The King's Avatar Chapter 1295-1304

Chapter 1295: The Patient Sun Xiang

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Despite being pushed beyond his ability, Li Yibo still had to say a few words. He didn't dare ascertain which side had the advantage though, so he just introduced the traits of each player. Meanwhile, Pan Lin was feeling down. He could do an introduction. The purpose of the guest commentator was to provide a deeper level of analysis! He could understand where Li Yibo was coming from though, so he didn't pursue it. The two chatted for the break period, and then the group arena officially began.

Happy - Fang Rui, Boundless Sea.

Samsara - Sun Xiang, One Autumn Leaf.

As for the map, since Fang Rui played dirty, he naturally wouldn't be like Ye Xiu and pick a wide open field. This particular group arena map had numerous holes and ditches. As soon as Boundless Sea loaded into the map, he immediately hid in one of the holes and vanished. This trench-filled map had many intersecting ditches. Players who wanted to move stealthily would have an easier time.

Boundless Sea leaped down into a trench and skillfully maneuvered around without needing to look up to figure out his position. Shortly afterwards, Boundless Sea made it to the center of the map and then headed towards a narrow ditch on the side. He quietly peeked his head above the ground but was blocked by a stone tablet. He carefully exposed half of his head and then looked outwards.

Fang Rui's familiarity with this map didn't need to be said, but unfortunately, Boundless Sea couldn't find anything in his field of view. To his surprise, One Autumn Leaf was not at the center of the map.

Fang Rui was astonished and checked who his opponent was again subconsciously. Correct, it was One Autumn Leaf, and the player was Sun Xiang, not Ye Xiu who had been as dirty as him in the past.

Sun Xiang… he didn't charge to the center of the stage? Sun Xiang also moved strategically?

This was truly outside of Fang Rui's expectations. From his understanding, like Tang Hao and Zhao Yuzhe, Sun Xiang looked down on this sort of playing. These new generation players preferred to happily battle it out at the center.

Sun Xiang maintained this same style this season with Samsara, but he suddenly switched it up this match. Was this because his opponent was the dirty Fang Rui?

Making changes because of the opponent. No one had thought Sun Xiang had it in him, but it was happening right in front of their eyes.

Fang Rui scratched his head. He suddenly realized that he had no idea what to do next.

What would a strategically moving Sun Xiang do? He couldn't understand at all because that punk had never played that way before!

Fang Rui didn't whether to be happy or sad that his opponent was giving him special treatment.

His current ambush position should still be good. Fang Rui carefully sized up his surroundings. If he were facing a different opponent, he could try to predict what his opponent would do next through the terrain, but against Sun Xiang… how could he make a prediction for someone who he had originally thought didn't know a thing about moving strategically? 　

Was he patiently waiting, or was he putting himself forward as bait?

Fang Rui pondered. In the meantime, he started trash talking Sun Xiang.

"Hey, where are you? You've been ruined by Samsara. You were never like this before!" Fang Rui acted like he was friends with Sun Xiang. In reality, the two had never interacted with each other before.

The chat was silent. Sun Xiang didn't respond.

"It's a match after all. Play how you like to play. Don't concern yourself over who your opponent is! Maybe my dirtiness is giving you a lot of pressure, but using a style you're not familiar with might not get the results you're expecting!" Fang Rui didn't mind the opponent not replying back as he continued to chatter.

As he talked, his Boundless Sea wasn't just standing there quietly. He was moving cautiously through the trenches, investigating the area around him.

Where was One Autumn Leaf?

The viewers obviously knew the answer. Sun Xiang's opening move had caught everyone off guard. He had done the same as Fang Rui. One Autumn Leaf had also moved stealthily through the trenches.

"Sun Xiang's choices today are quite surprising!" Pan Lin had been talking about it earlier.

"Yes, this isn't his usual style," said Li Yibo.　　

"It looks like he has some misgivings over Fang Rui's dirtiness," Pan Lin said.

"Yes… Fang Rui's Qi Master is similar to Ye Xiu's unspecialized in some sense. The opponent isn't familiar with this new playstyle or class. Most of his experience with Qi Masters isn't useful because Fang Rui's playstyle is entirely different from other people's," Li Yibo said.

"But do you think Sun Xiang might be overcompensating by changing his own playstyle?" Pan Lin said.

"Ah… this… let's take a look at their performances first. I believe Sun Xiang should have come prepared. Fang Rui is most likely surprised by Sun Xiang's actions." Li Yibo didn't provide a detailed analysis, instead giving a simple prediction.

Sure enough, Fang Rui was surprised by Sun Xiang's actions. Seeing the constant stream of trash talk, Li Yibo felt incredibly happy. He had made a correct prediction, even if it wasn't anything admirable.

"Sun Xiang is really keeping his composure today!" Pan Lin said.

From their omniscient view, they could clearly see that Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf had reached the center of the map too. However, he wasn't as active as Fang Rui. He picked a spot and then quietly stood there.

"Sun Xiang, this player…" Li Yibo wanted to say something, but he stopped himself. He was like a player who had been beaten again and again. His confidence had been slapped into nothingness.

"It's a very short section of the trench. The turns on both ends are within reach of a Battle Mage." Pan Lin introduced the features of this position.

"Yes…" Li Yibo was itching to say something! But the other voice in him was telling him to calm down.

Sun Xiang was waiting patiently, while Fang Rui searched for his opponent. Boundless Sea maneuvered through the trenches, while occasionally peeking his head up to check his surroundings above the ground. The trash talk in the public chat hadn't stopped yet, but none of his messages received a response.

Finally, Boundless Sea approached One Autumn Leaf's hiding spot. Boundless Sea was practically crawling as he moved silently. Not a single sound could be heard. Everyone's heart leapt to their throats. As soon as he turned and showed his head, One Autumn Leaf's Evil Annihilation would immediately pierce him.

But when he was two steps away, Boundless Sea's movements suddenly stopped. He leaned close to the side of the ditch as if trying to hear something.

The only thing separating the two characters was a corner. If you drew a straight line between them, it would only measure ¾ of a unit. Neither side moved. Neither side uttered a peep. Only Fang Rui's chattering could be seen in the public chat.

Fang Rui wasn't really talking anymore. After saying a few key points at the start, he didn't have anything else to say. He had even started resorting to something as unrefined as copying and pasting his own words. The two stopped at this bend.

Nervous and anxious.

The crowd didn't know whether the two players had noticed each other. The tension made it hard for them to breathe.

The first to move was Fang Rui. He carefully peeked his head up just the tiniest bit. After looking around above the ground, Boundless Sea retreated a bit. His two hands swiped against each other and a Qi Blade formed an arc, flying around the corner. He listened carefully to any noise.

He heard it… and saw it.

The instant the Qi Blade turned the corner, One Autumn Leaf stepped into view. Sun Xiang had been waiting patiently until now. His opponent was finally this close to him. He didn't hesitate or make any feints. His One Autumn Leaf rushed out. In the end, he chose a direct confrontation.

More importantly, because of the terrain, Fang Rui's only choice was a direct confrontation as well. With the distance between them and Sun Xiang's swift and decisive response, Fang Rui didn't have any time to make any dirty escapes. To his left and right were walls, while One Autumn Leaf's spear was in front.

Li Yibo felt very regretful.

Seeing Sun Xiang's position, he had guessed Sun Xiang's plan: wait until the opponent found him. This position was extremely good. Because of the outside surroundings, Fang Rui wouldn't dare easily leap out. Inside the trench, if Fang Rui was close enough, he could force a direct fight and not give Fang Rui any chance to escape.

However, with his dimming confidence, he was too afraid to say his guess. And now, it looked like Sun Xiang was doing exactly what he had thought. After determining that Boundless Sea was right next to him, he immediately began doing what he had always been good at.

The trenches used for stealth had become Fang Rui's cage. The dirty style wasn't just in tactics but in techniques too. But no matter what, all of them required a certain amount of space to maneuver around. However, with the left and right blocked by walls and a One Autumn Leaf attacking fiercely from the front, he wasn't given any chance to jump out. His only choice was to retreat backwards. Right now, the master of playing dirty was helpless. Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice.

Sun Xiang had been waiting for this very moment.

Afterwards was his usual strong offense. However, his prior patience had helped him win this situation. Sun Xiang's offense seemed even more effective and made the opponent look even more helpless.

Sun Xiang's advantage wasn't just in technique, it was more tactical. The timing and terrain all stood on his side. His performance only looked more steady.

Boundless Sea eventually fell. No one had expected that Fang Rui's dirty style wouldn't be able to be displayed in a map suited for it. Fang Rui had been suppressed as soon as he ran into his opponent. Unable to display his dirty tactics or his techniques, he was killed in the trenches.

Yes, up until death, Fang Rui hadn't been able to get Boundless Sea out of the trenches. 　

In the group arena, Sun Xiang won the first round with a 72% health lead.

Chapter 1296: Mo Fan vs Sun Xiang

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Finishing with 72% health left could be considered a massive advantage in the group arena.

Because this sort of advantage could stack in the group arena, the group arena was very different from individual matches, though it might seem that they were both 1v1s. In the individual competition, all you needed to do was beat your opponent first, but in the group arena, you had to consider how to use the least amount of HP possible to defeat your opponent.

Efficiency. The group arena valued the efficiency of your attacks far more. In the round that had just ended, Sun Xiang had doubtlessly managed to exhibit that excellently. Using positioning and patience, he had greatly diminished the space his opponent had to perform, winning very efficiently.

A player who usually depended on hand speed, mechanics and technique to win his opponents had suddenly decided to switch tactics and lure and trap his opponent, even managing to trick the Master of Dirty Play, Fang Rui.

"This is a very atypical victory for Sun Xiang!" Li Yibo was now confidently expressing his own opinion on the previous match. Before, when he was given the chance to make an accurate prediction, he was too careful and missed it. Li Yibo, frustrated, was frantically trying to make up for it by showing off how much he knew about Glory. For a moment, not even commentator Pan Lin had the chance to cut in and say anything. It was just good that there was a time limit to switch between players for the group arena. After Happy's Fang Rui returned to the bench, Happy's second player quickly headed off.

"How come this guy brought his brain with him today?" Fang Rui complained, returning to the bench. "This guy" naturally referred to Sun Xiang. It was clear that in his eyes, Sun Xiang was the kind of player who didn't use his brains to fight.

"You were rather impatient, too!" Ye Xiu replied. 

"Yeah!" Fang Rui lamented. "I should've just stayed there and continued to stall, and see who snapped first!"

Ye Xiu didn't know if he should laugh or cry. "There's no way you didn't know about that ambush point. You should've been more careful."

"Didn't I say that I didn't know he brought his brain today?" Fang Rui retorted.

"Ok, I admit, I underestimated him," Fang Rui sighed.

"Sun Xiang's choice of action was truly rather unexpected." Ye Xiu gazed at the stage. Sun Xiang, once the overconfident captain of Excellent Era who thought himself more than good enough to replace Ye Xiu, had truly matured after being relegated and then defeated in the Challenger League.

Crafting such a plan, especially in the group arena, meant that he was starting to understand his position more, as well as what he should do on the field. He was no longer fighting for himself, but the entire team.

"Mo Fan… might not be able to do well against him either…" Fang Rui said, watching Happy's second player, Mo Fan, as he entered the booth.

"That'll depend on how he plays. The current Mo Fan isn't the Mo Fan of the past with his monotonous style anymore," Ye Xiu said.

After half a year of actual battle experience, everyone had grown. Mo Fan wasn't that same scrap-picker who would always lie in wait to ambush. He learned to judge the situation, and to use a wider variety of styles and techniques. Still, he had managed to preserve the habits and virtues he had gained from scrap-picking in-game. He had patience, he was careful, good at finding and grasping opportunities. These were the characteristics that suited a Class like Ninja, which focused on moving undetected.

Originally, Deception was a widely known and hated character in the online game. Before, many guilds had noticed him and his talents. However, his loner personality caused him to ignore the olive branches being extended his way from all over. It wasn't until he was pulled into the pro circle by Ye Xiu that his potential was realized, proving that the guilds hadn't misjudged him. It's just that Ye Xiu managed to brute force this talent, who no one else had been able to recruit, into his camp.

After Mo Fan went up, the second round soon began. In the beginning, Mo Fan didn't dart into the shadows and move carefully like usual, but instead had Deception run towards the center at full speed.

