CH 11

‘Lao Lin’ was the captain of the national team. His real name was Lin Haoyan and he was 22 years old this year. His competition ID was Old Lin. In the past, Lin Haoyan was the main charger of the ACE team. After the retirement of God Wing, the captain of ACE, he changed to the JZ team and later became the JZ team’s captain.

Lin Haoyan had played in the World Series for five years and had very rich experience in competitions. This was why Coach Zhang made him the captain of the fifth national team.

However, the peak period of e-sports players was only a few years. He faced problems such as slower reaction speed, decreased hand speed, etc. as he got older. He was very reluctant to part with this field but he was really tired. He had decided to retire at the end of the year.

He had won the domestic A-grade League’s championship twice, but he had never touched a trophy in the World Series, let alone the championship.

The best result of the Chinese team in the World Series in recent years was fourth place. At the beginning, Lin Haoyan felt that the performance of the national team would gradually improve. He didn’t expect that fourth place was actually the peak of the Chinese team. This season, they didn’t even make it to the quarterfinals.

As the captain of the national team, he felt disappointed, frustrated and blamed himself. However, there was no other way. The competition in the World Series was extremely fierce and they couldn’t beat the foreign players. In any case, he wasn’t young. He would retire and go home to spend his days in peace. He didn’t want to be despised by foreign players or scolded by domestic netizens.

Lin Haoyan suppressed the sourness in his heart as he looked at the teenagers in the training room and pretended to smile. “I just received news from the league that the new coach will come to the base in a few days. Perform well in front of the coach and strive to be selected for the next season.”

Everyone was slightly shocked when they heard his words.

Xia Li was a straightforward person and simply asked, “Captain Lin, will you come back next time?”

Lin Haoyan shook his head. “I won’t come. I am older and ready to retire. This is the last time I will be the captain of the national team. You are all very talented newcomers from major clubs and have a bright future. I hope that one day, you can come back with a world championship trophy so… I have no regrets.”

The group of people present immediately had red eyes at Captain Lin’s words.

Retirement was the end that every e-sports player faced. It was just that some people left in a beautiful manner. Even if they left, they would be missed by fans. If they occasionally started a live stream, countless fans would go to their live stream room to send gifts.

On the other hand, some people left this arena with regret and infamy.

Lin Haoyan undoubtedly belonged to the latter.

He was a very bold and atmospheric player with a fierce style and stable mentality. He was a veteran of the e-sports circle and took good care of the newcomers of the national team. Some newcomers couldn’t get used to the environment when going abroad for the first time and would get diarrhea. Captain Lin would carry them to the team doctor in the middle of the night. After the group stage was lost, Captain Lin was the first to stand up and apologize to the netizens on Weibo.

His Weibo was full of thousands of comments scolding him and countless people sneered, telling him to quickly get out of the national team. He was actually under more pressure than anyone else.

Lin Haoyan was the captain of the national team and the big brother in their hearts. Now an old player who had been competing in the World Series for five years was retiring. It was as if an era was coming to an end.

The teenagers who had just been abused for one round were in a depressed mood. Now they heard the news and their already heavily damaged hearts were stabbed again.

Shi Xiaobin’s eyes were red and his voice was choked up. “Captain Lin, do you really want to leave? Won’t you consider playing another season?”

Lin Haoyan patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, “I have submitted a retirement application with the league. I will be cheering for you and Xiao Lu for the future charger positions.”

Lu Xingyun bit his lip and said softly, “Captain Lin, rest assured. We will work hard.”

Lin Haoyan glanced at everyone. “Okay. Now go back and sleep. Restore your energy and wait for the new coach to come.”

It was already 3 a.m. before they knew it.

The group of people turned off their computers and went back to their rooms to sleep.

On the way back to the dormitory, Xia Li wondered, “Captain Lin, do you know who the new coach is?”

Lin Haoyan shrugged. “I don’t know. I just heard Vice-chairman Qi say that the league will let the new coach take full responsibility for the next national team. This means the coach should be a powerful person.”

