WCG Chapter 22.3

Thank you TinTin and Olga for the ko-fi donation! It’s not for this series, but since [The Sick Villain Just Want to Live] is finished being translated, I used the donations for sponsoring this updates~ Enjoy this 2 chapter updates!

Yuan Yang wanted to say more, but Xie Xu interrupted, “Why are you talking so much today?”

“Fine, I’ll shut up, alright?” Yuan Yang said with a sigh. “Get ready for the stream.”

Since losing in the finals, Xie Xu hadn’t used his camera during streams, so when the stream started, the chat was flooded with excitement.

[Husband, ahhhh!]

[A fresh new look! I’m taking screenshots like crazy!]

[His gaze is so sexy, please stream for a long time today!]

[Is this a duo queue with the new AD?]

Xie Xu thanked everyone for the gifts, “Yes, I’m duo queuing with someone today.”

“As for how long the stream will be—” Xie Xu turned to the person beside him, “How long are you playing today?”

Since Xie Xu was streaming, Jiang Shi couldn’t sneak a peek too obviously, so he was watching the stream on his phone with a side account. When Xie Xu leaned away from the camera to talk to him, Jiang Shi didn’t react immediately.

“Huh?”

During his teammates’ streams, Jiang Shi usually stayed quiet, so his voice was low, and his confused expression made him look particularly innocent. Part of his soft, fluffy gray hair was tucked under the oversized collar of Xie Xu’s team jacket, making him look even more adorable.

Xie Xu’s hand twitched on the mouse but did nothing else. He patiently repeated, “Do you want to duo with me? All day.”

Jiang Shi didn’t hesitate, “Of course.”

For a lifetime, if possible.

His voice was louder this time, and it was fully picked up by Xie Xu’s microphone.

[Wow, this AD’s voice is nice! Sounds so soft.]

[He sounds really young.]

[Is this the same guy who played with him before? I can’t imagine someone with such a voice making such aggressive plays.]

[And talking smack with that voice.]

But once the game started, the chat fell silent as they watched the AD, who was brave enough to tower dive the enemy AD at level 4 and even sent a “Thank you kindly” after the kill. 

Then, he instinctively glanced at Xie Xu.

Xie Xu noticed his gaze and said, “Good timing with the ult.”

Jiang Shi’s lips curved into a smile, and he hummed in agreement. After recalling and buying items, he said, “Wait for me, I can kill them both when you get here.”

Jiang Shi’s voice was light and youthful, especially when speaking to Xie Xu. He lowered his volume and spoke with evident joy, making his voice sound sweet and soft.

Even though he still had the username “Don’t Look For Abuse”, everyone couldn’t help but be charmed by his voice, thinking he was a fragile child in need of protection.

[Did it seem like Xu was coaxing this AD just now?]

[You’re not wrong. Xu was looking at the jungle vision, not bot lane, so where did that ‘good timing’ come from?]

[…]

[The key thing is, this AD was so pleased with the praise that he started bragging about tower diving the enemy bot duo within ten minutes.]

[I don’t like such reckless AD.]

But in the next moment, Xie Xu flashed in to engage, tanking the tower until he was low on health before pulling back, while Jiang Shi dealt full damage and secured the double kill.

[Double kill!]

The stream chat went quiet for a moment.

[That coordination and damage calculation were insane.]

[If I were the enemy AD, I’d be crying after getting tower-dived twice.]

[Xu is really strong, and this AD is decisive, keeping up with Xu’s pace perfectly.]

[An assassin-type AD suits Xu best! So satisfying to watch.]

[Does this AD have an account? So fierce yet cute.]

[+1]

In the first game, Jiang Shi and Xie Xu posted impressive stats, with Jiang Shi securing 13 kills.

Despite his aggressive playstyle, Jiang Shi softly reminded Xie Xu to zip up his jacket after the game, saying the air conditioner had just been turned on and it was still cold.

When Xie Xu asked what Jiang Shi wanted to play next, Jiang Shi simply said he didn’t mind and let Xie Xu choose first before picking the AD that best complemented the support.

Jiang Shi’s aggressive gameplay and sweet personality created a strange yet perfect blend in Xie Xu’s stream, making the fans unable to get enough.

Xie Xu also let Jiang Shi answer the audience’s questions.

“How do you deal as much damage with Senna as I do?” Jiang Shi read the chat and replied, “Senna is a early-to-mid-game shooter hero, so it’s best to establish lane dominance early, poke¹deal frequent but small damage from far away so the enemy can’t hurt you back them down, and use Flash wisely to secure solo kills by level 4.”

“However—”

“Don’t tower dive like I did! I only dared to go in because Xu was backing me up.” 

This response not only answered the viewers’ questions but also delighted Xie Xu’s fans in the chat.

The number of viewers in the stream peaked at over one million. The fans’ way of referring to Jiang Shi evolved from “accompanying player” to “that AD” to “Baby AD” or “AD Baby”. 

Jiang Lele, watching all this unfold, couldn’t help but sigh. If his silly nephew could act as well as Jiang Shi, constantly flattering the audience, he wouldn’t still be a no-name small-time streamer after all this time. 

However, Jiang Shi’s way of charming the audience, combined with his playstyle, really reminded him of Time.

Jiang Shi noticed Jiang Lele’s strange gaze and turned to him. “You’ve been staring at me—what’s up?”

