Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Chen Guo said she was going to scold Chang Xian, but she was just saying it. Chang Xian had good intentions, although it was rather depressing that his help ended up doing no good. Chen Guo and Ye Xiu had wasted time and effort going there to not get a sponsor, but they didn't lose anything either, so it wasn't too bad.
So in the call, Chen Guo still expressed her gratitude before giving a simple explanation of why they couldn't get the sponsorship from Ch'ien Tea Green. Then, she asked if Chang Xian had any other recommendations.
Cao Guangcheng, who was listening in, knew that Happy had wasted their time on this and basked in secret delight. He had been Excellent Era's team reporter for all these years, so he naturally knew what the deal with Ch'ien Tea Green was and what kind of person Xia Zhongtian was. He knew from the beginning that Happy wouldn't get anything from Xia Zhongtian. From the phone call, it sounded as if Xia Zhongtian had asked them to visit. This was unexpected. He had thought it would be pretty good if Happy just got no response. He hadn't thought Xia Zhongtian would have called them to visit. He definitely managed to mess with Happy.
Cao Guangcheng found it unfortunate that he couldn't have witnessed it in person. He could only imagine it himself to cheer himself up. He had no idea that although Ye Xiu and Chen Guo had been stood up at their scheduled appointment, in return, they had also bullied Xia Zhongtian for a good while.
Chang Xian wasn't an idiot either. He didn't know about the situation regarding Ch'ien Tea Green, but Cao Guangcheng had followed Excellent Era for so long, so how could he have been ignorant to this? Chang Xian had realized that this was Cao Guangcheng's little trick. But even if he knew, he couldn't do anything about it. Nothing would be gained by arguing about it. Except that this time, he wouldn't ask this senior. After agreeing to Chen Guo's request, he prepared to take a look over things himself.
With what had occured, Chang Xian realized that it wouldn't be easy for Happy to take Excellent Era's sponsors. However, Chang Xian was clever. If it wasn't convenient for Excellent Era's sponsors to sponsor Happy because of Happy defeating Excellent Era, then what about these sponsors' competitors? If they sponsored Happy, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?
Competition was omnipresent, even in business. Chang Xian decided to bring his thoughts in a different direction and went to look for the competitors of Excellent Era's sponsors. However, this was outside of Chang Xian's area of control. This information wasn't something that Chang Xian had at hand, so it would be slower. Yet he hadn't even managed to do anything before Happy received their first phone call that expressed interest in sponsoring them.
而这电话的来处,则正好证明了常先思路的正确性.
This phone call also managed to justify the logic in Chang Xian's thought process.
Feike.
This was a well-known computer peripheral brand with their keyboards and mouse being the most famous. These two things were doubtlessly the sharpest tool for esports athletes. With how the Glory Alliance flourished, it would be strange if they didn't sponsor anyone. In reality, Feike was already sponsoring a team in the Alliance.
Tyranny!
The team Feike was currently sponsoring was Team Tyranny, who many thought would win the championships. In addition, Feike was the archrival of a peripheral device company sponsoring Excellent Era, Speed Serpent. Speed Serpent chose Excellent Era and Feike chose Tyranny. The sponsors were archenemies as well. What Feike was thinking of when they chose to sponsor Happy was clear as day.
Feike's headquarters weren't in City H. After getting in contact through the call, Feike and Happy had two video meetings to negotiate the sponsorship. Although Happy was a hot topic right now, their fame and influence was nothing compared to Tyranny and Feike's contract for Happy showed their caution. The contract would be a year long for 1,500,000 RMB along with the request that their sponsorship would be put above all others.
The year length of the contract was clearly a representation of Feike's wait-and-see attitude to Happy's continued survival in the Alliance. The request to be considered above all other sponsors showed that they actually had quite a bit of optimism towards this. As for the one and a half million, it wasn't much if you considered the entirety of the Glory circle, but for a team that had just arrived in the Alliance, it was a considerable amount. This was all thanks to how Happy managed to defeat Excellent Era and gain public attention. Otherwise, for other teams that had managed to fight their way back into the Alliance, it wasn't unheard of for them to be completely ignored.
