CH 34

Lu Huai and Ji Xiu Yan left first, and the trio from the JW Club’s WOC branch donned masks and leisurely strolled to the entrance of the internet cafe.

At this moment, a deep rumbling thunder rolled in.

“Oh, could it be raining? We didn’t bring umbrellas,” Hao Qianyi stood at the entrance, gazing at the night sky.

His jinx was like a self-fulfilling prophecy. As soon as he spoke, the raindrops started to fall.

Initially, it was just a few scattered drops, but before long, it turned into a torrential downpour.

Rain on the island came fast and probably left just as quickly.

“Uh…” Hao Qianyi was speechless, silently praying that the team captain wouldn’t blame him for the rain. He hesitantly said, “Um, how about we go back and play a few more rounds?”

He had inquired with the internet cafe staff, but it seemed they didn’t offer umbrella rentals either. It looked like they would have to wait for the rain to stop.

Yu Hao didn’t say anything, just turned around with Jiang Min and headed back to the internet cafe.

The receptionist at the internet cafe was surprised to see the JW team, who had just left, returning.

She had been wondering why professional players, who typically streamed games until the early hours, were leaving so early.

“Let’s reserve a private room,” Yu Hao said.

“Ah, sure!” The receptionist was momentarily bewildered, then quickly checked the computer.

“Oops, I’m sorry, but all the private rooms are already booked,” she said apologetically.

“Huh? Didn’t we just leave the computers? What about the room we were in?” Hao Qianyi inquired.

The receptionist hesitated, “At this hour, our business is quite busy, and people were waiting for private rooms as soon as you left your computer. So as soon as you got up, they cleaned the room and someone else went in.”

“Alright…” Hao Qianyi looked disappointed. “Do you have any other available computers?”

Hao Qianyi’s addiction to gaming was real.

Even though he had turned gaming into his profession, his passion for it remained undiminished.

“Oh, if you want a triple seat, there are still spots available in the premium section,” the receptionist said, looking at the computer information.

“Okay, let’s open three computers then,” Yu Hao said.

After setting up the computers, the three of them took their seats in the premium section.

The internet cafe was bustling at this time, with hardly any empty seats.

Having three connected seats was quite lucky in such a crowded environment.

However, despite the crowded internet cafe, everyone was focused on their own screens, wearing headphones, and no one seemed to notice the three professional players from the JW team. They also found it too hot and removed their masks.

As a popular game in the current gaming market, WOC was naturally very popular at the internet cafe.

Looking around, most people were playing WOC, and the people around JW’s trio were no exception.

“Hey, ward here! What are you doing!”

“Attack him! He doesn’t have his ult!”

“Missed mid lane, be careful.”

The voice communication of WOC players filled the air.

The seating arrangement for JW’s trio was still the same, with Jiang Min in the middle, and Hao Qianyi and Yu Hao on either side.

“Captain, what game should we play?” Hao Qianyi asked, looking at the diverse selection of game icons.

Yu Hao took a brief moment to think.

Without Fortune, it might be a disaster for him to solo queue. It would be embarrassing in front of Tang Tang, wouldn’t it?

He didn’t have much confidence in playing other games either. After thinking it over, he decided that playing WOC would be the safest option.

“WOC it is,” he said.

“Huh?… Alright!” Hao Qianyi had initially wanted to play something else, but since Yu Hao suggested WOC, he decided to follow the captain’s lead to avoid any repercussions. “Should we queue as a trio?”

“No, Tang Tang and I will duo queue, and you will solo queue,” Yu Hao said without any sympathy.

“Huh? Why?” Hao Qianyi felt wronged.

“No particular reason. Play on your own or choose another game if you want. It’s up to you,” Yu Hao said indifferently.

He didn’t want a rat to disrupt his “sweet duo queue” with Tang Tang.

Jiang Min, seeing Hao Qianyi’s pitiful expression, couldn’t bear it and suggested, “Captain, why don’t we let the rat join us?”

He was older than Yu Hao and, since joining JW, he had always referred to Yu Hao as “Captain.”

“Call me Xiaoyu, like before,” Yu Hao suddenly said.

Hao Qianyi was confused by this and took a moment to process it. Xiaoyu? Was that the same Xiaoyu who had guarded the Sugar God’s pond? If so…

He glanced at Yu Hao and remembered the “queen” Xiaoyu who had been so playful and wild during Sugar God’s live streams.

Oh my! He might have just discovered something incredible!

“… ” It was still a bit strange for Jiang Min to transition from an online friend to a real-life teammate, even though several days had passed.

“No problem, let him play on his own. He might not even want to play WOC, right?” Yu Hao emphasized the last part and stared at Hao Qianyi.

Hao Qianyi instantly understood that the captain didn’t want to play with him. Self-preservation was key, so he nodded and said, “Right! I want to play another game. Have a good time ranking up with Tang Tang.”

As for whether the captain was “Xiaoyu” or not, he would keep that to himself. The captain was too terrifying, and he would be in big trouble if his assumptions were proven wrong.

Jiang Min, seeing that Hao Qianyi agreed, didn’t say anything more.

They logged into the WOC game interface, entering their account information. Yu Hao used his main account, “Mid Lane Veteran,” which was ranked seventh in the national server. Originally, this account had been ranked second, but due to not playing for a long time, others had surpassed him and he had slipped to seventh.

Yu Hao also logged into his main account, “Can We Carry,” ranked 25th as the fourth position player, which was already quite impressive.

“Hmm, what would be a suitable ID for your account, Tang Tang?” Yu Hao was in deep thought.

