After watching the practice match, it was time for dinner. The manager of the CIP Club enthusiastically invited the national team leaders to dinner. He originally planned to private chat about sponsorship at this dinner to see if he could win an extra place. However, Jiang Shaoyu told him very politely, “No need, we will go back to eat.”
He walked away with his companions, leaving the club manager and coaching staff to look at each other. No eating? This Coach Jiang’s surprise inspection was really resolute!
Mo Hantian had red eyes and two tear stains on his face as he stood by the window and silently watched his idol go away.
Last time, he saw God Wing in the national team and wanted to excitedly ask for his idol’s autograph. Then he was scolded and didn’t dare ask for it. This time, he was scolded again but fortunately, he was praised for his progress in the end. Mo Hantian had a complicated mood and eventually didn’t dare to say that he wanted an autograph.
Forget it, he was now too embarrassed to say that God Wing was his idol. If he could be selected for the national team then he would cheekily ask for an autograph. After all, God Wing was the reason why he started playing a sniper.
Mo Hantian sniffed and rubbed at his sore eyes, quickly wiping away his tears. He was an alpha but he actually cried in front of so many people… he had no face to look at people!
The surrounding teammates were looking at him. Mo Hantian turned his head and told them fiercely, “Don’t say anything about today’s matter, do you hear me?”
His teammates snickered and said in a perfunctory manner, “We hear you, Brother Mo.”
Someone stabbed in a knife. “Brother Mo, don’t worry. We definitely won’t say anything about you being scolded and crying. Don’t we want to save the face of our Brother Mo?”
”Right. Xiao Mo is an alpha. No one will believe that an alpha cries while playing games.”
Mo Hantian’s ears turned red and he quickly turned to run away.
Someone secretly commented, “An alpha little princess with a girlish heart, hahahaha. I’ve been laughing since he was caught and scolded by Coach Jiang.”
“Shh, be quiet. If he hears it, his mentality will collapse again.”
Mo Hantian returned to his dormitory and looked at his red and swollen eyes in the mirror. He felt even more embarrassed and hurriedly washed his face with cold water.
He had a problem with a glass heart since he was a child and it was easy for him to cry when he was scolded by his parents. Was this the legendary ‘easy to cry?’ In the future, he must try not to shed tears. Otherwise, if he was selected for the national team and went to the World Series to cry and play, he would… become famous all over the world!
After washing his face, Mo Hantian picked up his phone and sent a message to his good friend Shi Xiaobin: Do you want to continue teaming up at night? Go to the Korean server.
He soon received a reply: Okay, Brother Mo. See you at 8 o’clock!
At this time, Jiang Shaoyu and his group were eating near the hotel.
Qi Heng smiled. “Ah Yu, you deliberately scolded Xiao Mo to the point of crying today, right?”
Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “Yes, the match against the US team in the last World Series left a psychological shadow on Mo Hantian. I found that he always avoided point 1 when playing on the Skyscraper map. Professional players can’t have such a problem. No matter which map you are on or how many times you lose on it, if you have a bad association with this map then it will affect your judgment of the game.”
Yu Mingxiang explained, “After that game, Xiao Mo was scolded onto the hot search and the words of the netizens were hard to hear. They said he is the ‘ambassador of persuading others to quit Gun King’, the number one vase in the league and that he isn’t useful. Some people said he was an undercover agent sent by the US team since he set two heads in a row… His path had been very smooth since he debuted. Then he was hacked by the entire Internet and this left a psychological shadow on him. So when he sees this map and the familiar place of death, he will subconsciously go around it.”
Jiang Shaoyu nodded in understanding. Mo Hantian was young and lost badly on this map, causing him to be ridiculed on the entire Internet. It was understandable to leave a knot over it. It was just that he was very talented. Jiang Shaoyu hoped that he could become a really good professional player so he found a way to cure this guy’s heart knot.
As a senior, this was Jiang Shaoyu’s special ‘care’ for newcomers. If you fall then get up. It was only in this way that Xiao Mo wouldn’t drop the ball when facing the Skyscraper map again in the future.
Qi Heng sighed. “I wonder if Xiao Mo can understand your hard work? In fact, if you weren’t paying attention to him then you wouldn’t lecture him alone and tailor a practice match for him to cure his heart disease. It can be considered as you giving him strong medicine for his disease.”
Jiang Shaoyu said, “He isn’t stupid. He should be able to understand what I mean. He has improved very quickly during this time. I hope that he will impress me next time.”
Qin Bo pushed up his glasses and analyzed it seriously, “The sniper position for the national team is very competitive. There are already five people competing for sniper spots, right? BM’s captain Liu Shaozhou, the Rising Stars Cup champion Pei Feng, the runner-up Gui Siyang, TNG’s Xiao Pang and CIP’s Xiao Mo.”
