Ye Xiu was the first to walk onto Happy's stage. It wasn't just Pan Lin who was surprised. The audience and Team Hundred Blossoms' players were all surprised.
Normally, the core players would appear in the group arena to fight for those two points. It was rare for them to appear in the individual competition. Happy's arrangement meant that he was giving up on the group arena and preparing to focus on the three points in the individual competition.
There was no need to think about this now. The roster had been decided before the match. Team Hundred Blossoms' Zeng Xinran appeared on the away team's stage.
Who was Zeng Xinran?
No one knew before this match.
He was a rookie that Team Hundred Blossoms had just promoted from their training camp this season. When he submitted the roster to the Alliance for the new season, it could be considered the first time his name appeared in the pro scene. After that, Esports Home published a list of the twenty teams participating in the tenth season on September 1st. Any player that was officially registered would appear on the list. Some of the more important transfers would have a brief introduction, but Zeng Xinran only had a name listed. Just like that, he quietly appeared on Team Hundred Blossoms' roster. There was no press conference specifically for him, and no reporters wanted to interview him.
He wasn't a rookie that was loved by everyone, but his talent made the team willing to give him a chance. He became an official player, and all he had to do was wait for the opportunity to go on stage. Then, he would use his own performance to earn space in the pro scene.
In the opening match, Team Hundred Blossoms didn't send him on stage. Zeng Xinran sat on the bench, but he wasn't angry. Apart from a few so-called geniuses, this was practically every rookie's experience. Team Hundred Blossoms' members felt this even more. Because they had seen a player walk out of the training camp, officially sign a contract, sit on the bench, get a few chances, gradually become a core player, and then become a top God in the Alliance.
Tang Hao!
For a rookie that started from the bench, there was nothing more inspirational than Tang Hao's story.
And Zeng Xinran had inherited the Brawler character that Tang Hao had vacated after leaving Team Hundred Blossoms: Delillo. He had secretly decided that he would be like Tang Hao and make a name for himself from the bench. And now, in the second round of the Alliance, he had already gotten his chance. He was very familiar with Tang Hao's experience. He knew that he had gotten the opportunity earlier than Tang Hao. That made him very excited.
He was so excited and excited that he did not sleep well the entire night. Now that he was finally standing on the stage, his opponent was Ye Xiu.
Everyone knew about Ye Xiu's achievements in the past, but for a newcomer, this did not make them feel too pressured. Because that glorious era was too long ago, only players who had played Glory for more than ten years had the opportunity to witness it with their own eyes. Zeng Xinran didn't have that kind of experience. By the time he came into contact with Glory and entered Hundred Blossoms' training camp, Ye Xiu had already been labeled as a has-been. After that, Ye Xiu retired and then came back. Excellent Era disbanded and everything was in chaos. Zeng Xinran envied the excitement that a top God could create, but as for Ye Xiu's skill, he had only begun to understand it when the team prepared for Happy. Like everyone else, their understanding of the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella's unspecialized could only remain in theory. They had no way of learning from practice.
Team Hundred Blossoms was troubled by this, but Zeng Xinran was quite relieved because he didn't think that he would have a chance to meet Ye Xiu. He was only going to play in the individual competition. The team competition had nothing to do with him. He didn't think that he would meet Happy's core God in the individual competition.
But in the end, what he didn't think would happen happened. He was a newcomer, and in his first professional match, he just so happened to meet Glory's most experienced God.
The thunderous applause for Ye Xiu made half of Zeng Xinran's body go numb. He realized that a professional match was not as simple as he had imagined. Why did he feel so suffocated in such a large stadium? Happy was a new team that had just entered the Alliance. How could there be so much support from the audience? It was so noisy...
Zeng Xinran entered the player booth. This was a space completely isolated from the outside world, but his mind was still a mess. That feeling of suffocation from the noise stayed in his mind, unable to be erased.
A minute had passed. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim had already logged in and entered the battle room, but there was still no movement from Zeng Xinran's side.
What was going on? There was an uproar in the stadium. The referee immediately moved, going to Zeng Xinran's side to confirm the situation. Then, he saw a player with a stiff body and an extremely tense expression.
It was pressure.
The referee was also very experienced. This wasn't the first time he had seen this type of expression. With one look, he could tell that this player was too nervous.
"Are you ready?" the referee sighed. The referee sighed. He knew that this player was definitely not ready, but the rules of the competition would not allow him to continue to prepare for so long. He could only confirm this. If he was ready, then he would immediately start the match. If he wasn't ready, then he would forfeit.
Zeng Xinran of course knew the rules, so he immediately nodded. Then, under the referee's signal, he swiped his card, logged in, entered the battle room, and prepared for the match...
The countdown quickly ended. Lord Grim and Delillo entered the battle map.
