Powerful Investment Chapter 18: Debt Owed

Chapter 18: Debt Owed

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

When Yu Huanhuan came out of the game room, she still had a bitter expression on her face. She was being stared down by her own team captain with an extremely terrifying look, which scared her into immediately darting back to the resting area.

She couldn’t beat God Ji anyway!

Ji Jin also came out of the game room and chatted briefly with the host before quickly heading back to the resting area. However, he didn’t return directly to MOE’s side. Instead, he quietly found an opportunity to sit in the IKW team’s area.

He had long legs and took just a few steps to sit down beside Yu Huanhuan.

“God Ji,” Yu Huanhuan said with a look of utter despair.

Most of the IKW team was still the original crew. When they saw Ji Jin come over, they immediately perked up and wanted to chat with him. But Ji Jin waved them off.

“I’ve been gone for three years, and you still haven’t made any progress,” Ji Jin said as he leaned back in his chair, watching Lu Yao on stage picking his opponent. Since he couldn’t choose him, Ji Jin really couldn’t guess who Lu Yao would pick.

Yu Huanhuan lowered her head, clearly not in a great mood. “Because the team doesn’t have God Ji anymore.”

“So what if I’m not here? Does that mean you stop trying to improve?” Ji Jin, for once, spoke with a bit of seriousness. “This is esports, not child’s play. I’ve watched your matches even while I was abroad. You all rely on Lu Yao way too much.”

“God Ji…” Yu Huanhuan felt a bit upset too. She knew what he said was true. But she had already hit a bottleneck. She wasn’t exactly a naturally gifted player either. It was hard to keep improving.

Back when she joined IKW, it was because of Ji Jin. Even as a female Alpha, women in esports were very rare. She had seen God Ji’s gameplay videos and that had inspired her to enter the industry.

But not long after, God Ji had retired. The goal she was striving toward, the light she wanted to chase… was gone.

“God Ji, why did you retire back then?” Yu Huanhuan’s eyes filled with tears, threatening to fall at any second. “Without the King, what’s the point of a Queen in IKW?”

King and Queen had always been a pair. They were once the most synchronized jungle/support duo.

With the King gone, the Queen had also lost her purpose.

“Retirement…” It was the first time someone had asked him this question so seriously. Ji Jin instinctively rubbed his fingers.

Part of the reason he retired was because of Ji Xingxing. But that actually wasn’t the main reason—he hadn’t stopped training even when pregnant with Ji Xingxing.

He knew the baby was afraid of radiation, so he wore a protective suit to block it. He trained regularly and systematically, optimizing every minute. During pregnancy, his body had swollen. There were many times he couldn’t even grip the mouse properly—one finger press would trigger extra keys.

The scariest part was after giving birth, his hands would tremble. He couldn’t perform precise operations anymore.

Everyone only saw how effortlessly he retired, then returned just as effortlessly—returning still at his peak. But no one knew the pain and effort he had endured to stand there again.

“Because IKW no longer needed a King, Huanhuan,” Ji Jin said seriously for the first time. “You guys have Lu Yao now. He’s the one best suited for your current lineup.”

“But I think we still need you,” Yu Huanhuan said, wiping her tears.

“Well, I can’t keep playing with you guys forever either,” Ji Jin said in a teasing tone. “You’re an Alpha, why are you still crying like a kid every day? You just won a championship, that’s already amazing—more titles than I ever got!”

“God Ji, now that you have a kid, you talk like you’re always coaxing one,” Yu Huanhuan said with a tearful smile. Although she really wanted Ji Jin to come back, she also knew that some things just couldn’t go back to the way they were.

After finishing the talk with Yu Huanhuan, Ji Jin returned to his seat to watch the match with Ji Xingxing. Lu Yao had chosen Jiao Yue as his opponent. Ji Jin didn’t think they were close enough to challenge each other for fun. From the looks of it yesterday, it seemed more like they were settling a score.

But Jiao Yue wasn’t like Yu Huanhuan. She had been playing support for years and didn’t have a strong grasp of offensive heroes. Plus, Ji Jin knew her very well, which made it easy to dominate. Jiao Yue, on the other hand, was a mage—the team’s main damage dealer. Dominating him would be nearly impossible.

For some reason, both of them played extremely seriously today. It felt more like an intense RPL match rather than a fun exhibition. It was like watching two enemies face off.

In the end, Lu Yao edged out a narrow win over Jiao Yue with a score of 8 to 6.

Naisi chose IKW’s marksman, Hu Li. Since both of them were marksmen and often clashed in competitions, this match-up came as no surprise.

After that match ended, it was finally time for the main event—the All-Star Exhibition Match.

The ten star players were split into two random teams to battle each other.

The host once again invited the ten players onto the stage and had them draw lots for team assignment on the spot.

Ji Jin felt like his legs were about to shrink from running back and forth all day. Fortunately, this was the last match. Lu Yao stood right next to him, his eyes fixed on him as if he had something to say.

Ji Jin had a good guess what Lu Yao was thinking—he probably wanted to continue their previous bet and use this match to decide the winner. But first, they had to end up on opposing teams.

Then Ji Jin saw the team assignments appear on the big screen: MOE.KING and IKW. Gentlemen were placed on the same team.