Shi Xiaobin muttered in a low voice, “Then is this national team going to be disbanded?”

Everyone was very worried when they heard this.

In fact, they liked to stay at the base of the national team. There were masters from the major clubs gathered here and they usually learned from each other and trained together. This was more interesting than when they were in the club. Of course, people who were weak might be abused to the point of closing themselves off but most people still liked to play against the masters. It was more enjoyable.

Now a new coach was appointed and the national team was likely to be disbanded.

They wouldn’t be able to stay at this base for long.

Xia Li scratched her head. “The World Series is over. It doesn’t seem to make sense for us to keep staying at the national team’s base?”

Lu Xingyun frowned. “The club is urging me to go back. If the team is disbanded, do we have to pack our bags early?”

Lin Haoyan looked at them, his tone serious. “Once the new coach arrives, the members of the next national team will definitely be re-selected, regardless of whether the team is disbanded directly or whether it will continue training. You just have to try to improve your level and come back next year.”

They all nodded to show their understanding.

Each national team would select people from all over the country. There were various selection methods. The coaching team and the league had a certain right to speak but the major clubs also acted behind the scenes. The selection process was very complicated.

They could only ‘rely on their own abilities’ to determine if they could enter the base of the national team next year or not.

Lu Xingyun returned to his dormitory and immediately took out his phone to send a message to the club manager: [Brother Zhao, Captain Lin just said that the new coach of the national team has been confirmed. I don’t know who it is. Have you heard any news?]

Manager Zhao quickly replied: [The league is being very strict about hiding the identity of the new coach. Nothing will be heard before the official announcement.]

Lu Xingyun asked: [Lao Lin is ready to retire. Next time, I should be able to play as part of the main force, right?]

The manager replied with a series of smiling emojis: [He should’ve made room for a newcomer a long time ago! Shi Xiaobin’s talent is far inferior to yours. Let’s fight for the next charger position. We will definitely be able to let you play as the main force, rest assured.]

Lu Xingyun saw these words and was relieved.

The national team had three chargers. Lao Lin was the main force while he and Shi Xiaobin were substitutes. His style was actually a bit similar to Lao Lin’s style. They both fiercely suppressed the opponent with heavy firepower. However, he was less than 18 years old this year. He was faster than a 22 year old veteran in terms of hand speed and reaction speed.

Lao Lin’s condition had declined after playing for so many years and it was indeed time to retire.

Shi Xiaobin was as timid as a mouse and was too cautious. He couldn’t let go of himself at all.

Therefore, the main charger of the next national team was most likely to be Lu Xingyun.

Lu Xingyun put away his phone with a smile on his face. He turned off the lights and happily went to sleep.

At this time, it was noon in California.

Jiang Shaoyu took a large suitcase with him and drove to the hospital to get his medicine. Dr. Zhou patiently told him some precautions and gave him an electronic medical record to take home.

Jiang Shaoyu thanked him and left the hospital with a box of inhibitors.

He returned home and contacted a pet shipping company to arrange things for Doudou. Then he started to pack his luggage.

He had been living a very leisurely life for the past five years with only the cute dog Doudou by his side. The exciting games, trophies, laughter and tears of the past seemed to be a dream that he had buried deep in his memory.

After he left in the past, he had made up his mind not to participate in e-sports again and he also promised that person that he wouldn’t contact e-sports clubs.

Unexpectedly, he finally went back on his words.

China needed him, a national team coach who could withstand the pressure.

Sister Yu had personally invited him to come out of obscurity so he had to grow up.

After all, it was the land that raised him and his motherland. He wasn’t willing to just watch as the Chinese national team was abused in the World Series every year.

Jiang Shaoyu glanced around the room before finally looking at the house where he had lived for five years. He picked up Doudou and declared, “Let’s go home.”

The next afternoon, the capital’s international airport.

The announcement about the flight’s landing was heard over the broadcasting system while Yu Mingxiang and Qi Heng waited anxiously at the exit.

