Chapter 1305: A Long-Awaited Scene
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Using a Qi Blade, Fang Rui's Boundless Sea interrupted the contention for number one between the two generations without any hesitation. The countless players and reporters, who were interested in it, immediately started cursing.
Qi Blade wasn't easy to notice even when facing it head on. As a sneak attack, even the number one player wasn't able to notice it. However, this was a team competition. Zhou Zekai hadn't noticed it, but others had.
The instant Jiang Botao gave the warning in the team chat, Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer dodged. One person's warning and another person's movements coordinated beautifully.
But with this opening, how could Lord Grim not seize it to close in onto Cloud Piercer? People realized that Ye Xiu and Fang Rui were also coordinating with each other, and it had probably been planned beforehand. While everyone was overjoyed at seeing a fight between Ye Xiu and Zhou Zekai, Ye Xiu and Fang Rui conspired together and formed a pincer attack on Zhou Zekai.
The contention for number one and a qualified challenger were truly exciting topics, but did the players on stage care?
Just when these two formed a pincer attack onto Cloud Piercer, Samsara's Jiang Botao hurried over. The 1v1 that everyone had been hoping for didn't happen. The two had only just seen each other before everything turned into a mess. Lord Grim was currently interrupting Jiang Botao's Empty Waves from casting a formation, while Cloud Piercer was blocking the dirty sneak attack from Fang Rui's Boundless Sea.
The fight between the two sides had started all-around, but Happy's more prepared utilization of the terrain gave them a certain advantage. Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain was a troublesome existence for Samsara, and the only one who could keep her in check was Cloud Piercer, who Fang Rui and Ye Xiu had intercepted. Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash rushed over to provide support, and An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands stood beside him with his cross raised. The silver Holy Contract radiated with holy light as he chanted. This seemed to be his first time supporting his team in a direct conflict. An Wenyi was a bit excited. Could he finally participate in a team battle outright in the open? Before this, the situation always needed to be set up in a certain way before he could do anything, and Ye Xiu didn't hold back in telling him the reason.
An Wenyi was Happy's weakness. His technical skill was poor. Everyone in the Glory scene knew that. Believing in one's own lies wasn't something a logical person like An Wenyi did. Ye Xiu also trusted in his personality and didn't feel the need to keep his skill level a secret. Cleanly pointing it out would help him grow faster.
Reality was as such. An Wenyi was always clear where his shortcomings were and always consciously worked on improving them. The only thing restricting him was probably his talent. His rate of improvement seemed to be very slow, and he couldn't help but worry about his future.
However, Team Happy's actions wiped away this worry.
An Wenyi was extremely confident right now. He was certain he would definitely become qualified to be the lifeline supporting the team. He wouldn't be like before and sometimes become the bait for the team's tactics.
Cast. Small Heal.
Even though Little Cold Hand's equipment didn't stack cast speed, Small Heal was a low-level skill, so the cast time was short anyways, and it was quickly cast.
Holy light flew out and converged onto Lord Grim.
Crit!
The high crit rate didn't let him down. After a switch of equipment, the very first skill Little Cold Hands used had crit.
The holy light surrounding Lord Grim looked to be brighter than usual. His health immediately went up a notch.
That feels so good!
For a healer, nothing was more satisfying than watching a health bar go up. The others felt a thrill watching their attacks deal damage, but Clerics felt a thrill watching their skills heal.
The bigger the heal, the more satisfying it felt. And this was just a Small Heal, and not a huge one.
An Wenyi calmly observed the battlefield, waiting for a chance to use a high-level skill. When he had been adjusting to his new character, that sort of leap almost made his heart jump out. In real combat, in a fight, a leap in health meant a nullification of all the hard work the opponent had put in. This was the type of attack only healers could do, a spiritual blow to the opponents.
Come!
The always logical An Wenyi couldn't hold back his excitement. He had been holding it back for too long. He had been waiting for this day, this moment for too long.
Which side?
An Wenyi looked left and right, searching for an area that needed his support.
One Autumn Leaf and Chaotic Cloudy Mountains climbed out of the ditch and entered the fray. Samsara's healer Fang Minghua and his Cleric Laughing Song looked to be in a position symmetrical to Little Cold Hands. He was also in position, waiting for a side that required his assistance.
This was a battle between healers! How exhilarating! An Wenyi saw Laughing Song across from him. The other side seemed to have noticed him too. The hot bloodedness in his mind couldn't help but surge forth again.
There!
An Wewnyi suddenly found an opportunity. However, that side didn't require any healing. If he placed a Sacred Fire there, would he be able to restrict One Autumn Leaf's mobility?
Ah! This side too!
Or maybe I should Hypnotize Empty Waves?
Would I be noticed though? Little Cold Hands had a slow casting speed. Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer could interrupt his cast with just a single bullet.
Maybe I should cast a Sacred Fire first! An Wenyi made up his mind, but...
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
One Autumn Leaf suddenly swept outwards with his spear. After finding an opening, he took a step and attacked Little Cold Hands with a Dragon Breaks the Ranks.
The distance isn't enough!
The first thing An Wenyi noticed was that Dragon Breaks the Ranks wouldn't be enough for One Autumn Leaf to fully close in onto him. But this surprise attack had still drastically increased the threat towards him.
An Wenyi didn't panic.
Sacred Fire!
He had originally planned on using this skill to decrease One Autumn Leaf's mobility, but One Autumn Leaf broke off from the fight first. The Sacred Fire was still sent towards him nonetheless.
Under the light of Holy Contract, the pale flames slid out from it. One Autumn Leaf had only been five units away, so the Sacred Fire was bound to be within his path. The spell had been timed to the extreme. But the instant the pale flames leapt up and it looked as if One Autumn Leaf would step on them, One Autumn Leaf leaped into the air.
Frightening reaction speed and extraordinary technical skill were all things An Wenyi lacked, but at this moment, Sun Xiang displayed these traits beautifully. It was just an instant, but Sun Xiang was able to react in time.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks was forcefully cancelled, but because he had jumped, the momentum carried him high into the air.
Shattering the Lands!
One Autumn Leaf's Evil Annihilation danced in the air. Under the gloomy backdrop, the flickering black light looked even crueler.
An Wenyi was still engrossed in what had just happened. How he envied Sun Xiang's reaction speed and technique! It was only an instant later, and One Autumn Leaf was coming down with a Shattering the Lands!
An Wenyi's reaction speed had always been his weakness. The attack itself was a large AoE move. Where could he dodge to?
He had nowhere to dodge, and he had no attack that could stop Shattering the Lands. Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash was close to Little Cold Hands, but he had no way of helping because this attack could not be blocked!
Boom!
Magic waves rippled and shook the earth.
Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash promptly jumped out of harm's way, but Little Cold Hands wasn't even able to take three steps before the spreading shockwave landed.
No one could block the attack, but they could always rescue him after it.
An X-1 Extruder launched from Dancing Rain's cannon towards Little Cold Hands. Anyone in its vicinity would be pulled away.
This sort of protection was only temporary. Getting the healer to safety required constant defense. Starting from Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf breaking through, Samsara held the initiative because Happy needed to maintain a certain distance from their target of protection.
Ye Xiu and Fang Rui weren't able to continue fighting on the other side. They needed to shrink their defensive zone to protect their healer.
Random Firing!
Zhou Zekai seized this timing to fire a burst of attacks. Bullets shot out from his dual guns and under his extraordinary control, nearly every bullet threatened Lord Grim and Boundless Sea.
