From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)
Chapter 76: Going Viral (and Attract Esports Scouts)

Chapter 76: Going Viral (and Attract Esports Scouts)

Inside the dim-lit bathroom, Micah closed the door behind him and let out a long shaky sigh. He hesitated before lifting the hem of his T-shirt, revealing the bruising still darkening across his stomach.

Micah winced. "Damn it..." he muttered under his breath, his fingers touching the purple-blue skin.

He had completely forgotten about the bruise until now- an unfortunate souvenir from last night when he had jumped across two balconies while carrying Leo McKay.

Earlier, in the living room, he had instinctively reached to take off his T-shirt when he felt the sharp pain. Good thing he stopped himself, otherwise....

What would he even say if Darcy asked about it?!

That he got it while rescuing one of Darcy’s future husbands from a staged scandal?

If he did not tell the truth, then what? Darcy surely would think he was a delinquent, always getting into fights...

He already felt inferior standing next to someone like Darcy, who was kind, sincere, a top scorer, and unshakably grounded. Adding ’reckless brawler" to his long list of flaws... Micah didn’t like the sound of that.

Peeling off the damp shirt, Micah pulled on the clean one Darcy had given him. A simple, crisp tee that had a faint smell of lavender and detergent. It was slightly loose, but he didn’t mind.

Micah exited the bathroom briskly, wiping his face with a paper towel. Darcy was waiting near the front door, already slipping his phone into his pockets.

"Ready?" Darcy asked, a smile curling the corner of his lips.

Micah nodded, smoothing the T-shirt over his torso.

The evening air was still thick with humidity when they stepped out of the building. It was a short walk to the internet cafe, just a few blocks away. They reached the entrance, and a buzzing sign above the door flashed NET HEAVEN in electric blue.

The moment they stepped inside, a voice called out from behind the counter.

"Hey, top scorer! You are back again."

Micah glanced at the cashier, who gave Darcy a familiar wave.

Darcy returned it with a polite nod. "Two computers, side by side. And add two cups of noodles."

"You got it. Your usual, huh?" the boy grinned, pulling two numbered cards from the tray. "Your noodles will be ready in twenty minutes."

Micah raised an eyebrow. "You’re a regular?"

"Only when our internet at home is down," Darcy replied casually, swiping the cards on the scanner and gesturing for Micah to follow him to the far corner.

"Wow... I never thought a top scorer had time to hang out in an internet cafe..." Micah mumbled.

Darcy just shot him a look.

They reached a section near the back and sat down. After logging into their respective accounts, a barrage of notifications exploded across their screens.

Micah blinked at the flashing chat bubbles, tilting his head. "What’s going on?"

Darcy leaned over slightly. "You didn’t log in from last week either?!" he asked in surprise.

Micah scratched the back of his neck. "Nah, I was busy sorting my dorm stuff." he lied. The truth was he had been gaming nonstop, just not on this account.

Darcy clicked open his inbox, and messages poured in. Friends requests, invites to tournaments, and a dozen chat boxes blinking from various team recruiters.

Micah’s inbox was full of messages asking if he knew DarkVyne and If he would be interested in playing a trial game with their teams.

Micah craned his neck to read the friend’s requests and messages on Darcy’s screen. "Shit! Who the hell leaked our gaming session with the girls?"

He pulled out his phone and dialled Cora.

"Hey, what is with this tsunami of messages?!" Micah barked, though his voice was more exasperated than angry.

Cora let out a guilty laugh. "I am sorry! One of the girls mentioned it in her friend’s chat group. Okay okay, before you bite my head off, listen to me. She didn’t expect it to go viral. She’s been apologizing nonstop. Heck! Even my ID got leaked. Every day I got tons of messages asking about DarkVyne!"

Micah rubbed his forehead in annoyance. It wasn’t about the messages. He was worried that the Esport Captain would lock on Darcy.

"So? That still does not explain why they are all bugging me to join their teams?!" Micah said.

"Well... it kinda got around that DarkVyne is close to you, so they probably think if they rope you in, DarkVyne also join their team," Cora said hesitantly.

"You! And your friends!" Micah growled and hung up the call.

Turning to Darcy, he offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry. My friend’s cousin stirred up a storm."

Darcy glanced up from his screen, nonchalant. "Do you want to join an Esport team with me?"

The question caught Micah off guard. The thought was tempting. The idea of Darcy and him playing opposite Archie sparked a curiosity. But his actual goal was to infiltrate Archie’s team as a girl. He couldn’t possibly be with Darcy’s team too. It was impractical.

"My skills are lacking," Micah said, smiling a little too tightly. "I would just be decorative. But do you want to try it? To be a professional player?"

Darcy paused. "I’d rather have fun with you."

Micah expected this answer. In the novel, Darcy never showed up as a tournament dark horse. Heck, he even didn’t know Darcy was this good at gaming. Probably Archie didn’t know in the book either. Otherwise, wouldn’t he have exploited that too?

"Do you want to switch to a side account?" Micah asked, eyeing the flood of messages on the screen.

"Nah, they’ll soon lose interest. This kind of thing happens every now and then. Don’t sweat it." Darcy waved his hand in dismissal.

"Okay... but if you ever do want to go pro, I’ll be your biggest cheerleader," Micah said, patting Darcy on the shoulder.

He wanted to say never join the SilverBlade Legion but held his tongue. How could he say that without explaining why?

So instead, he grinned. "Where’s our noodles? I’m starving."

Darcy glanced at him. He had noticed the slight hesitation in Micah’s voice but didn’t ask what was on his mind.

"Still Ten minutes," Darcy said, checking his watch. "We can try Flex Queue till then."

Micah nodded. After a short wait, they were matched. Looking at the screen, he picked up support this time.

"You’re switching roles?!"

"Yeah. I finally realised I suck at being a jungler. Time to try something new."

"Okay... let’s get you ranked up! We still can’t do a solo/duo queue. You need to be Emerald." Darcy said.

The match began. And two IDs instantly showed up as their opponent.

DiabolicDestroyers: Top lane / Emerald

PoisonIvy: support/platinum

Of all the things Micah had hoped to avoid, fate had just served him the worst-case scenario on a silver platter.