CH 45

As soon as Jiang Min parked his car, he saw Ring quickly running to the villa’s entrance behind Shu Lou to greet him.

“Sugar God, over here!” Ring happily waved.

Shu Lou also changed his usual gloomy expression, smiling as he welcomed him.

For Shu Lou’s style, a smile meant he was exceptionally happy at the moment.

Jiang Min’s intuition told him that these two were so enthusiastic, there might be something fishy going on.

On the surface, he remained calm and walked to the entrance of the villa.

“Amin, wasn’t there any traffic on the way?” Shu Lou began their small talk.

“No, it was fine.”

“Sugar God, long time no see!” Ring grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

With one on each side, the two escorted Jiang Min all the way to the training room of AFK’s WOC branch.

It wasn’t Jiang Min’s first time at the AFK base; he had visited upon Shu Lou’s previous invitations. However, this time, something felt a bit off.

Upon entering the training room, other AFK team members greeted Jiang Min very friendly. Even AFK’s coach and assistant coach, who usually just waved from their chairs, stood up to welcome him at the door today.

The more Jiang Min thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss.

In all honesty, for a training match, Ring shouldn’t be so nervous that they needed Jiang Min to personally come and cheer for them. Moreover, just sitting at the back wouldn’t serve any substantial purpose. Why were Shu Lou and Ring insisting on inviting him like this?

Until he saw Flow, pale and languid, slouched in his seat, the answer became apparent.

“Ah, Sugar God, you’re here~” Flow looked sickly.

His condition was clearly not normal.

The training match against the strong Korean team PH was imminent. As one of AFK’s double-C, how did Flow, the mid laner, look like he had lost half his life?

“Is the network test okay? We finally managed to schedule this training match, and we can’t afford network issues,” the assistant coach said to the equipment support staff.

The other side gave an OK gesture.

When arranging training matches across countries, the biggest concern was network latency. However, professional players often played on foreign servers during their spare time, so it wasn’t a decisive factor.

AFK’s most pressing issue at the moment was…

“What happened to Flow?” Jiang Min frowned, expressing concern.

Most professional players in the WPL alliance had good relationships, despite being merciless on the battlefield. WPL was like a big family. So, even though it was a training match between AFK and PH, Jiang Min secretly hoped AFK would win. However, their mid laner, Flow, looked uncomfortable.

“Oh, he got food poisoning, been having diarrhea all day,” the AFK coach replied.

“Huh?” Jiang Min was puzzled. “With his condition, how is he going to play in the training match later?”

In his memory, AFK didn’t have a substitute mid laner.

Were they planning to bring up the mid laner from the second team?

But would a last-minute substitution be devastating against PH?

He remembered the mid laner from AFK’s second team… though it might not sound nice, he wasn’t that great.

Just as Jiang Min was worrying about AFK, the coach, assistant coach, and other team members were looking at him with anticipation.

Jiang Min: “?”

What did they mean by this?

“Sugar God~” Ring started to act cute.

“…” Jiang Min had a bad feeling.

“Sugar God~ Look at our Flow in this condition~” Ring began to be adorable.

“…” Jiang Min’s ominous premonition deepened.

“Look at him, feeling so miserable from being sick. We can’t bear to force him to play, you know?” Ring clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture.

“…So?” Jiang Min seemed to have already anticipated it in his mind.

“Sugar God, could you substitute for Flow and play in this training match with us?” Ring blinked, rubbing his hands together.

A thousand grass-mud horses galloped across Jiang Min’s mind.

What the hell? So, the warm invitation from Ring and Shu Lou to come to the base was actually for this purpose!?

“No, I’m not an AFK team member, you know?” Jiang Min’s initial reaction was to refuse.

He thought he was here to watch the game and have a meal with Shu Lou, not to play in a training match.

“It’s okay, Amin, we believe in you.” Shu Lou patted Jiang Min on the shoulder.

Jiang Min: Isn’t this about trust! This whole thing is too sudden!

“Can’t your second-team mid laner play? What about your youth players?” Jiang Min didn’t belong to AFK, and playing a training match with AFK’s team members seemed absurd.

“Sugar God, their mid laner and youth players aren’t up to the task. Their mid laner is the ‘Mid Lane Solo Kill King,’ with the DNA for it!” Ring looked troubled. “I know it’s not good to trick you into coming to the base, but if we told you the truth, you definitely wouldn’t have agreed. I beg you, please help us with this match!”

Ring was right. If they had told Jiang Min the real reason for inviting him to the base, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed. After all, it wasn’t allowed for someone signed to JW to assist other teams like this.

“How about rescheduling for another time?” Jiang Min was persistent.

“We can’t~ It’s already difficult enough to schedule it for today! You also know that PH always looks down on people. If we change the time, they definitely won’t agree!” Ring looked extremely aggrieved.