This wave of attacks stopped the two from retreating, using a strong offense as a defense.
Empty Waves began casting a wave formation!
"Interrupt!"
Ye Xiu called out in the chat. This wave formation could not be allowed to be summoned. Lord Grim raised his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella and used its shield form to block Cloud Piercer's attacks. Fang Rui's Boundless Sea went into the cover provided by the umbrella and let out an attack towards Empty Waves.
Samsara's offensive had been repeatedly thwarted by Happy's players, but finally, Lu Boyuan found an opening to act.
Chaotic Cloudy Mountains flipped his palms...
Grapplers didn't have long-ranged attacks, and there was no one near him. However, the movements he made made An Wenyi's heart leap.
This was… the Qi Master skill, Cloud Grasping Fist!
Chaotic Cloudy Mountains was a Fighter class, so a skill of the same class could be added to his weapon. And in this match, he chose Cloud Grasping Fist. In order to target Happy's weak point, had this been an arrangement they had planned from the start?
An Wenyi wanted to dodge, but he immediately discovered that Sun Xiang had his eyes completely fixed on him.
With Dancing Rain's X-1 Extruder flying over, One Autumn Leaf wasn't able to press closer for now, but if Little Cold Hands moved, he would be outside of X-1 Extruder's protection, and One Autumn Leaf would instantly start attacking.
Samsara's teamwork put him in a helpless position. An Wenyi felt despair. However, the moment Chaotic Cloudy Mountains sneak attacked with Cloud Grasping Fist, a character stood in front of him.
Phantom Demon, One Inch Ash.
Chapter 1306: What Makes Him Special
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Cloud Grasping Fist didn't have mountain-splitting power. When One Inch Ash came over to block it, the qi landed upon his body and instantly pulled him toward where Chaotic Cloudy Mountain was. This skill only pulled the target toward the user, it didn't restrict the target's movements. One Inch Ash, who had purposely taken the attack to help Little Cold Hands, was of course prepared for this. As he was pulled away, he also sent an attack.
Ghost Slash!
The blade light arrived in front of Chaotic Cloudy Mountain a second before the person did. But Lu Boyuan had seen that the opponent had taken the initiative to serve as a meat shield, so an attack like this was within his expectations. He dodged to the side with precise timing, already thrusting a hand toward One Inch Ash's shoulder.
Lu Boyuan had predicted Qiao Yifan's actions, but Qiao Yifan had actually also guessed that Lu Boyuan would respond. The problem was, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain's hand had arrived in the last second before Cloud Grasping Fist wore off. Cloud Grasping Fist didn't restrict the character's skills, but movement was undoubtedly locked. Even though Qiao Yifan knew that Chaotic Cloudy Mountain's attack would arrive, he simply had no way of controlling One Inch Ash to dodge. Lu Boyuan's hand flashed out with incredible precision, and his positioning was beautiful. Helpless, Qiao Yifan tried to change the direction of his Ghost Slash, but he still couldn't catch up to Chaotic Cloudy Mountain's movement.
Qiao Yifan was already out of strategies, but fortunately, this wasn't an individual battle. A Laser Rifle was accurately fired toward Chaotic Cloudy Mountain, forcibly splitting the connection he had tried to establish with One Inch Ash. Even though it failed to cause any damage, Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash had already recovered from the movement-restricting effects of the Cloud Grasping Fist.
Moonlight Slash, Full Moonlight Slash!
Two slashing attacks one after another instantly leapt toward Chaotic Cloudy Mountain. The slashing attacks of a Phantom Demon didn't cause much damage, but Lu Boyuan of course wouldn't just let his character be chopped up. He quickly backed up two steps, avoiding these two attacks. One Inch Ash quickly withdrew, as he had no intention of getting tangled with him here.
Even though Happy hadn't taken too much damage for now, their formation had unquestionably been thrown into chaos by Samsara's continuous disruption. Over by Little Cold Hands, Dancing Rain's X-1 Extruder had already exploded, and One Autumn Leaf was rushing forward. Dancing Rain again tried to block him, but he didn't dodge or retreat. Over there, Fang Minghua's Cleric Laughing Song was already casting, clearing covering for One Autumn Leaf as he forcibly killed off Little Cold Hands.
Happy was now completely on the defensive, all starting from when Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf had broken through with a Dragon Breaks the Ranks. Once upon a time, Samsara's weakness was their lack of a close-range, brute-force attacker. But after obtaining Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf, they finally had a character who could charge through, forcibly carrying the whole team into the offensive.
Samsara's weakness had been fixed with a transfer, but what about Happy's weakness? Right now, he was suffering under One Autumn Leaf's furious attacks, helplessly waiting for rescue by his teammates.
"It really is hard to understand Happy's actions." Pan Lin and Li Yibo, in the television broadcast, were discussing this topic instead of the events going on in the match.
They'd originally thought that Happy had gone to all this effort to update Little Cold Hands' equipment because An Wenyi had some special talent that would allow him to control this character very well. But just looking at this ongoing match, they couldn't tell. All they saw was, as usual, the weakness of An Wenyi's slow reactions. And this weakness was directly causing trouble for Happy in this match.
"If he had used Sacred Fire a little faster to restrict One Autumn Leaf's movement space, then One Autumn Leaf's formation-breaking charge might not have been successful."
"If his reactions were a little faster, he should have been able to dodge that Shattering the Lands. He shouldn't have been hit and then directly exposed in front of One Autumn Leaf. Now the whole team has lost the initiative."
"Team Happy's team roster here relies on the Phantom Demon's support and control to strengthen the battle ability of the whole team. So, as soon as the battle begins, they need to let the Phantom Demon successfully cast his boundaries. And the Launcher is the core of long-distance attacks. In other words, Lord Grim and Boundless Sea are the only ones directly controlling the situation from the front. This arrangement requires the team's Cleric to give a certain amount of support. An Wenyi has failed to do this, and so Happy was quickly scattered by Samsara…"
The two continued to discuss and analyze the problems. And An Wenyi was the core of this heap of problems. The simple conclusion drawn was that if Happy changed their Cleric player, even if it couldn't be said how the battle would ultimately play out, at least Happy wouldn't be so quickly broken by Samsara in a battle where they had the map advantage.
Yes, broken.
By this time, Happy had already been broken for good.
The Ghost Boundaries hadn't been set. The healer had been stolen away and was being beaten up. Only under Dancing Rain's desperate supporting were Lord Grim and Boundless Sea able to struggle out of their situation and turn around to try and save the healer. But Samsara instantly turned fire, with Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf throwing away Little Cold Hands and attacking Lord Grim and Boundless Sea. Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer took over for him, continuing to rain damage upon Little Cold Hands.
Inside-Out Tactics.
One of the basic strategies in Glory. Close- and long-range attackers exchange positions, continuously outputting damage.
And now, Inside-Out Tactics were being used by Sun Xiang and Zhou Zekai, these two pinnacle attackers in the Alliance, with One Autumn Leaf and Cloud Piercer, these two pinnacle characters. One could only imagine how powerful it was. Because of the restriction caused by the inside-out exchange of these two players, Happy had no way of interrupting their offensive. Over the course of this season, Samsara had used this method to swiftly wipe out who knew how many crucial characters on the opponent side. Even if it didn't succeeded, this method greatly restrained the opponents, preventing their strategies from effectively playing out.
