Chapter 1389: Everyone’s Preparations
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
After uttering this pensive sentence, Wei Chen actually didn't say anything else. Everyone thought for a moment, and realized that he had already spoken of the details, and this was just the concluding sentence. They'd been watching the match for over an hour now, and hadn't seen Wei Chen or Steamed Bun during that whole time. Perhaps the two of them had just been sitting here beside the road, with Wei Chen describing the shining days of his youth?
"Soul, what soul? It was just two years!" Ye Xiu came up and mercilessly exposed him.
"Bullshit!" Wei Chen spun around, but when he saw it was Ye Xiu, he was actually quite calm. "Without me, would there even be a Blue Rain?"
Wei Chen wasn't exaggerating here. He, like Ye Xiu, entered the Glory circle when the professional Glory Alliance still hadn't existed yet! In the beginning, they were all simply ordinary gamers. The only way to make a living through gaming was through some transactions in-game. At the time, Ye Xiu's guild was Excellent Dynasty, but he hadn't been the one to create that guild. The person who'd created the guild at the time probably had no idea that it would lay the foundation for Club Excellent Era to establish a dynasty.
At the start, Guild Excellent Dynasty was like any other in-game guild, created by an ordinary player who'd pulled together some in-game friends to make a fun group that would allow them to play together. As they played, some groups became larger and larger, and after the Glory Alliance was first established, a few of these guilds became the in-game foundation for clubs and teams. Excellent Dynasty was like this, Blue Brook Guild was like this too. What was different was that the founder of the guild Excellent Dynasty, Tao Xuan, went on to become the boss of the club it formed the basis of. For Blue Rain, there were other investors, but the foundational guild had truly been established by their first captain Wei Chen, when he still played in-game. Without him, there would be no Blue Rain - this statement wasn't an exaggeration.
"Tomorrow, if you guys can't even beat my juniors, that would be too embarrassing," Wei Chen said, glaring at the Happy players.
To leave behind his old team and then have to fight them - for most people, this was a rather sad thing. But Wei Chen had taken eight whole years to complete this process!
Eight years. What feelings did he still have toward Blue Rain?
Even though most of his talk about his glorious days in Blue Rain was nothing more than shameless boasting, everyone could tell from the old guy's voice how he missed the past.
Did he miss his youth? Or did he miss Blue Rain?
No one asked further, because everyone knew, no matter what attitude Wei Chen had toward the past, he was now a member of Happy, and he stood clearly on Happy's side.
"Tomorrow, let's play well," Ye Xiu said.
"Let's go!" Together at the side of the road, the youths cheered and hollered.
"Where's Fang Rui?" After everyone calmed down a bit, Ye Xiu casually asked.
"Haven't seen that guy," Wei Chen said.
Everyone had their own ways of preparing for the match, so what was this master of playing dirty doing? Everyone was curious, but no one would bother him simply out of curiosity.
Upper Forest Park neighborhood.
It was already somewhat late, but there were still a number of people out and about, walking dogs or simply enjoying the night air. Su Mucheng and Tang Rou sat together on a stone bench beside the road, tilting their heads to look at the sky.
"The weather today was really nice, how come there aren't any stars at night?" Su Mucheng said.
"The stars are always there, but sadly, there's just too much air pollution. It's not that there aren't any, it's just that we can't see them. Or it might be because the starlight is too faint, and the lights from the cities are hiding their light!" Tang Rou said.
"Yeah, it's really a shame!" Su Mucheng sighed.
"By the way," Tang Rou suddenly said, "the first time you played in the playoffs, how did you feel?"
"The first time? I was very nervous, very worried. Worried that I couldn't do well enough, worried that I couldn't help him," said Su Mucheng.
"Then what about later?" Tang Rou didn't ask who the "him" was, it was very obvious.
"Later… It was true, I didn't do well. If I'd done better, then that year Excellent Era probably would've been champions again… Han Wenqing lost to Ye Xiu three times in three playoffs. But that time he won, because he gained a good helper at his side. And Ye Xiu didn't…" Su Mucheng's expression became somewhat saddened.
Tang Rou suddenly regretted her words; she'd forgotten that Su Mucheng had won second place the first time she'd participated in the playoffs. This seemed to be a very good result, so close to the championship, but in reality it was extremely painful. That feeling of missing success by just one step, it was enough to make anyone collapse. Regret, self-blame, no result could provoke these feelings as much as a second-place, almost-success could.
"I'm sorry," said Tang Rou.
"Don't worry, it's a long time ago now," said Su Mucheng.
Was it a long time… Tang Rou couldn't help but wonder. That time, the championship had just barely slipped out of Excellent Era's grasp in the finals, and after that, Excellent Era had never entered the finals again. Wouldn't Su Mucheng's sense of guilt only intensify through the years? Had she always felt that she hadn't helped Ye Xiu enough?
