translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Summer.
Crosson Show forums, Scarf CP subforum.
The last release of the Scarf CP having children comic had come out. The Wu Jin and Wei Shi in the comic, along with their 26 children and two newly born mermaids, waved goodbye to its readers.
In the subforum, countless hardcore Crosson fans came online intermittently, grabbing onto the subforum master and the comic creator, gently kneading and pinching.
At this time, the survival shows were halfway through the midseason match schedule. The Federal Azure Competition zone was fighting endlessly, and in the Wild Card Competition zone, the Floating City Team had won first place with a score of 27:0.
The survival show world instantly blew up.
There were endless reports and amounts of data analysis on Wei Shi, and the configuration and play method of a single core with five guarantees that had been silenced for many years was also on the rise due to Wei Shi.
The young, handsome, and unsmiling dark horse team’s giant c-position undoubtedly attracted the attention of the entire industry. Following Contestant Wei’s increasing value, he’d also attracted an endless increase in fans.
Contestant Wei was a rare top rookie in the survival show industry, the kind that was only seen once every several years.
With more top fans came more poison fans.
The Crosson Show that didn’t give Wei Shi many camera shots in the first few elimination matches was strung up by these poison fans under the banner of ‘safeguarding the rights of the players’, and the Scarf CP was also lumped together with that label by the poison fans. The ‘Wei Shi x Yan CP’ and ‘Wei x Red CP’ that occasionally appeared in the past were also directly suppressed until there were no traces left.
At this time, in the Crosson Scarf subforum.
Fans howled and lamented, “The Wild Card division and the Federal division are too far away from each other. When will there be food for our CP?”
“I miss the Crosson Show period.”
“Miss +1. Regardless of how that spicy chicken program producer tried to make money, at least there was still a series of clips. Speaking of which, I was also happy spending money on my two sons! Now, we have to wait for Little Witch and God Wei to finish playing and enter the finals together… Little Witch, charge for mama! We agreed that you’d meet again at the end of the season, and if you don’t have a match, it can’t be considered meeting each other!”
When the previous Crosson Show series was mentioned, the atmosphere grew tense for a moment.
One month after the previous Crosson Show final, the forums had already been redone. Talent shows had always been about going round after round, cutting and harvesting leeks. At this time, the advertising space for the Crosson forums had been replaced by a new batch of 500 contestants.
The rectangular banner with ‘Pick your Crosson prince’ fluttered on the front page, and the profile images of these little brothers looked a little immature. Although they were cute, they didn’t recognize any of them.
It seemed that the story was still the same, but the characters they liked had changed.
In the Scarf group chat, the deputy moderator immediately started up a conversation, “Speaking of which, who’s the acknowledged strongest player from the last season? Not only do we have Wei Shi, Little Witch, Caesar and Little Thin, there are also others all competing for the title of newbie king…”
“Instructor Ying took part in a variety show and mentioned our trainees several times. Last week, she even said that she wanted to see Little Witch and Little Ming do cross talk, then see Qin Jinbao play the clappers!”
“As for Instructor Blood Pigeon…”
“Yesterday, when the first phase of the new Crosson Show started, a trainee was kicking up a fuss. Instructor Blood Pigeon didn’t think twice about calling out, ‘Caesar, stop making noise’. The program producer beside him didn’t react either. I was so surprised when I watched the live broadcast!”
The Crosson base.
The twin towers were crowded again.
The program producer drove the new trainees back to bed like a herd of sheep. He was amused when he turned back, “We also drove people around like this last year.”
Blood Pigeon nodded, then took time to watch the White Moonlight vs. Silver Thread Roll replay on the small screen of his terminal.
When Blood Pigeon hadn’t yet retired, he’d looked at these two teams like he was facing a major enemy.
Now, he flipped through shots of Little Witch, then looked through Little Thin’s shots, followed by a glance at Caesar. All of them were people he’d brought up.
The news that ‘White Moonlight Captain Lin Jue was retiring’ had been circulating wildly for half a season, but it had been officially announced last week when Lin Jue’s old injury had flared up again, and he couldn’t continue the game.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Lin Jue was a tough character.