The situation Happy faced now was even more disastrous. Their healer was directly kicked out of the match by the opponent.
Happy lost, but no one expected that they could lose so quickly.
11 minutes and 58 seconds, that was how much time this team competition ultimately took. This was only a little over two-fifths of the average team competition duration of 25:47. Anyone could tell that this was a match where the healer was immediately killed off.
Samsara's fans were jumping and laughing. Who cared if they lost the individual rounds? The ultimate victory still belonged to them. Happy's fans, meanwhile, were quiet. When they'd seen Tang Rou's performance in the group arena, when they'd seen Little Cold Hands flashing new Silver equipment, they had held high hopes for this team competition. They truly felt that their team was about to defeat the champion team Samsara. But in the end, the team competition was such a swift and brutal defeat.
An Wenyi disappointed everyone. Although he had always been called Happy's weak point, thanks to the team's intentional protection with their strategies, he had never affected Happy's victory. But this time, it was exactly as Pan Lin and Li Yibo had analyzed. An Wenyi's weak point left a gaping vulnerability in the match, and it was this vulnerability that led to Happy's rapid loss to Samsara.
"Just switch the Cleric player!" The supporters in the stadium, the supporters in front of the television, even Pan Lin and Li Yibo in the live broadcast were giving this suggestion to Happy.
"Increasing the character's strength won't help! The character is dead, the player is alive! You have to start from the player!" At the end of this match broadcast, this was Li Yibo's exclamation.
In the post-match press conference, this issue became the focus. And An Wenyi, at the center of this whirlpool, hadn't been sent out by the team for this press conference. He sat in the prep room, silently staring at the television as Ye Xiu was swarmed by the media, the reporters firing question after question about An Wenyi.
An Wenyi took off his glasses and buried his face in his hands.
He'd really screwed up this time, he knew. The team had built this Cleric character just for him, a character specially catering to his playstyle, but his performance was still like this. It looked like he really wasn't suited to be a pro player. Everything he'd hoped for, dreamed of, they were no more than soap bubbles bursting in the air, right? Maybe this was the final chance the team would give him, and now they were probably going to find a new player. The transfer window still hadn't closed…
"Do you think An Wenyi is even at the professional level?" An Wenyi had taken off his glasses, but he couldn't stop the sound from reaching his ears, and he heard from the television a reporter asking such a direct question. Unlike many commentaries where they tried to tactfully express that An Wenyi's skill wasn't good enough, this reporter bluntly questioned whether he had a chance as a pro player…
An Wenyi wasn't the only one left in the prep room during the press conference. After hearing this brutally direct question, Qiao Yifan reflexively began searching for the remote to turn off the television. But then, they heard Ye Xiu's clear and certain answer:
"Of course. Without a doubt."
Qiao Yifan froze, and then slowly, the hand holding the remote slowly fell back to his side. He looked at An Wenyi, and saw that his teammate had lifted his head, a shocked expression on his face. But soon, he put his glasses back on and stared attentively at the television.
"Then how do you explain his performance today? There were several moments that I don't think were because of accidental mistakes or such reasons. They happened because he's not good enough, right?" a reporter asked.
"No." Ye Xiu shook his head with a smile. "That was because he's only had this new character for two days. He needs to adjust to the character, and at the same time, he needs to adjust to a few responsibilities that he hasn't taken on before."
"Responsibilities that he hasn't taken on before? What is that referring to?"
"Just like in today's battle, a Cleric standing directly at the front of the battlefield," Ye Xiu said.
"But he didn't do very well."
"This was his first time, and this was against Team Samsara. How well would you hope he'd do?" Ye Xiu asked.
"That is to say, Happy won't look for a new Cleric player, and will continue to believe in him?"
"Absolutely," Ye Xiu said.
"What's so special about him, that Happy has such faith in him?"
"Special? He is a member of Team Happy. That's what's special about him," Ye Xiu said.
A member of Team Happy…
An Wenyi stared blankly at the screen. When he once again doubted himself, when he once again lost confidence in the future, Ye Xiu appeared in front of everyone and clearly emphasized his identity.
He was a member of Team Happy.
Was all of the faith just from that? An Wenyi was extremely moved. But clearly, the reporters weren't touched by such an answer. To them, this was too idealistic, this was belief for the sake of belief.
"If An Wenyi repeats his performance today, will you still say that statement?" one reporter asked.
"I think that he won't give me that difficulty," Ye Xiu said.
Chapter 1307: The Buddhist Monk from a Foreign Land
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Ye Xiu's declaration at the press conference didn't dispel many people's doubts. Stubbornly insisting on using someone, who was universally regarded as having subpar skill, received all sorts of criticism. The forums, in particular, had lots of nonsense like An Wenyi was Chen Guo's sugar daddy, and he could not be kicked because of the boss's authority. Numerous people actually accepted this conjecture, quite a few were even Happy's fans.
Fortunately, the reporters weren't so unreasonable and only criticized Happy's obstinacy.
"Happy's future this season is looking quite good, but perhaps it will end because of their stubbornness!"
A few media stations reported in this way because the transfer window had closed after this round and Happy truly had no intentions of recruiting a better healer. An Wenyi was the only person they could rely on now. Healers were different from other classes. There were usually no substitutes for them. Cries of mourning could be heard all around Happy. Even many of Happy's supporters complained about their team's stubbornness. Rumors without boundary started to spread further and further.
The only voice that could thoroughly dispel these doubts was a strong performance, but...
"Don't be anxious. This isn't something that can be resolved in a match or two." Early in the morning, Ye Xiu got up and found An Wenyi practicing since who knew when.
"The entire team needs time to get used to this new way of playing. It wasn't just you that made mistakes against Samsara. The team didn't protect you well enough either," Ye Xiu said.
"You're not consoling me, are you?" An Wenyi asked.
"I always say it how it is," Ye Xiu said.
"I believe you," An Wenyi nodded his head. Ye Xiu was truthful to the extent that he could infuriate others.
"Continue to work on your reaction speed. It'll always be helpful. And then practice and play together with the team to work on our synergy," Ye Xiu said.
"Maybe we can go back to how we played in the past…" An Wenyi said these words, thinking with the team in mind. He was a bit scared of holding back the team from winning just so that he could become a qualified Cleric.
"That style of play isn't sustainable. Even that slow Li Yibo is starting to smell out the traps inside. Do you believe that the likes of Yu Wenzhou, Zhang Xinjie, Wang Jiexi wouldn't be able to? We need to think about the long term. Starting from now on, we need to think about playoffs," Ye Xiu said.
"Playoffs?"
"I don't think we'll decline so far as to fall out of top eight," Ye Xiu said.
After Round 20, the fluctuations on the rankings were miniscule. Only four teams had changes.
Royal Style beat Radiant 7-3, and Miracle lost to Tyranny 1-9. As a result, two of these teams switched places on the rankings. At the moment, Royal Style was in 12th, while Miracle was in 13th.
Apart from that, there was Team 301 and Team Void. These two teams confronted each other directly. In the end, Team 301 won 9-1 versus Team Void. And in this match, the player Bai Shu, who Team 301 had dug out from who knows where during the transfer window, triggered quite a discussion.
The unknown newcomer displayed extremely high technical skill, and what was even more astonishing was that he seemed to have plenty of competitive experience.
A nobody having exceptional technique could perhaps be explained by bitter closed door training, but rich competitive experience wasn't something that could be obtained in seclusion. The Glory online game couldn't bring about this sort of high-level experience either.
