CH 161

The registration for the World Series lasted a week. The confirmation of the list of participants and submission of the team information was all handled by Yu Mingxiang. Jiang Shaoyu focused his energy on daily training.

After this period of intense training, they passed the 10th level for most of the training software produced by Qin Bo. Even Qin Xueyao, who was very weak at shooting, worked hard to pass the 9th level. If she was in a good condition, she could even achieve a headshot.

In fact, the 9th level was already a very high requirement.

However, the players of the national team didn’t dare to be careless. They all trained hard out of fear that they would be ordered to write a self-criticism by Coach Jiang if they didn’t do well. The awe and recognition of Jiang Shaoyu in everyone’s hearts made the daily training ‘a task that must be completed’. Over time, the basic operation and reaction speed of the players had significantly improved.

As Jiang Shaoyu said, a solid foundation would be reflected in the game. The accumulation of these details often changed the outcome of a game.

In addition to the team’s internal training and cooperation practice, the external practice matches hadn’t fallen behind. The frequency of two practice matches a week was still the same. The coaches of the national teams of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, etc. would try and guess Jiang Shaoyu’s lineup arrangement for every practice match. Unfortunately, they never guessed correctly.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the capital entered winter.

With the first heavy snow when the capital entered winter, the list of participating countries and the grouping of the World Series was finally officially announced on the official website of the International Gun King League.

This year’s World Series had 32 participating countries from all over the world, divided into eight groups.

Among them, Groups A, B, C and D were in the upper half of the zone and Groups E, F, G and H were in the lower half of the zone.

The group stage adopted the common BO3 points format, with a round-robin tournament within the group. The score was settled by the winning maps. Winning a map earned 1 point and the top two teams of the group entered the next knockout stage.

The rules for the round of 16 were the two pairs of AB and CD in the upper half and EF and GH in the lower half. The first place in one group played the second place in the other group. The BO5 elimination match format determined the top 8.

The quarter-finals was still divided between the top and upper halves.

It wasn’t until the final four that the teams from the top and bottom halves met.

Those who made it to the quarter-finals of last year’s World Series were divided into eight groups according to the rules. Among them, the United States, Australia, South Korea and France were in Groups A~D in the upper half.

Britain, Germany, Italy and Brazil were in Groups E~H in the lower half.

The Chinese team was drawn to Group F and the opponents in the same group were Germany, the third place team in last year’s World Series, as well as Canada and Spain in the top 16.

The moment the group list came out, it immediately caused heated discussions on the Internet.

“Group F is strong overall. Germany was third place last year and Canada and Spain also reached the top 16. It is a nightmare group.”

“Will they use the Chinese team as cannon fodder to get points?”

“Judging from historical results, the Chinese team is indeed the worst in the group.”

“But we are the Asian champions!”

“The Asian Championship isn’t worth mentioning in the eyes of the European and American countries. The North American and European leagues are more powerful in terms of shooting games. For Asian countries, they only pay attention to South Korea.”

“The only Asian country that has won trophies in the World Series in recent years is indeed South Korea!”

“I hope that we can get out of the group stage this year. It is too shameful!”

At last year’s World Series, the Chinese team faced the United States and Italy in the group stage and finally finished third in the group, failing to qualify.

It was indeed a shame to be eliminated and return home after the group stage.

But this year, the performance of the national team led by Jiang Shaoyu in the Asian Championship had regained the confidence of many netizens and they were looking forward to the national team creating miracles again.

Of course, there were also many people who weren’t optimistic about the performance of the national team in the world competition.

After all, they had only won against the Korean youth team in the Asian Championship. The fact that South Korea’s really powerful main players hadn’t gone meant that the level of the Chinese national team wasn’t necessarily stronger than the Korean team.

The World Series was full of strong teams and the qualification situation of Group F wasn’t optimistic.

—

In the meeting room of the South Korean national team’s base, the head coach Cha Injun pointed to the group list and said with a smile, “The Chinese national team is in the lower half? It seems we won’t meet them in this year’s World Series.”

The assistant coach agreed, “Yes. The upper and lower halves can only meet in the semi-finals or grand finals. With the level of the Chinese national team, it is uncertain if they can even qualify in the group stage, right?”

Someone agreed. “For Group F, Germany will definitely be 1st. The other place is likely to go to Spain or Canada. It won’t be the turn of the Chinese national team.”

Cha Injun nodded. “This time, we are lucky. Mexico and New Zealand in the same group aren’t our opponents. Next, the tactical group will focus on the French team in Group D.”

Everyone replied, “Understood!”

After the meeting, Cha Injun looked at the grouping table on the big screen and frowned. In the past, he wouldn’t have paid attention at all to the grouping of China. But today, for some reason, he looked at the grouping of the Chinese team immediately after it was released. This showed that he was still a bit aware of Jiang Shaoyu in his heart.

After losing the Asian Championships, he found a water army to lead the rhythm and pushed all the blame on the former Coach Han, making the public think that the loss of the Korean team was a mistake in the coach’s decision making.

Coach Han was forced to resign and he was able to successfully take the position and become the new head coach of the national team.

At present, the South Korean people were still very optimistic about the national team. Under the manipulation of public opinion, the loss in the Asian Championship didn’t have much impact on the confidence of the people.

However, Cha Injun was still a bit uneasy. The Chinese team was divided into the lower half. He hoped that the teams in the lower half could fight a bit to stop China and not let them emerge from the group.

Thinking of this, he made a phone call and said in a low voice, “Let the media reporters be ready. Find a way to break the confidence of the Chinese team and let them go home as soon as possible after the group stage.”

At this time, the meeting room of the National E-sports Base of China.

Everyone sat up straight and looked at the grouping table on the big screen released by Jiang Shaoyu.

Jiang Shaoyu said calmly, “Among the four teams in Group F, Germany was 3rd place last season, Canada was 6th place and Spain was 10th place. Meanwhile, China didn’t even emerge from the group stage last season and the top 16 doesn’t have our name at all. No matter how you look at it, we are at the bottom.”

His gaze swept over the group and he said indifferently, “However, historical achievements only represent the past, not the present. When we participated in the Asian Championship this year, we were also cannon fodder in everyone’s eyes. I believe that everyone remembers the perfunctory and contemptuous attitude of the Japanese side toward us. But in the end, we won the championship.”

This sentence lifted the spirits of the players present. That’s right! The previous Chinese national team was indeed not very good and was looked down upon. But now it was different. The 6th national team had completely transformed!

Jiang Shaoyu pointed the laser pointer at the opponents in Group F. “We won’t despise any opponent but there is no need to be afraid of them. The coaching staff will seize this time to make some targeted tactical arrangements according to the style of Germany, Spain and Canada. You just need to do what you have to do. Remember every map and lineup that we have practiced during this time and give it your all.”

He looked at everyone. “Do you have confidence?”

The players clenched their fists and shouted in unison, “We have confidence!”

Jiang Shaoyu nodded. “Very good. There is still a week to go. I won’t schedule an external practice match this week to avoid a tactical leakage. We will just do in-term practice. Raise your spirits and go to the training room to prepare.”

After the meeting, everyone went to the training room.

Hua Ran sat in front of the computer and said in a worried manner, “The group stage is all European and North American teams? We haven’t played against those teams at all this year. The Asian Championship and practice matches are all countries from Asia…”

Qin Xueyao said, “Trust Coach Jiang. He has detailed information about the players from various countries in his hands and will definitely make the best arrangements.”

Hua Ran was also relieved when he heard this and said with a smile, “It makes sense! I’ll do whatever the coach tells me to do!”

Mo Hantian also said seriously, “Yes. For tactics and maps, we don’t need to worry about it blindly. It is enough to believe in God Wing.”

Shi Xiaobin agreed. “That’s right. There is Coach Jiang and we will definitely win.”

Pei Feng listened to everyone’s discussion and the corners of his mouth curved up. Subconsciously, Jiang Shaoyu had become the most prestigious national team coach in recent years. The players of the national team all admired him. If he told everyone to go east, no one would dare go west. The commemorative book given to him on his birthday had also become a ‘fan confession book.’

This was Master’s personal charm, right? He convinced them with strength.

In the following week, Jiang Shaoyu called several tactical advisers to the national team base and met every day to discuss tactics. Qin Bo was responsible for the statistical analysis of the data of players from various countries. Anna, who was fluent in German and English, translated the materials on the Internet from various countries to find the style characteristics of the popular players and core players.

The tactical team had to meet for several hours every time. Pei Feng saw the busy figure of his master and didn’t dare disturb him. At this time, it would be too stingy to worry over whether his master liked him or not.

The World Series was imminent and Pei Feng had clearly set his priorities. The master was discussing tactics with the coaches while Pei Feng organized everyone to complete the daily training and shared some daily things with his master.

Fast forward to the end of November.

Yu Mingxiang arranged everything and officially set out with the national team.

Before the national team set off, another group photo was taken. The official Weibo sent a message, saying, “The 6th national team will officially set out today. I hope that everyone will have a smooth and triumphant return!”

The moment the news was released, it was immediately forwarded to the top of the hot search.

The sheer size of this national team made the netizens’ jaws drop in shock.

There was no need to say much about head coach Jiang Shaoyu, two deputy coaches, an assistant coach and a data analyst. They were members of the national team that couldn’t be absent.

However, what was the situation of bringing a bunch of ‘tactical advisers?’

Coach Xu of BM, Coach Gu of JZ, Coach Zhu of SN…

Was Coach Jiang ‘collecting stamps?’ He poached the coaches of the major teams to the national team?

Also, a chef team was going abroad with them?

Many netizens excitedly left messages of blessings. “Jiayou! I’m looking forward to your triumph! Bring a trophy back!”

“Coach Jiang is standing in the middle. He is super well-respected.”

“I found that the uniforms of this national team are quite good-looking. Is there a model that can be bought?”

“For the next half a month, I will set an alarm every day to watch the national team’s matches.”

“I’ve never watched the World Series but I will watch it all this year. I’m sure that God Wing won’t let us down.”

“I am already paying attention to the official live stream room. I’m looking forward to the Chinese national team finishing off the European and American teams and qualifying!”

Of course, in the midst of the cheers, there were many black fans who left messages scolding Jiang Shaoyu.

“There are no results but the pomp is getting bigger and bigger every time.”

“Traveling abroad with so many people. They are almost able to catch up with a tour group, right?”

“The funds for the national team are being burned through.”

“It is really pretentious to bring chefs with you for an e-sports competition. Are you not used to eating foreign food?”

Jiang Shaoyu ignored these negative comments. It was normal to bring a chef and team doctor to compete abroad. Many teams in sports events brought their own chefs and doctor to avoid any problems with the diet and body of the players.

What if they ate bad food and had a bad stomach?

Playing half the game before suspending it to collectively going to the toilet?

He wanted to minimize all risks and make sure that the players were in the best possible shape. This was what he should do as a head coach.

From the Imperial Capital International Airport to San Francisco Airport, the flight time took ten hours.

On the plane, Jiang Shaoyu looked at the white clouds outside the window in a complicated mood.

A few years ago, he suddenly differentiated into an omega. In the hospital, he had an accident and beat up two passersby alphas close to him to the point of bleeding. He lost a lot of medical expenses and his phone. Later, due to family pressure and physical reasons, he had to announce his retirement and promise not to touch e-sports again.

Life suddenly became a mess.

His mood was also at the bottom when he went abroad alone.

Later, he slowly accepted the fact that he was an omega and lived abroad with Jiang Doudou for five years. He thought that his life would pass like this. He didn’t expect that he would be invited back to China to serve as the head coach of the national team.

He promised to return to China, but in the final analysis, it was because he was unwilling.

He wasn’t willing to leave e-sports completely and he wasn’t willing to watch the Chinese team being scolded every day.

Now he was once again on a flight to San Francisco, but he was no longer alone and was in a completely different mood.

A large number of national team players, coaching staff and logistics team members accompanied him on the trip.

Whether the strongest group representing the Chinese Gun King e-sports could win good results in this World Series was still unknown.

However, Jiang Shaoyu believed they would never return empty-handed on this trip.

He would definitely go all out to let the world see the changes and progress of the Chinese team!