WCG Chapter 86.1

In the first match of the TLG vs. ST Spring Split regular season, ST didn’t field Smile, and their playstyle remained unchanged.

Before Jiang Shi joined the team, TLG’s jungle-support synergy was excellent, but ST would frequently invade TLG’s jungle whenever they had the chance.

Today’s first game followed the same pattern: ST put immense pressure on TLG’s jungle. But no one expected that their bot lane would be torn open by Jiang Shi.

During jungle skirmishes, Jiang Shi repeatedly pressured the enemy ADC’s health, controlled the minion wave, and farmed jungle monsters. By the ten-minute mark, he was ahead of the opposing ADC by nearly a thousand gold and had already secured a solo kill.

When Jiang Shi chipped the enemy’s outer turret down to just a sliver of health, ST’s support finally realized something was wrong and came down to assist their ADC. However, after getting chunked down to half health by a single ability combo from Jiang Shi, he understood the severity of the situation.

Jiang Shi’s gold lead was too high.

By the time ST tried to suppress his growth, it was already too late.

In a crucial team fight, Jiang Shi used precise positioning and kiting to whittle down the enemy. Once Back set up enough damage, Jiang Shi immediately flashed forward to chase down the retreating low-health opponents, taking down three enemies.

[Triple Kill!]

[Teamfight Key Damage: 70%!]

The in-game announcer’s voice echoed the terrifying output of Jiang Shi.

Alongside the announcement came the deafening screams of the fans below.

The male commentator was shocked, “Time is playing incredibly well today! Having a gold lead is one thing, but dodging the enemy ult with that footwork before turning the fight around—that was just beautiful!”

The female commentator chimed in, “The biggest threat to Time this game was the enemy jungler, but he was clearly aware of their movements the whole time. He held onto his abilities, waiting for them to engage first.”

“ST underestimated Time. They let him safely farm through the early game.” The male commentator shook his head as he looked at the widening gold gap. “This match is looking rough for them.”

As expected, Jiang Shi went on a rampage for the rest of the game, completely unstoppable. TLG ended the match with a decisive push at the 20-minute mark.

During the short break between games, the team returned to the lounge. Jiang Shi took a large gulp of water.

He had been awarded MVP for the last match, contributing 35% of the team’s total damage in fights!

Tossing his empty water bottle into the trash, Jiang Shi asked, “They’ll probably field their Korean import next game, right?”

ST had actually played well in the previous game, but TLG was clearly in top form today. Because of the player North that Smile had mentioned, the entire team had been playing like they were injected with chicken blood[mfn]very intensely.[/mfn].

Even Jiang Lele, who was usually carefree, had gritted his teeth before the game and vowed to defeat ST and take revenge on the world stage.

Jiang Shi wiped the water off his lips. He had joined the team late and couldn’t fully understand the pain last year’s world championship had inflicted on his teammates. But since they wanted to win, he definitely wouldn’t drag them down.

To everyone’s surprise, ST still didn’t send in Smile for the second game. Instead, their mid-laner picked a roaming mage, constantly pressuring Jiang Shi’s farm.

Jiang Lele looked at the darkened vision on the map and immediately called out, “Their mid is missing again! T Bao, back off!”

A second later, the enemy mid-laner’s icon appeared in the bot lane.

As his screen went black, Jiang Shi rubbed his face. “My bad, I got greedy for that low-health cannon minion.”

From then on, Jiang Shi played extremely cautiously. He didn’t die again, but his economy was still suppressed. ST, being a strong team, capitalized on this advantage and frequently forced team fights.

With TLG’s carries not yet fully scaled, they lost this game.

The match was now tied at 1-1, heading into the deciding game.

When they returned to the stage, the team glanced at the screen—ST had once again sent in their veteran mid-laner.

Jiang Shi pursed his lips, clearly displeased.

Jiang Lele couldn’t hold back. “Who do they think they’re looking down on? They barely won that last game, and they still won’t field their Korean import?”

Rolling up his sleeves, he declared, “I guess I haven’t scared them enough yet. Captain, play around me this game—I’m going to crush them!”

He had said it offhandedly, but to his surprise, Xie Xu nodded. “Alright. Time, you’re playing weakside.”

Jiang Shi had no objections.

His weak-side ADC play was no longer what it used to be.

In the final game, ST continued their previous strategy of relentlessly targeting Jiang Shi. However, after five or six attempts, they had only managed to kill him once. Meanwhile, their top and mid-lanes were crumbling, their jungle was losing control, and they hadn’t secured a single drake.

During an intense dragon fight, Jiang Shi, amidst the chaos, landed a perfectly timed auto-attack, securing the dragon with only 1,000 HP left, laying the victory foundation for the match. 

With the dragon buff, TLG bulldozed through ST’s base and shattered their crystal.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Shi’s total damage output for this game still reached 26%, second only to their jungle carry, Back.

With a 2-1 victory over ST, TLG finished first in the regular season and their group, securing a spot in the playoffs’ winner’s bracket.

However, despite winning, there wasn’t the usual sense of satisfaction.

ST had never let Smile play.