"This time we'll win for sure!" Tang Rou said.
"Aren't you nervous?" Su Mucheng asked her with a smile.
"I thought that I wouldn't get nervous, but now, I'm realizing that's not the case," Tang Rou said. Nervousness? What was that? Up until now, the things that made most people nervous would only make Tang Rou more excited, more determined. But this time? Excitement, determination, these were all there, but they weren't enough to completely dispel the nervousness. Tang Rou discovered that her heart still held a sense of fear, and she admitted this.
"Really?" Su Mucheng continued to smile. "Then that might be a good thing! You know, I always thought that you were too lacking in nervousness. Of course, it's not good to be too nervous, but to not feel nervous at all, that doesn't seem very good either!"
"Even Ye Xiu gets nervous?" Tang Rou said.
"Of course he's nervous. In fact, he's been extremely nervous this whole season. If not, then how could he work so hard and put his full effort into everything?" Su Mucheng said.
"I sure couldn't tell," Tang Rou murmured.
"Nervousness can be turned into action! As for you, you should enjoy this rare feeling of nervousness. For you, this isn't an obstacle at all, this is nourishment," said Su Mucheng.
"This is the method of reducing the stress of playoffs? Change your nervousness into medicine, and eat it?" Tang Rou said.
"Is this not a good method?" Su Mucheng said.
"It looks like that's the only way," Tang Rou said. She essentially understood Su Mucheng's meaning.
"Oh, you two were here this whole time!" At that moment, Ye Xiu with the group of old and youth had also returned to the neighborhood. As they walked along the road, they saw the two people sitting on the stone bench.
"Yup!" Su Mucheng and Tang Rou stood up, also prepared to return home.
Now, almost all of Happy had gathered here. They were just missing Mo Fan, who was still watching videos in the training room, and Fang Rui, who they still hadn't seen around.
"Where in the world did that Fang Rui run off to?" Ye Xiu once again wondered.
"Him? He went to sleep!" Su Mucheng said.
"Huh?"
"He came back a bit after eight, and then went to sleep," said Su Mucheng.
"He slept at eight?" Everyone exchanged glances.
At eight, Ye Xiu, Qiao Yifan, An Wenyi, and Luo Ji had been watching tonight's match; Wei Chen and Steamed Bun had been sitting beside the road and exchanging bragging stories; Su Mucheng and Tang Rou had been strolling through this neighborhood and chatting. And Fang Rui at that time had apparently already gone to bed.
"Sleeping at eight, how long is that guy planning to sleep?" Wei Chen exclaimed.
"Is this how he's dealing with the pressure?" everyone wondered.
"Or maybe he's scared that he'll be too nervous to sleep, so that's why he went to bed so early, to have more time to grow tired," they continued to discuss.
However, no one was so curious that they would check on whether Fang Rui was actually sleeping. This was the pattern of this night before the competition, everyone dispersing before coming back together in the end.
The next morning, when Ye Xiu awoke and came downstairs, he saw none other than Fang Rui. As expected of someone who'd gone to bed at eight, he was full of energy in the living room as he read the newspaper.
"301 lost pretty badly!" Seeing Ye Xiu come downstairs, Fang Rui greeted him and then made this comment. In his hands was today's edition of Esports Weekly, which he had already gone out to buy this morning. Now that it was playoffs season, the amount of available copies of this newspaper was rather tight, especially since they were near the area of the old Club Excellent Era. If you didn't go extremely early, you might not even be able to buy a copy.
"Yeah, I saw the match," Ye Xiu said.
"Those old guys from Tyranny are still working hard?" Fang Rui said.
"Well, of course, how could they not?" said Ye Xiu.
"But the report said that they played kind of defensively," Fang Rui said.
"Their strategy has a few changes. It's no longer the fiercely fighting and charging Tyranny of before," said Ye Xiu.
"They're going slower?" Fang Rui said.
Ye Xiu nodded.
"They might be our next opponents. It'll be a hard fight," Fang Rui said.
Two top-level players didn't need to say much. A few simple sentences was enough to understand the situation.
Because Tyranny had many old veterans, from an outsider's perspective it would seem that they weren't suited for a fast tempo. Old veterans were more suited for a steady fight to maximize usage of their experience and patience as they dealt with their opponent. But Tyranny had never used such a style before. They had fiercely fought and charged for ten years. Yet in the playoffs of this season, they slowed their pace as a whole.
Tyranny hadn't just been rotating its old veterans to let them preserve their strength! They'd adjusted their strategies from the very foundation, building a new path that suited them better instead of relying on the rhythm they'd always had.
"Those old guys aren't the only ones becoming more fearsome," said Ye Xiu.
"Oh?"
"There's also Zhang Xinjie," said Ye Xiu.
"Him?"