Pei Feng didn’t occupy a sniper quota. Jiang Shaoyu wanted Pei Feng to be a free person.
However, he didn’t disclose his decision to anyone right now, including Xiao Pei. He had said, ‘Don’t relax, Master might not choose you to enter the national team’ so that everyone could maintain a sense of crisis and strive to improve themselves.
On the surface, Qin Bo was right. It was indeed these five people who had the strength to compete for a sniper position.
The possibility of Liu Shaozhou having a problem was very small. This was the apprentice taught by Vice-chairman Qi himself and as the captain of BM, he had rich competition experience and a stable mentality. He should stably enter the national team. So in theory, there was only one place left for snipers. It would be between Xiao Mo, Xiao Gui and Xiao Pang.
Each of these three people had their own characteristics.
Xiao Mo was a glass heart princess but he was very talented. If he could adjust his mentality then his future was bright. Xiao Gui, Gui Siyang was the strongest youth camp trainee this year. He rejected the high-paying invitation of the club and entered the national team’s training camp from the Rising Stars Cup. He had clear goals and clear thinking. It was indeed rare to have such courage at such a young age. Xiao Pang had been buried in TNG for many years and had the patience to give his teammates the kills. He was actually very strong, patient and had a sense of command.
Jiang Shaoyu liked these three players very much but there was no way. In the end, he could only choose one of them to enter the national team. As a coach, it was difficult to choose. He could only base the results on an objective and fair selection competition.
Jiang Shaoyu told the group, “I will give them an opportunity to compete fairly. The person who can seize it will enter the national team.
—
After eating, Yu Mingxiang took everyone to the high-speed train station and they returned to the Imperial Capital E-sports Park.
Today was March 7th and the first week of the regular season was over. The second week would start soon. If Jiang Shaoyu wanted to inspect a club, he could only pick a club that didn’t have a match arranged. There was still a long time and he wasn’t in a hurry.
It was already 9 p.m. when they returned to the national team. Then Jiang Shaoyu saw two teenagers dragging suitcases into the base together. It was the runner-up of the Rising Stars Cup, Gui Siyang, and the third place winner, Hua Ran. It wasn’t known if they made an appointment or if it was a coincidence but they reported to the national team together.
Jiang Shaoyu asked the driver to stop and rolled down the car window. “Are you here to report in?”
Hua Ran immediately smiled when he saw Coach Jiang. “Yes, Coach Jiang. My deferment procedures have already been approved. The school didn’t embarrass me. The director even told me to go to the national team to train and strive to win a prize to win glory for the school!”
Gui Siyang stood beside him and spoke very politely. “Coach Jiang, I met Hua Ran at the gate. My plane was late and I just arrived.”
Jiang Shaoyu pointed to the building in front of him to the left. “That is the dormitory building. It isn’t far away. Go there and have Sister Yu arrange your rooms for you.”
The two of them replied in unison, “Yes!”
The car arrived at the dormitory building. Jiang Shaoyu got out of the car and waited a moment. Then the two teenagers came over with their luggage.
Yu Mingxiang told them, “There are five rooms on each floor and the room numbers range from 0 to 4. The top 4th floor is currently full. On the third floor, 301 and 304 are occupied. The 1st and 2nd floors are empty. You can choose your own rooms.”
Hua Ran looked excited. “So good? I can choose freely!”
In school, the dormitories were all allocated. Now he could actually choose by himself? The national team was really heaven!
Hua Ran thought about it. “There is someone in 304, right? Then can I live in 303? Hehe, 303 is my lucky number!”
Yu Mingxiang smiled gently. “Of course.”
Gui Siyang said, “I will live on the first floor, the room on the first right.” He was just a youth trainee and he was embarrassed to pick a floor. It was safer to live on the first floor.
Yu Mingxiang quickly settled the two young trainees.
Jiang Shaoyu advised them, “You have just come to the national team. Rest well tonight. Tomorrow morning, follow Sister Yu around to familiarize yourself with the environment and report to Coach Cui in the afternoon to do some basic daily training. I’ll go over in the evening and arrange the next training tasks for you.”
The two of them nodded in unison. “We know, Coach Jiang!”
“Okay, the dormitories have new computers bought by the sponsor. You are free to use it. If you need anything, tell Sister Yu and she will arrange it.”
Gui Siyang went to room 100 on the far right of the 1st floor while Hua Ran went to 303 with his luggage.
The moment he entered through the door, he walked around the room and whistled excitedly. “This room condition is too good, right? One bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom. In a place like the capital, such an apartment will cost millions. The national team is really great!”
