"Do I look like someone who'd date someone who could pass as my little niece?" she frowned at their captain's response and shook her head because of the way he described her
"Can we take a picture? I'm a fan!" one of the girls then said while holding her phone
"Captain," she took the bag containing her items from their captain
"Okay," Key then said and took the phone that the girl handed
She smiled at Rasheed when she noticed the serious look he's giving her, she took the girl's picture with Rasheed. It was then followed with another one until all five fans that had approached their captain had their photos taken with him. He obviously disliked being swarmed but for the sake of fan service, he endured it.
"Thank you, Rasheed, miss," they said and the girls were giggling as they walk away
"Let's go," Rasheed went ahead after the fans left
"Do you think they'll welcome me like that as well?" she asked their captain after catching up to him
"If you can bear the weight of the industry's light, yes," he replied and she nodded
'It should be simple,' she thought, she was raised in a household where they have legacies and reputation to uphold so she perceived it that way, after all, how far would the weight of the crown of e-sport be from the pressure she had to bear from childhood, right?
"Give me that," Rasheed stopped walking and faced her
"I can carry it," she declined with a smile
"Keychantel," he warned seriously and she grimaced at the way he mentioned her first name before giving the bag to Rasheed
When they reached the restaurant, where they'll eat with the rest of JLNC team, Rasheed opened the door for her while holding the bag on one hand.
"You're finally here, what took you so long?" Dewy asked when they arrived
"Some kid almost got lost." Rasheed answered and Key turned to him while glaring
"I'm not a kid, stop bullying my height." She replied and shook her head while frowning
"What happened?" Bright asked her
"It's been years since I last step foot here in New Yastrid, of course, I'm not familiar with where to go." She replied and they shook their heads while chuckling
"Sit down and eat," Rasheed said and pulled a chair for her
She sat on the chair while the waiters began serving their teammates' orders and her eyes glittered when she recognized the cuisines served on the table. These are her favorite foods, her comfort foods to be precise.
"These are French cuisines, right?" she asked them
"These are your favorites, I saw it in your blog." Quant said and she smiled while nodding
"You're indulging her too much," Rasheed snickered
"You also love French cuisines, right?" Key turned to him confusedly
"Yeah, Nico also likes French cuisines." Dewy agreed
"We didn't know that, man, you should've told us then we'd always order French cuisine." Opal said and they chuckled
"He'll get tired of it if you do that," El said with a sly smirk
They began eating, while eating; they're talking about various topics. Quant would often include Key, and Key would actively join in some topics that piqued her interest. They were just chuckling and chattering as they eat, Key particularly likes participating in such moments.
"What did your parents say after finding out you're part of an e-sports team?" Opal suddenly asked
"My parents didn't agree," Bright raised his glass of champagne
"Neither did mine," El replied
"They think it's still just an online game," Quant said
"They don't know yet," Key replied then turned to their captain who didn't speak
"Nico's parents obviously agreed," Dewy chuckled
"Eh? Really?" she asked and looked at Dewy then at Rasheed
"His family owns 20% of the club," Bright said and she looked at Rasheed in amusement
"Wow, captain's so cool." She said with amusement
"That's why he won't worry even if his salary is deducted when he doesn't have enough airtime." Quant said while eating earning Key's attention
"You mean the 45-hour required air time? How is that hard to complete?" she asked
She just can't fathom how completing 45 hours of airtime would be hard, if she does it two hours every day, she can complete it in no time, right?
"You're still new, Key, but once you've experienced it, you'll realize it's hard to complete." Bright said
"That is a piece of advice from your senior," Rasheed then said and she nodded
"Hey, you guys, don't scare Key, she might quit out of fear because of you." Dewy kidded
"I'm not a quitter," she chuckled and shook her head
"Are you ready for the Autumn Play-offs?" El then asked her and she nodded
"Though I'm kind of nervous," Key admitted
"If you're nervous just look at us," Quant assured
"Why?" she asked and looked at all of them who nodded
"They're noisy in the game," Rasheed said and she turned to him then looked at the others
"Well then, let's have fun playing." She said with a smile and raised her glass
"Let's have a toast," Bright stood up while raising his glass
"To our dreams," he said and they all stood up while raising their glasses as well
"To our victory," they cheered while raising their glasses
They drank it and Key couldn't help but smile, it's been a while since she felt warm inside her. She suddenly began to miss her sibling who she loves stressing out most of the times since they graduated college and passed the board exams.
After their dinner, they headed home. They headed to their rooms, Key was hiccupping a little from all the wines she drank. She had developed high alcohol tolerance, however, she starts hiccupping when she reached half of her tolerance, as that is her warning to start taking it easy.
Her phone vibrated and she saw that the JLNC's official club has posted something on their official account, she started following the official account of JLNC after it sent her follow request.
() JLNC_Official
It's been a month since JLNC's off-laner, Lux, had officially said his goodbyes and announced his retirement from the Prometheus Pro League stage and now, we officially welcome the newest member of JLNC. We sincerely welcome, the wildfire of the world ranking; Kashmiri, as the new off-laner of JLNC. We hope to see you supporting her as well as you continue supporting our group.
Once again, welcome to JLNC, Kashmiri!
Key edited her account and began cleaning up old posts that have no relevance with the Fire of the Night, which is the game she'll be playing as the new off-laner of JLNC, before she switched her account's settings into a public account.
She read the comments and couldn't help but sigh after seeing that almost all of the responses are about her being a girl. "Can't they focus on something else?" she complained inwardly and shook her head.
She was about to close her phone when her phone rang, Chela is calling so she swiped it to answer and placed it near her ear.
"He –" She pursed her lips and winced while putting the phone away from her ear
[Que diable, Chantel?!] Chela exclaimed from the other line in her mother tongue
(Translation: What the heck, Chantel?!)
"C'est quoi ces cris? Tu m'as presque rendu sourd, Chela." She replied frowning after putting it back close
(Translation: What's with the shouting? You almost made me deaf, Chela.)
"I know what you want to talk about, but I'm not in the mood, so bye." She said and hanged up