"His style always suited this sort of slow rhythm better. Just looking at playstyle, he and Tyranny don't fit at all, but because of his personality, he could force himself to adapt to tactics that didn't suit him. But now, Tyranny's style is developing in the direction of his true strength!"
Chapter 1390: Team Protection
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
In the end, Happy only had a chance of facing Tyranny if they made it through this round; it was a little too early to worry about them now. More urgently, Happy needed to focus on playing well in their match against Blue Rain.
In this week, apart from familiarizing themselves with their new equipment, Happy actively prepared to face off against Blue Rain. They didn't think about anything else, preparing themselves with only Blue Rain in mind. And now, it was time to bring all of this onto the battlefield.
During the regular season, Happy had twice met Blue Rain and lost rather miserably, 1 to 9 and 2 to 8. This time, what would Happy use to try and defeat Blue Rain? Today's edition of the Esports Weekly analyzed this question. Esports Weekly, which had become daily issue after the start of playoffs, had its content divided into two topics. One part would focus on the match that had just ended the day before, while the other part would analyze the upcoming match that night. The content was detailed and substantial, and the gamers loved it, but these were busy days for the media workers.
From online polls, it seemed that Blue Rain was much more favored to win. About 73% of voters supported them, while only 27% were for Happy.
But Happy wouldn't shrink back from such numbers. When they faced Excellent Era in the Challenger League, their support rate had been even more pathetic than this, but so what? If votes determined final results, then there wouldn't be any need for the match at all, just give the prize after voting finished.
On the day of the match, there wouldn't be any more heavy training, but the players still had to touch the computers a bit. There was no way they'd wait until the match began to start warming up, after all.
That afternoon, Happy's players all arrived at Happy's training room, each sitting down in front of a computer and opening Glory. Some played rather seriously, while others were more casual and relaxed. They no longer needed Ye Xiu to teach them. Warming up before a match, this was something they all had to do during the regular season, too. After going through this season, everyone knew what methods they liked to use to warm up, and so they each did their own thing.
And as they steadily adjusted their condition, they watched the minutes and seconds tick by.
When it was five o'clock, Chen Guo came over to call everyone to dinner. On match days, they generally ate earlier than usual. Right now, only three hours were left before the beginning of the match, and the atmosphere was incredibly heavy. Chen Guo only ate a few bites before feeling full, struggling to continue the act. In comparison, the players seemed somewhat more relaxed than her.
After they ate, they dispersed to do their own thing, until coming back together at seven o'clock, when it was time to go to the stadium.
Leave Happy Internet Cafe through the back door, cross the road, enter the stadium through the player passageways…
Happy had walked this route for an entire season now, but never as seriously as they did now. It was as though every step they took now would affect the final result of this match.
The preparation room was already ready, the air conditioning already running to bring it to a comfortable temperature. After everyone entered, they found a seat and sat down, and then they were silent.
Too stifling!
Chen Guo deeply felt the pressure in the air. At a time like this, she should really say something! Chen Guo looked at Ye Xiu, looked at Wei Chen. These two seniors among seniors would normally take great care in adjusting the team's attitude and atmosphere, so why weren't they saying anything now? Was it because they were also feeling suppressed by this atmosphere?
Should I say something?
What do I say?
Good luck? Relax?
There was no point in repeatedly emphasizing these sort of mottos! She should have prepared some jokes. Maybe those would have some effect right now.
Chen Guo thought and thought, but she still didn't know what she should say. But at last, Ye Xiu began to speak.
"Everyone remembers the strategies? Do I need to go over them again?" Ye Xiu said.
Everyone exchanged glances and silently shook their heads. No one spoke.
"Mm, the key is just spontaneous changes, we have a large advantage there. In terms of typing, I'm sure I can leave Yu Wenzhou behind in the dust."
There were a few dry chuckles.
"Yu Wenzhou, as a pro player, has a completely insufficient handspeed," Ye Xiu said. "But he was still able to become an All-Star level player. Do you know why?"
Everyone shook their heads. To be honest, they weren't much in the mood for guessing things like this right now.
"He plays to his strengths and avoids his weaknesses," said Ye Xiu.
"Silly, right?" Ye Xiu laughed. "But this is the truth. In this Alliance, there is no one better than him at doing this. This is Yu Wenzhou's style, and this is the strategic style of Team Blue Rain as a whole. Ever since their soul, the person they could never be without, their previous captain Wei Chen retired, Blue Rain has been on the rise…"
"Fuck off!" Wei Chen had to interject.
Everyone laughed again, and this time it wasn't as strained as before.
"Since our opponent this round is Blue Rain, I advise you all to learn from our comrade Yu Wenzhou. Avoid your weaknesses and use your strengths. Every one of you, fiercely place your strengths onto this battlefield for all to see. If you can do this, then you won't have a single regret left in your heart. Don't worry if it's not enough. Everyone has their lacking areas, and that's why we're a team. Where one person lacks, the other four come to bolster. This is what it is to be a team.