The AFK coach chimed in, “Sugar God, you don’t need to feel too pressured. We don’t have high expectations. Just try to stabilize the mid lane. Our second team and youth players might get crushed by DNA, especially in the mid lane. If we perform poorly in the mid lane, they might swiftly take advantage. In that case, our other four players won’t achieve their practice goals. So, we thought about asking for your help, because, currently, among the top-tier mid laners still in S City, you’re probably the only one available.”

Although being praised as a “top-tier mid laner” and being complimented by the AFK coach, who was a “Gold Medal Coach,” Jiang Min couldn’t feel happy.

The pressure wasn’t too bad. In his four years since debut, he had faced off against well-known mid laners with DNA in WOC a few times. There were wins and losses, and he wouldn’t be trampled by the opponent.

The issue was that he was playing in training matches with another team, which might not be allowed by JW.

“I’m personally fine with it… but what about the team…” It was just a training match, and Jiang Min had faced off against DNA before, so he didn’t mind.

However, he had recently signed with JW and didn’t want to offend his new team because of this.

“No problem with that!” AFK Manager Xiaoliang appeared with a phone somehow and handed it to Jiang Min.

Jiang Min: ???

Oh God, AFK was well-prepared for this.

In the WOC professional league, loaning players was allowed.

The loan period could be short or long.

It could be for a single match or for an entire season.

During the loan period, the player’s contract remained with the original team, and they played for the team that borrowed them. This system ensured that in case a team had an unexpected player absence, they could quickly select a suitable player from the league to replace them.

“Sugar God, if you don’t believe it, you can listen to Manager Shen yourself~” Manager Xiaoliang handed the phone to Jiang Min.

Jiang Min pursed his lips and took the phone.

“Hello? Sugar God?” It was indeed the voice of JW manager Shen Qi.

“Yeah.”

“Hey! Let me tell you, AFK actually willingly sent money our way. It’s rare!” Shen Qi sounded quite pleased.

“…”

“They want to rent you for a training match, and the fee is quite substantial. Sugar God, why not help them out? It’s just a training match, winning or losing doesn’t matter!”

“Okay.” Since the club manager had agreed, there shouldn’t be a problem, and Jiang Min agreed.

“So, should I send a car to take you to the AFK base now? Although we can communicate through voice, it’s more atmospheric to talk in person, right?” Shen Qi was very enthusiastic.

With money, even though JW had money, they couldn’t resist their manager, who was not only conscientious but also exceptionally fond of money.

“Uh, I’m already at the AFK base.” Jiang Min said helplessly.

“Huh? What a coincidence!? That’s great, then. Just finish the training match and come back afterward. Good luck! Heart emoji!” Driven by money, Shen Qi often did strange things.

Jiang Min had gradually gotten used to it.

After hanging up Shen Qi’s call, Jiang Min had no choice but to agree to AFK’s invitation to play in the training match.

So, he was arranged to sit in Flow’s seat.

As for Flow, who was suffering from severe diarrhea, he found another gaming chair, slouched on it weakly, and sat behind Jiang Min.

“Sugar God, see if you’re comfortable using my keyboard…” Flow’s voice was somewhat faint. “If you’re not comfortable with anything in the base, you can try…”

This was a significant difference from his usual energetic voice, indicating that he was genuinely uncomfortable at the moment.

“It’s okay, I’m comfortable. Our setups are quite similar.” Jiang Min tested the feel of the keyboard and mouse.

Honestly, in his four years since entering the league, this was the first time he played against the team members of a club where he wasn’t signed.

“Sugar God, you can use my account; it’s already logged in…” Flow continued, “You know about the official account; it has all the fancy accessories and skins.”

“Yeah.”

The rest of the AFK members breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Jiang Min sit down.

They were worried that the trick of inviting Sugar God to play mid lane might not work, and they would be defeated by PH.

While losing to PH wasn’t shameful, they didn’t want to lose so miserably.

After all, in the season that just ended, WPL’s top-ranked team, to perform poorly in a training match, wouldn’t look good.

AFK’s coach gently patted Manager Xiaoliang’s shoulder, giving him a thumbs up.

Manager Xiaoliang smiled bitterly.

He urgently consulted the boss and hastily gathered a sum of money as the rental fee for Sugar God.

AFK’s boss was a passionate middle-aged man. When he heard that their mid laner had a physical problem before a training match against PH, and the players wanted to rent a powerful external player, he immediately expressed strong support.

So, the AFK group conspired to bring Jiang Min to the base to replace Flow in the training match.

Jiang Min adjusted the equipment while sighing.

These people were really scheming.

—-

The author has something to say: Poor Sugar Sugar, forced into battle.

1TL: YSIAD “Hi! sorry for the late updates. I’ve been busy with schoolworks. I hope y’all understand. Enjoy reading.

You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ️”