"Happy's Mo Fan is also one who's good at hiding and ambushing, but it seems like he's not planning on doing that this time!" Pan Lin noted, seeing Deceptions movements.

"In reality, with so many gullies in this map, one can use them at any time so long as they aim well. In the last match, Fang Rui's playstyle was a little too dirty to work," Li Yibo commented. History was always on the side of the victors, so the losing Fang Rui immediately turned into a bad example.

"This time, it seems that Sun Xiang doesn't plan on using the same method as the last round," Pan Lin brought up. Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf had also quickly ran for the center after the match began, returning to his usual style.

"An ambush like that wouldn't work a second time," Li Yibo said.

"So this time he had One Autumn Leaf charge directly. This is the Sun Xiang we're all more familiar with. It seems like this match will be a direct clash between the two. Okay, their characters have now entered each other's field of vision. What will they do next? Huh?" Pan Lin was just getting rather excited over all this when Deception, who had been charging forward head on, suddenly rolled to the side and jumped into a gully after appearing in One AUtumn Leaf's field of vision.

"Uh, it seems like Happy's Mo Fan still intends to use the terrain to cover his movements. However, he's already been seen, so Sun Xiang can probably make a relatively accurate judgement of his position, no? Huh?" Just as Pan Lin was saying this, Mo fan's Deception then jumped out of the gully after moving around for a while.

"What is he doing? Advisor Li?" Pan Lin couldn't understand and immediately went to ask Li Yibo.

"He's probably trying to confuse the other using his pace!" Li Yibo answered rather weakly. He really wanted to append a "this is my personal opinion and might not be right" to the end of his words.

"Sun Xiang doesn't seen very affected. One Autumn Leaf is continuing forwards," Pan Lin exclaimed.

Shuriken!

In the end, the one to strike first was still Decepton, who had a few mid-ranged skills. 

Clang!

One Autumn Leaf didn't slow down, flicking his spear up and knocking the shuriken away in midair. Just from a technical perspective, Sun Xiang performed flawlessly.

The shuriken didn't do anything to his opponent. Deception flicked his hands again. Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, four shurikens flew out in rapid succession. This time, it was the improved version of Shuriken: Storm Shuriken. 

The shurikens sliced through the air, all four of them approaching rapidly. This time, Sun Xiang could no longer block them all with pure mechanics alone.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

In the end, One Autumn Leaf forwent blocking and directly used a Dragon Breaks the Ranks to charge forward, ignoring the damage from the shurikens.

Under the effects of Dragon Breaks the Ranks, all Storm Shuriken did was deal damage. It didn't hinder One Autumn Leaf's advance at all. One Autumn Leaf arrived in front of Deception in the blink of an eye.

Poof!

The struck Deception exploded into smoke and his real body appeared behind One Autumn Leaf. Despite facing Dragon Breaks the Ranks at such a close range, he could still dodge so precisely. Mo Fan's mechanics were impressive.

Ninja Arts: Bird Fall! 

Deception, who had appeared in midair with a Shadow Clone Technique, immediately stepped down with both feet at One Autumn's Leaf's shoulders. Sun Xiang reacted extremely fast though. With the momentum of Dragon Breaks the Ranks still in effect, One Autumn Leaf had already jumped up and turned, throwing himself back with his own momentum. His spear Evil Annihilation struck with deadly precision.

Sky Strike!

The lowest level skill used at the best timing. Deception's Bird Fall couldn't hit One Autumn Leaf's shoulders anymore. In midair, Mo Fan adjusted himself swiftly, and Deception's Bird Fall ended up stepping right on the tip of One Autumn Leaf's Evil Annihilation.

Such precise mechanics! It was truly awe inspiring. The venue immediately exploded into applause.

Ninja Arts: Bird Fall might be a level 45 skill, but it didn't have very high priority. Meanwhile, Sky Strike might be the lowest level skill, but its knockup priority was very high.

Bird Fall couldn't stop Sky Strike's upwards momentum, and Deception was still thrown into the air. It was just that since he had used skill to step on the spear, he didn't take any damage. He was thrown into the air, but he didn't tumble out of control like he would have, if he had been hit directly by Sky Strike.

Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart!

Deception might not have been thrown too badly into the air, but Sun Xiang tried to rip that composure away. One Autumn Leaf's Evil Annihilation retracted and then struck lightning fast, a Level 60 skill thrown out, in pursuit of the airborne Deception.

Poof!

Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart hit, but after a bang, the airborne Deception was replaced with a straw dummy with a poof of smoke.

Ninja Arts: Hundred Streams!

Deception, having already landed, rapidly formed seals and his ninjato swung. Streams of water lunged towards One Autumn Leaf. 

Sun Xiang had not noticed the sneak attack from behind, but since Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart had hit a straw dummy, he knew that an attack was imminent. He didn't even bother turning to look, having One Autumn Leaf dodge to one side immediately. As he dodged, he turned his camera to see the Hundred Streams flowing across the ground. If he had been just a little late in reacting, he would be inside a water prison right now.

"Mo Fan is competing with Sun Xiang in mechanics!" Pan Lin yelled in shock. As a newbie, this sort of courage was truly quite shocking. What was even more shocking was that after these exchanges, neither side had gotten the upperhand. It seemed like they were at a draw.

"His reactions are very fast, his mechanics precise!" Li Yibo noted. He was, obviously, commenting on Mo Fan. As for Sun Xiang, there was no need to use these general praises to comment on his performance anymore.

But after these evenly matched exchanges, Deception rolled to the side and jumped into a ditch. He had turned and hid after seeing that his attacks weren't working.

Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf rushed over, Evil Annihilation held in front of him and ready to strike.

However, Deception had disappeared. A short, small ditch just like the place Sun Xiang had hid last time. It had turns left and right. Where did Deception go?

Sun Xiang was trying to make a decision when, under One Autumn Leaf's feet, the ground suddenly loosened.

Underground Tunneling Technique!

Chapter 1297: Mo Fan’s Characteristics

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Deception hadn't left! After entering the gully, he had hid there and used an Underground Tunneling Technique.

Sun Xiang's view was focused on the two turns at the ends of the gully. He had been trying to figure out which way to go and hadn't thought to think of what was under his feet. By the time Deception's movements were large and close enough to be sensed, it was too late to react.

The ninjato struck One Autumn Leaf under his chin harshly, throwing him into the air. Mo Fan, Deception, was the first to land a hit! 

Annihilate, Flame Cut, Neck Bind Technique, Ninja Arts: Flickering Charge.

Four skills landed on One Autumn Leaf in flawless succession. Even if it was Sun Xiang, he was helpless against it.

"Beautiful!" Fang Rui yelled from Happy's player bench.

Talented at timing, Mo Fan had a very solid grasp of landing combos. However, even if the system judged it as a combo, that didn't mean it was unbreakable. From a certain perspective, false combos were the real unbreakable combo. However, a consistent use of this sort of comboing, a characteristic of Ye Xiu's unspecialized, was extremely hard to master without experience. In this area, Mo Fan's talent wasn't outstanding.

However, for a system-determined combo, especially a combo of five or fewer skills, Mo Fan had such outstanding mastery that even Ye Xiu looked on with awe. This came from the habits he had developed in game. When scrap-picking, you weren't meant to entangle with targets, so he would always find a good opportunity to unleash a barrage of attacks, take what he needed and leave in the shortest time possible. This barrage had a max of five skills. More, and Mo Fan would judge it as an inappropriate time to strike.

After all this time, Mo Fan had developed a habit of using this monotonous battle style. His habits meant that anything coming after his barrage was lacking in comparison. After joining Happy and undergoing professional training, he was finally beginning to change. At first, Ye Xiu had hoped he would be able to completely change this style of fighting in short bursts, but he soon began to realize that this habit of Mo Fan's wasn't just a thing of mechanics, but also of his spirit.

Focus.

Mo Fan's focus would also fluctuate with this rhythm. When he unleashed his barrage, his focus would peak. His mechanics would be precise, efficient, comparable to a God. However, after this short burst, he experienced a clear slip. His mechanics after that would be nothing comparable to how well he had performed in that period. 

This instantly condensed overpowered focus was the reason why Mo Fan could fight on par with a God for short bursts. This was almost like a skill of his that had a cooldown.

After realizing this, Ye Xiu also realized that this would probably become a characteristic of Mo Fan's style. His eventual style would probably also develop from this.

Thus, Ye Xiu stopped expecting Mo Fan to eventually get rid of his habit and instead helped him develop his talents, teaching him how to combine his skills to make sure he could endure throughout the battle.

In the past, Mo fan would run after getting what he wanted. After his barrage, he usually wouldn't have to fight any longer, and thus naturally didn't have to consider what skills to use after that. He would throw out whatever was convenient during his barrage. However, you couldn't fight that way in an actual match. The battle was far from over after a single barrage! It was unacceptable if he was sent into a panic at what to do after, or using two skills and being unable to follow up. 

Mo Fan had completed this transformation. When his barrage wasn't indiscrimmitory, his battle ability was vastly increased. Now, on the field, his focused barrage could match Sun Xiang strike for strike. 

However, it wasn't unexpected to Ye Xiu that he still turned and ran after a few exchanges. At this point, his focus would scatter, and he definitely wasn't a match for Sun Xiang then.

However, not even Ye Xiu expected it when, after retreating for only a brief moment, Mo Fan came back with another barrage.

Underground Tunneling Technique, Annihilation, Flame Cut, Neck Bind, Ninjutsu: Flickering Charge.

Under the limit of Mo Fan's overpowered focus, not even Sun Xiang could match this combo of five skills.

But… wasn't a little too close together with the previous barrage?

In reality, Ye Xiu wasn't sure how many times Mo Fan could gear himself up into that focused state. He also didn't know how long it would take to enter that state after a previous barrage. Ye Xiu could only tell, by experience, that this sort of peak performance in short bursts was a sign that he was stretching his limits. That was why his focus would scatter after each barrage: it was a sign of mental strain. However, this time, Mo Fan had consecutively unleashed two barrages. How much strain was he putting on himself, doing this?

"This kid is really pushing himself!" Team Happy's members naturally all understood Mo Fan's characteristics. Seeing how he had unleashed a second barrage so soon, Wei Chen called out in surprise. 

"How long can he last if he fights like this?" Qiao Yifan wondered aloud.

Everyone fell silent. Mo Fan was still quite a loner. His style had matured, but no one knew how he would use it and where his limits where. 

His combo successful, Mo Fan once again had Deception hide.

"Huh? How come he doesn't continue his offensive?" Pan Lin couldn't really understand. Though his combo had ended there, it was perfectly feasible to strike fast and unleash a new barrage of attacks after this combo.

"He probably doesn't think he has a solid enough grasp of this opportunity…" Li Yibo theorized.

"Mo Fan very rarely performs long combos! With his mechanics, I think he can definitely do better. I think he's a little too cautious," Pan Lin commented.

"Heh, this is probably because of his background!" Li Yibo said.

"You mean, as a scrap-picker?" Pan Lin asked. 

"Yes, the most important thing for scrap-pickers is to secure their own safety! If they can't even keep themselves safe, then how would they scrap-pick? Though, of course, Mo Fan is a pro player now, but he's been active in-game for a long time. Caution and care is probably a habit he's built up over all that time," Li Yibo replied.

These words made sense and Mo Fan did have this sort of habit from long-term scrap-picking but these two clearly hadn't noticed what was really going on with Mo Fan. You could say, that apart from his teammates in Team Happy, no one knew that Mo Fan's style came with a cooldown. After all, Mo Fan didn't regularly appear in matches and hadn't played many compared to the rest of Happy.

But in this match, against a strong opponent like Sun Xiang, Mo Fan's potential seemed to have been forced to appear in its entirety. The match had barely started and he had already unleashed two barrages of attacks, successfully depriving One Autumn Leaf of a good chunk of his health. This was something no one expected. From everyone else's view, after Sun Xiang had managed to get rid of Fang Rui so efficiently, wouldn't a rookie be easy to deal with?

Since Sun Xiang had finished his first opponent with a 72% health advantage, the Happy fans didn't dare to yell ten to zero anymore. Instead, the Samsara fans had gotten hyped, yelling one versus three and whatnot. One versus three was also something that held a rather terrible story for Happy. Samsara's fans yelling this was killing two birds with one stone: mockery amongst encouragement.