"Everyone protects their teammates' backs, and so everyone has someone at their back protecting them. So, rest assured, and charge forward boldly!"
"Happy, it's time to go onstage."
Just as Ye Xiu finished speaking, a worker knocked at the door of Happy's prep room, calling them onstage.
"Let's go!" Ye Xiu called, and everyone stood up and walked out of the prep room. Across the hallway, Blue Rain's players were also walking out of their room.
The two teams each lined up in the passageway, with the two captains standing at the very front. Because the speech that Ye Xiu had just given had begun with Yu Wenzhou, Happy's members couldn't help but take extra glances at this Blue Rain captain whose handspeed wasn't up to par.
"Did you guess what ace we have up our sleeve?" Ye Xiu, standing at the front of the line, asked Yu Wenzhou.
"We did not," Yu Wenzhou smiled. He hadn't even bothered to try and guess.
"I don't mind telling you now," said Ye Xiu.
"I've been waiting for this moment as well," said Yu Wenzhou.
"It's equipment," said Ye Xiu.
"Oh, your Myriad Manifestations Umbrella isn't dragging everyone else down anymore?" Yu Wenzhou said. Lord Grim's umbrella had been Level 70 for the entire season. Right now, never mind the core characters, any character with a Silver weapon would definitely have their weapon upgraded first, so essentially all of them were now at Level 75. For weapons, 70 was practically an extinct number.
"Hehe, I should say that you guys will be dragging me down," Ye Xiu laughed.
"Would it kill you to stop bragging?" At last, the person standing behind Yu Wenzhou could restrain himself no longer.
"Whoa, how many sentences did we say to each other just now? He actually lasted until now without opening his mouth! Must have been very difficult, huh?" Ye Xiu said to Yu Wenzhou with extreme surprise.
"Haha…" Yu Wenzhou could only laugh. What else could he say!
"Later, when you see it, try not to cry with fear," Ye Xiu turned and said to Huang Shaotian.
"Try not to cry when you lose, too," Huang Shaotian retorted.
"How could I lose?" Ye Xiu said loftily.
"Have some shame! You already lost twice." Huang Shaotian was referring to the regular season.
"I didn't lose." At this time, Ye Xiu abandoned the "team" he was always talking about. If just talking about himself, he indeed hadn't lost. He had thirty-seven consecutive wins!
"That was luck." Of course, Huang Shaotian stubbornly had to continue.
"How about you get lucky for me to see? I only won thirty-seven in a row. I purposefully left one out. The record's just begging to be broken!"
"…" No matter how stubborn Huang Shaotian was, he didn't dare take up that challenge. Fortunately, right then, the workers signaled to the two teams to begin entering.
"Let's go." The away team entered first, but Yu Wenzhou didn't forget to acknowledge Ye Xiu as he left, before stepping into the stadium proper.
For a stadium that wasn't their home stadium, getting polite applause was good enough. Cheers and whatnot, even if their own fans had followed them here, would definitely be suppressed by the home stadium fans. How would the home fans tolerate the visitors going wild on their turf?
The stadium lit up with a projection of Swoksaar, who did some random movements. The chance to act cool or whatever of course wouldn't be given to the away team characters; it was good enough that they didn't bash them. The live announcer gave some cursory introduction for Yu Wenzhou, before calling up the next onstage.
Huang Shaotian immediately came up, and his treatment was about the same as what Yu Wenzhou received. This sort of thing was commonplace, and it happened at everyone's home stadiums. Blue Rain's players had seen the world, so of course this wouldn't bother them. One by one the players came out and up onto the stage. And then when it was time for Happy, the sound was immediately different. The moment that Ye Xiu walked out of the passageway, the shouting and cheering instantly filled the entire stadium.
In the projection, Lord Grim displayed the many changes of the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, while Ye Xiu waved to the audience members on all sides. Even the amount of time that was given was different from what Blue Rain got. As for the introduction, they only wished they could describe all of his glorious accomplishments in the most extravagant way possible.
One by one, Happy's players walked onto the stage, and then they shook hands, and parted. Two people were left, undoubtedly the first players of the group arena, too lazy to leave and then come back.
"Ye Xiu, it's Ye Xiu!" Commentator Pan Lin was already shouting excitedly.
Ye Xiu was actually Happy's first player in the group arena. It was already the playoffs, and he still wanted to go on first? Before the match, practically no one had predicted this arrangement. With Ye Xiu's unparalleled 1v1 ability, everyone logically expected that he would be fourth in the lineup.
But now, he was the first one!
As for Blue Rain, the first one up was the Qi Master Song Xiao! Their Mister Clutch was thrown into first slot in the group arena. What sort of plans and hopes were behind that choice?
After greeting each other, the two headed to their own competitor booths.
"Happy actually sent Ye Xiu as the first player in the group arena," Pan Lin marveled. "This is completely unexpected. Coach Li, what do you think about this?"
