Chapter 99 – Challenger

Li Xiaojiang never thought that he could become an e-sports player. He had been playing Miracle for three years. The dark magician was his favourite class but his hand speed couldn’t keep up. Thus, he could only use the ‘slow’ style. Of course, this was also related to his nature. Since he was a child, he wasn’t good at communicating with people. When he talked, his tongue couldn’t help knotting. After being laughed at several times, he was even less likely to speak.

He was like a snail shrinking into his shell. He slowly crawled forward, regardless of what the people around him thought.

He met Cat God in the game through an accident and was invited by Cat God to join the team. Li Xiaojiang was so excited that his fingers were shaking, but he wasn’t likely to express it. He ran to his boss’ office and could only clench his fist as he said, “I, I want to play, play the game. Next, next month, I won’t come to work.”

The boss, who was surfing the Internet, glanced at him and asked, “What game?’

“The Miracle Professional League.”

The boss was called Li Hai and he was Li Xiaojiang’s cousin.

Li Xiaojiang had been slow since he was a child. He looked dull and his grades weren’t good. After graduating from high school, he didn’t get into a good university. His person’s cultural level wasn’t high and they didn’t have any good ideas for their son’s future. Therefore, they sent him to a provincial city to spend a few years with his cousin.

His cousin opened an online store in the provincial city, specializing in assembling computers, keyboards, mouses, audio and other peripherals. There was a physical store in the city and the business was very good. The annual income reached millions of yuan.

He knew this child wasn’t good at communicating with others and asked his cousin to help with miscellaneous tasks such as printing orders and counting inventory, which didn’t require talking to others.

Li Xiaojiang did things slowly but he was careful and serious. It was handy for him to do these tasks and he never made a mistake. After finishing his work during the day, he was idle at night and played games. His days were very comfortable.

Today, he suddenly said that he was going to play in the Miracle Professional League. Li Hai knew the Miracle League very well and thought it was funny. He looked at the blushing teenager and patted his shoulder. Li Hai asked, “You are going to play competitively at this level? Who’s fooling you? You shouldn’t meet liars.”

“No, no.” Li Xiaojiang anxiously explained. “It is Cat, Cat, Cat…”

Li Hai quickly rushed him. “There is a relationship with a cat?”

“Cat, Cat God asked me to join.” He finally said the sentence in its entirety. Li Xiaojiang sighed with relief and looked at his cousin with eyes full of anticipation.

Li Hai was startled.

Cat God?

Of course, he had heard the name of this great god. Some time ago, Cat God was the behind the scenes strategist at the World Carnival and he heated up the country. As a veteran of Miracle, he naturally heard the news of Cat God’s return.

Did his stupid cousin really meet Cat God?

Li Hai couldn’t help feeling excited and asked, “Are you sure that it is Cat God? You’re not joking?”

Li Xiaojiang nodded seriously. “Yes!”

Li Hai excitedly cried out, “Quickly quickly, take me to meet Cat God!”

***

Li Cangyu was chatting with everyone on the voice channel. In less than half an hour, Li Xiaojiang came back and whispered, “Cat, Cat God, I’m back.”

Then the voice of an adult male was heard. “Hey, is Cat God really there?”

Li Cangyu replied, “I am Old Cat.”

Li Hai was excited. “Are you Cat God?”

“Yes… how are you related to Xiao Li?”

Li Hai explained, “I am Li Xiaojiang’s cousin. Xiaojiang’s parents aren’t local and he is currently working in my store. He just told me that Cat God wanted him to join the professional league. I thought he was dreaming!”

Li Cangyu smiled. “I’m sincerely inviting Xiaojiang to join our team. There is a formal contract after joining. The address of the club is in Changsha. If you are worried, you can come to check the team in person once I return to China. Look and then make a decision.”

“Yes, the store won’t be busy in a few days so I will take him there!” Li Hai paused before asking uneasily, “Cat God, my brother’s level… can he really play the game? He is a slow child from an early age and I can’t wait to be killed by him in PK.”

“I’m not mistaken. Xiaojiang is very talented.” Li Cangyu explained warmly.

“Really?” Li Hai happily patted Li Xiaojiang’s head and said, “Then you have made it! Since Cat God likes you then I can rest assured. Brother will take you to report to the team next month!”

“Yes.” Li Xiaojiang was also excited and spoke seriously, “Thank, thank you Cat God.”

His brother happened to be an otaku with an online store. He knew e-sports and Miracle, as well as being familiar with the professional league. This made things much easier to handle. Li Cangyu didn’t need to bother him with more details as Li Hai readily agreed to let his brother play competitively.

This slow fellow didn’t hesitate too long to decide to join the team. He was clearly very passionate about the Miracle League. This meant he could be well nurtured in the future.

Li Cangyu received a new teammate and was in a good mood.

He was one member away from his goal of an eight-person team.

***

That evening, Li Cangyu commissioned the vice president of the Food Squad to help him write a promotional post that was sent all over the Miracle forums.

The contents of the post were very concise. [Cat God is bringing a team back to the Miracle Professional League. He is currently looking for teammates. It is room number 7713 in the cross-server arena and the password is 9999. Looking for any strong masters to join!]

The post made headlines as soon as it was released.

Cheng Wei was Li Cangyu’s biggest fanboy and he naturally saw the post. He quickly forwarded the forum post to Weibo with the comment: [Where are the masters? Quickly join! Cat God’s team is absolutely trustworthy!]