However after Mo Fan had managed to draw first blood like this, Samsara's fans shut up. They began to discuss how could this rookie be so strong? 

Everyone was struck dumb by Mo Fan's barrage and even Sun Xiang didn't dare underestimate his opponent. It was rare that someone would be able to match him in technique and mechanics like that. Thus, Sun Xiang, looking for a trace of Deception, was more cautious. He had to look down every now and then, as if Deception might just pop out of the ground.

No!

Deception had disappeared completely this time. Sun Xiang couldn't find him no matter how he looked and was feeling a little helpless. He knew that this player had a terrifying amount of patience. This was a… a player who had waited so patiently that the referee had given him a red card. This was something only he could boast in the history of Glory.

Thinking of the red card last time, Sun Xiang decided to just stop moving. One Autumn Leaf just stood there in the open. You coming out, Deception? You want another red card? 

However, was this Mo Fan still the Mo Fan of the past? 

Before, Mo Fan had just stayed there, unmoving, being seen as passive and unsportsmanly. However, the current Mo Fan might not be prepared to strike just yet, but he was rather active. He kept having Deception reposition himself, trying to find a chance to attack. With One Autumn Leaf not moving, Deception immediately went behind him. It was just that after getting behind One Autumn Leaf in the gully, he felt that the distance was too far to execute a sneak attack. It was unreliable. After checking it over, Deception left again.

Boos rose from the crowd. Naturally, all from Samsara's fans. Though Happy's fans didn't like this sort of wait, they were willing to give their players some leeway.

Deception had gone in a circle and not found a good opportunity. That was when the referee struck, unexpectedly giving Sun Xiang a yellow card.

Sun Xiang stared in shock. What the hell was this? 

In reality, Sun Xiang didn't really understand the rule regarding passivity and sportsmanship well either. He didn't need to research something like that with his style. However, in the current situation, Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf was standing there, unmoving while Mo Fan's Deception was circling around, trying to find an opening. Who was passive and who was active was clear.

Sun Xiang, who could now curb his temper and impatience, really had improved greatly. Last match, his self-control had won him a beautiful victory. This time, however, it had brought him a yellow card.

It wasn't just Sun Xiang who was shocked, Happy's members were also exchanging looks!

The yellow card was a system message and Mo Fan, naturally, could see it. If it was Fang Rui, then he'd could probably use this to spout a good load of trash talk. However, Mo fan probably spoke even less than Zhou Zekai. Trash talk was naturally a skill that wouldn't appear with him.

Sun Xiang, forced to move by the yellow card, could only have One Autumn Leaf start looking for Deception. The group arena was also a 1v1, so the map wasn't too big. One Autumn Leaf began moving along the gully, keeping a careful eye on interior and beginning to reduce Deception's room for movement. Deception also began to head towards the direction One Autumn Leaf was coming from.

Chapter 1298: Keep Calm

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

The two characters approached each other little by little, and the match seemed to have turned into the scene seen in the last match. Everyone's hearts jumped into their chests as they waited for that moment to arrive.

However, before any of the audience could react, the two characters suddenly accelerated.

"They've found each other!" Pan Lin yelled.

The crowd could see the overall situation better than the participants with their omniscient view. However, to gain a deeper understanding of what was occurring, they would need to rely on the player's perspectives. The broadcast and the big screen had both replayed the shot just now from the two character's perspective, 

In that moment, a figure flashed through the views of Deception in the ditches and One Autumn Leaf next to it, and neither of them missed it. Their characters charged and clashed!

Boom!

An explosion of purple smoke.

They hadn't even engaged each other when Deception tossed a Smoke Bomb. Then, he darted out of the range of the smoke.

Did he want to run? 

No!

Darting out, then in, Mo Fan had Deception play this sort of trick with Sun Xiang, but was this enough to shake Sun Xiang? 

Shattering the Lands! 

Sun Xiang responded in the most forceful way. In the purple smoke, he didn't know where Deception was so he directly used a level 75 ultimate.

Boom!

Evil Annihilation slammed into the ground and roaring magical energy buffeted the smoke, causing it to bubble like boiling water.

Deception once again ran out of the purple smoke, his figure swaying a little. Clearly, he had been hit by the shockwaves made by this skill, his health having been reduced. Sun Xiang had broken right through Mo Fan's trick in the most brutal way.

Dragon Rises from the Sea! 

Evil Annihilation swung again and a wave of tide-like magical energy unfurled, breaking through the smoke. Through the break, Deception's figure was already exposed. 

Charge!

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

One Autumn Leaf raised his spear and charged out of the smoke, arriving in front of Deception in the blink of an eye. Sun Xiang didn't hope that this skill would hit his opponent; he was just using it as a movement skill.

Shining Cut!

Mo Fan once again overturned expectations, Deception advancing rather than retreating. With an Assassin skill Shining Cut, Deception's form flashed forwards, intending to slide right by Dragon Breaks the Ranks.

Sun Xiang was shocked, hurriedly adjusting himself. Evil Annihilation swerved, but it was too late. Deception had already flashed behind him.

In that moment, the two characters seemed to have completed a Switch, and just as the passed each other by, the two rapidly cancelled their skills, stopped, and turned.

Dragon Tooth! As One Autumn Leaf turned, Evil Annihilation stabbed forward.

A hit!

But, a puff of smoke rose; it was another Shadow Clone.

Sun Xiang didn't hesitate. As One Autumn Leaf turned, he swept his spear out and executed a Tyrant's Destruction, reaching a full 270 degrees around.

However...

Underground Tunneling Technique!

Another Underground Tunneling Technique, Deception darted out of the ground and, as One Autumn Leaf epically sweeped his spear across, hit the other's jaw in an uppercut.

Ninjutsu: Cicada Shell Double Slash!

Deception's follow-up came rapidly, executed in an unbreakable combo. Sun Xiang already knew it wasn't good when he was hit by the Underground Tunneling Technique and had prepared himself. However, the follow-up was so fast, so precise; there was no opening at all.

And then...

Annihilation, Storm Shuriken, Ninjutsu: Shadow Dance!

Again, the same five skill combo under Mo Fan's absolute focus had rendered Sun Xiang helpless. However, the last skill in the combo was the ultimate skill Shadow Dance. This was a skill that could be manually controlled and the mechanics required were far more demanding than other skills. For Mo Fan, whose limit was five skills, this skill would only be used in his five skill barrage if he planned to manually control it. The focus needed for the mechanics for this skill was comparable to two, three, even four other skills.

In a pro-level confrontation, Shadow Dance had to be manually controlled.

The audience didn't know that Mo Fan had this sort of limit. They just thought it was a climax to the match, their applause thunderous.

However, Happy's players knew that this choice of acton meant that Mo Fan was challenging his limits. It wasn't just a small challenge either, but throwing himself directly in the deep end.

"That's too much of a stretch!" Wei Chen commented.

"But with this skill, he can at least retreat completely, right?" Fang Rui said. 

"But he… doesn't seem to have such an intention." Su Mucheng was the only one in Happy who really communicated with Mo Fan, though it was only very little.

"No, he doesn't…" Watching the match, Ye Xiu could see that after the Shadow Dance, all ten shadow clones had lunged forwards to attack, not giving himself any escape route. By this point, his focus was at its limit. Could he still control this skill to the same high level?

Bang!

With a resounding noise, a Deception shadow clone flew out of the pile of people. One Autumn Leaf, not even fully out of Falling Flower Palm's pose yet, threw his Evil Annihilation forwards with his other hand, unleashing a fearsome magical energy.

Rising Dragon Soars the Sky!

The rapid follow-up of Rising Dragon Soars the Sky after Falling Flower Palm didn't even wait for this Deception to fly out much before catching up and clamping down, magical energy striking and devouring everything in its path. The other shadow clones were all turned to smoke one by one. Everyone knew that Sun Xiang offensive had struck the heart of Deception's Shadow Dance.

"It really was a bit of a stretch…" Ye Xiu sighed.

Mo Fan wanted to surpass his limits, but the step he had chosen to take was too big. His focus scattered, his Shadow Dance wasn't executed flawlessly, revealing an opening that Sun Xiang immediately caught and used.

The audience couldn't see the depth to this, only knowing that these two were exchanging blows, the battle was spectacular. The crowd went wild, and the commentators of the broadcast Pan Lin and Li Yibo were also going on about this unexpected performance from Mo Fan, how he was able to match Sun Xiang blow for blow.

"I hope so…" Ye Xiu was a little concerned. Mo Fan had unleashed several barrages in succession and continued to challenge his own limits. Wasn't he a little too excited? This… seemed like he was losing control.

Rising Dragon Soars the Sky had long ending lag, and it was hard to follow-up on this. Sun Xiang could only wait until the skill ended and have One Autumn Leaf charge over to launch a new round of attacks. 

"Before it was Mo Fan who was on the offensive, but now it looks like it's Sun Xiang's turn. One Autumn Leaf is advancing, how will Mo Fan deal with this? Deception… Deception ran away… I…" Pan Lin swallowed a curse. This Mo Fan's style was really quite depressing! Such a spectacular exchange, wasn't it thrilling going head to head? Sun Xiang had such a spectacular response to Mo Fan's offensive, so can't you just respond in kind and think of the audience a little? When the opponent countered, you immediately ran without any hesitation. Where's your courage to face Sun Xiang head on? Where's your mechanics that can match him blow for blow?

"This… This Mo Fan is really keeping a clear head about him! He didn't let it get to his head," Li Yibo said.

"But in competition there's no need to adhere so strictly and monotonously to such an arrangement, right? Young people should be more passionate, more reckless. This kind of strict and mechanical playstyle is a little too boring," Pan Lin offered.

"Heh, what if this is interesting to him?" Li Yibo simply said in reply. In that moment, he shone with his former identity as a pro player. Only those who had stood in the same shoes had the right to say these empathetic words. Interesting? What was interesting? The red-blooded excitement of head on clashes, intense APM battles? That was just the definition to you viewers. To each pro player, their chosen playstyle was the most interesting to them. Maybe some will purposefully change their styles to appease the crowd, but this was a trend that had appeared only after Glory became commercialized. However, Li Yibo, from an older generation of players, rejected this sort of commercial air deep down. He liked to see players maintaining their unique style, even if there were some he, his knowledge rather outdated, couldn't figure out...

Li Yibo's lightly spoken words had Pan Lin rather stunned. He didn't know what to say in response. On the stage, Mo Fan's Deception managed a smooth escape, using the gullies peppered across the map to conceal himself. 

"He's got a pretty clear head!" Fang Rui exclaimed. 

"Yeah, he's nowhere near as reckless as you though!" Su Mucheng said to Ye Xiu.

"Stretching his limits and performance might be an attempt to confuse his opponent. This kid must have been secretly observing my performance and learning valuable lessons from me!" Wei Chen decided.

"Shamelessness?" Steamed Bun asked.

"Bastard, he learned that from your boss!" Wei Chen cursed.

"Of course, boss is best at everything!" Steamed Bun boasted.

"Hahahaha, I won't object to that in this case!" Wei Chen laughed out loud, satisfied with the follow up attack Steamed Bun had given Ye Xiu.

"Steamed Bun doesn't understand, don't you go feigning ignorance. You're the most shameless," Ye Xiu retorted.

"Don't be so humble. You're the best at everything!" Wei Chen emphasized the word "best".

"You…"

"Mo Fan is still in the match and you're here talking nonsense!" Chen Guo got angry and yelled at the two.

"Aiyou, boss, relax, relax," Wei Chen hurriedly assured her, "Mo Fan will be fine."

"Really?"

"So long as he can keep this pace up," Ye Xiu said, "His opponent hasn't figured him out yet. Old Wei is right. By overstretching his limits, he's misled his opponent. His opponent will be having doubts about him, giving him a good chance."

"Mo Fan…" Chen Guo didn't continue her train of thought. In reality, she had wanted to express surprise that Mo Fan could beat Sun Xiang, but then she realized that this would be a blow to the players on the team, so she held back. However, she was still shocked at Mo Fan's improvement.

Could he win? Chen Guo gazed at the stage.

Mo Fan didn't fail everyone's expectations. When Deception was at 14 percent health, One Autumn Leaf fell, and the surprise Chen Guo didn't voice was yelled out by Pan Lin.

