Chapter 131
FOG [e-sports]
The entire tournament management team always paid special attention to World Championship newcomers.
For Freeâs three champion genius players, in the year that they first entered the World Championships not only did they win the overall honor as champion but they also broke some records and painted their own special colors on the World Championships with their own excellence.
For example, Whisper, when he entered the World Championships for the first time, he broke the record for the youngest player to become champion. He won three single-round MVPs during the finals that year. He was the youngest champion ever in the World Championships and he became the medic with the most MVP titles. He was hailed by the tournament management team as the player who performed the most magnificently and stunningly in their first World Championship appearance.
For another, Chen Huo, who also won the World Championship during his first year. The tournament management team officially hailed him as the most reckless player. He was always ready to stake everything. Even if he made mistakes, he would never cower in battle. The more chaotic the situation on the field, the better he performed.
For another, Puppy, who also won the World Championship during his first year. He was officially hailed as the most stable player of the year by the tournament management team. He was quite young at the time, but his play was exceptionally calm and mature, not at all impulsive or impatient.
Another example was Shi Luo this year.
Although the World Championship was just halfway through, Evil was recognized by the tournament management team as the most lunatic newcomer.
None of the data analysts in the management team paid any attention to Shi Luoâs grievances with Sacred Sword, nor did they have time to watch Shi Luoâs various post-match interviews. It was only from the data that they got the feeling that this newcomer was too greedy and tyrannical; his hungry predation of MVP titles in the group stage and the fact that he had the longest recorded personal training time before the quarterfinals (all the playersâ in-game time was included in the official statistics). They deeply felt the ambition and madness of this newcomer.
The officials only thought that Evil, being a young player from a prestigious e-sports team, was ambitious and proud, eager to prove himself in his first World Championships.
Only a few insiders within the Free Club knew that from the very beginning, Shi Luo hadnât actually been considering those things.
What Shi Shen wanted was not a beautiful victory for himself. What he wanted was to make his opponentâs loss as embarrassing as it could go.
And Shi Luoâs ability was indeed more than enough to see this ambition to fruition.
Shi Luo pushed and shoved his way through all the way to the quarterfinals. He played beautifully, his performance eye-catching and showy. His three champion teammates around him couldnât hide his brilliance, as if he was born for the competition.
The countdown for the second round for the quarterfinals best of five started.
Shi Luo stared at the countdown on the map and suddenly said on the teamâs voice chat, âYou guys think...theyâre panicking?â
The other three laughed out loud.
âBelieve me.â Chen Huo moved his fingers, âAnyone who encountered our crazy style of play would panic.â
âYu Sui and I might be lunatics but you two arenât...You two are mad dogs. Who wouldnât panic when they see a mad dog about to eat people?â Puppy slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm, â... Actually, by the end of the last game, theyâve already figured out a way to deal with it. The overall strength of their coaching staff is stronger than ours... After all, they were last seasonâs champion coaching staff. Theyâve definitely figured out a way to deal with it but no one knows just how effective it would be against us. Weâll need to counter their every move in this round. Yu Shen... Itâs up to you. You better not to make any mistakes commanding this round.â
Yu Sui lowered his eyes and looked at his palm turned red by the heat. He asked quietly, âAre you worried that I might make a mistake?â
Puppy thought about it seriously but he really couldnât remember when Yu Sui last made a mistake.
They were dazed for half a second and then laughed. The director hurriedly cut the camera over, Shi Luo muttered, âAre you feeling more panicked watching us laugh? Are you? Are you&#k2026;â
The countdown was over.
Free reproduced the opening of the previous game. At the end of the countdown, everyone rushed out at the same time. With the previous game as precedent, the director directly cut the camera to Freeâs four frontline players. From the perspective of the giant screen, all of Freeâs players were like hungry wolves.
When it came to this kind of mad dog tactic, even half a second was precious. As before, Yu Sui didnât waste time putting shields up for the two strikers. Shi Luo and Chen immediately began laying down purification dishes as soon as the game started. Sacred Sword learned their lesson from the previous game and were worried that Free would still do the exact same thing. They were on the defensive and wanted to immediately take down Shi Luo and Chen Huo. And so, they too rushed in with four of their players.