Where did this Bai Shu come from?
Finally, Team 301 gave the answer to this mystery by revealing his identity. This guy was also a pro player, but he wasn't a domestic player. He was a Chinese pro player from England's Glory Super League.
This was… foreign help?
The pro circle was astonished. It obviously wasn't only China that had a Glory competitive scene. Glory was a popular global game, and many countries had formed their own leagues. It was just that up until now, each country had their own competitive formats. The scene was still young too, so there hadn't been any across-border interactions yet. At most, it would just be a few videos of other pro matches appearing on the Internet. The international scene had unfamiliar players, equipment descriptions that they couldn't understand, and it didn't offer anything that they couldn't see in their own country, so it naturally didn't have much of an impact.
But this time, Team 301 officially broke the communication barrier and recruited a pro player from outside of the country.
Bai Shu quickly received numerous interview invites from several media outlets. In the end, the one who came out on top was Esports Home, the country's highest authority in esports.
Bai Shu's unknown history was finally revealed through the interview. There was nothing crazy about him. He had been a student studying abroad and liked to play Glory during his free time. He was quite talented, so his skill level quickly improved. After making a name for himself in the Glory community, he attracted the attention of pro teams and was recruited. He already had nearly four years of competitive experience. Team 301 expanded their search for talents to outside of the country and brought Bai Shu back to China.
The Glory news reporters weren't as clueless towards the international scene like many normal players. England's Glory Super League had the highest level of competition in the European region, and Bai Shu had been a core member of one of the top teams there. His skill wouldn't lose to top player in China. From the results of the Round 20 match, many people believed that Bai Shu was at an All-Star level.
These were just words, though. He needed to prove it with action.
How bad was Happy's An Wenyi? How good was 301's Bai Shu? For a moment, these two topics became the most popular topics in the Glory competitive scene, and a match that would put them to the test had finally arrived.
Round 21. Happy had an away game against Hundred Blossoms, while 301 had a home game against Tyranny. This time, there wasn't too much debate from the broadcast for which match to show. Team 301 versus Team Tyranny was picked. Everyone was very curious about this international player.
Bai Shu's performance didn't disappoint. In their match against Tyranny, Team 301 won 8-2. Bai Shu's performance in the team competition was even more praiseworthy. In this match, Team 301's captain Yang Cong once again used Life-Risking Strike to OHKO the opposing side's healer. Tyranny's healer was on a completely different level than Happy's An Wenyi though.
An Wenyi was considered the Alliance's worst healer, while Zhang Xinjie was considered Glory's best healer. Zhang Xinjie had the experienced generals Han Wenqing, Zhang Jiale, and Lin Jingyan surrounding him, yet under Bai Shu's brilliant cover, Yang Cong was able to land a fatal blow.
The monk from the foreign lands had quite the skill! On the other hand, the domestic healer looked quite shameful. Happy ended up losing to Hundred Blossoms 4-6.
In the individual competition, Ye Xiu once again stood undefeated. Happy also won the group arena. However, in the team competition, their healer once again failed them, which led to their defeat.
The dissatisfaction of the fans rose even higher. But apart from complaining about it, there was nothing else they could do. The transfer window had passed, so no matter how terrible An Wenyi may be, Happy could only keep using him, unless they decided not to use a healer in the team.
The gloomy Happy fans didn't lack passion, giving all sorts of advice to Happy, but no matter how it was spun, it always came back to asking Happy to switch healers. Enlightened by Team 301, their search started expanding outside of the Alliance. An unknown but enthusiastic fan had gathered numerous matches showcasing healers from the international scene and then sent all of them to Happy's public mailbox for Happy to survey.
Chen Guo was helpless. She could only give another official team announcement expressing the team's faith in An Wenyi. She also hoped the fans could understand and be patient for a better future.
When the announcement came out, it persuaded a few, but there would always be stubborn fans. Happy's statement once again gave rise to all sorts of rumors. Possibilities such as An Wenyi being the boss's sugar daddy was no longer enough to satisfy them.
Including Happy's loss to Team 301 in Round 19, this was their third consecutive loss. However, just like last time, the rankings barely changed at all. No one really cared whether Conquering Clouds and Radiant, the 17th and 18th place teams, moved up or down. The other change was Void, who lost to Thunderclap 3-7, being overtaken by Misty Rain, who won 7-3 against Royal Style. However, these two teams were 20 points away from the playoffs zone. Apart from them, Team 301 was closing in onto the playoffs zone. After beating Happy in Round 19, Bai Shu joined their team. Ever since that round, Happy had lost three in a row, while 301 had won three in a row. The distance between 301 and the eighth place Wind Howl had shrunk to 13 points.
Team 301 looked to be making a strong comeback in the second half of the season. Their captain Yang Cong stepping back and their new player becoming a part of the main roster had changed Team 301's tactical style. Yang Cong seemed addicted to Life-Risking Strike at the moment. Team 301 might just make it their main playstyle. As for Bai Shu, everyone was still very curious about how much more potential he had left to show.
As for Happy's current predicament, besides their loyal fans, no one else truly worried for them. On the other hand, people like Ruan Cheng had found a gold mine. Their disgust towards Tang Rou had spread to the entirety of Team Happy. They couldn't find anything to criticize Tang Rou for at the moment, so they just brought her team into the mess.
In the new issue of the Esports Time, Ruan Cheng attacked Happy ferociously. However, his timing was poor. In Round 22, Happy would be facing Radiant. For the current Happy, a small mishap like this wasn't enough to a team like Radiant to upset them. After three consecutive losses, Happy made a resounding comeback with a 10-0, a loud slap in the face to people like Ruan Cheng.
Ruan Cheng wanted to cry but no tears came out. What could he do? Esports Time was released biweekly, so they couldn't publish immediate reports. When his article came out, Round 22 had ended. Ruan Cheng's criticism towards Happy received all sorts of condemnation from the community due to Happy's 10-0 victory.
Are you blind?
Countless Happy fans cursed angrily at Esports Time, at Ruan Cheng.
Chapter 1308: Tyranny’s Home Stadium
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
After Round 22, there were only only small changes on the points ranking. Clearly, after half a season of accumulation, the various teams all had a solid point foundation, and it would be very difficult for the points of one round to cause any big shifts on the rankings.
In the three rounds after the new year, the most-eye catching team was undoubtedly 301..
None of 301's opponents these three rounds - Void, Tyranny, and Hundred Blossoms - were weak. But 301 had still managed to win beautifully with a 9-1 and two 8-2 victories. Bai Shu didn't disappoint all those curious about him and had a strong performance in all three matches. 301's Captain Yang Cong had already completed his style change in these few rounds. He was no longer that directly-attacking warrior Assassin. Cold, ruthless, deadly, this was the impression that today's number one Assassin in the Alliance gave everyone, and he did a better job than many other Assassins who had always used this style. This sort of clean and neat style change led people to feel that this was a player who had always been somewhat underestimated.
Even though 301 hadn't risen on the leaderboard after these consecutive victories against strong opponents, they were steadily closing the gap between themselves and the top 8. After this round, their opponent Hundred Blossoms had fallen to eighth place with 131 points, only eight points ahead of 301.
