translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
In the second week of the mid-season finals, Wu Jin officially returned to the team and participated in White Moonlight’s training matches.
Against R-Code, Azure People, Silver Thread Roll…
In Wu Jin’s notebook, the values for the team configuration were finally perfected. Countless initial plans were rejected, then replaced by a set of tactics that gradually grew more mature, merging together with Wu Jin and Zoe’s command characteristics.
Until the sixth training match, against the Imperial Thunder Corps.
When White Moonlight left the court, Thunder Corps’ coach said to Lin Jue, “They’re not the same as what the media reported. I thought you formed a new team in order to qualify for the League, but I didn’t expect that this was a team that wants to win the championship.”
The Thunder Corps coach solemnly shook hands with the whole team.
Lin Jue finally smiled in satisfaction.
The ninth training match was against Jingyi.
Even before they started, the leader of the Jingyi could be heard rebuking Ming Yao, “You’re just saying hello to Wu Jin, why do you have to lift up the gun and wave it around! What’ll we do if the gun goes off and hits someone into a life-saving capsule?! What’ll we do if it’s caught by the media and they say you want to assassinate Wu Jin?!”
When the game was over, the coach let them go and Ming Yao rushed happily into Wu Jin’s dressing room.
He hadn’t seen Little Ming for two months, and now he was full of energy. Everything around them was the same, but the people were no longer the same as they were––Ming Yao reached out a paw and touched Wu Jin’s face, “Did you get skinnier or did you do liposuction…”
Wu Jin was on guard and beat Ming Yao back reflexively. Ming Yao howled, and the two of them soon started a scuffle behind the door of the dressing room.
As they were resting after the fight, Ming Yao asked, “Will you be playing the day after tomorrow?”
Wu Jin nodded.
At this moment, Ming Yao was more worried than Wu Jin was. “Your team has to do a good job with public relations. Can’t you fight the media ahead of time? Drown the Azure Edge forums with a water army first.”
“Does your White Moonlight have resources? No? Why not get some from Jingyi! We’ve been sprayed for eight years, and the moderators are already familiar with our manager…”
Wu Jin led the dawdling and chattering Ming Yao towards the medical examination cabin and casually stuffed him inside.
Ming Yao was still kicking up a fuss, “You didn’t look for a water army? That little broken forum has such a foul atmosphere. If I were you and looked through it more often, I’d vomit blood!”
Wu Jin was amused, “But I’m not vomiting blood.”
Ming Yao: “Hey, to tell you the truth, in those few rounds where I lost like a dog, my father spent hundreds of thousands of credits and invited the moderator for a meal so that I could have a month without the haters. Let me see if I can extend that to you…”
Wu Jin held up his index finger and poked Ming Yao’s face until it tilted upwards, “Look at the lamp, don’t look at me. I can’t measure your intraocular pressure. If they don’t flame me now, it doesn’t mean they won’t do it later on. It’s not a fight between haters and fans. If you win, you win. If you lose, then win next time.”
Ming Yao snickered, then expressed that he was convinced. Little Witch might not be anxious, but Little Ming was!
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.
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Wu Jin: “Captain Zuo, why are you here too!”
Ming Yao’s little tail perked up instantly, and he looked left and right. He was caught by surprise when Wu Jin instantly snatched back his snacks, then yelled at Wu Jin for cheating. Wu Jin smiled proudly, and from around the corridor, the real Zuo Botang who’d just finished his physical examination slowly walked out.
Ming Yao: “……”
Zuo Botang wrapped his scarf around Ming Yao’s neck twice, then said goodbye to Wu Jin politely.
Captain Zuo had superb social skills. This time when they came to White Moonlight, they made it a point to bring over the rabbit that Wu Jin had given Jingyi. At this time, they were holding the rabbit cage in their hands. Ming Yao followed behind his captain, and Wu Jin could hear the two of them talking together in low voices. Captain Zuo was gentle and smiling, and Ming Yao was so happy he was bubbling, practically floating as he walked.
After a few steps, Ming Yao snatched up the rabbit cage from his captain’s hand.
But by the time they got out of the elevator and into the suspension bus, the rabbit was once again in Zuo Botang’s hands.
Wu Jin was thinking about the rabbit as he pressed himself against the window and looked out.
“……”
These two people didn’t have the rabbit in their hearts at all! They were secretly holding hands in the woods!
The fourth week of the mid-season finals.
White Moonlight took the star ship to the stadium. Wu Jin finally went along with the team.
Beyond the star ship was an endless sea of stars. In three hours, there would be a game between White Moonlight and Silver Thread Roll. It was as though Wu Jin’s ‘previous’ mid-season professional competition scenario had been recreated.
The difference was that White Moonlight was first place in Group F, and Silver Thread Roll was first place in Group B. After two months of being broken in, Thin Fire and Thin Water now cooperated perfectly. Ning Fengbei had lost to Vera in the women’s league rookie challenge by a small margin, but she was better in ‘advertising value prediction’.
