Fang Rui had barely exited the player booth when Tang Rou stood from her seat at Happy's bench .
They had finally gotten to the playoffs stage, but Tang Rou didn't get a chance to fight at all in the first round . She was, naturally, extremely disappointed .
She hadn't been a member of the team competition last round, but she was the anchor for the group arena . But Happy ended the group arena with their fourth player last round . Tang Rou had been eagerly anticipating a fight that night, yet had been no more than a spectator .
Logically speaking, it would be better for Happy if Tang Rou, as the anchor, didn't get a chance to fight . That was something Happy would be happy about .
Tang Rou naturally wasn't hoping that Happy did badly, she just wanted to fight .
This round, Tang Rou was positioned fourth and finally got her chance . Without waiting for Fang Rui to come down, she was already charging up onto the stage .
"Little Tang is pretty much the antonym of Blue Rain's Zheng Xuan!" Ye Xiu exclaimed .
Chen Guo paused for a moment in surprise before considering it again . That was… true .
Zheng Xuan's lack of motivation was infamous, always ready with a "how stressful" on his tongue . As for Tang Rou? Tang Rou had the most motivation for competition . She loved a challenge and being under pressure .
"You think they'll go up against each other?" Chen Guo was suddenly very interested in watching the two antonyms face off .
"Probably not?" Ye Xiu said .
"There's still another player on Blue Rain's side!" Chen Guo exclaimed .
"Huang Shaotian," Ye Xiu reminded her .
"Oh yeah!" Chen Guo slapped a hand on her forehead . She had forgotten; Blue Rain's Huang Shaotian hadn't fought yet, today! She was so used to Zheng Xuan having a set spot in the 1v1 matches, but today Blue Rain decided to try something new and gave Yu Wenzhou a spot in the group arena, and thus Zheng Xuan managed to get out of playing today . As for Blue Rain's anchor, that was definitely Huang Shaotian . He was the core and ace, after all!
Happy's two, one heading onstage, the other coming offstage, met halfway .
"You're eager, aren't you?" Fang Rui grinned .
Tang Rou just smiled, not saying anything .
"That brat's a straightforward sort of guy, just close in directly and overwhelm him!" Fang Rui said .
"Alright . " Tang Rou nodded .
"Good luck . " Fang Rui returned to Happy's player bench after giving his blessings .
Though it was Blue Rain who had won, it was Happy's player coming back, so the applause was restrained . The wildest applause came from the west stands . That was where the Happy fans congregated, offering thunderous applause for Happy when they came on and off stage, no matter if they won or lost . Though Blue Rain had won a round just now, the Blue Rain fans were pretty solemn due to the overall situation not being in their favour .
"Young people nowadays sure are something!" Fang Rui exclaimed, having returned to Happy's bench . When discussing Lu Hanwen, he obviously did have the right to act the veteran .
"Did you think you could defeat him easily?" Ye Xiu asked .
"Actually, I really did think so at first . I've fought the brat a few times in these past two years," Fang Rui admitted .
"He's improving really fast, isn't he?" Ye Xiu said .
"He has a limitless future ahead of him . " Fang Rui's expression was uncharacteristically serious .
Chen Guo was listening in on the side, and after a good while, she turned her head to look at Fang Rui . "So you mean to say your loss was reasonable?"
"Ah, boss, you really know how to start a conversation!" Fang Rui slapped his leg excitedly .
Chen Guo rolled her eyes . She had thought it was weird that these two were suddenly feeling generous and nice enough to complement their juniors . She should've expected that they were just shamelessly setting up a scenario to make this loss seem reasonable! Seems like Fang Rui was rather embarrassed at losing to this second year rookie .
"Haha . " Ye Xiu laughed, sitting to the side, but afterwards, he said seriously, "Boss, I think we should keep an eye on him . He'll become a powerful rival that Happy won't be able to shake off for ten years . "
"Like Han Wenqing!" Chen Guo blurted out . Rivals of ten years, Chen Guo, used to seeing things with One Autumn Leaf in mind, immediately thought of Han Wenqing and his Desert Dust .
"How?" Ye Xiu didn't agree . "I destroyed him ages ago . It's him who can't avoid me . "
"Hey, hold your horses! In season four, he destroyed you . " Wei Chen couldn't help but interrupt .
"Haha, everyone who walks by the river will get their shoes wet some time," Ye Xiu replied .
This analogy… how come it sounded no less arrogant? Chen Guo was speechless .
The reason why Happy's players had the energy to chat was because the match had yet to start . Although Tang Rou went up early, the break between each round was set . Tang Rou had already gotten up there, but now she still had to wait .
After about half a minute, the battle between the fourth position players on each side began .
Tang Rou, having accumulated her aggression for so long, had full health . Soft Mist charged right out . Lu Hanwen, with Flowing Clouds only at 23 percent health, resolutely choose to play tactically after the match began .
