Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared-Chapter 31 - Esports Competition

31: Chapter 31 Esports Competition

31 -31 Esports Competition

Gu Fan has been back to school for two months now.

Besides school, occasional dates with Lin Xi, and boxing training, he has not participated in any other activities.

He is wholly focused on getting stronger.

He absolutely does not want to be the next one who disappears.

There are people who, once they make a decision, immediately take action.

Gu Fan is that kind of person.

He puts effort into everything he does, and persists, hence often making quick progress.

However, these two months have been calm and peaceful, with no unpleasant incidents happening.

Gu Fan started to wonder if the previous disappearances of three of his classmates were just coincidences, and there wouldn’t be a fourth disappearance.

Gu Fan has done a lot of online research.

There have been plenty of strange coincidences in the world that are hard to believe.

For instance, a person with a certain name who always encounters naval accidents whenever he sails, yet somehow ends up being the sole survivor each time.

After two peaceful months, Gu Fan began to let his guard down a bit.

He decided to not be as vigilant, believing things were not as bad as he had imagined them to be.

Thus, he decided to take a break and participate in activities and have fun with everyone.

This weekend, Du Jun organized an activity.

People from the dance society and his classmates were all invited.

Even Du Jun himself started to think that the previous suspicions were nonsense, and everyone can safely participate.

Du Jun reserved a bus and booked a hotel.

He invited everyone to watch the eSports finals, to cheer on his favorite team together.

Rumor has it that Du Jun’s father is the owner of the gaming club which the team belongs to.

The game was quite popular, and many people enjoyed it.

Gu Fan, Lu Yi, and Jie all played it too.

They, therefore, were eager to watch the top teams compete.

Even Lin Xi, a girl, decided to join the crowd for fun.

After discussing the plans, they departed early in the morning.

After a three-hour long journey, they finally arrived at the destination.

As the competition was to be held at night, they spent the daytime eating and enjoying the local attractions, with Du Jun covering all the expenses.

Taking his past lessons to heart, Du Jun dropped his arrogant demeanor and suggested humbly that everyone came to support his favorite team, despite some not being interested.

Therefore, Du Jun decided that he should cover all the costs as a token of thanks.

After hearing Du Jun’s words, everyone accepted the proposal, Gu Fan also couldn’t help but admire that Du Jun had learned quickly, improving his Emotional Quotient.

Lu Yi didn’t seem bothered, since there was no shame in accepting Du Jun’s good intentions, why refuse with false pride?

Lu Yi was one to go with the flow.

The hotel they checked into was close to the competition venue.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and then checked into their rooms.

Gu Fan and Lu Yi shared a room, Jie and Sun Yi shared another.

Lin Xi and her best friend shared a room, and other classmates were paired up.

Of course, Du Jun enjoyed the luxury of a private room.

After resting for a while, everyone went to the competition venue, looking forward to the exciting battles of the top-level teams, especially as Du Jun enthusiastically described how formidable the players he admired were.

Gu Fan, Lu Yi, and Jie also loved the game, they couldn’t help but join in the discussion.

Rarely, they had something in common to talk about with Du Jun.

Sun Yi, however, was only there for fun; he knew little about the game and therefore felt a bit out of place.

The group arrived at the stadium and found their seats, thanks to Du Jun, who managed to secure prime viewing spots in the front.

The stadium was jam-packed with spectators, filling up half an hour before the competition started.

The hosts then stepped out to stimulate the atmosphere.

Their descriptions of the match and their understanding of the game were filled with rich, humorous language.

Gu Fan was amazed at how eloquently the hosts spoke.

Then, the match officially started.

The two top teams clashed with exciting maneuvers and perfect teamwork, often too close to call, causing the live audience to erupt with cheers and applause.

“Amazing, really amazing!” Gu Fan and Lu Yi considered themselves great players, but they knew they were nowhere close to the level of these professional eSports athletes.

They admired the professionals in awe.

Among the group, the most excited was Du Jun.

He was cheering the loudest for his favorite team.

Whenever they trailed in the match, he would watch, tensely, with wide open eyes.

In the end, thanks to everyone’s support, the team Du Jun cheered for won.

Du Jun was so excited he lost control.

He hugged everyone he saw, even Gu Fan was caught up in one of his bear hugs.

Feeling Du Jun’s excitement and joy, Gu Fan was affected too.

He suddenly felt that Du Jun was not as annoying as he had thought.

After leaving the venue, Du Jun said he was very happy and grateful that everyone had come to support his favorite team.

Therefore, he planned to extend the trip for another morning, which everyone agreed to.

It was rare for Du Jun to be this happy and willing to pay for everything, and everyone felt that it wouldn’t be right to dampen his spirits.

