CH 154

On August 15th, the new version of Gun King was updated globally along with the three maps for the explosion mode—Botanical Garden, Qingyang Airport and Disneyland Ruins.

In addition, a new weapon was introduced—the submachine gun, the PP2000 series, ‘Note.’

Shooting games would be very cautious in releasing new weapons. The official R&D team would analyze the weapon data in detail every time a new weapon was released, so as to not release a powerful weapon that was too buggy and would break the balance of the arena.

The prototype of the PP2000 submachine gun launched this time came from Russia. The special feature of this gun was that there were two types of magazines it could use. One was a small magazine with 20 rounds of bullets and the other was a large magazine with 44 rounds.

There was an additional gun butt on the body of the gun. The small magazine with 20 rounds of ammunition could be removed from the butt and it could be fired with a single hand like a pistol. When using the 44 round magazine, it was similar to an ordinary submachine gun and could unleash a wide range gunfire suppression.

This gun was equivalent to the ‘large and small combination gun.’ The advantage was that the playing style was very flexible. The large and small magazines could be switched at any time. The disadvantage was that the firepower wasn’t as fierce as that of traditional submachine guns.

After the game version was updated, Jiang Shaoyu personally took Pei Feng to the shooting training ground to try out this new weapon. The master and apprentice fought 1v1 with the new weapon a few times and Jiang Shaoyu soon discovered—

This gun was perfect for Xiao Pei!

Xiao Pei originally played as a free person. No matter whether he held a submachine gun for fierce suppression or picked up a pistol to shoot quickly, his marksmanship was very accurate. This ‘switchable firearm’ could exert the greatest power in Pei Feng’s hands. It was equivalent to giving Pei Feng an extra weapon grid and it would go from three weapons to four weapons.

Jiang Shaoyu said to Pei Feng, “You have mastered all other weapons. The next focus is to practice with this new weapon. When you need to play the charger position, you can take it with you.”

Pei Feng smiled and nodded. “Received. I will train with the new weapon as soon as possible!”

On the night of the version update, Jiang Shaoyu called Qin Bo and Old Chang for a meeting. He asked the two of them to do a good job with the modeling and path analysis of the new maps as soon as possible. Then the new maps could be added to their daily practice.

Qin Bo and Old Chang worked overnight and finished the analysis of the new maps two days later.

Jiang Shaoyu summoned all members of the national team for online training. He sent a message in the Q group of the national team. “National server, free training ground 7341, password 7785. Everyone, come in and get familiar with the new map together.”

Everyone logged into the room one after another. Ever since Yezi was ordered by Jiang Shaoyu to write a self-criticism for being late, no one dared to be late for every training session. Coach Jiang said 8 o’clock but everyone arrived at 7:50.

Jiang Shaoyu said, “Pass through the map with me in groups of four. The first one is first.”

The first new map, Botanical Garden, was a medium-sized map. The distance between the two explosion points was relatively close. Point A was the greenhouse flower area and Point B was the open cacti area. The flower area had no hiding places and was suitable for chargers and assaulters to rush and defend. In the cacti area, there was a large number of dense and tall tree-like cacti that they could hide behind.

The terrain of this map wasn’t complicated. The difficulty lay in the fact that Point A and Point B had two completely different styles of play. Which side to attack and which side to defend was a great test of the commands and adaptability.

The second map of Qingyang Airport was a medium-sized map with two explosion points. There was the terminal building and parking lot. This was a three-dimensional, double-layered map. The parking lot had a wide field of view, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. The internal passages of the terminal were complex and easy to attack but difficult to defend.

The third map, Disneyland Ruins, was a large-scale explosion map modeled after the real Disneyland. The distance between the two explosion points was very far. Luck was very important when playing such a large-scale map. They had to choose one between A and B. If they happened to choose the opposite of the opponent then the bandits would easily win. The police would lose the game because they were too late for support.

Everyone followed the coach through the maps. What forks in the road to take, how many places to hide, the best shortcut to the explosion points… Jiang Shaoyu led the national team ‘tourist group’ to dig out the details and go through the map. After passing, he let everyone play hide-and-seek games with Old Chang in groups to deepen their impression of the maps.

The four hours of online training were all about the new maps. The players developed a general impression of the new maps. The lineups of these new maps were handed over to the tactical team for analysis and discussion.

