Not long ago, Kevin Miller, who had just thrown Henry Cooper a “please ask the captain for approval” remark, saw Henry Cooper pull Ethan Brooks into the team. One can imagine his expression at that moment, so he resentfully sent him a private message: “Oh, you guys joined, huh.”

After that, Ethan Brooks and Henry Cooper often clashed with his vibe. Kevin Miller originally wanted to maintain the so-called Qingda bloodline of the Super Shadow team, so he really couldn’t stand the two of them, and they made it clear they didn’t care about him, often making him look bad. To Kevin Miller, the two were like sand in his eyes.

When he learned about Ethan Brooks’s incident at the business school, it was like an enemy’s delight. On an occasion like today, he immediately seized the opportunity to belittle Ethan Brooks. He deliberately pointed out that the two were from the West District Business School, just to get the Qingda people present to side with him and make them realize these two were outsiders.

Now, the whole team started paying attention to the two of them. All the team members were from University Town, and recently the police had cracked down on a group selling cheating technology, so everyone in the area had heard about it. They’d already heard someone got reported for cheating, but didn’t expect it to be Ethan Brooks right in front of them.

Kevin Miller added, “Maybe you should take another break. If you’re not in good shape, don’t play. We can get a substitute.” As Kevin Miller spoke, a few people behind him started to look eager. They were all on Kevin Miller’s side, but today, in this kind of match, they were backup players for the team, unconsciously standing behind Kevin Miller. Ethan Brooks and Henry Cooper were both average players, not irreplaceable by any means—at least Kevin Miller thought the few people he’d recently discovered could easily fill in. But since the two had joined early and had a good relationship with Andrew Miller, he couldn’t do anything about them for now.

But this time was different. In his earlier words, he’d deliberately brought up Ethan Brooks’s situation. If everyone else egged him on, Ethan Brooks might get provoked and lose control. The more agitated he got, the more it would affect the team, and for the sake of the match, Sophia Dean and Andrew Miller would very likely bench him. And once Ethan Brooks was benched, someone like Henry Cooper would definitely slam his keyboard and leave with Ethan Brooks.

At that point, the two might think the team was ostracizing them and quit in a fit of anger. That would be exactly what Kevin Miller wanted, perfectly dividing Andrew Miller from those close to him. It would create conflict between them, and at worst, he’d just be accused of lacking tact—“Why expose it in front of everyone?” In the end, he’d just express some self-blame to the team, and as long as his acting was good enough, he could even score some points.

That way, he’d only have to apologize, but would have successfully squeezed out Chen and Liu. What a bargain.

So he waited, waited for Ethan Brooks to get provoked, waited for his outburst. From what he knew, Ethan Brooks was the type to explode at the slightest spark.

Even those around thought Kevin Miller was going too far. Anyone else might have flipped out on the spot. For a moment, everyone held their breath, and the tension in the air skyrocketed.

However, Ethan Brooks didn’t show the slightest anger. He glanced at Kevin Miller and said, “Even in bad shape, I could still crush you. If you really care about the newcomers, how about a one-on-one? You give up your spot to the backup?”

Kevin Miller’s eyes widened, a burning sense of insult rising in his chest. Ethan Brooks actually dared to say “crush” to his face? Even on a normal day, his skills were above Ethan Brooks’s, even half a notch better than Henry Cooper. Was Ethan Brooks out of his mind?

The others also thought Ethan Brooks was boasting too much. His ID “Nameless” was ranked at the bottom of the team. On a good day, he could make it to the teens; on an average day, just around twentieth. After all, he didn’t play often.

Andrew Miller said, “Alright, the match is about to start. Stop arguing about this.”

Kevin Miller immediately realized that Ethan Brooks had said that on purpose, to change the subject! He knew he couldn’t beat him, yet still talked big, because with the match about to start, there was no way the two could have a one-on-one. And even if they did, so what if he won or lost? Would they really be benched and replaced?

Kevin Miller almost coughed up blood. His usual pride over being better than Chen and Liu was just used by Ethan Brooks to mock him. It was like a mouse suddenly scratching a cat, then darting back into its hole, shouting from inside, “Come on, come in if you dare! Why aren’t you coming?”

It was so infuriating he looked around in frustration.

He just couldn’t pull off this kind of trick, and it was the first time he’d seen it. Deep down, he cursed: Look! Look! This is the quality of business school students!

Andrew Miller tried to smooth things over, but it was still up to Sophia Dean, the team leader, to speak. Sophia Dean turned her body from where she was leaning on the chair, her two legs in straight lines in her cotton sweatpants, heels crossed and tapping the floor. It made people subconsciously think, if not for the loose sweatpants, but bare legs, what a long and beautiful sight it would be. She lifted her chin, looked at Ethan Brooks, and said, “I heard about that before. So it was you? That impressive?”

Her voice was lively and magnetic, truly pleasant to the ear. No wonder her videos on streaming platforms, where only her voice could be heard and not her face, still attracted so many viewers.