After negotiating back and forth for a while, the sponsorship money was eventually raised to 1,800,000 RMB. The other requirements didn't change. Both sides were very satisfied with this contract. Then, the time came to officially sign the contract. Although this was a small contract, Feike wanted to use Happy's current popularity to hold a press conference for the contract signing. However, the playoffs were still ongoing, and the Glory circle was focused on the competition, so this sort of promotional activity had to be delayed.
After completing the contract with Feike, the business doors to Happy were completely opened. They received more and more calls inquiring about sponsorship. Chang Xian had managed to compile a list of worthwhile sponsors, but by then, Chen Guo was already too busy to initiate any attacks. Just the sponsors that were calling was already making her more than busy. Some were sincere, but some were there to try and profit in the chaos. Some even tried to bully Happy through Happy's lack of experience by directly tricking or scamming them. Some even had no idea what was happening and just called to be a part of the action. Chen Guo was finally finding the feel of running a pro team and being the boss. She hadn't really done much in the past.
At the same time, the playoffs were already at the semifinals. Tyranny versus Tiny Herb, Samsara versus Wind Howl.
The first match was Team Tiny Herb's home game against Team Tyranny.
Team Tiny Herb had gone through a lot of changes this year. The All-Star level account Flying Drops had been sold to Samsara and Tiny Herb's lineup lost a Grappler. The original player of Flying Drops, Li Yihui, had also left the team in summer. Xu Bin, the Grind King from 301 Degrees had taken over the retired Deng Fusheng's Knight, Angelica, and managed to become an All-Star with his excellent performances. Then, prodigy Gao Yingjie had debuted this season, becoming a part of the Witch Duo with his captain, Wang Jiexi. There was also the hand speed expert, Liu Xiaobie, who had grown into a very dependable player. He had been mere steps away from becoming an All-Star this season. Team Tiny Herb was almost had a four All-Star lineup.
As for Tyranny, it wasn't just four All-Stars, but four top Gods of their classes. The only one who was in a little awkward of a position was Lin Jingyan. The other three still counted as the top of their respective classes.
With this lineup, curiosity towards the person in the other position of their starting lineup was aroused.
Since the team competition needed five people to fight at once, who would be the fifth person who stood beside the four gods?
In the summer transfer window, since they were bringing in powerful aces and changing up their lineup, a lot of Tyranny's players and accounts had left. From that time on, everyone had been wondering who would appear beside these four gods, but the one who appeared was a person that no one was familiar with.
Qin Muyun.
Before this season, no one had ever heard this name. He was such a plain and obscure player, yet he had become the last puzzle piece in Tyranny's starting lineup.
Qin Muyun had come from Tyranny's training camp. He hadn't had any sort of fame before this and he was already 21 when he became a part of Tyranny's starting lineup.
This debuting age was rather late. Compared to Lu Hanwen who wasn't even of age yet, he should've been a senior, but now, they were rookies of the same generation.
Qin Muyun had a Sharpshooter character and in this position, Tyranny originally had Wang Chixuan. Wang Chixuan wasn't a God, but he was still a very good player. However, Tyranny still decided to pick Qin Muyun from the training camp, while Wang Chixuan left in the summer transfer window.
What was special about this Qin Muyun? What allowed him to squeeze out this skilled, experienced Wang Chixuan, who was also familiar with the team, making him a core member of the team that stood next to these four Gods?
Everyone held high expectations for Qin Muyun, but soon enough, they were all disappointed.
Qin Muyun gave no striking performances on the field, and the data from each match seemed to point out that he was normal. He was just a very average player.
Soon enough, no one paid him any attention any longer. Rookie? There were more striking rookies this season. Wasn't Team Blue Rain's 14 year old Lu Hanwen a riot right now?
Thus, if you asked who Qin Muyun was, most players would probably shake their heads in confusion.
This was the media, the public's attitude.