The other team that was worth paying attention to was Team Wind Howl. Wind Howl, named the soft-footed shrimp*, had really been beaten bloody by the strong teams during the first half of the season. 10-0'd by Happy, 9-1'd by Tiny Herb, that was the tragic ending they faced in the last two rounds of the first half. During the winter transfer window, they'd tried to invite Tyranny's Zhang Xinjie with much fanfare, but ultimately they'd failed to make the deal, and they'd left behind a strong impression that they desperately needed to adjust the team. If they wanted to make any acquisition after that, all of the teams were lions with jaws gaping wide. Any player could have an asking price over ten million for them.
Wind Howl was quite desperate, but they weren't going to be taken for a ride like this! Zhang Xinjie was a player that could truly take care of all their problems, a God, a popular player, they were willing to pay a sky-high price. But now any random player cost over ten million, this was simply robbing a burning house. To Wind Howl, these players were just spare tires. There was no way they'd make such a large investment.
They were unwilling to be cheated, but they also couldn't discuss any suitable transfers. In the end, the transfer window closed without Wind Howl being able to complete any discussions. They could only pretend they had everything together, sending out an announcement expressing the team's belief in the current roster, belief that their current strength was enough to win everything, and so on.
Quite a few people who liked drama all anticipated seeing Wind Howl's continued fall! But at this moment, the match schedule helped out Wind Howl. In the opening of the second half of the season, none of Wind Howl's opponents were strong teams. Conquering Clouds, Radiant, Lightly, in front of teams like this, the soft-footed shrimp could still bare its fangs and wave its claws, eating them one by one. After Hundred Blossoms lost to 301, Wind Howl reached seventh place.
And coming up next? In Round 23, Wind Howl's opponent was Bright Green, a team that with Seaside was already locked in the relegation zone. It looked like Wind Howl, for now, wouldn't be falling.
Those paying attention to Wind Howl were only interested in seeing results. The fans who truly enjoyed watching high skill and technique displayed during a match had quite a few high-level confrontations they could choose in Round 23.
Tyranny vs Happy, Blue Rain vs Samsara, and 301, who had found its momentum in the second half of the season, would be playing their away game against the team whose team competition style had completely changed this season, Thunderclap.
After deliberating, the television broadcast team finally decided to give up on the match between the number two Blue Rain and the number one Samsara, simply because the difference between Samsara and Blue Rain was a whole 22 points. Even if Blue Rain earned a ferocious 10-0 victory over Samsara, they still had no way of shaking Samsara's huge lead. After thinking of this kind of result, this match felt a lot less interesting.
On the other hand, Tyranny and Happy were currently tied at 148 points, and their relative ranking was determined by the outcome of the previous match they'd played against each other. This time, whoever won would reach fourth place on the rankings.
The higher the rank at the season's end, the more prize money and dividends the team could earn. It also had a bit of an effect on the playoffs. In the playoffs system that had come into effect last season, the right of playing the home match in the third tie-breaking match between two teams was given to the team who had the higher ranking in the regular season. Even though this home match didn't include the right to choose the maps, the boost in morale from the home fans was useful.
For the broadcast of Round 23, they ultimately chose to show Happy's away game against Tyranny.
February 21.
City Q.
After the All-Star Weekend, Team Happy once again arrived at this city.
Tyranny's home stadium had actually sent a large bulk of security officers to welcome Team Happy. After half a season, Chen Guo had never seen such a welcome before!
"Is this necessary?" Chen Guo said.
"This is an official match, and the arriving person is Ye Xiu," the captain of the officers said in a very serious tone. But as he spoke, a coldness also seemed to flash in his eyes as he coolly glanced at Ye Xiu. His right hand seemed to subconscious drift toward the baton hanging at his hip.
"The hatred is that bad?" Even though Chen Guo was an Excellent Era fan in the past, she had never followed the team to Tyranny's home stadium, and didn't know the atmosphere here. As soon as she asked this question, she suddenly heard a loud shout from somewhere: "Ye Xiu, 1v1 me!"
And then a water bottle flew toward them, its cap very rudely opened, spilling water all over them.
"7 o'clock, 7 o'clock!!" This security officer's directions were like the directions given in a Glory match. Immediately, people charged toward the 7 o'clock direction, seizing the target. As for what happened afterward, Happy's members didn't know. The target was tightly surrounded by security and swiftly escorted inside the stadium, all the way into the prep room.
"How scary!" Chen Guo exclaimed with lingering fear. "What if that hadn't been water? What if it was acid or something?" Chen Guo examined where she'd been soaked by the water.
Ye Xiu was dumbfounded. "Isn't that a bit too cruel? How bad is this hatred?"
Right after he said that, there came a knock on the door of the prep room. It was a very precise and rhythmic knocking, quite eerie.
"Who is it!" Chen Guo was instantly on full alert.
"Zhang Xinjie," answered the person outside the door.
"Uh…" Chen Guo hadn't expected that it was actually a God and quickly opened the door.
"I heard that you all arrived, so I came to greet you." Zhang Xinjie greeted everyone in the room, and Chen Guo quickly let him in.
"Who's first from Tyranny in the individual round?" Ye Xiu asked.
This was a question that would very easily chill the atmosphere. But Zhang Xinjie still responded, "You'll see when the battle starts."
"Are you going in the group arena?" Ye Xiu asked another question.
"No…" Zhang Xinjie said.
"Do you know how to have a conversation?" Chen Guo finally couldn't restrain herself any longer.
"What is there to talk about?" Ye Xiu retorted.
Chen Guo was just about to answer, but Zhang Xinjie actually agreed with Ye Xiu's view. "Yes, I just came to greet you all. Play well, everyone. I'll take my leave now." After speaking, he just left.
"What?" Chen Guo was so confused. "There's nothing going on, he really came over purely to greet us? Was he trying to strengthen his sense of existence or something?"
"Then I'll go strengthen mine too!" Ye Xiu stood up.
"Do you need me to go too, Boss?" Steamed Bun jumped up.
"Up to you!" Ye Xiu didn't care either way.
"Let's go." Steamed Bun followed him.
"Me too, me too!" Fang Rui also joined the excitement.
"Boring." Wei Chen expressed his disdain toward these guys. The others were all more rule-following, and naturally didn't go along with this fun.
The three left the room. The prep rooms of two teams were generally either directly opposite or next door to each other, so it wasn't long before Chen Guo heard the hallway sounding with Ye Xiu's voice. "Open up, I'm here!"
With that tone, it sounded like this was his own home, and he couldn't be any more familiar.
The door to Tyranny's prep room opened. Without invitation, Ye Xiu just walked right in, followed by two others.
"The host team's prep room is always nicer!" Ye Xiu exclaimed. "What's the temperature here? Ours is a little cold." After saying this, he saw the control for the air conditioning on the wall and very skillfully controlled it a bit.
"Why are you here?" Standing to the side, Han Wenqing asked.
"Reciprocating the greeting!" Ye Xiu said.
"Old Lin." Fang Rui also greeted his old partner Lin Jingyan.
"The number one Brawler Lin Jingyan!" Steamed Bun shouted.
Lin Jingyan was instantly very happy. It'd been a long time since anyone had given him that title. This inexplicable guy from Happy was very good at chatting, it seemed!
"Happy's idiots are already here!" At this time, the door to the prep room was pushed open again, and a person charged in.
"Talking about people behind their back, where's your professionalism?" Ye Xiu turned around. The person who had just entered was Zhang Jiale.
"Oh, you're here." Zhang Jiale acted like he had nothing to do with it.
"You were the one who threw that water bottle just now, weren't you!" Ye Xiu said.
