Chapter 626 - 622: The Sugar Daddy’s Intention

"Congratulations to the Lorcain University Team for defeating Strovan Normal University 2-1 and successfully advancing to the second round! We see that the system has awarded this match’s MVP to Lorcain University’s Shooter, Ethan Sterling! Ethan achieved 19 kills, 0 deaths, and 63% of the total damage output in a single game, with two triple kills, one quadra kill, and one penta kill! A truly well-deserved honor!"

The venue erupted in a massive cheer, a cheer that was clearly for Ethan Sterling alone.

But the other members of the Lorcain University Team didn’t mind. They had received so little applause and so few cheers in the arena that they, too, felt a sense of pride in this moment.

The team members all knew what was up, and Gideon Kent knew it even better. The match had been incredibly easy for them. It felt like they had just been clearing minion waves and following Ethan Sterling whenever he made a move, and just like that, they had won.

The entire match was just Ethan Sterling putting on a show!

The team walked to the center of the stage, bowed, and then turned to exit.

Back in the waiting room, an excited Chandler Wright rushed over and hugged Ethan Sterling directly. "Ethan, that was insane! It gave me goosebumps just watching!"

Ethan Sterling smiled sheepishly, but said, "Relax. All part of the job."

"If anyone else said that, I wouldn’t believe it, but from you, I do! That was so smooth!" Chandler Wright said excitedly.

Owen Lawson sat silently on the sofa. He had watched the match. At first, he’d been angry and unconvinced, but skill doesn’t lie. Ethan Sterling wasn’t just a little bit better than him; he was on a completely different level.

Gideon Kent walked over and gently nudged the sulking Owen Lawson with his foot. He lowered his voice, "You were the one with the problem today. We have to win. We can’t get eliminated in the first round, especially not to SNU. We can’t afford that kind of embarrassment."

"I couldn’t help it. You can’t blame it all on me."

Owen Lawson calmed down and came to his senses. For some reason, he had been so nervous today he was physically shaking. If they had really lost to SNU because of him, forget Gideon Kent being angry—the sponsors would have probably kicked him off the team.

He realized Gideon Kent was doing this to protect him.

"So, can I play in the second round?" Owen Lawson asked, looking at Gideon Kent.

Just as Gideon Kent was about to nod, a staff member from Wa-Cha-Cha suddenly walked over. "Gideon, come out for a second. I need to talk to you about something."

The others noticed and looked over, but the staff member had already walked out without even looking up. Seeing this, Gideon Kent had no choice but to follow.

"What’s wrong?"

"You have a player this strong on your bench, so why didn’t you start him?" the staff member began. "We’re paying to sponsor you because we want exposure. And how do you get more exposure?"

Gideon Kent felt a pang of guilt and lowered his head, saying nothing.

The staffer continued emphatically, "It’s by doing things like you did today. Didn’t you see? In the second half of the match, the big screen broadcast was focused almost entirely on Ethan Sterling. That means our brand gets continuous exposure on the livestream across all platforms. *That’s* the value in us sponsoring you, understand?"

Gideon Kent nodded.

The staff member said, "Our manager’s orders: starting next match, Ethan Sterling has to play the entire time. If you make it to the finals this year, there’s a bonus for everyone, including me! So do me a favor and make us proud."

"But, man..." Gideon Kent was still thinking of his buddies. He tried to argue, "But our core strategy, the one we’ve been practicing, has always been with the five of us. Ethan Sterling doesn’t know it."

"Don’t even talk to me about your ’core strategy.’ You trained for months and still almost lost to SNU. I don’t know what kind of ’strategy’ you’ve been running, but it’s garbage!"

That one sentence left Gideon Kent speechless with shame and indignation.

But it was also the truth.

When he returned to the waiting room, it was dead silent. Everyone instinctively looked at him.

The first round of matches for the day was over. Ethan Sterling grabbed his jacket and stood up. "Captain, I’m heading out."

"Don’t go yet. I have something to announce." Gideon Kent looked up, his expression conflicted, but he forced the words out. "You’ll be playing the Shooter Position again in the next match, replacing Owen Lawson."

Those words made everyone’s eyes go wide in shock.

"What?" Owen Lawson shot up from his seat. His gaze swept over everyone’s face before finally landing on Gideon Kent. "Say that again?"

Ethan Sterling instinctively glanced at Chandler Wright, who simply gave him an encouraging nod, happy for him.

Gideon Kent knew Owen Lawson had heard him perfectly well. He sighed. "I don’t have a choice. It’s what the sponsors want. It’s not up for discussion."

The word "sponsors" was enough to silence everyone in the room.

They were the ones paying the bills. Who could afford to offend them?

Owen Lawson gritted his teeth in anger, then violently kicked the sofa. "Fuck!"

As it happened, that single word reached the ears of Coach Chad Hector, who was just walking up to the door, causing him to freeze for a second.

But the moment he saw Ethan Sterling, his expression instantly broke into a smile. "Ethan Sterling!"

Ethan Sterling, still reeling from the shock of the announcement, was startled by Coach Chad Hector’s voice. He jerked his head up, and the sight of the coach turned his surprise into utter astonishment.

"Co-Coach Chad Hector?"

"Not bad, you still remember me," Chad Hector said with a chuckle, raising an eyebrow. He sauntered into the Lorcain U waiting room.

When the others in the waiting room saw Chad Hector, their expressions mirrored Ethan Sterling’s.

"Holy shit, is that Chad Hector, the coach of the Lorcain B-Star Team?"

"The pro league championship-winning coach."

"Coach Chad Hector? The one who trained a world champion?"

For anyone in esports, pro players and coaches were figures they knew inside and out. To see Coach Chad Hector standing before them in the flesh left them all too stunned to react.

Coach Chad Hector walked right up to Ethan Sterling and stopped. "You little brat. I had you add me on WhatsApp so you’d contact me. You got into a university in Lorcain and didn’t even look me up, and now you’re secretly playing in the Collegiate League. You’re a player who’s competed in the national pro circuit. Why are you regressing?"

Hearing Coach Chad Hector’s words, the other team members’ eyes went wide, and they all stared at Ethan Sterling.

Owen Lawson, in particular, was stunned. So when Ethan Sterling said the competitions he’d played in had much higher stakes than the Collegiate League, he hadn’t been lying.

The others had clearly just found this out, too. After all, not everyone would have seen those matches; at the very least, no one else here knew about his past.

That’s why their shock was all the greater.

Ethan Sterling scratched his head in embarrassment. "Coach Chad Hector, you’ve got it all wrong. I was just bored after starting university, so I joined the Esports Club. I only got to play today by a complete fluke. It wasn’t even supposed to be my turn; I’m just a substitute."

At this, Chad Hector couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He glanced around at the others in the room and said, without a shred of mercy, "As expected of the prestigious Lorcain University, a place brimming with talent. To have a player like you warming the bench as a substitute... you guys must really be something else!"

Being openly mocked to their faces by a pro coach, everyone couldn’t help but look guilty and awkward.

"But since I ran into you again today, it must be fate. I watched the match just now. You’ve kept your skills sharp. Interested in having a talk with me?"