Jiang Shi, in particular, felt frustrated. His expression was dark as they lined up to shake hands with the opposing team.

As he distracted himself by fiddling with his jacket zipper, he suddenly felt a light touch on his cheek.

“Don’t pout.” Xie Xu gently brushed aside some stray strands of Jiang Shi’s hair. “You played incredibly well in all three games. A clean victory.”

No matter what ST’s strategy was, they had won.

Even though Xie Xu’s voice was calm, Jiang Shi couldn’t help but smile.

He let go of his zipper and lightly bumped Xie Xu’s hand with the back of his own, acknowledging the sentiment.

In the end, Jiang Shi was named series MVP. His image, with striking white hair, was displayed on the big screen—handsome and full of confidence.

The crowd erupted, cheering his name and TLG’s.

Just as Jiang Shi had said—

“Cheer when TLG wins.”

The fans didn’t care who ST fielded —  as long as both teams gave it their all and put on an exciting match, the ticket price was worth it.

On the way back to the lounge, Yuan Yang was stopped by a staff member.

After a brief exchange, Yuan Yang turned to Jiang Shi. “Time, did you curse at someone today?”

Before Jiang Shi could answer, Jiang Lele interjected, “No way, right? Calling Smile out for wearing sunglasses indoors doesn’t count as cursing, does it?”

So instead of playing, he was just pulling stunts?

The rest of the team looked displeased at the remark. The staff member quickly clarified, “Not ST, don’t misunderstand.”

Xie Xu frowned. “Explain.”

“It was at the entrance,” the staff hesitated before looking at Jiang Shi. “Time called a fan of Xu an idiot for throwing a carton of Wangzai milk at him.”

Though the voice wasn’t loud, many people had read his lips.

Jiang Shi recalled the incident and admitted outright, “Yeah, that was me.”

Then he corrected them, “But that person wasn’t an Xu fan.”

If someone could throw something at him while he was standing so close to Xie Xu, they didn’t deserve to be called a fan.

Jiang Shi pulled out his phone. “Should I transfer the 50k[mfn]about 6.8k USD… Jesus he’s rich now[/mfn] fine to you directly, or will the team pay it like before?” 

The staff hadn’t expected Jiang Shi, who looked so fierce, to be so straightforward. “Either way is fine.”

Just as he was about to give Jiang Shi the account details, a hand pressed down on Jiang Shi’s phone, stopping him.

“We’re not paying.”

Xie Xu’s voice was calm. “There was a security failure outside the venue today, and our team members were nearly injured. Ultimately, this was due to your lack of proper crowd control. If you really want to hold someone accountable, we’d also like to ask about your security measures.”

Yuan Yang immediately backed him up. “Exactly! Under those circumstances, it’s understandable that a player’s emotions ran high. This shouldn’t warrant a fine.”

With firm insistence, he declared, “We refuse to accept this penalty.”

Jiang Shi was afraid things would quickly turn south, so he wanted to relent. However, he was stopped by Jiang Lele who pulled on Jiang Shi’s sleeve. “Shh… leave it to Yang-ge and Captain this time, okay?”

This was not their first time dealing with the alliance. They knew several tricks.

Sure enough, thanks to Yuan Yang’s efforts, the fine was cancelled.

As they walked back to the lounge to pack up their things, Jiang Lele called while he was skipping. “T Bao, since you saved up that 50k fine, can you treat us to dinner tonight?”

Jiang Shi: “Sure.”

He did curse that time, thanks to pure anger. So he was ready to pay the fine.

But now since he doesn’t have to pay anything, he felt especially generous.

Double happiness~

The topic of discussion quickly turned into choosing dinner.

Before Jiang Lele could give his input, Yu Hui interrupted him. “No barbeque or hotpot. I’m tired of eating them again.”

Jiang Lele immediately changed his initial suggestion. “How about we eat some Sichuan cuisine then? There’s a restaurant nearby with good reviews. Plus, T Bao likes spicy food!”

Yu Hui nodded in agreement, and so was Zhao Jiu. Jiang Shi and Xie Xu didn’t participate in the discussion in the first place, so they were automatically ignored.

Sadly, despite their enthusiastic discussion, it was rejected by Yuan Yang.

“Tonight’s schedule is for today’s match review and free training. There will be no eating out.”

The team has been going out too often recently. It’s not good, as it could lead to distracting them.

Zhao Jiu had a look that said he had expected this all along. “It’s the same every year—the closer we get to the playoffs, the less Yang-ge lets up.”  

Their points had already secured TLG a spot in the winners’ bracket of the playoffs. All they had to do was play against the last few remaining teams; there was no need to go through the play-in stage.  

As a result, they were about to enter a period without any matches. Yuan Yang’s philosophy was that the less they played, the more frazzled their nerves would be. So, it’s better to keep them playing. 

Their feast was ruined.  

Jiang Lele’s lips trembled in disappointment.  

Before he could start howling, Jiang Shi spoke up, “Order whatever you want for a late-night snack. It’s on me.”  