Some time later, they saw a tall man walking toward them.

The man was wearing a black coat, a mask, a hat and sunglasses. He walked calmly with a straight posture.

He was dragging a huge suitcase with both of his hands and there was a pet carrier on top of the suitcase in his right hand. Inside the carrier was a cute, brown toy poodle that looked around curiously with big, black eyes.

Yu Mingxiang didn’t dare to recognize this person for a moment.

This was until he stopped in front of the two of them and took off his sunglasses.

The man’s skin was somewhat morbidly pale while his eyes were as bright as cold stars. His gaze was cold and he didn’t look easy to provoke at first glance. The good-looking eyebrows made his facial features sharp but a small red mole at the corner of his lips added a bright color to the originally cold face.

They hadn’t seen each other for a few years but he was more handsome and had a stronger atmosphere than when he was younger!

Yu Mingxiang was stunned for a moment before holding out her hand excitedly. “Ah Yu, welcome back!”

Jiang Shaoyu extended his hand and shook Yu Mingxiang’s hand. “Sister Yu, long time no see.”

Then he shook the hand of the man next to him. “Captain Qi… or should you be called Chairman Qi now?”

QI Heng laughed. “I’m just a vice-chairman and have to work for a living. Your change is so big that I almost didn’t dare recognize you!”

Jiang Shaoyu nodded at the two of them. “The two of you have come to pick me up personally. Where are we going first?”

Qi Heng helped him with the luggage while explaining, “We will first go to the league’s headquarters to sign the contract> The leaders are waiting for you.” He lifted a suitcase and couldn’t help complaining, “What did you bring in this suitcase that is so heavy?”

Jiang Shaoyu calmly replied, “An inhibitor.”

Qi Heng and Yu Mingxiang looked at each other doubtfully.

Jiang Shaoyu added, “They are all omega inhibitors that are injected so they are a bit heavy.”

Qi Heng: “……”

Yu Mingxiang was stunned before realizing. “Ah Yu, are you an omega now?”

Jiang Shaoyu answered casually, “Yes, I have differentiated into an omega. The suitcase contains an inhibitor specially developed for me by a medical team in California. It works very well. I have never lost control in the past few years. You can rest assured that it won’t affect the training of the national team.”

Qi Heng’s heart was full of complicated feelings when he heard this.

Jiang Shaoyu was only 18 years old when he retired and he hadn’t differentiated yet. Nevertheless, the circle tacitly acknowledges that he was the most violent and cold player and was most likely to be an alpha.

Unexpectedly, this person actually differentiated into an omega.

Qi Heng recalled the scene where Jiang Shaoyu shot him in the head in the finals and felt that with Jiang Shaoyu’s personality, he would still be a boss even if he differentiated into an omega. The ordinary alphas would be obedient to him.

Thus, there was no need to worry about the alpha players not listening to him.

He might be an omega coach but this ‘founder-level’ figure in Gun King’s e-sports circle could clean up that group of brats in the national team with ease!

Qi Heng glanced at Yu Mingxiang and smiled. “Okay. Mingxiang, contact the base and have Ah Yu live in the single room in the corner of the fourth floor. That room is quiet and the scenery is good. There is no need to worry about being disturbed by the team members.”

“I understand, I’ll do it now.” Yu Mingxiang looked down at the puppy in the carrier. “This puppy is so cute. Ah Yu, did you raise it?”

“Yes, his name is Doudou and he is five years old.”

Yu Mingxiang tentatively reached out a hand and touched Doudou’s head lightly. Doudou seemed to think this sister was easy to get along with and rubbed his head against her palm. Yu Mingxiang immediately lifted the carrier excitedly and led the two of them to the parking lot.

The national team had arranged a business car to pick up Jiang Shaoyu and it was very spacious inside.

Jiang Shaoyu sat in the back seat and the car quickly got on the highway.

He opened the curtains and gazed at the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery outside the car window, his mood a bit complicated.

He was back.

Were his old friends doing well after a five year absence?