He originally thought that the national team’s accommodation would be similar to a hotel, with a bedroom and a bathroom. He hadn’t expected it to be a large suite. There was a refrigerator in the kitchen and the sofa in the living room was also very clean.
Hua Ran excitedly dragged his suitcase into the bedroom. He saw the brand-new desktop gaming computer on the table and tried it out.
The computer was turned on and he found that the game client for Gun King had already been downloaded on the desktop. Hua Rang sat down quickly and launched the game. The moment he logged into the Q software, several guild college classmates sent him a message in the group: @Hua Hua Da Shao, have you joined the national team? How is it?
Hua Hua Da Shao: It is so cool. It is like heaven here.
The students were very envious: Really?
Hua Hua Da Shao: The conditions of each dormitory are very good. Each room has a game computer and the bathroom has 24 hour hot water. The kitchen has a refrigerator, microwave over and many appliances. More importantly, our team leader sister and head coach are very good. They personally helped me arrange the dormitory and let me choose the room myself.
Someone asked: Hua Hua, can you help me get God Wing’s autograph?
Someone else shouted: I want Fred’s autograph!
Hua Ran said cheekily: Why don’t you ask me for my autograph? Is my autograph worthless?
Everyone reacted: Yes! Hua Hua is a potential stock! Maybe if you win the championship in the future, your autograph will be worth money. We can open a store that sells Hua Hua’s autographs and getting rich is just around the corner!
The members of the guild were all students from the major colleges in the Imperial Capital. They joined the Iron Blood Legion created by Hua Ran through alumni associations, school forums, etc. So the group was usually very lively.
Hua Ran was going to the national team so he handed over the president of the game guild to a senior sister. Still, he didn’t quit the group directly. There were too many of his friends here and he was the founder of the guild. If he left the group to go to the national team, it would feel like he was putting on airs. It wasn’t very good.
Hua Ran immediately opened a room for a group of five: Come on, get on the bus. We will queue up as a group of five!
People immediately clicked in and told him to take them to play the rankings. He got third place in the Rising Stars Cup and playing in the 2,000 segment with the alumni was very easy for him.
He played until around 11 o’clock in the evening and won five games in a row. Then he turned off the computer happily. Just then, he heard footsteps in the corridor. It seemed that the person from 304 next door was back? Why not say hello? They would be teammates in the future!
Hua Ran took the initiative to open the door and held out his hand with a bright smile. “Hello, my name is Hua Ran. I am a new youth trainee.”
The moment Shu Chen walked to the door of 303, the door suddenly opened and a purple head appeared. He was so frightened that he immediately froze and his whole body stiffened.
Hua Ran saw the other person’s expression that seemed to see a ghost and scratched his head in a confused manner. “Am I that scary?”
The light in the corridor was dim. Shu Chen took a closer look and recognized the person in front of him. It was the third place winner of the Rising Stars Cup, the one who used smoke bombs with the cherry blossoms flying special effects and the grenades with the colorful light effects—Hua Hua Da Shao.
His nervousness in the face of strangers made Shu Chen’s ears redden slightly and he stammered, “H-Hello, I, my name is Shu Chen.”
Hua Ran took the initiative to shake Shu Chen’s hand. “Brother Chen, hello! We will be neighbors in the future. Please take care of me!”
Shu Chen’s whole body was cold. He withdrew his hand stiffly and said with a red face, “I-I will go back to my dormitory first.”
Hua Ran smiled and waved at him. “Goodbye, Brother Chen.”
This boy was obviously very friendly with people. He was so generous and enthusiastic when they first met. Meanwhile, Shu Chen was still very unaccustomed to talking to people and making physical contact. He leaned against the door and took a deep breath, easing the awkwardness in his heart.
He was just about to turn to take a shower when there was a sudden knock on his door.
Shu Chen opened the door and saw Hua Ran standing at the door with a smile. Hua Ran took the initiative to give him a plastic bag. “Brother Chen, this is a specialty I brought from my hometown. You can try it! It is the beef jerky my mother made and it is very delicious.”
Shu Chen was flattered as he took it. “…T-Thank you.”
“By the way, can I borrow some of your shampoo and shower gel? I forgot to bring toiletries and it is too late to go out to buy them.”
Shu Chen endured the awkwardness in his heart and said in a trembling voice, “Y-Yes, I’ll go and get them for you.”
Hua Ran stood at the door. He saw the young man’s stiff back and red ears and scratched his head with some doubt.
How could this player called Shu Chen be so shy? He blushed every time he spoke.
In Room 301, Ye Qingming had just returned and heard the movement on the other side of the corridor. He yawned with a smile.
Had another newcomer arrived? It seemed that the national team was slowly becoming lively!