"Um, I would think that this is mostly to boost Happy's morale! Happy has a lot of rookies, after all, and this is their first time in the playoffs. The pressure is definitely high. If Ye Xiu goes first, he can get a win and raise their spirits, as well as lessen the responsibility of those after him. I think that's Happy's plan," Li Yibo said, doing his best to speculate.
Chapter 1391: Level 80!
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The two players entered their booths and their characters loaded in. The match was about to begin.
That was when some sort of uproar erupted amongst the in-stadium audience, and then, the live broadcast commentator Pan Lin also suddenly yelled, "No way!!!"
"What?" Li Yibo was puzzled. The character loading was always the same, so he didn't pay attention.
"..." Pan Lin hesitated. Just now, in the character loading screen, when it reached Lord Grim, his equipment flashed by and Pan Lin thought that he had seen an 80 in the Level section. However, it had just been flash, and he wasn't sure what he had seen exactly. The character loading screen was a fixed shot, there wouldn't be any special shots. Thus, Pan Lin didn't say anything, just hurriedly asking the cameraman to display Lord Grim's equipment as soon as they entered the match.
The uproar that had briefly occurred at Happy's home stadium was also because some people had seen Level 80 on Lord Grim's equipment. Just one or two people, then it might just be that they misread, but then those people who thought they misread realized that quite a few people were misreading today!
The characters loaded in quickly and before the audience had figured out what was going on, it had finished and the characters spawned on the map, symbolizing the start of the match. The live broadcast immediately displayed Lord Grim's equipment.
Boom!!
The audience exploded. This time, the entire audience could clear see it: Equipment Level: Level 80. And it wasn't just for one piece of equipment either.
Weapon: Myriad Manifestations Umbrella;
Top: Dissonant Soul Armor;
Shoes: Cloud Breaker Boots;
Belt: Chain Lightning Belt;
Cape: Civil Dawn;
Badge: Sky-Splitter;
Right ring: Hurricane.
Of Lord Grim's equipment, these seven pieces of Silver equipment were Level 80.
"Lord Grim has… Level 80 equipment equipped. What's going on?" This time, Pan Lin could see it clearly, and didn't have to suspect that he had gotten it wrong, meaning that he was free to yell about it.
Li Yibo was also completely struck dumb. Level 80 equipment? What the hell?
There was no need to even mention the audience. The stadium was naturally a cacophony of confusion. Everyone was first shocked into speechlessness, then they exploded into discussion.
Even the referee wasn't spared. When he saw the Level 80 equipment, his brain practically short circuited. Then, his first thought after that was to wonder if something had gone wrong with the system. Did they need to pause the match?
Then, Blue Rain's players were also stunned upon seeing the Level 80 equipment.
"Level 80 equipment? What's going on?" Huang Shaotian expressed his bewilderment. Though it wasn't to the point where he would cry from fear, he had to admit that the Ye Xiu had truly managed to shock them this time.
Yu Wenzhou clearly hadn't been expecting that improvements to their equipment would be a Level increase to eighty. However, after a moment of shock, he began to organize his thoughts.
"Is it a system error?" The other members of Blue Rain all wondered.
However, Yu Wenzhou didn't think so. The equipment and system would all be checked before the match, to make sure that the match would go smoothly. It wasn't like there hadn't been small errors with the hardware before, but errors in data hadn't occurred once since the start of the Alliance, so why now?
"The characters are Level 75, that's for certain." Yu Wenzhou took his mind off of those incidents and began to analyze this logically.
"For Level 75 characters to equip Level 80 equipment, then there must be a 'Level requirement minus five' stat on the equipment." Yu Wenzhou swiftly thought of this.
"However, how they created these pieces of Level 80 equipment is a complete mystery." Of course, Yu Wenzhou wouldn't know. If he did, then Blue Rain would have Level 80 equipment, too.
"Happy's R&D is that skilled?" Huang Shaotian exclaimed in shock. Level 80 equipment was enough to leave all the powerhouses in the dust.
Discussion had erupted everywhere. After Yu Wenzhou, commentators Pan Lin and Li Yibo soon figured out that these pieces of Level 80 equipment had a "Level requirement minus five" stat, making them usable, which was relatively obvious. However, after that, no one could say how Happy managed to create Level 80 equipment under a Level 75 Level limit.
"So this is the ace that Happy had prepared for the playoffs!" Pan Lin exclaimed in the broadcast.
"Level 80 equipment? How?"
The match continued. After confirming that nothing had gone wrong with the software or hardware, he didn't have a reason to pause it. Currently, Song Xiao, on the field, had also found out that his opponent had Level 80 equipment and was naturally shocked.
"Afraid yet?" Ye Xiu asked.
"Even so, it doesn't mean that I can back down!" Song Xiao replied.