"What water bottle?" Zhang Jiale was confused.
"Don't pretend. I saw that throw style, it was completely like a grenade you'd throw," Ye Xiu said.
"What's all this nonsense?" Zhang Jiale said.
"I'll teach you a lesson during the match." As Ye Xiu spoke, he headed outside.
"Teach you a lesson!" As Steamed Bun left the room, he also gave Zhang Jiale an aggressive and intimidating shout.
"Those guys in Happy… they're really confusing!" Zhang Jiale watched as these two people left.
"Did you really throw that water bottle?" Even Tyranny's own members were asking him. Evidently, even though this thing had only happened just earlier, the news had already spread to Tyranny's players.
"I'm not that childish!" Zhang Jiale said. "But was it only water? How come they didn't put in a drink or paint or something? Let those guys from Happy go onstage all bright and colorful, hahaha."
"How bad is this hatred!" someone exclaimed.
"Gah!" Zhang Jiale jumped. "There's another one!"
"There was always another one…" Lin Jingyan was speechless. Fang Rui had come over to chat with him, so when Zhang Jiale had come in, he'd only seen Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun, and didn't notice that Happy still had another member waiting in ambush.
"If you come to Happy again, there might be drinks or paint or something waiting for you!" Fang Rui said to Zhang Jiale.
"How bad is this hatred!" Zhang Jiale said.
"Who said it wasn't?" Fang Rui laughed. "See you!" He said his goodbyes toward everyone and then left.
"Damn. Next time we go, we really have to be careful. Happy's dirty and shameless, they'd definitely do something like that," Zhang Jiale said, after Fang Rui left.
"Why's it so cold in here?" After saying this, Zhang Jiale felt the temperature in the room, and then saw the air conditioning control on the wall.
"18 degrees? Are you guys crazy!" Zhang Jiale shouted.
"It was probably Ye Xiu…" Everyone remembered how Ye Xiu had been fiddling with the control earlier.
"Just like I said! Those guys can do anything!" Zhang Jiale said.
T/N: 18 degrees Celsius, about 64 degrees Fahrenheit
*Soft-footed shrimp = coward/weakling
Chapter 1309: Who’s Under Pressure
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
In Round 23 of the regular season, where Team Happy faced Team Tyranny in their away game, the players from both teams had already started entering the stadium with holographic projections showing off each character's flair.
"Ye Xiu, your record ends here!!"
The moment Ye Xiu stepped foot into the stadium, the crowd started issuing battlecries. This was evidently something premeditated.
"Haha, what a nostalgic feeling!" Everyone else was shocked, but Ye Xiu simply laughed it off. Come to think of it, he hadn't encountered this kind of treatment for a long time. His reception at the All-Star Weekend was similar, but ultimately uncomparable to during Tyranny's actual home game. The All-Star Weekend was a grand occasion for all of Glory, and having it hosted in Tyranny's home stadium would only result in slightly more Tyranny fans. There would still be many other fans from other teams, or even neutral fans of Glory, so Ye Xiu's reception wouldn't be as grand as this one, where seemingly everyone in the stadium was targeting him.
While walking towards the player seats, Ye Xiu respectfully listened to the various jeers that the crowd were freely coming up with and shook his head, "It's been a few years already, how come these fellows from Tyranny can't come up with any fresh ideas?"
After Team Happy, Team Tyranny's players entered the stadium, which was naturally a completely different scene to behold. Team Tyranny's fans had an unstoppable passion, whether it was against their enemies or for their team.
The players from both teams met each other, and as everyone crossed the stage and shook hands, the crowd once again hollered, "Ye Xiu, your record ends here!" Ye Xiu, who was shaking hands with Zhang Jiale, laughed and said, "Listening to the hopes of the fans, your first player must be under a lot of pressure?"
Since the competition was about to begin, divulging who would be playing first was no big deal. The gazes of all the players from Team Tyranny fell onto Lin Jingyan.
"Oh, it's Old Lin, hehe," Ye Xiu said.
"..." Lin Jingyan was depressed. The reactions of the fans in the crowd were something that the players couldn't predict. Ye Xiu wasn't wrong, with such expectations from the fans, the pressure on him was considerably weighty. If he wanted to win against Ye Xiu, it really wouldn't be an easy feat!
"It's been hard on you, I'll just take this point first," Ye Xiu took the opportunity to say this as he was shaking Lin Jingyan's hand.
"You're too arrogant," Lin Jingyan said.
"Work hard!" Ye Xiu patted him, continuing to be as arrogant as ever.
"Old Lin, you can't lose!" Zhang Jiale got fired up.
Lin Jingyan innocently looked at him, "Why don't you go?"
"I already went the last time! Now it's your turn!" Zhang Jiale said without any hesitation.
"Naturally, I'll do my best," Lin Jingyan said. Since he had already been selected as the first player, there was no need to hide his true feelings. Ye Xiu was truly a troublesome opponent. His response seemed to lack passion and fervor, but the stability he had from his many years of experience was something that up-and-coming new players couldn't compare to.
In no time at all, the competition officially began and the players from both teams entered the field. Team Happy's first player was, as expected, Ye Xiu, and Team Tyranny's was Lin Jingyan. The crowd took it upon themselves to start the jeering again, but Ye Xiu had already been tempered by years of experience and was unfazed by it. On the contrary, it was Lin Jingyan who was under a great amount of pressure. To be honest, this was a scene that Ye Xiu had seen countless times, but Lin Jingyan had never experienced it himself. When he'd arrived at Team Tyranny, Ye Xiu had already changed to the unspecialized, and the first time they'd met, it had been at Happy's home stadium where the atmosphere was naturally very different. It was only now that they were playing at Tyranny's home stadium that Lin Jingyan began to understand exactly what kind of attitude Tyranny fans had towards Ye Xiu.
"How bad is this hatred?" This was a question that Lin Jingyan really wanted to ask.
Go onstage, log-in to the character, enter the map. The players already couldn't hear the the shouts from the crowd. Still, the fans of Tyranny continued to use all their effort to verbally assault Ye Xiu.
"Stop making so much noise." All of a sudden, Ye Xiu's message appeared in the public channel.
"It'll be over in a flash." Ye Xiu used these words to send his message to the crowd.
Could everyone possibly stop making noise after that? The noise from the crowd momentarily grew even louder, to the point where Lin Jingyan could faintly hear their cries from inside the player booth.
"This is unscientific!" Lin Jingyan was astounded. He'd spent so many years as a professional player, and except from at the very beginning, when the facilities were basic and crude, it was his first time being able to hear the crowd after entering the booth. How many decibels was the noise outside? Wasn't this Ye Xiu too good at adding fuel to the fire?
"Old Lin, hurry up and accept your death!" Ye Xiu began to provoke him in the public channel again.
Lin Jingyan ignored him. This kind of trash talk could no longer affect him. He wasn't some new generation player or a rising talent. At the time when Ye Xiu was unparalleled, he was already part of the Alliance. He had a better understanding of Ye Xiu's strength than other people. After all these years, they had encountered each other more than just a few times. Lin Jingyan didn't want to tally their battle record though because he knew that it would just make him unhappy.
He wasn't arrogant or overbearing; he had been called a God for many years, but he was never one of those at the peak. Neither rising nor falling, it made people feel as if he was a little muddleheaded. He had thought that his professional career would come to an end like this, slowly heading to its boring end, but then he was released from his team.
