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Lin Jingyan wouldn’t say he had any regrets. He had always done his best. If anything he regretted not winning the championship with his team – either Wind Howl or Tyranny. However, there was nothing he could do. There was only one trophy every year, so only one team could win it. And there were so many teams that aimed for the trophy. Someone had to lose. Nine years was a long time. He had spent nine years of his life with playing Glory professionally. Seven year of those nine he had spent as a member, as captain of Wind Howl. The last two years he had spent with Tyranny. Both teams had given him so much.
In Wind Howl he had found his greatest partner. In Tyranny he had found hope and peace at the end of this career. It also was relaxing to have less responsibilities. Nice to be around people that faced the same struggle as him – age. And in Zhang Jiale he had found someone that also had left the team he had debuted with. Unlike Zhang Jiale Lin Jingyan had to give up his account, but this was a loss he could handle. Maybe it had even better that way. Serving all ties with the past to move on without grief.
He had seen how Zhang Jiale had suffered from leaving Hundred Blossoms behind. Was he too heartless? Or was it the fact that Wind Howl didn’t want him anymore anyway that he walked forward without looking back?
Last night team Tyranny had held a party for him. Today was the day he would leave. Only a few moments would belong to him and the team. Yet he was calm. All he wanted to do today was to say goodbye to everything in peace. Just talk to them from face to face a last time.
The first person he met was Zhang Xinjie. He wasn’t surprised. Zhang Xinjie was always the first, who got up in the morning.
They met in the hallway. Zhang Xinjie was on his way back to his room, while Lin Jingyan was on his way to grab some breakfast.
“Good morning”, they greeted each other.
Their conversation was short, because Zhang Xinjie had a schedule to maintain. Not that it bothered Lin Jingyan much. During his two years at Tyranny he got used to the other one and his strict schedule. Also there wasn’t much for them to say to each other. Just a goodbye and well-wishes for the future.
The next one he met was Zhang Jiale. They had gotten along very well. Every now and then they went out for some shopping – Zhang Jiale was a real sweet tooth and if it weren’t for Lin Jingyan interfering so often, the other one would probably bought all the sweets in the whole city. Maybe the sweets should drown the feeling of loss, to drown the pain for “betraying” Hundred Blossoms. It was obvious that Zhang Jiale had his problems at the beginning. No one had doubted him for giving his all for the team, but they also could see, how hard it was for him. Since none of them had been through the same, they didn’t know what to do or say. In the end, it had been Lin Jingyan who spent the most time with Zhang Jiale. Some nights he had stayed at the other one’s room and just listens to the other’s rambling. He also heard the stories of the past with Sun Zheping. Those stories reminded him of Fang Rui.
It indeed was hard to find a great partner. There were many good players; there were many good partners; but there was only so many perfect partners. Leaving such a person behind was not easy and forgetting them was impossible. For Lin Jingyan leaving Fang Rui was not so hard, because they still were together in the Alliance, just on different teams. He still knew how Fang Rui was doing. But Zhang Jiale had to lose his partner due to an injury and Sun Zheping also never contacted him ever since. Lin Jingyan could only imagen how painful that must have been.
Respect was all he could feel for Zhang Jiale, who always moved forward – even that little break he took during the eight season could be considered moving forward, it was just a more indirect way.
“What will you do from now on?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should write us every now and then.”
“I will. And I will watch all your matches. I hope, you guys can win a championship.”
“I hope so to and I am certain that we will. Besides us all men, we have Song Qiying and Qin Muyun. Those two are already so good and will only get better under our watch. I am quite confident in our team and out future.”
“Sounds good. Song Qiying and Qin Muyun have a bright future ahead of them, indeed.”
With a hug they parted ways.
