Chapter 50: Winning the Championship Again
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Ji Jin immediately saw from Zhao Ze’s expression that something had happened, but he didn’t ask as soon as he entered. Instead, he came in and sat in the corner, letting the other team members come out first.
Cheng Pian was the youngest. He hadn’t performed well in the last game, so he was especially dejected, only keeping a smile so as not to affect the team’s mood. He Jia and Zhou Zu were in relatively good spirits, while Du Xi was the calmest among them.
However, when they came out, all of them remained silent. Finally, the coach, Liusha, broke the deadlock and explained the game plan for the next match.
“What’s going on?” Ji Jin quietly asked as he sat next to Zhao Ze. With his sensitive mind, he immediately noticed something was off with Zhao Ze — there had to be a problem with the team.
“Nothing,” Zhao Ze tried to smile, but after looking at the online public opinion for a long time, he really couldn’t smile. The forced smile on his face looked worse than crying.
“To be honest, I’m not one of those rookies. No matter how big the problem is, it won’t shake me,” Ji Jin chuckled softly and patted Zhao Ze on the shoulder.
“It’s nothing, really nothing, God Ji,” Zhao Ze shook his head, still trying to hide it.
Ji Jin clicked his tongue and casually snatched Zhao Ze’s phone. Since Zhao Ze mostly used his phone for work and hadn’t locked it, Ji Jin opened it and saw the Weibo page that had just been opened.
The Weibo page showed trending topics and hashtags, various marketing accounts’ posts, and a lot of dirty slander online. Ji Jin carefully read through everything. When he finished, he looked again at the photos — especially those showing him kissing Lu Yao.
“Not bad photography, quite imaginative,” Ji Jin quickly commented. “These photos are really good. I should save some.”
“God Ji… God Ji, aren’t you angry?” Zhao Ze asked in surprise. As an Omega who had finally managed to compete in e-sports, he was being slandered with rumors about rigging matches and illicit relationships.
“Why get angry?” Ji Jin laughed. “Isn’t the most baseless claim on the trending topic that MOE always loses to IKW? The rest… doesn’t seem far from the truth.”
“What’s going on?” Cheng Pian, overhearing the vague conversation between Ji Jin and Zhao Ze, turned around to eavesdrop.
Ji Jin didn’t avoid it and handed the phone to Cheng Pian.
“What the hell, what kind of people are these? How can they slander others like this!” Cheng Pian said, shocked, then passed the phone to the others.
Ji Jin didn’t mind others seeing it, so soon the few official players and coach Liusha all looked through it. These official players had trained and competed alongside Ji Jin, so they knew how hard and seriously he worked. During matches, he was always the one making the most effort, covering for their mistakes and turning the tide — how could he possibly fix matches?
“God Ji, we don’t believe you would ever fix a match,” Du Xi said immediately after reading. “Don’t let the online rumors upset you or affect your mood. We’re all willing to vouch for you and prove it.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
“It’s true that Lu Yao and I are together, but…” Ji Jin smiled softly and then looked up at everyone. “The best proof shouldn’t be… winning against IKW today? Lu Yao and I being together needs no proof. As for match-fixing, the best proof is… winning the game.”
The others were momentarily stunned, then immediately nodded enthusiastically.
Today, they had to win — not only to clear the stain of match-fixing accusations but also for themselves… for the team.
They had to win!
“Alright, don’t get worked up. We’ll deal with all that nonsense after the match,” Ji Jin said, standing up and giving Zhao Ze a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
The next game was about to start immediately. Ji Jin didn’t have time to say more and quickly dove into the next match.
Because of what had just happened, MOE’s morale soared. From the very start, everything went smoothly — their economy improved steadily, and they quickly reached match point. But IKW, as the defending champions, were no pushovers and almost snatched victory themselves. In the end, Ji Jin found an opening to trap Lu Yao, and Cheng Pian led the others to stealthily take the crystal and claim the win. The third match followed, and fueled by strong morale and tactics, MOE won again.
They had played three games so far, with MOE leading narrowly 2-1.
After coming out of the quiet room following the third game, Ji Jin felt his hands ache. The hero he was playing demanded lightning-fast speed, and pushing that hard while pregnant was tough, but thankfully they won.
When Ji Jin emerged, Zhao Ze’s mood had visibly improved and he stopped checking the online news. No matter what was being said, the team’s matches were the top priority. And only by winning could the rumors be crushed without a fight.
The three consecutive matches had worn the MOE team out. MOE had never made it to the finals before, and since only the finals were best-of-five, requiring five consecutive games, MOE hadn’t intensified their training accordingly. They still followed regular season habits, so by the third match, exhaustion was setting in.
“Drink some water, recharge your energy,” Zhao Ze said, pulling water and energy drinks from a cabinet in the corner and handing them out. Everyone else got energy drinks, but Ji Jin’s was special — because he was pregnant, Zhao Ze had prepared a special Omega pregnancy-safe drink for him.
Ji Jin took the drink, glanced at the label, unscrewed the cap and sniffed it lightly, then scanned the room before finally taking a sip.
