CH 68

“Cross… cross-dress!?” Hao Qianyi held his cheeks with both hands, looking terrified, as if he couldn’t believe it.

The remaining four people were still in a state of shock.

The barrage was bustling.

“Hahaha, cross-dressing it is!”

“This is great, Sugar God, you’re doing amazing!”

“We look forward to the cross-dressing! Make sure to do your best to win the championship~”

“Screenshots for evidence!”

“I recorded it, in case you guys try to back out.”

“…” Jiang Min was speechless.

How were they going to handle this?

Everyone cross-dressing, was that even feasible?

“Why are you all crowded together?” Coach Bai Yin came back from the bathroom and found all five teammates huddled together.

This was quite unusual.

After training and reviewing, these five kids usually went their separate ways to play their own games. It was rare to see them gather together so neatly.

Therefore, this unusual situation caught the attention of Coach Bai Yin.

Bai Yin also approached Jiang Min’s screen and peeked over.

The barrage of fans immediately noticed him.

“The coach is here too! Strongly demand that the coaching staff also cross-dress! We want to see Coach Bai and Coach Nan in dresses!”

“I agree!”

“+1”

“+ Social security number”

“Cross-dress?” Bai Yin’s face showed a rare expression different from his usual serious demeanor.

“Oh, Coach, you’re here,” Hao Qianyi only noticed Bai Yin’s presence then. “It’s… the fans requested us to come up with a championship covenant for the spring season, and this is the exciting result we got from spinning the roulette wheel on JJ live.”

Bai Yin facepalmed.

He regretted coming over.

If he hadn’t come, maybe the fans wouldn’t have remembered him.

But now that he appeared on camera, he regretted it very much.

At his age, he had to cross-dress with the players?

Just thinking about it made him feel extremely embarrassed.

It would become a black mark accompanying him throughout his career.

“Uh… well, I suddenly remembered I have something to do, so I’ll leave first,” Bai Yin planned to pretend he didn’t know anything and slip away.

However, the fans were relentless.

“Don’t run, Coach Bai, come on, all the coaching staff together~”

“If you’re going to play, play big!”

“Don’t be shy, Coach Bai!”

Bai Yin was going crazy.

This wasn’t about shyness; it was about the future of his career.

Just like professional players, even if they were from different teams, coaches from different teams were mostly good friends in private.

Bai Yin could already imagine that as long as he remained in the esports circle, after cross-dressing, his teasing friends would definitely mock him mercilessly until the end of time.

They would even occasionally post the photos to ridicule him.

The JW players were also reluctant about the roulette wheel result.

But with the fans screenshotting and recording, it seemed they couldn’t escape.

In resignation, of course, they agreed to pull in as many people as possible.

So, Hao Qianyi took the lead: “Coach~ just join us~ We are one unit in JW!”

“That’s right, coach!”

“Yes, coach!”

The twins immediately chimed in.

“Old Bai… Sharing joy and sorrow, huh…” Yu Hao interjected unexpectedly.

Bai Yin rolled his eyes.

Winning the championship was joy, but cross-dressing was a calamity!

“You guys go get the championship first,” Bai Yin said before swiftly slipping away.

Winning the championship in the spring season was naturally the current goal for everyone in JW.

If the team managed to win the spring season championship for the first time, even doing something as bizarre as cross-dressing would likely be understood.

With this mindset, the JW players agreed to the covenant of “live streaming while cross-dressing” with the audience in the live stream.

Jiang Min, who had never done anything strange like cross-dressing before, showed no interest in this covenant.

But since everyone had decided to do it together, he gritted his teeth and went along with it.

Yu Hao, on the side, sneakily sized up Jiang Min.

Actually… he was quite looking forward to Sugar God’s cross-dressing.

At this moment, JW’s captain Yu Hao seemed to have forgotten, in his excitement to strive for the honor of his professional career and Sugar God’s cross-dressing, that he was also one of the members who would have to cross-dress according to the covenant.

————————–

Time quickly came to the last match of the regular season of the WPL Spring Season, also the climax of the regular season.

It was the match between the current first-ranked team, AFK, and the second-ranked team, JW.

According to the points of the twelve teams in the WPL premier league, the outcome of this match wouldn’t affect the rankings.

In other words, regardless of who won today, the decision would be about how many matches each of these two teams would have to play in the playoffs to win the championship.

After all, the second-ranked team would have to play a BO5 against the team coming up from below, and then the winner would compete against the team ranked first in the regular season for the championship of the spring season.

And the team leading in the regular season standings would at least secure the runner-up spot in the playoffs no matter how they performed.

If JW won against AFK in this match, they would replace AFK as the first in the standings and lock in their ticket to the finals of the spring season in advance.

If they lost this match, JW would maintain their ranking and enter the playoffs as the second-ranked team, needing to play an additional BO5 compared to the first-ranked team.

This match was a battle for the top spot in the regular season standings and, in a sense, a showdown between the two best teams in the current state of the WPL, hence drawing a lot of attention.

