Heartbeat Engine

Luo Ye was from Beijing, and among his classmates, there was another student from the same city. Naturally, the two connected quickly. After all, being far from home, it was comforting to have someone from the same place to look out for each other.

However, after exchanging contact information, Luo Ye regretted it—because Xu Xiaojia was a chatterbox.

"I forgot to check Green Bubble."

Luo Ye typed these seven words, but before he could hit send, Wang Dazui urged him on:

"Why are you dawdling, Brother Luo? Log in already!"

"Alright."

Closing Green Bubble, Luo Ye logged into Honor of Kings.

He was pretty skilled at this game. Although not a top-tier player, he was strong enough to carry random teams, earning the title of "Jungle King" among his friends.

"I'm about to carry this game!"

Wang Dazui's Marco Polo launched his ultimate into the enemy team, landing a big hit but getting immediately wiped out—a perfect example of a "support player in denial."

Then, Luo Ye's Kai charged into the fight like a storm, cutting through enemies with ease and racking up kills.

"Bro, how many times do I have to tell you? I initiate the fights, and you clean up. That way, none of us die. But you just had to start the fight yourself," Luo Ye sighed.

"Pfft, don't lecture me. My Marco Polo's initiations are all about finesse—finessed myself right to death, you wouldn't understand."

Luo Ye: ?

He had a huge question mark floating over his head as he queued for the next match with his friends.

During the two weeks of military training, Luo Ye had led the squad to reach King Rank, over 30 stars.

After gaming, he'd spend around three hours writing updates for his novel, which left him with barely any rest. Dark circles had practically become part of his look.

That day, in Dorm 515, they were ready for another gaming session.

"Hold up! No girls in the team? That's boring. Let me check if there are any nearby," Wang Dazui said.

"With your skills? You think you're hot stuff just because we're in King Rank? Bro, it's all thanks to Luo Ye carrying us."

Suddenly, a match request popped up on Luo Ye's screen.

"Loves Hotpot"…

She plays Honor of Kings too?

Luo Ye accepted the request.

Seeing the new female avatar appear, Wang Dazui got hyped.

"Say no more—there's a girl!"

He thought he had invited her from the lobby, having just sent out a bunch of invites.

"Loves Hotpot" joined the team.

"Hello? Do you have a mic?" Wang Dazui asked eagerly, turning on voice chat.

"Yes."

She replied with just one word, but her cool, commanding voice made Wang Dazui's heart race.

"Whoa, jackpot! A cold, queen-like voice—this is fate."

Luo Ye rolled his eyes. Can't you see she's on my friends list?

"Start the game!" Wang Dazui urged.

The match began: four 30-star Kings plus Loves Hotpot, a 48-star powerhouse.

But soon, Wang Dazui noticed something—she only spoke that one word in the team lobby.

In-game, she typed everything.

During hero selection, Loves Hotpot picked a support character—Yao.

She planned to occasionally assist the marksman, but after seeing how terrible Wang Dazui's Marco Polo was, she made a decision:

"Forget it. I'm sticking with the jungler."

Left alone in the bottom lane, Wang Dazui faced the enemy marksman and support, constantly ambushed by their jungler, and even flanked by their top laner.

"HELP ME!"

After dying six times with zero kills, Wang Dazui desperately turned on his mic again:

"Yao Yao, please come help!"

Princess Yao was unmoved.

What's the point of following a bad marksman? That's just giving the enemy two free kills.

Unsurprisingly, they lost the match.

Even though Luo Ye managed a quadra kill at one point, his teammates dragged the team down.

As for Loves Hotpot—she played a support character with minimal damage output.

"Not playing anymore. I've been gaming all day; I feel brain-dead," Shen Qiao sighed, logging off.

Seeing this, Wang Dazui (now 0/11 Marco Polo) finally accepted the harsh reality.

With a bitter face, he muttered, "I'm done too. Time to practice against bots."

Li Haoyang hesitated for a moment before quitting the game as well, his fingers flying across his phone screen—probably texting someone special.

Now, only Luo Ye and Loves Hotpot remained.

"Not playing anymore," Luo Ye typed and exited the game.

But the next second—

"Loves Hotpot has invited you to a team."

Huh?

Luo Ye was pulled right back in.

"Three stars away from reaching Glory."

She typed.

"No problem, I'll carry you."

"No. You play support."

Her response left Luo Ye dumbfounded.

Before he could react, she had already started matchmaking.

She wants me to play support? Luo Ye was confused but didn't mind. He picked Luban Master.

"Are you even good with Luban Master? If not, switch. Don't drag us down," their third teammate complained.

Loves Hotpot: "Shut up."

Teammate: "Oh? Protective, huh? Is that your man?"

Loves Hotpot: "..."

As the match began, Luo Ye's support skills shined, flawlessly assisting Loves Hotpot's marksman.

By the end, Luo Ye had more kills than their cocky teammate.

Three matches later—three consecutive wins.

With Luo Ye's expert support, Loves Hotpot finally reached Glory Rank.

"Nice support," she typed.

"You're pretty skilled too," Luo Ye replied politely.

Curious, he asked, "You play Honor of Kings too? I thought you only played PUBG."

Loves Hotpot: "I play both."

She usually logged in just to check messages, but seeing Luo Ye online, she decided to play.

After all, she typically solo queued or played with her female friends.

Checking her profile, Luo Ye noticed her title:

"Jiang City's #7 Sun Shangxiang."

But what caught his attention was—

She's in Jiang City too.

"You're in Jiang City?" he asked.

Loves Hotpot: "Jiang City University."

Luo Ye was surprised.

Could she be a colleague of Gu Mingxuan?

"Hello, teacher," Luo Ye joked.

On the other side of the screen, Su Baizhou almost burst out laughing.

Did this junior just call me a teacher?

Loves Hotpot: "I'm a student."

Luo Ye was stunned.

Wait, Gu Mingxuan invited his student to play games with me?

Feeling lazy to type, Luo Ye turned on his mic:

"Hey there, didn't expect us to be schoolmates!"

Luo Ye had never used voice chat while playing PUBG with her, but now that they were both at the same university, he figured they might even become real-life friends.

But—Loves Hotpot didn't respond.

Instead, she immediately exited the team.

Meanwhile, in the girls' dorm—

Su Baizhou was startled by Luo Ye's sudden voice and quickly exited the game.

She never used voice chat in games and usually muted other players.

Despite playing online games for so long, Luo Ye was her only gaming buddy—thanks to Gu Mingxuan.

But the idea of turning an online friend into a real-life friend…

It was exciting.

And kind of fun.

For some reason, she thought of that rainy day and the young, awkward face of a certain boy.

The "Ice Queen" couldn't help but smile.