As expected of the most renowned clutch player of the alliance, Mister Clutch. Against Ye Xiu, who had won thirty-seven consecutive individual matches this season, against this shocking reveal of Level 80 equipment, Song Xiao expressed his shock, but soon calmed. Afraid? Back down? He was just joking around. In reality, he was treating this like any other match, focused on taking victory.
"Let's go then!" Ye Xiu called out and then the two charged forwards.
The group arena map choice naturally couldn't only consider Ye Xiu's needs. A clean, simple map would be great for him and Tang Rou, but for those like Fang Rui who relied on dirty play, then it would be a huge trouble.
Thus, the group arena map had to make sure to take care of everyone's needs, so it'd usually contain a variety of terrains.
However, it didn't seem like either of the two participants had any intentions to use the terrain, the two were heading directly for the center.
Just as they were about to meet, with everyone eagerly anticipating how this Level 80 equipment would perform spectacularly, Ye Xiu's Lord Grim suddenly swerved.
Ye Xiu, having maintained a straightforward and brute force style for thirty-seven rounds, suddenly decided to switch to being strategic in the first one on one match of the playoffs.
"Ye Xiu has decided against a frontal contronfation," Pan Lin noted.
"A wise choice," Li Yibo commented, "The group arena is different from individual matches. One must defeat their opponent with minimal cost to oneself, so, if possible, it's better to use the environment and play strategically. Brute force styles aren't actually the most suited to group arenas. In individual matches, their victories will be victories no matter if they take down an opponent with great cost or if they manage to take down an opponent without losing a drop of health. However, in the group arena, these two results are completely different."
"But many teams still have brute force style players in their group arena lineup! It doesn't seem like anyone avoids having them play in the group arena," Pan Lin brought up.
"Brute force is a style that players use, but it's not set in stone. In the group arena, brute force style players can play a little more wisely. Like Ye Xiu, for the individual competitions, he kept a brute force style, but now with the group arena, he's decided to be a little more flexible," Li Yibo said.
"But some players seem to stick with using brute force even in the group arena," Pan Lin argued.
"Yep! After all, everything has its exceptions! Different situations will require different attitudes," Li Yibo said.
The two stopped their conversation there. Currently, Ye Xiu's Lord Grim had swerved left, heading towards Song Xiao's right flank. However, since Ye Xiu only swerved after the two had seen each other, Song Xiao knew exactly where Lord Grim had gone and was already keeping an eye on that side.
Ye Xiu didn't act like many dirty play pros did, hiding away and waiting for a chance. From an opening on that side, Lord Grim peeked around the corner and, boom boom boom, three Anti-Tank Missiles came blasting over.
Song Xiao had his eyes on that side and he saw Lord Grim just as he peeked out. The three Anti-Tank Missiles couldn't even count as a sneak attack, yet...
Boom!
Receding Tides actually got hit by one of the missiles. The force of the explosion threw him back a few steps, but Receding Tides soon stabilized himself.
"He did it on purpose!" Li Yibo immediately realized.
"Oh?"
"He's testing Lord Grim's attack power," Li Yibo explained. Too many pieces of equipment had been changed, causing a huge shift in stats. Though the base four stats could still be seen, they needed experience to get an understanding of Lord Grim's attack power. Song Xiao had a good grasp on the consequences of getting hit by this attack, and at the same time, he was giving the rest of Blue Rain information. In the future, they'll continue to face Ye Xiu's Lord Grim, so they had to hurry and collect data.
"Hm, Lord Grim's switched out several pieces of equipment at once, very effective. All the data that the teams collected on him during the regular season is pretty much useless now. Everything will have to start from scratch," Pan Lin mentioned.
"What's even more troublesome is that the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella clearly has different stats depending on the form," Li Yibo added.
"Happy really has dropped quite the bomb!" Pan Lin said.
"Right now, we just don't know if only Lord Grim has seen such improvements or if all the characters in Happy have," Li Yibo continued.
"We'll know soon enough." Pan Lin seemed rather excited.
"Hm… After Ye Xiu let Lord Grim attack, he hid again." Li Yibo returned to the match.
"Song Xiao isn't rushing either. Is he trying to figure out Lord Grim's attack power? Advisor Li, what do you think of this attack?" Pan Lin asked.
"Ah… the attack's damage has clearly gone up," Li Yibo said. This season made him feel more and more that he was falling behind. He was preparing to do some revision and further study. Actually, it was very hard to get much from a single attack. This was something decided by both the attack power of the attacker and the defense of the target.
Li Yibo was like the audience, he didn't know the actual stats of the characters, so it would be impossible to ask him to deduce much from a single strike. Team Blue Rain's members at least knew their teammates' character's defense, and they could derive the attack from the damage taken. As for the other spectators? In their eyes, there would be a hundred different damage calculations from Lord Grim fighting a hundred different opponents. It would be extremely difficult to figure out Lord Grim's actual attack power.