However, pro teams wouldn't do this. They wouldn't underestimate any opponents, especially in the playoffs, especially a core member of a team like Tyranny.
Qin Muyun's data was very average, but don't forget who he's standing next to.
Apart from Zhang Xinjie, who was a Cleric, Han Wenqing, Zhang Jiale and Lin Jingyan weren't just normal All-Star players. In their old teams, they were all core DPSers. Next to people like that, what sort of data are you expecting a rookie to the pro league to have?
The media and the players didn't think Qin Muyun important, but Tiny Herb wouldn't do that. A slight mistake might mean that their journey this year would be over.
Thus, against Qin Muyun, Tiny Herb put equal attention in research on him as the four Gods.
Often, in the data for this season, the reports concerning Qin Muyun always started with: this player's data is average but he hasn't met the Rookie's Block.
That's right, he hadn't met the Rookie's Block.
In all nine seasons, only two players had never met the Rookie's Block: Wang Jiexi and Sun Xiang.
Now, a third had appeared, but compared to the previous two, he had very average performances. His lack of Rookie's Block might be because of some objective reasons like, with Tyranny's lineup, the four Gods took too much attention from players and attacks.
Tiny Herb wouldn't reject this sort of possibility, and in reality, they hoped that this was the reason. Otherwise, if it was because Qin Muyun had some sort of hidden talent, then that might become the biggest variable in the match.
The unknown was always the scariest.
Chapter 1072: God of HealingTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The public paid great attention to Tyranny and Tiny Herb's opening match. Happy Internet Cafe also continued its tradition of streaming the matches. However, it was no longer convenient for Ye Xiu and the others to watch in the Internet cafe with everyone else. After the Challenger League, they could all be considered famous. Although they couldn't be compared to Gods, getting surrounded on their home turf wouldn't be anything surprising. Thus, Happy stayed at home, using their projector to watch the first match of the semifinals.
By then, the group arena had finished and Team Tiny Herb won 5 to 4. It could be seen how intense the match was just from the results. Each team had fought to their last person.
The players took a break and the broadcast replayed a few spectacular moments from the group arena. Then, it was time for the team competition.
Tiny Herb's starting lineup consisted of Wang Jiexi and Gao Yingjie's Witches, Vaccaria and Kind Tree, Xu Bin's Knight Angelica, Liu Xiaobie's Blade Master, Flying Swords, and Yuan Boqing's Cleric, Aweto.
The player list wasn't anything surprising. This was Tiny Herb's typical starting lineup this season. However, those familiar with Tiny Herb would discuss these characters..
"They're using a Cleric!" There were plenty of voices discussing this.
This was because Team Tiny Herb had two healers, not just one. One was the Cleric in the lineup this time, Aweto, and the other was the character that had made great contributions to Tiny Herb's two championships, Paladin Wind Guard.
During Tiny Herb's two champion seasons, they had a player with the title God of Healing, Fang Shiqian. This player was a dual healer expert, and was immensely skilled in both healer classes. Using a different healer class depending on the circumstances and needs was a large part of Tiny Herb's strategy back then. A Cleric's attack support and a Paladin's defense, Fang Shiqian was able to flawlessly utilize both a more offensive-oriented Cleric and a more defensive-oriented Paladin.
However, in the two matches that brought them their championships as well as when Fang Shiqian was voted into the All-Stars, he had always appeared as Wind Guard's player. So, those who only looked at the data might forget his true identity. However, those who were familiar with Tiny Herb would never forget this point.
Tiny Herb had continued with this style even today. It was just a shame that a player like Fang Shiqian, who could reach the top in both classes, was a rare case. The successor Tiny Herb had found, Yuan Boqing, could also play both classes, but he couldn't reach Fang Shiqian's level. He had trained hard for two whole seasons, but had yet to make any breakthroughs. It always felt like the heart of their adaptable strategy wasn't always quite there. Was there really a value to this strategy anymore? This question had been subject to much debate.
