DCTMOAS Chapter 10

For working adults, weekends often don’t start until the afternoon. On his first day off after starting work, Chu Cheng slept soundly at home until 2 p.m.

After waking up, he effortlessly slipped back into his old school routine—ordered takeout, brewed a cup of ice-cold coffee, and booted up his computer for some gaming.

Only Xu Chuan was online in his empty friend list. Chu Cheng sent a single “.” message.

[User: shibenren]

Whatever Xu Chuan was doing, his reply came in a flurry of messy pinyin.

Chu Cheng opened the map and tracked him down, casually sent a voice chat request, and it was quickly accepted.

“You’re gaming? What about the mission the organization gave you?”

On the other end, Xu Chuan’s keyboard clacked noisily: “Didn’t you tell us to go easy on him? I knocked him down four stars last night—if we don’t let him win a few rounds, we won’t end up in the same matchmaking pool.”

“Whatever, just keep an eye on his rank.” As Chu Cheng spoke, he noticed the keystrokes speeding up, and asked curiously, “What are you doing now?”

“Taking a walk,” Xu Chuan replied, sending a team invite. Then he directed, “Move a few steps forward, then swing your camera view to the left, behind that rock.”

Chu Cheng didn’t think much of it. He joined the party and followed the instructions. But as he circled around, a warning alert chimed twice in his headphones.

A second later, red damage markers exploded across his screen.

What the hell?

His character took a string of high-damage hits straight on, staggered backward, and lost a huge chunk of HP. Chu Cheng realized Xu Chuan had baited him into tanking damage, and cursed: “You son of a bitch.”

“Hahahahaha!” Xu Chuan’s carefree laughter rang out while the screen filled with chaos.

Amid the desolate black wastelands, Xu Chuan’s in-game avatar strode toward him—clad in dark robes and wielding a glowing orange blade. A golden bounty mark glinted above his head, and countless red-named players were scattering behind him in hot pursuit.

Chu Cheng finally realized the situation. “You call this a walk? You’re being hunted down!”

Xu Chuan shouted, “Then why aren’t you healing me? Your big brother’s about to die!”

“How am I supposed to heal? Open your eyes—I’m DPS!” Chu Cheng had instinctively launched a counterattack earlier, and now he couldn’t exit combat. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and rush in to save him. “What the hell did you do to get chased like this?”

Xu Chuan replied, “Robbed a convoy, now getting hunted for revenge.”

He wasn’t afraid even when fighting a whole group alone. Now that he had a teammate, he got even more reckless, even boldly turning back to launch a counterattack. After enjoying himself, he suddenly shouted over voice chat, “All my skills are on cooldown! I can’t hold them off anymore—run, run!”

“Run where? We’re surrounded! You think I can get away?” Chu Cheng watched his teammate flit around the game screen—one second running for his life, the next peddling swords. He was so furious he wanted to beat him up on the spot.

[Ugh, I can’t run anymore, can’t run anymore. Gentlemen, go ahead and kill me. Be gentle, don’t stomp on my face.]

Chu Cheng was still struggling to chip away at the enemy’s health when he caught sight of Xu Chuan’s message in the map chat.

Maximum taunt achieved—and the enemy’s firepower surged. A few seconds later, both of them were lying dead.

“See? So sweet and loving—perfectly in sync.” The frenzied keyboard mashing in his headset faded, replaced by the sound of a lighter being flicked.

“Loving my ass—I died for nothing,” Chu Cheng said, laughing through his exasperation. This guy had clearly planned to die from the start, but still yelled for help all the way, dragging him down as a scapegoat.

“Sharing hardships,” Xu Chuan replied cheekily. After getting killed, he didn’t rush to revive. Instead, he lit a cigarette and lounged next to their in-game corpses, casually chatting. “Now, where were we? That kid in the mobile game—is he your student?”

Chu Cheng also took a break, sipping some iced coffee as he replied, “Yeah.”

Xu Chuan clicked his tongue. “What’s wrong with that kid? So stubborn. He’s a streamer—how could he not have resources? Why not just give up your account and let another pro play for him?”

“It’s not that simple.”

People are the best at fighting with themselves. When Chu Cheng set a rank goal, he had cleverly chosen a tier one level below Bai Xiaolong’s highest rank. So, in Bai Xiaolong’s mind, it was something absolutely within his reach. There’s no way he would willingly give up.

Chu Cheng chuckled. “I heard he’s been working on a new playstyle. How’s it looking?”

“Hmm… His awareness of targeted counters has improved a bit, but not much.” For once, Xu Chuan gave a serious assessment. “How long are you planning to have me keep targeting him?”

“Not much longer,” Chu Cheng said after a moment of thought. “Anything that becomes a burden loses its freedom and fun. No matter who it is, I don’t think they could hold out for too long under that kind of pressure.”

Xu Chuan silently accepted being treated like a tool and sighed wistfully, “Weren’t we all like that back then? Why do you have to compete with him so much?”