After accepting Team Tyranny's invitation, three players at the twilight of their professional careers had gathered in the most hot-blooded of all the Alliance's teams. Champions?
Lin Jingyan didn't think he would be in over his head so quickly, unexpectedly wanting to aim for this height again. In this team, with these players next to him, his once-dwindling passion was suddenly re-ignited.
They had fought vigorously for an entire season, but tragically fell short at the last step. Countless people felt great pity for them, and at that moment, Lin Jingyan had thoughts of retiring. But at his side was a player even older than him, who, right after losing the championship, had straightened his back at the press conference and said, "We'll be back next year."
Han Wenqing was even older than him, but he still hadn't given up!
Zhang Jiale had placed second four times, but he still hadn't given up!
And then there was that Ye Xiu, who had dug out an entire team from an Internet cafe before stubbornly triumphing over Excellent Era and imposingly slaughtering his way back into the Alliance.
All of them hadn't given up, how could he be the first to give up?
Lin Jingyan stayed on, holding on to the dream of becoming a champion and starting his efforts anew.
Dark Thunder walked out of the respawn point, strategically moving towards the middle of the map. Lin Jingyan didn't want to fight Ye Xiu head-on. It had already been more than half a season, but the unspecialized Lord Grim wasn't something that could be adapted to in half a season. This was simply because they didn't have the necessary conditions to practice for him. Aside from the actual competition, they could only rely on their theorycrafting, but without putting it into practice, their grasp over the unspecialized was still unsatisfactory.
So Lin Jingyan decided to use tactics, taking a roundabout route to advance. After walking halfway, he saw another message from Ye Xiu in the public channel, "Old Lin, could you hurry up, I've been waiting for half a day."
Lin Jingyan ignored him, continuing to move at his own pace. If talking more could help you win, Huang Shaotian would already have won six championship titles.
After going in a roundabout fashion for a while more, Lin Jingyan finally saw Lord Grim, who had been waiting for him in the center of the map. The guy was just standing there, gripping his umbrella in a self-satisfied way! Why didn't it seem like he was here to compete! For a moment, the old general, Lin Jingyan, had gotten infuriated. It had passed in a moment, but he still had to control himself from getting irritated.
After fighting against each other for so many years, could he still be unaware? Ye Xiu's arrogant self-confidence was something he did for show, if one were to think he was actually arrogant and fight him under these false impressions, they would truly have been duped. This guy was truly dirty! Lin Jingyan couldn't help but think of the blood and tears that he had shed in the past, before frantically dispelling these thoughts from his mind.
How could he think of such things now, it was too hurtful to his morale!
Lin Jingyan directed Dark Thunder to hide at one corner, carefully watching Lord Grim's actions. Upon closer observation, the guy looked like he was taking a stroll in a self-satisfied manner, but he was actually moving towards a few places where one could sneak attack from, blocking them completely without leaving any openings.
"Old Lin, you've arrived, right? How long have you been squatting for? You'll eat a yellow card, you know!" Ye Xiu started talking again.
"I've arrived, I'm observing you now!" Lin Jingyan replied.
"Really? Do you need me to make a few relaxed-looking poses for you?" Ye Xiu replied.
"Sure, you can start posing," Lin Jingyan said.
"Alright!" Ye Xiu replied, and Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella quickly transformed into its gun form.
Gatling Gun!
Lord Grim's body turned, sending the bullets flying out in a horizontal arc and causing the surrounding dirt to fly into the air. Unexpectedly, he completed a full 360 degree turn, and a bullet exploded just to Dark Thunder's side. Lin Jingyan's judgement in having his character stay completely still was truly incredible.
"How was it?" Ye Xiu asked.
"Nice gunplay," Lin Jingyan replied.
"Let me show you another trick," Ye Xiu said.
"Oh?"
Poof!
A cloud of purple smoke up as Lord Grim threw out a smoke bomb, concealing his entire body before disappearing without a trace.
"This isn't nice to look at," Lin Jingyan said, but he was already frantically adjusting his camera angle, afraid that Ye Xiu would use the smokescreen to have Lord Grim quietly creep over.
But according to reason, he shouldn't have been exposed yet, right?
Lin Jingyan had some hesitation in his heart, and in that moment, his judgements weren't as resolute as before.
This guy, what was he planning on doing?
Lin Jingyan didn't see Lord Grim quietly creeping over, and he didn't want to act blindly and expose Dark Thunder's location, so he continued to endure, waiting for the purple smoke to disperse.
"Look at this trick now." Suddenly, Ye Xiu sent another message into the public chat. At the same time, in the midst of the purple smoke, a blinding white light suddenly flashed.
"Fuck!" Lin Jingyan swore, but his screen was already filled with white.
Flash Bullet, a Spitfire skill. But by now, everyone knew that Lord Grim's perverse Myriad Manifestations Umbrella could add a different skill to each of its forms, and this time, Ye Xiu had evidently added Flash Bullet to the gun form of his weapon. Borrowing the smoke screen of the Ninja skill, Smoke Bomb, he had waited until the smoke had gradually thinned out before throwing a Flash Bullet. The light pierced through the smoke, finally dazzling Lin Jingyan.
"I can't move! He still doesn't know where I am, I'm not that easy to find," Lin Jingyan thought.
"Haha, you don't dare to move now, right? Why don't you guess whether or not I can find you?" At that moment, Ye Xiu sent another message in the public chat. After being dazzled by Flash Bullet, he couldn't see anything, but he could still talk without any impediments.
Chapter 1310: Backfire
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Lin Jingyan wanted to cry.
This is exactly why they hadn't figured out Lord Grim's unspecialized class after half a season. Apart from possessing all the low level skills from all 24 classes, he could also equip different skills to his weapon. That meant that Lord Grim had the chance of knowing any skill that wasn't a classing or awakening skill, so long as Happy had enough skill scrolls.
Under such circumstances, how many different combos could Lord Grim execute? That wasn't something a human mind could calculate. Especially since they didn't know what skills would be set into the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, how would they know what to look out for?
Looking at his whited out screen, Lin Jingyan didn't know if he should act or if he should wait it out. In the end, he made a decision: he'd endure it!
Skills added to a weapon would be at most rank 1. The effects of Lord Grim's Flash Bullet wouldn't last long, and Lin Jingyan refused to believe that this guy could figure out his whereabouts in such a short time.
That's what Lin Jingyan thought, thus, Cold Thunder stayed there, unmoving and calm.
The audience, as well as Tyranny's players, were just about close to crying.
Lord Grim was already standing in front of Cold Thunder. If he moved the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella forward just by a bit, he would hit the other's forehead.
Old Lin, you've been tricked!
The spectators with their omniscient view actually all knew that Ye Xiu had probably caught sight of Dark Thunder when Lin Jingyan had first creeped into the center of the map.
The TV broadcast chose a shot of Lord Grim's view. There was a split-second where a figure flashed by in the corner of the screen.
Yes, just a shadow, just a split second. Pan Lin and Li Yibo had even had a very long and enthusiastic discussion as to if Ye Xiu had seen it or not. Back then, no one could be certain if Ye Xiu noticed or not and how far he could go in determining Dark Thunder's position from that.
It wasn't until a Flash Bullet blinded Dark Thunder and Lord Grim's form appeared from the dispersed purple smoke, accurately darting towards Lin Jingyan that everyone was certain that Ye Xiu had noticed that split-second incident and accurately determined Dark Thunder's position.
