CH 1

Jiang Min promptly started his livestream.

Even though the livestream was still in a black screen state, it already displayed over 4 million viewers’ enthusiasm.

Countless bullet comments floated by as eager fans couldn’t wait to see him live.

This was enough to show Jiang Min’s immense popularity.

Jiang Min, the world-renowned professional player of the MOBA game “World of Challengers” (WOC), known by the ID Lollipop, a god-tier player in the second position.

His exceptional gaming skills and handsome looks made him a star player in the WOC Professional League, earning him the nickname “Sugar God.”

At this moment, the distant and unattainable god of the professional gaming circle was sporting a messy mop of hair, his pale face marked with evident exhaustion, and heavy dark circles under his eyes, indicating severe sleep deprivation. He was reluctantly setting up his livestream.

The schedules of professional players were already irregular, and with no competitions for the team during the off-season, except for some training matches, Jiang Min’s sleep pattern became even more erratic.

He had been forcibly awakened by the manager to go live.

The reason given was that the team owed the livestream platform a significant amount of streaming time, and players had to make up for it.

Especially for star player Jiang Min, who had received sponsorship and signed a livestreaming contract with the platform, he was explicitly called upon to fulfill the streaming hours.

Of course, after spending so much money on signing with the team, the platform wanted these star players to stream more and attract more popularity for them!

Jiang Min, in person, was aloof and reserved offline; he didn’t smile or talk much. However, during his online streams, he exploded with entertainment.

He was both playful and mischievous, often inviting various teammates to play with him, presenting a completely different image from his offline cool and distant persona.

The stark contrast between these two personas became one of the reasons many people kept an eye on his livestreams and one of the reasons his fans loved him.

As his fans described it: The gap-moe is simply too adorable!

But Jiang Min himself remained completely unaware of this evaluation, and he even sneered at it.

Cute? Hmph! What does that have to do with him?

In his heart, Jiang Min cursed his unscrupulous manager countless times before finally opening the game screen with a leisurely click.

On the game interface, first, the logo of “Symphony,” the production company of “World of Challengers” (WOC), appeared, followed by a string of elegant English words, “World of Challengers,” which was the full name of the game. Then, it transitioned to the main menu.

Although “World of Challengers” would be the Chinese translation of WOC, many players found the name to be too plain and lacking in style, so they preferred to call it by its English abbreviation.

WOC, oh my god. If someone asks, “Have you WOC-ed today?” it’s not a dig, they’re just asking if you’ve played the game “World of Challengers.”

Given WOC’s immense popularity, for a while, “Have you WOC-ed today?” even became a trending catchphrase on the internet.

After six years of open beta, instead of fading away, WOC’s popularity continued to rise and showed signs of dominating the global gaming scene, undoubtedly becoming a significant part of gaming history.

WOC is a typical MOBA tower-pushing game. Like traditional MOBAs, it features two teams of five players controlling heroes to compete, with the goal of destroying the opponent’s core to win.

However, its larger map, greater hero selection, higher level of freedom in gameplay, and exquisite graphics quickly propelled it to worldwide fame.

In WOC, the team roles are divided into positions 1 to 5.

Position 1, the primary carry, is responsible for farming and dealing damage in team fights, playing a crucial carry role.

Position 2, the secondary carry, generally plays the mid-lane solo and is versatile in both early and late stages, often roaming to assist teammates, demanding strong individual mechanics and awareness.

Position 3, the secondary ganker, typically plays tanky front-line heroes responsible for absorbing damage and providing crowd control, also capable of roaming.

Position 4, the roaming role, primarily focuses on ganking and setting the pace of the game.

Position 5, the pure support, is responsible for protecting the carry and providing crowd control in team fights.

Based on the WOC foundation, the professional league established around, it is currently the most sought-after place in the e-sports community.

Jiang Min is a highly renowned position 2 player and has won the national professional league championship with his current team, CC.

But that was two years ago.

The championship roster retired, and transfers happened, leaving only Jiang Min with CC.

Jiang Min had sentimental attachment to CC.

He had spent four years with CC since he was scouted and joined the youth training squad, fighting in the second division league as the mid-laner, then solidifying his position as a starter in the first division league, and eventually becoming the core of the team. He had been with CC since he was 17.

Even though CC had slipped from being a traditional powerhouse to just making it to the playoffs, he never had the idea of leaving CC.

Fluctuations in electronic sports performance are normal, and Jiang Min was no longer the emotional kid easily affected by results. He had nothing much to say about this season’s performance.

However, there was someone within the team with whom he seemed to have difficulty getting along…

To ensure Jiang Min’s livestream effect, the club specially arranged a separate room for him to do the broadcast.

After the manager explained the required streaming duration, he left to attend other matters.

Taking matters into his own hands, Jiang Min turned off the camera the manager had set up.

He hadn’t even washed his face or changed out of his sleepwear; he didn’t want the viewers to see him like this.

“The burden of being an idol is heavy,” Jiang Min thought silently.