Apart from the five starting players, the sixth player was Zhou Yebai's Ghostblade, Rangoon Creeper. When Qiao Yifan had still been present, Rangoon Creeper was still a pure Phantom Demon, but in accordance to the needs of the team this season, Rangoon Creeper had his skill points reset and became a Hybrid Sword and Phantom Ghostblade. Zhou Yebai seemed to be performing better with the Hybrid Ghostblade, too.
As for Tyranny, the starting five consisted of Han Wenqing's Striker, Desert Dust, Lin Jingyan's Brawler, Dark Thunder, Zhang Jiale's Spitfire, Hundred Dazzling Blossoms, Qin Muyun's Sharpshooter, Negative Nine Degrees, and Zhang Xinjie's Cleric Immovable Rock. Their sixth player was Bai Yanfei's Elementalist, Rota.
Neither lineup held any surprises; they were both using the same lineup they had stayed with throughout the regular season. In the regular season, each team had one victory against the other, both having won their home games. However, the playoffs used a headcount point system, so some went back and took a look at the detailed scoring in the team competitions for the two matches and found that the headcount for the two matches were completely the same as well.
As for the data on their matches prior to that, there was little use in looking that far back because both teams had gone through huge changes in the summer. As for the only matches they had fought this season, the only decisive factors to their victories seemed only to be the home advantage.
This was Tiny Herb's home stadium.
Thus, they had won the group arena by a point, but no one could say how large the home advantage was just yet.
Next up was the team competition. Although the heart of Tiny Herb's Healer Switching Strategy was no longer present, the chosen healer class would still, to some extent, reveal their approach towards the current match.
Clerics focused on offense, Paladin focused on defense, so with the Cleric in the lineup this time, Team Tiny Herb was evidently aiming for a more offense-oriented playstyle. As soon as the match started, they pressed forward.
However, in Tyranny's lineup, Han Wenqing, Zhang Jiale, Lin Jingyan and Zhang Xinjie hadall had quite a bit of experience fighting against Fang Shiqian. There was no one more familiar with this strategy of Tiny Herb's than them. Having experienced fighting Fang Shiqian and then experiencing Yuan Boqing, the four felt that it was shame that they evidently weren't on the same level.
Fang Shiqian's title was God of Healing, but in reality, his skill often made people forget he was a healer. His ability to attack and defend was much more troublesome to deal with.
As for Yuan Boqing, no matter if he used a Cleric or a Paladin, he played well, but the deepest impression that he gave people was of his healing.
This was where he differed from Fang Shiqian and the reason why it didn't feel like there was any value in Tiny Herb's use of this strategy.
Tyranny's veterans knew this very clearly. Against Yuan Boqing, they just had to treat him as a normal healer. They didn't think he'd have the ability to give support like Fang Shiqian could and make things hard for them.
The experience of these veterans helped them make a quick decision.
Experience was a treasure and it was the one treasure these veterans were most proud of.
However, experience could sometimes hinder you too because sometimes experience was outdated. This sort of experience wasn't correct for the present and therefore would cause errors in judgement.
The judgement made by Tyranny's veterans had erred this time.
The support from Yuan Boqing's Cleric was causing them trouble to the point that they were reminded of back when they used to fight against Fang Shiqian.
Had this player managed to grow so much?
The veterans of Tyranny were shocked, seeing the old God of Healing's aura around Yuan Boqing's Aweto.
This was an oversight and this sort of oversight would always have a price.
Tiny Herb won the team competition.
The headcount points weren't important any longer. Having already won the group arena, there was no need to calculate the points to know that Tiny Herb was the victor of the opening match.
Public opinion of Tyranny's chances at the championship title were highest this season, but being defeated by Team Tiny Herb wasn't exactly completely unexpected.
In the post-match press conference, the veterans of Tyranny seemed calm.
"Tiny Herb played well." There would always be words that needed to be said out of courtesy.
"Every person will achieve growth every season. Some are noticed but others are ignored." There was no explicit mention of anyone's name, but in reality, Tyranny was scolding themselves.
The lineup for Tiny Herb's team competition this year truly was full of the air of growth.
