Dawn - Chapter 2

My departure was no secret in the industry.

Several teams made me offers in quick succession.

A friend urged me to decide soon, before the playoffs began.

I took a quick photo and sent it over.

[No rush. I’m having lunch.]

The reply came almost immediately. Message bubbles popped up one after another.

[At a time like this you’re off eating at some farmhouse restaurant?]

[Why does that bird’s-nest hair look familiar??]

[Isn’t that the woman from Dawn???]

[Lu Xishi, have you lost your mind????]

I put my phone away.

In the deserted farmhouse courtyard before me, a woman and a hen were locked in a fierce battle.

The woman with the bird’s-nest hair finally tucked the hen under one arm. Panting, she looked up and met my exceedingly friendly smile.

She looked puzzled.

I waved her over. “I’m here to discuss a business opportunity.”

Her eyes lit up. She let go, and the barred hen flapped away, clucking a stream of filthy abuse.

“Restaurant promotion? Or are you looking to rent the place? Either’s fine! Chen, bring out the good tea!”

My smile remained.

“Your esports club needs a coach, doesn’t it?”

Before I finished, her expression changed.

Dawn had caught my attention quite some time ago.

Its name was all but inseparable from Su Lai’s.

Young, pretty, and aggressive in her tactics, Su Lai was a natural center of attention.

But what had really brought her into the public eye was a video she had posted herself.

Weeping into the camera, she accused Dawn of bullying her and her old employers of ruthless exploitation.

Last night, Si Yao had stormed out of the match because a commentator mentioned Su Lai’s time at Dawn and joked about her rumored romance with their player Li Xingyao.

For DGX, already safely qualified, losing that match meant little.

For Dawn, it was rain in a drought.

The team at the very bottom of the league had earned a reprieve—and the last golden ticket to the playoffs.

Yet the owner only sighed, her face pale, with none of a lucky winner’s joy.

“Well, yes. But I’m planning to disband.

“I started in catering. I got into esports to fulfill a dream. But you can see how business has been these past few years. I can’t keep burning through my savings.

“I’m thinking of selling our league slot. As for the players… while anyone still wants them, those who can transfer should go. If we carry on like this, their careers will be over.”

“Is it really that bad?” I asked mildly.

“Lady, do you watch the matches?”

I knew what she meant.

Before Si Yao forfeited, Dawn had lost twenty-nine matches in a row. They hadn’t won a single map.

The joke around the league was that facing Dawn was more stressful than facing DGX.

After all, lose to them and your reputation was finished.

Now Dawn had stumbled into the playoffs, where every opponent was a powerhouse.

Another clean sweep of losses would make them infamous for years.

Who wanted to spend money just to get abused?

The owner heaved another hopeless sigh.

A boy in black-rimmed glasses brought the teapot over and filled our cups.

I stacked a thick sheaf of documents on the dining table, clicked my ballpoint pen, and began marking them methodically.

The owner leaned closer, suspicious.

“If you’re saying we could sell these players to Jiarui as a package, I believe you. But DGX? Are they insane, or am I?”

I gave her an indifferent glance and drew my pen across the rising teams on the match schedule.

“I’m saying we can beat these teams. Easily.”

Then I circled several established contenders.

“These, I’m confident about.”

Finally, there was DGX’s official publicity photo.

At its center, surrounded by the others like a star among satellites, stood the insufferably arrogant Si Yao.

I tapped his face with the tip of my pen.

“As for this one, even a reverse sweep from two maps down isn’t impossible.”

Tea overflowed the cup.

The bespectacled boy holding the pot stared, openmouthed.

“Us? Against DGX? A—a—reverse sweep?”