WCG Chapter 98

Enjoy these late update and bonus chapters~ We’re so close to the end of this series…

After Xie Xu’s remark, North said nothing and hung up the phone, bringing the farce to an end.  

However, Jiang Shi still kept this person to heart. In his spare time between training sessions, he would study North’s videos.  

He had to admit that North’s personal skill level was indeed impressive. Although their hero pools were quite similar, their playstyles had subtle differences.  

North leaned more toward securing kills in the late game, playing steadily and cautiously. Jiang Shi, on the other hand, often initiated fights first, either charging in himself or coordinating with Xie Xu to engage from both the front and back, rarely delaying his damage output.  

When he played on the international server, he had encountered North a few times. They never communicated, and their win rates were about 50-50.  

Not only did Jiang Shi study North privately, but Yuan Yang also analyzed many of his videos for the team, breaking down their opponent’s tendencies frame by frame.  

“The biggest difference between YB and ordinary teams is that they have two starting lineups. Officially, they’re called the first and second teams, but in reality, both are strong enough to make the top four in China domestic competitions.”  

Only a team with YB’s level of skill and financial backing could afford to support two elite squads.  

Yuan Yang continued explaining, “Actually, when ST brought in Smile, they were somewhat trying to emulate YB’s approach. That’s why they initially stuck with their original mid-laner, but the skill gap between the two was undeniable, so they eventually settled on a primary lineup.”  

He then introduced the team to YB’s ten players and their playstyles. “Even though they claim there’s no difference between the first and second teams, after studying them for a long time, I found that the first team is still stronger. Moreover, in the group stage of Worlds, you’re most likely to face their second team.”  

When discussing first-team player North, Yuan Yang didn’t use a YB match video. Instead, he played a clip of Jiang Shi’s lane matchup against North on the international server.  

Both marksmen displayed impeccable mechanics and awareness. After several exchanges, they managed their health bars well, not missing a single last hit.  

In the end, the enemy team’s support arrived first, forcing Jiang Shi to burn his Flash to escape with low HP.  

Jiang Lele sighed in regret at this. 

Everyone knew that when a marksman had no Flash, they would avoid fights whenever possible. This meant that for the next two minutes, North would definitely suppress Jiang Shi in lane.  

As expected, in the late-game laning phase, Jiang Shi played much more cautiously, even hesitating to step forward for last-hits at times.  

North took advantage of this, freezing the wave. Jiang Shi had no access to nearby jungle resources either.  

Then, out of nowhere, Jiang Shi suddenly started spamming the “group up” ping.  

After multiple pings, their jungler, who had been farming birds in the red buff area, seemed too annoyed to ignore it any longer and finally began rotating to the bottom lane.  

Almost the very second their jungler decided to assist, Jiang Shi, who had been playing safe, suddenly stepped forward and boldly cleared the minion wave.  

The intent was too obvious. North instinctively repositioned toward his tower but soon hesitated and moved back forward.  

That single fatal step cost him.  

Jiang Shi instantly used his ultimate, combining it with the perfectly timed ambush from the jungler. They instantly took North’s head. 

Jiang Lele was stunned. “Wait, he already sensed a possible trap! Why did he still walk forward?!”  

He’s so stupid.

Yu Hui also raised doubts. “Maybe people online overhyped North?”  

Yuan Yang rewound the video, pausing to highlight the minion wave and jungle camp HP before the fight.  

The minion and river crab both had only a sliver of health left. If North retreated, he wouldn’t be able to last-hit the minion and would also have to give up the jungle camp.  

Jiang Lele looked at Jiang Shi in shock. “Fuck, I thought you were just playing passive, but you actually set up the perfect wave control.”  

Even he wouldn’t be able to resist taking that last bit of gold.  

“It wasn’t me controlling the wave,” Jiang Shi admitted, rubbing his nose. “North was trying to bait me out, so he intentionally manipulated the minions and jungle camp together.”  

After watching countless North videos, Jiang Shi noticed that he loved playing mind games. Most marksman players couldn’t resist being baited into his traps.  

Using his lead to control both jungle and wave states was one of North’s signature moves.  

If Jiang Shi had tried to contest without Flash, he would’ve been at a major disadvantage.  

But Yuan Yang raised another point. “North is always careful. Logically, he shouldn’t have fallen for your bait so easily.”  

He suddenly glanced at Xu, who was lazily lounging nearby.  

Could Yuan Yang have underestimated the charm of this old fox, and North was still obsessed for revenge despite causing him to lose? 

Jiang Shi noticed Yuan Yang’s strange look at Xie Xu and asked in confusion, “Yang-ge, why are you looking at the captain?”  

“This situation happened multiple times when we faced North on the international server,” Jiang Shi explained. “Even if there was no one around, I’d use minions to bait him into overextending.”  

It was all about bluffing. The one with the sharper mind won.  

Hearing this, Yuan Yang suddenly choked on his next strategic explanation.  

This kid…  

If he remembered correctly, during a regular season match in the Spring Split, Jiang Shi had tricked Lion the exact same way, leaving the opponent completely bewildered. Even during the post-match handshake, Sun was visibly pissed.  

Yuan Yang sighed with amusement. “How many other matches have you faced North in? Send them to me later.”  

Jiang Shi nodded. “No problem.”  

Jiang Lele leaned in curiously. “T Bao, do you think you can beat North now?”  

With World Championship approaching, domestic fans had high expectations. However, last year’s crushing defeat still loomed over them. Even with Time joining TLG, the shadow of failure lingered.  

Before Jiang Shi could respond, Yu Hui pulled Jiang Lele back. “Stop putting pressure on Time. Also, stay off social media.”  

Jiang Lele’s psychological endurance isn’t the most resilient, and the internet’s mixed opinions could easily affect his mindset.  