"I never would have expected that Happy's Mo Fan could defeat Sun Xiang!" Pan Lin cried out.

Chapter 1299: Challenging His Limits

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Deception only had 14% health remaining. One Autumn Leaf had started the fight with 72% health, yet those comparing the matchup on paper would still think Mo Fan would be less likely to win.

Even so, Mo Fan won, and his victory astonished many.　　

Because Sun Xiang truly was strong. He had sunken to the Challenger League for the season and ended up losing that to Happy, but the champion team Samsara still wanted him, showing a deep-rooted recognition of his skill. Two seasons of failure hadn't affected people's evaluation of him.

For such a player, despite starting the fight with only 72% health, most would favor him in a match against a rookie.　

His opponent Mo Fan was astonishingly valiant. He went equal with Su Xiang in multiple direct confrontations, which left a deep impression on the viewers.

In the end, Sun Xiang unexpectedly lost the fight.

Sun Xiang walked down slowly from the stage.

In the past, if he lost against a rookie, he would feel ashamed and fly into a rage. However, the current him didn't have an expression of anger, although he obviously wasn't happy either. He raised his head, looking at the replay on the big screens. He pondered as he watched.

"Nice job!" When he returned to Samsara's bench, his teammates welcomed him back. Losing to Mo Fan was a bit surprising, but if you looked at the outcome, Sun Xiang had nearly completed a 1v2. Mo Fan's Deception only had 14% health left. In the group arena, this sort of performance was splendid.

"That Mo Fan…" Sun Xiang felt like he should have grasped something, but he was drawing a blank right now.　　

"We can slowly figure it out when we go back and review the match!" Jiang Botao patted him. He could see that Sun Xiang seemed somewhat troubled by the match.

"Okay, it's finally my turn." Du Ming got up excitedly.

He was a player who yearned for competition. Before Sun Xiang transferred to Samsara, he had appeared on stage very often. But when Sun Xiang joined, Sun Xiang took up a spot on the main roster, and Du Ming's position instantly fell.　

Saying that he wasn't sad about it would be false, but Sun Xiang's skill was truly there. His addition improved Samsara's strength even further. Du Ming couldn't ask the team to reject an upgrade, so he could only accept it.

Du Ming had his own plans for his future, and he hoped for more opportunities on the stage. But he was still a part of Samsara, and his resolve in Samsara hadn't been shaken! Winning three championships in a row with his teammates of many years and then leaving for his own selfish fights would be the most beautiful outcome.

As a result, even though his position was on the fringe, Du Ming worked even harder.

No one in a championship team had weaklings! Du Ming had plans on leaving Samsara, but his pride and arrogance as a part of Samsara had not lessened.

"Good luck!" His teammates yelled to Du Ming.

"Relax!" Du Ming waved carefreely to his teammates behind him like a cool person.

"Fuck, he's acting like he's our team's biggest trump card," Wu Qi cursed, "Captain, I'm not the type of person to pick fights, but I wouldn't be able to bear it if I were you."

"Haha," Zhou Zekai chuckled.

Du Ming walked onto the stage, into the player booth, and his character loaded into the map.

Blade Master, Moon-Luring Frost.

Whoosh whoosh. As soon as he loaded into the map, Du Ming's Moon-Luring Frost immediately drew his sword, displaying his impatience.

"COME!" He shouted in the chat.

Mo Fan obviously didn't respond and quietly ran over.　　

Du Ming didn't move strategically either. After Moon-Luring Frost slashed his sword a few times, he headed straight for the center too.

Like last round, the two characters practically saw each other at the same time.　

Into the ditches?

No, this time, neither side went into the ditches. The two characters came across each other, and then after a short pause, they started fighting.　　

Shuriken!

Mo Fan's Deception attacked first.　

This low-level flying tool posed no threat Sun Xiang, and it was no different for Du Ming.

Moon-Luring Frost raised his sword and swept it aside.

Triple Slash!

Du Ming started his offense just as fast as Sun Xiang. Sun Xiang had used Dragon Breaks the Ranks, while he used Triple Slash. His momentum might not be as powerful as Dragon Breaks the Ranks, but it was more nimble.　

His sword led the way. Du Ming observed Mo Fan's reaction cautiously. He hadn't forgotten how fast Mo Fan had countered after Sun Xiang and him brushed past each other last match. Anyone who saw that scene couldn't help but pretend they were there, and feel their bodies drip with cold sweat at that reaction speed and mechanical skill. Du Ming had done the same and felt stunned. However, he still wanted to try it and see if he could do what others couldn't.　

First slash, second slash...

The first and second slash of Triple Slash came out, and Moon-Luring Frost rapidly closed in. However, Deception didn't move. He didn't meet it directly with an Shining Cut like last time.

What is he planning? Du Ming muttered to himself. Triple Slash's third slash flew out, both an attack and a movement, towards Deception. At this moment, Du Min lowered his head. Mo Fan's usage of Underground Tunneling Technique had left a deep impression on him too. Du Ming didn't want to fall for this sort of trap.

As soon as he lowered his head, he saw a glint of cold light from in front of him.

Caltrops?

When had he thrown these?　

Du Ming was startled. He immediately had Moon-Luring Frost's third slash switched directions. Moon-Luring Frost moved horizontally and dodged these Caltrops.

How dangerous!

Du Ming yelled in his heart. Ninja Tools - Caltrops, a low-level skill. If an opponent stepped on it, it would harshly reduce the opponent's movement speed. And even though these Caltrops were thrown onto the ground, they weren't easy to see. If Du Ming hadn't looked down because he was wary of Underground Tunneling Technique, he would have certainly stepped onto the Caltrops.

"You're quite cunning!" With the change in direction from Triple Slash, he didn't step on the Caltrops. Du Ming didn't distract himself despite the close call. His next move had already begun.

Sword Draw!

Sword qi flew out. With this as a cover, Moon-Luring Frost leaped up, Falling Phoenix Slash! He directly shot down from the sky, creating an arc in the air.

Deception turned and ran.

"Hey! You bastard!" Du Ming shouted. Against Sun Xiang, that punk had rushed forward and fought a few exchanges directly, but against him, he just ran away. What was that supposed to mean? I'm scarier than Sun Xiang? Du Ming didn't think so. He couldn't understand what Mo Fan was thinking.

"Looks like Mo Fan's tired…" Happy's players saw through it.　

In the previous fight, he had played explosively multiple times and played to his limit. Those were just the two plays at the beginning too. Afterwards, in order to win against Sun Xiang, Mo Fan had fought even harder at his limits. He had beaten Sun Xiang, but those who didn't understand him wouldn't know how hard he had worked for that win. Now, against Du Ming, he didn't fight like he had with Sun Xiang. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he couldn't. His energy didn't let him reach that crazy concentrated state.

"This punk, with that in him, we should put him in the individual competition more!" Wei Chen said.

Just when they were commenting on him, Mo Fan suddenly erupted!

Combo. Another invincible combo. Except this time, the first sneak hadn't been executed too well, and Du Ming was able to respond. However, Mo Fan didn't let up, the second, third attack… he attacked as if he were comboing and then finally on the fourth strike, he was able to break Du Ming's defenses.

Annihilation!

For the fifth strike, Deception actually used Annihilation. This low-level knock-up skill was never a finishing move for a combo. This could only mean that Mo Fan had no plans on stopping his combo.　　

"Is he crazy!" Wei Chen yelled out in amazement.

They thought Mo Fan was tired already, but he once again showed up with his three axes. On the fifth strike, which should have been the limit, he didn't stop but continued.

Flame Cut!

A blaze followed along the blade's path. Following Annihilation, this attack struck Moon-Luring Frost. The sixth strike was linked very precisely as well.

Then, Underground Tunneling Technique! Deception sprinted forward, but...　

"Too slow," Ye Xiu said.

Yes, the seventh strike was too slow. After being set ablaze by Flame Cut, Moon-Luring Frost made a move.

Falling Blossom Form!

It was faster than Deception's Underground Tunneling Technique. The swordpoint stabbed into Deception's back, and blood spurted out. Deception crashed to the ground.

The damage dealt by the Blade Master's four Level 75 skills weren't too terrifying, but the other areas were increased further.

A forced knock-down, Falling Blossom Form.

Maxed attack speed, Meteor Form.

High priority, Piercing Wind Form.

Sword qi that can pull the target, Curving Wind Form.

Falling Blossom Form just looked like a careless attack, but Deception had been knocked to the ground.

Falling Light Blade!

Moon-Luring Frost attacked again from the air towards Deception.

This combo was fast and without any openings. Deception, who had just crashed to the ground, could do nothing.

But afterwards, Deception rolled up and tried to dodge Feather Scar's control.

Lunge!

Sword light chased after Deception.

Pu! Deception poofed into smoke, turning into a strawman.

"Fuck!" Du Ming cursed angrily. Ninjas had more escape skills than other classes. What was usually a combo would be easily dispelled in front of Ninjas.

Du Ming had Moon-Luring Frost turn around in search of Deception's whereabouts.

The earth underneath him loosened.

Underground Tunneling Technique!

At the crucial moment, an opening appeared on Du Ming. Just like how Underground Tunneling Technique had struck One Autumn Leaf, it struck Moon-Luring Frost squarely. A combo once again began.

"He…" Everyone in Happy was dumbfounded.

"He's… purposely attacking his own limits…" Ye Xiu could see it. Confuse the opponent? They had overanalyzed it. Mo Fan had been challenging his own limits the entire time.

Chapter 1300: Long History

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Mo Fan was testing his limits, but the reason why limits were called limits was because they couldn't be broken easily. Improving one's mechanics and awareness wasn't like farming for equipment in-game. You couldn't just get lucky and suddenly improve your strength with a piece of powerful equipment. These were things that were improved day by day, training and training, slowly accumulating real battle experience. If you wanted to break through your limits, it was the same. It wasn't as simple as one day becoming passionate about it, deciding to work hard and achieving a breakthrough. 

Mo Fan was continuously testing his limits with disregard for everything else. He really was in a state he had never reached before in training. However, breaking through one's limits wasn't like farming equipment. It wasn't as if once you accomplished it everything was good. An abrupt breakthrough was one thing, but mastering it was another. In other words, you had to accumulate experience bit by bit. 

Being able to defeat Sun Xiang, even if it was a One Autumn Leaf with only 72 percent of his health, was already an amazing breakthrough for Mo Fan. Against Du Ming, he wanted to continue, and was still stubbornly, even more wildly challenging his limits again and again. However, his condition had already been slipping, and though he had managed to surprise Du Ming, the other soon turned the tables. Deception's 14 percent health couldn't take much more before he eventually fell. Du Ming's victory was without suspense. Mo Fan's performance felt like it had plummeted at at the most crucial moment.

It seemed like defeating Sun Xiang had taken a lot out of him, however, he was still so fierce in this match...

Although he was just a newbie, Du Ming still felt a sense of respect rise for Mo Fan. This kind of opponent who never gave up was always worthy of respect, no matter where, no matter if they lost or won.

Leaving the stage, Mo Fan seemed rather worn out as expected. For him, it was a mental exhaustion. Constantly drawing together his focus to launch a barrage of intense attacks was like drawing himself tight like a bowstring. He had pushed himself, uncaring of the consequences.

"That was too reckless of you," Ye Xiu commented, looking at Mo Fan.

Mo Fan quietly glanced at Ye Xiu, but didn't say anything, returning to his own seat. Qiao Yifan passed a bottle of water over. Mo Fan stared for a moment in surprise before accepting it, nodding at Qiao Yifan in thanks.

What was this guy thinking? No one knew. The only one who could really communicate verbally with him was Su Mucheng. And even if it was Su Mucheng, she merely spoke more often to him, but never got a look into his thoughts.

"Talk with him more often!" Ye Xiu was helpless and could only hand things over to Su Mucheng, asking her to guide the loner.

By then, Happy's third player for the group arena had already stood.

Tang Rou, after the 1v3 incident, had been a constant as the anchor for the group arena. When she stood, the atmosphere in the venue chilled somewhat. Even now, Tang Rou's popularity was still at rock bottom. Even their home turf fans weren't very happy with her. It was clear what position she had amongst the fanbase. Plus, Happy only had her left while Samsara still had Du Ming's Moon-Luring Frost with 91 percent health, and a full-health Zhou Zekai, Glory's Number One, Zhou Zekai.

