Chapter 1207: Charging Ninja
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
He Ming, having defeated Fang Rui, let out a breath of relief. It wasn't just relief for this matchup, but the overall situation of the group arena.
Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, the three All-Star level players had all come up already. That meant that the rest of the group arena only consisted of the rookies they had picked up.
He Ming wasn't underestimating these rookies, but he definitely doubted that they would be harder to deal with than those three All-Stars. He had sent off Fang Rui with quite the lead. With only two rookies left for Happy, Miracle was already on their way to victory, right?
Just as he was basking in his triumph, the opponent's character had appeared on screen.
Deception… that Ninja that got a red card?
This was the deepest impression Mo Fan had left on people after eight rounds. Apart from that, he hadn't won a single match, so, naturally, people wouldn't pay that much attention to him.
As for He Ming, he had met Deception quite long ago. In the online game, when they were fighting Ye Xiu, Deception had been one of Ye Xiu's helpers.
Yes, helper, that's what He Ming thought. He didn't know all the specifics of what had happened between Deception and Happy.
He remembered this guy. He Ming's impression of Deception stopped there though.
Apart from that, he knew that getting a red card meant he didn't understand the rules of pro matches. Glory wasn't football or basketball. It was very, very rare that someone would manage to violate the rules, never mind get a red card. He had yet to win a match too, so he wasn't all that strong.
A helper of Ye Xiu's who didn't know the rules very well and was average in strength.
That was He Ming's full understanding of Mo Fan, and in this week of preparations, Mo Fan wasn't their main focus. If he had to be categorized into important and unimportant, then he'd be thrown to the unimportant side.
Now, this unimportant guy was coming onstage.
He Ming readied himself with his spirits high. From a basic overview, he could tell that Mo Fan was a very patient player, who often relied on ambushes.
Yes… That's Happy for you.
He Ming couldn't help but think.
The match soon began. The map was still Wuchuan Path. There was no point in comparing his speed to a Ninja's, it would definitely be Deception who got there first. This time, He Ming decided not to bother rushing. His Rullo walked over slowly. Wasn't his opponent a very patient player? Then let him wait some more! He Ming was very relaxed.
But soon enough, when he still had some distance to go from the winery in the center of Wuchuan Path, He Ming saw Deception.
What on earth?
He Ming was surprised for a moment. Shouldn't this person have stashed himself in a corner of the winery to observe in silence and wait for a chance to ambush? That's what he had always done before, so how come he's changed his strategy today?
So what if he did?
He Ming didn't look too much into it. Mo Fan truly wasn't a name that could make him feel pressured.
Deception charged and Rullo met him.
Electric Ring.
He Ming first had Rullo put this skill on himself. Ninjas were very likely to close in with a skill like Shadow Clone. The presence of this skill was often worrying. Afterwards, Rullo fired off a Fireball. Starting with low level skills was practically a universal traditional starting strategy.
Deception quickly changed directions, dodging the Fireball, and his hands then began rapidly moving in front of his chest, forming hand seals. He Ming was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but think of the last match. A Ninja's hand seals were a very exposed way of activating skills because every Ninja skill was triggered through a different set of hand seals. One could figure out the skill through looking at the hand seals. However, since the speed of the hand seals was directly related to mechanical skill and hand speed, if a player was fast enough, then the hand seals would be nothing more than a blur. It'd be impossible to tell if they had bent one finger or two and therefore impossible to accurately determine the skill. They could only guess from there.
With a pro player's hand speed, they could all reach that standard. Mo Fan's mechanics were pretty good too. His hands blurred, leaving a few afterimages, then the seals were completed. Instantly, over ten copies of Deception appeared.
Ninjutsu: Shadow Dance.
His first move was a level 70 skill. If this were the All-Star level player Li Hua, He Ming would feel surprised, but this player was just a rookie who not only failed to earn a single victory in the past eight rounds, he also didn't even know the rules clearly. To He Ming, there was only one way to describe this: childish.
A bunch of shadow clones charged at Rullo. He Ming didn't give ground, and elemental power immediately gathered in Rullo's mind with an Absolute Focus, before instantly casting the level 70 high-level skill: Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire.