Gao Yingjie and Xu Bin were both first-timers in the All-Stars, so that didn't need explanation. Apart from them, Liu Xiaobie was no longer that player who brainlessly used his hand speed. He was only a step away from the All-Stars, too. Amongst this striking growth, Yuan Boqing had been overlooked. Had he managed to master the key to Fang Shiqin's title of God of Healing without notice?
"Everyone performed well this match, but Yuan Boqing's performance was the key to our victory. He performed amazingly with his support, suppressing our opponents. He guided us to victory this time." When Tiny Herb went up for the press conference, captain Wang Jiexi didn't bother hiding his admiration of Yuan Boqing's performance this time.
This was a surge that no one had ever expected before the match.
Everyone was more willing to look at those famous Gods or the players that had striking performances in the past. Qin Muyun was the silently ignored fifth, and Yuan Boqing was often overlooked.
The victory of this match had been decided by this overlooked player. Discussions about him continued throughout the night.
Then, the match on the following day was practically the antonym of Tiny Herb and Tyranny's match.
The one who was key to victory this time was the God that everyone had been paying attention to and eagerly waiting to see.
Zhou Zekai, it was still Zhou Zekai.
This extremely silent and shy player off the field had become an uncounterable presence on the field.
Everyone knew to take him seriously. Everyone was trying to find a way to deal with him. Everyone was making arrangements to counter him, but it was no use. The Zhou Zekai on the field was just ever-triumphant like that. Team Wind Howl had exhibited a fierce momentum in this season. Their ace player Tang Hao was a fearless person who could say "the junior will succeed the senior" in the Rookie Challenge. But they were defeated.
In their home game, Wind Howl was destroyed by Samsara.
There was no need for much tactical analysis. Samsara's victory and Wind Howl's defeat only had one reason.
Uncounterable.
Zhou Zekai was uncounterable.
All the players that wanted to defeat him all ended up defeated by him. Those who wanted to suppress him with tactics would only end up the one being suppressed.
With this sort of defeat, Wind Howl could only accept it.
In the post-match press conference, captain Tang Hao only said one sentence: "Next time, we'll win."
This was determination. This was his attitude.
But, how would they win? No one could tell. Not even his teammates seemed to have much enthusiasm when Tang Hao said that. Did Tang Hao himself even believe what he was saying? People were doubtful.
The mighty Wind Howl had been dealt a direct hit by Samsara.
The team that most people were placing their bets on getting the championship, Tyranny, had been defeated because of an abrupt outbreak from an overlooked player.
The Four Heavenly King's combo wasn't undefeatable.
Zhou Zekai, on the other hand, really didn't seem to have a counter.
Who would the champions be?
Chapter 1073: Veterans and RookiesTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
T first round of the semifinals had cast a shadow over Team Tyranny, whose chances at the championship seemed to be the highest. Last year's champions, Team Samsara, had managed to take a firm step on their path to defend their championship with their impressive performance.
Soon enough, the second round of matches of the semifinals began and Tyranny and Samsara met Tiny Herb and Wind Howl respectively on their home turfs.
In the group arena, Team Tyranny won 5 to 3.
The veterans wouldn't fall just because of one loss. They had experienced too many victories and defeats, and no matter which one it was, it would become their motivation to go on.
The veterans performed powerfully in the group arena, ending it at their fourth player, Han Wenqing.
Then, in the team competition that followed, Yuan Boqing became a focal point. How would the player who had exhibited the air of the God of Healing last match perform this time?
In this match, Yuan Boqing used the Cleric Aweto once more.
Logically speaking, you would be more cautious and defensive in an away game, which suited a Paladin's style more, but Tiny Herb still chose to use a Cleric.
This was a sort of attitude. It seemed like Tiny Herb didn't want to drag this out to the third round. They wanted to take their final victory in this away game. They would probably fight even more fiercely in the team competition.
That's what everyone thought, but Tyranny didn't seem to think that way.
Was it another oversight?