“Same, but also different,” Chu Cheng put down his coffee cup, took a screenshot of the game screen, and sent it to the group chat on □□. While typing there, he replied to Chuan’s words.

“Everything needs boundaries. Learning doesn’t actually hinder students from enjoying their youth; rather, it lets them have broader choices once they’ve gone through their best years.”

“I’ve always believed that studying isn’t the only way to succeed. But for them, right now, it still is.”

Xu Chuan took a deep drag and stubbed out his cigarette. “You sound pretty serious—looks like you’re starting to have some teacher potential.”

Chu Cheng caught the teasing in his tone and shot back, “Mind your own business when it comes to education.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t interfere.” Xu Chuan was joking when he happened to glance at the game screen and noticed a string of friend online notifications in the bottom right message box.

The group of friends they used to play with were all about the same age. After graduation, busy with work or family, they rarely played games. Somehow, today they all appeared online like they had planned it.

[Guild channel message: Which two losers got buried at the revive point? Send coordinates.]

Xu Chuan quickly scrolled through the group messages, surprised. “Are you recruiting people for the guild?”

“What else?” Chu Cheng clicked revive slowly and replied, “If you’re out here, you gotta follow the rules. You can kill my friends, but you can’t touch me.”

The bloodbath started by Chuan alone peddling swords escalated from a fight between two groups into a feud between two guilds.

Chu Cheng fought countless hours of chaotic battles in the game, and when he couldn’t take it anymore, he just collapsed asleep by the bedside.

When he woke up, it was already Sunday.

His neck was stiff and sore, his head heavy and dizzy. He struggled to get up and head to the living room to find something to eat.

Click—

The sound of a door unlocking from the outer room.

Zhou Jin pushed the door open and just caught sight of his junior brother looking listless. “Awake? Here, I brought you a bun from the street.”

“When did you leave?” Chu Cheng accepted it and stretched his shoulders and neck to relieve the pain.

“This morning. I went over to the new place to help deliver appliances and was busy all morning.” Zhou Jin took off his shoes and, noticing Chu Cheng’s neck movements, asked, “Neck bothering you?”

Chu Cheng lazily answered, “Yeah, probably from always looking down. I can even hear cracking noises when I move.”

“You mainly lack exercise. You’re just over twenty, but you’ve had a decade of late nights already. Living on iced coffee to survive day and night, stuck between school and home—how could you not be sore?”

Zhou Jin knew Chu Cheng well. Back in school, he was a homebody, always gaming in the dorm, too lazy to join any activities. The legendary literary department talent was known only by reputation, never seen.

When Chu Cheng’s mother found out they would be colleagues, she even specially asked Zhou Jin to keep an eye on the kid.

With his shoulders aching terribly, Chu Cheng groaned and unusually took the initiative to say, “I really should start exercising.”

Zhou Jin took the chance to suggest, “How about we play tennis together this afternoon?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Teacher Shen?” Chu Cheng asked.

Zhou Jin gave a pleading look, “Hey, I have a personal life too, at least before marriage, okay?”

“Alright, call me later. I’m going back to sleep for a bit. Thanks.” Chu Cheng smiled as he lifted the bag of steamed buns and turned back to his room.

By evening, the sky still hadn’t darkened when Chu Cheng arrived at the fitness club with Zhou Jin.

It was a large, multi-story independent activity center, offering a wide variety of sports. Every area operated on a member reservation system, so there were never any peak-hour crowds.

Chu Cheng changed into his workout clothes in a private locker room, then stepped out under the bright lights to adjust himself in the mirror.

He had a tall, slim figure and delicate, handsome features. Dressed in a fitted athletic outfit and holding a tennis racket, he made for a very pleasing sight.

Zhou Jin looked him up and down from behind and praised, “Not bad. You actually look the part.”

“Right?” Chu Cheng brushed aside his tousled fringe and gave a radiant smile. “But to be honest, I have no idea how to play tennis.”

“That’s easy. I’ll teach you.” Zhou Jin picked up another racket and stepped onto the rubber court to demonstrate.

Chu Cheng listened and observed from the side, occasionally trying out what he’d learned. Though he picked things up fairly quickly, it was still too soon for him to really get the hang of it.

After a particularly awkward swing, Chu Cheng heard someone snicker nearby. He looked up and saw a teenage boy in casual sportswear with a headband leaning on the edge of the court, watching them.

It was Lu Yan.

“You come here too?” Chu Cheng was a little surprised.

Lu Yan replied, “Why not? This is the closest fitness club to Fantian Jingyuan. I’ve run into Mr. Zhou here a few times before.”

Since Shen Nannan taught English to Class 7, he was also quite familiar with Zhou Jin.

Already frustrated from being poor at sports, and now seemingly laughed at by a student, Chu Cheng lost his patience.