There was no point in continuing.

That's what everyone thought. Even if they announced Samsara's victory now, no one would care, probably.

However, Tang Rou simply ignored all of this. She stood, accepting the encouragements and blessings from her teammates and walking towards the stage determinedly. Even if she heard the jeers from the crowd, she didn't care. In their home games, Happy's fans would give her face considering that she was a member of the team, but in an away game, Tang Rou was like a public enemy. If she could endure that, then this silence in their home game was like an applause.

This sort of atmosphere in a home game was really rather strange and oppressive. Even Samsara's players felt uncomfortable, looking around at Happy's fans. They, of course, knew why this was, it was just that they didn't think it would be so intense. Tang Rou was receiving this sort of treatment from her own team's fans, the ones who would most stand up for them. And their support of Team Happy was so passionate too. This truly was strange.

They all knew too clearly what this sort of circumstance meant for a pro player, but a young lady like Tang Rou still managed to endure.

Samsara had researched Tang Rou's matches. After the one versus three event, the biggest change to Tang Rou was becoming the last line of defense in the group arena rather than the spearhead. Apart from that, there was no change. Her fearsome performance remained the same. Her popularity might have frozen, but her strength was still improving steadily. Amongst the rookies this season, she was definitely the best when considering pure ability. If it wasn't for the fact that she had started a little old, her future would have been limitless. Then, with her flawless looks and demeanor, a lot of people felt that what had happened with her was a shame.

Slowly, there were some voices that spoke out, hoping that people could be more lenient on the rookie. However, there were always those that just wouldn't let go, especially Esports Home's Ruan Cheng as a representative, who was now a professional hater of Tang Rou's. No matter what article or commentary he was writing, he could always twist it to hate on Tang Rou a little. However, it was more Tang Rou's attitude that exacerbated it. If she could stand up and address the issue with sincerity, with the winds beginning to change and people beginning to stand up for her, then this incident might have passed by without further trouble. 

However, she didn't. Tang Rou didn't seem to have anything to say about this. This was why many fans hated her. Everyone felt that she refused to learn from her mistakes, staying as stubborn as a mule. Then some tied this to her appearance, arguing that she was probably used to being spoiled because of her looks, so she thought she was special and could do whatever she wanted. The few who spoke for her failed to pull her out of this slump.

However, what was most depressing for the haters was that they couldn't use her performance on the field to attack her. After the one versus three incident, Happy entered a period of consecutive wins. The worst of their scores were 9 to 1, and even their loss against 301 Degrees was a 4 to 6. They had still managed to obtain the two points from the group arena. With their group arena always victorious, Tang Rou's performance as the last line of defense in the group arena was really flawless. This meant that they were trying to pick bones from eggs, discussing subjective things such as "what techniques were appropriate".

They had been left hungry for so long...

But now, against Samsara, Tang Rou was in a difficult place as the last line of defense. It was such a difficult place that these starved people thought that even if Tang Rou lost here, it wouldn't be anything they could feast on.

She was set against almost two whole opponents, with Zhou Zekai as one. Losing was all too expected.

After Tang Rou entered the booth, the atmosphere changed, buzzing chatter arising from the crowd. The crowd was chatting, discussing, gossiping, like no one cared about the following match. Since they didn't like the next player on Happy's side, they had already convinced themselves of how the following match would end.

There was no more sounds of encouragement. In fact, the number of people who were even remotely paying attention to the match had plummeted. Only Samsara's supporters were still cheering, happy that they would finally be able to take back two points in the group arena.

The match started. The applause that would usually ring out at a time like this was few and far between. 

"Is this because of… Zhou Zekai?" Feeling this awkward atmosphere at their home game, Chen Guo was smiling in a rather strained way.

Tang Rou truly was unpopular, but when she was on the stage, she was still representing Happy. The fans might not like her, but they couldn't not hope for Happy's victory. Thus, when she went onstage to defend the arena, she would usually get some applause.

However, this time, it seemed like Happy's fans had given up on her.

Chen Guo knew that there was only one reason why this would happen. The fans believed that Happy couldn't possibly win.

Why? 

Because Samsara had almost two full health characters left, a huge advantage.

Because one of these two was Zhou Zekai, Glory's Number One. 

Zhou Zekai's strength went beyond just boosting the morale and confidence of his team. He hadn't even gotten onstage yet, and he could already influence the attitudes of the fans.

"They have Zhou Zekai, we can't win…"

Chen Guo now truly understood Zhou Zekai's status in the Alliance, seeing how he could create such ideas even in a home game. 

Chen Guo was a little annoyed at these fans, but not long ago in the Spring Festival event, the passion of their fans had proved how much hope they had in Happy. Perhaps they couldn't be blamed. The only thing to be blamed was the sheer strength of Zhou Zekai's presence and… how deeply unpopular Tang Rou was. Perhaps, if it was a different member of Happy, they might've gotten some encouragement and support. 

"Ai…" Chen Guo sighed. Tang Rou's persistence made Chen Guo feel even more helpless than Zhou Zekai's strength. That young lady really wasn't "soft" at all. Was her name given to use as mockery? Chen Guo silently thought in exasperation at that renowned father of Tang Rou's.* 

The match begun under the attention - or lack thereof - of the audience. But the players onstage didn't know about the reactions of the crowd. Du Ming was very much looking forward to this match. As the match started, his character Moon-Luring Frost made a few more cool poses than he did last match. 

"I never would've expected that we would meet in an official match," Du Ming sent into the chat. 

Tang Rou replied with a smiley face. 

"Let's give it our all!" Du Ming yelled excitedly.

"Of course," Tang Rou replied. Soft Mist charged out and Du Ming's Moon-Luring Frost also charged directly. The two characters steadily entered each other's views without dodging or retreating, clashing head on.

Tang Rou was once the person who had put Du Ming in the most humiliating position.

In the audience player versus pro round of the All-Star Weekend, he had somehow lost to a challenging normal player and twice, too. For a long time, he had become a joke in their circle. But his opponent had been a normal player, while he was a pro. He couldn't go seeking revenge for something like that! Du Ming could only accept his misfortune and was depressed for a good while.

That was until the player that had defeated him seemed to have the intentions of going pro, and now, she was finally here on the same stage as Du Ming.

Revenge? Two years had past, and Du Ming really didn't have any intentions for revenge. However, he couldn't forget that incident. Thus, one day, after he realized that Tang Rou was entering the pro circle too, he began paying attention to her. The target of his attention wasn't one to keep a low profile either. Not long after entering the pro circle, she had gotten into quite the snit with the one versus three incident. She was the main character of it even. 

But she didn't manage the 1v3 and broke her promise, going from the protagonist to the antagonist, someone everyone hated.

Du Ming was stunned. Disregarding everything else, she was truly a girl with character, and she was also very beautiful.

His past grudge had faded and blurred, and Du Ming began to develop a liking for the young lady he had been paying attention to. Especially the one versus three incident, that had Du Ming's heart aching for her.

He really did want to go and support Tang Rou, but… just think of his position! After the one two three four All-Stars on Team Samsara, then the Assassin Wu Qi and Cleric Fang Minghua, only then you could get to him. For this sort of sensitive topic, the reporters would casually ask for Samsara's members' opinions, but it would never fall to him to answer.

Seeing Zhou Zekai hesitate for half a day before spitting out a very strange "really strong" as an answer, Du Ming kind of wanted to go up and punch in his handsome face.

Really strong my ass, what's really strong???

Du Ming had never felt so anxious about Zhou Zekai's lack of speaking ability.

Back then, Du Ming's state could be described as heart-in-throat. However, he soon realized that his worry was excessive. Though her popularity might've plummeted, Tang Rou's performance was even more stable. In the following period, Happy had performed even better than Samsara.

Du Ming's admiration for this young lady shot up another notch.

Round 20 had finally arrived and Samsara was once again faced with Happy. This time, Du Ming and Tang Rou had the chance to face each other on stage.

Du Ming was hyped, and the Samsara players on the bench were all deep in discussion too.

The attention Du Ming had directed at Tang Rou was no secret in Samsara. For example, Jiang Botao, immensely skilled at communicating and reading others, could easily see that this guy had a crush. 

"That guy took his sword and charged. Seems to me he's in a pretty good state! Does this guy want to express his admiration for his goddess by crushing her?" Wu Qi wondered aloud, seeing Du Ming's more eager than normal performance.

"He's probably trying to attract her interest through showing off his own talent," Jiang Botao, as expected, was skilled at understanding others.

"How childish, like an elementary school kid!" Fang Minghua exclaimed.

"Holy crap!" Someone yelled in shock and Samsara's players all facepalmed, lowering their heads in silence for Du Ming.

Moon-Luring Frost, charging up excitedly, had been thrown to one side by a Circle Swing.

"Has he already been wiped out?" Lu Boyuan had a hand over his eyes, peeking at the situation through his fingers. 

"No…" Zhou Zekai said.

"Ah, I was too careless!" Du Ming yelled into the chat. 

"Jesus, this is embarrassing…" Samsara's players all decided. 

"He won't start yelling 'I love you' or something right then and there, will he?"

"If that's the case, well, the transfer window still had two days to go, let's sell him!"

"Sell him to Happy?"

"That's probably exactly what he wants!" They laughed.

Onstage, the battle continued.

TN: *The "Rou" in Tang Rou means "soft" or "gentle", the same "soft" in Soft Mist, so, Chen Guo is talking about Tang Rou's birth name, not the name Soft Mist

Chapter 1301: Mistakes and Plays Going Beyond One’s Skill

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Du Ming had been a bit too excited when he went onto the stage. The instant he went forward to make the first attack, he had still been wondering whether he should chat some more. But with Tang Rou's current skill level, how could it be so easy to deal with her? Tang Rou immediately saw a huge opening. A Circle Swing came out, and Du Ming's Moon-Luring Frost kneeled.

Again!

Du Ming's mind raced like galloping grass mud horses*. He had wanted to put on an eyecatching performance, but as soon as the fight began, his show was smashed apart. He had let such a huge opening appear and be taken advantage of. How could he show any face?

Du Ming panicked and blurted out "I was careless".　　

But this was a competition! Wasn't giving this sort of explanation to the opponent even more shameful than being beaten down? Luckily, besides Samsara's players, no one else thought that. The viewers thought Du Ming was saying these words to his teammates, explaining to them the reason for his mistake.

Tang Rou saw Du Ming's shout, but why would she care? While Du Ming's Moon-Luring Frost hastily got back up, Soft Mist's spear whistled towards him, once again putting Du Ming into a panic.

To put it simply, Du Ming looked excited, but his excitement wasn't excitement for the match. It was excitement for meeting Tang Rou again in a match. As a result, he wasn't actually in a competitor's mentality. His performance wasn't as stable as when he had fought against Mo Fan previously. He kneeled as soon as the fight started, and then Tang Rou's crazy offensive instantly took out 20% of his health.　

Too shameful!

Two years ago, he could have said that he had been caught off guard facing a normal player and had been too careless, but this time? If he lost again, wouldn't that indicate how incompetent he was?　

I CAN'T LOSE!!

Du Ming shouted in his heart. After Soft Mist's combo ended, he immediately launched a counterattack.　　

"Isn't Du Ming being too impatient?" Even Pan Lin instantly saw the issue. Tang Rou's combo had ended, but the situation hadn't reset back to zero. She still held the initiative. The combo had finished, but her offense hadn't ended yet. Her attacks were linked very closely together, yet Du Ming unexpectedly wanted to counterattack despite these circumstances. It just wasn't a good decision. Sure enough, Du Ming only just started his counterattack before Tang Rou's follow-up attacks smashed it apart, and another combo started.

"This Du Ming… At the All-Stars Weekend two years ago, he hadn't just lost to a normal player, but Tang Rou, who had only just started playing the game. He lost a lot of face there! It looks like he wants to redeem himself. Holding these thoughts, it's no surprise he's in a rush. I hope he can quickly calm himself down." Li Yibo was quite confident with his analysis this time because there was no other explanation he could think of. If he knew that Du Ming's train wreck of a performance stemmed from his crush on Tang Rou, his mind would also be racing like galloping grass mud horses.