Zoe and Wen Lin had become calmer, while Caesar was still the same Caesar. Wu Jin had been transferred from the first team to the secondary team and demoted for two months.
At the moment when they entered the arena, Lin Jue looked at Wu Jin, “Nervous?”
Wu Jin shook his head.
Lin Jue: “Two games.”
“Official games aren’t like training matches. You haven’t played in an official game for two months, and I won’t have you go up for the first two games. You sit here and watch the broadcast.”
“The third game, Mercedes will step down. And then, you’ll go up onto stage from here, taking with you everything that you’ve observed and all the experience you’ve accumulated over the previous two months. Beat them.” Lin Jue’s expression was cold, and his eyes sharp.
Wu Jin didn’t hesitate to nod.
In the audience stands.
V1 viewing area. Arjun carried a support light card with the lights off, squeezing his way to the seats through the crowd. He put the light board on the empty seat beside him, then politely started chatting up the cute girl beside him.
The young girls in this row of seats wore short, elegant dresses and were following the survival show’s cumbersome formal wear etiquette. Their conversation was gentle, lively, and experienced.
Arjun secretly made plans to ask for their communication numbers. He pulled out the light board, “It’s the first time I’m supporting a player, and the light sign just arrived. I don’t know where the switch is…”
Several young girls were eager to help, and the lights crackled on.
The words ‘Wu Jin, My Ace’ were bright and shining.
The girls’ eyes lit up immediately and they chattered excitedly as they took out a series of support materials. They were all various types of Little Witch fans, and the lady who was the leader of the group instantly changed her attitude towards him, her expression excited and kind, “Thank you for coming to support my son…”
Arjun was dazzled by this scene, “You guys… Little Witch hasn’t played in two months, but you guys still kept the support materials?”
The lady beside him beamed and said, “For sure! Just kept it stuffed in my bag. Just because he wasn’t there for the previous game, it doesn’t mean he won’t be there for the next. What if he shows up! Don’t you have a light board with you as well?!”
Arjun’s mouth opened and closed several times. He was too embarrassed to say that the light boardwas something he’d brought over for his boss.
The lights in the audience stands went out, and the first game was about to start. In the White Moonlight Battle Team, there was Zoe, Wen Lin, Caesar, Chen Xiran, Mercedes, and their scout position player. A few of the girls started cheering for White Moonlight even though Wu Jin hadn’t gone up. Arjun shifted his body; the person meant for the vacant seat had finally appeared.
Some young girls looked over curiously, wanting to see what kind of person would show up at the last second!
The man asked Arjun to give him back his light board.
In the dim lights reflected back from the field, they could see the tall and broad figure of the man, and the silhouette of his facial features.
The Floating City Battle Team Captain, Wei Shi.
The young girl’s heart abruptly beat so hard it almost jumped out of her chest. Wei Shi was holding the unlit light sign that said ‘Wu Jin, My Ace’, and the words ‘the CP I shipped is real’ ran up her spine like a 100,000 volt electric current!
Wei Shi turned his face to the side, stretched out his index finger, then made a ‘shh’ gesture to her.
The Contestant Wei who had almost all his emotional locks unlocked now lacked the imposing presence he showed on the screen. He wasn’t very proficient at holding up the light sign, and there was an imperceptible gentleness in him that was characteristic of a straight man.
In the first match between White Moonlight and Silver Thread Roll, Silver Thread Roll won by a narrow margin.
The audience still paid homage to the players. Zoe seized every opportunity, and had almost traded in his life to deal damage. Mercedes and Chen Xiran were stable, and just short a small bit of luck.
In the second game, Caesar turned the tide and played two highlights, but Silver Thread Roll was also brilliant––according to the statistics on the Azure Edge forums, once Caesar and Thin Fire were put together in the same field, both of them would play explosively at the same time, attempting to kill each other at all costs.
White Moonlight was short a little bit of luck once again and lost the second game.
During the short half-time break, the commentators on the high stage were giving an analysis, “… Perhaps White Moonlight isn’t just missing that bit of luck. Silver Thread Roll’s configuration is very clever. Thin Water is the commander, and they have Ning Fengbei as a small general. Thin Fire can also take care of himself. However, White Moonlight’s commander is Zoe.”
“Their DPS position and commander position are all focused on the same player, which requires them to have an extremely high level of personal ability. Of course, Zoe is one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen, but it’s not enough. He still needs to grow. At this point, he can only take on one position and will inevitably collapse when he has to take on two. Lin Jue’s retirement means that it will be difficult for White Moonlight to train him up to replace him in a short period of time…”
For the third game, the players came up to the stage one after another.
White Moonlight’s leader was communicating with the referee. The commentators on the stage paused, “Wait a minute, from what we can see, it seems that White Moonlight is about to switch out a player!”
Five players came out from the back court one after another.
The commentators spoke quickly, “It’s important for us to remind the audience that this is a decisive BO5 (best of five, winning three games out of a maximum of five games) game that’s very important to White Moonlight. Who are they going to switch in? From the point of view of their line-up, White Moonlight has nobody to switch in with! Lin Jue has already declared his retirement officially as of last week and can’t compete again––”
The stage lights focused on the center of the field. Wu Jin stood at the front of the team in the assault position, following closely behind Caesar.
