Chapter 3#
The Deadweight Pretty Boy#
Chu Feng noticed the subtle reactions of those around him. While Si Qi was talking with the coach, he lowered his voice and asked his agent, “You know him?”
The agent was a know-it-all in the competitive arena; there was basically nothing he couldn’t find out. If you didn’t know something, asking him was always a safe bet.
Sure enough, the agent nodded and said to Chu Feng, “A year ago, Si Qi went viral because of an interview video from the graduation assessment of the magic academy, and a entertainment company took notice. The son of that company’s boss wanted to become a competitive player, so the company specially assembled this team of good-looking players for him… Si Qi is one of the most famous players among them.”
Chu Feng felt his worldview cracking just from hearing this description: “…Interview? Looks? Viral?”
Did any of these words have even the slightest connection to competitive play?
“Entertainment companies, after all, think about things differently than we do.” The agent gave a knowing look. “Good looks, good grades, a poor background but striving upward—any one of those is enough to make headlines…”
Rich people these days always liked to meddle across industries, and the bizarre stunts they pulled often left industry insiders baffled.
Chu Feng was speechless. The agent summed it up: “It’s a good thing he came directly to you. If he had submitted an interview application to me, I would have rejected him outright. This guy has too many issues, too much trouble.”
Chu Feng inexplicably found the agent’s words a bit grating, but he respected the agent’s analytical skills and said calmly, “Since he’s here, give him a chance.”
The agent nodded. Looking at Si Qi’s pleasing appearance, he couldn’t help but sigh, “With looks like that, why bother being a competitive player? Wouldn’t acting be more lucrative?”
The people nearby who heard this instinctively chimed in with “Exactly,” their voices a bit loud. Si Qi looked over, his expression a mix of amusement and sarcasm, which made the agent feel a bit creeped out. He quickly gave Si Qi an awkward smile.
Getting caught talking behind his back.
Si Qi took the test sheet from the coach and walked to the transparent training room up front. He said to the staff inside, “Hello, I’m here for the test.”
The staff member was startled, staring at Si Qi repeatedly, then at the form in his hand, and stammered, “Th-then, follow me.”
Wow, had competitive players really become this competitive these days? What kind of god-tier face was this? Were they giving ordinary people no way to survive?
Chu Feng and his team were looking for AOE players, so the requirements for total magic power and magical control were higher, and those were the main tests.
Other than that, there were basic tests common to any team, such as attack speed, reaction speed, dynamic vision, physical agility, and so on.
A group of youth trainees who had just finished these basic tests saw Si Qi arrive and cast curious glances his way, whispering among themselves, their expressions ranging from excited to disdainful.
One of them was standing in front of the shooting range. Seeing Si Qi come up behind him with his form to wait in line, he raised an eyebrow.
“Really, just anyone can come for a test at Tianhuan…” The youth had clearly eaten up the gossip about the original Si Qi online, maybe even joined in the mob. Seeing Si Qi, he muttered loudly enough to be heard, hands on his hips. “Weren’t you doing just fine in your original team? Why come here? I think your original team suits someone like you perfectly.”
“Whether it suits me or not is for me to decide. You’re just a trainee, and you’re worried about a regular player like me?” Si Qi said lazily.
The youth’s face flushed red, his indignation growing. “You only got into the team because of your face. Do you really think your professional status means anything?”
His voice was loud enough that the other youths, who had been whispering, now turned to watch the drama unfold. Wasn’t live gossip much more exciting than online gossip?
Through the protective barrier of the testing room, Chu Feng watched the scene with displeasure. “These trainees…”
The agent’s expression also soured. “They really treat the competitive arena like the entertainment industry. I’ll have to remind the coach over there—this kind of attitude is terrible!”
Openly provoking a professional player from another team? Did they really think their status as trainees meant anything? If they acted like this in real life, what wouldn’t they dare to say online?
But Si Qi was indeed as troublesome as he had said, with so much baggage that he stirred up trouble wherever he went.
It looked like he’d find an excuse to cut Si Qi later. After all, if Si Qi lacked strength, they would be justified no matter what.
Inside the testing room, Si Qi curled his lips into a mocking smile. “Of course I have a face. What about you? Don’t you?”
He looked the youth up and down, his voice laced with amusement. “Seems like you don’t.”
The youth was instantly furious: “You—!”
The staff member interrupted, “Mr. Si, it’s your turn.”
Si Qi casually turned his head, placed his form on the magic recording device.
The device read the new test taker’s information, clearing the previous result of 0.75 and reapplying the defensive magic on the target.