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Blood Pigeon shook his head, “Lin Jue is out of time.”
During the entire month of the subgroup matches, Lin Jue had already been doing his best to teach and train them.
The program producer sighed, “The next game is at Silver Thread Roll’s home court, and White Moonlight no longer has Lin Jue. Will they be able to go against expectations and win?”
Blood Pigeon was very certain, “No.”
Program producer: “… So, what can they do?”
Blood Pigeon thought about it for a long time, “I don’t know.”
For Zoe, Wu Jin, Wen Lin, and Caesar, in this White Moonlight that no longer held Lin Jue, they would fight the most arduous and extended battle they’d ever had.
Two days later, in the Wild Card competition zone. The Floating City Team was promoted as the uncrowned king of the division and officially entered vacation mode.
In the afternoon of the same day, in the match between White Moonlight and Silver Thread Roll, in Silver Thread Roll’s home court, White Moonlight was defeated 0-3.
Azure Blade Survival Show Forums.
Unsurprisingly, the fans weren’t reserved in showing their huge dissatisfaction towards ‘White Moonlight’. They accused White Moonlight of being an untrained team, accused Zoe of being brainless, asking harshly if Caesar had been the commander for the team and whether Wu Jin could only rely on his looks, and accusing Wen Lin of being a transparent nobody.
One month after the start of the mid-season matches, it seemed that the highlights of the four players from the small White Moonlight team had been erased overnight, and all the related search topics were curses and scolding.
“If White Moonlight still wants to win, then there’s only one solution. Rotate the old players back in and remove the new trash. How much in tuition fees did you pay for these three games today? Is the mid-season period a place for you guys to play around in? If you want to lose, go back to the training competitions to lose––”
The leader appeared behind the stage. Wu Jin closed down the terminal that he was using to browse the forums.
Under the glare of the lights from above, Wu Jin stood up. Sweat drenched the youth’s chest and back, and two wounds at his abdomen were already bandaged. The youth pursed his lips, and it was unknown what he was thinking.
The leader patted Wu Jin on the shoulder.
Of the four young ones from White Moonlight, Zoe was obviously in a bad mood, Caesar had opened up an alt account on the forums to curse back and have a battle of words. Others might spray hate, but he could spray back even more. Caesar himself was also immune to personal attacks.
At this time, Lin Jue walked in from the door.
Everyone stood up in unison.
Lin Jue nodded. “Based on today’s performance, some of you will be rotated to the second team starting from tomorrow.”
Everyone, including the leader and the players currently in service, all felt like they’d been hit by a huge earthquake.
White Moonlight had seven starter positions. In recent years, besides Captain Lin and Vice-captain Chen, the rest had always been in rotation. In the first half of the mid-season, the four new players had overtaken the substitute trainees from the same period by an overwhelming gap in strength and had officially become starters.
However, they hadn’t been starters for half a week when Lin Jue now made a sudden decision to change things around.
White Moonlight’s secondary team was a team that fought in a series of professional survival show events. Not only did the secondary team have no mid-season quota, the events were all held on fixed maps, with low budget, little investment, and few spectators.
Going from the peak league to the secondary division was basically a sign that a player was about to be put on the cold bench.
The leader immediately spoke up, “Captain Lin, they’ve only just lost two games. If the team’s broken in a bit more, it won’t be a problem––”
Lin Jue waved his hand.
The professional White Moonlight Battle Team’s team captain’s expression was exceedingly heavy, and nobody in the room dared to refute him.
The video replay of the two rounds they’d lost to Silver Thread Roll was projected up in the air, and the laser pen swept over the four people from the small White Moonlight team one after another.
The entire room was silent.
Lin Jue opened up the data panel and projected the distribution to the second team. The first team and second team would exchange one player in the future––
The input box hung there.
Lin Jue typed slowly.
Wu Jin.
Caesar was the first to jump up, “What’s going on here!” Then, it was Zoe interrupting, “Captain Lin, the commander for these two games was indeed Little Witch, but it was Little Witch taking the initiative to take the blame. We’re not experienced enough, and we would’ve lost no matter who the commander was. You can’t––”
Lin Jue reprimanded them sternly, “Quiet.”