Soft Mist started another combo. The damage from this combo was even higher than the last. Moon-Luring Frost lost 23% of his health. He only had 48% health remaining now, not even half. As for Tang Rou's Soft Mist? Because she had traded blows at the start, she only lost 4% of her health from this exchange, which was already lower than usual. All of this was because of Du Ming's unusually poor playing.

"Damn, this is the pace to a blowout!" Samsara's players had been joking around in the beginning, but now, their tone was more serious.

They knew about Du Ming's thoughts, so they could understand why he hadn't been able to contain his excitement at the start of the match, but he still hadn't adjusted his mindset. This wasn't right. As a pro player, personal feelings should not be affecting your playing to such an extent. If he really lost in such a manner, the team would need to give him a harsh reprimandment.　

Samsara's players stopped their banter. Their eyes were focused on the match.　

After two combos, his character was not even at half health, while his opponent had only lost 4%.

What am I doing?　　

Du Ming asked himself honestly.　　

I might have been waiting this match for a long time, but haven't I been too negligent? This was a competition.

When competing, I should be going in with a steady mindset. Getting too excited or getting too indifferent is no good, and Team Samsara is the best in the Alliance at this point. Despite having won two championships already, we've always kept our calm, never arrogant in victory and never hateful in defeat.

I haven't won or lost, yet I've become a complete mess just because I'm meeting a girl I like?

Yes, a complete mess!　

No one was more clear than him just how terrible he had been playing. He could lose, but not like this!

Come!

Tang Rou didn't try to understand Du Ming's mindset and started off with two combos. Her combos were smooth and successful. She obviously didn't plan on stopping here. Her third wave of attacks instantly arrived.

Triple Slash!

Du Ming's Moon-Luring Frost suddenly dashed out at an unexpected moment.　　

"Du Ming is really being too impatient!" Pan Lin shouted.

Li Yibo was just about to add to these words, but the match progressed extremely fast. Moon-Luring Frost looked like he was just about to crash into Soft Mist's attack, but instead just barely dodged it.

It had been an extremely narrow dodge.

Was it a coincidence? Or had Du Ming suddenly become precise?

Du Ming quickly told everyone the answer. The instant he brushed past the attack, the second slash came out. When he dodged the attack, his sword struck Soft Mist, and his Moon-Luring Frost moved horizontally, using the second slash to circle around Soft Mist. The third slash followed closely afterwards, and the instant it hit, Moon-Luring Frost was behind Soft Mist.

Everyone was dumbstruck, including the players on both teams. Du Ming's sudden burst had been completely outside everyone's expectations. His play had been extremely fast and precise.

Fast wasn't difficult for an overly excited Du Ming, and it was precisely because of that extraordinary speed that Samsara's players felt like he had exceeded his skill level.

But with speed, Du Ming lost precision. Because although he was excited, his mindset wasn't in the right place. His attention wasn't on the match. Without any focus, how could he be precise? As a result, Du Ming might have been fast, but he was also imprecise. It was how Soft Mist was able to instantly break through his attacks and complete two devastating combos.

However, Du Ming had finally become focused again. This Triple Slash had been beyond his skill level, and for a moment, Tang Rou wasn't able to keep up with the sudden change in pace. Two of the three slashes had struck Soft Mist, and Moon-Luring Frost had also circled behind her. Du Ming's counterattack was truly resounding this time. A flurry of sword slashes along with increased damage from back attacks splattered blood across the air. Du Ming had the nickname "Berserk Blade Master" for a reason. The word "Berserk" showed precisely what his playstyle was like. And right now, he was going wild, an extremely precise wildness. A full combo landed on Soft Mist's back.

31%.

This was the total damage dealt by Du Ming's combo. It was far higher than anything Tang Rou had done. One reason was because Du Ming's combo had been from the back. Another reason was because Soft Mist's equipment was still a little bit lacking compared to Moon-Luring Frost's.

Soft Mist's health instantly plummeted to 65%. As for Moon-Luring Frost? After completing his combo, he hadn't received any damage. All of Tang Rou's attempts at resisting had been blocked by him. Moon-Luring Frost's health was still at 48%.

65% to 48%. The gap didn't seem that large anymore.

This time, Du Ming did not show mercy to those had wronged him. He wasn't finished with just one combo and followed up with more attacks.

Berserk Blade Master.

Du Ming's style was actually very similar to Tang Rou's. He was good at fighting for the initiative, forcing fights, and violent attacks.　

However, Tang Rou wasn't caught unprepared like last time. Her spear, Dancing Fire Flowing Flames, and Du Ming's lightsaber, Lingering Ice, clashed. Just from the name, it sounded like a battle of ice and fire. The glow given by the two weapons intertwined as if trying to devour the other.

"The battle has only just begun!" This clash pulled the battle back to a point where neither side had the advantage. Du Ming had the time, so he immediately typed out a message. Apart from fighting each other in this match, he also hoped that they could have a bit of chat together.

Of course, telling the other side "this is my true power" through these words was also a bit of selfishness on his part.

"There's no saving him…" When they saw Du Ming back to his usual self, Samsara's players returned to their relaxed state. And seeing how that guy even felt the need to say a few words, they collectively put their hands to their foreheads.

"Shouldn't he win the fight before spouting nonsense?" Samsara's players started discussing amongst themselves.

"But if he wins, who will listen to his nonsense?"

"It looks like he's got the guts to chase after her to Happy's side and worm his way into a relationship."

"He sounds so pitiful. But if it's like this, can we feel relaxed putting him in the team competition?"　　

"There's nothing we can do. The lineup is already locked in."

"All five players are needed to win this match! What if his mind is too preoccupied with other things?"

"He looks fine right now!"

"He looks fine right now, but what about afterwards? He'll feel like he performed well in front of his goddess, and then he'll go crazy thinking he's in heaven, what then?"

"That really might be a problem!"

"Yes, we can't be careless. We'll have to shoulder his burden in the team competition!"

"Hey hey...." At this moment, Wu Qi interrupted their discussion, "He isn't even playing in the team competition. I'm the sixth player!"

Chapter 1302: The Belief for Victory

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

Du Ming had recovered his usual form. His performance was slightly better than usual, aided by the fact that he was somewhat excited today. But what about Tang Rou? She worked as hard as always. She never let her guard down, regardless of the situation or the opponent.

The publicized bet for a 1v3 had already passed, but in Tang Rou's mind, she still hadn't achieved her goal of a 1v3!

Even though she was the anchor in the group arena, and there weren't three opponents for her to beat up, Tang Rou always played with the mindset to do so.

Du Ming switched suddenly from making extraordinary blunders to making extraordinary plays. This large variation did catch Tang Rou off-guard, but her mental state wasn't affected.

Strive for victory.

Tang Rou would always have this mentality. Regardless of whether her opponent was weak or strong, regardless of whether her opponent was blundering or playing beautifully.

Du Ming used the chat, thinking that Tang Rou would now acknowledge his skill. Unfortunately for him, Tang Rou didn't consider anything along those lines.

Bring him down! That was the only thing she was thinking. If Du Ming knew that his goddess's attitude towards him was so single-minded, who knew how long he'd be depressed for.

Thankfully he didn't know, so he felt some satisfaction that his goddess could witness him playing better than his normal skill. However, when he said "The battle has only just begun!", Tang Rou definitely hadn't just begun. While Du Ming considered this a reset and an opportunity to regain the upper hand, Tang Rou maintained her rhythm and clung onto any opportunities to launch attacks.

Du Ming thought that typing some words in this situation would be no big deal. He still underestimated Tang Rou's drive for victory, and also her tunnel vision for it.

She had zero intentions of chatting with Du Ming. The words that Du Ming thought were no big deal actually caused him to momentarily lose initiative.

Tang Rou was once again given the role of the aggressor. Magic emanated from and swirled around Soft Mist, while she wildly charged towards the gates of victory.

Du Ming didn't expect to be suppressed so soon. Even though his mental state was quite steady right now and he defended well, Tang Rou's offensive also felt more concentrated than before...

This tireless attitude was really indistinguishable from that time....

Du Ming's mind started wandering again, rewinding to the Allstars Weekend from two years ago, when his team Samsara was hosting. A beautiful newbie was fortunate enough to get the chance to challenge him. Berserk Blade Master Du Ming didn't want to be cruel and pick on this pretty girl. Turns out the pretty girl was cruel and picked on him, promptly destroying him when they fought.

Du Ming had been anxious. Disregarding the rules, he quickly issued another challenge which he won. The girl then accepted and won again! Du Ming felt ashamed and restless at the time, and with no regard for anything else, kept fight fight fighting… Then he somehow summoned God Ye Xiu, who tore him a new one.

Du Ming was very bitter at the time. He was very bitter that the newbie made him lose face big time. But now… thinking back, why did he feel a sense of sweet nostalgia?

What would have happened at the time if it wasn't for the meddling Ye Xiu? What would have happened if they kept fighting? Du Ming even started fantasizing about how the story could have continued…

Boom!

Magic gathered in front of Moon-Luring Frost's chest and exploded loudly. His guard had been broken through!

Crap!

Du Ming realised that his concentration had slipped yet again. Facing this matter, it really was hard to control his own emotions! Du Ming hastily controlled Moon-Luring Frost to try to salvage the situation, but he was too late. Tang Rou would never let an opportunity slip, and Du Ming was met with an intense wave of attacks. This formed a complete offensive when combined with the previous wave of attacks. Moon-Luring Frost was thrown around by the magical explosions, and his health dropped in chunks...

"Next time, I definitely won't lose!!!" Du Ming called out.

"Still yelling… He couldn't be more embarrassing if he tried!" Samsara's players did not know whether to laugh or cry. Du Ming's performance really was unacceptable. It was fortunate that Samsara still had a big advantage. What if this was the deciding match? What if this match was the championship finals? This kind of unstable performance would render his entire team's effort for naught.

Du Ming returned from the stage. Samsara's players put away their laughing and joking faces they had during the match and switched to looking at him with austere expressions.

Du Ming lowered his head. Of course he knew where his problem laid. He did take control of the situation at some points, but somehow it slipped from his grasp in the final moments of the battle.

"I…" Du Ming wanted to give a reason for his failure, but it was embarrassing to open up about subjects such as crushes.

"You played rigidly, and your concentration was off," said Jiang Botao.

"Yeah." Du Ming nodded. He couldn't argue against that.

"Our captain is very angry. He said you didn't put enough importance on the competition; when the whole team was working hard for victory, you were too engaged with your own thoughts. If this were the championship match and we lost the points because you were distracted and we ended up losing the championship, what would you do?" Wu Qi said.

Du Ming raised his head in surprise. "The captain said that much?"

"Yeah, the captain's rage induced many words," Wu Qi said.

Du Ming rolled his eyes. Wu Qi was definitely just trolling. However, the words may have been nonsense, but idea behind it was not. What if Samsara really lost their chance at three consecutive championships because of him? When Du Ming thought about this, he suddenly felt a wave of fear. This really should not have happened… Du Ming raised his head and watched the replay from his match. 70% of his play in this match was trash.

"As someone with experience, I know this is quite difficult for you. But you need to learn to control it. No matter what happens, it should not affect your performance on stage," Samsara's Cleric player Fang Minghua said. In esports, the average age of the players was very young. There was a big pile of players who were still in their teens, and very few were married. But Samsara's Fang Minghua was one of the few who was.

"I will…" Du Ming nodded his head.

On stage, the final battle of the group arena was about to start. Samsara's captain Zhou Zekai had already entered the stage, and the countdown for the start of the battle quickly began.

"That win came pretty easily…" On Happy's side, Fang Rui expressed his opinion as his team were discussing the match that just concluded.

"Yeah. That kid from Samsara is very inconsistent," Ye Xiu said.

"Wasn't Du Ming the one who lost to little Tang twice in the All Stars Weekend two years ago? I bet he lost his calm today after seeing her! Hahaha!" Chen Guo laughed.

"Probably!" Ye Xiu nodded. Du Ming's crush was completely known to the people at Happy, whom he had never interacted with.

"This match…" Chen Guo looked at the stage and the loading bars for the two characters, and didn't know what to say.

Even though Tang Rou had just won, there was a period where Du Ming performed above expectations. After that, there was also a steady period where he defended well. Du Ming still managed to grind down some of Soft Mist's health, which now sat at exactly 50%. Now, she was to face the number one in Glory, Zhou Zekai.