The commentary for this match was still handled by the “Golden Pair” of the WPL League, Uncle Yuan, Ruby, and Lack.

The three of them finished the opening speech as usual.

Uncle Yuan almost passed out again from reading a super long sponsor advertisement in one breath.

As a senior commentator for the WPL, he could only watch as the list of sponsored ads got longer and longer.

“So, Ruby, what are your thoughts on this match?” Lack saw Uncle Yuan almost passing out and decided to give the “old man” a break, so he and Ruby took over.

“AFK and JW are both outstanding teams, but they have different focuses,” Ruby began his analysis. “JW leans more towards establishing dominance through team fights, while AFK is a team that prefers strategic play. This match can be seen as a collision of two styles, two ways of playing, and with both teams being quite strong, we can expect an exciting game!”

Lack: “Speaking of AFK and JW, what’s worth noting is that AFK’s captain, Down, and JW’s mid laner, Sugar God, who used to be teammates, should be very familiar with each other. Down also serves as the shot-caller for AFK, so whether he will strategize against Sugar God is also a key point in this match.”

Ruby nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Uncle Yuan recovered and joined the discussion with the other two commentators. “AFK tends to have a slower pace overall, while JW prefers to play at a faster pace. Another key factor in this match is not so much about the relationship between the first and second positions on each team, but rather about which team’s positions 3, 4, and 5 can bring the rhythm into their own team’s comfort zone. Especially the position 4 responsible for roaming in the early game, which is crucial.”

The commentators analyzed on stage.

Meanwhile, the players were in their respective booths on the four-sided stage of the Storm Esports Arena, waiting for the match to begin.

The referees gave the signal, and the match started.

First up was the drafting phase.

AFK had the first pick as the blue side, while JW followed with their picks as the red side.

“Kids, do your best, but don’t be too nervous. Even if we lose, we’ll just be second and still make it to the playoffs. Anyway, we’ve secured a top-four spot, and we’ll definitely earn points for the global finals. Don’t worry too much!” Coach Bai Yin took advantage of the opposing team’s consideration of banning heroes to help ease the tension among his players.

“Coach, you’re not saying it right. People should have dreams. We’re definitely aiming for the championship in the spring season! We don’t care about just being in the top four!” Hao Qianyi said. “Exactly, Old Bai, we’ve finally achieved a ten-game winning streak. Isn’t it satisfying to secure a clean sweep in the regular season of the spring season?” Wei Yafeng interlocked his fingers and said.

Wei Yabo watched the opponent’s hero bans and said, “Old Bai, are you secretly hoping we don’t win the championship so you won’t have to dress up with us?”

Bai Yin, who was pacing behind the players with a notebook, stumbled upon hearing this: “Heavens, am I that kind of person!? I’m just trying to help you guys relax and not feel too pressured… Besides, if you really win the spring season championship, I’ll accompany you no matter what, even if it means cross-dressing!”

If JW won the championship, it would be the first national championship team coached by Bai Yin, which would be a kind of affirmation for himself.

Of course, he hoped this goal could be achieved.

“Alright, coach, then you better prepare the costume props in advance~” Hao Qianyi said confidently.

With the jesting over, both players and coach entered serious mode for the match.

Both sides’ drafts were quite conventional, and JW hadn’t yet revealed any tricky strategies apart from their previous match against OVO.

However, since the last game, there have indeed been many players trying to imitate Jiang Min’s use of the Jailor in the mid lane, sparking a trend both domestically and internationally.

This team, JW, who failed to advance from the group stage in the last season’s finals, managed to make a slight splash in other regions with this approach.

However, merely copying a professional player’s playstyle still has its drawbacks.

Even though many people have repeatedly watched recordings and studied Jiang Min’s Jailor build and skill leveling, most still can’t replicate the same effectiveness on the battlefield.

Therefore, the trend of Jailor in the mid lane has slowly subsided.

On the casting desk, after the drafting phase, the casters made some analysis of the compositions as usual.

“JW’s Honor player has picked the Moon Priestess, which offers strong control and fast passive movement speed, making roaming quite convenient. It seems JW intends to stick to their usual roaming and skirmishing style,” Uncle Yuan analyzed.

Ruby added, “AFK’s mid laner, Flow, has chosen the Shadow Dancer, which isn’t a very common pick. Against him, JW’s Sugar God has picked the Paladin. JW’s mid lane seems to focus more on team fighting and protecting teammates, likely centered around the first position, Cypress, playing the Velociraptor.”

Lack chimed in, “By the way, I saw a summary online that I found quite insightful. A netizen said that when watching JW’s games, it’s impossible not to have five or six people skirmishing in random positions on the map starting from the five-minute mark. I wonder if this game will be the same?”

“Alright, the game has started, let’s cheer for both teams!”

With Ruby’s voice, cheers echoed through the venue, and the broadcast cut to the in-game action.

Author’s note: Three days left until exams… I can do this!

After the exams, I’ll start updating diligently~