There was a brief half second of silence in the field.
And then a roar of sound loud enough to shake the skies surged up! There were fans who’d been waiting for Wu Jin for two months, passers-by who were clapping for this youngster who’d dropped to the secondary team and then returned back to the professional arena, and audience members who were voicing their doubts about sending a player who’d been relegated back out during a finals game. The young girl in the front row suddenly spoke up, “Support signs! Support signs! Quickly!”
The few scattered fluorescent light signs lit up, and Wu Jin gave them a deep bow.
Those in the audience who’d kept his support materials all the way until now must’ve been waiting for him to come back.
White Moonlight vs Silver Thread Roll, third game.
The background of this game had the survival show contestants scattered on a desert island, and the theme was primitive, with tribes who used totems for power. At this time, the players’ right hands were densely covered with dense, fiery totem lines. Silver Thread Roll’s lines were silvery white, and White Moonlight was a light blueish white.
Thin Water lifted his hand and used his totem, creating a wave of flame that blocked the front of White Moonlight’s defense line, dividing up the battlefield at the fastest speed and cutting off the possibility that Caesar and Chen Xiran could launch a surprise attack. White Moonlight’s commander was Zoe. Although Wu Jin was there, Lin Jue would never be crazy enough to let Wu Jin, someone who hadn’t played a professional game for two months, take over as soon as he came up onto the stage.
Zoe’s inability to snipe and command at the same time meant that the sniper’s position was bound to be cautious and hesitant, so they just needed to target the assault––
Weeds spread out through the wasteland, and another wave of flames rose up!
Ning Fengbei held up her double blades, heading towards Thin Water’s direction. Suddenly, Wu Jin and Chen Xiran sprang out of the twisted air above the flames. Ning Fengbei wasn’t keen to fight and quickly retreated, firing a shot at Wu Jin!
The trajectory deviated.
“N35 direction, I missed once.” Ning Fengbei pursed her lips slightly as she made a report to Thin Water.
Thin Water nodded, then started to plan a sneak attack. Ning Fengbei and Big Thin switched defense lines and started to roam. When they reached the target point, they spoke up over the communication channel again, “The south region’s also on fire, they––”
Ning Fengbei’s voice was suddenly interrupted, and the sound of an exchange of fire sounded out over the channel!
A few seconds later, the Silver Thread Roll player picked up the channel and spoke quickly, “E105, I missed twice. Wait, Chen Xiran––”
Ning Fengbei’s voice was cut off once again. This time, everyone’s watch beeped twice. Ning Fengbei had been eliminated.
There was a murmur in the audience, and the commentator reacted on the spot, “Ning Fengbei made too many mistakes. This shouldn’t have happened in this round.” But the scene that followed also caught the commentators by surprise.
Thin Fire was assassinated in a series of almost identical guerrilla warfare moves.
The commentator paused, “Thin Fire, Ning Fengbei. These two young generals from Silver Thread Roll have been making low-level mistakes one after another in this finals game…”
ah!!! jingyi double dog food!!!! even crumbs are delicious!!!!!!!!!
thanks for the update!!!
Aahhh… I want more Jingyi couple.
Thx for the chapter 😘
Low level mistakes? More like high level planning! Charge White Moonlight!!
Thanks for the chapter!!
Captain zuo and MY are so cute ahhhh TF and NFB forced to make mistakes!! Little Witch!! Smort!! Also ahhh those support sisters are so cute, they stayed uwu AND WS im going to cry supportive hubby in the stands ejdjdhshsjdh
thanks for the chapter~
Wei Shi supportive hubby! Are the Jingyi double C going to become a real couple?
Thanks for the chapter~
Aaaaaa why was I more excited for Jingyi CP than for Little Witch to rejoin the main team???!!!! But I love them so much they’re such a good match!!!!
Thank you for the chapter!!!
AHHHH! GO, MY SON!
SKDVJD OMG JINGYI!!! QwQ
Waaahhhh omg I really love how Wu Jin’s fans still believe and support him even after all this time wuuuuu (╥﹏╥)
Thank you for the chapter!~ ꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡
If it keeps happening It’s not a coincidence!!!!Go Wujin!Somehow Im glad that the emotional lock is disappearing but I kinda miss imposing WeiShi
UWAHHHH JINGYI DOG FOOD TYSM 😭💗💗
AND BIG BOSS WEI BEING ALL GENTLE WITH HIS BOARD SO SOFT SO SOFT
Ahhh happy for Ming Yao. Finally here, it seems they are bona fide couple rather than him chasing Zuo Botang. Captain picked him from his “sisters’ tea time” and walked back while holding hands 😊.
Hehehe Wu Jin high level of playing isn’t so easy to be understood now huh. Big Boss, “Wu Jin, My Ace” signboard 😍😍.
Wei shi literal husband fan!!! ❤️ Captain Zuo and MY dog foood.