On his way back to his room to get his luggage, he run into Bai Yanfei, Yu Tian and Zheng Chenfeng, who were on the way to the training room. Their happy chatter stopped at soon as they saw him. Saying goodbye was not easy. Although they all could write with each other or even met up, retirement still felt like an ultimate end – maybe this was also due to many retired pro players leaving without contracting their former teams again. Also saying goodbye to someone, who was about to retire, was making them remember that one day, they also had to retire; that the career of a pro player was short. Not a nice feeling. Yet, they tried their best, to have their last in person conversation as positive as possible.
Lin Jingyan’s room was between Zhang Jiale’s and Song Qiying’s bedroom. The later one just came out of said room, when Lin Jingyan was about enter his own.
“Senior.”
Song Qiying was a nice junior. Lin Jingyan could still remember the tears the young boy shed, when Tyranny was kicked out of the playoffs by Happy. That situation had reminded him of his first time in the playoffs and losing. It had been very emotional too. He was sure that behind closed door most pro players shed a tear or two after losing an important match.
“Song Qiying, how are you?”
“I am fine now. Thank you for your concern. And sorry with losing my cool back then.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. You should just forget about it. We all have our moments. Just know that we all have done our best. But just that alone won’t guarantee us a win. You are still so young and have so many years and opportunities ahead of you. Don’t yourself be dragged down by one failure. I am positive that you will accomplish great things in the future.”
Song Qiying nodded understandingly. There still many thing he had to learn.
“Senior Lin, even when it was just a year, we have spent as teammates, I am happy that I was able to play alongside you. I will continue doing my best and I am sure that we will win a championship that way some day! When that day come, I hope you remember, that this championship also belongs to you.”
What a cute junior. So honest and hardworking.
Lin Jingyan had a hard time controlling himself to not pat Song Qiying on the head. Tyranny’s future was indeed in good hands with Song Qiying here. It was harder and harder to find such well-behaved and loyal young player.
With words of gratitude and well-wishes, Lin Jingyan went into his room, while Song Qiying hurried into the cafeteria to get something to eat before hours of training. The training schedule was not as strict as it was during the season, but everyone still took it every serious.
After announcing his retirement, Lin Jingyan had started packing his things. He didn’t want to bother the team longer than necessary. His contract would end at the end of the season, which would officially only be after the finals. So there was still some time left, theoretically. But there was no reason to make him stay any longer. He had taken care of all the necessary paperwork and he had agreed with the management that he could take his leave before the end of the playoffs. Maybe he should have waited a bit longer with packing, since he had no real plan, but would he truly think something up when staying here? No, he probably would only start to doubt his own decision. So, leaving was the best. His parents and he hadn’t seen each other for some time and his grandparents also would love to meet him again. So, maybe that was his plan. Going home and enjoy some time with his family. With the money he had made in the past years, he could also make a journey through the world. Sounded interesting. Did other countries also have Glory? How was Glory played in other countries?
With his luggage – a suitcase and a bag – he walked to the training room. He needed to say goodbye to Han Wenqing and Qin Muyun. Something told him that Han Wenqing was in the training room. Tyranny’s captain had always been very serious about training.
Lin Jingyan had to admit that he was impressed by Han Wenqing. No matter what that guy never gave up or wavered. Although they were the same age, Han Wenqing decided to give it another try, while he gave up.
Both of them had been standing at the edge of Glory. But while Han Wenqing decided to keep on balancing at the edge, Lin Jingyan had decided to let himself fall into the dark never-ending pit on the other side of the edge. Now he could only hope that it was the right decision.
In the training room Lin Jingyan found Han Wenqing and Qin Muyun. Qin Muyun just got up from his chair, when Lin Jingyan entered. He gave his senior a soft smile and walked over.
“Senior, are you here to say goodbye?”
“Yeah. I hope I haven’t interrupted anything.”
“No, I have on my way to get some drinks anyway. Captain Han is busy with the trainings program however.”
Han Wenqing indeed still sat at his place, not gracing the two other men with a look. As serious as ever.