The bunch of Deceptions were immediately enveloped in an array of lightning and fire. He Ming let go and went wild, directly having Rullo use a high-level skill to neutralize Deception's high-level skill.
The shadow clones were destroyed one by one under Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire, disappearing into smoke.
Five, four, three...
He Ming silently counted. Shadow Dance wasn't like Shadow Steps with real and fake forms. It could be said that they were all real forms. When the skill ended or when the shadow clones were killed one by one, the last one left would be the Ninja's real body.
One!
He Ming locked onto the last Deception and stopped controlling the Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire. He was preparing to follow up with some new skills, throwing forth a new wave of attacks. Who would have expected that before Rullo even finished casting, the last Deception would be killed just like that too.
How!
He Ming was really shocked this time. If this one was killed too, then that meant there were still clones present. Where were they? Why didn't he see them?
Rullo whirled around, turning his head. After looking at his surroundings, he didn't see anything.
He Ming then realized something, but, too late...
Underground Tunneling Technique!
Deception shot right out of the ground, his ninjato striking Rullo's chin, yet very unrealistically it did not cut his face off, but threw him into the air.
Ninjutsu: Bird Fall!
Deception curled up in midair, darting higher. When he stretched out his legs again, he directly kicked off of Rullo's shoulders. After using the jump, he then executed a Neck Bind. The rope attached to the hilt of the ninjato had already wrapped itself around Rullo's neck. Deception landed lightly, his arms crossed in front of his chest, binding Rullo behind him and dragging him to the ground.
He Ming, who hadn't thought much of Deception, panicked. These three skills, like a falcon swooping on a rising hare, didn't leave any openings whatsoever. In the previous second he was being ambushed and in the next, he had been bound and thrown to the ground. His character hadn't been killed yet, but the abruptness of the Ninja's assassin-like skills made He Ming's heart leap into his throat.
After falling to the ground, he turned his head and saw Deception rapidly forming hand seals. He didn't have the time to look closely, hurriedly having Rullo roll sideways to a stand. Several streams of water shot out, a Hundred Streams just missing He Ming.
He Ming was just starting to feel relieved when Deception struck with a Flame Cut, ninjato ablaze.
Jump back, back, back!
A skill like Teleportation required too many inputs, so He Ming could only jump backwards. The Flame Cut swept down, almost striking. Rullo jumped thrice before finally stopping.
"How excessive," Ye Xiu exclaimed from the sidelines. To dodge that skill, one jump was enough. He Ming had panicked and made unnecessary actions. The extra two jumps didn't do anything to get him to a safer distance. On the contrary, because of the excessive nature of these actions, he was unable to dodge the next attack.
By the time the extra two jumps were over, Deception's Storm Shuriken had already arrived in front of him. No matter how fast he jumped, he couldn't beat the speed of a skill.
It was too late for He Ming to take back those two jumps. Rullo was sent flying by the Storm Shuriken. Deception charged forwards in pursuit, and threw another Shuriken before using Shadow Clone technique, sending his real body right next to Rullo. Then came a Cicada Shell Double Slash, the force of the two karate chops successively struck Rullo. Rullo hadn't even flown the full distance he was meant to when he got struck down by Deception halfway.
What is going on?
He Ming was rather confused. Against Fang Rui, he had met a style Fang Rui had never used; against Mo Fan, he also met a fury that had never been displayed by this player in the past eight rounds. Wasn't this person meant to be a player who played dirty, hiding in the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike? How come he had become so fierce when it came to him?
Rullo was once again knocked flat on his back. He hurriedly rolled to a stand, but Deception's attack came once again.
Teleport!
He Ming didn't think too much, getting his character to pull away first. However, Teleportation didn't actually take the user very far. Just as Rullo landed, he turned to look and saw Deception's hand seals forming constantly, taking one step out and somehow managing to immediately close their distance.
Ninjutsu: Ground Shrinking Technique!
Ninjutsu: Moon-Slaying Sakura!
With one step forward, before even entering attack range, Deception activated the Level 75 high-level skill Moon-Slaying Sakura. Deception's ninjato transformed into broken cherry blossoms, swirling forth. He Ming didn't know what to do. Run? Not possible. Dodge? He had just used his dodge skill.