His voice was clean and refreshing, with just the right touch of confusion, as if he could solve any problem Jiang Lele had. His image as an obedient and well-behaved newcomer was thoroughly established.

But Jiang Lele wasn’t fooled by Jiang Shi’s appearance in the slightest. He even mentally filled in the unspoken words he imagined Jiang Shi might be thinking—

“You’d better have something important to say, or else.”

Jiang Lele quickly shook his head, “No, I was just wondering if you guys need another player. I could join for a trio queue.”

Jiang Shi’s mouse was hovering over the matchmaking button, and out of reflex, he clicked it. But after clicking several times, nothing happened—the team interface didn’t respond.

Xie Xu was the team leader.

The sound of the mouse clicking was probably too obvious, and Xie Xu soon transferred the team leader role to Jiang Shi. But Jiang Shi hesitated to press it again and didn’t invite Jiang Lele to join the queue.

He just wanted to kick this overly bright lightbulb²third wheel out of the way!

Didn’t Jiang Lele hear that Xie Xu had said at the start of the stream that he’d be duo queuing with him all day? Why was he trying to butt in now?

Xie Xu noticed Jiang Shi tightly pursing his lips and a faint smile flickered in his eyes as he said, “I told the fans I’d be duo queuing with the AD today, Lele. You can go join back with the others.”

Jiang Lele waved it off, “No worries, you guys go ahead.”

He had already been duo queuing with Back. 

However, based on the time, they should be picking heroes by now, so why hadn’t he heard the prompt?

When Jiang Lele finally focused on his own screen, he saw a message pop up:

[You have been removed from the team by the leader.]

Jiang Lele was stunned, “Ahhh! Back, why did you kick me out?!”

Jiang Shi ignored the chaos next to him and quickly clicked to start the match. But just as Jiang Lele was out, another familiar face joined the game.

[Team Chat] Lion-Juzi: I was waiting for this moment! Knew I’d run into you guys!

[Team Chat] Lion-Juzi: Xu-ge, did you see the gifts I sent? Congrats on TLG finding such an awesome AD!

Apparently too tired to keep typing, Juzi opened his mic, “I’m so happy to have run into you guys! I’ll play the support role this game, feel free to farm and push!”

True to his word, Juzi stuck to the bot lane duo throughout the game, not stealing Jiang Shi’s kills and purely playing to support him, helping Jiang Shi achieve an impressive performance as the new AD.

Jiang Shi also opened his mic, and the two chatted politely and amiably.

With an advantage gained, they naturally began to invade the enemy jungle.

[Juzi is out of MP! Perfect time to grab the enemy buff and push.]

[Who says blue buff always has to go to the mage? AD Baby’s champion is mana-hungry too. He’s the team’s main damage dealer and needs the cooldown reduction.]

[Wait, aren’t you guys noticing Xu’s MP is almost empty too?]

[Juzi’s been the support for so long, can’t he at least get a buff? Plus, TLG is streaming, it’d be awkward to hog the blue buff in this situation.]

[You clearly didn’t see the previous games where this AD took the blue buff without hesitation during his duo queue with Juzi.]

[Stop arguing. They’re all focused on the game and probably not even reading chat.]

[Baby AD isn’t interacting with us either—did he forget he’s streaming?]

Despite the viewers’ heated debate, none of the players in the game seemed interested in taking the blue buff. Instead, Jiang Shi led Xu toward the bot lane, “I’ll push bot with Xu. They might rotate back to collapse on mid, so watch the river vision on both sides and position yourself further back.”

Juzi, who was straightforward and trusting, responded with a heavy nod, “I’ll be careful!”

Jiang Shi led Xie Xu down the lane, but halfway there, he stopped and hid in a bush.

Xie Xu also stopped and was about to speak when he heard the faint sound of a chair being dragged across the floor beside him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xie Xu saw Jiang Shi inching closer, his toes lightly touching the ground as he slowly dragged his chair toward him, clearly wanting to say something.

Xie Xu reached out and lowered his headset slightly.

Jiang Shi leaned in, and in-game, his character also circled around Xie Xu’s support.

He whispered, “How about I take you to steal their blue? We’ll do it quietly.”

Jiang Shi had muted the team mic and didn’t dare type in the team chat either, afraid Juzi might see. He planned to secure the blue buff with Xie Xu and then pick a fight, with Xie Xu having blue buff, which they could always say was a gift from the enemy.

Jiang Shi thought he had it all figured out, but when he finished speaking, he noticed Xie Xu’s screen seemed a bit off. Looking up, he saw a flood of question marks in Xie Xu’s stream chat.

Jiang Shi: “?”

Jiang Shi: “………..” 

In this game, Jiang Shi was completely focused on dealing with Juzi, worried that Juzi might strike up a conversation with Xie Xu. In doing so, he completely forgot that Xie Xu was streaming…

The stream camera even caught a bit of his hair in the frame. 

So, did everyone in the stream just hear what he said?!

Jiang Shi was on the verge of a meltdown. 

This was like taking his pants off and farting in public!

Talking in whispers during a live stream—only he could pull off something this stupid.

Just as Jiang Shi, who felt utterly humiliated, was about to give up and slide his chair back in defeat, the person next to him reached out and gripped the armrest of his chair, pulling him closer.

Xie Xu tilted his head, his dark eyes sparkling with amusement, and in the same low voice, whispered back,

“Okay.”

• 1
  deal frequent but small damage from far away so the enemy can’t hurt you back
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  third wheel