Though Li Yibo was studying up, he couldn't figure out something so difficult in such a short time, unless a team was willing to provide their stats.
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. So, he could only say that Lord Grim's damage had increased, which was clearly unnecessary. If his attack power hadn't changed, then what would the point of switching in all that Level 80 equipment?
Chapter 1392: Counterattack
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
"Neither side has made any moves!" Pan Lin shouted. This would usually be boring, but Pan Lin was excited. He was looking forward to what Level 80 equipment could do.
Li Yibo found Lord Grim's info and compared the stats before and after. The four main stats were clearly displayed, so Li Yibo hoped to quickly find something he could analyze.
"Lord Grim is moving deep. Could he be looking for better angle of attack? But the area he's in should be within Song Xiao's line of sight. There doesn't seem to be any location which he can mount a sneak attack from though. Is he going to venture even farther in?" Pan Lin continued to comment. Usually, if it wasn't a deciding moment, these remarks would rarely be said. However, right now, it looked as if Pan Lin would even analyze Lord Grim's thumb movements.
"Just as I thought! Lord Grim is going even deeper. He's planning on making a big turn!"
"Ah, Song Xiao has also moved!"
"Receding Tides is moving forward. Song Xiao truly deserves to be called Mister Clutch, he has exceptional mental fortitude! It's quite bold of him to push forward. Lord Grim's already moved away though, so cutting in won't be dangerous. In fact, he might be able to see through Ye Xiu's intentions this way."
"What..." Pan Lin muttered to himself. For a moment, he wasn't able to continue. He had been too ambitious in guessing Ye Xiu's intentions. Ye Xiu didn't move according to his analysis and instead moved in the opposite direction of what he had expected. This surprise caught him at a loss for words.
However, with Song Xiao's Receding Tides moving away, there were now no traces of Lord Grim.
"He calculated everything that precisely?" Pan Lin was shocked. Although it was just small play, being able to read someone so thoroughly was truly frightening.
At this moment, the broadcast cut into a slow-motion replay.
"Oh..." Pan Lin suddenly understood. It wasn't a calculation. There had been an angle from Lord Grim's previous position where he could see Receding Tides.
"As expected of Ye Xiu!" Li Yibo returned to the match, "He's extremely proficient at this map, a trait very few young players possess. Young players lack an attention to detail towards maps, which is a huge advantage for the home team."
"Happy's Qiao Yifan is quite good in this area too!" Pan Lin mentioned his name.
"He's got a good mentor beside him!" Li Yibo sighed.
Pan Lin subconsciously thought of other players on Happy who weren't particularly strong in this area. For example, Steamed Bun and Tang Rou weren't thorough enough in their utilization of the map. Saying all that would tear Li Yibo's praise apart though, so he restrained himself.
Song Xiao didn't see Lord Grim, so instead of having Receding Tides continue moving straight, he circled around in reverse.
"Song Xiao's very experienced," Li Yibo said, "Even though he doesn't see his opponent, from the distance he's traveled, he has a rough idea of Lord Grim's possible positions. If Lord Grim wasn't in those areas, he wouldn't have been able to disappear from the map so quickly."
"Oh, the two sides are..." On the bottom right corner of the broadcast, a bird's eye view of the map appeared. The positions of the two characters were represented as dots as they moved. The camera constantly switched back and forth between the two characters, giving a feeling of tension.
Closer, closer...
The two sides neared each other. At the next intersection, the two would meet. Everyone held their breaths. Suddenly, Lord Grim jumped.
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella's ninjato stuck into the wall. The wall that originally couldn't be jumped was instantly climbed through the usage of the Ninja class's special skill.
That's cheating!!!
That was what Pan Lin wanted to shout. The surprises from the unspecialized still gave off a feeling of cheating even after an entire regular season. Everyone's thought process was different from Ye Xiu's. They needed to spend a certain amount of time and effort to understand what an unspecialized could do. As a result, when they saw Ye Xiu's Lord Grim in a match, they would constantly think "why didn't I think of that?"
The cameraman was also in a fluster. He wasn't sure which first-person perspective he should look at to best display this suddenness. Should he use Ye Xiu's hunter-like view to show his sharpness? Or should he use Song Xiao's confused-prey view to show helplessness?
There was no time to think carefully. The camera instinctively shifted to a viewpoint.
Song Xiao's perspective.
Receding Tides was moving.
Then, a grenade suddenly appeared from above and dropped in front of him.
Too awesome!
The cameraman cried out in his heart. Song Xiao's perspective had given this grenade highlight clip. From above to below, the image of the grenade grew larger as Receding Tides moved. Everything was quiet as the grenade fell. It was as if the scene was static.
If only it could be in slo-mo... the cameraman was still obsessed with the shot.
Bang!
The grenade exploded, and Lord Grim dropped from the sky.
Roll, roll, roll.
