Chapter 49: Exposure
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
After the first week of competition ended, the second and third weeks followed immediately. Team IKW was unstoppable, winning every match without a single loss and securing the top spot in the playoffs rankings. CYW followed in second place, LPF came third, and MOE was in fourth.
When the results were announced, the entire MOE team exploded with excitement. Everyone was celebrating MOE’s advancement to the grand finals, nearly tearing the roof off the place. Though they had only placed fourth, it was still the best result MOE had ever achieved.
Because of this, negative press flooded the internet. Articles claimed MOE had likely made it into the finals by sheer dumb luck. After all, they had been at the bottom during both the regular season and playoffs, and their wins had always been hard-fought. Many believed they only made it through thanks to good fortune and predicted they’d be crushed by stronger teams like IKW, LPF, and CYW—at best, finishing in fourth place.
In response, Zhao Ze held a special psychology session for the main roster, encouraging everyone to prepare well and reminding them that no matter what place they earned, this was already MOE’s best result yet—and there would be more to come. He told them not to care what others said.
This message was especially meant for Cheng Pian and a few of the younger players. Veterans like Ji Jin were unfazed. Back in the day, when he was winning championships year after year, the hate had been just as loud. If criticism could shake him, he’d never have won anything.
To focus entirely on the playoffs, Ji Jin had Ji Xingxing sent to stay with Ji Huan, who looked after the child along with a nanny. Ji Jin even temporarily moved out of his apartment and back into the team dorm.
At nearly three months pregnant, Ji Jin was starting to show slightly. Though he hadn’t had morning sickness before, it had started recently—and in strange ways. He had no reaction to the foods he craved and had developed a strong preference for spicy and sour flavors, while anything bland made him want to vomit. But eating too much spicy food caused inflammation, so Lu Yao juggled match training with researching cooling foods suitable for pregnant omegas, personally delivering them to the MOE base.
This led to an increased demand for protective eyewear within the MOE team, while IKW’s manager Ke Yu’s stress levels skyrocketed—he was constantly unable to find his team captain, who always seemed to be at the rival MOE base.
After a week of this chaos, the finals officially began. The format was a best-of-five (BO5), with the first team to win three rounds declared the winner.
The first match was between IKW and CYW. Since IKW had rarely lost in the past, their matchup with CYW was relatively easy. However, all teams had come well-prepared, and IKW did lose one round, eventually winning 3–1.
The second match was LPF versus MOE. MOE had previously defeated LPF once, and Ji Jin knew Naisi’s playstyle very well, which made things easier. LPF was strong, but MOE often made unexpected plays. The teams battled through four tense rounds, and MOE narrowly clinched victory in the final one, eliminating LPF.
The third match, for third place, was between LPF and CYW. It didn’t generate much buzz, and in the end, LPF took third, while CYW tearfully accepted fourth.
By that point, all eyes were on IKW and MOE. One was the reigning champion, dominating the season with barely any losses. The other, once mocked as a garbage team, had clawed their way from missing playoffs entirely to a spot in the grand finals. No one had believed in them—yet here they were.
Even Ji Jin hadn’t truly expected to lead MOE to the finals, especially now, sitting backstage before the final match.
The finals were the highlight of the entire season, attracting a live audience. The league had arranged special backstage lounges for both teams at the arena. The rooms were located close together, which allowed a certain tea-and-water-carrying traitor named Lu Yao to sneak into MOE’s lounge.
“Would you like to try this, brother?” Lu Yao asked sweetly, pulling a packet of hawthorn slices from his backpack. “You had pear soup earlier—this is sour and sweet, perfect for appetite.”
Ji Jin took a piece, found it tasty, and crunched away contentedly. After he’d eaten several, Lu Yao quickly handed him warm water.
Cheng Pian and the others sitting nearby looked like they were going blind. Couldn’t they at least choose a better time to show off their affection? This was supposed to be an enemy standoff, not a couple’s date!
Cheng Pian tugged at Zhao Ze’s sleeve and muttered, “If we lose today, it’s all God Ji and Lu Yao’s fault.”
Zhao Ze glanced at the couple and let out a long sigh.
As the match was about to begin, Lu Yao had to leave. To spare the single dogs of MOE any more torment, Ji Jin walked him out a bit. They found a quiet corner to speak in.
“Good luck, Little Lu,” Ji Jin said. He was wearing the team’s fall uniform today. Since his three-month bump was starting to show, the team had made him a larger size to help conceal it—it wasn’t obvious if you didn’t know.
Lu Yao was wearing metal-framed glasses. His eyesight was slightly nearsighted, but he rarely wore glasses. Today, they gave him a scholarly, slightly wicked charm. He smiled, leaned casually against the wall, and asked, “Aren’t you afraid MOE will lose, brother, since you’re cheering me on?”