Ice Wall!
Seeing that the other still had some distance to go, He Ming hurriedly summoned a wall of ice in front of himself. Deception had already arrived by then, and the thin petals imbedded themselves into the wall. Instantly, a crack could be heard, and a hole was made in the Ice Wall.
Though it was just a hole, the Ice Wall counted as having been broken through by the system. Deception didn't avoid it, directly charging forward and shattering the rest of the Ice Wall. His ninjato had stabbed Rullo already and broken cherry blossoms flew by, slashing open flowers of blood. In that moment, it seemed that Rullo was being torn apart.
What on earth was this?
He Ming really, truly, didn't understand. How come, when it came to him, none of the opponents were like what he researched? Against Fang Rui, he was in the lead, he had the advantage, then since Fang Rui didn't use all those new tricks at first, He Ming won.
This time, Mo Fan was different from the very start. Fiercely attacking, relentlessly attacking, not giving a single chance for retaliation. He Ming was an Elementalist. What Elementalists were most afraid of was someone closing in and not giving them any chance to pull away. This time, he couldn't shake the other off at all. What suspense was there left?
Mo Fan finally gained a win. A complete and straightforward win.
Chapter 1208: The Issue of Communication
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
"Hey! This kid's really playing this match with spirit!" In Happy's player area, everyone was overjoyed.
Mo Fan was still that silent, still that uncommunicative, so even though they chose him to go onstage, no one knew how he planned to fight. But this match, he won beautifully. Seeing He Ming's cold face as he came offstage on Miracle's side, it was clear how depressing that match had been for him.
"Not bad at all." Happy's players showered him with praise, but sadly this was the group arena, so for now the victorious Mo Fan had no way of receiving everyone's congratulations. As for how the next battle would play out, no one knew.
Looking at Miracle's player area, they saw their second player standing up.
Jia Xing, Battle Mage, character Prideful Mage.
"What a villain-like name, as soon as you hear it you know he's going to lose!" As Fang Rui expressed this, Jia Xing walked onstage.
The map was still Wuchuan Path, and if nothing out of the ordinary happened, the two characters would still meet at the winery at the center of the map. Because, as of right now, neither of them had taken a roundabout route or slowed their, they both rushed right toward the center.
However, as he approached the winery, Jia Xing still hesitated for a moment.
He had seen that in Mo Fan's fight with He Ming last round, he had fought a bit differently from his previous appearances. But would he regain his normal style in this battle?
After a moment of thinking, Jia Xing still controlled Prideful Mage to enter the winery more cautiously.
He constantly turned his camera from left to right, treating every corner of shadows as a place where the enemy could be waiting to ambush him.
Where was the opponent?
The crowd knew better than Jia Xing did.
Mo Fan didn't control Deception to hide in one corner. After he arrived at the winery, he first took a circle around outside, and after failing to discover the opponent's character, only then did he enter the winery. He was still moving around, evidently looking for the opponent.
He took an extremely active attitude. Clearly, for this battle, he was using the same new playstyle he had used in the previous battle, preparing to find the opponent and face them head-on. But because this map had this winery at its center, with twisting paths, the two didn't meet so easily.
"This kid, what's up with him today?" Fang Rui asked, slightly confused.
Ye Xiu shook his head. He wasn't clear either.
Last round, Mo Fan changed his normal playstyle. It was unexpected, but looking at the battle situation as a whole, the change he made was very reasonable, because last round his opponent was an Elementalist. Using this sort of active, aggressive, close-up style to attack fit the typical logic.
But in this round, the opponent was a Battle Mage, a class that was very good at direct confrontation, yet Mo Fan still used the same method he had last round. This led people to feel that his adjustment last round wasn't a decision made after seeing the class of his opponent, was it?
The two characters were playing hide and seek in the winery, and the crowd, with their omniscient view, were the most anxious. Especially one time when they were one wall apart, but one went left and the other went right, passing each other by so closely, provoking all sorts of sighs from the audience.
Finally, the two characters met in the lane formed by the gap between two courtyard walls.