—

The next afternoon, Jiang Shaoyu was reading the information in the office when the team leader Yu Mingxiang suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

Jiang Shaoyu was puzzled. “Sister Yu, is there something wrong?”

Yu Mingxiang sent him a WeChat message and said, “The team leader from Singapore found me and said he wanted to book a practice match with the Chinese team. I don’t know if you want to agree or not so I wanted to ask you. This is their coach’s contact information. Feel free to add him if you wish.”

Jiang Shaoyu was slightly taken aback. “Singapore?”

He searched his memory and quickly remembered that the coach for Singapore was named Zhang Yuqing, who was of Chinese descent. At that time, it was the semifinals of the Asian Championship. After the Chinese team defeated Singapore 3:1, the other person took the initiative to shake hands with Jiang Shaoyu to congratulate him.

Singapore’s results in the World Series were mediocre but they had some influence in the Asian region. For this year’s Asian Championship, they won third place. Netizens in Singapore should be satisfied with this result? Therefore, Coach Zhang of Singapore didn’t have much hostility toward Jiang Shaoyu and took the initiative to make an appointment for a practice match.

Official practice matches were what the players needed the most.

In team practice, everyone knew each other too well. It was like left and right hands fighting each other, often covering up a lot of shortcomings. It was only during an external practice match that the players viewed as an official competition that allowed them to see the problems in team cooperation.

Jiang Shaoyu originally wanted to find some countries to arrange practice matches. Unexpectedly, Singapore came to the door first. This was exactly what he wanted.

Jiang Shaoyu immediately took out his phone and sent a verification message to add the other person as a friend. The other person quickly sent over a handshake emoji and said, “Hello, Coach Jiang. Have you been busy training recently?”

Jiang Shaoyu replied, “Yes. I heard from our team leader that you would like to book a practice match?”

Coach Jiang had been coaching for many years and was six years older than Jiang Shaoyu. Jiang Shaoyu’s attitude was very polite and he wasn’t arrogant because the Chinese team won the Asian Championship.

Coach Zhang typed out, “Yes, our national team has been training recently and wanted to arrange an official practice match for our players to find problems with cooperation.”

Jiang Shaoyu asked, “How did you come up with the idea of finding our Chinese team to play a practice match?”

Coach Zhang said bluntly, “There is no stress when communicating in Chinese, haha.”

Jiang Shaoyu: “……”

This reason was indeed irrefutable.

Coach Zhang followed up and added, “Moreover, the performance of the Chinese team in the Asian Championship is obvious for all. We can learn if we play practice matches with strong teams.”

This coach was more modest. He was probably convinced by Jiang Shaoyu.

He said at that time that he was looking forward to their performance in the World Series. He had obviously seen Jiang Shaoyu’s strength and believed that the Chinese team could achieve good results in the World Series.

It was rare to be recognized by his opponents.

In the past, the Chinese team couldn’t find someone to make an appointment for a practice match with because others thought they were too weak. Playing a practice match with a weak team wouldn’t help them improve. Now it was different. The Chinese team played well in the Asian Championship and won the championship. Someone would come to them to compete.

E-sports players all had a strong mentality. As long as they were strong enough then they would naturally get the respect of their opponents.

Jiang Shaoyu glanced at the schedule and said, “How about this Tuesday night at 8 o’clock?”

Coach Zhang immediately agreed, “No problem! What about the format of the match?”

Jiang Shaoyu said, “Play a BO3 and release the map ban. You can choose any mode you want.”

Coach Zhang replied, “Okay! I’ll go back and make arrangements. See you at 8 o’clock on Tuesday.”

After ending the conversation, Yu Mingxiang saw Jiang Shaoyu’s calm face and said emotionally, “This is the first time that a team from another country has taken the initiative to ask us for a practice match!”

Jiang Shaoyu’s lips curled up slightly. “We have won the Asian Championship. I believe that more teams will come to us for practice matches in the future. Sister Yu will be busy.”

Yu Mingxiang was the leader of the national team and people found her first for any chores. If they wanted Jiang Shaoyu’s contact information then they had to inquire through the team leader.

Sure enough, two days later, someone came to add her as a friend and wanted to talk to Coach Jiang about arranging some practice matches. There were also advertisers who came to the door and said they wanted to sponsor the national team. They wanted her to ask Coach Jiang’s opinion…

Yu Mingxiang suddenly became ‘Jiang Shaoyu’s agent and microphone’ and she was very busy.

