Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism

Their teammates played brilliantly, pushing the crystal and securing victory.

'Victory!'

Violeta couldn't contain her joy as she saw the victory sign flashing on the screen.

Zelena was still fuming. "No way! I'm furious! I want to drag him here and curse him!"

Hattie exited the game and opened the profile of "I'm Your Sixth Uncle" to see his information.

One glance at the profile, and her eyes widened in shock.

They had assumed this player was a man. Unexpectedly, she was a woman!

Furthermore, many of her heroes held national rankings!

Even though those rankings were from the past, her low current rank was indicating she didn't play often anymore.

No wonder her game rhythm was so good. She used to be on the national leaderboard!!

"She's at the national leaderboard! And she's a woman!"

Casey scoffed. "No wonder. Only a woman could be that annoying."

Zelena added bitterly, "What's the big deal about her being a woman? She was so lowly. I bet someone else played on her account before. If she used to be on the national leaderboard!, why is her rank so low now? Probably had some guy boosting her, and now that he's gone, her rank was stuck!"

Meanwhile, in the esports room...

"Achoo!"

Violeta sneezed and rubbed the tip of her nose.

"It must be 'Lena the Great Cutie' cursing me behind my back. I should have taken her down a few more times."

She was about to start another game when an invitation icon popped up in the top left corner of her screen.

She clicked on it and saw it was from "Lena the Great Cutie" inviting her to join a group.

"Heh, it's interesting. Are you here to scold me?"

She had regretted not taking down Lena a few more times, and now Lena was inviting her.

Well, it's nothing to lose...

Then, she accepted the invitation.

As soon as she entered the room, a barrage of voices of Zelena and her friends hit her ears.

"D*mn, this b*tch comes."

"Wow, she's got guts. Turn on your mic!"

"She's here to get insults, isn't she? So d*mn annoying! She always hides in the bushes to ambush us...

The voices of the three came from her earpiece.

Violeta was stunned. She immediately recognised all of them.

They were Zelena, Hattie, and Casey!

What a coincidence! This is too much of a coincidence!

"I

Casey taunted, "You used to be on the national leaderboard, huh? Why don't you turn on your mic? Your rank was probably boosted. You're f*cking shameless! Disgusting! You are a scum!" Hearing their insults, Violeta quickly opened a small window beside her screen, typed a few lines of code, and downloaded a voice pack from the internet. After that, she plugged that in her headphones. She did it in one fluid motion.

Her voice transformed from a crisp female tone to a deep and nice male voice.

"Can't handle your losing, huh?"

There was no reply from the other side.

The three were immediately dumbfounded.

Confusion washed over their face.

What is this? A moment ago, we concluded that she was a woman. How is she suddenly become a man?

Sitting in front of her computer, Violeta could almost see their confused face.

She spoke with a mocking tone, "Can't handle losing, huh? I'll give you a chance for revenge. Get a few more people and play another match. If I lose, I'll apologise. But if you lose, you have to call me 'Daddy' and admit you were wrong. Deal?"

There was another silence.

Hattie immediately retorted, "What a bullsh*t! As if you j*rk deserve that!"

Violeta leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Whether I deserve it or not isn't decided by words, it's decided by scores. And judging by your 1/10, 3/7, and 0/12, I'd say you don't deserve it either." "See ya, little brats. Daddy's leaving."

After bidding her farewell, Violeta exited the room.

Whenever Violeta left, Hattie was still swearing.

"A**hole! That guy is delusional! Heck, he thinks I'll call him Daddy? I'd rather call him a d*ck."

Casey and Zelena were also very angry.

As they fumed, Casey suddenly remembered something.

"Lena, did you know our school is hosting an intercollegiate esports tournament next month? The first prize includes official support to shoot a live-action cosplay game MV."

Zelena, who still fuming from "I'm Your Sixth Uncle" ravings, began to calm down after hearing Casey's words.

Casey continued, "I saw this guy's location on his profile. He's from Quinston. He lives in the same city with us."

Hattie scoffed. "Huh, so what? I know about the tournament, and I'm definitely signing up."

Hattie's ambition wasn't a secret. She wanted to gain exposure and influence while still in school, to help her career after graduation.

Zelena shared the same hidden ambition with Hattie.

They aimed to seize every opportunity for exposure during their school years, so they could start ahead of their peers after graduation.

Casey remarked, "I've heard that many people from the computer science department are already forming teams on the forum. I don't have the technical skills to join, but if you two want to participate, you'd better start recruiting team members now."