Ji Jin: …

Lu Yao: …

Lu Yao looked at Ji Jin with puppy-dog eyes, looking incredibly pitiful.

But it wasn’t something he could control—this was fate not giving him the chance.

Ji Jin rubbed his nose and instinctively avoided Lu Yao’s gaze.

The first team was made up of Ji Jin, Lu Yao, Yu Huanhuan, Never from LPF, and Ace from IKW.

The second team included Naisi, Jiao Yue, Wind and Hunter from CYW, and Tty from TAO.

Since these were selected All-Star players and randomly assigned, the two lineups couldn’t form ideal compositions based on their main roles. The first team had no marksman, while the second team had two marksmen and no top lane warrior.

Each team went into their respective game rooms to prepare. Since it was an exhibition match, and the players didn’t have any real conflict, the match leaned more toward entertainment than serious competition.

The first problem Ji Jin’s team faced after entering the game room was—who would take the marksman role?

Marksman was the team’s main DPS (damage per second) role. They were known for high burst and damage but usually lacked mobility and heavily relied on positioning and game sense.

In this team, Ji Jin was the most suitable one to fill in the marksman role. Besides, with three IKW players on the team, the synergy would be strong.

But Ji Jin didn’t see it that way.

Since it was an exhibition match, he felt the priority should be entertaining the audience—and himself.

He and Lu Yao exchanged a look and nodded in unspoken agreement.

As for Naisi’s team, they had never played together before. With two marksmen doubling up on roles and no frontline, it wasn’t an easy lineup. After all, Naisi had been spending time with Ji Jin lately. Just like how one is influenced by those they spend time with, he also decided to go off the beaten path.

This led the audience watching the B/P (ban/pick) phase to feel like their thought process was worlds apart from the pros.

Ji Jin’s team picked three warriors and two supports!

The lineup was already odd enough, but the second team’s pick was even more bizarre—they picked five marksmen!

The host and commentator looked at each other, momentarily speechless.

As soon as the game began, the five marksmen on the second team charged straight down mid lane, clearing the minion wave and spraying fire at the turret. With no one defending mid on Ji Jin’s side, the second team even managed to bring the first turret down to half HP.

But just as the second team let their guard down, the five champions from the first team flanked them from behind and shoved them right under Ji Jin’s turret.

Host and commentator: ??? They can do that???

Even the fans in the arena were stunned.

Ji Jin’s logic was: since they didn’t have a marksman, they might as well skip it altogether. Instead, he picked five champions with knockback abilities and turned it into a full-on shove fest.

Since the enemy had five squishy marksmen and tended to clump together for safety, it only took a little push to send all five flying.

Marksmen might deal high damage, but warriors had thick health bars and respectable damage of their own. The second team got pushed around so hard they couldn’t even fight back—and ended up losing happily.

After winning, Ji Jin sat down and rubbed his fingers. Yu Huanhuan and Ace were his old teammates, and Lu Yao was someone he had personally trained.

With teammates this in sync, winning was easy.

Once the match ended, the All-Star event officially wrapped up.

Ji Jin was the first to sneak out to pick up Ji Xingxing, skipping the final interviews and post-game commentary.

It was getting late, and Ji Xingxing was nodding off in his seat.

Ji Jin picked up the small, soft body and snuck out early through the VIP passage. Zhao Ze handled the rest of the follow-up.

“Daddy, baby’s sleepy…” Ji Xingxing yawned in Ji Jin’s arms, his big round eyes already half-lidded from exhaustion.

Ji Jin gently comforted the child while heading back to the hotel.

By the time they returned and Ji Jin started helping him wash up, the little one was so tired he could fall asleep standing.

Helpless, Ji Jin quickly changed him into pajamas and tucked him into bed.

Ji Xingxing had always been well-behaved. Unless he was hungry or scared, he almost never cried. He also slept quietly—usually waking up in the same position he fell asleep in.

Ji Jin sat by the bed and gazed at his baby’s peaceful sleeping face, but his mind began to wander.

From his facial features, Ji Xingxing looked very much like Lu Yao.

Over the past couple of days, Lu Yao had been watching Ji Xingxing intently—Ji Jin wondered if he might have started to notice something.

But maybe it really was fate between father and son. Ji Xingxing usually disliked the scent of Alpha pheromones, yet didn’t seem to reject Lu Yao at all.

Ji Jin’s expression turned slightly hesitant.

Just then, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

Afraid Ji Xingxing would be woken, Ji Jin hurried to open it.

Standing outside was Lu Yao.

He had already changed and showered. A faint scent of body wash clung to him, mixed with a trace of plum wine.

The scent of plum wine came and went, seemingly unstable.

“Brother… you’re not going to let me in?” Lu Yao braced a hand against the doorframe and pushed forward slightly. “You still owe me something, don’t you think we should have a proper talk?”

As he spoke, the scent of Lu Yao’s pheromones suddenly intensified.

Ji Jin’s legs went weak, and he staggered, nearly collapsing to the floor.

 

Author’s Note:

Lu Yao: Brother… you’re not letting me in?

God Ji: Fine, come in.

Much, much later…

God Ji: I let you into the room, not… ah!!

 

 

 

 

 

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