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When Team China returns with the first Glory World Championship Cup, the Alliance throws a celebratory party. It’s exactly as everyone expected: a couple of speeches from the Alliance, highlights from the World Championship, occasional flashes of light from the cameras and phones of select media and press, and plenty of food and laughter for everyone.
For their astounding performance at the international scene, each member was awarded a token of gratitude. Some in the form of cash and new sponsorships, others given in-game items that they or their home teams would most need.
When it came to the Team Leader however, the Glory Pro Alliance had something else in store for him.
.
Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow as a laptop and Glory card reader were brought on stage. The laptop was connected to the LED screen, so that the rest of the room’s occupants could see what was shown on the computer screen. Ye Xiu shoots the old chairman an amused look.
“…Do you want me to play Glory?”
His hand drifted to his pocket, where Lord Grim’s card was safely stored. Chairman Feng’s merely gives a wry smile.
“Something like that.”
Ye Xiu is ushered to the stage, and he merely shrugs, taking out the card for Lord. But before he could load it in, Chairman Feng stops him.
“I’d like you to use this card please.”
Whispers starting among the gathered crowd.
Ye Xiu takes it without fuss and inserts it into the reader. He’s surprised to see it’s a first server card. Signs of long-term use are visible on the card; scratches near the sides, the colors a little faded.
The familiar logo of Glory flashes on the screen. And then he waits.
.
“It’s probably a silver weapon.”
“Is the Alliance really thinking of giving Ye Xiu a new weapon?”
“No way no way no way, isn’t that blatant favoritism? They want to make Old Ye even more OP than he already is??? Besides, isn't he retired? That’s just a waste of silver equipment.”
“I doubt they can do better than his Lord Grim’s Myriad Manifestation Umbrella.”
“Maybe it’s a proper set of armor? God knows we all need to be saved from the rainbow monstrosity.”
“It could also be a new feature for the new server. Who better to beta test than the Textbook himself?”
“Are they planning on revamping the old servers?”
“It could also be an incentive for new players to join older servers, if that’s the case.”
“Ah, it’s loading!”
On the screen, a character comes into view.
High-collared white and black top with orange lining. Brown boots. Red cape. A small black fedora with a white feather. Some gazes immediately went to the weapon: twin guns resting on the avatar’s hands.
Sharpshooter. Dual pistols.
Where some player’s first instinct was to check the weapon, others were curious about the account’s name.
“Autumn Tree?”
“Is it some sort of a tribute to One Autumn Leaf? It’s a little tasteless if it is. One Autumn Leaf isn’t Ye Xiu’s anymore.”
“A Sharpshooter though?”
Discussions start up from every corner of the room.
Only Happy’s Qi Master notices that Su Mucheng had gone still in her seat, phone almost dropping from nerveless hands. Fang Rui sits up from his slouched posture, concern on his face. He asks softly, “Sis Su, are you okay?”
He waits for an answer but doesn’t receive one. Instead, Fang Rui internally panics when he notices Su Mucheng’s eyes get moist.
On the other side of the room, Zhang Xinjie watches curiously as his captain’s face becomes darker. Where others would cower at the expression, years at Han Wenqing’s side has taught Xinjie how to decipher the emotions on his captain’s face.
And what Zhang Xinjie sees now is sadness.
Han Wenqing murmurs softly, “That avatar...”
“Captain?”
“It’s him.”
“...Ah?”
Han Wenqing crosses his arms, and leans back on his chair. Sharp eyes are trained first at the screen before landing on the man on the stage.
“That avatar is --”
.
“The position of Team Leader isn’t an easy one. We of the Glory Professional Alliance hope that this would serve well as a token of our gratitude,” Feng Xianjun begins.
“Many of the first server’s records are still owned by One Autumn Leaf. In many of the same records, Autumn Tree also appears. Upon checking, we learned that the account belonged to a friend of yours.”
“The card had been surrendered back to the company quite a number of years ago. It was a little battered when it was brought out but the game company’s developers managed to work their magic on it. Other than the recent maintenance repairs, the card has been largely unused for the past eight or so years.”
Feng Xianjun smiles, giving himself a mental pat on the back. While the order had been easy to make on his part, Feng Xianjun knows that tracking down a single card among millions had been quite the impossible task. The amount of time and effort put into this particular project moved him to tears; not to mention the strings he had to pull for the game company to actually repair such an old card.
The chairman of the Alliance waits for Ye Xiu to react, but the Glory Textbook’s eyes are glued to the screen, no visible reaction to his words.
Feng Xianjun wonders momentarily if he had been mistaken about the card.
Ye Xiu’s face remains blank, as though what he was seeing was something ordinary. And perhaps, the old chairman reflects, it is. How many hundreds of accounts has the Glory Textbook already seen?
And yet, Feng Xianjun faintly notes, Ye Xiu's left hand – which had been lightly resting on the keyboard – was shaking. The older man blinks at this.