Mo Fan was calm, but Jia Xing jumped. He thought that the opponent had been hiding somewhere, only for him to just boldly appear before him like this.
What was going on, Jia Xing already had a general guess. Since we've met like this, let's just fight!
The lane wasn't very wide. The two characters met, were stunned for a second, and suddenly charged forward.
Whoosh!
The Ninja had some long-range skills. As Deception rushed forward, he had already thrown out a Shuriken.
Prideful Mage twisted his body to dodge. His movement didn't slow, and his spear was already lifted.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
Happy's Tang Rou often used this as a powerful opening move, and Jia Xing felt that it was a suitable move for this current terrain, and so he directly used this powerful skill as he sprinted forward.
Surrounded by a rippling magic aura, Prideful Mage rushed forward with his spear. The sound of his footsteps against the limestone-paved path rang in the air.
In the narrow channel, the magic flow from the Dragon Breaks the Ranks filled the space, and it looked like there was no place for Deception to hide.
But…
Mo Fan turned his camera, and Deception instantly ran toward one of the walls at the side. Jump up, stab ninjato into the wall, use that to jump up again, and Deception was already flying in the air. The Dragon Breaks the Ranks passed below him, and the aura was enough to send his clothes flapping, but it didn't affect his body. Here, he was outside of the attack range of Dragon Breaks the Ranks.
As Deception twisted in the air, his two hands were flying to form seals.
Ninjutsu: Shadow Dance!
Mo Fan didn't hold back, directly using a powerful attack against the opponent. Dozens of Deception's shadow clones chased the silhouette of Prideful Mage behind the Dragon Breaks the Ranks.
But Prideful Mage suddenly jumped up, turning in midair.
Seeing Deception dodge the Dragon Breaks the Ranks so nimbly, Jia Xing immediately stopped the attack. He anticipated that the opponent would immediately try and attack him, so he borrowed his lingering momentum and jumped up, twisted. Magic fluctuated around his spear, and he swung it down.
Shattering Heaven and Earth!
Powerful attack, another powerful attack, Jia Xing also retaliated with a powerful attack.
The shadow clones of the Shadow Dance hadn't had the chance to all attack Prideful Mage when this powerful attack enveloped all of them.
Shadow clones, how much life could they have? They definitely couldn't resist this bold level 75 Battle Mage attack, which produced waves of magic enough to stir a mountain. In an instant, these clones were dissipated into light, leaving not a single one.
Not a single one?
This situation was very similar to when He Ming earlier used Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire to blast away all of the shadow clones. Not a single one remaining meant that Deception had already hidden somewhere that was out of sight.
Underground?
Prideful Mage's spear already thrusted downward, but no, he wasn't there…
Everyone saw, Deception was coming at him from behind, using skills like Shadow Clone Technique to instantly send himself to this position.
The ambush of a Ninja was of course silent and stealthy. As soon as Prideful Mage's spear hit nothing, Jia Xing knew that something was wrong, but it was already too late to react, Deception had gotten behind him.
Annihilation!
The Ninja's knock up skill sent Prideful Mage into the air.
And then, Ninjutsu: Flickering Charge!
The rapidly moving silhouette seemed to flash in the air, chasing Prideful Mage with attack after attack. As Flickering Charge was executed, Prideful Mage's body was still floating in the air. He hadn't had the time to fall back down, but he suddenly waved the hand that wasn't holding his spear.
A purple shadow flew forth.
This Battle Mage had the Witch's low-level skill Night Cloak.
Night Cloak's Grab effect was extremely good, but Mo Fan's reaction was fast. Deception swiftly jumped backward, and this Night Cloak hit air. But immediately afterward, a burst of something that looked like stardust scattered in front of them, and Deception was unable to dodge it cleanly.
Disperse Powder, another Witch skill.
Using these two instant Witch skills, Jia Xing won back the initiative. The speed-lowering effect of Disperse Powder had a significant impact on the Ninja, who relied on agility.
Jia Xing easily controlled to dodge Deception's follow-up attack, and then he began his counterattack.
Just in this narrow alleyway, the Battle Mage and the Ninja began a fierce confrontation.
