Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the Shanghai Galaxy Network Club, a guy wearing cotton slippers smoking a cigarette was sitting on a large computer sofa chair, turning off the voice chat in a huff.
âWhat the hell!â The spiky-haired guy cursed.
âLu Lian, whatâs wrong?â A young man wearing headphones who was sitting beside him asked.
âNothing, just that I came across a team called Skycrown that wanted to have combat practice with us. After searching a bit, f*ck, theyâre just a newly formed team with nothing to their name, isnât that just f*cking wasting our time?â
âDonât bother about them, whatever their names are, Skycrown, XX, OO or whatever shit, there are many teams like them out there. Theyâre not worth concerning yourself over.â The youth said.
âTrue. Are the members from Team Shadow Wind here already?â
âSoon, weâll play our best. Team Shadow Wind is good, and they will have no problems getting into the finals.â
***
There was an uncomfortable silence in the club room after that incident. Since Xiao Jia had placed the call on loudspeaker, majority of the people in the room had heard the conversation.
Trash team?
The words uttered by that guy were heavy and harsh, and it pierced their hearts. The members of Team Skycrown were unsure of what to say for a while. Just when you thought that society nowadays was harmonious and courteous, who knew there were still so many assholes out there!
âThatâ¦Iâm sorry you guys, I didnât expect that Lu Lian was this type of person. This was my fault, Iâll find some other team to have combat practice with you.â Xiao Jia said, his voice full of guilt as he looked at the ashen faces of Team Skycrownâs members.
âItâs not your fault,â Luocheng said, shaking his head.
âYeah, what he said was true anyway. Right now, we are worthless and a trash team.â Zhou Yan said quietly.
âNonsense, you guys are really great! Without you guys, our SHU team wouldnât even dream of stepping into the top four teams. Team Galaxy is the trash team, being so high and mighty just because they are the champions for the National Internet Club League!â Li Meiqi exclaimed.
âYeah, theyâre the trash team. We donât need to play against them.â The members of the E-sports Club were all protective of Team Skycrown as they knew how strong they really were after all.
âWeâll try to find some other team then, otherwise weâll just have to play rank games.â Luocheng said.
âLuochengâ¦â Xiao Bei had never expected to be met with such pure discrimination, and he felt a little uncomfortable. The words said by the other party just now was really hurtful.
Luocheng smiled and patted Xiao Bei on the shoulder.
âRest assured, after this competition, a lot of people will be scrambling for a combat practice with us. Second-tier and even first-tier teams will come looking for us, and your title of the strongest ADC will also be known to everyone!â
âYeah!â
Xiao Bei had always believed in Luochengâs words, so he nodded his head in agreement.
âItâll be soon, this month weâll still be some trash team to other people. After this month, weâll be the strongest team!â Da Luo said determinedly.
âYou donât even have to say it, it will happen!â Wu Sen said, laughing.
âIâm familiar with Aijing, do you want me to give her a call to see if Team 71âs second team can spare time for a match with us today?â Lin Dong asked.
Team 71âs second team had gone missing in action for a while after the incident previously, and was now resurfacing after everything had calmed down. The members of the second team had all been replaced, and their strength was stronger than before. It would seem that they were currently the best team that Team Skycrown could ask for in a combat practice at the moment.
âI contacted Feilong and he said they can have a match with us tomorrow.â Xiao Jia said, walking back to them after his phone call.
âWith Zhejiang Universityâs first team?â Jian Feng asked.
âNo, Feilong will bring Team Revelationâs second team, which is the official team heâs in.â Xiao Jia replied.
Everyone knew the strength of Ceng Feilong, it was seen in the fact that he alone could carry the powerful Zhejiang University team by himself.
And Feilong was not the captain of Team Revelationâs second team, he was just one of the members. From this, you could ascertain that the team was definitely a second-tier or above, and being able to have a combat practice with them would help a lot for Team Skycrown!
As soon as Xiao Jiaâs call was ended, Lin Dong smirked as he looked at Luocheng.
âBoss, it seems that female analystâZheng Aijing is interested in you.â
âWhoâs that?â Luocheng asked, his voice tinged with suspicion.
âShit, you actually forgot her? When you were ghost-playing in the internet league semi-finals, she was the one standing behind you watching. Sheâs the tactical analyst of Team 71, and only the few teams in the top four would have official analysts in their team. For others, having a coach is already considered good.â Lin Dong said.
âHaha, at least we have a coach then, and itâs even a world-class champion coach!â Wu Sen laughed.
âAlso, Aijing was hesitant at first and said she would try. Once I said that our Team Skycrown coach was you, she immediately agreed. Really, our boss is just too irresistible.â Lin Dong said further.
âAh geez, just hurry up and train. If you lose the elimination matches, you can just forget about it all, get yourselves drunk and get lost.â Luocheng said instead.
Since they had managed to arrange a combat practice with Team 71, naturally they would be going all out.
***
After all the members were present, Aijing was quick to connect the call with Lin Dong.
