ATIBTF Chapter 79

The news media in Country R gave an unusually exaggerated coverage of this WOC Global Points Substation event.

Moreover, the event organizers continuously played promotional videos of the substation event on major advertising screens in City T.

This level of attention is almost comparable to the Olympics.

Especially the news reports, which continued their usual flamboyant style, even with some hints of juvenile elements.

Unlike in Country Z, where mainstream media rarely cover e-sports events, the media in Country R reported on the teams’ arrival as soon as they started arriving today, even covering it in television news segments.

Upon hearing the news, Hao Qianyi stayed in his hotel room, eagerly waiting in front of the TV to watch the news.

Finally getting a chance to be on TV, he was naturally excited.

“Haozi, time for training,” Fan Dadi urged from the door.

“Wait, wait, Dadi!” Hao Qianyi said, gripping the remote control. “Even though I don’t understand the language, I feel like our footage is about to come on!”

Fan Dadi was speechless.

Had he known earlier, he wouldn’t have told these kids about the news report. He had only heard about it from the event staff and mentioned it to the team on a whim.

The other team members weren’t too interested, but Hao Qianyi was incredibly excited.

“Since you don’t understand it, why bother?” Fan Dadi said. “Anyway, some enthusiastic netizen will probably make a cut and add translations, then upload it to a video site.”

“No, no, no! This is an important moment; of course, I have to watch it live!” Hao Qianyi insisted. “This is my first time on TV!”

“…Fine, it’s only a few minutes,” Fan Dadi gave up trying to reason with Hao Qianyi.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s on, it’s on!” Hao Qianyi exclaimed as he saw the logo of the R Country substation appear on the TV screen.

The news was brief, just a few dozen seconds.

It only mentioned how important the upcoming WOC World League Global Points Substation in Country R is, how many spectators it attracted, and briefly noted the arrival of the teams from various countries.

JW’s footage appeared for just a few seconds.

But that was enough to excite Hao Qianyi.

This was a news segment on a state-run TV channel! He made it on TV! Though it was in another country’s state media…

“Alright, you’ve seen it; let’s go,” Fan Dadi said. “Dunshen said we need to continue our adaptive training these few days. The competition starts in a couple of days, and we have to make it through the group stage.”

Hao Qianyi turned off the TV, thinking about checking later on the video sites to see if anyone made a cut of the footage so he could download and keep it. He smiled broadly, showing his front teeth. “Don’t worry, Dadi, we’ll definitely earn some points!”

While JW continued their training in the hotel room that had been converted into a training room by the event organizers, the internet was exploding elsewhere.

However, it wasn’t the netizens of Country Z who were in a frenzy, but those of Country R.

Someone had made a GIF from the news coverage of JW’s arrival at the airport and posted it online.

The GIF featured the five team members walking past the camera one by one, with perhaps a second or two more footage focusing on Jiang Min, likely because of his striking appearance.

This simple GIF caused a stir on the internet in Country R.

“Who is this? A celebrity?”

“So handsome!”

“All five of them are good-looking, but I think the guy with the straight black hair is especially handsome!”

“Yeah, the camera even followed him a bit longer!”

“Is this a celebrity or a model from another country? How come I’ve never seen him before?”

“This is from a news broadcast, not an entertainment segment.”

“Do none of you really know? These are members of the JW team from Country Z.”

“A team? What kind of team?”

E-sports culture isn’t very strong in Country R, and there are hardly any local e-sports teams.

Only one local team had registered to participate in this global points event in Country R.

It was common for netizens to be unaware of e-sports.

This is also why Country R hosted the global points event—to spark the initial interest in e-sports in the country.

Among the gushing comments, a few netizens in Country R who knew a bit about e-sports started explaining various concepts from the e-sports scene to the others.

In the process, some fans of JW, the newly crowned WPL champions, took the opportunity to passionately promote JW, especially since there weren’t any standout e-sports teams in their own country.

“So such a handsome guy is also playing professionally?” The netizens, after being informed, continued to express their amazement.

“So it’s confirmed, JW is definitely the ‘male model team’!”

While the JW team members were seriously training for the upcoming competition, their GIF was being wildly shared and commented on online.

————

As the competition drew near, Jiang Min wasn’t feeling very happy.

These past few days, he had often seen Yun Ning appearing in their training room.

She claimed she was there to check in on fellow competitors from the same region, but in reality, she hadn’t visited any other WPL teams like GEM or MPP—only JW.

And when she came, she wouldn’t say much, just sitting or standing behind Yu Hao, often bringing him tea or water.

The other members of JW were dumbfounded.

Was this really the aloof goddess Yun Ning, who usually disliked initiating contact with others? Why was she acting so attentive towards their team?