The two competed in observation, reaction, hand speed.
Neither of them thought to use some opening to retreat and adjust before coming back. It was as though the entire map were limited to just this little area and leaving would be dying. The two traded blows, both refusing to back down.
But the Ninja class, in terms of style, wasn't entirely suited for this sort of hard, direct battle. Compared to the opponent, he was at a disadvantage.
But the battle was still that intense. The disadvantage was only evident in the speed at which the health of the two characters decreased. But no one dared to confidently say right now who would win and who would lose. In this sort of confrontation, one slip-up could be seized by the opponent to reach a new high. An advantage right now could be completely turned around by such a high.
This was Miracle's home game, and so there were more supporters of Miracle and Jia Xing.
Right now Prideful Mage had the slight upper hand, but no one dared to relax. They worried, their hearts raced, every clash made them jump.
"At a time like this, wouldn't it be better for him to adjust his rhythm a bit?" At Happy's player area, the players were discussing the situation at hand.
"From the way he's acting, it looks like he's prepared to fight like this until the end," Ye Xiu said.
"This Battle Mage seems quite tough, Mo Fan really should've used his normal playstyle to wear him down," Fang Rui said.
"Yeah…" Ye Xiu agreed, but the problem was, no one knew what Mo Fan was thinking. Worse, even after he came offstage they still might not get an answer. Lack of communication was always Mo Fan's biggest problem.
At last, this battle ended with Jia Xing's victory. Prideful Mage still had just under a third of his health left, not a bad situation.
Over at Happy, they were sighing. For this battle, Mo Fan's health had lagged behind at the start, but if he had used his normal style for this battle instead of the direct confrontation, he might have had a greater chance.
Watching Mo Fan walk back step by step, Happy's members maintained their silence, all the way until he returned to the player room.
"Not bad," Ye Xiu put simply.
Mo Fan looked at him, didn't say anything and headed back toward his own seat.
Ye Xiu gave Su Mucheng a meaningful look. At Happy, the only one who could have any bit of communication with Mo Fan was Su Mucheng.
Su Mucheng smiled. She twisted her head to look back at where Mo Fan heading back to his seat and called, "It's a bit sad that you lost, how come you played in such a rush?"
Mo Fan stopped and looked back, but his gaze landed not upon Su Mucheng, but upon Fang Rui.
"In a hurry," Mo Fan said.
Everyone was stunned.
"You useless dim sum! Are you looking for death! Hurry up and kneel!" Ye Xiu hit Fang Rui on the head.
"My mistake, my mistake!" Fang Rui was weeping and crying. The others didn't know whether to be angry or amused. This communication issue was really a big problem!
Chapter 1209: Who’s Under Pressure
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
In the group arena, two of Happy's people were down, and Miracle's second player still had a little under a third of his health left. This was a relatively common situation in a group arena. This around 30% health lead wasn't enough to let Miracle relax or have confidence in their victory. They all couldn't help but look at Happy's players, observing their movements.
Happy's third player, Tang Rou, had already stood up. She turned back to place on her seat the copy of Esports Time that the Miracle players had harassed them to take.
Starting from the first player Wei Chen, all the way to Mo Fan, Happy had already sent out five players. What effect did the Esports Time have on their spirits? To be honest, if they hadn't seen Tang Rou putting the magazine down just now, Miracle almost forgot about this whole thing. From those five players, they really hadn't seen any effect at all…
Was it that Fang Rui and Mo Fan's unusual performances today were provoked by the Esports Time? That possibility would really be a slap in their face.
But no matter what, the next player from Happy was the one at the center of the whole controversy, Tang Rou. There was no way she was entirely unaffected by this? The attacks from Ruan Cheng's article in Esports Time were extremely aggressive.
"There's no way a rookie can take that kind of pressure," He Ming said.
"But… she seems very calm," Shen Jian said.
"She wouldn't be so nervous that she can't even walk?" As He Ming spoke, he followed Tang Rou with his eyes as she entered the competitor booth.
The group arena continued, same map, the characters loaded and entered.