Of course not, they were just continuing at their own pace, completely unaffected by their opponent's changes in tactics.
This time, they would pay more attention to Yuan Boqing's Cleric, but not too much. This was because they knew very clearly that Yuan Boqing wasn't Tiny Herb's core. Even if the actual God of Healing Fang Shiqian was on the field, Team Tiny Herb's core was still forever another.
Wang Jiexi, Vaccaria!
This was Team Tiny Herb's true core. Don't even dream of the veterans of Tyranny overlooking this order of importance.
At the beginning of the match, Tema Tyranny immediately launched a fierce assault. Under the cover of Zhang Jiale's Hundred Blossom Style, Han Wenqing's Desert Dust darted into the enemy's formation.
Zhang Jiale managed to integrate himself into Tyranny extremely quickly, extremely smoothly. Some people said that this might have been because Tyranny's captain, Han Wenqing, had a very similar style to Zhang Jiale's old partner, Sun Zheping, so Zhang Jiale easily found a place on the field.
Then, whenever there would be the slightest opening, another figure would appear to patch it up.
Dark Thunder, Lin Jingyan's Dark Thunder. Speaking of fame, Lin Jingyan was the one with the least fame in Tyranny's four Gods. Speaking of ability, he was also the one whose ability was slipping the most clearly, having already been surpassed by his junior. No longer being the tactical core, he had much more room and choice in his play. When there was Zhang Jiale's Hundred Blossom Style to provide cover, he would hide within and throw a few sneak attacks. When Han Wenqing's Desert Dust couldn't come over, he could turn into an strong DPSer. The Brawler class was one that was suited to multiple styles and it's potential was fully unleashed under the hands of an old veteranlike Lin Jingyan.
Team Tyranny launched a powerful offense. They would no longer overlook any player in Tiny Herb, but they wouldn't cast away their own style aside either. They had to keep the tempo at their pace, otherwise they would be led around by the nose. Team Tyranny held the initiative from the very beginning, accumulating advantages and walking towards victory step by step. As for their Master Tactician, Zhang Xinjie carefully watched over the entire battlefield. He was like a machine, always making sure to minimize possible mistakes. This sort of healer was the most secure shield at your back.
Victory!
Tyranny eventually managed to earn back a victory on their home turf.
Yuan Boqing, who had been the center of focus before the match, had performed well as well. It was just that, this time, he wasn't a surprise for Tyranny anymore. To a group of people who had experience fighting Fang Shiqian, Quan Boqing wasn't an uncounterable presence for them.
In the post-match press conference, the words of Tiny Herb's captain, Wang Jiexi, were very cliche, but were also an accurate depiction of the match. "We played well, but our opponents did better."
Just like when the two teams fought in the regular season, neither side committed any serious mistakes that had clearly affected the victory of the match. Everyone had performed well, they exchanged blows, slowly accumulating their advantage until, in the end, Tiny Herb fell and Tyranny still stood.
Tiny Herb and Tyranny had fought to a tie, 1 to 1, and needed to use the third and last match to decide their victory. It would be held on Tyranny's turf, but they wouldn't have the right to choose the map.
In the other match of the second round of the semifinals, Samsara fought their home game against Wind Howl.
Wind Howl, who had lost their home game, was obviously not in the right headspace for this match. Although their captain Tang Hao had expressed a determined attitude after the last match, the fact that Team Wind Howl lacked playoffs experience was clear in this match. They weren't like Tyranny's veterans who could face a loss with such ease, their mindsets remaining unaffected. The young members of Wind Howl had been obviously over cautious and hesitant. Their uncertainty in tactical decisions were extremely apparent.
The Wind Howl of the regular season pressed forward with determination They were fearless, and their spirit was indomitable. However, in the playoffs, they began to become afraid. This was because the rules of the playoffs were different, A single loss might cut of their future path and turn all their efforts to dust. Now, they were standing at such a crossroads. Victory meant that they might be able to survive, but failure meant that everything would end there.