"Can she win?" Chen Guo felt her heart leap. If she really won, surely Tang Rou would become a hero? Even Happy fans who didn't like her would relish in the fact that she defeated Zhou Zekai with 50% health, since this was glory that belonged to all of Team Happy. If it was like this, then everyone would slowly change their opinion of Tang Rou. It would only be a matter of time before they started liking her again.

A sense of belief brewed within Chen Guo's mind. She also felt the change of atmosphere from the viewers. Their disinterest when Tang Rou entered the stage melted away. Expending 50% health to deal with Du Ming was nowhere near enough to establish confidence in anyone, but it did give them a sliver of belief. The player currently on stage was not like the viewers. She would not lose her fighting spirit just because she had to face Zhou Zekai.

She was pushing her limits. She worked hard to bring one down, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she would continue to work hard; maybe she would work even harder to bring down the next one. Zhou Zekai, the number one in Glory, would make many players lose part of their will to fight before the fight even started. To them, losing against him was almost an expectation.

No one could see this attitude at all on Tang Rou. She was just a rookie. If she lost here, not even her haters would be able to make a big deal out of it. But Tang Rou herself carried the air of someone who wouldn't forgive herself for losing. Once again, she charged forward, poised for victory, with no regard for anything else.

The first to attack was Cloud Piercer.

A fight between a ranged class and a melee class would always start off advantageous for the ranged class. The dance between the two opponents consisted of the melee class attempting to close the distance and the ranged class attempting to maintain it. At the start, it might seem one sided the ranged class uses the melee class for target practice, but as soon as the melee class got close, they could potentially reverse the ranged class's advantage in one fell swoop.

Charge, charge forward! Soft Mist darted around through the hailstorm of bullets. A Sharpshooter was a subclass that has perfected the art of shooting. It didn't have the same fancy array of armaments compared to its three cousin subclasses. It only focused on guns and bullets. Its skills revolved around various methods for shooting.

Quick shots, spread shots, dual wielding, chains. The Sharpshooter had the most shooting styles and stances. The hailstorm of bullets they unleashed was a true bulletstorm. There was little smoke and explosion, just bullet after bullet whizzing past.

Can she make the charge?!

Soft Mist advanced in what was probably the strongest bulletstorm of the Alliance. Every step forward seemed that much more difficult.

Cloud Piercer's health was still full while Soft Mist's continued declining. However, she seemed like the one with an advantage right now, because the distance between the characters that determined life and death was shrinking slowly but surely. Her health was not being wasted.

Charge! Destroy him!

Gradually, this voice appeared within everyone's heads. At this moment, they forgot who the opponent was. They forgot their mindset that losing to this opponent was only normal.

"Charge!" a shout suddenly erupted in the stadium. Soft Mist finally covered the whole distance. With 17% health remaining, she managed to charge directly up to Cloud Piercer's face.

"Destroy him!" Happy's fans had long forgotten about their previous cold shoulder of Tang Rou, and hollered madly.

Although Soft Mist's remaining health was low, sometimes a melee class could decide the outcome of the battle in one direct confrontation with a ranged class. The two sides would had vastly different fighting styles and had huge differences in strength at different attacking distances.

But…

Bang bang bang bang…

Cloud Piercer continued shooting. Even though Soft Mist was next to him, he used the Sharpshooter's Taijutsu skills. Cloud Piercer began directly trading with Soft Mist.

Gun Fu…

This wasn't a skill described by the game. Rather, it was a high-end technique invented by the players themselves by mixing and matching skills. Most in the online game could only use Taijutsu. Gun Fu was a technique that only pro level players could achieve. Because of its immense difficulty, it was still difficult to gain an advantage using Gun Fu against a pure melee class. It mostly just prevented Sharpshooters from being helpless once locked in close combat, unlike other long ranged classes.

Right now, Zhou Zekai showed off his Gun Fu. Legs, knees, elbows, as well as bullets… they entered into a brawl with the spear that was in Soft Mist's hand.

It could be seen that even Zhou Zekai using Gun Fu could not suppress Tang Rou. His skill only carried him that far. Gun Fu was indeed very sophisticated, being very swift and accurate. However, it still lacked a melee class's ferocity. Its sophistication could not suppress this wave of ferocity.

He might have been able to deal significant damage, but the ability to control and limit the opponent was too weak. This was the drawback of Gun Fu.

However, the difference between the health of the two characters was far too large.

When Soft Mist got into attack range, her health was 17% compared to Cloud Piercer's 100%.

Zhou Zekai's Gun Fu was indeed more skillful; the Great Gunner Cloud Piercer's equipment was also much stronger than Soft Mist's.

Therefore, even though Zhou Zekai's Gun Fu could not suppress Tang Rou's Soft Mist, he could just rely on trading health. Everyone know that the victory this round still belonged to Zhou Zekai.

In the end, this was the reality.

After getting close, Zhou Zekai chose to fight head-on against Tang Rou with Gun Fu. Tang Rou could only reply by fighting head on. She already got that far, there was no second option.

Finally, Soft Mist fell. That tiny sliver of belief did not bear fruit.

However, that was only this one time. What about next time? What would happen next time?

Cloud Piercer still had 75% health remaining.

During the explosive melee, Soft Mist's 17% health managed to trade away 25% of Cloud Piercer's.

What if Soft Mist entered the battle with full health? Starting at 100% and paying a 33% gap-closing tax, how much damage would she able to do with the remaining 67% health?

98.5%! So close to 100%! If Soft Mist started on full health this fight, she would only be 1.5% health from victory. Maybe she really could have done it?

Of course, if it was a fair fight where both started on full health, Zhou Zekai probably wouldn't use Gun Fu to force out the ending, rather he'd seek a chance to keep the distance. Regardless, this theoretical calculation still let people see hope.

With hope, there would be belief.

For Tang Rou, there was a belief that she could defeat Zhou Zekai!

Happy lost the group arena. However, when Tang Rou left the stage, she heard applause for the first time in a long time. Applause directed towards her.

Tang Rou smiled.

She could bear the coldest reception and continue walking forward with her head held high.

However, support and encouragement would always allow one to feel happiness.

"How amazing!" Du Ming exclaimed, upon seeing the atmosphere change throughout the stadium. Then he met the eternal stares of all his teammates.

"Using Gun Fu to crush a Battle Mage, how amazing! Captain, I'm your biggest fanboy!!" Du Ming hollered at Zhou Zekai as he left the stage.

Chapter 1303: Happy’s Cleric

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

The group arena eventually ended in Samsara's favor. With the individual rounds resulting in a 3 to 2, a 10-0 was now entirely impossible. This meant that neither Happy nor Samsara fans had a good slogan to chant. They had always found 10-0 to be the smoothest of slogans.

Having caught up after winning the group arena, Samsara's morale had been boosted greatly. Their fans were also much more lively. As for Happy? They were a little disappointed that they hadn't managed to claim victory in the group arena, but Tang Rou's performance had far exceeded their expectations. They didn't seem to worried about losing two points, but Happy's players were feeling far more conflicted. They could feel the pressure from Samsara.

There was a rather long break between the individual rounds and the team competition. The players of the two teams were gathered in their own groups, discussing strategies for the team competition. Technically, teams were allowed to return to their prep rooms during this time, but most teams found it troublesome, so they usually wouldn't run back to their prep rooms.

"For the individual rounds, both sides have losses and wins. How this match will go is truly hard to predict. What do you think, Advisor Li?" During the break, apart from ads, the live broadcast could only have the commentators kill time.

"Indeed, it's hard to predict," Li Yibo solemnly agreed with this judgement, "On paper, Samsara's lineup is stronger, but Happy has the home advantage."

"Then what do you think will be the deciding factor?" Pan Lin asked.

Li Yibo felt pained. This was exactly the kind of precise prediction he wanted to avoid, but he knew that if he avoided all questions like this, he would be worthless as a special guest. Thus, most times, even if he was hesitant, he had to harden his heart and give them something. 

"Hm, I think… it will depend on the healers. Happy's healer is their weakness. This isn't a secret anymore. In the past, many teams have tried to capitalize on this weakness, but the only team to have succeeded so far is 301. We can see that even though Happy's healer isn't the best, without him, Happy's team still cannot operate at its peak and they will still lose. In this round, I think Samsara's focus point will still be Happy's healer."

"Will they have their Assassin use Life-Risking Strike?" Pan Lin wondered. 

"Possibly…" Li Yibo contemplated, "One hit KO, a powerful offensive, or like Thunderclap, using strategy to pressure them. I think all these are equally possible. It depends on Samsara's choice."

"Haha, comparatively, I'm actually more interested in how Happy is going to use their Cleric in this match against Samsara. Many of the strategies they plan around this weakness of theirs are very interesting," Pan Lin commented.

"Heh," Li Yibo chuckled, "A significant weakness in their formation, but Happy has never gone to find a way to patch it up. With their current record, they could easily find a better Cleric player during the winter transfer window. However, Happy doesn't seem to have any intentions to do so. Sometimes I feel like Happy's Cleric might seem like a flaw to us, but in Happy's designs, he's a trap, one to counter their opponent's strategies." 

"Ah!" Pan Lin was stunned by Li Yibo's analysis, "Your view on this is truly brilliant!"

"With this weakness, Happy can more or less predict what the opponent is going to target. Then, with a cunning and experienced veteran tactician like Ye Xiu, they might've long since calculated for what strategies their opponents will use," Li Yibo said. 

"That's brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Pan Lin exclaimed even as he felt a little strange at this behavior. It had been a while since this Li Yibo had made such bold predictions about another team's tactics.

"So how are they planning on dealing with Samsara this round? Like you, I too am very curious." Finishing his speech, Li Yibo gave a sigh of relief. He was rather direct. Either he didn't speak at all, or he analyzed everything comprehensively if he did. Pan Lin had already agreed with his views and began to delve deeper into discussing it.

The two killed time like it was a talk show and continued to discuss until the team competition was due to start.

Happy: Ye Xiu, Fang Rui, Su Mucheng, Qiao Yifan, An Wenyi, sixth player Tang Rou.

Samsara: Zhou Zekai, Jiang Botao, Sun Xiang, Lu Boyuan, Fang Minghua, sixth player Wu Qi. 

With the formations revealed, the two began their commentary on the lineups. 

"Advisor Li, I've realized that these two teams share a point of similarity today," Pan Lin noted.

"Oh?"

"These two teams haven't made any arrangements in accordance to their opponent. They've both chosen to use their most frequent lineups in this match," Pan Lin explained.

"Indeed. The two teams are facing this match with a normal attitude. They didn't place importance on this match like the outside world did and are treating it like any of the other 37 matches," Li Yibo determined.

"Yes, but this match is still amazing nonetheless."

"The players have performed unexpectedly well, thus leading the high performance of the match," Li Yibo said. 

After a few exchanged sentences, the players had finished their greetings and entered their booths. The team competition was ready to start. The projection started to show the characters of each team, first the away team, and then the home team. Each side had one onstage, switching positions and the screen began showing the data for each character.

When Samsara's One autumn Leaf and Happy's Dancing Rain appeared simultaneously, the atmosphere suddenly changed. Many of the Glory fans at Xiaoshan Stadium were past-Excellent Era supporters. One Autumn Leaf and Dancing Rain were two characters with six years of history together and harboring far too many of their hopes and dreams. Today, they were once again side by side, but not as Best Partners anymore, but as opponents. This feeling was heart rending for the Excellent Era fans, who had gotten so used their partnership. In that moment, the applause in the stadium was a little dry.

It was just good that the character introductions wouldn't last too long. After these two, two new characters appeared, then, eventually, it got to the healers of the two teams.

Samsara, Laughing Song; Happy, Little Cold Hands.

"Huh?" Someone immediately realized something was wrong when Little Cold Hands appeared. 

"That's Little Cold Hands?" Someone called out in surprise. The equipment and style was completely different from the Little Cold Hands that they had seen for half a season.

The commentator Pan Lin and guest Li Yibo also noticed this situation. 

"Little Cold Hands' equipment seems to have changed," Pan Lin noted.

Li Yibo nodded, already looking to the data displayed on the screen. The moment he saw it, he sucked in a breath.