"Don't wander around inside, let's just meet outside. We're in a hurry." Tang Rou actually first sent a message in the chat.
"What's that all about? What 'in a hurry'? Tang Rou never has the habit of chatting during a match, does she?" He Ming said with some confusion, only to hear a rattling crash from Happy's player area. Everyone immediately looked over, and saw Fang Rui fallen upon the ground, covered in dust with a depressed expression.
"This this… this is just too mean, this…" Fang Rui was saying. Miracle couldn't hear clearly, but Happy's players were all laughing. Tang Rou's "in a hurry" was of course a very pointed comment. No one thought that she would actually tease Fang Rui in such a way! Fang Rui felt overwhelming pressure, these guys were all "in a hurry" to deliberately push the responsibility of loss onto him!
While Happy was all joyful, Miracle became even more stunned.
What was going on?
A 30% health lead wasn't considered much, but it couldn't be completely ignored? Happy was clearly in a bad situation right now, but they really seemed to be quite happy, this… did they have some ace up their sleeve? In a hurry? In a hurry for what?
Miracle's members exchanged looks, no one understood what this was about. Meanwhile, the two Battle Mages onstage had almost arrived at the center of the map.
Tang Rou sent an invitation for a direct fight, but her opponent Jia Xing ignored her. In a situation where a player had the health advantage, they generally wouldn't go to fight the opponent directly, they would prefer to play some tricks, and Jia Xing followed this normal thought process as well.
Tang Rou's Soft Mist, like Deception last round, first took a circle around the winery. Upon failing to discover Prideful Mage, she had no choice but to enter the winery.
A large courtyard with three entrances and exits. Jia Xing was relatively active, not waiting in one place. The two wandered around, and before long they met. Tang Rou's Soft Mist rushed forward without any hesitation, but Jia Xing's Prideful Mage decisively retreated, swiftly finding a shadowy position he had passed earlier from which he could launch an ambush.
One step, two steps, three steps…
Jia Xing silently counted the rhythm of Soft Mist's approach, his eyes focused on the spot where Soft Mist would appear.
Boom!
A thunderous sound. The walls of the winery courtyard weren't particularly sturdy. If even a Qi Master's qi could break it, how could it pose any difficulty for the powerful magic aura of a Battle Mage?
Soft Mist directly blasted a large hole in the wall, and from her pose, it was clear that she wanted to cut off the path and intercept Prideful Mage. A lucky hit, for as soon as she came through, she saw Prideful Mage holding his spear, staring intently at the other opening and sneakily hiding.
Happy had so many experts at playing dirty, skilled at waiting, ambushing, and laying traps. Tang Rou, growing up in this sort of team environment, of course, understood these tactics. Seeing Prideful Mage's position, she immediately guessed his intentions.
But would Tang Rou care that much? We meet, so let's fight!
Soft Mist, Dragon Breaks the Ranks, charged toward Prideful Mage.
At this point, Jia Xing had seen Soft Mist breaking through the wall, turning, and rushing toward him without hesitation. He immediately controlled Prideful Mage to dodge. If this little shadowy corner were hit by that Dragon Breaks the Ranks, it would likely collapse.
Tang Rou's rhythm was of course very fast, Soft Mist's spear twisted and chased Prideful Mage, continuing to batter him. Jia Xing wanted to avoid the spear, but he couldn't find the space and could only harden his skin and meet her attacks.
The two Battle Mages were immediately tangled together. Confrontations between players of the same class were both monotonous and fierce, but this time, Jia Xing didn't have the chance to feel any boredom, he only felt the ferocity. Because this was too familiar, he needed to make more calculations. He didn't even have to time to think about too many problems, as Soft Mist attacked too rapidly, too ferociously, he had no chance to plan anything. He could only input controls nonstop, almost unconsciously, all the way until his Prideful Mage fell.
He lost?
Jia Xing finally regained his wits. The battle just now seemed like an empty fog, as though his brain completely stopped turning, and only his hands kept working.
And now, he had already fallen. The word "GLORY" would not be sent to his screen.
Jia Xing walked out of the player both. How long had this battle taken? He felt lost. He only had one feeling: fast, very fast, extremely fast.