“The first rule of the team is to obey the commander.”
Lin Jue slowly shifted his gaze to Wu Jin.
Wu Jin paused for a few seconds, then nodded. “I have no objections, but I want to know why.”
The door creaked closed.
Lin Jue and Wu Jin stepped out into the corridor.
Behind them, Caesar was still indignant, and Wen Lin was already contacting Vice-captain Chen Xiran.
In the corridor, Wu Jin looked at Lin Jue.
Lin Jue lit up a cigarette, and the butt of the cigarette was clearly outlined in the dark.
“Your command style.”
“Zoe, Thin Water, me, we’re all overall commanders, but your style isn’t like anyone else’s.”
“You’re actuarial. Every step of your command is based on your understanding of the rules, and every game you’ve played during the mid-season is like competing in the Crosson Show, like the tarot card instances, like the Cretaceous period. There’s no harm in doing actuarial calculations based on the rules, but remember, people never have the same accuracy level as data.”
“The fault tolerance of your command style is too low. If your teammates were me and Vice-captain Chen, you may have won these two rounds. Do you understand?”
Wu Jin narrowed his eyes. The thoughts in his mind seemed to have been stirred up violently.
Fault tolerance.
The problem lay with the fault tolerance.
With Lin Jue or Chen Xiran as partner, or even with Wei Shi in the Crosson Show, his teammates could accurately execute his instructions. However, after Lin Jue retired, the immature White Moonlight Team wasn’t the same precision instrument as the big boss and Captain Lin. Any error in execution would be infinitely enlarged during the competition, finally becoming a fault that the opponent could use to counterattack––
Wu Jin spoke in a daze, “Captain Lin, you want me to go to the secondary team to improve the fault tolerance rate of my command.”
Lin Jue’s tightly locked eyebrows loosened slightly.
Wu Jin’s career growth had been smooth sailing the whole way. For his debut, he partnered with Wei Shi, and after his debut, he was partnered with Chen Xiran and himself. For him, this was both good and bad. Having Wu Jin go to the secondary team was the best option to let Wu Jin adapt to reality at the fastest possible speed.
Across from him, Wu Jin suddenly grinned.
It was unknown if it was because he’d gotten an answer, or because he’d confirmed that he hadn’t been completely exiled by the team. Wu Jin nodded vigorously, “Thank you, Captain Lin. I will work hard in the secondary team––”
Lin Jue interrupted him, “Do you regret it?”
Wu Jin stilled.
Lin Jue: “After this round of the competition, the team will announce the transfer. All public opinion will agree that you were defeated in two rounds. If you’d signed with Floating City, you would now be celebrating 27 consecutive victories after your debut.”
Wu Jin smiled slightly, “With me commanding, it definitely wouldn’t be 27 consecutive wins.”
After making a joke, Wu Jin looked up at the captain, “I’ll go to the secondary team. But, I will fight my way back before the end of the mid-season.”
In the dark corridor, Lin Jue put out the cigarette.
The youth who stood in front of him had just reached 20 years old, but he was fearless and full of energy. One door apart, Zoe, Caesar, and Wen Lin were still quarreling loudly.
Lin Jue reached out a hand to Wu Jin. In the future, the White Moonlight that no longer had him would thoroughly transform into a dual commander set up and become a unique strategic ‘dual core’ team in the Azure competition zone. The old White Moonlight play style wouldn’t be inherited, and the new White Moonlight would develop their own style of play and cooperation.
The back of Lin Jue’s hands were filled with densely packed falcon tattoos.
Wu Jin reached out and bumped fists with Lin Jue.
The first night after White Moonlight’s 0-3 defeat against Silver Thread Roll.
The Azure Edge survival show forum became a grand carnival of White Moonlight haters.
Zoe tried to snatch up the blame in front of Lin Jue.
Wu Jin repeatedly reassured the captain of their small team again and again, then got into the suspension car that would take him to the base for the secondary team.
That night, White Moonlight released its first adjustment list, sending the onlookers into a state of uproar. It seemed that as long as Wu Jin left the team, White Moonlight would be able to punch over Silver Thread Roll, kick away R-Code, and wouldn’t be defeated again in the subgroup matches.