“Because MOE will definitely win,” Ji Jin replied with a slight raise of his brow. “In an official match, you’ve never beaten me.”
They both knew that the one time Lu Yao won a solo duel, it was only because Ji Jin had momentarily spaced out due to his heat. And in a five-person match, it wasn’t just about the junglers’ skill—it also depended on team coordination and performance.
“Then I look forward to seeing brother and MOE’s performance,” Lu Yao said, adjusting his glasses before giving Ji Jin a kiss on the cheek. “Brother… jiayou!”
Ji Jin’s heart fluttered slightly.
When he returned to the lounge, the match was about to begin. Zhao Ze was already urging everyone to get ready. The starters began warming up their hands with exercises to relax their muscles.
As Ji Jin walked in, he noticed two substitute players organizing bottled water provided by the tournament. His brows furrowed slightly, as if remembering something—but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.
Soon, staff came to escort the teams to the stage and into the soundproof game rooms. Each team brought five starting players, two substitutes, one coach, and a team manager.
Ji Jin took a deep breath. The rest of the team looked a bit nervous, so he offered a smile and exchanged encouraging words with them.
His stomach felt a little uncomfortable—probably from nerves. He gently rubbed his belly to soothe the little ones inside. After a few moments, the discomfort faded.
As his stomach settled, the match officially began.
In the first game, Ji Jin’s condition was still pretty good. He chose the early-game advantage jungle role and took the initiative to ambush the enemy’s wilderness first. Ambushing the enemy’s wilderness was a risky move. If the ambush succeeded and the economy improved, an advantage could be established; otherwise, it would lead directly to a disadvantage.
Because IKW’s jungle was strong, very few teams chose to invade the enemy’s wilderness early on. Ji Jin was always unpredictable, and the enemy did not expect Ji Jin to come straight over. However, because of good coordination, Ji Jin did not gain any advantage.
He failed to establish an early lead. Later on, Ji Jin’s chosen character became too fatigued, so he lost the first game.
The loss was actually within Ji Jin’s expectations, but there was still a chance. His ability to adjust his mindset had always been good. Cheng Pian seemed a bit disappointed, but since it was only the first game, a glance between them made it clear what to do next.
There weren’t any particularly exciting confrontations in the first match, so the atmosphere inside the arena was fairly calm.
However, outside the match, things were different.
At the very moment the match started, dozens of e-sports marketing accounts online seemed to have coordinated, collectively posting a Weibo post—
#JiJinLuYaoScandal #MOEJiJinMatchFixing# The e-sports god Ji Jin was an Omega and secretly met with the opposing team IKW’s captain, suspected of an illicit relationship.
The Weibo post was accompanied by many photos. The first one appeared to be from the regular season, showing the two embracing and kissing backstage. The following photos included others from different divisions and playoffs, even near MOE headquarters. Most of them showed the two being intimate, chatting affectionately, or kissing.
Then the match schedules and the results of the regular season and playoffs were released. The MOE team lost every match against the IKW team by a large margin of three to one.
Some marketing accounts tried to stir suspicion, saying that Ji Jin’s strength seemed well maintained despite retiring for three years, so how could he have lost almost every match against IKW? The only possible reason was that Lu Yao, as an Alpha threat, had dominated Ji Jin and threatened him to lose.
Putting aside the truth of match-fixing, the fact that Ji Jin and Lu Yao were together had already caused a sensation in the entire e-sports community. Within an hour of the news release, it had risen to the top trending on Weibo. Not only on Weibo but other platforms were also discussing the matter and its possibilities.
Substitute players and the team manager were separated from the match room by a glass wall, so Zhao Ze could still use his phone. At first, he wanted to check comments on MOE’s status online but didn’t see match info; the first thing he saw was this trending topic.
He widened his eyes, completely confused about how the news had leaked. Because the Weibo post even had photos near MOE headquarters, which was almost impossible to film except by MOE insiders. Also, it was very difficult for non-staff to enter backstage and take photos.
The person who leaked the photos knew about Ji Jin and Lu Yao’s relationship and had so many pictures; it was definitely an insider.
Zhao Ze’s face immediately darkened. Given the current situation, he needed to stay with the team to fight together and must avoid letting others in the match area see this news. But as team manager, he had to quickly take charge and try to control the public opinion.
Even if he left without telling the team and went away, when the players came back during the break and saw he was gone, they would guess that something serious had happened.
Just as Zhao Ze was panicking, Ji Jin was the first to leave the match room. The short break between matches had arrived!
Ji Jin almost immediately realized that something must have happened the moment he stepped through the door.
Author’s note:
Lu Yao: I really wanted to take advantage of my brother, but he never gave me a chance…
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