The competition ended at ten.

By the time they returned to the hotel it was already late.

Throughout the journey, Du Jun was still discussing the match with Gu Fan, Lu Yi, and Jie.

Especially the professional players’ impressive maneuvers, those were simply phenomenal.

The more they talked, the more enthused they became, the more they connected.

It was truly a rare feeling of discovering kindred spirits.

They were so engaged in their conversation that even upon reaching the hotel, they were not ready to stop.

Their lively chatter made it seem as though, for the first time, they had found common ground and the possibility of building friendships.

Girls like Lin Xi naturally didn’t want to dwell on such topics and had returned to their rooms to freshen up.

The others had also gradually dispersed, leaving only Du Jun, Gu Fan, Lu Yi, and Jie still engrossed in their conversation in the lobby.

Even so, they realised it was getting quite late.

They eventually withdrew to their respective rooms, but the excitement hadn’t abated in the slightest.

Lu Yi remarked, “I didn’t expect Du Jun to have done something so commendable today.

Seems like I need to revise my impression of him.”

Gu Fan agreed, nodding his head, “Yeah, when you find commonalities and shared hobbies, it’s easy to communicate, play, and eat together, and eventually become friends.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi chuckled, “So you’re seriously considering becoming good friends with Du Jun?

Aren’t you scared that he might have ulterior motives, that he’ll get closer to Lin Xi through his friendship with you?”

Gu Fan showed a moment’s concern, then shrugged it off with a laugh, “He’s a rich kid, he won’t lack for pretty women.”

“That’s a fair point.

So you mean you’re open to being friends with Du Jun?” Lu Yi was somewhat incredulous.

He had still been at odds with Du Jun not too long ago.

This change after just one event made it seem like there was no more conflict between them.

Gu Fan nodded, “Let’s see if we can get along well in the future.

If so, there’s no harm in being friends.

We are not such petty people.

Having one more friend is always good.”

“I don’t care, I don’t hold grudges.

But, I don’t know what Du Jun thinks.

Whether, after this friendly interaction, he would be open to being friends with us,” Lu Yi remarked with a hint of uncertainty, causing Gu Fan to worry, wondering if he was being overly optimistic.

“Enough of that, goodnight.

Let’s get some sleep.

We have activities planned for tomorrow.” Saying that, Lu Yi turned off the lights and went to bed.

Gu Fan shrugged, feeling that he should just let things take their course.

He went off to bed too, having played all day really tired him out.

Soon, daylight broke and they all began to wake up one by one.

While eating breakfast in the restaurant, Du Jun shared his plans for the day, where he thought they should go, and what they should eat.

Their enthusiastic agreement made him extremely happy as it felt like he had their approval.

Even Gu Fan and Lu Yi didn’t object to his plan anymore.

After breakfast, as they prepared to set off, it was noticeable that Sun Yi was missing.

They waited for fifteen minutes but there was still no sign of him.

They hadn’t seen him at breakfast either .

Since Jie and Sun Yi were roommates, they asked Jie if he had seen Sun Yi.

Yet, Jie shook his head, recounting that he had heard Sun Yi rise early and leave the room while he was still asleep.

This came as a surprise to everyone.

They wondered why Sun Yi had got up so early.

Had he been unable to sleep and decided to go for a walk and take in the sights?

Upon this, Du Jun immediately dialled Sun Yi’s mobile but found it was switched off.

Some folks were wondering what Sun Yi was up to, running off without a word, didn’t he realize they would need to wait for him?

However, Gu Fan, Lu Yi and Lin Xi showed no irritation, rather their faces reflected deep concern.

An unease stirred within them as they feared the worst.

Even Du Jun looked grave.

Most perceived this as annoyance at Sun Yi’s unexplained absence which resulted in everyone having to wait, however, his thoughts were along the same lines as Gu Fan and the others.

After waiting for another half-hour without any sign of Sun Yi, some were growing impatient, while others were increasingly anxious.

Something seemed amiss.

Gu Fan immediately asked the front desk if they had noticed their missing companion’s departure, but the hotel staff explained they were too busy with the esports competition to pay much attention to individual guests coming and going.

Stumped, Gu Fan decided on a course of action.

While others continued dialling Sun Yi’s mobile, he and Lu Yi went out to look for him, hoping that he might just be somewhere around.

Gu Fan could only hope that Sun Yi had just spontaneously decided to go out for an early morning run and gotten lost in an unfamiliar place, adding that his phone had died, leading to the current situation.

However, they all knew that any college student should be capable enough to find their way back in a new city, so the time it’d taken thus far seemed disconcerting.