"1810 Intelligence?" Li Yibo blinked. Yes, he wasn't hallucinating. Among Little Cold Hands' four stats, the intelligence was 1810.

"1810?" Hearing this data, Pan Lin was struck dumb. To do his job, he naturally had to have a good knowledge of Glory. He naturally wouldn't be expected or able to remember what the stats of all the pro accounts were, but some rather outstanding stats he knew like the back of his hand.

"No way! Tyranny's Zhang Xinjie's Immovable Rock only has 1570 Intelligence!" Pan Lin looked at Li Yibo in disbelief and hurriedly went to check Little Cold Hands' data himself. That's right, the Intelligence really was 1810.

By then, Li Yibo's attention had shifted.

"A full set of Silver equipment!" Li Yibo sucked in another breath, a pained feeling rising in his heart. Fuck, in the end he still got face slapped by Happy! He had only just said that they weren't at all focused on strengthening their Cleric, purposefully creating openings to use as bait, yet in the blink of an eye, they might've not switched players, but they had strengthened their Cleric to its limits. This intelligence was 240 points above the Alliance's Number One Cleric; wasn't that a little overdoing it?!

Li Yibo's mind drifted a little, but Pan Lin continued looking and noticed something else.

"These four stats… don't they look a little off, Advisor Li?" Pan Lin called.

Li Yibo returned to the present and hurriedly took a look.

"Er… This…" Li Yibo's foundations were very solid, so he understood, looking at Little Cold Hands' final four stats. 

"They're pushing intelligence to the limit, no wonder it's so high," Li Yibo commented.

"Nowadays… are there still people who would do this?" Pan Lin said, confused.

"No." Li Yibo shook his head with certainty. In order to maximize a player's combat potential, balance was necessary. It was more common to see this push for intelligence in the online game. These Clerics had immense healing ability which would reduce the difficulty of the dungeon run. However, the pro scene was pure PvP. It was good to have powerful healing, but one must consider the other abilities of the healer. The stat increases the system gave upon levelling up were the same for everyone, so no one would get more or less than anyone else. Thus, the eventual four stats of the character would be adjusted by the equipment. The stats on equipment were limited though, so you had to lose some to gain some. Intelligence was the primary focus, but that didn't mean you should sacrifice everything for it.

However, that's exactly what Little Cold Hands had done.

Then, looking closely, the crit...

"This… this is entirely a PvE Cleric!" Li Yibo couldn't help but yell.

"His ice and dark resistance is pretty high," Pan Lin said,

"High counter control, but the other spirit based stats are only so-so. They didn't seem to have pushed for them," Li Yibo noted. The Cleric class' growth was mainly in the spirit stat, then the intelligence stat.

"Intelligence, crit, they're pushing these two to the limit… In terms of purely healing power, this is probably Glory's Number One Cleric," Li Yibo decided.

"No…" Just as he had made his judgement, Li Yibo suddenly rejected it. "It's better to say, looking at just the amount healed by a single skill, this is definitely the Number One Cleric. However, his cast speed isn't outstanding, so if we consider cast time, cooldowns, etc, then it's really hard to say how his heal per second is."

"What is Happy trying to do, making a Cleric like this?" Pan Lin said in shock. By then, the two Clerics had left the stage, switched out for the sixth players of each team.

Chapter 1304: Challenger

Translator: Nomyummi  Editor: Nomyummi

No one was paying attention to the sixth player right now. Everyone was discussing Little Cold Hand's huge transformation.

A full set of Silver equipment. Even though they could not see the stats, to the players, the dazzling silver lettering could only be described as tyrannical. 1810 Intelligence. It was immediately obvious that this was the highest Intelligence any Cleric had in Glory. The entire Xiaoshan Stadium was buzzing with whispers.

Was Happy's weak point, their healer An Wenyi, about to make a counterattack?

The problem was that the main criticism towards An Wenyi had been his skill. Everyone felt like if Happy could find a better healer, the team would instantly improve. However, Happy did not replace their healer and instead sharply upgraded his character. This method of fixing their weak point didn't seem logical?

The crowd didn't care about all that though. As soon as they saw their own team's character suddenly burst onto the stage with flashing Silver equipment, they instantly erupted with excitement. On the broadcast, Pan Lin and Li Yibo started to discuss this issue.

Why was Happy willing to spend so much on strengthening their healer character instead of spending the money on a better healer player?

Was there something special about An Wenyi that made Happy willing to pile so many of their resources onto him?

Pan Lin and Li Yibo looked at their information on Happy, but they just couldn't figure it out. The battle officially started, and the two characters loaded onto opposite corners of the map.

The map was Labor Mining Site, located at a mining site at the foot of a mountain. The structure of the terrain was complex, and there was no part of the map spacious enough to fit all ten players fighting at the same time. It was a map which required each team to move into a formation before advancing ahead into the terrain.

Happy moved swiftly as soon as the battle began and pressed forward, taking the middle route. Samsara pushed forward as well, but as they moved, their chat blossomed with liveliness.

"Did you guys see Happy's Cleric?" Jiang Botao and Lu Boyuan typed out simultaneously.

"I saw," Fang Minghua replied.

"What are your thoughts?" Jiang Botao asked. When discussing a healer, Fang Minghua would obviously be the one with greater authority.

"High intelligence, high crit, his heals will be stronger. Happy is making up for An Wenyi's weakness to a certain extent," Fang Minghua said. Samsara had analyzed Happy's weaknesses long ago. There was no need to re-emphasize this point.

"But aren't his stats a bit imbalanced?" Jiang Botao said.

"It's a bit on the extreme side. His cast speed is too mediocre. He'll require more protection when he's healing," Fang Minghua said.

"So you're saying that his teammates will have to take up a greater burden?" Jiang Botao pointed out the important part.

"Yes," Fang Minghua affirmed.

"It's indeed not bad a adjustment!" Jiang Botao said.

"How are we playing this?" Sun Xiang asked. The huge change that Happy had made happened to be the main focus point of their prepared plans.

"I suggest no change," Fang Minghua said.

"Mm, just treat it as a normal match and put pressure on the healer!" Jiang Botao said.

Happy's healer was their weak point, which became the focus of every team's strategy. But even without the healer being the weak point, targeting the healer was a very common strategy in the team competition. Samsara adjusted by treating this match as an ordinary one. They clearly had their misgivings towards suddenly upgrading An Wenyi's equipment.

Along with Pan Lin, Li Yibo, and many others thinking the same question, Samsara didn't think strengthening the character was a good solution.

This method may have resolved the old issue, but it brought up a new one too: the rest of the team had to share the extra burden. That meant everyone else needed to focus more of their attention towards protecting him. The hazard might have been reduced, but it had also become more spread out. What would happen if someone became distracted for a moment and failed to complete their task of protecting him?

Therefore, focus the healer!

Team Samsara's final decision for the core of their strategy had not changed. As for the specifics, those would change depending on the circumstances. They had to at least just how much the upgraded healer character impacted Happy.　　

The two teams soon came across each other. They did not immediately fight. On this complicated map, the instant the two teams found one another, the two teams scattered to quickly occupy advantageous positions.

The long-ranged classes searched for attacking spots, where they could better display their firepower. The close-ranged classes searched for routes, where they could better hide themselves while moving forward.

As the main team, Happy had a smoother time on this point. They had been prepared and practiced long beforehand. Everyone quickly found a good spot for themselves. Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain climbed to a rock jutting out of the mountainside and made the first attack in the team competition.

Bang!

A Stinger arced in a curve as it flew through the air. It quickly dropped down, and with a bang, it exploded like fireworks. Countless missiles burst out.

Boom boom boom...

The stingers crashed to the ground and turned the area into a sea of fire. Sun Xiang and Lu Boyuan were depressed. These two close-ranged players had picked this ditch to close in on Happy, but as soon as the fight started, Su Mucheng sent a missile at them.

One went left, and the other went right as they scurried out of the ditch. The two could only stare at Dancing Rain, who was on top of that rock with her hair fluttering in the wind. There was nothing they could do. They didn't have the range.

Zhou Zekai looked to have moved sluggishly, but he had been waiting for Happy to fall into position to make the first move. After Dancing Rain attacked and exposed herself, Cloud Piercer, Samsara's longest-ranged character, immediately moved towards her. Only he had the range to keep Dancing Rain's support under control.

But before Cloud Piercer could move into position, a gunshot landed beside him. Zhou Zekai could tell from the sound that it wasn't from Dancing Rain. The only other person who could fire a gun was Ye Xiu's Lord Grim.

Lord Grim had climbed over a ruined wall. The distance between him and Cloud Piercer was only five steps. Lord Grim could even combo his movement skills. What was five steps to him?

Zhou Zekai also realized the crisis. Cloud Piercer hastily retreated.　　

Lord Grim used his movement skills and rapidly rushed at him.

Ye Xiu, Zhou Zekai.

The number one players of the old and new generation. A face to face confrontation had come.

Who was better? Everyone was curious about this question.

Zhou Zekai had debuted in Season 5. It was from that season onwards that Excellent Era never entered the finals again. But at that time, Ye Xiu shined as brilliant as ever. The crown of number one player in Glory belonged to him. Who would have thought that Samsara, a mid-tier team, would find this quiet person who would one day became the Great Gunner and become the number one Glory player of the new generation.

When the Zhou Zekai of that era fought against Ye Xiu, no one would have regarded it as a battle between number ones, but rather a pretty good rookie versus a God.

But soon, everyone started to realize that this Zhou Zekai wasn't as simple as "pretty good". After Samsara took in this player, their fate instantly turned around. That season, Samsara made it to the playoffs, a breakthrough for them. However, because of the quiet personality of Zhou Zekai, he didn't synergize well with the rest of the team. In the end, the team was only able to make it to playoffs but nothing more.

Samsara had a headache over this problem, but soon afterwards, they uncovered a new rookie in Season 6. At that time, Jiang Botao had been a part of Team Parade. After a careful observation, Samsara quickly confirmed that Jiang Botao was exactly what their team needed, a person to stand by Zhou Zekai. That winter season, Team Samsara impatiently purchased this rookie. After half a year of practice, Jiang Botao was able to become the link between Zhou Zekai and rest of the team just like they had wanted. And in Season 7, Jiang Botao took up the position of vice-captain. At this point, the young players of Samsara had matured. The Season 7 Samsara had finally broken past the first round of the playoffs. Zhou Zekai's popularity was incomparable that season. In comparison, Excellent Era had started to go on the decline. The title of number one started to falter. Wang Jiexi? Huang Shaotian? Zhou Zekai? These names started being mentioned. Among them, Zhou Zekai was the youngest and his performance on stage was the most dominating. Everyone thought highly of his future. The only thing he was missing was a championship victory.

Finally, in Season 8, Ye Xiu retired midway. The former number one said goodbye to the stage, and someone needed to take up his banner. That season, Zhou Zekai and Team Samsara seized the championship cup. It seemed to be a declaration that he was the successor to the title. And in Season 9, Samsara won the championships for a second time. From then on, his title as number one was unshakeable. But then, in Season 10, the former number one, Ye Xiu, returned...

Who was the real number one?

The media definitely wasn't going to miss such a fiery topic. But Ye Xiu was already at such an old age. Excellent Era had started declining years ago, and now, he was leading a grassroots team. Wouldn't debating whether Zhou Zekai and Ye Xiu was the current number one be seen as a joke?

Ten years of glory, the former number one player, had now unexpectedly become a challenger. And some even thought that he wasn't qualified.

But Ye Xiu's performance and Happy's performance showed otherwise.

Ye Xiu was undefeated in the individual competition. After Happy started coming together in Round 9, their record had crushed Samsara's ever since. Ye Xiu had earned the qualifications to take back his title as number one.

As a result, the media started working hard to utilize this as a topic. In Round 1, everyone had been questioning Ye Xiu's qualifications!

Unfortunately, neither Ye Xiu nor Zhou Zekai came across each other in the individual rounds. Finally, not long after the team competition began, the two had already started fighting.

Lord Grim rushed forward, while Cloud Piercer retreated backwards. Everyone seemed to have stopped breathing. Thenn, a formless qi suddenly struck Cloud Piercer from behind.　

FUCK!!!　

Countless curses exploded.　

We want to see a fight for number one, could a dirty bastard like you not fucking interrupt it???

Chapter end