How did it turn out like this? Shouldn't she be…
Only now did Jia Xing think about how stress-ridden Tang Rou should be. Her performance should have been subpar. But he hadn't felt that at all; Tang Rou's attack rhythm was still as determined as ever.
Jia Xing didn't feel it, and the Miracle members offstage didn't see it either.
The unfortunate trio exchanged looks. If even Tang Rou hadn't been affected by this whole affair, then there was no point in mentioning any of the other players in Happy. The situation they had been relying on to win this match didn't exist at all?
"No matter what, let's get these two points first!" He Ming said.
Shen Jian nodded. He was Miracle's third player for the group arena, the anchor of the team.
"Be careful." He Ming added, unable to relax.
"Yeah…" Shen Jian nodded. He couldn't relax either, and so he didn't have the confidence to say any bold words to settle their hearts. Seeing Jia Xing's dazed expression as he came offstage, Shen Jian's heart started beating more rapidly.
"How was it?" Shen Jian told himself that the opponent was a rookie, that there was nothing to panic about, and at the same time, he tried to get some report from Jia Xing.
Jia Xing, who had been beaten so pathetically that his mind was empty, of course had nothing to talk about. His face showed only an expression of loss, and Shen Jian could only carry his various emotions of suspicion and alarm as he went onstage.
The battle began.
The blank-minded Jia Xing had still made some contribution, knocking away 10% of Soft Mist's health. With that sort of direct fighting earlier, it was inevitable that both sides take some damage.
And so Miracle's advantage in the group arena, starting from the 50% that He Ming had, was now whittled down to only 10%.
10%...
Staring at this advantage, Shen Jian didn't have much confident. His Striker walked forward, but his heart was jumping. He wasn't a rookie. He had experience in professional battles, but to put all of the pressure of the group arena on him, Shen Jian discovered that he wasn't as strong as he thought he was.
The opponent is a rookie. The opponent has already lost 10% health. The opponent is suffering the heavy pressure of public opinion. None of these reasons were enough to boost Shen Jian's confidence.
A core player was a position, but it was also a responsibility. Every pro player anticipated having this kind of position, but not everyone could take on this kind of responsibility. Sometimes, it was because they didn't have enough ability, such as in old Excellent Era, Shen Jian never had enough ability to become the core player. And now, in Miracle, as an experienced player born in Excellent Era, Shen Jian became a core player for this team alongside He Ming and Wang Ze. but now, with the weight of the group arena upon his shoulders, Shen Jian found that he couldn't calm down. His main thoughts were not about how to achieve victory, but… what if he lost?
His mental state was a mess, but it wasn't so bad that it affected his basic movement ability. Shen Jian's Striker Lethe quickly arrived at the winery at the center of the map. He didn't directly find Tang Rou to battle. After tumbling into the winery courtyard, he found a place to crouch and wait.
"What is he doing?" Offstage, He Ming was scowling.
Playing dirty? That wasn't Shen Jian's strong point! Before the match, he had never expressed wanting to use such a playstyle.
He Ming was stunned, Wang Ze didn't understand either. These two teammates had no way of knowing the jittery feelings Shen Jian was experiencing onstage, they could only exchange glances.
In the match, Shen Jian sent a message in the chat. "Where are you? Come out and let's decide this!"
Confuse the enemy, hide your true intentions, this was what Shen Jian was thinking. But for those in this field, this sort of dirty playing was really a bit out of place?
"124, 131" Clean and direct, Tang Rou sent out the coordinates of Soft Mist's position, not dirty at all.
Then, what would Shen Jian do?
The viewers looked over, only to see Shen Jian's Striker Lethe sneak out of his corner, looking like he was really about to run over to the position Tang Rou indicated.
If that was the case… then what was the point in crouching at the beginning?
Those who had some understanding were all confused by Shen Jian's actions.
"What's this guy playing at?" Fang Rui asked, mouth agape. After all, this was one of Ye Xiu's former teammates!
"He's probably… playing dirty?" Ye Xiu said.
"Are you trying to insult me?" Fang Rui was unhappy. Dirty playing wasn't this low-level! He refused to recognize this as dirty play.