“I’m done.” He sat down to rest, wiping the sweat from his chin and gulping down several large mouthfuls of mineral water.

Zhou Jin tried to coax him, “Come on, you’ve only swung the racket a few times. If you give up now, what am I supposed to do?”

Chu Cheng curled up in the chair, playing with his phone. “This sport’s not for me. Why don’t you two play? I’ll only join in if I really have to.”

Zhou Jin spread his hands in resignation.

“My bad,” Lu Yan said with a chuckle, and picked up the racket Chu Cheng had left behind. He seemed to handle it casually, but then suddenly rotated his forearm inward and struck a clean, powerful forehand.

Zhou Jin responded skillfully.

The two rallied back and forth, making the tennis ball dance brilliantly between them. Compared to their almost magical back-and-forth, Chu Cheng slumped off to the side seemed even more weary and unmotivated.

Until their attack-and-defend session was interrupted by a deep, magnetic voice.

“Aren’t you planning to go swimming?”

Chu Cheng, lying on the bench, looked up and saw a tall, strong figure standing over him.

Wearing only swim trunks, Yu Siting stood outside the tennis court, his gaze deep and steady. His skin wasn’t dark, and his physique was excellent. Beneath the loosely draped towel, his defined abs were partially visible—just one glance was enough to get anyone’s adrenaline pumping.

Chu Cheng was startled and instinctively shot upright.

“I wanted to play tennis with Mr. Zhou for a bit first,” Lu Yan said, caught in the heat of the match with Zhou Jin and clearly not wanting to be interrupted. Glancing around, he added, “How about giving my reserved swimming lane to Mr. Chu?”

What?

Chu Cheng’s right eyelid twitched.

Zhou Jin, clearly aware that Chu Cheng had recently been wary of Yu Siting, seized the chance to stir trouble. “Swimming’s great for the shoulders and neck. You can swim, can’t you?”

“I didn’t bring swim trunks,” Chu Cheng blurted out.

Unfortunately, Zhou Jin was determined to carry out Chu Cheng’s mother’s request. He shouted toward a staff member cleaning up nearby, “Brother Zhao, set him up with a membership. I remember the first top-up comes with a full swim set.”

Zhou Jin…

Chu Cheng gritted his teeth and glared at him.

“Do you want to go?” Yu Siting lowered his dark eyes to look at him. “If not, I’ll cancel the reservation.”

“It’s already paid for, just go,” Lu Yan chimed in between swings. “I still want to battle Mr. Zhou for a few dozen more rounds.”

At this point, refusing again would just make him look timid. Besides, swimming was actually the one sport he was genuinely good at.

Chu Cheng stood up and replied, “Let’s swim. I’ll go pick out some trunks.”

Yu Siting nodded. “I’ll head over first.”

About ten minutes later, Chu Cheng also appeared at the pool wrapped in a towel. Yu Siting was already doing warm-ups by the water.

This pool was different from ordinary venues—it didn’t have a shallow leisure area, only standard 50-meter racing lanes. Chu Cheng rarely did such high-intensity sports, so for safety’s sake, he obediently joined in the stretching.

Standing side by side like this, the silence felt awkward. So Chu Cheng broke it first: “Do you come here often, Mr. Yu?”

“Only on weekends. I don’t have much free time on weekdays.” Yu Siting’s tone was friendly enough, though he kept stretching his arm without really turning his head to look at Chu Cheng.

The water in the lane was clean and clear, shimmering blue from the tiled floor, gently rippling. Chu Cheng crouched at the edge and reached in—it was cold and refreshing.

After finishing his warm-up, Yu Siting entered the pool.

Chu Cheng adjusted his goggles and cap, then followed right after. But he quickly realized his mistake.

In both speed and stamina, he was completely outclassed by Yu Siting. It would’ve been better to hang back from the start rather than suffer this humiliating comparison.

It was honestly self-inflicted shame.

By the time Chu Cheng finished the few laps he lagged behind, Yu Siting’s hair was nearly dry.

Chu Cheng, with his fair skin that rarely saw the sun, was soaked all over. His long, slender legs moved lazily as he approached and collapsed onto a lounge chair, casually toweling off the water dripping from his chin.

Yu Siting reached over and handed him a bottle of vitamin water, hitting the nail on the head: “You don’t usually work out, do you?”

Chu Cheng curled one leg up, took the bottle, and chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah.”

Even outside the school setting, he still had the air of a refined youth. His delicate features exuded a quiet charm, and when he smiled, it was disarmingly radiant.

Even just lying there doing nothing, he still attracted glances from everyone in the swimming pool.

Yu Siting stared at him for two seconds, swallowed the cutting remark that had reached his lips, and instead offered a gentler suggestion: “Being a homeroom teacher is physically demanding too. You should exercise more when you have time.”

Chu Cheng leaned back in exhaustion. “Mhm~”

Author’s note:

Yu Siting: My swimming buddy might be a little weak, but he’s truly beautiful.