CH 52

The team members’ group photos have been taken.

Next up is the additional arrangement for model photoshoots.

The three people who were previously jokingly determined to take model photos find themselves feeling uncomfortable when it actually comes time for the shoot.

Taking photos is a very exhausting activity; they’ve posed until they felt stiff, and their faces are on the verge of cramping. Surprisingly, the shoot isn’t over yet.

The daring trio, who initially insisted on taking model photos, now deeply regret their audacious decision. If they could go back in time, they would probably give their past selves a good slap.

Fortunately, there is one firm belief that keeps Hao Qianyi going: a photo together with Sugar God!

However, when he finally finishes this round of shooting and prepares to invite Sugar God for the next set, he discovers that the captain is already waiting on the side, arm around Sugar God’s shoulder.

At this moment, the studio staff claps their hands, saying, “The Group photo of Team Yu and Sugar God is the last one; it’s getting late, everyone, hold on a bit longer.”

Hao Qianyi is stunned: What? The last one? He hasn’t taken a photo with Sugar God yet!

He hurries to ask the photographer, “Brother, can I take a double photo with Sugar God too?”

The photographer shakes his head, “There’s not enough time. After you guys, the next team is coming right away.”

He looks at his watch and continues, “There’s about half an hour left; make good use of the time~”

The last sentence is addressed to the staff present.

Hao Qianyi petrifies.

The main reason he fought for the opportunity to take model photos was to have a double photo with Sugar God. Now, not only is his wish shattered, but he also feels sore all over from the model photoshoot.

“Why can the captain take a double photo with Sugar God?” Hao Qianyi turns to question Shen Qi.

Manager Shen calmly replies, “Because he’s the captain.”

Manager Shen, the top-tier bootlicker, is one of the few in the club who knows that Yu Hao is Boss Ji’s cousin. He undoubtedly agreed to the boss’s cousin’s request.

It’s not a big deal anyway, just a matter of being treated differently by the WOC branch’s other three members. Besides, he’s long accustomed to the rebellious remarks of the daring trio, so one more incident doesn’t matter.

So, Yu Hao and Jiang Min stand in front of the background board.

After trying out several poses, Yu Hao chose a photo where he and Jiang Min are sitting in chairs, both looking towards the camera, with him embracing Jiang Min’s shoulders, and both of them smiling. He secretly asked the photographer to save this photo.

In the picture, his smile is bright, while Jiang Min’s is more reserved.

If the background were red, it could probably pass as a “wedding photo.”

Feeling delighted in his heart, Yu Hao thinks about printing and framing this photo in his room when he gets back.

The entire photo shoot plan concludes.

Before leaving, Hao Qianyi specifically goes to the photographer and asks, “Brother, those particularly silly photos of ours probably won’t appear in the competition, right?”

In WPL competitions, official profile photos of players are displayed during their highlights and when determining the MVP. If such goofy photos were to appear in such an intense and passionate competition, it would be too out of place.

The photographer replies, “I’m not sure; that’s not for me to decide.”

Hao Qianyi doesn’t receive a definite answer, and he feels uneasy.

How did he come up with such embarrassing poses in the first place? Moreover, the photographer decided to keep them.

Hopefully, the event organizers won’t use these photos during the competition.

Otherwise, his image would be completely ruined!

———–

The day of the competition is getting closer.

Members of JW have started their crazy live broadcasts.

This is because their live broadcasting contract with JJ stipulates a minimum monthly broadcasting duration. Once the competition starts, they are likely to have less time for live streaming.

Therefore, taking advantage of the tail end of the offseason, they are seizing the opportunity to do as many live broadcasts as possible.

During this period, Jiang Min’s broadcast schedule has finally been confirmed.

It is set for the day three days before the start of the competition.

It can be imagined that JJ and WPL officials have probably coordinated Jiang Min’s broadcast schedule.

Presumably, they plan to use Jiang Min’s high popularity to generate some early hype for the WPL Spring Season.

Meanwhile, after finishing his daily training, Jiang Min, who still has no live broadcasting tasks, spends his time playing ranked games in the training room.

Others, on the other hand, use the night time for their live broadcasts.

This afternoon, the official JW account updated the WOC branch’s member profile photos for this season. In addition, they posted another Weibo, showcasing a set of model photos taken by the team members, advertising the upcoming release of the team’s new uniforms on the official store.

As soon as these photos were released, netizens instantly became excited.

【Ah, ah, ah, JW’s new uniforms look amazing! This black and gold color scheme is so stylish!】

【The gold embroidery is quite distinctive, with a traditional touch.】

【I’m a fan, Sugar God’s beauty has left me speechless.】

【Licking, licking, licking.】

【Yu Dui looks so domineering! It’s the first time I’ve seen him with this hairstyle.】

【Mouse is so cute, Mom loves you!】

【Did the twins change their hair color? It looks like the roots have faded a bit.】

【Please don’t dye other colors; it was already hard enough to tell them apart by their hair color.】

【Wait! Are the models in the official store this season the team members?】

【Oh my gosh! I can’t even find words to say.】

【Hahaha, what’s up with these awkward profile photos? Hahaha.】

Apart from fans expressing admiration, there are also many netizens who find amusement in the awkward poses of the team members in the new profile photos.