This sort of pressure wasn't something that was present in the regular season. They had managed a smooth journey in the first round of the playoffs, crushing Misty Rain in two rounds and entering the semifinals. That was all until they had lost their home game to Samsara in the first round of the semifinals. Team Wind Howl had suddenly fallen into a dire situation.
The pressure they were under caused the members of Wind Howl to panic. Even though they had a veteran like Fang Rui, he couldn't save the whole team. Fang Rui wasn't the head of this team, and his dirty playstyle wasn't one that gave him any advantage in boosting everyone's morale.
The second round ended in Team Wind Howl's defeat. Team Samsara walked towards the finals with their heads high and shoulders back, and Wind Howl? They had caught everyone's attention during this season, yet ended on such a pathetic note. All the players who hated Tang Hao's attitude were delighted.
However, Wind Howl was young, no matter if it was Tang Hao or Zhao Yuzhe, they still had plenty of time to fight for what they wanted. It all depended on if they could learn something from their defeat or not.
After two rounds of the semifinals, Samsara had managed to get into the finals, while Tiny Herb and Tyranny would have to duke it out in a third round.
After three days, the final match between the two began on Tyranny's turf and a foreign map. The two had been careful from the group arena, eventually fighting to each of their last members again. In the end, it was Tiny Herb that won 5 to 4, taking the lead.
Entering the team competition with a lead of 1 point was still some form of an advantage. However, in the team competition, Tiny Herb, who had the lead, seemed to be even more cautious than Tyranny.
On a foreign map, the two sides didn't rush to fight. The characters of both team were scattered across the map, but within supporting distance. It seemed that they were trying to get a hold of the terrain before striking.
After two minutes, the two sides still hadn't met, but they had swapped places. Tiny Herb's characters were all in Tyranny's half of the map while Tyranny's characters had all come to the side of the map Tiny Herb started on. Both sides continued to scout out the map.
The first contact between the two sides finally occurred then.
It only occurred, but it didn't erupt because the contact they had was rather shameless. Team Tyranny's Lin Jingyan had seen Tiny Herb's Aweto as he wandered across the map and dexterously hid his character, Dark Thunder. He didn't immediately find a chance to attack and carefully began to tail the other instead. At the same time, he kept up a string of messages to the team chat, reporting on what was occurring. Team Tyranny began to make a tactical movement. All the characters closed in on Aweto's position.
However, the audience could see with their omniscient view that even if Tyranny successfully trapped Aweto, they would only be able to steal the initiative. It wouldn't be so easily to take out Aweto in one wave. This was because Tiny Herb's characters weren't scattered at random. They were all within supporting distance. If anyone sent out a message for help. Other characters would be there to support them within seconds.
However, Team Tyranny's members weren't impatient either. Their characters arrived at the appointed positions one by one, but no one rushed forwards to attack. Even when all five had arrived, they were still adjusting their positions.
Tiny Herb's possible support was all within their expectations! Their current arrangement was made to restrict this sort of support. With these veterans, they would still pry out openings even if there were none. Now that this chance had appeared in front of them, they had to take hold of it firmly. Everything had to be prepared before they struck.
These adjustments without any sort of direct clash was boring to watch. However, any spectator with a bare minimum knowledge in Glory would feel the tension in this situation.
Was it time to strike?
They could strike, right?
Are they still not going to strike?
Countless spectators felt that the time was ripe again and again, but reality told them, again and again, that these veterans of Tyranny were far calmer than they. With these three veterans and the careful and precise Master Tactician Zhang Xinjie, did Team Tyranny intend to make a flawless arrangement?
There was no such thing as a flawless arrangement on the battlefield. What Zhang Xinjie hoped to do was simply minimize the chances of an accident occurring.
"Forward!" The order appeared into the chat.
Bang, the sound of a sniper rifle split the air. Qin Muyun had been aiming for a while now, and finally shot upon receiving this order.
With that gunshot, he was exposed. However, once the battle started, everyone would be exposed. Tyranny's arrangements were made to deal with what would happen after they were exposed. The five characters had already charged forth as one.