like a spring breeze, melting away the ice that had formed around his doubting heart. Yu Luocheng couldn’t believe that his best friend over the internet really and truly was a woman, who spoke with such a dreamy voice.

Already, an image of her had begun to form in his mind.

She had to be wearing a delicate pair of spectacles, behind which shone a pair of radiant eyes, bright with intelligence. Her tiny mouth would be formed by a pair of lips that were full, red, and luscious.

Every word she spoke would exude sensual appeal. With each movement, her long hair would shift in layers of cascading tresses.

Her fine, exquisite features would perhaps be adorned by a pleated braid, playfully arranged, which served to further highlight her spellbinding beauty!

Now and again, her mature demeanor would give way to youthful charm; although composed, she also radiated maddening temptation; in her kindly nature, the occasional hint of a wilder side.

All the hallmarks of a sophisticated beauty from the big city!

Of course, Yu Luocheng had to admit that this was how he’d imagined her all along, this friend he’d never once met in person. However, now that he’d actually heard the sound of her voice, he couldn’t help feeling that fantasy and reality might not be so far apart!

“Yeah, I hear you!” Yu Luocheng replied frantically, nodding as he spoke.

“Haha, it’s good that you can hear me, but do you have to shout?” There was another peal of light-hearted laughter.

Just the sound of it was driving him crazy!

Yu Luocheng found it hard to believe that such incredible fortune could have found a hardcore geek like himself!

“I’m just so excited to finally be able to hear your voice,” Yu Luocheng told her.

“If you like the sound of my voice that much, I could link you to some of my broadcasts.” She was still giggling away.

Hearing her voice drifting to him through the aether, it was like sitting in a tranquil glade, and looking up when he thought he’d heard the faint sound of laughter from deeper in the woods, like the tinkling of silver bells.

It was a sound to pull him to his feet, overwhelmed by curiosity to go have a look and find out what kind of girl that laugh belonged to.

“Broadcasts?” Yu Luocheng asked, bewildered. Despite having known each other for so long, he honestly had no clue which field Snowfall worked in.

What kind of broadcasting focused on one’s voice—especially a sultry, captivating female voice?

Was she a voice actress?

“That’s right. There are always two people in front of the camera, typically one man and one woman, but sometimes a third person might join in. That kind of broadcast. I can send you a full series where I’m the female lead. It’s limited edition, you know.” Yi Qin spoke teasingly now, deliberately presenting her job in the most misleading way possible.

What sort of show involved two people—a man and a woman—sometimes with a third person involved… his thoughts were running wild!

Yu Luocheng thought about it for a while, until understanding hit him like a lightning bolt!

Oh my god! Was this a gift or a curse?

“Wanna see?” Yi Qin whispered in his ear. “There are lots of lonely guys like you who subscribe to my channel. After you’ve seen what I can do, maybe you’ll become one of my fans, too.”

He could clearly hear the laughter in her voice. Though she tried to conceal it, her voice was quivering with barely contained mirth.

How could such an elegant, dignified voice speak so lasciviously? Yu Luocheng could feel his ears burning, his face red hot!

Perhaps… perhaps she truly was a part of that noble profession?

It would be a lie to say that he’d never had certain fantasies about Snowfall, the same as any man might… but he’d never once imagined that his dreams could be made manifest so soon—and a full series, at that!

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And to think, countless others have been enjoying this privilege as well!

In Yu Luocheng’s heart, he’d been keeping Snowfall as something pure, someone sacred to him, someone who was exclusively his. How could he bear the thought of sharing her with so many other losers?

He was a saint in a corrupt world of sinners. Should he keep holding out, or just give in?

“Alright, send it to me!” In the end, Yu Luocheng became just another innocent soul ruined by cruel reality.

“You filth! I knew you couldn’t be trusted!”

Now that Yu Luocheng had bitten the hook, he was completely at Yi Qin’s mercy.

“What is my guilt, here?” Yu Luocheng asked wryly.

“How would I know what guys like you are thinking about? Hmph, go find it yourself, in those sites you usually frequent! Make a recording of my voice, and compare it to each actress until you find a match. Maybe you’ll be able to pick me out that way!”

Yi Qin’s tone was a little cold, there. Yu Luocheng was in grave danger, unless he could figure out what was really going on.

“So what do you really do?” he asked.

“Take a guess.” Yi Qin decided to prolong the mystery. “Enough about this. I’ve been playing by myself the past few days, and I’ve lost a lot of points. Hurry up and get me to 2,000.”

“I give you my word: With my power level increased through our voice communication, never mind 2,000… even 2,200 or 2,300 won’t be a problem!”

(Translator’s Note: In other words, they would move from Platinum to Diamond tier—the highest achievable tier at that time.)

“Who are you trying to kid? 2,200 to 2,300 is for pro-gamers. Don’t tell me you happen to be one of those?” Yi Qin said.

“I’m still in school, hee hee,” Yu Luocheng chortled bashfully.

“Did you think I couldn’t tell, little boy?” Yi Qin laughed again.

How odd. When she called him ‘little boy’ with that gorgeous voice of hers, he didn’t feel put down at all. If anything, it had roused him right up!

***

Long accustomed to working with each other, Yu Luocheng and Snowfall were already in perfect sync down in the Bottom lane, voice communication or no. Perhaps Yu Luocheng had always been playing as though he had someone precious by his side whom he needed to keep safe.

He was still uncertain about his mastery over Thresh, which made it a risky choice at this level of play, so Yu Luocheng went with some of the more aggressive Support champions that he’d played the most.

The Support champions that Yu Luocheng usually played included:

‘Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem’, an excellent playmaker who set the pace for the whole team;

‘Leona, the Radiant Dawn’ and ‘Taric, the Gem Knight’—champions who could bully the Bottom lane early on, and then became impenetrable Tanks later in the game, with abilities to disrupt and disable the enemy;

‘Alistar, the Minotaur’ could work miracles and turn the tide in team fights;

Or perhaps he could go with a different style of Support champion, like ‘Zyra, Rise of the Thorns’ or ‘Elise, the Spider Queen’…

(Translator’s Note: ‘Elise Support’ is a new concept for me, and I’m given to doubt that it works without tremendous snowballing. Note that in modern League of Legends, Taric is instead titled ‘the Shield of Valoran’.)

One thing all of Yu Luocheng’s champions had in common was that they all possessed substantial offensive capabilities and control effects, allowing them to take control of the Bottom lane, and even the whole game.

As for ‘Nunu, the Yeti Rider’, ‘Lulu, the Fae Sorceress’, ‘Janna, the Storm’s Fury’, and ‘Sona, Maven of the Strings’… Yu Luocheng was familiar with these popular Support champions, but he himself didn’t play them as often.

Essentially, he was a Support player by trade, but his heart held an unquenchable lust for blood!

He’d won the most games as Blitzcrank, followed by Leona and Zyra. Of course, not even your win rate at the highest levels of Ranked play was any true indicator of your odds of winning a real tournament. If all you did was blindly pick your own favorite champions, with no consideration of the team composition on either side, you were headed towards your own doom.

For example, if the enemy’s solo Top was Renekton, and they were fielding Kennen in the Mid lane, Alistar as Support, and their Jungler as Amumu or Hecarim…

And you used Blitzcrank to play against such a team…

In that case, the enemy team would likely be very grateful, and your own team might have a few things to say about it as well.

(Translator’s Note: I’m guessing what the author means is that if the enemy team is mostly made up of swarthy muscle-boys, Blitzcrank’s signature ‘Rocket Grab’ will be more harm than help.)