Jiang Min couldn’t help but ask, “Do you really have to make each account match mine?”

He said, “It’s fine, your ID is good as it is. You don’t need to change it.”

“No, it has to be something that shows we’re together at a glance!” Yu Hao insisted.

Jiang Min thought, “Why is Xiaoyu so insistent on this?”

“I’ve got it. I’ll use this!” Yu Hao came up with an idea and changed his ID to “Teach Me, Veteran.”

Jiang Min sighed inwardly.

This way, it should be obvious to everyone that he and Tang Tang were playing together, right?

After all, WOC allowed players to change their names at any time, so Yu Hao could match the name to whichever account Tang Tang used.

Hao Qianyi was engrossed in playing a single-player game on his own.

Yu Hao and Jiang Min, in their duo queue, were getting ready to start matchmaking.

“Sugar God! Yay! Yay! Yay!” Lock, the first-position player from the MPP team, saw that Jiang Min was online and immediately appeared in the game.

He was known for his adorable communication in the game, but who could have guessed that in real life, he was a tall Northeastern guy, standing over 190 centimeters.

He had relentlessly used cuteness and charm to add Jiang Min as a friend in ranked games, and that was how they became friends.

“Please invite me! Let’s play together and have some fun!”

Jiang Min replied, “I’m already in a team. Next time.”

Lock said, “Yay! Yay! Yay! I haven’t been on your team recently, Sugar God! Have you stopped caring about the Fish Pond, Sugar God?”

Jiang Min was left speechless.

Lock continued, “Look at these kids! I’m getting sniped by these damn snipers! Sugar God, please carry us and punish them!”

Lock, currently the second-ranked player, was about to surpass the first-ranked player in the national server. However, he had become a target for snipers.

The snipers were none other than the professional players from the WPL league.

At this stage, the players with high ratings were always clashing in matches.

They were trying to block each other’s paths because no one wanted to watch someone else take the top spot.

So when a player like Lock, who was just one game away from reaching the top, appeared, they naturally wanted to snipe him.

However, when Jiang Min climbed to second place in the national server, he hadn’t used this account, so he hadn’t experienced the feeling of being sniped by others.

In the sniping event against Lock, the WPL league showed an unprecedented level of unity.

On Lock’s team? They would treat it as a professional competition and give it their all!

Teammates with Lock? They would act! And it would be a very poor act.

Lock felt like crying: “For heaven’s sake, in one game, it’s just me and five people on the other side who want to win, and my teammates are all acting!”

Lock: “Sugar God, are you getting ready to queue?”

Jiang Min: “Yes.”

Lock: “Can you let me know when you start queueing? Maybe the heavens will favor me and put us in the same team!”

Jiang Min: “…”

Lock: “By the way, Sugar God, who are you queuing with?”

He hadn’t clicked on the page of the person queuing with Jiang Min yet, and he felt like he hadn’t seen the ID “Teach Me, Veteran” before.

It shouldn’t be the case; the difference in rankings was too large to allow duo queueing.

Jiang Min: “It’s our JW team’s captain, and the fourth position, Honor.”

Lock: “Oh, it’s Yu Team, then we’re good! Start queuing, please let me know, Sugar God! I’ve lost six in a row! Those guys are too tough!”

Jiang Min: “…”

“Who is it, Tang Tang?” Yu Hao heard the sound of Jiang Min’s keyboard and became alert.

“MPP’s Lock. He asked us to let him know when we start queuing, to see if we can get on the same team,” Jiang Min explained honestly.

“Why?” Yu Hao asked.

“He’s been sniped quite badly, so maybe he doesn’t want to end up with actors as teammates again,” Jiang Min replied.

“Oh,” Yu Hao responded.

Secretly, he made a mental note.

Xiaoyu’s Notes for the Day: Tang Tang is too soft-hearted, and the fish in the Fish Pond are very sticky. The plan to exterminate the fish needs careful consideration.

As the captain of the duo queue, Yu Hao clicked the matchmaking button.

Jiang Min saw that the matchmaking had started and sent a message to Lock.

After waiting for a while, the game was matched.

The IDs of the ten players on both sides appeared.

Coincidentally, perhaps fate was truly on Lock’s side, as he and the JW duo were matched on the same team.

Lock was moved to tears and typed in the chat: “Sugar God, wuwuwu! It’s fate!”

When they saw Lock’s message, the public chat became lively.

The ID “The Most Handsome Kid in the Arena” on the opposite team typed: “Sugar God? Holy cow? Sugar God finally logged into this account! What a pleasant surprise!”

Jiang Min, who often played high-level games, was familiar with this ID; it was NewLife, the first-position player from the YYGQ team.

KillMyBirdsOrDie: “Sugar God! OMG! Lock is finally on a team with a big player! No more actors?”

This was AXB, the second-position player from the SUM team.

Despite Lock’s robust appearance, he was still relatively young and was often affectionately called “Little Lock” in the league.

Jiang Min was known for not being an actor and took ranked games very seriously.

The other team on the opposite side knew that they couldn’t rely on Lock’s teammates acting for him.

On Jiang Min’s team, there were Lock, Yu Hao, and him, three professional players. The other two seemed to be random players with relatively high rankings.

On the opposite team, they currently recognized NewLife and AXB as professional players. As for the other three, some had ranks within the top 100, while others were outside the top 100, and their identities were unknown.

Jiang Min’s teammates clarified in the chat: “We absolutely won’t act like Little Lock! With Sugar God here, we’ll soar!”

After the ban phase ended, the game began.

Author’s Note: Little Lock is really pitiful, hhh.