For the two strikers, Shi Luo and Chen Huo, putting down purification dishes without any shield meant they were sitting ducks. If Sacred Sword had been competing against any other teams, this situation would have been three against one â Sacred Swordâs two strikers and one sniper against the opponentâs lone sniper. Sacred Sword would have had a great chance of winning.
But Free was not just any ordinary team.
Whisper, Freeâs medic, can play both as a medic and as a striker.
All of Freeâs players could fight.
â2.5 seconds.â Shi Luo stared intently at countdown bar for laying down purification dishes, â1.5 seconds...â
In order to grab this advantage at the star of the game, Sacred Sword, in a race against time, also decided not to put on any shields. They got in close and fought hand to hand. Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Sui took out his long dagger and stood in front of his teamâs strikers, foiling the shot of Sacred Swordâs sniper. With a horizontal kick, he blocked Sacred Swordâs strikerâs strike and with a swing of his dagger, slashed at the other strikerâs face!
Puppy took aim and greatly wounded the striker Yu Sui had slashed. At the same time, Yu Sui was shot at and left with only a sliver of blood. While reloading, Puppy could not suppress the enemy. Puppy promptly sent out a warning, âIf you donât withdraw now, itâll be too late.â
Yu Sui said quickly, âSet down another one. Iâll give them my head.â
The strategic decision was made within the fraction of a second. Yu Sui fought three against one. With speedy footwork, he quickly evaded a shot. Before Sacred Swordâs sniper could reload, he hurried behind him and slashed. Sacred Swordâs medic instantly replenished the photon shield. Yu Sui couldnât tackle everything at once and he couldnât find a way to take the opponent down with him. So, he simply decided to move back to stand in front of the beaten-to-half-blood Chen Huo again and help him vie for time. One second and then one second moreâ
In the next second, Yu Sui was hit by both Sacred Swordâs sniper and striker at the same time. He was taken out to resurrect.
However, Shi Luo and Chen Huo have already successfully placed a total of one, two, three, four, five, six purification dishes in the center of the map; enough to make Sacred Sword despair upon seeing it. As the purification dishes whistled, a large portion of the Sacred Swordâs map gradually cleared up. It made it a whole lot easier for Shi Luo and Chen Huo to fight. The map was cleared and Sacred Swordâs frontline players had to retreat. Shi Luo and Chen Huo took advantage of the momentum and took down the other Sacred Sword striker.
The result of the opening battle was one for two. The advantage Free managed to secure was a bit smaller compared to the previous game, but Free still managed to occupy a large portion of the map.
âDonât wait for me. No shield. Continue on.â Yu Sui was still waiting for resurrection countdown to finish. âWhat are you standing around for? We donât need a medic.â
Chen Huo gritted his teeth, âFine, you bastard...â
The Holy Sword thought that the first head-on fight of the opening stage was over. Sacred Swordâs medic was treating his two teammates behind the bunker. Shi Luo and the residual blood Chen Huo rushed out of the bunker and charged at them again.
Puppy fired blind shots from behind the bunker to provide cover for the two strikers. Shi Luo was ahead during their charge. To make use of every possible second, he already began setting down purification dishes.
Although a huge advantage had been taken from Sacred Sword on this round, they were at least able to take out Yu Sui. They thought they could drag down Freeâs offensive rhythm by a little bit. They never even imagined that Shi Luo and Chen Huo would continue to charge at them without any protection. Sacred Swordâs only remaining striker hurriedly fired his gun from out the bunker to fight back. But he was a shot too too too slow and while he was being healed, Shi Luo had madly placed down two purification dishes!
âWhat kind of game is Free playing?â The commentator has never seen such a fast-paced game and he was flustered. âIf they were playing like madmen in the last game, then in this game, theyâre just looking to die. It looks like they donât care if their players take damage. Theyâll charge forward even if they die. Shi Luo and Chen Huo took another head. Chen Huoâs gone... Whisperâs resurrected and Evil continues to rush forward. This... heâs still charging ahead?!!!â
Why shouldnât he charge ahead?
At the moment Yu Sui resurrected, he healed himself up. After he rushed to the bunker where Shi Luo was temporarily taking shelter, he restored Shi Luo to full health. In between, he didnât even set a shield for Puppy who was at the back row. The moment Shi Luo was back to full blood, he and Shi Luo rushed out of the bunker at the same time. Only Sacred Swordâs medic was still standing in at the frontline of the poisonous boundary. Yu Sui only needed a few seconds to kill the medic. Shi Luo was free to clear the poisonous fog during this time. Figuring out the location of the opposing sniper, Shi Luo informed Puppy and Puppy fired two shots one after the other. Although he couldnât take the head of the opposing sniper, Sacred Swordâs sniper could not effectively interfere with Shi Luo and Yu Sui during this time.
