The Esports Little Demon King Is a Sweet and Fierce Omega - Chapter 9

Since he hadn’t reserved any venues or mechas for the afternoon, and didn’t need to practice pheromone control, Tian Jiu headed straight home after leaving the training grounds.

He planned to study more professional match replays from previous years and then buy a weapon that actually suited him. With only ten days left until the trials, he absolutely had to reach Platinum rank. Currently, he was playing on a brand-new Bronze account; standing between him and Platinum were the entire Silver and Gold tiers.

This was the peak period for ranking up before the trials, compounded by the end of the season. Countless players were grinding hard, so reaching Platinum in such a short window was a high-pressure, high-difficulty mission. However, believing that “sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the woodcutting,” Tian Jiu decided to complete his preparations before making a concentrated push to rank up.

The problem was that after browsing several online malls, he found that the pre-made weapons didn’t meet his requirements. There were private custom options, but those were either absurdly expensive or poorly crafted. Most importantly, the production cycle for all of them was over a week. The better custom shops had waiting lists extending six months into the future. The time Tian Jiu simply didn’t have.

“What should I do?” Tian Jiu fretted, even losing his appetite for dinner.

Erguotou spoke up: “Master, there are many equipment shops on the main street of the Lower District. The ‘Old Zhao Equipment Shop’ you are familiar with, for instance, has very high reviews.”

“Old Zhao?” Tian Jiu was surprised. “But I didn’t see his shop when I searched just now.”

“Because your account’s registered location is in the Upper District, the shops you find on the Star-Net are restricted to the Upper District as well. Online consumption is limited to your local area. If you want to buy equipment from the Lower District, you must visit the physical store in person,” Erguotou explained.

Restricting Upper District residents from buying Lower District goods online was essentially a monopoly held by Upper District merchants. While they could restrict digital transactions, they couldn’t stop people from visiting physical storefronts.

Tian Jiu realized the situation and immediately retrieved the business card Old Zhao had given him. It was stored in his virtual backpack in Hallworth, and he could now call up the virtual image to check the address and Star-Net contact info.

Since the Upper and Lower Districts were governed almost as separate entities, traveling between them was a bit of a hassle. Tian Jiu decided to contact Old Zhao first to ensure he could help before making the trip. He added Old Zhao’s Star-Net account using the contact info provided.

Tian Jiu’s account had been registered by the original Ji Yin, but when he added Old Zhao, he introduced himself as “Tian Jiu.”

Old Zhao approved the request almost instantly and sent a message: [Are you Tian Jiu?! The brother I watched the stream with in Hallworth?]

[That’s me!] Tian Jiu replied.

Tian Jiu’s account had recently trended due to the news involving the Ji family, and a gossip-hound like Old Zhao had long since heard the name.

[No wonder your ID is “Tian Jiu.” You really are an Omega! I thought you were just going for a “subversive contrast” look.]

Tian Jiu sent a “covering mouth while laughing” starter emoji and said: [I’ve signed up for the trials, and I want to see if you have any weapons suitable for me.]

Old Zhao accepted Tian Jiu’s identity without issue and replied:

[Brother, that emoji is so vintage.]

[But do you want off-the-shelf gear or a custom piece? I have plenty of pre-made weapons I can recommend based on your needs, but for a custom order, we need to meet in person.]

Custom orders involved too many details to discuss over text; face-to-face communication was much clearer. Furthermore, Tian Jiu’s attributes were highly unusual. His attack attribute was at a staggering 85%, but his other four stats were absurdly low, with the pheromone column sitting at a flat zero.

He didn’t have pheromones like an Omega, yet he wasn’t like a Beta who only had four attribute slots; he was born with 80,000 fewer attribute points than everyone else. Finding a weapon that could fill that massive “80,000-point” gap was no simple task. Naturally, Tian Jiu leaned toward a custom build, but he worried about the time, the cost, and the final quality.

Tian Jiu shared all his concerns with Old Zhao, who replied quickly.

[Tell you what, brother, your situation is indeed special. It’s a bit late today, so come to my shop tomorrow morning. We’ll discuss it, and I can have it finished for you that same day. Once it’s done, we can run some practice matches to see how it feels, and I’ll adjust it until you’re satisfied.]