“Team Leader Ye Xiu?”
Ye Xiu doesn’t respond right away, causing murmurs to break out from the crowd watching them. Feng Xianjun shifts uneasily, his eyes flick to the projection screen beside them, perfectly showing what was on the computer.
The thought that he had made a mistake crosses his mind once more. Feng Xianjun steps closer towards the computer, wondering if there was something wrong with the hardware itself.
Before he could do anything though, Ye Xiu spoke up.
“Is it exactly the same?”
The question caught the chairman off guard, but he recovered remarkably. He cleared his throat before nodding.
“Yes. It’s exactly the same.”
Ye Xiu casts a doubtful gaze at him, and Feng Xianjun fidgets at the reaction.
“I can assure you that all data is authentic. It should be exactly the same as when the account was last used.”
As Feng Xianjun explained, Ye Xiu finally controlled the character.
Everyone could see the spawn point – the Arena. It was a regular log-off point for many players, a safe zone outside of the cities. The pro players watch as Ye Xiu toyed around with the account for a bit, executing several Sharpshooter skills. They watch as Ye Xiu checks the skill tree and other statistics available.
Those not watching the screen could see a faint smile on Ye Xiu’s lips.
“Heh, just look at this skill tree. It’s ridiculous. It’s definitely authentic then.”
Feng Xianjun sweat drops at that comment. After a moment, he simply shrugs (he never did understand how Ye Xiu’s mind worked) and moves away from the stage.
For all the eyes trained on his person, Ye Xiu feels as though his surroundings have disappeared. In that moment, he feels immense longing resound through his entire being. It tunnels his vision until all he could see was the screen and the avatar.
His hands move as though on autopilot.
Another glance at the skill tree (it truly was atrocious to look at).
Then an inventory check (the amount of materials stored were pitifully low).
And then, Ye Xiu opened up the chat box. Right there, sitting at the top, was a chat with One Autumn Leaf.
Even when he owned One Autumn Leaf, the chat box with Autumn Tree wasn’t one that Ye Xiu would frequent (what was the use, after all, if no one would ever respond to his messages from this account ever again).
And yet, he does so now, because if there’s really one way to prove that this is the exact same account, it’s through the chat logs.
He scrolls through the chat, foregoing the numerous texts and images sent, and only stops when he comes across the most recent audio message, now dated more than ten years back.
Without hesitation, he clicks on the audio message, and the speakers connected to the laptop come to life.
“Hey, Ye Xiu. I know you’re still playing. Get off the computer and get some rest, idiot.”
The message ends. Ye Xiu scrolls a little further to the next voice message.
“Young man, don’t forget to pick up some carrots on the way back. I’ll be picking up Mucheng from her classmate’s house.”
Murmurs rise at the familiar name being mentioned, but Ye Xiu doesn’t register any of it.
Another click.
“Ye Qiu, Ye Qiu, Ye Xiu, Ye Xi -“
Click.
“Come quick! Wild BOSS!”
Click.
“Hey, we got a customer asking for a KS. You up for it?”
Ye Xiu goes through the chat some more, taking in various images and texts from a time long gone without really seeing them. He stops abruptly and lifts a hand to cover his face.
The room falls silent at his motion. Several people shift in concern, but everyone is largely still. A weight bears down on everyone at the sight of Ye Xiu taking in shaky breaths, his normally lazy smile wobbling at the corners.
When a tear manages to slip down Ye Xiu’s face, Chairman Feng briefly contemplates escaping before he gets murdered by the glares sent his way. Suppressing the internally panic, the chairman steps closer to the podium.
“Team Leader Ye Xiu?”
Ye Xiu silently wipes at his eyes before logging out of the game and gently removing the card from the reader. When he turns to the chairman, his smirk is back, but it’s softer around the edges.
Ye Xiu thanks the chairman softly before leaving the stage.
The other pros watch as he makes his way to Team Happy. Su Mucheng stood up to meet him, a gentle smile tinged with so many other emotions on her face. Ye Xiu reciprocates with a smile of his own before he extends the card towards her.
He can hear murmurs rising from the rest of the room, but for now, there is only him, Su Mucheng, and the card in-between them.
“Mucheng.”
She hesitates, eyes wavering as she stares at the account card.
“I…”
Ye Xiu gently takes one of her hands, laying the card on her palm with care. Su Mucheng can feel her eyes getting moist, the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes.
“As much history Autumn Tree has with me, it belongs with you too.”
“Ye Xiu… Thank you.”
She cradles the card in her hands, bringing it close to her heart. Like this, it feels like part of her brother has returned to her.
A warm hand settles on the crown of her head and the gesture brings back so many memories. Su Muqiu used to do this when she’d leave for school, and she saw how Ye Xiu himself did to his twin. She thinks this is the first time he’s done it to her in a long time though.
Su Mucheng closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, letting the warmth from her emotions fill her entire being. She runs her thumb across the surface of the card.
“Welcome home.”