Song Xiao's Receding Tides rolled backwards three times and then shot a Qi Bullet.
The spectators all felt frightened seeing this sudden ambush. However, Song Xiao himself was as calm as ever. He did reacted promptly and appropriately.
Three rolls backwards pull the distance between Receding Tides and Lord Grim, and then a Qi Bullet at the slightest opening.
"Beautiful!" Pan Lin cried out.
Ye Xiu's ambush had been beautiful, but Song Xiao's response was too. This level of play was truly deserving of the playoffs. It was just the first exchange, and Pan Lin felt like it was worthy of the ticket price. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to praise this moment because there was still a battle underway.
The Qi Bullet flew out.
Lord Grim didn't dodge it though, and tanked the hit to stay on the offense.
"Even if it's the group arena, sometimes it's necessary to show a tough display!" Li Yibo praised.
By tanking the hit, Ye Xiu maintained the initiative. But because of Song Xiao's calm response, the ambush didn't deal too much harm. The battle had suddenly shifted to a direct confrontation.
"An ambush doesn't seem to be a good choice against a player with strong mental fortitude like Song Xiao," Pan Lin said.
"Ye Xiu was at least able to gain the initiative through it," Li Yibo said.
No one would have any objections to that. In a direction confrontation, Lord Grim would be attacking 70% of the time.
"But it can't be said that Song Xiao is at a disadvantage," Pan Lin said.
Song Xiao was 70% defending, 30% attacking. Yes, he seemed to be a bit on the backfoot, but his rhythm was steady.
"Such a steady defensive counterattack playstyle is Blue Rain's style," Li Yibo said.
The healer character exemplified the team's style to a certain extent. Of the eight playoff teams, Samsara, Tyranny, Happy, Thunderclap, and Hundred Blossoms all had Clerics as their healers, a show of their overall offense-oriented playstyles. As for the other three teams, Tiny Herb had two healers, an exception. Then, there was Blue Rain and 301, who had Paladins as healers. And these two teams leaned towards defense.
Especially Blue Rain.
Team Blue Rain was a paragon of a defensive counterattack team.
Defend while waiting for mistakes and capitalizing on them.
This was their team's playstyle, which eventually became many of the styles of the players on the team. To be a part of Blue Rain's main roster, not having beautiful defensive play was extremely difficult.
As a defense-heavy style, being on the passive side was normal because you were intentionally giving the the opponents space. As a result, while it looked like Song Xiao's offense looked rather weak, Pan Lin and Li Yibo didn't think it was mark of him being at a disadvantage. It was just how he played.
So they waited.
Defensive counterattack. The high point was the counterattack. Opportunities were fleeting. Once grasped, it couldn't be let go. That instant required explosiveness and efficiency. For a defensive counterattack playstyle, defense needed to be steady and slow, while the counterattack needed to be fast and fierce.
Everyone stared at the screen. The Happy fans listening to the commentators were held in suspense.
Song Xiao wasn't a stand-out existence during the regular season. His numbers were so-so, but everyone knew he was formidable during playoffs. He wasn't an easy opponent. As a result, even if Ye Xiu was the King of Duels in the regular season, everyone still felt worried.
Straight Punch, Knock Back, Grenade, Shining Cut, Double Stab, Ghost Slash, Floating Bullet...
Skills after skill was released through Lord Grim's ever-changing Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. His speed was so fast that the viewers couldn't even clearly distinguish what forms his umbrella were in. A skill came out, and then the umbrella transformed into a different form.
Without a pause.
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella never stayed in the same form for more than two seconds.
Bang!
A falling Flower Palm suddenly struck Receding Tides, sending him flying backwards.
"Ah!" Pan Lin cried out in astonishment. The equilibrium had been been broken by the palm.
"Ye Xiu's broken through Song Xiao's defense!" Li Yibo shouted.
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella continued transforming non-stop, but this time, the rate of hits landing on Receding Tides had increased.
"In the end, Song Xiao isn't able to hold on. Let's see if he can turn this around," Pan Lin said.
They still had confidence in Song Xiao because no matter what, this player wouldn't panic. He had the mental fortitude necessary to make a comeback.
So they waited.
Before, it had been a defensive counterattack style. Now, it had turned into a get-beat-up counterattack style.
But Lord Grim's offense continued to pour out relentlessly.
As a result, Receding Tides took even heavier beatings.
The expressions of those waiting for a reversal gradually started to turn strange.
"This... is he going to get taken out in one combo?" Pan Lin started questioning. Their hopes for Song Xiao seemed to have disappeared.
"Ambush to start, suppression with attacks, offense breaking defense, one combo kill," Li Yibo summed up the battle with twelve words.
The so-called defensive counterattack playstyle. So we've seen the defense and the get-beat-up part, where's the counterattack?
"Is he not able to find an opening to counterattack?" Pan Lin was still thinking about it.