Jiang Min’s appearance was exceptionally handsome; he had delicate and charming features. The corners of his eyes slightly tilted upwards, and there was a small mole below his right eye, giving him a unique charm. He had a high nose bridge, distinct facial contours, and was undoubtedly a male god.

Even with his current messy look, it couldn’t hide the fact that he was a heartthrob.

【”Sugar God is live! Long time no see~~”】

【”Huh? No camera? Thumbs down!”】

【”Thumbs down! Thumbs down! Sugar God, the global finals are ongoing, want to take a look and provide commentary for us?”】

The viewers communicated with Jiang Min through the barrage.

On the game client of “World of Challengers,” you could watch matches and choose from various commentary or non-commentary versions.

Though still half-asleep and not fully awake, Jiang Min thought watching the match to clear his mind was a good idea. So, he clicked on the watch channel.

CC’s accumulated points were not enough to qualify them for the global finals in M country.

Among the three teams representing the Z region in the global finals, two had already been eliminated in the group stage, leaving only JW, the sole survivor, teetering on the “life and death edge.”

If they won this match, they would barely make it through the group stage. But if they lost, they would have to pack their bags and go home.

Seeing the match on the screen, Jiang Min frowned.

JW’s situation didn’t look good.

Position 1, their primary carry, had picked a late-game hero, but his support wasn’t strong enough. He couldn’t hold his ground in the lane and was forced to jungle for gold.

Position 2, the mid-laner, had picked an early-game hero to compensate for the lack of early-mid game damage, but he was being severely pressured by the opponent’s mid-laner.

Position 3, was still holding up the frontlines as usual, while Position 4 did his best to roam, but since his teammates lacked fighting power, his impact was limited.

Jiang Min glanced at the data panel on the screen; JW’s position 1 was severely underfarmed.

At this rate, even if JW managed to extend the game to the late stage, their position 1 might not be able to contribute.

“This brother is ‘barely hanging on, with only underwear left’, so poor…” Jiang Min couldn’t help but comment.

【”??? Barely hanging on with what underwear?”】

【”???”】

【”??? Sugar God, are you live now, Sugar God?”】

Whenever Jiang Min livestreamed, he would unconsciously utter some “classic lines,” which contributed to the entertainment value of his shows.

His casual remark lightened the initially tense atmosphere in the barrage.

Biting his thumb’s nail, although he didn’t say it out loud, Jiang Min still hoped that JW would win.

No matter how much internal rivalry there was in the Z region, once they went abroad to participate in the global finals, every team from Z represented the WPL (World of Challengers Professional League).

If all three teams representing WPL in the global finals were eliminated in the group stage, undoubtedly, it would be the darkest year for WPL in Z.

Even though WPL had never won the global finals before, they had never suffered a complete loss in the group stage.

Unfortunately, the thing Jiang Min worried about finally happened.

JW struggled to push the match into the late game, but their position 1 was too far behind in economy and couldn’t deal enough damage.

In the end, JW, the sole representative from Z, fell in the group stage.

On the screen, the JW players’ faces were covered with unmistakable disappointment.

JW was an established domestic team, but its WOC division was established just last season.

JW had performed well in the domestic scene, but they still lacked something and failed to shine on the world stage.

Jiang Min closed the watch channel and sighed.

【”Ah, there’s always a tomorrow. Let’s work harder next year.”】

【It’s over, it’s over. WPL is getting worse and worse.】

【Every year they say it’s the most hopeful year, but this year, they can’t even make it out of the group stage.】

【It’s ridiculous, makes me want to curse.】

【Sugar God, keep going! We support you!】

【Hope CC performs better next year, looking forward to seeing you in the global finals~】

One barrage after another floated across the screen, mostly words of encouragement, but there were also some sarcastic remarks and belittling of CC, even mocking Jiang Min for becoming “bad” at the game.

Naturally, Jiang Min didn’t pay attention to those toxic viewers.

As a professional player, his biggest progress over the years should be his mental resilience. Besides, in the current version of WOC, known as “one generation, one god, and mid-lane is for ordinary players,” he often played as a utility role and didn’t want to bother with those toxic viewers’ opinions on his gameplay.

Let them vent, it won’t hurt him.

The sun rises as usual, night falls as usual, and he’ll eat and sleep as usual. It doesn’t affect anything.

Jiang Min stretched lazily, flexed his wrists, and prepared to start solo queueing.

He was using an alternate account today, ranked 578th on the server.

“Today’s goal is to get into the top 500,” Jiang Min said into the microphone on his headset.

【Solo queue?】

The barrage interacted with him.

“Yes, solo queue.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he said that, the barrage flooded with messages.

【Sugar God, think twice~!!!】

【Sugar God, be cautious~!!!】

【Sugar, don’t be impulsive~!!!】

【Sugar God, even if our region is wiped out, you don’t need to vent by reverse charging your rank!】

Jiang Min: ………

As everyone knew, there was a “curse” when Sugar God streamed.

In duo queue, he was the dad (dominant player), but in solo queue, he was the little brother (less dominant player).

1TL: YSIAD “Suddenly, I feel interested to try translating an e-sports type of novel hehe. You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ”