Chapter 2: Entering the Base
Yuan Jibai’s enthusiasm left Chi Jing somewhat at a loss. It took Qi Feng grabbing Yuan Jibai by the collar to drag him inside.
Once inside the base, the heating enveloped Chi Jing, and he finally stopped feeling so cold. He took off Qi Feng’s jacket, holding it in his hand. Just as he was wondering how to speak, Qi Feng turned back and smiled at him.
“The manager is waiting for you in the upstairs conference room. I’ll take you there.”
Chi Jing nodded and handed the jacket back to him. “Thank you.”
The Bot Lane duo, who had just come over, had expressions as if they had eaten shit, staring in disbelief at the jacket in Chi Jing’s hand. Their staring made Chi Jing’s skin crawl.
Qi Feng frowned and glared at the two of them. Song Qi eagerly ran over to greet the newcomer.
“Brother Feng, is this our team’s future Mid Laner?”
Qi Feng rolled his eyes helplessly. “I don’t know. I’m taking him up to talk to Brother Cheng.”
Song Qi curled his lips and said, “Then hurry up and go. Where else are you going to find a Mid Laner who’s this handsome and plays this well?”
Qi Feng ignored him and pulled Chi Jing by the wrist up the stairs.
“The manager is named Wu Cheng. Just call him Brother Cheng; he’s pretty easy to talk to. You don’t need to feel restrained. The main reason we called you here is that our team hasn’t found a suitable Mid Laner. It just so happened that some issues came up on your side and you had nowhere to go, so we thought we’d call you over to look at the contract first, then play a scrim. If it fits, we can just sign.”
Qi Feng led Chi Jing upstairs, instructing him bit by bit, afraid he might be nervous.
“I understand. Thank you. Sorry for the trouble today.”
Chi Jing thanked Qi Feng with a polite tone. Qi Feng’s smile froze at the corner of his mouth for a moment.
He nodded. “It’s fine. Go on in. Once you’re done talking, come straight downstairs. We’ve already scheduled a scrim with FIG. You can make your preparations downstairs and we’ll start immediately.”
After speaking, he turned and left without giving Chi Jing a chance to reply. Chi Jing felt this person was getting stranger by the minute, but he didn’t say anything more. After all, he really had nowhere else to go right now. This was his last chance.
After thinking for a moment, he pushed open the conference room door directly. Seeing the person sitting on the sofa, he first greeted him politely, then closed the door and began his self-introduction.
“Hello Manager, I am the former CK Mid Laner, Chi Jing.”
Wu Cheng looked at him with a beaming smile, getting more satisfied the longer he looked. He handed a copy of the contract directly to him.
“Sit. Take your time reading it. If there are no issues, we’ve booked a training match. If it goes well, just sign it. Our team currently has no substitute or starter for the Mid Lane position. If you join, you’ll be the starter immediately. 1.7 million for one season. We’ll sign for one season first. What do you think?”
1.7 million for a season. This price might be considered a bit low in the industry, but considering he came from a streaming background and this incident happened right after his first match with CK, he was effectively a streamer-player with no results and no backing. To lift him directly to a starting position with 1.7 million a season was actually very good.
Chi Jing lowered his eyes to look at the contract. He didn’t even finish reading it before agreeing.
“I feel I have the ability to shoulder the responsibility of your team’s Mid Lane. The conditions offered are excellent. I think it works.”
Wu Cheng closed the contract and nodded. “The scrim with FIG is scheduled for 8:30. That’s about fifteen minutes from now. Let’s go downstairs first; it’s more appropriate for you to get to know your teammates.”
Chi Jing also thought this was a good idea and left the conference room with Wu Cheng, one following the other. As soon as they went downstairs, a bunch of gazes fixed on him in unison, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. It was the good-natured Yuan Jibai who spoke first.
“Hello there. I’m Yuan Jibai, game ID ‘bye’, Top Laner. You can just call me by my name.”
Chi Jing smiled politely at him. “I’m Chi Jing, game ID ‘Jin’. You can call me Little Jing.”
The lively Song Qi raised his hand immediately. “I’m Song Qi! Game ID ‘Song’, Support position. Call me Brother Song, hehe.”
Qi Feng slapped him directly on the head, speaking with a hint of mockery, “He’s older than you. You calling him ‘Brother’ would be more like it.”
Song Qi’s eyes went wide, pointing a finger at Chi Jing’s face in shock. “He’s eighteen at most, right? Older than me?”
Indeed, Chi Jing had a face that was very pleasing to the eye and looked very young, but the reality was cruel.
Qi Feng raised an eyebrow. “He’s two months older than you.”
Song Qi wilted entirely. He thought he wouldn’t be the youngest in the team anymore. Who would have guessed?
Mo Jingchun looked indifferent, appearing very difficult to mess with.
“Mo Jingchun. ADC. Game ID ‘MOMO’. Call me whatever.”
Chi Jing nodded to show he understood. Wu Cheng brought a man who looked to be in his thirties into the main hall.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Today is the new Mid Laner’s scrim. Neither I nor your coach will restrict your lineup or BP (Ban/Pick). Today relies entirely on you guys. Discuss the lineup yourselves. The match starts in ten minutes.”
Chi Jing spoke first. “I specialize in Mage Assassins. I create pressure in the lane. I can play all Mid Laners; my hero pool is very deep.”
The Head Coach flipped through the documents in his hand and spoke the moment Chi Jing finished. “S3 Season National Server No. 1 Mai Shiranui, National Server No. 3 Shangguan Wan’er, National Server No. 7 Shen Mengxi, National Server No. 2 Jing. S4 Season National Server No. 1 Mai Shiranui, National Server No. 1 Shangguan Wan’er, National Server No. 3 Zhao Yun, National Server No. 7 Gongsun Li. These are the honors you achieved in your first and second years of gaming. An all-rounder player.”
Except for Qi Feng, the jaws of the others nearly hit the floor when the coach read out these stats. What kind of god-tier player was this?
Chi Jing hadn’t expected the team to dig up his early stats either, so he was a bit stunned until Qi Feng spoke up to interrupt his thoughts.
“Brother Bai take Ji Xiaoman. Chun-Chun take Di Renjie. Little Song, you take Sun Bin. I’ll take Zhao Huaizhen. Chi Jing, can you take Mai Shiranui?”
Chi Jing naturally had no objections. Getting his signature hero was even better, so he nodded. “Okay, no problem.”
And so it was settled. With a few minutes left before the scrim, Chi Jing announced his ID and the group added each other as friends in-game. Only Mo Jingchun and Chi Jing already had each other added from the start. Song Qi was a bit puzzled.
“Why are you two already friends?”
Mo Jingchun replied indifferently, “We bumped into each other in ranked before. Felt he played well, so I added him.”
Chi Jing recalled there seemed to be such an instance. He hadn’t paid much attention at the time. Suddenly, he felt a chill beside him. Looking to the side, he saw Qi Feng looking very cold for some unknown reason. Chi Jing found it baffling—what was wrong now? He ignored him, added the friends, created a lobby, and invited them. After Song Qi invited the FIG team members, Chi Jing started the game directly.
Recommended Reads