Jiang Lele’s frown instantly flipped into a grin. He threw an arm around Jiang Shi like a good buddy and chuckled, “Hehe, T Bao, that Sichuan restaurant delivers too, you know~”  

Even though they didn’t go out, TLG still feasted — just on a late-night meal after reviewing their games.  

Yuan Yang forbade alcohol, so Jiang Lele secretly bought several bottles of RIO, claiming fruit wine didn’t count. Yuan Yang couldn’t be bothered to argue and just let them drink.  

Except for Jiang Lele, who had a weak tolerance, the rest of TLG’s players were all seasoned drinkers.  

At the dinner table, the conversation naturally drifted back to today’s match.  

As TLG’s coach, Yuan Yang had kept his emotions in check at the venue, but now that they were back at their base, he let it all out in frustration. “ST really thinks that Korean import is their trump card, huh? I want to see what he can actually do when he’s played so few matches. Let’s see what happens when the finals come around!”  

He picked up his phone and angrily left a disdainful emoji under an interview clip of ST’s coach. “And they have the nerve to say they held back their Korean import because they were afraid TLG’s performance would be affected by the fan drama?”  

“Bullshit!”  

Everyone eagerly passed the phone around to watch the video. Jiang Shi took a glance as well.  

ST’s coach had said, “Smile really likes TLG’s Time. He said he doesn’t want to take advantage of a team that’s not in their best form and is looking forward to an official match against Time.”  

It was the kind of polite PR statement that sounded nice on the surface, but in reality, ST was just hiding their strategies. After all, they were ranked second and had also secured a spot in the winners’ bracket.  

Seeing the clip, Jiang Lele got so pissed that he forgot to fight Back for the last piece of duck blood. “Damn it, does that mid-laner even acknowledge my existence? Does he think I’m made of clay?!”  

“Just wait—I’ll have a nice chat with him after dinner!”  

But before he could do anything, Jiang Shi suddenly turned to him and asked, “You have his contact info? Give it to me.”  

“Huh? You wanna help me fight him?” Jiang Lele started to say, but then he noticed Jiang Shi’s expression was even darker than his own. “Wait, why do you want his contact?”  

“He said we’re not in good form, right?” Jiang Shi’s face was completely blank. “I just want to ask if he’s been wearing those sunglasses too long and gone blind.”  

Jiang Lele: “.”  

Yeah, there was no way he was giving Jiang Shi that contact info.  

That poor Korean import wouldn’t even have the chance to type out a full sentence before Jiang Shi flooded the screen with trash talk.  

Their typing speed—and reaction time—weren’t even on the same level.  

Seeing that Jiang Lele wasn’t handing it over, Jiang Shi decided to look up the guy’s Weibo himself.  

ST’s official account was bound to have it.  

But when he opened Weibo, his account automatically logged into a private alt. And the first thing that popped up was his chat history with [ex-boyfriend].  

[TTTT: Not upset anymore.]  

[TTTT: I was coaxed already.]

The intense training and matches had fried Jiang Shi’s brain, making it hard to process the message at first.  

How had he been coaxed?  

At that moment, a slice of luncheon meat was placed into his bowl. Jiang Shi looked up—right into Xie Xu’s gaze.  

Memories suddenly flooded back.  

A dark room, tiptoeing up, the tingle of lips against lips…  

Jiang Shi’s eyes widened as realization struck. He hastily turned off his phone and shoved it into his pocket.  

Xie Xu asked casually, “Not looking for Smile’s Weibo anymore? He really does seem to like you.”  

Jiang Shi shook his head frantically. “No.”

He will not open Weibo for today.

At that time, the mere act fried his brain. Now, the memory of that night with Xie Xu played again and again, endlessly, in his mind. Even if he kept drinking the iced RIO to reduce the heat, it was useless.

Did Xie Xu really kissed him? It can’t be his alcohol-fueled delusion, right? Right?

When Jiang Lele reached over to take some food from Jiang Shi’s plate, he turned his head and was met with Jiang Shi’s flushed face.  

Jiang Lele: “?”  

He studied Jiang Shi for a moment before making his conclusion: “T Bao, you look like you’re about to explode at any second.”  

Even his neck was red.  

Jiang Shi took another sip of Rio. “It’s the spice.”  

Jiang Lele didn’t suspect anything. “Then let me give you some of the cold dishes in front of me! They’re not that spicy.”  

Just as he was about to move the plate over, Xie Xu pressed down on the other end of the spicy chicken dish. “I like this one.”  

Jiang Lele was about to say that Xie Xu didn’t even like spicy food, but before he could, Yu Hui tapped his head with his chopsticks. “Stop eyeing other people’s plates. If you want something, just turn the turntable.” 

They had ordered a lot of food, so not everything fit on the turntable. Some dishes were placed on the table instead, with each person keeping their favorites close.  

Jiang Lele rubbed his head and muttered, “But T Bao’s dish just looks way better…”  

In the end, Jiang Shi never once looked at Xie Xu. When Xie Xu spoke to him, he only responded vaguely, keeping his head down and focusing on eating. Eventually, he finished the entire plate of spicy chicken.  

He had to admit—it was really good.