[I won’t overcharge you either. Just a 5,000 Star-Coin labor fee. How does that sound?]

Tian Jiu was shocked: [Only 5,000?]

He had seen shops in the Upper District charging 10,000 just for a generic pistol!

Old Zhao: [I’ll even throw in a free battle robe to boost your defense. I told you Old Zhao’s Equipment Shop is affordable and high-quality. You can count on me.]

Tian Jiu would be a fool to say no to that.

Once they settled the deal, Old Zhao added: [But brother, I have a favor to ask too.]

[Go ahead.]

[I see you have a lot of Star-Net followers. If the weapon works well for you, could you give me a shout-out on your homepage?]

Tian Jiu laughed and replied: [I would have promoted you even if you didn’t ask.]

[Great! Tomorrow morning, I’ll be waiting for you at the city gate in a red vest.] Old Zhao knew it could be dangerous for an Upper District Omega to travel to the Lower District alone. He had to pick the boy up personally; he’d never forgive himself if something happened.

Having checked a major task off his list, Tian Jiu finally relaxed. He said happily, “Erguotou, find me some of Feng Wu’s old match videos. Individual or team matches are fine.”

Since Feng Wu was the top-ranked player and so incredibly handsome, it was only right for Tian Jiu to prioritize studying his matches. It really wasn’t because he was a fan of his face. Really!

While he was losing himself in Feng Wu’s face, ahem, in Feng Wu’s skill; a massive thread was being built on the Imperial University forum.

[Original Post]:

Everyone must be curious about what happened in Mecha Hall Five this morning. As an eyewitness, I have a duty to tell everyone: from the moment Ji Yin started playing with Mecha Zero, I realized I was ready to become his fanboy! From now on, he is my only idol!

[“Uh, such a low-quality shill. Is Ji Yin planning to debut in the entertainment industry?”]

[“He’s been hyping himself so much lately; leaving the Ji family, signing up for the trials… I feel like he just wants to be a streamer.”]

It wasn’t surprising that people thought this. Every year, many people entered the trials not to go pro, but to become streamers. High-profile contestants, even with mediocre skills, could get signed by streaming platforms based on their popularity alone. This was how many Lower District residents successfully settled in the Upper District.

Tian Jiu was definitely a hot topic lately, so the suspicion was natural. However, the Alphas and Betas who had actually seen the events in Hall Five couldn’t sit still. They came out one by one to testify for him.

[“The notice for Zero being sent for repairs is already posted! What else do you need to believe?”]

[“So many of us saw Ji Yin toy with Zero like it was a fool. How can that be fake?”]

[“Talk is cheap. Is there a recording? If not, what’s there to talk about?”]

[“Exactly. No evidence means you’re all just paid shills.”]

*******

The training had been so intense that the eyewitnesses had all forgotten to record it. Now, none of them could produce proof. Someone thought of Li Zhen and asked him privately if he had a recording, but Li Zhen told them that Zero’s recording function had been broken during the fight, and the specific training area was a blind spot for the hall’s surveillance.

Essentially, they had no way to prove Ji Yin’s ability. Seeing this, those who hadn’t been there concluded it was all a marketing stunt and mocked Tian Jiu mercilessly. Since they doubted Tian Jiu’s skills, the conversation shifted back to the Ji family news from a few days ago, and the tone turned hostile.

[“If you ask me, this disabled Omega is just a pro at manipulation. When he left the family, he took subtle shots at them to make himself look like the victim.”]

[“And he slandered Lele by saying he pushed him. The ‘tragic victim’ act is hilarious.”]

[“Why are all the people bragging for him Alphas? Did you see him get kicked out and lose his support, so you’re feeling ‘protective’ of a pretty face?”]

[“Probably. Ji Yin is decent-looking, after all. Now that he’s acting like a delicate ‘white lotus,’ it’s only natural for those Alphas’ protective instincts to flare up.”]

These comments clearly came from Ji Kaile’s fans. Anyone attempting a rational discussion was immediately drowned out, and the entire thread turned into a mockery of Tian Jiu. This heat eventually moved from the school forum to the wider Star-Net.

The hashtag #JiYinWhiteLotus quickly climbed the trending charts.

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