“I will leave the two of you alone. Senior, I wish you the best for your future. Please don’t forget to write as from time to time.”
Silently Lin Jingyan sat down next to Han Wenqing. Only the clicking and tapping of the mouse and keyboard was heard. With anyone else this moment may have felt awkward.
“I wanted to thank you. Back then, I didn’t know what to do. I knew my time was over, but I was unwilling to give in. Just at the right moment your management called and made their offer. It was you, who gave them the idea to give me a chance. I must say, I knew that Tyranny is a very straightforward and brave team; ready to risk everything to gain victory. But I was still surprised to see how far the team’s desire of victory went. Not many teams would have been ready to invite me and even create a new account for me with silver equipment. Tyranny is really tyrannical.”
A fond smile appeared on Lin Jingyan’s lip.
“You were the best choice for us, if we wanted to get the championship.”
But in the end they didn’t get it. Neither in the last season nor in this. He had done nothing for the team, despite their effort and care.
“It was still a risk. And it still came at the right time. I am very thankful for the extra two years Tyranny – you – has given me. So, thank you.”
The clicking and tapping stopped.
“What will you do now?”
Han Wenqing wanted to ask him, if he really was ready to leave Glory behind, but decided it was better to stay silent on this matter. Retirement was not an easy thing. Lin Jingyan had made his decision, why make him doubt himself. They were adults after all.
“I will go home and then see what do to. I have spent nine years in the professional scene and even more years just playing Glory. Taking another path now is not easy and I feel a bit lost. Yet, I am sure that after some rest at home, I will know what I want to do.”
“I see. Well, whatever you ultimately decide to do, don’t forget us and contact us from time to time. Even when you are no longer an active member of the team, you are still part of Tyranny. We will not forget you.”
Han Wenqing was not a man of many words. He had said what he wanted to say and Lin Jingyan knew it was now time to leave. Maybe he should still leave a goodbye at the guild department. They had worked hard to get him the materials for his silver equipment.
“Will take my leave then.”
He stood up, but before he got his luggage and left, he placed his hand on Han Wenqing’s shoulder. There was one last thing, he wanted to say: “Retirement is not an easy decision and one should be sure on it, but we all have to leave one day. Don’t be too stubborn.”
Silence.
Slowly Lin Jingyan walked down the stairs to the entrance. He said goodbye to the guild members. Due to their schedule, he could not met all of them that had helped him, but he was sure that the present guild member would pass his words on to their colleagues.
Tyranny had become a new home in just two years. And he had found something even better – something that he now had to leave behind.
When he finally reached the entrance, he saw the whole team of Tyranny standing there.
“What are you guys doing here? Haven’t we already said our goodbyes?”
Even Han Wenqing was here. What was there left to say or do?
“We wanted to see you off, Senior,” Song Qiying answered Lin Jingyan’s question.
“Also we all have a few gifts for you. Yesterday, we were too busy partying with you and no it’s already time for you to leave, so there wasn’t much time for us to give you our parting gifts,” Zhang Jiale added already throwing himself at Lin Jingyan with a little package in his hands.
Soon the other followed Zhang Jiale and offered their gifts to Lin Jingyan. They even had organized a bag for him, in which he could put all of them. How thoughtful – probably due to Zhang Xinjie.
Tears made their way into his eyes. Such a warm welcome back done at the beginning of season nine and such a warm goodbye at the end of season ten.
“Goodbye.”
Han Wenqing words were accompanied by a hug. At this moment, Lin Jingyan was happy that his hands were full with present, because he had no idea how to response to the hug. All he could do was mutter his thanks. It was so hard, to keep those tears at bay.
Together with the team, he put all his belonging into the cab. What had he done to deserve such kindness? He hadn’t thought that leaving would hurt so much.
Team Tyranny stood outside. Waving at the cab, waving goodbye to a good friend and senior. Lin Jingyan waved back at his juniors, his friends and teammates – and his first love. It was time to move on.