Ye Xiu stood outside the Excellent Era training base, his heart racing as he gazed up at the building. This was it—the place where legends were made. The team he had been invited to join was one of the top professional teams in the competitive Glory scene. For most players, this was the dream. The culmination of years of hard work and dedication.
But for Ye Xiu, the excitement was mixed with nerves. He wasn't used to this. Until now, Glory had always been his escape, a place where he could excel without the constraints of the real world. Here, everything felt different. Tangible. The stakes were higher, and the pressure was far greater than anything he had ever experienced.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The air was thick with the hum of computers, the low chatter of players exchanging strategies, and the occasional sound of rapid keystrokes. The training base was a world in itself, filled with top-tier equipment, screens displaying live matches, and rows of gaming stations where the best of the best practiced for hours on end.
As he walked deeper into the base, he caught sight of a group of players huddled around a screen, laughing and joking with each other. They were all dressed in matching Excellent Era jerseys, their confidence radiating from them like a tangible force. Ye Xiu felt a pang of unease. These were the players he had admired from afar, the ones he had studied and watched for years. Now, he was one of them—or at least, he was supposed to be.
But as he approached, the laughter died down, and the atmosphere shifted.
"Hey, look who's here," one of the players, Zhang Jiale, sneered as he looked Ye Xiu up and down. "The charity case."
A few others chuckled, exchanging knowing glances.
Ye Xiu clenched his fists, the words hitting harder than he expected. He had heard the whispers before, the rumours that the team owner had taken pity on him, that he was only there because of his "sad background." The fact that he came from a middle-class family, without the financial support or connections that some of the others had, made him an easy target.
The truth was, he had grown up in a small, modest home. His family wasn't poor, but they weren't wealthy either. They had supported him in pursuing his passion for video games, but they couldn't afford the luxury of private gaming setups or the high-end gear that many of the other players had grown up with. Ye Xiu had earned his place here through sheer skill and determination, but that didn't matter to those who only saw his background as a weakness.
"You must feel pretty lucky," another player, Wang Jiexi, said with a smirk. "Not everyone gets the owner's sympathy card."
Ye Xiu's jaw tightened, but he said nothing. He had always been reserved, preferring to let his actions speak for themselves. But here, in the competitive world of Glory, silence wasn't always an option. His quiet demeanour was quickly interpreted as arrogance, and it wasn't long before the others began calling him a know-it-all behind his back.
"You think just because you're good at the game, you can walk in here and act like you're better than everyone else?" Liu Hao, one of the more outspoken members of the team, said one day during a break. He shoved Ye Xiu's shoulder, not hard enough to start a fight, but enough to send a clear message. "We've been here longer than you. Don't forget that."
Ye Xiu looked at him, meeting his gaze with calm defiance. He didn't need to respond with words; he had already proven himself through his gameplay. But the silent confidence only seemed to aggravate the others more.
Days passed, and the bullying became more subtle, more insidious. They would exclude him from group conversations, make jokes at his expense, and talk down to him during practice sessions. When they weren't actively mocking him, they simply ignored him, treating him as if he didn't belong.
And in their eyes, he didn't.
For Ye Xiu, the training base began to feel less like a place of opportunity and more like a battleground. Every day was a struggle to prove that he deserved his spot on the team and that his presence wasn't just some act of charity from the owner. But no matter how hard he worked, and how much effort he put into his practice, the others continued to treat him as an outsider.
Even during team meetings, he felt out of place. When strategies were discussed, he offered his insights, only to be met with dismissive remarks or cold silence.
"You think you know everything, don't you?" Liu Hao snapped one day during a particularly tense strategy session. "You're just a kid. You don't understand how this team works."
"I'm just trying to help," Ye Xiu responded quietly, his voice steady but filled with frustration.
"Yeah, well, no one asked for your help," Wang Jiexi added, glaring at him from across the room.
The words stung, but Ye Xiu didn't let it show. He was used to being on his own, used to relying on his skills. But being part of the Excellent Era was supposed to be different. This was supposed to be a team—a family. Yet here he was, alone in a room full of people who didn't want him there.
Late at night, when the other players had gone back to their dorms or were hanging out in groups, Ye Xiu would stay behind, practising in the empty training room. The silence was comforting, a stark contrast to the hostility he faced during the day. In those quiet moments, with only the glow of his screen and the sound of his keystrokes filling the room, he felt at peace. Here, he didn't have to worry about fitting in or proving himself. It was just him and the game.
But as the days turned into weeks, the isolation began to take its toll. He could feel the weight of their judgment pressing down on him, the whispers behind his back growing louder with each passing day.
"He doesn't belong here."
"He's just a know-it-all."
"The owner's just letting him stay out of pity."
The words circled in his mind like a storm, but he refused to let them break him. He had worked too hard to get here and sacrificed too much to let a few bullies push him out.
Still, it was hard not to feel the loneliness creeping in. He missed the camaraderie he had felt in his previous guilds, the sense of belonging that had come with being part of a team. Here, in Excellent Era, he was an outcast.
But despite the bullying, the cold shoulders and cruel remarks, Ye Xiu knew one thing for sure: he wasn't going to give up. He had come too far to let their pettiness drive him away.
He would prove them wrong.
He would show them that he wasn't just a charity case or a know-it-all. He was a player, one of the best, and he wasn't going anywhere.