Chapter 43

Chapter 43:

Fernanda kept the conversation brief with the boy and jumped straight into the game.

While picking their positions, the boy typed, “Can you play as jungle? Please carry me. I’ve been losing every game, and I’m about to lose my sanity too.”

Taking his request into account, Fernanda chose a champion for the jungle role.

Despite appearing like a rookie, the boy was far from it. His rank was impressively high; otherwise, he wouldn’t have even qualified to play alongside Fernanda.

Most games with him were filled with his constant cheers and compliments for Fernanda. His upbeat attitude amused her, so she rarely declined his game invites.

“Are you streaming today?” he asked hopefully.

“No,” she answered curtly.

“That’s sad to hear. I topped up my account specifically to send you virtual gifts,” he said with a hint of disappointment.

Fernanda didn’t know much about him beyond their games. They were simply online friends, not connected in real life. He had repeatedly sent her friend requests after noticing her high leaderboard ranking.

At first, she ignored them, but his determination wore her down. He even sent messages claiming he couldn’t concentrate on his exams unless she accepted his request.

Not wanting to impact his studies and figuring there was no harm in accepting, she finally gave in.

It wasn’t until much later that she learned how young he was.

L𝑎t𝑒st ch𝑎pt𝑒rs in gαl𝑛ovels.cøm

To her, he was nothing more than a kid.

The boy’s family appeared to be wealthy. He splurged on in-game purchases and even sent her virtual gifts during her live streams. Despite her asking him to stop, he ignored her, which eventually led her to shut down her streaming channel entirely.

“This jungler’s incredible! Is it the famous Nimbus?” a teammate speculated in the public chat.

Nimbus was the name Fernanda had casually picked when she started gaming. Within a month, she topped her server’s leaderboard, and a month later, she achieved the number one spot globally, earning widespread recognition.

The fame brought a wave of players trying to target her, which quickly became exhausting. To avoid the attention, she switched her username to a blank space.

Yet, the name Nimbus lingered in the memories of many.

Fernanda ignored the message, but the boy enthusiastically confirmed in the chat that their jungler was none other than the renowned Nimbus, showering her with nonstop praise.

After carrying him through three games, Fernanda politely told him she needed to focus on climbing the leaderboard.

Reluctant to let her go, the boy begged, “Can you at least turn on your live stream? I just want to watch you play.”

“No,” she responded, her tone firm.

“Come on, please! I promise I won’t send you any virtual gifts,” the boy pleaded. “School’s starting soon, and I’ll be in eighth grade. I won’t have much time to play with you after that. Just this once, can you let me watch?”

He capped his plea with a series of cute emojis.

Worn down by his persistence, Fernanda finally gave in.

“Alright, but remember, no gifts,” she warned.

“I promise!” the boy replied eagerly.

With a small sigh of surrender, Fernanda opened her livestream and synced it with her game interface.

Streaming had always been a casual hobby for her. She had randomly chosen a platform when she started. For her, it was about the fun, nothing else.

The moment her stream went live, her tag appeared prominently on the platform’s homepage.

Within seconds, the viewer count skyrocketed, climbing exponentially. In under a minute, tens of thousands of people were tuned in.

Fernanda looked at the rapidly increasing viewer count, a small smile tugging at her lips.

She had assumed that after such a long break, no one would care anymore.

The chat was already alive with comments.

“Isn’t this the longest break Nimbus has ever taken? She’s never been away for more than a few days before. This time, it’s been months!”

“I felt incomplete without her streams. But now, I finally feel like everything is back to normal.”

“Look! Nimbus is climbing the leaderboard. Go, Nimbus. Reclaim your throne!”

Unlike most streamers, Fernanda kept her face hidden, never spoke, and didn’t even show her hands. Her stream was all about the gameplay.

At first, many viewers insisted that she show her face or speak, but Fernanda ignored their requests.

Eventually, the requests died down, and viewers came to appreciate her distinct approach.

After five matches, Fernanda checked the leaderboard and saw she was still trailing the top player by five stars.

She had started the session with that same gap, thinking she’d catch up, but it looked like her rival had been busy playing too.

“True Champion just went live!” someone posted in the chat.

“Let’s go see what he’s up to!”

Fernanda opened True Champion’s profile for the first time and examined his stats.

His skills were impressive, with win rates that rivaled hers when she first dominated the game.

It was unusual for Fernanda to come across someone with skills on her level. Her curiosity was definitely sparked.

She closed her game and streaming app, switched to another platform, and found True Champion’s stream on the homepage right away.

His stream title was as bold as his ID: “I Will Make You Call Me King.”

As soon as she entered, Fernanda was hit with an energetic male voice from her phone.

“Trying to show off? I’ll crush you! Take that! Game over!”

Ignoring the flood of praise in the chat, Fernanda noticed a small window in the corner showing a pair of hands holding a phone.

The hands were slim, with long, elegant fingers and faint veins running along the back.

The graceful hands hinted at a calm, reserved personality.

But from what she could hear, quiet was definitely not a word to describe him.

Fernanda watched him play three games, putting up with his nonstop chatter.

Just as she was about to exit, his tone changed, probably because of something in the chat.

“A genius took the entrance exams at Esaham University? Seriously?”

The chat went wild with responses.

“I heard that too!”

True Champion laughed arrogantly.

“I don’t care what kind of genius they think they are. They’re no match for me. I’ll go to campus tomorrow and find this so-called genius to see if they’re really that good. I’ll stream it all for you guys!”

The chat exploded with excitement.

Somehow, Fernanda had a gut feeling that the genius he was talking about was actually her.

He wanted to find her and challenge her?

First, he’d have to prove he was up for it.

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