On the livestream, the opposing Poliwrath crumpled to the ground, and the battle was officially over. Gu Chen had won. From start to finish, Gu Chen had deployed only a single Shenqi. His Miaowa Hua had methodically dismantled an entire team of six, relentlessly wearing them down with an infuriating cycle of Tishen, Baohu, and Dusu. An impressive one-on-six victory should have been a moment of pride for any Xunlianjia. But in Teacher Gu’s livestream, it was just maddening. “How can anyone use a strategy that dirty?!” “It’s not the strategy that’s dirty, it’s Teacher Gu’s twisted mind!” On screen, Gu Chen calmly returned Miaowa Hua to its Shenqi Qiu, though a flicker of unease crossed his features. This game, Shenqi: Battle, wasn’t turn-based. It required Trainers to issue commands in real-time through a microphone. If he hadn’t just reached the fifth level, and if his opponent hadn’t been so completely clueless, that match could have gone very differently. “Phew, lucky I’ve got skills,” Gu Chen murmured to himself. His Miaowa Hua had just swept an entire team and still had nearly full HP, and he was calling it a close call? The viewers felt the salt being rubbed in the wound. “Just battled a Gym Leader—if you have a conscience, you’ll pay my hospital bill!” “This tactic is too dangerous! Not for the Shenqi, for the Xunlianjia’s personal safety!” “This strategy is making me so mad! Teacher Gu, lean a little closer to the screen, I just want to give you a Buff…” Gu Chen’s expression remained unchanged. “Thanks to ‘Is Teacher Gu Really a Xunlianjia’ for the airplane… And to answer your question, no, Teacher Gu is not a Xunlianjia. This is just a hobby.” In that moment, every single viewer wanted to drown his stream in a tidal wave of comments. So your hobby is studying dirty, soul-crushing tactics? Just a hobby, and you can sweep a full team with a single Miaowa Hua? Teacher Gu, are you absolutely sure you’re not a professional Xunlianjia?! “Thank you, ‘Zhandou Chuanqi,’ for the rocket… very generous of you!” The grandiose animation of a rocket blasting across the screen snapped the half-asleep Gu Chen to full attention. “Thank you, Boss! Wait… is this ID a fake? How could…” Instantly, the chat filled with disheartened messages from his fans. “Boss, have you lost your mind?!” “Ye Cheng, don’t give this guy gifts—you’ll pick up his bad habits!” “No way, it’s really him! The world champion is sending rockets to Teacher Gu!” Gu Chen stared at the familiar ID on his screen. After a swift 0.05 seconds of consideration, he granted Ye Cheng moderator privileges and sent him a private message. [Today’s Teacher Gu Cooking Channel]: Boss Ye Cheng, here’s my Feixin ID: XXXX. Feel free to reach out anytime! He even thoughtfully translated the message into Japanese, silently congratulating himself on his quick thinking. Ye Cheng’s appearance in the stream, a testament to his status as world champion, caused the viewer count to skyrocket past five hundred thousand. The number of gifts surged, and the chat was a waterfall of text. “Teacher Gu, you’re famous now!!” “Can you ask Ye Cheng for an autograph for me?” As an international platform, Gu Chen’s stream began to attract more than just Chinese viewers. Fans from Heyi, Fengyuan Region, Falan, and beyond flooded in, creating a lively, multilingual scene. “Hello? Did the streamer disconnect? Why isn’t he talking?” “Teacher Gu, please show us another Substitute-Protect-Toxic lesson!” “Baohu, protect, protect… whoa, I think I’m getting the hang of it!” At that moment, Ye Cheng had no idea that his simple act of sending a gift would cause such a commotion. He glanced at Qing, who was sitting beside him. She offered a helpless smile. “You’re the world champion now. You’re a full-blown public figure.” Scratching his head, Ye Cheng replied, “The battle was just so thrilling. I couldn’t help myself.” “I wonder how Jin Hui will react when he sees you sending gifts to his rival,” Qing giggled softly. Ye Cheng chuckled sheepishly, then noticed a private message notification from “Today’s Teacher Gu Cooking Channel.” His eyes lit up as he read the message. “He wants to have a Shenqi battle with me!” “You did study Chinese, didn’t you?” Qing asked. “Yes,” Ye Cheng nodded. “I took a course not too long ago.” [Zhandou Chuanqi]: …Sure. We’ll have a chance to battle sometime (smile). After sending his reply, Ye Cheng slapped his forehead. “I almost forgot! I’m supposed to spar with Gu He at the Changqing Gym today!” “You still have time to make it.” “Let’s go. You’re coming with me!” Qing looked taken aback, watching his hurried figure with a faint blush, but then she sighed with a touch of regret. “Still… I didn’t get to ask him about the movie…” As for Gu Chen, he now knew three things about Ye Cheng. First, the guy seemed to live on the internet; you could find him everywhere. Second, he was now Gu Chen’s golden goose, a leg he needed to cling to for dear life. Third, could someone please explain what Ye Cheng’s ellipses were supposed to mean? And that smile emoji—was it mocking him? Just say what you mean! This guessing game was exhausting. With a long sigh, Gu Chen addressed his stream. “That’s all for today’s broadcast. See you next time.” He hadn’t even finished the sentence before he ended the stream with practiced, lightning speed, leaving his viewers bewildered. “Over a million people watching, and he just signs off like that?” “How are you so good at ending streams so fast?!” “Even though you looked ridiculous logging off so quickly, that one-on-six was epic!” “Gu Chen, we love you!” Gu Chen himself didn’t even realize that after Ye Cheng’s rocket, his subscriber count had begun to climb at a visible rate. He had promised a face reveal at 100,000 subscribers, and now he was already more than halfway there. “Let’s go, bros, just a little more! We’ll get to see Teacher Gu’s face by next week!” “Does anyone actually think Teacher Gu is some pretty-boy streamer? No way, right?” “It doesn’t matter if he’s handsome or not, I just love listening to Teacher Gu’s commentary!” The subscriber numbers continued to soar, but Gu Chen had already closed the streaming software. After logging off, he started to study the game he had just played. “I almost wiped out today… This game actually uses voice commands, and it’s all in real-time!” “Whoa, and there’s no four-move limit, either. With that… wouldn’t I be invincible?!” [Ding… System binding in progress… Binding complete!] “Who… Who’s talking?!” [Click here to view details and learn more about Zhandou Jifen sources.] [Available functions: Ten Consecutive Draws, Store… more features awaiting unlock.] [Enjoy your experience!] “Heh. You could have led with that,” Gu Chen muttered with a scoff. “So you’re my cheat.”

Chapter 4: An Infuriating Victory