Then, Gatling Gun swept forth, Smoke Bomb, he really put on quite the act. It wasn't until the Flash Bullet was used that Ye Xiu managed to close in without Lin Jingyan's notice.
Victory had already been decided...
Lin Jingyan's sight came back while he was being attacked, and then received a head-on beat down from Lord Grim. There had yet to be anyone who could counter Ye Xiu's unspecialized blitz. Lin Jingyan tried and tried and tried, but still lost in the end.
The first individual competition ended and Ye Xiu left the stage with a victory to thunderous cursing. Things like how fake, how deceitful, how treacherous, what a showoff!
No matter what, that's how it was like for Ye Xiu at Tyranny. If he lost, there would be endless mockery, and if he won, it wasn't much better. No matter how he won, the Tyranny fans would still find it dirty, unhonorable, low end.
The passionate, open Tyranny fans would all become mean and petty when Ye Xiu was concerned, nit picking at everything and not seeing anything good in him.
However, Ye Xiu was completely unmoved, calmly returning to his seat.
"Tyranny's home game atmosphere doesn't seem to be affecting Ye Xiu at all!" Commentator Pan Lin exclaimed.
Li Yibo, sitting to the side, gave a strained smile. He was from Tyranny and though it had been a long time, he had personally seen this scene before, shaking his head and saying, "It's not affecting Ye Xiu, but instead it's affecting Lin Jingyan's performance. The atmosphere Tyranny's fans created has backfired."
"Ah?" Pan Lin was stunned.
"This atmosphere is something Lin Jingyan has yet to experience, having been on the team for half a year. When the match started, everyone was yelling about ending Ye Xiu's consecutive wins. It's easy to yell, but what about for Lin Jingyan, who is actually going up against Ye Xiu? In the end, this is only giving him more pressure," Li Yibo explained.
"Oh… so that was why he had accidentally revealed his shadow while moving to the center of the map, giving his position away to Ye Xiu," Pan Lin said.
"Yeah…" Li Yibo sighed again.
Pan Lin didn't continue the conversation. This saying wasn't illogical, but how could you be certain that Lin Jingyan's mistake was because of this pressure? Pan Lin felt a little incredulous, so he couldn't really bring himself to agree so fervently. By then, the second players on each team were heading towards the stage..
Happy, Mo Fan, Deception.
Tyranny, Song Qiying, Sunset River.
"Hey, the second round is a clash between two newcomers," Pan Lin exclaimed.
"Indeed!" Li Yibo confirmed, looking interested. There were quite a few talented rookies this season. Tyranny's Song Qiying was definitely one of them. As for Happy, they had a particularly large number of rookies. Tang Rou, Bao Rongxing, and this Mo Fan, then there was their Cleric An Wenyi. However, if you wanted to say whether or not they were talented, that was a bit of a problem over here.
People originally had high expectations for Tang Rou, but then there were some conflicts with her character and her popularity plummeted. Though this had some effect, Tang Rou's performance in the field continued to be outstanding. The Alliance was very conflicted. The selection for the Best Rookie award wasn't like the All-Stars voting; popularity wasn't considered. From pure performance, Tang Rou was the most outstanding rookie this season.
In addition, her position in the team was something no other rookie could hope for. She was the last line of defense for the arena, and no other rookie was taking such an important position in their team. She also performed extremely well in her position, scoring consecutive victories. Her performance in the team competition was rather amazing as well. In typical circumstances, Tang Rou would be a steady first in bot popularity and skill. Even if her popularity was low, Tang Rou's performance would be enough to convince people.
But the problem was that Tang Rou's popularity wasn't just a little low, it was practically in the negatives. Award Tang Rou with Best Rookie under these circumstances? The Alliance really felt that they didn't have enough support to do that. They had never experienced such a situation. They were burning brain cells trying to figure out what to do. They just hoped that an even more outstanding rookie would appear.
But, there were none.
In this era, even if rookies had talent, they needed their teams to give them a chance to shine. Many mature teams had talented rookies, but they weren't as reliable as veterans due to their lack of experience. Each team had their own way of cultivating young talents. Some did throw their rookies into the thick of things directly, like Lu Hanwen who became a core member of the team at 14 and successfully took the title of Best Rookie. On one hand, he truly had talent, and on the other hand, he had enough chances to show his talent. Diamonds will shine, but this will wasn't the same for everyone.
This season's Tang Rou was like last season's Lu Hanwen; she had plenty of chances to shine, and she made good use of them, become a unique talent amongst the rookies.
The Alliance hoped for some new rookies. They didn't have to be better than Tang Rou, just being on par with her was good enough, and it would solve all their problems. Now there was still half a season. After the first half of the season, would there be any teams that felt their rookies were settling in well and could take on more responsibilities.
Li Yibo knew of the Alliance's attitude, so when he saw a match between rookies, his interest was peaked. Would there be any rookies that'd make a good final run and get to Tang Rou's level?
"Heh, this pair of rookies is pretty interesting!" Li Yibo opened up a discussion with this topic. "This Mo Fan used to be a notorious scrap-picker in game before getting pulled into the team by Ye Xiu and attending the Challenger's League with Happy. He's a rare self-taught talent these days. As for Tyranny's Song Qiying, he's a talented product of Tyranny's training camp. He grew under professional training, coming from a very orthodox background. What's interesting is that this Striker player did not inherit the style of Tyranny's Han Wenqing, but instead, from what we've observed, took after the Tyranny vice-captain Zhang Xinjie. His style is very meticulous."
"That's true indeed. This match will truly be interesting!" Pan Lin commented.
"Let's see which rookie will perform better!" Li Yibo exclaimed.
The silent Mo Fan and serious-as-Zhang Xinjie Song Qiying were both the kind of player that didn't make conversation. After the match started, there were no communications in the chat. The two met and opened combat directly.
A wild, self-taught style and a meticulous, academic style clashed. In this battle, Song Qiying attempted to break through Mo Fan's barrage in a frontal confrontation. However, Mo Fan's peak performance was enough to suppress Sun Xiang. Song Qiying was really struggling to deal with it. Every time he felt that an opening was imminent, Mo Fan would always swiftly pull a full retreat.
Song Qiying really didn't like this sort of pace. This was way too abrupt; who even fought like this?
However, this was the exact kind of opponent he had trouble dealing with, and fell to a disadvantage in the match.
"What do you think?" At Tyranny's bench, Han Wenqing posed this question to the others as they watched the match.
"It seems like that Mo Fan can only use five to six skills at a time well. He'll always break off his offense after these few skills and won't follow up with a new offensive afterwards, but instead clearly slows his pace down. It really does look like Cooldown Play," Zhang Xinjie analyzed.
"However, his execution of those few skills of his is truly very high," Zhang Jiale commented.
"Compared to before, he's improved immensely and his style has become more varied. However, he really has yet to solve the problem of continuity in his offense," Lin Jingyan added.
"If he can really solve that problem, then he'll become even more scary!" Zhang Jiale exclaimed.
"Yes," Lin Jingyan agreed.
"However, the current skill combos seem very complete and mature already. They don't hold much to continuity," Zhang Xinjie brought the topic down for deeper analysis.
"Could it be that he plans on persisting in his use of this style?" Zhang Jiale wondered aloud.
"He can clearly do better, so why doesn't he try?" Lin Jingyan voiced his confusion.
"What if he can't try?" Han Wenqing suddenly cut in.