Yu Sui disposed of the opposing medic and at the same time, Sacred Swordâs striker who died first rushed to the frontline. The striker knew that he couldnât take on Yu Sui and Shi Luo by himself, so he could only hide behind the bunker and wait for his teammates to resurrect.
Sacred Swordâs sniper who had kept firing before also suddenly stopped. It was like Sacred Sword had given up. The only two people left on the field gave up their map, letting Shi Luo clear it up as he pleased.
Puppy promptly reminded them, âIâve lost the position of their sniper. Iâm not sure where he is.â
Chen Huo, who was waiting to resurrect, frowned. âTheyâre waiting for all their players to resurrect. They want to compete with us four on four, fair and square.â
Shi Luo sneered, âWho the f*ck would play fair and square with them?!â
âAfter placing that one, donât clear up anymore. Weâre not greedy.â Yu Sui rushed to the bunker where the Sacred Swordâs striker was located, just like a machine that didnât know the pain nor fear death, he said, âWe will keep fighting as long as thereâs a single player on our side.â
Sacred Swordâs striker never expected that there would come a day when he would be confronted head on by a medic.
Sacred Swordâs other striker resurrected and hurried to the frontline. He had just enough time to take down Shi Luo, who had little blood left. After he was chopped to half-blood by Yu Sui, he managed to take away Shi Luoâs head. But before he could catch his breath-Chen Huo had already resurrected! ! !
The blood-soaked Yu Sui walked around and placed a shield on himself. Within the same breath, he also replenished his blood. Without giving himself any time, he and Chen Huo rushed out again while he filled Chen Huoâs health.
Sacred Sword had only one striker without shield and one striker with only a sliver of health, also without a shield.
The result of this two-on-two confrontation was quite obvious.
The commentators couldnât keep up with Freeâs play and has begun to babble utter nonsense. There was no need for the commentators to explain it in detail. From the birdâs eye view, the entire stadium could personally feel Sacred Swordâs profound helplessness.
They couldnât fight and win. They also couldnât stop their advance.
Free didnât even give them any room to breathe.
Even if all of Sacred Swordâs players were top-notch players, they just couldnât contend head-on against Free in in this kind of high-intensity rhythm. They didnât want Free to lead them by the nose so they could only look on helplessly as they marched in unchallenged, just like in the previous game when Free took the game in just 17 minutes.
Sacred Sword had their own countermeasures in this game. They wanted meet speed with speed and it was obvious that their firepower tended towards Chen Huo, who easily made mistakes in the heat of battle. However, it didnât have much of an effect. Yu Suiâs ability to meet an attacked was faster than theirs. If Free had two players serving as beasts of burden during the last round, then this time around, Free had three.
This time, Yu Sui added himself.
Free definitely had more casualties this game than in the previous one but the speed of their offensive didnât slow down one bit.
In Freeâs soundproof room, the noisy clacking of keys came from the three frontline playersâ keyboards as they charged forward like crazy.
âActually, they could take it easy for a bit. This game is relatively more difficult compared to the last one.â The commentator of the Chinese Division was anxious and just wants to win the game steadily. âOnce the number of players on the field is equal to or less than the opponentâs, shall we slow down? Our advantage is already big enough, we really donât have to continue to fight like this. If in case the opposing team wipes us out, itâll... itâll still be a bit dangerous.â
In Freeâs soundproof room, Yu Sui said quickly, âShi Luo, come here immediately after you resurrect. You wonât have a shield. Iâll probably already be out by that time. Come up immediately and hold the situation until I resurrect again. This time youâll be taking them one-to-two. Any problems?â
Shi Luoâs hands merely trembled slightly. He shook his head, âNo problem.â
Chen Huo bared his teeth. âSo confident?â
The resurrection countdown ended and Shi Luo charged out again, âIf I werenât that confident...If I werenât that confident could I have been that arrogant before the match?â
He had said that he wouldnât lose any matches before the World Championship finals. And so, he canât lose any matches.
For that game, Free beat Sacred Sword in 23 minutes and successfully won the match point.