0.75 referred to the interval between casting one spell and the next, which was only 0.75 seconds. Ordinary people took about five to six seconds to release a basic level-one spell, with a chance of failure. A steady speed of 0.75 seconds per spell was actually quite impressive, especially since the caster was only fifteen or sixteen, with plenty of room for growth.
Generally, a professional player’s result in this category would be around 0.5 to 0.6. Tianhuan’s internal tests for professional players consistently hovered around 0.48—extremely, extremely impressive.
The youth couldn’t stand Si Qi. He stood with his arms crossed, a sneer on his face, waiting to see Si Qi fail. “Let’s see how much better you, a professional player, can do than me, a trainee!”
If it had been any other professional player, he wouldn’t have dared to act out. But Si Qi? What was Si Qi? So many people online said he was just a clown selling smiles, accusing him of not deserving to call himself a professional player, saying his existence defiled the sacred arena…
As a future player himself, how could he have any goodwill toward someone like Si Qi, who took shortcuts? It was rare to meet him in person—why not give him a piece of his mind? After all, if people dared to say anything online, why should they let him off in real life?
The more he thought about it, the more the youth felt justified. He would teach Si Qi a lesson, make him understand that the professional arena wasn’t a place for any random cat or dog.
Just as he was thinking, Si Qi took the designated magic staff from the testing room, looked at the spell name that lit up above the target, and without hesitation cast Water Arrow.
Streams of clear water shot forward like arrows, making a rushing sound, thudding against the target.
The onlookers, who had been watching the fun, were momentarily stunned. They had been hearing a rhythm of 0.7s and 0.6s all morning, but now they could clearly feel the subtle difference between Si Qi’s attack frequency and that of the trainees.
Ten seconds later, the target had captured enough attacks and displayed the initial result.
The moment the number 0.51 lit up, the youths who had been smirking were collectively stunned, their mouths hanging open in disbelief as they stared at the glaring red number.
Outside, the agent and coach were also taken aback, instinctively stepping forward to get a clearer look at the number.
The test time wasn’t over yet; Si Qi’s attacks continued to hit the target. After coming into this body, this was the first time he had cast spells at such a high frequency, so he was a bit unaccustomed at first.
But as he grew familiar with the flow of magic in this body, his casting became more and more fluent. He even skipped the step of muttering the incantation under his breath, turning it into an instant cast.
Thus, the original 0.51 dropped one notch to 0.50.
The coach and others were startled, feeling that something was not so simple. The next second, 0.50 dropped another notch to 0.49.
Now, the mage tower staff watching from outside couldn’t stay calm; exclamations rang out.
Chu Feng stared unblinkingly at the young man’s calm back, a joy welling up in his heart that he himself didn’t recognize.
There were things that only professional players of a certain level understood. 0.50 and 0.49 seemed to differ by just a tiny bit, but that tiny bit represented the chasm between being able to use instant-cast spells or not—the gap between a professional player and a professional expert.
No one had expected Si Qi to possess such strength. Even Chu Feng, who had a good impression of Si Qi, hadn’t anticipated that Si Qi was this outstanding.
What shocked them even more was that in the last few seconds of the countdown, 0.49 dropped once more to 0.48. The coach stared wide-eyed, his gaze fixed on that number, hoping it would drop again…
Unfortunately, the test time ended with a beep. Amid the disappointed sighs of the crowd, Si Qi put away his magic staff and retrieved his form from the device.
The youth standing by the device was frozen stiff, his face alternating between pale and green. Seeing Si Qi’s gaze turn to him, he couldn’t help but step back.
Si Qi smiled at him and said unhurriedly, “See now? The gap between a professional player and a trainee.”
The youth’s face flushed bright red, and he hung his head, unable to utter a word.
Someone, unable to believe that Si Qi’s test results could be so impressive, couldn’t help asking, “Weren’t you always skipping training? How are you so good…”
Si Qi asked in confusion, “Have you seen me before?”
The person shook his head. “No…”
“Then how do you know I’ve been skipping training?” Si Qi’s face held a smile.
The person blushed. “I… I heard people say it online.”
Si Qi found it amusing. “So you think those people online have ever seen me?”
The other person fell silent. “…………”
Of course they hadn’t.
The scene fell into a brief silence because of this exchange. Everyone was recalling the confident online comments about Si Qi and starting to doubt their lives.
The agent, hearing Si Qi’s words, rubbed his chin with interest. He took out the magic runestone hanging at his waist, tapped on the projection, and searched for match records from past tournaments. Soon, he found several battle videos from Si Qi’s team.
After watching a few of Si Qi’s matches, the agent found them increasingly intriguing. He approached the coach. “Brother Zhang, take a look at this.”