Chapter 1: All-Female Team Esports Godfather System, Activate!
“BLG, whom we placed such high hopes on, ultimately fell in the finals.”
“Faker, League of Legends’ highest mountain, longest river!”
“Rell missing her Q, tanks he couldn’t understand, Ziggs getting lost, Smolder giving up lane to his teammates… what a shame…”
Jinling, Wanda Cinema, S14 Finals offline viewing party.
Light sticks lay abandoned on chair backs, banners with slogans scattered carelessly on the floor.
The audience had long since dispersed, leaving only Jiang Yuan’s group still sitting in their seats.
“Sorry everyone, the cinema needs to close…” The manager’s voice echoed through the empty theater.
Jiang Yuan snapped back to reality, stood up, and gave the manager an apologetic smile.
Walking out of the cinema, the night was deep.
The ride-hailing app showed 59 people ahead of him in the queue, with the system suggesting he select more vehicle types.
Jiang Yuan crouched on the curb, stubbornly selecting only the budget option.
November in Jinling brought cold evening winds that slipped through his collar. He pulled his coat tighter.
“Yuan-ge, don’t go back to the dorms. Let’s hit an internet cafe overnight,” suggested Yu Feng, crouching beside him.
“Not in the mood.”
“But without you as our coach and carry, we can’t win.”
“…Fine.”
Jiang Yuan stood up.
Going to an internet cafe would save them the cab fare anyway.
The four walked shoulder to shoulder through the night.
Yu Feng suddenly spoke up: “Yuan-ge, you’ve tried out before. Do you think I still have a chance at going pro?”
“Of course, buddy. Of course you do.”
Another roommate chimed in: “Holy shit, even this bronze scrub has a chance? What about me, Yuan-ge?”
“You’re unstoppable. I’ll arrange an RNG tryout for you in a couple days.”
Jiang Yuan joked around with his roommates, but sighed inwardly.
Going pro… easier said than done.
Who wasn’t once a teenage prodigy?
Back in the day, he’d climbed to Master tier on Server 1 using the crappy peripherals at his hometown’s sketchy internet cafe.
Whenever he played, kids would always crowd around to watch.
At sixteen, filled with pride and dreams, he went to try out for a youth training program.
The moment he stepped into the base, the young man was full of confidence!
A month later, the kid slunk out with his tail between his legs.
His professional dreams were completely shattered.
Deeply discouraged, Jiang Yuan gave up and applied to Jinling University’s esports program instead, thinking if he couldn’t be a player, he could at least become a coach or analyst.
But this field wasn’t easy either.
Even the coaching position for the school’s esports club had countless people fighting tooth and nail for it.
Now a junior with graduation approaching fast, Jiang Yuan looked ahead and saw only darkness.
No hope for an all-Chinese team to win Worlds, just like his job prospects…
“Sigh…”
With a long exhale, Jiang Yuan pulled out a pack of Stride gum and gave each person a piece.
Chewing gum, they entered the internet cafe, scanned their IDs to log in, opened flex queue, and matched with a random teammate.
This game, Jiang Yuan was distracted, his mind still replaying scenes from the finals loss.
Just past fifteen minutes, Yu Feng, whose bot lane had collapsed, initiated a surrender vote.
The other two roommates quickly voted yes, but the random player voted no.
Jiang Yuan pressed Tab and glanced at the scoreboard.
That random jungler had surprisingly decent stats despite the three losing lanes, and throughout the game hadn’t typed a single word of interaction, just focused on playing seriously.
After a pause, Jiang Yuan straightened up and got serious.
Twenty minutes later.
BOOM!
The enemy base exploded.
The random jungler got MVP while Jiang Yuan’s group got carried.
Looking at the post-game damage chart, he clicked his tongue and sent a friend request to the random jungler:
“Didn’t play well that round. Want to team up? I’ll carry you next game.”
Instant reply: “Sure.”
The random jungler joined voice chat.
Yu Feng immediately put on his headset and greeted enthusiastically: “Dude, nice play last game!”
“Still made a lot of mistakes.” A clear, girlish voice came through the headset.