Delillo, the character that Tang Hao used in the past, had been carefully polished by Hundred Blossoms when Tang Hao was there. But after Tang Hao left, Hundred Blossoms picked up their old Berserker and Ammo duo, and Delillo was no longer an important account. After the Level 75 update, Delillo obviously wouldn't be given priority in obtaining resources. Now, it was in the hands of a rookie. Most of the character's equipment was still the same as when Tang Hao used it in the past. Any improvements were made through Level 75 Orange equipment, not Silver equipment.
In comparison, Happy's weakness wasn't that obvious in front of Delillo. Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was Level 70. Even though he didn't have any Silver equipment, he had a full set of Level 75 Orange equipment, which was comparable to Level 70 Silver equipment. As for the details, that was something that only the powerhouses had the right to pay attention to.
As soon as he entered the battle, Ye Xiu had Lord Grim charge forward. As for Zeng Xinran? He was still in a half-frozen state. He was still sorting out his emotions and hadn't moved for a long time.
The audience didn't know Zeng Xinran's current situation. At first glance, the old general was rushing forward, while the rookie was calmly standing in place. Were these two playing in reverse?
The audience didn't know Zeng Xinran's situation, and neither did Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu had no way of understanding a rookie in his first battle. He could only observe through the match.
But when Lord Grim charged to the center, he didn't see his opponent.
Tactical movement?
This was the intuition of a pro player. Ye Xiu immediately paid attention to the terrain around the center circle. This was Happy's home game, and the map was chosen by Happy. Ye Xiu wouldn't go wrong on this map even if he closed his eyes. He immediately paid attention to a few possible points for a sneak attack, but he didn't see any movement from his opponent.
Playing dirty?
Ye Xiu's intuition came from his experience. A Brawler could play dirty. As a result, Ye Xiu remained vigilant. He looked around and ordered Lord Grim to move forward. He purposely showed openings several times, but no one paid attention to them.
Hundred Blossoms' Zeng Xinran was still at the spawn point, adjusting his state. The audience was watching from an omniscient view, so they couldn't make sense of it. Those who had watched Happy's Challenger League matches all looked at Wei Chen, who was at Happy's bench. This motionless dirtiness was very similar to this old player! Happy had once used this method to attack others. Was today his retribution?
If this was a Challenger League match, the audience would be excited, but this was different! This was the official Pro League. This was Happy's home game. Even though their popularity couldn't compare to Excellent Era's, it was definitely enough to make small and mid-tier teams envious! The more spectators there were, the more ticket sales would be. This could be considered as the main source of income for the teams.
As a result, Happy's fans were a bit worried. They were afraid that this unknown rookie from Hundred Blossoms would have some strange trick up his sleeve.
The atmosphere immediately became heavy. Everyone watched as Lord Grim gradually approached Delillo. Delillo, on the other hand, was as calm as ever.
Finally, the two characters appeared in each other's field of view! Ye Xiu saw Delillo. Zeng Xinran also saw Lord Grim.
And then, Delillo charged forward!
He charged in a straight line, without taking any detours. There was no sense of tactical immersion. He just charged forward, as if he wanted to settle this once and for all.
There's definitely a scheme!
Everyone in the audience was thinking. If it really was going to be like this, then what was he doing earlier? Was he just standing there and waiting for Lord Grim to come? In reality, there was no such thing as waiting for Lord Grim to come. Many players, when they entered a match and didn't meet an opponent, would make some meaningless moves. Often, it was just to warm up and focus. For Zeng Xinran to wait without moving, there had to be some sort of scheme. For example, Happy's Wei Chen...
The audience didn't have time to think any further because a collision had already occurred. Hundred Blossoms' Zeng Xinran, the schemer in everyone's eyes, was sent flying in the first round.
The audience was stunned. Ye Xiu was also a bit surprised. He had been extremely careful. Behind a Falling Flower Palm, there were several variations and follow-up moves. But in the end, he was sent flying with a single palm strike?
A follow-up move...
Lord Grim swung his spear and actually missed. This was a rare mistake for an experienced player like Ye Xiu. It was too unexpected that the palm had hit.
Then, Delillo, who had been blown away, seemed to twitch as he landed on the ground. Then, he laid down on the ground.
What the hell?
Ye Xiu was dumbstruck. He even made a mistake with a Quick Recover. Was this... a pro player?
Ye Xiu was even a bit dazed. Wasn't this a pro match? He wasn't in the in-game Arena or in the Challenger League, right?
A scheme? Ye Xiu didn't go forward. Lord Grim used his long-ranged attacks. After a series of fierce attacks, he felt more at ease.
A scheme was impossible. If it was a scheme, then the acting was too much. The player in front of him was just in a terrible state for some reason. Lord Grim rushed forward. Without any hesitation, he finished off his opponent in a few moves. Victory.
The audience was so dumbstruck that they forgot to applaud and cheer for the home team. What was going on? Wasn't this victory a bit too easy? Was Hundred Blossoms going easy on him?
= = =
A new chapter is here. Keep writing, there's still one more chapter! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