After a short rest, Ji Jin led the team through hand stretches to relax before the next game.
The fifth game was the decider. If MOE won, they would take the championship. IKW would undoubtedly go all out to take MOE down, and both sides felt immense pressure. Just before the match started, Ji Jin even noticed Du Xi’s hands trembling slightly.
Ji Jin took a deep breath, and the match began again.
IKW’s strategy was clear: focus on Ji Jin. Compared to other teams, MOE was relatively weaker overall, and Ji Jin was their main core. If the opponents could break MOE’s system built around Ji Jin’s development, victory would be theirs.
Right from the start, Ji Jin felt the enemy targeting him. Almost the entire IKW team chased him relentlessly, leaving him no room to breathe. Even so, Ji Jin performed well, but the targeting was overwhelming, and he couldn’t turn the tide.
In the end, MOE lost this round.
“No way, no way,” Cheng Pian muttered in the break room after the fourth game ended. “Did God Lu decide to ‘kill his own kin for justice’ after seeing those Weibo posts? Targeting God Ji so heavily? These big shots are ruthless in games, huh? No need for match-fixing when they’re this fierce.”
Then Ji Jin smacked Cheng Pian lightly on the back of the head.
“Stop spouting nonsense all day,” Ji Jin said. “There’s nothing wrong with performing normally. You should focus on improving your own skills. They’re targeting me because I’m the core. But before I came, weren’t you the core? After playing for so long, don’t you know how to play your own way?”
Cheng Pian blinked in surprise, looking at Ji Jin with a bit of confusion.
It was true — he hadn’t really played according to his own style in a long time. Since God Ji joined MOE, although Cheng Pian was the captain, he respected Ji Jin so much that he always followed Ji Jin’s lead and tactics, forgetting his own playstyle.
Before Ji Jin joined, Cheng Pian was clearly the core. Now that Ji Jin was targeted, Cheng Pian should step up and play even stronger!
Suddenly, Cheng Pian’s spirit revived completely.
The fifth game was the final decider. Early on, IKW continued to focus on Ji Jin, limiting his roaming and farming, isolating him from the rest of the team.
But what IKW didn’t expect was that while limiting Ji Jin, they overlooked Cheng Pian. Cheng Pian had long been the team’s jungler, but now playing top lane, he was setting the pace. When they moved to limit Cheng Pian’s development, Ji Jin seized the chance to launch a fierce counterattack.
However, IKW still held the early advantage and even pushed up to the high ground.
At this moment, the commentators outside the arena were already hyped up, shouting rapidly about the game.
“MOE’s in trouble this time; looks like they can’t win. Four IKW players are at the high ground, only King’s left. I don’t think they can hold.”
“Yeah, there’re four on the enemy team, and Brick is still pressing hard. But the minion wave’s a bit far; if the ADC and top lane can come back, maybe they can resist.”
“I think it’s tough, the ADC and top haven’t returned yet. Let’s switch to MOE’s perspective.”
“Recall! Recall!” He Jia, who was pushing the lane outside, had already hit the recall key. “The crystal’s almost gone!”
[Please launch the attack!]
[Please launch the attack!]
[Please launch the attack!]
“Don’t come back! There’s a minion wave in the top lane! Go push the lane!” Ji Jin shouted urgently, forgetting to keep his voice down as the situation became critical.
“But…” He Jia hesitated, but the moment he heard Ji Jin’s command, he immediately led the minions charging toward the crystal.
Outside, the two commentators erupted with excitement.
“MOE still has minions pushing! King needs to stall and let the ADC push the crystal!”
“Is there enough time for that? The other side has four players!” The lead commentator was shocked as he realized the plan.
“But… it’s Ji Jin… it’s God Ji…” The other commentator seemed to recall something important.
Meanwhile, in the audience —
“Taking on four by himself? Who even dares!” Naisi, who had already secured third place, was watching the match from the stands. “Ji Jin’s got guts, but this can’t possibly work!”
Though Naisi said ‘can’t,’ his tone oddly suggested it might just happen.
“Ji Jin… he wouldn’t dare unless he was confident,” Jiao Yue, sitting nearby, added. He never took risks he wasn’t sure about.
Back in the game —
Ji Jin, controlling Bai Yike, didn’t stay by the crystal. Instead, he circled through the crowd to cut off the minion wave in the middle lane. Unable to be targeted, he broke the wave with almost no damage taken.
Then he kept retreating and pulling, constantly refreshing skill cooldowns.
One second… five seconds… fifteen seconds…!
Cheng Pian had already led the minions to the enemy crystal!
Twenty seconds!
Ji Jin’s skills refreshed again; he pulled once more to break the crystal’s minion wave. His health was down to just 120!
Lu Yao’s skill refreshed — Bai Yike instantly died! Four IKW players immediately rushed MOE’s crystal!
But as Ji Jin’s screen went gray, a strong, clear female voice rang out from the computer speakers —
“Victory!”
MOE took down the enemy crystal first and won!
Author’s note:
Haha hiccup Lu lost, so now it’s time for some adorable whining!
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