âUse the tournament server, there wonât be any lag issues that way,â Aijing said.
âUhâ¦we donât have the client for it.â Yang Ying said apologetically.
âTournament servers are essential to professional players for practice and competitions. Youâd better think of a way to apply for one.â
Lin Dong nodded his head. âWeâll find a way.â
The tournament server had all the champions unlocked, as well as high amounts of IP and RP. If you played competitions on the normal domestic server, you could probably do it. The real professional matches however, were played on tournament servers. This was so there would be no issues with account names or graphic problemsâ¦
Team Skycrown really didnât have anything right now, and it was just a pitiful sight. Fortunately, Aijing was reasonable, and allowed them to log in directly to a custom game room that they had created.
***
71 Club was located in Shanghai Pudong New District. It was a very large factory building renovated into a residential base for them. In the training room, all of the members were sitting in their computer chairs, and you could hear the clicks of the keyboard as they keyed in their account username and password to log in.
âAijing, who are we playing against? They canât even get tournament servers. Playing in the Ionia server would definitely lag, and there isnât any OB option.â The captain of Team 71âs second teamâHai Ming said.
âYeah, are they any good?â Another memberâHuang Jiulong asked.
âIâm not sure either, theyâre just newly formed,â Aijing replied.
âWhat the hell, youâre kidding right, Aijing? Getting a team thatâs newly formed to play against us, itâs better if they just go and play ranked games to train.â
âIndividually, their members are strong. Play properly, if you lose, then that means an additional two hours of practice tonight.â Aijing said.
âHow is it possible for us to lose. If we win, youâll spend two hours chatting with us then?â Hai Ming said jokingly as he laughed.
âIs that so, wait until you can reach the first teamâs base within twenty minutes, then weâll talk.â Aijing responded with a smile that didnât reach her eyes.
âAlrightâ¦â The members of the second team didnât have any more to say to that.
Those crazy first team members rarely practiced with them because the gap between their strengths were just too big. Of course, even though they couldnât beat the first team, they could still beat up this team who had no name.
âTeam Skycrown? Who has heard of them?â
âNope.â
âNeverâ¦â
âIâve heard of Lenovo, which is the team sponsored by themâ¦â
âThen Skycrown would probably be a joint venture between Skydance Media and Crown Regency Hotels? Haha!â
âHahahaâ¦â The members of the team laughed.
Aijing didnât laugh, but just stared at the members coolly. âJust play properly, Iâm going over to the first team to see their match against the Korean team.â
âSpeaking of which, weâre playing two matches against them, right?â
âYes.â
âSo if we beat them within an hour for those two games, we are free to play anything else during the next hour?â Jiulong asked, smiling.
âAlright.â
âAw yeah, thatâs great.â
âAlright, letâs beat them in twenty minutes!â
âRemember to record the match,â Aijing instructed as she left.
***n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Aijing left the second teamâs training room, heading toward the first teamâs training room.
Team 71 was playing against the Koreanâs top team this afternoon, both sides would be reserved and trying to test the waters against each other.
It wasnât that she didnât want to see Team Skycrownâs strength, but understanding the strength and tactics of the Korean team was more important at the moment. There were limited opportunities to play against Korean players, and she needed to analyse their plays and tactics with the limited games they had.
Stepping into the room, the five members of Team 71 were sitting rigidly in their seats. Looks like they were treating this combat practice seriously like an actual competition match.
The temperament of Team 71âs first and second team were completely different, they were serious and rigorous. No matter what type of opponent they were up against, they would never underestimate them nor laugh about them like the second team was doing. This was the attitude a top team needed after all.
âAijing, take a look at this. Their chosen lineup is a bit strange.â Team 71âs middle lanerâTang Xiang said.
Aijing walked over and glanced at the screen, her brows furrowing slightly.
âThey might be doing it on purpose, not wanting to expose their strength and tactics so early.â Aijing mused.
âWhat should we do then, should we also deal with them casually, hiding our real strength?â
âChoose a regular line up, donât use your core champions,â Aijing said.
âAlright.â
Even if the other party was intentionally hiding their real strength in this combat practice, Aijing still needed to analyze it carefully. She was hoping that she could get some information hidden beneath the layers in this match.
Sadly, it seemed like the other side also had a good analyst. In champion selection, coordination and tactics were all hidden, and Aijing couldnât see through any of it.
âThe Korean analysts have always been good, thatâs why they have always managed to claim first and second place.â Aijing muttered to herself.
The combat practice between the first team and the Korean team ended quickly, and even if they had won, it didnât mean anything in terms of strength.
Two games, one win each, and it was over in less than an hour.
Aijing shook her head in frustration, not getting what she wanted. She would have to go over the recordings and study it. As she walked back to the room, she suddenly remembered that the second team was playing against Team Skycrown, and she could vaguely hear angry shouts and other noises from their training room.
Aijing was surprised, and instead, headed toward the second teamâs training room.