Yu Hao actually found Yun Ning’s frequent visits to their training room a bit annoying, but since they were both from WPL, he couldn’t say anything directly.

Yun Ning was tactful too; she only stayed for about ten minutes each time and always came during the break after a practice match.

However, Yu Hao was always cold and distant towards Yun Ning.

Jiang Min felt a discomfort in his heart, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

Logically, he should be happy that a girl liked his brother and good friend.

But what was going on with his own feelings?

Jiang Min was a bit confused for a moment.

But with the competition fast approaching, he didn’t have time to dwell on it and quickly shifted into match mode.

————

The WOC Professional League Global Points Competition in Country R proceeded as scheduled.

Billboards and advertisements promoting the WOC Professional League could be seen everywhere throughout City T, indicating just how much importance Country R placed on this substation event.

A total of sixteen teams from around the world registered to participate in the competition.

Apart from the top-tier teams from various regions who registered directly for the main event, second-tier teams or grassroots teams had to go through a qualifying round, with only the top three advancing to the main event.

JW, as a first-tier team in the WPL and the Spring Champion, naturally secured a direct entry into the main event.

Among the sixteen teams, in addition to the newly crowned WPL champion JW, the teams PH from Korea and LQ from Country E were also considered strong contenders for the championship.

However, there was a dark horse team that emerged from the qualifying rounds.

Led by a retired veteran named Kaka from Southeast Asia’s Country T, the grassroots team Alpha consisted of four new players. They had no coach, with Kaka serving as the captain, coach, and manager all in one, and they didn’t even have a sponsor.

Although they hadn’t participated in the Southeast Asia region’s Spring Championship, according to the new WOC Professional League rules, if they could accumulate enough points in the substation events, they still had a chance to qualify for the World Championship Finals.

But to achieve this, they would need to finish in the top two in three substation events.

The reform of the WOC Professional League system this time provided more opportunities for grassroots teams.

The professional league was no longer just a game for capital and established teams; as long as one had dreams and strength, there was still hope to break through.

Kaka was once a player in Country Z, but after spending two years there, he returned to his home country without many opportunities, leading to his retirement. He was a contemporary of Chaos, and they had some interactions.

The substation event in Country R was held at the famous Dome Stadium in City T.

The JW team members arrived at the venue by bus, as arranged by the event organizers.

As soon as they got off the bus, coach Yan Junying immediately spotted a familiar face.

Amidst the crowd of players surrounded by their respective team staff, a few players stood out.

Their white uniforms were spotless, unlike those of other teams, which were covered with sponsor logos. They had no manager, coach, or additional staff with them—just the five players gathered together.

Without a doubt, this was Alpha, the only grassroots team participating in the substation event in Country R.

Among them was an older player giving instructions to the others, with “Kaka” printed on the back of his uniform—Kaka, who had led these young players on a new journey after retiring.

Yan Junying reached into his pocket, thinking of lighting a cigarette, only to realize that smoking was prohibited in the venue, so he had left his cigarettes back at the hotel.

Scratching his head, Yan Junying decided to go up and greet his old friend.

“Kaka, long time no see,” Yan Junying said, standing behind Kaka.

Kaka was puzzled. It didn’t seem likely that anyone here would remember him, especially since he wasn’t a well-known player.

Moreover, being part of a grassroots team, they weren’t looked upon favorably by other established clubs, who usually didn’t want to interact with them. This was why they were standing in a relatively isolated spot.

So who would take the initiative to greet him?

Kaka turned around and saw a familiar face.

“Chaos!?” Kaka exclaimed in surprise.

Although he hadn’t been very close with Yan Junying during his time playing in Country Z, they were both part of the WPL, so they knew each other.

“Yeah,” Yan Junying nodded slightly.

“What are you doing here? Weren’t you retired and out of the scene for a long time?” Kaka asked, happy but also curious to see Yan Junying.

“Haven’t you been keeping up with e-sports news?” Yan Junying asked, looking at Kaka with some surprise.

Before heading to Country R for the substation event, JW had officially announced his new role as their coach.

The topic “[JW.Chaos Reconnected]” had trended online for quite some time, and e-sports news outlets had extensively covered his comeback as JW’s head coach.

Given that Kaka was once a WPL player and understood Chinese well, it seemed unlikely he wouldn’t know about it if he had been following the news at all.

“Uh, I’ve been busy training the kids and preparing for matches, so I haven’t kept up with other things,” Kaka said with a smile.

“Oh,” Yan Junying understood, knowing that being both a coach and a captain must have been tough for Kaka.

He glanced at the other members of Alpha, seeing their young faces filled with curiosity.

When Chaos was famous, these kids probably didn’t even know about the WOC game, so it was normal for them not to recognize him.

“I’m the coach of JW now,” Yan Junying said.

¹TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️”

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  TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️”