【Sugar God’s pose is so girly, so cute!】

【Mouse, are you sleeping while standing? Hahaha, it looks like you’re on vacation lying on the beach. Mouse, haven’t you recovered from the team-building event yet?】

【Cypress looks relatively normal, but what’s going on with Maple? Hahaha.】

Hao Qianyi opened the official account, expecting to hear fans praising his handsome looks, but unexpectedly, all he saw were waves of “hahaha.”

“Hahaha, what the heck! Hahaha!” Hao Qianyi angrily slammed his phone onto the table. “Are we forced to do this, okay?”

He started a live broadcast, and the barrage in the live chat was still mercilessly mocking his profile photos.

“Can’t you guys take a look at my handsome pictures? Why focus on these silly ones? Besides, these photos probably won’t even appear in the competition,” Hao Qianyi expressed, showing a bit of frustration.

【U1S1, Mouse’s serious profile photo still has good looks.】

【Good? What’s good about it? I think someone here doesn’t know about a kind of sorcery called photo editing.】

【Yeah, agreed. Editing is so good; suggest giving the retoucher a chicken leg.】

Hao Qianyi nearly choked when he read the comments. “What do you mean by ‘good editing’? I naturally look handsome, okay!?”

Hao Qianyi once again brought up his profile photos, carefully examining them under the witness of many viewers in the camera. He said, “Well, okay, there’s a little editing. But it’s a normal procedure, right? When you go to a professional studio, they always do some retouching.”

【Okay, got it, they just did a tiny bit of editing.】

【Yeah, a tiny bit.】

Hao Qianyi didn’t want to talk anymore.

As the captain, Yu Hao was discussing something with the coaching staff, while Jiang Min, feeling bored, decided to start a ranked game.

The new season is about to begin, and although he believes his form is still good, he wants to bring his skills up a notch. In addition to training matches, these days he needs to practice through ranked games.

“The Mid Lane Old Driver” is online.

The display on the interface shows the words “2nd place” following his ID.

It’s unclear how many points are needed to reach the first place, but Jiang Min wants to try reaching the top, just for the sake of the new season and to bring some good luck.

He clicked on the match button.

At this time, many professional players are online.

Seeing that Jiang Min’s account doesn’t display “In a team,” the fish in the pond are getting restless.

AFK team’s 5th position RING: 【Sugar God, wanna duo?】

OVO team’s 3rd position Hotpot: 【Sugar God, I’ve been kneeling all night, please save me!】

MPP team’s 1st position Lock Xiao Suo: 【Sugar God QAQ, I’ve dropped to 8th place on the national server, please, can you carry me?】

Messages keep popping up.

Jiang Min politely declines each request.

It’s a new year, and he wants to be a bit reckless to see if the “solo queue curse” still exists.

So, he decides to try a solo queue game this time.

After waiting for a while, the game starts.

The ten IDs of the players on both sides are revealed.

There’s Lock Xiao Suo, GEM’s 5th position Stone, OVO’s 3rd position Hotpot, MOMO from BBG, and AFK’s Shu Lou.

In this match, including Jiang Min, there are six professional players, which is common in the WOC Arena’s top-ranking division.

Many clubs pay close attention to high-ranking players in the Arena.

Many teams’ new player development departments often scout high-ranking players from the Arena to strengthen their teams.

But this match is somewhat special.

The other four players, while not professional players, include three streamers from various platforms and one person who is currently ranked first on the national server.

The person has held the top spot on the national server for a long time.

The player ranked first on the Z server is a legendary figure.

Winning more than losing in ranked games, consistently maintaining the top spot on the national server.

Although he doesn’t play many games, his win rate is exceptionally high.

WPL professional players respect him a lot, and no one has tried to prevent him from reaching the top, similar to how they treat Jiang Min now.

Players give way to Jiang Min out of admiration and a genuine liking for him. But the person currently ranked first on the national server receives pure respect.

The reason he is respected is not only because he consistently holds the top spot on the national server but also because he is a legend in his own right.

In this game, Jiang Min secured the powerful Paladin in the current version.

Despite some twists and turns during the match, with coordination from Lock Xiao Suo, they successfully secured the victory.

After the match, when Jiang Min looks at the information screen again, the original “2nd place” has now transformed into a “1st place” blinking with a golden glow.

During the entire offseason, he played ranked games almost all the time, and today, he finally achieved the goal of reaching the top.

Leaning back in his gaming chair, Jiang Min looks at his account that has regained the top spot after a long time, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

“Sugar God, the viewers are asking what you’re doing?” Hao Qianyi says from the side.

Since Jiang Min joined JW, many fans of Jiang Min have appeared in the live streams of various team members, eager to get even a bit of information about Jiang Min.

“Oh, I’m just fooling around,” Jiang Min casually mentioned, as he wasn’t playing ranked games at the moment.

At this point, fans from the recent match against other streamers flooded into Hao Qianyi’s live stream.

【Congratulations to Sugar God for reaching the top of the national server! Sugar God is amazing!】

Fans began to flood the chat.

Jiang Min wasn’t live streaming, and the excitement in their hearts had no outlet, so they flocked to other JW members’ live streams.

Hao Qianyi’s mentality collapsed: Fooling around? Others might be fooling around, but with Sugar God, it’s more like taming a mythical beast!!!

—–

Author’s note: Congratulations to Sugar Sugar for reaching the top of the national server~

As for that legendary figure, he will also appear in the subsequent plot!

1TL: YSIAD “Belated Happy New Year! May the new year carry you one step in the direction of your wishes :>

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