Someone couldn’t help commenting below: [Aren’t you the vice-captain of Time? Why are you helping Cat God to advertise?] [Cheng Wei’s heart is with Old Cat. Poor Captain Tan.] [‘Pained Captain Tan team’] [‘Strongly Distressed Captain Tan team’ +1]

Cheng Wei was somewhat upset when he saw the comments below his Weibo. He looked for Tan Shitian to explain but didn’t expect Tan Shitian to act so generously by forwarding the same post and writing: [Cat God’s team should be full. If you are interested in playing in the professional league, you should seize this opportunity.]

Cheng Wei was moved as he knocked on the door of the bedroom. “Why did you write that on Weibo? I thought you would scold me.”

Tan Shitian smiled and rubbed Cheng Wei’s head. “How can I scold you? It doesn’t matter if you help Cat God with advertising. Can’t people on different teams be friends?”

Cheng Wei agreed, “Yes! People on different teams can also be friends!”

Tan Shitian added, “It is fine as long as you don’t go easy on Cat God when you encounter him in matches.”

Cheng Wei immediately formed fists and declared confidently, “It is impossible for me to go easy on him. If I met Cat God on the field, I won’t be polite and will beat him up.”

Tan Shitian, “…”

He was bullied by Cat God yet he wanted to beat Cat God up? Wasn’t this too much?

……

To the surprise of the fans, Ling Xuefeng also forwarded it along with Tan and Cheng. Captain Ling wrote straightforward words: [Help expand.]

Ling Xuefeng’s personality was solemn and cold. His Weibo was like an official promotional platform. He rarely wrote anything about his private life and usually only forwarded news about the professional league and the Wind Colour team. However, many careful fans found that since the appearance of Cat God, Captain Ling actually forwarded news related to Cat God three times in a row.

The first one was Tan Shitian’s story about the big cat and kitten. Captain Ling explained that the big cat and the kitten had a father-son relationship. The second was the matter of the behind the scenes strategist at the World Carnival. Captain Ling forwarded Old Cat’s post. Today, Cat God’s team was recruiting and Captain Ling forwarded a post to help increase the publicity.

Fans were very puzzled. [Captain Ling seems to care about Cat God?] [Weren’t they the strongest opponents?] [The question about who is the best summoner in the league hasn’t been settled. Captain Ling must refuel to kill Old Cat!] [Kill the Cat +1]

[Kill the Cat + ID number.]

A bunch of ‘Kill the Cat’ filled the comments.

Ling Xuefeng sat calmly in front of the computer but he was thinking, ‘What do you know? That cat is mine.’

***

The news that Cat God was recruiting teammates was widely forwarded by professional players, and it clearly had an overwhelming publicity effect. Xiao Han’s challenge room was overcrowded. Many people who couldn’t enter had to queue up outside.

Some people gladly paid 1,000 gold coins to enter the challenge arena and see Cat God’s face. It was a pity that most of them couldn’t see Cat God’s face as they were sent away by Xiao Han.

The people watching the screen excitedly typed: [Lick Cat God!] [Cat God, please give me a signature!] [Love to Eat Braised Fish is actually Cat God! The members of the Food Squad are very proud!] [Cat God, come out! Don’t be shy!] [Cat God, do you want to personally beat me up? I want to fight the strategist behind the scenes!]

There were too many people who flocked to the room after hearing Cat God’s name. More than 95% of them came to join the fun and only a few had the strength to fight in the challenge arena.

Today’s challenge arena opened until 2 p.m. in New York, which was 2 a.m. in China.

Since Cat God didn’t make a public appearance, the first wave of people gradually dispersed. It was late at night and only a few dozen people were left as onlookers. Xiao Han had been playing since morning and he was tired and dizzy. He let Frost Descends sit in the middle of the arena to rest as he went to the bathroom.

Li Cangyu had thrown his apprentice into the arena to train Xiao Han’s ability to cope with challengers alone.

Li Cangyu saw his apprentice come out of the bathroom with a tired expression and softened. He waved to Xiao Han and said, “Come rest for a while. Eat some fruit.”

Xiao Han immediately came over and took a peeled apple from Bai Xuan.

Li Yunyu asked, “What’s the situation like in the arena? There still isn’t a harvest?”

Xiao Han bit the apple and replied, “Most of them came to get Master’s signature. There was no one who beat me this morning.”

Li Cangyu and Bai Xuan looked at each other.

This high-intensity challenge mode was actually an excellent exercise opportunity for Xiao Han.

Xiao Han, who only knew how to kill people from behind, was now winning against hundreds of people of different races and classes. The fact that no one beat him this morning made Li Cangyu surprised and very happy. His apprentice was gradually changing and hadn’t realized the progress he was making.

Li Cangyu was silent for a moment before saying, “Wait for me and I will go to the arena to check.”

Xiao Han nodded. “Yes.”

***

Surprisingly, the duo returned after eating fruit and found a person sitting in the ring.

The man was sitting next to Xiao Han’s assassin and the room was filled with messages that he had sent: [Is Cat God there? I came to join your team.]

[Cat God?]

[Cat God, accept me. My level isn’t bad!]

[I am young and have a first-class awareness. I am very talented and there is a lot of room for progress!]

[I’m sure that I will become a strong teammate! [Haha][Haha].]

Li Cangyu, “…”

His boasting ability was quite good.

Was he as skilled as his mouth? Of course, Li Cangyu had to judge it himself.

Li Cangyu logged into his summoner account on the next computer. He made another arena room and had Xiao Han send the person a message: [Room 7319, the password is 8899. Come for a fight.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep