Translated by Team DHH at Fish Trapped in Secret Room

Book 3: Glory on the Other Side

Chapter 27

When Ai Qing arrived at Solo’s room, both A and B teams were
either sitting in the living room or smoking on the balcony.  When
they saw her walk in, some of them waved to her and some of
them cleared their throats.

What was going on?  They were all acting awkward. “Where’s Solo?”

n.o.body answered.

“He’s talking with K&K’s manager.”  Bug had to explain to her
since n.o.body wanted to speak.  “They should be done soon?  
We’ve also been waiting for quite a while.”

Su Cheng?  It was quite a surprise to her.

Obviously the two inside the room also heard the voices from
the living room.  Shortly Su Cheng walked out carrying her bag
and left as everyone watched her go.  Solo walked out behind
her.  He glanced at Ai Qing for several seconds, then clapped
his hands.  “Sorry to keep everyone waiting.  Come on, please
come in A team.  Let’s discuss the player a.s.signments.”

The smokers on the balcony pinched their cigarettes and the
people in the living room all stood up.

They all walked into his room.

Solo sorted out his desk.  “I’ve been pretty busy recently and
haven’t paid much attention to Secret Room.  Slide, come, talk
to us about the current rankings.“  Usually this was Ai Qing’s
task.  Slide was surprised to hear Solo call on him, but he
cleared his throat immediately.  “It’s still the same.  For K&K,
aside for Dt who still remains at first place, the other two, though
ranked among the top ten, are not ranked that high-- --”  Solo
threw a pen at him and said,  “Write the rankings down and let’s
look at it.

Slide stood up and wrote down a series of names on the
whiteboard.  He remembered the top forty rankings without
missing a single one.  He pulled out his cell phone and surfed
some web pages after he finished writing.  Then he even wrote
down all their scores.

Solo looked at the list from top to bottom.

Then he looked back at the top ten:

Dt: 7694

Slide: 7480

Taotao: 7356

Buff: 7098

Inin: 7057

Grunt: 7057

All: 6900

Bug: 6877

97: 6831

Following: 6793

……

Looking at the top ten, SP’s A team were all in there.  K&K’s
three players were really strong.  There were only two exceptions.  
One was Solo team’s long time opponent Buff.  The other one…...
he was this year’s black horse.

Looking at the top twenty, all of SP players were on the list.  Buff’s
team were all in there as well.  Even the team led by the black
horse was there.  But K&K still had only three players in there.  
All the others were random internet players.

“K&K should be recruiting now.”  Solo spoke as if he were talking
to himself.  His eyes finally looked at Ai Qing for the first time
today,  “What do you think?”

‘Me?”  Ai QIng pondered.  “Other games all have very strict rules.  
They need to confirm the names of players before the tournament
season begins.  But doesn’t have this
restriction.  In other words, our opponents, be it Chinese or foreign
teams, may adjust their player list at any time. It’s very challenging.”

“True.”  Solo repeated.  “It’s very challenging.”

“The most interesting thing is that only two teams belong to clubs
among the top twenty”  Ai Qing looked at the list of the scores and
ranking.  “I have never thought about this situation before I took
over the team.”

Solo either didn’t hear her or was deep in thought.

He was surprisingly quiet.

But apparently Ai Qing’s comment wasn’t that difficult to comprehend.  
She hadn’t even really a.n.a.lyzed the team players, the characteristics
of each player, or a.s.signed players to offensive or defensive roles.

Ai Qing waited for him for over ten seconds, then turned to Slide,
silently asking him for help with her eyes.

Slide understood.  “Ah, right.  The situation is very unusual.  Let
me tell you guys something interesting.  That Taotao posted an ad
on Weibo last night to look for an offline investment.”

“Looking for investors?”  Solo was back to his normal self.  “Why?”

“Because they don’t have money.”  Bug answered.  He also
recognized that there was something wrong with their boss today.  
“They are not a professional team. I heard they are all students.  
Taotao is only nineteen years old.”

Inin said,  “Oh, ONLY?”

All depressed Inin’s head using his palm.  “Don’t interrupt.”

“Oh.”  Inin shut up obediently.  But he still used his eyes to complain
that nineteen years old was already too old compared to him.

“It’s been getting reposted all over the forums and other sites.  It’s
spreading like wildfire.”  Slide continued.

Too many things happened last night.  SP also had a major
personnel change.  She had missed the posting.

“The most important thing is what happens right now.”  Slide
paused deliberately. Solo and Ai Qing both looked at him.  It meant
that you could continue now, we all were already paying full attention
to you.  He finally smiled slowly and waved his cell phone.  “Taotao
just posted a message to Ai Qing publicly on WeiBo.  He asked her
whether she’s interested in investing his team which has a great future.”

Translated by Team DHH at