"Lu Hanwen is planning on being tactical!" From Pan Lin's tone, it was clear that this choice was rather surprising .
With what Lu Hanwen had shown so far in terms of personality and play style, he was definitely not a tactical player . Plus, as a second year rookie, could he really do tactics well?
"His opponent is Tang Rou, after all!" Li Yibo's words cut through everyone's doubt .
Although Lu Hanwen only had two years of experience, that was more than Tang Rou, who had only played one regular season and was in her first playoffs .
Lu Hanwen wasn't a tactical player, but Tang Rou… wasn't one either, no?
Hoping for a battle of wits like what Yu Wenzhou and Ye Xiu had from two brute force style players wasn't realistic . Lu Hanwen's tactics might not be very methodical or deep, but Tang Rou was the same . His not-so-good tactics might just be enough here . They were both at the same level, so who knew .
"Speaking of, this is Tang Rou's first playoffs battle!" Pan Lin brought up .
"You're right . She didn't get a chance to play last round," Li Yibo said .
"She doesn't seem nervous at all! She was so impatient, coming up," Pan Lin laughed .
"Nervous? Think about it . She's the player who said she would 1v3, then faced all those accusations, yet could still still play normally onstage . Think of what sort of mental fortitude she has," Li Yibo reminded the other .
"That's true . It seems like the usual problems that newbies would face won't be an issue here," Pan Lin said .
"Indeed . The problems Tang Rou faced never came from the environment . They were mostly self-focused, like her grasp of rhythm, her defensive ability, etc . which we discussed in the regular season," Li Yibo added .
"That's right, we did discuss some of her problems in the regular season, but with each battle until now, I can see a clear improvement," Pan Lin commented .
"Now it's time to test these improvements," Li Yibo said .
These two talked with a hint of pride, like it was they who had guided Tang Rou to where she stood now .
"Tang Rou has gone directly for the middle while Lu Hanwen's decided to head to his right, and thus circling to the map's west side . " Pan Lin focused on the match and began to commentate .
Tang Rou had charged quickly and Soft Mist soon arrived at the center of the map . She carefully looked around, but didn't see her opponent .
"Have you yet to arrive or are you circling around?" Tang Rou asked in the chat .
As expected of someone from Happy, who spent all her time with Ye Xiu and the others . Tang Rou asked this question so reasonably and straightforwardly, as if she hadn't considered this to be a crucial match of the playoffs . There was no reason for an opponent to give you a straight answer to that sort of question!
Lu Hanwen, that poor child, answered ever so honestly, "I'm circling around . "
"Which side?" Tang Rou asked .
The entire stadium was filled with whispering . Why did none of Happy's member care for these courtesies? They were all wondering .
"Guess . " Lu Hanwen sent an emote with its tongue out, finally not being so honest anymore .
"Alright then, I'll wait for you," Tang Rou replied and then Soft Mist just stopped there, turning her head back and forth and observing her surroundings .
Lu Hanwen was, naturally, very familiar with this map . Flowing Cloud soon circled around to the central route's west flank before starting to carefully approach, using the forestry as cover . Finally, when he peeked out from behind a tree, he found Soft Mist .
How should he strike?
Seeing Soft Mist who was turning her head back and forth, Lu Hanwen scratched his head . This really wasn't his forte!
After thinking for about five seconds, Lu Hanwen made a decision .
He'll ambush from behind!
He thought to himself . So, he carefully watched Soft Mist turn her head around, and when she was facing away from his direction, Flowing Cloud darted out!
" . . . " Pan Lin was rendered speechless for a moment . After being given a top tier dirty performance, Lu Hanwen's Flowing Cloud charging out like that just seemed so lacking . Pan Lin was too embarrassed to call it an ambush .
"Flowing Cloud circles around to the west side and strikes!" In the end, he summarized it with that .
Offstage, Fang Rui was rolling on the ground with laughter as he gestured wildly towards Blue Rain's other players . Over on Blue Rain's side, Yu Wenzhou also changed the topic immediately when it was brought up . He didn't want to talk about Lu Hanwen's attempt at being tactical because there was nothing to talk about .
Such a simple and direct ambush from behind… those who would be caught off guard by that would only be the newest of newbies .
Tang Rou wasn't that new anymore, and her mental fortitude was far greater than many veterans .
Lu Hanwen's very, very simple sneak attack didn't do anything a sneak attack was meant to .
Soft Mist immediately rolled to avoid it, and when she got up, she already had a counterattack at the ready .
Lu Hanwen's tactics ended there .
Clang clang clang!
Their weapons slammed against one another .
Everyone immediately felt much less awkward .
This was how the juniors should be fighting! Direct and intense . Leave those sneaky, crafty tactics to those old men!
Clang clang clang!
The clash of weapons, the collision of skills . The terrain was nonexistent and the map no longer had any effect . For two players like them, just them a small space and they could turn the world upside down with their battles .
This was a battle purely of mechanics and skill .
Chapter end
Report
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|