Jiang Lele pouted. “I don’t want to see it either, but they keep tagging me.”  

“And haters keep replaying last year’s Worlds finals over and over.”  

At this, the training room fell silent.  

Zhao Jiu’s expression turned bitter. “I remember in the last game, our kill score was 4-21. If the captain hadn’t found a great teamfight to stall, we might’ve lost in just ten minutes.”  

Jiang Shi had recently been reviewing various tournament matches, so he was well aware of that humiliating game — the most disgraceful match in TLG’s history.  

Being crushed by a former teammate, unable to fight back, stuck in their fountain. It was suffocating.  

Jiang Shi didn’t have former teammates, but he imagined if An had destroyed him like that in the Spring Split, he would’ve exploded on the spot.  

The atmosphere grew heavy.  

Xie Xu scanned their faces, then tapped his fingers on the table. “Scared before even playing? If that’s the case, you might as well forfeit now. I’ll lead the second team instead.”  

Jiang Shi’s eyes widened. He blurted out, “I’m not scared! Take me with you!”  

He wanted to play at the World Championship with Xie Xu!  

His voice was so tense that Xie Xu’s cold expression softened for a second.  

Yuan Yang noticed Jiang Shi’s pale face and reassured them, “He’s just messing with you! Besides, last year’s loss was brutal, but this year is different. We’re one of the championship favorites. Even foreign teams are trying to gather intel on us—that level of caution speaks volumes about our strength.”  

He closed his laptop. “There’s less than half a month left. Let’s all give it our best!”  

---

After the meeting, everyone started to leave. Jiang Shi saw that Xie Xu didn’t get up, so he waited for a while. After finally being alone together, Jiang Shi immediately turned his chair to Xie Xu, “Captain, you say it.”

During this period of training with the new system, Xie Xu often gave Jiang Shi extra tutoring.  

Since Xie Xu hadn’t left this time, Jiang Shi instinctively thought it was the same as before.  

When receiving instruction, Jiang Shi looked very serious — legs together, back straight, holding a notebook that was already more than half filled.  

Xie Xu leaned casually against the chair, tilting his head to look at him. “Why do you think I’m about to scold you?”  

Jiang Shi looked a little confused. “Huh? Aren’t you?”  

Then why hadn’t Xie Xu left?  

Misunderstanding the situation, Jiang Shi instinctively wanted to get up and head to the training room as fast as possible. But just as he stood up, he was called back.  

Xie Xu: “Close the door and come back.”  

Jiang Shi’s heart sank. He closed the door and mumbled gloomily, “I knew it. You’re definitely going to scold me.”  

“If you’re worried that our relationship makes it hard for you to say certain things, it’s fine to keep the door open. I don’t mind losing face. Just say whatever the issue is.”  

He didn’t mind being scolded. He just wanted to improve.  

Jiang Shi had a strong mentality, but he was also fiercely competitive. North clearly had ulterior motives toward Xie Xu and deliberately belittled him. In this world championship, the two of them would fight to the death. 

After speaking, Jiang Shi even opened his notebook, looking eager to take notes.  

Xie Xu reached out and closed his notebook. “Jiang Shi, it’s break time right now.”  

Jiang Shi was momentarily stunned. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked the time.  

Yuan Yang had taken up their lunch break with a meeting, and now the break wasn’t even over yet.  

Ten minutes left.  

But Jiang Shi found it unbearable to just sit idly. “Captain, Yang-ge just asked me to send him the match against North.”  

“I can find it and send it to him in under a minute. That still leaves me nine minutes, enough to play half a match—”  

Before he could finish, something was stuffed into his mouth.  

Jiang Shi tasted lemon. He pressed the candy against the inside of his right cheek and mumbled, “Are you trying to shut me up?”  

Xie Xu poked his puffed-out cheek and asked in return, “What do you think?”  

“Probably.” Jiang Shi muttered, “But I can still talk like this! If you really find me annoying—”  

Before he could finish, Xie Xu grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer.  

This time, his mouth wasn’t just stuffed. It was sealed.  

By Xie Xu’s lips.  

Jiang Shi’s face instantly turned red. A second later, he shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around Xie Xu’s neck.  

Lately, his mind had been filled with nothing but training, and it had been a long time since they’d been this close.  

The candy in his mouth was taken away, and Jiang Shi opened his eyes.  

Their noses were almost touching. Xie Xu asked him, “Who am I?”  

Jiang Shi licked the lingering sweetness of lemon off his lips, realized what was happening, and softly answered, “Boyfriend.”  

Xie Xu kissed the slight pout of his lips and chuckled, “So?”  

Jiang Shi looked up in confusion.  

Xie Xu nipped at his lower lip, his voice low: “So, these ten minutes of break should belong to your boyfriend.”  

In the end, the candy melted, and their break time was over before they separated.  

Both of them were breathing heavily.  

At some point, Jiang Shi had ended up sitting on Xie Xu’s lap, his head lowered as they kissed.  

Eventually, Jiang Shi covered Xie Xu’s mouth with his hand, his face flushed. “No more kissing, we need to go train.”  

He was going to win the World Championship with Xie Xu.  

Xie Xu couldn’t argue with his ambitious boyfriend and was dragged to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water.  

After washing up, Jiang Shi looked at Xie Xu’s cold, expressionless face, stood on his tiptoes, and kissed the beauty mark at the corner of his eye as a consolation. “Captain, will you duo queue with me later?”  

Xie Xu looked at his deliberately obedient, fawning expression and pinched his cheek hard. “Stop pretending.”  

Jiang Shi’s lips pressed into a pout.  

Seeing his pitiful look, Xie Xu couldn’t help it—he leaned down, kissed the corner of Jiang Shi’s mouth, and laughed softly.  “I never said no.”  

“I’m on your beck and call.”