Wu Jin arrived at the secondary team base that night.
The terminal input box held a half finished sentence.
Wu Jin mocked himself: God Wei, I’m going to play with the secondary team. See you in the drop out competition!
Wei Shi: Going to practice command?
Wu Jin: Exactly! What if I can’t fight my way back up from the secondary team?
Wei Shi: No problem.
Wei Shi: Have Floating City Battle Team start up a secondary team.
Wu Jin picked up his luggage from the small robot assistant and walked along the path blindly as he typed out a reply: Are you going to send me some warmth and care, shielding the way in order to send me points?
Wei Shi: No.
Wei Shi: I’ll suppress you in the secondary team so you can’t get out.
Wu Jin was amused.
Wei Shi: Turn around.
Wu Jin was stunned.
The trees behind him rustled, and a suspension car came through from the end of the path. The supreme star who’d come up with the hottest tactics in the survival show world, Wei Shi, had actually come out in the middle of the night and run off to White Moonlight’s secondary team.
Wei Shi tossed a handheld wrap at Wu Jin, “I came to have a look.”
“To see how the little commander who will prevent the Floating City team from winning the championship is planning his counter-attack and face slapping.”
—
xiin: that joking at the end! the handheld wrap! I want a Wei Shi of my own ahhhh a Wei Shi with no emotional locks is deadly!
Juurensha: Awwww very cute.
apricot: “suppress you in the secondary team so you can’t get out.” Wei Shi, please, you’re killing me hahaha
😂😂😭😭 This chapter has me reminiscingggg. Aww it’s so adorable
Thanks for the chapter!
Wu Jin doesn’t have that experience, but he’s too good to leave in the rookie league.
Second string will strengthen his foundation while not wasting his talent.
And might I just say, I love a novel that has me actually focused on character growth and not just face slapping awesomeness. Not that there hasn’t been a lot of that in this novel too, but the main focus is on Wu Jin’s realistic growth from Rabbit to Leopard and smooches.
I’m super sad it’s ending.
yeah! one of the things that hooked me on Surprise right at the start was how there was growth in Wu Jin (and in the other characters to a lesser degree) in ways that made sense… and it wasn’t necessarily written about at length, but could be found in all the little details. these extras really added an extra layer to the whole novel for me, too~
Omg now WS be spying on WJ 😂😂😂 A few chapters ago it was WJ trying to take info from Floating City Battle Team 😂😂😂 Oh god idk can this get any cuter i think my heart cant take it anymore. im just squealing ughdjkf i hope for badass WJ coming to outshine everyone!! thanks for the chapter!!
Thanks for the chapter~~
Can’t wait for the face-slapping~ Where are all the fans when you need them? Geez, too many face-fans only…
Thanks for the chapter~
Can i just say how much I love that this novel doesn’t immediately make Wu Jin some OP protag? I love the developments of characters. Some novels just skip through the entire training process….
“inner scream !!!” I LOVE THIS COUPLE!!
AHAHAH the characters are feeling nostalgic and i too am feeling the same way :”) it’s been a long journey with everyone hehe ALSO WEI SHI WEI SHI WEI SHIIII YOU ARE SO LOVELY BYE that ending was goddamn cute also lin jue gege taking care of wu jin 🥺
Aw, Wei Shi being an awesome supportive husband. Thanks for the chapter!
I like that Wei Shi brought handheld wrap to comfort Wu Jin. Of course Wu Jin accepted all critical criticism, but that didn’t erase his regretful feeling of his play. Fav food comfort is a blisss. Such good husband! Can’t wait for Wu Jin to slap the haters. It seems Wei Shi is also plotting to slap his poison fans too! hehehehe
Goodness those dissing fans remind me of real life sports fans they are aggressive toxic and well exactly whatever negatives you can think 🤔 I know because I have been to sports forums they will swear 🤬 blame and can actually deploy psychological warfare. You would not be able to hold up to these fans unless you are mentally strong even then these mob netizens and keyboard warriors are depressing and they are kind of like serial killers just it’s not physical but mental death that’s the consequence of their poisonous words.