The four single dogs in the corner of the internet cafe instantly froze.
Huh? No way?
In 2024, girls still play this game?
Yu Feng nearly jumped out of his chair. Suppressing his excitement, his Mandarin suddenly became perfectly standard: “Last game wasn’t my real skill level. This game I’m going to show you what I can do!”
Another roommate: “Um, miss… can I call you mommy?”
Jiang Yuan muted this ridiculous roommate and checked the girl’s match history during champion select.
60% win rate, a whole page of MVPs and SVPs.
Looking at the games she’d lost, he noticed she always played with the same premade team, and except for her, the other four players all had pretty bad stats.
No wonder her rank wasn’t climbing.
The game began.
This round, Jiang Yuan pulled out his signature pick—LeBlanc, the Deceiver.
With fierce lane pressure and perfect jungle synergy with the girl jungler for enemy jungle invasions, in less than five minutes the enemy mid-jungle was completely collapsed.
The game was a foregone conclusion, with the enemy surrendering at fifteen minutes.
Jiang Yuan asked: “How was that?”
The girl replied concisely: “Strong.”
“Another round?”
“No, I need to log off. Have to get up early tomorrow.”
“Okay, maybe next time then. Bye~”
“Bye.”
The girl left the team, and Jiang Yuan’s group continued playing.
While waiting for matchmaking, Jiang Yuan picked up his phone to browse.
Suddenly, a WeChat message popped up from “Jinling Esports Coaching Elite Group”:
“You have been removed from the group chat by the group owner”
Right after, a private message from the esports club president arrived:
“Sorry Yuan-zi, I made a bet with Yin Mingyu earlier that if BLG lost, I’d let him coach this year. I just spent ages trying to convince him to accept a dual-coach setup, but he refused, saying it would dilute his resume’s value… Sigh, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have to ask you to step aside for now. Next year though, next year’s collegiate league, I’ll prioritize letting you coach!”
“…”
Jiang Yuan canceled the queue and rubbed his temples.
Yu Feng: “Yuan, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Yuan shook his head: “Nothing, you guys keep playing.”
Yu Feng: “Oh…”
Jiang Yuan slowly exhaled and opened the chat with the club president: “Dumbass, why didn’t you bet your mom instead?”
After sending it, he blocked and deleted the president.
He opened his WeChat Moments, the screen filled with posts about the finals:
“Heartbroken LPL fans shelter, room and board provided…”
“Come watch LCK, Keria won’t disappoint you!”
“My youth is over. Congrats to the old man on his fifth championship!”
The more he scrolled, the more annoyed he got, so he flipped his phone face down.
Opening his Steam library, he launched “Esports Godfather,” a casual game, hoping to relax.
In the game, his carefully assembled all-female team was unstoppable, having reached the final championship bracket.
After the playoffs ended, his team crushed the competition with a perfect record, hoisting the World Championship trophy.
Virtual glory contrasted sharply with real-world disappointment.
Breathing in the internet cafe’s cheap tobacco smell, Jiang Yuan felt hollow.
He said goodbye to his roommates and walked outside alone for some air.
In the quiet of the night, Jiang Yuan paced, a self-mocking smile playing at his lips.
If only… if only he could assemble an all-female team in real life, fight through every obstacle, and ultimately win the World Championship…
Not only would it fulfill his esports dreams, but it could inject new vitality and excitement into League of Legends’ declining scene.
In Jiang Yuan’s mind, the image of that sweet-voiced, skillful random girl jungler suddenly flashed.
After a moment, he shook his head.
She was strong, but not strong enough.
Fine for internet cafe tournaments, but to step onto a real professional stage and face those monster-level players, she probably couldn’t even pass the youth training threshold.
Just like himself years ago.
“Sigh…”
Another heavy sigh, as if trying to expel all the frustration from his chest.
As Xiye said, regret runs through everyone’s life. Perhaps… this is what everyone has to experience…
Just then.
His vision blurred, and a transparent panel suddenly appeared before him!
【Strong obsession detected. “All-Female Team Esports Godfather” system, activating!】