However, it was good that she was very busy. The busier the team leader, the better the national team’s results and the more attention they received!

On Sunday afternoon, Yu Mingxiang knocked on Jiang Shaoyu’s door and said with a smile, “Ah Yu, you are really good at predicting things. Another team is looking for you. The coach of Malaysia wants to make an appointment with us for a practice match!”

Jiang Shaoyu took the mobile phone and added this coach as a friend.

The other person could also speak Chinese and said respectfully, “Hello, Coach Jiang. I am Kiki, the head coach of the Malaysian national team. I want to make an appointment with the Chinese national team for a practice match. When is it convenient for you?”

Jiang Shaoyu replied, “Friday. How about BO3 and we will only play the explosion mode. Practice the new maps?:”

Kiki: Great. I’ll go back and arrange it!”

—

Two days later, Yu Mingxiang knocked on Jiang Shaoyu’s door again.

Jiang Shaoyu knew her intentions before she could open her mouth this time. “Is there anyone else making an appointment for a practice match?”

Yu Mingxiang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “This time, it is Thailand and Vietnam. They looked for me on the same day and I always feel like they have made an appointment.”

Jiang Shaoyu said casually, “Sister Yu, have you ever thought that these coaches have a group together in private? They first sent the coach of Singapore to test me. Then they found I was easy to talk to so they came one after another.”

Yu Mingxiang was stunned for a moment. “Are you saying that the coaches of these national teams are in a group in private and specifically arranged training matches? They discussed it in the group and then came to our Chinese team?”

Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “Yes. When I was in California, I heard that the US team often plays practice matches with the British and German national teams. Their players are very familiar with each other. Since there are practice groups in Europe and the United States, it makes no sense that Asia doesn’t have it, right?”

He paused and pointed out a key point. “It is just that before, the level of the Chinese team was too bad and we didn’t participate in the Asian Championship. Therefore, they didn’t play with us.”

Yu Mingxiang: “……”

Ah Yu really had sharp eyes and could see through the actions of these coaches. They must’ve secretly come to the group and discussed whether to play practice matches with the Chinese team or not. After the discussion, they came to her one by one. Her contact information must’ve been shared in the group.

Otherwise, how could they find her one after another with such similar words?

Yu Mingxiang was in a complicated mood. In the past, no one cared about the Chinese national team. Now it was good. They had become a favorite of countries queuing up for practice matches. She said with a smile, “Then what are you going to do? Agree to all of them?”

Jiang Shaoyu said, “In the World Series, countries from various continents will most likely be divided into different groups and it is difficult for us to collide with Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. It isn’t harmful for us to play practice matches with them. It will allow the team members to practice more.”

Yu Mingxiang thought about it and nodded in agreement. “It makes sense! Practicing in the team feels less effective. If we fight externally then every match can be played as an official match and we can hone the mentality of the players.”

“Yes.”

He picked up his phone, added the coaches from Thailand and Vietnam and said very directly, “It is better to build a group for training matches. I will pull in all the coaches who want to make appointments for practice matches and it is convenient to make appointments at any time in the future.”

Everyone: “……”

In fact, they had a group in private.

Jiang Shaoyu’s move ended up making him the leader of the new training group. He asked the coaches to pull people in and in the blink of an eye, the coaches from Indonesia, India and other Asian countries also joined.

Many coaches in these countries could speak Chinese or English on a daily basis and there were no barriers in communication.

South Korea’s new coach, Cha Injun didn’t join the group. They had also disdained playing with the Asian rookie countries and preferred to go to Europe and the United States for practice matches.

Pei Feng looked at the group created by his master and really admired it in his heart. There was actually a schedule for the training matches. China vs Singapore was on Tuesday, China vs Malaysia was on Friday and China vs Vietnam was next Tuesday… there were two practice matches a week with two or three days off in between. It was just right to adjust and do the replays.

This type of training arrangement was very tight but it wasn’t too stressful. It perfectly coincided with the domestic A-grade match days and Zhou Zhou and Old Lin could also participate.

It seemed like this was arranged by Jiang Shaoyu, right? It was very beneficial to the Chinese national team!

Why did he feel like his master had brought in a group of mobs to give experience to the national team?