Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

At the hotel, Lysander’s esports club was undergoing pre-match training. Everyone wore the same expression, as if they were owed millions.

“Can’t you see the team fight?”

“You two keep feeding them kills, shut up! Why are you charging in without proper development?”

“Everyone, calm down. The match is in two days. Can we focus?”© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

The last speaker was Edward Sullivan, the team captain and the nice guy of the group. He hadn’t seen Tina since the last club meeting.

“Shut up!” The other three turned their anger towards Edward Sullivan.

Although Edward Sullivan was the captain, he had less authority than the youngest member, Lysander. He became captain merely because he was the oldest.

He sighed; recent losses had plummeted team morale. Orson’s provocations only made things worse. He thought it was fortunate that Lysander wasn’t there; otherwise, a fight would have broken out.

Listening to the arguments inside, Lysander couldn’t stay cheerful either. Such disputes happened often. They had gone from seven consecutive wins to seven consecutive losses; no one could accept that.

When Lysander was around, things were better; at least they didn’t argue. But in his absence, tempers flared.

Tina frowned. She had seen this team united in their quest for the championship. Now, it was truly disheartening.

“Tina…” Lysander lowered his head, unable to look Tina in the eye.

With a bang, Tina kicked open the door.

Everyone sitting in their chairs jumped in shock. Leon, who had a bad temper, threw his headphones onto the table.

“Damn it, Orson! Are you done… Holy crap, Tina!”

The others quickly gathered around. The moment they saw it was Tina, their anger vanished.

“Tina, I thought you weren’t coming.”

“Great! With Tina back, we have hope!”

“With Tina and Lysander, we can definitely regain our honor!”

Edward Sullivan looked at Tina excitedly but couldn’t find words to speak.

Lysander was also affected, his eyes shining like stars as he looked at Tina.

Unexpectedly, Tina wore a stern face and said coldly, “Is this what you call esports players?”

The smiles on everyone’s faces gradually froze, and their eyes grew despondent.

The atmosphere became awkward; even Lysander didn’t know what to say.

Finally, Edward Sullivan spoke up. “Tina, everyone is really excited to see you.”

Tina raised an eyebrow slightly. “Oh? Now you know how to protect your teammates and act like a captain?”

Edward Sullivan fell silent and lowered his head, fiddling with his fingers.

Though he was the oldest, he couldn’t lift his head in front of Tina. He knew how much he had failed as a captain: teammates didn’t respect him, leaders looked down on him, and other teams ignored him.

But what could he do? At twenty-six years old, this year’s World Championship would be his last before retirement. Who would care about someone who was retiring and lacked ability?

Tina pulled up a chair and sat down. “Edward Sullivan, as captain, you’re supposed to set an example and earn your teammates’ respect. Instead, you’re always trying to smooth things over. How can anyone respect that?”

Edward Sullivan couldn’t lift his head under her reprimand; a deep sense of inferiority spread within him. “I… my skills have declined; it’s normal for them not to respect me.”

Lysander wanted to speak up for Edward Sullivan but didn’t dare as Tina was still angry.

“Your skills have declined? You hold the highest record in Hawk’s history and have the highest solo win rate. When you were winning championships left and right, these kids were still drinking milk! And now you’re telling me your skills have declined?”

Edward Sullivan felt a lump in his throat; his past glories were still vivid memories…

Tina turned to Leon next. “You have quite a temper. If you’re so great, why don’t you be the captain?”

Tina had heard everything clearly from outside; Leon’s voice was the loudest.

Leon muttered, “I’m not that great…”

“You know you’re not that great!” Tina scolded. “Have you forgotten? It was Edward Sullivan who risked his career under pressure from the club’s higher-ups to sign you when you couldn’t even stay on a youth training team!”

Tina’s words made Leon’s face turn red with shame. Indeed, without Edward Sullivan back then, he wouldn’t have made it into the club at all.

Tina then looked at Yeev. “And you? When you kept failing to rank in the top ten, who stayed up day and night practicing with you until you won that gold medal as an AD?”

“It… it was Captain,” Yeev’s voice was barely audible.

“And you, Alan Linden? When your family took you back home, who traveled miles to bring you back and got hospitalized for three days after being hit by your parents just to save your career?”

Alan Linden’s eyes reddened; Edward Sullivan had shed more blood for him than he’d ever shed tears in his life.

After reprimanding everyone else, Tina naturally didn’t spare Lysander either. “And you? With your outstanding individual skills and world ranking in the top three as one of the most promising esports players globally-you think that means you don’t need to train?”

“Tina, I didn’t…”

“You didn’t? Lately you’ve been running off to Reed family whenever possible and missing so much training time! Do you think your exceptional skills alone can lead this team to first place?”

Recently Lysander had been seeking her out frequently; she had been too busy to meet him until today when she finally found time.

Lysander fell silent; he couldn’t argue against her points.

Tina stood up; her face as cold as icebergs closing in. “Have any of you reviewed your matches seriously? Do you know where your problems lie?”

Edward Sullivan lifted his head with determination. “Coach, we’ll listen to you.”

Lysander hesitated for a moment. “Tina… don’t you want to play yourself?”

The others also looked at Tina expectantly; they thought she came today intending to join them in their upcoming match.

Tina scanned them all before saying decisively: “Your inability to be captains isn’t about experience-it’s about brains.”

Only Edward Sullivan understood where their core issues lay but lacked authority previously; saying anything would have been useless then.

Hawk’s biggest problem now was disunity coupled with excessive heroism-everyone wanted to rely on Lysander while neglecting their own roles leading gaps everywhere along with declining performance speed-no wonder they kept losing!

Tina pushed each person into their respective positions: “You’ve trained together long enough. You’re most familiar with each other’s strengths. Find your roles properly. You don’t need me on-field. From now on, I’ll handle training and let’s start one game and I’ll observe.”

Edward Sullivan put on headphones feeling more confident, as if returning back during peak times rolled up sleeves shouting: “Listen up everyone! Pick heroes you are most familiar first, to get warmed-up!”

“Yes!”