Chapter 31.1: Close really spoils him enough

TPT base.

Eurostar leaned back in the e-sports chair and stared at the ‘Defeat’ on the screen.

When he used the storm hunter for solo matches, his win rate was over 95%.

This game… he’d lost in such a really shameful way.

A low and solemn male voice came from behind him, “At five minutes and thirty-six seconds, your Q skill didn’t match up to your auto attack, wasting a DPS opportunity; at eight minutes and twenty-three seconds, your raindrop mark failed and you couldn’t shift; at twelve minutes and forty-four seconds, you hesitated in close combat and the other party seized the opportunity…”

Eurostar looked up at his captain, “Alright, my tears are going to fall.”

His mouth spoke such words, but in fact, his eyes were very dry.

Fu Li picked up the bottle of eyedrops from the table and handed it to him. Eurostar really squeezed out two drops, and his eyes were full of tears.

Fu Li: “This is the person who caused you to switch lanes?”

Eurostar blinked, and his ‘tears’ dripped down, “Yes. Look, I’m so sad I’m crying.”

Fu Li was too lazy to deal with his act. He looked down at the data in his hands and said, “Have you soloed with him recently?”

Eurostar: “I never met him again after becoming a starter.”

Fu Li shared his conclusion, “Close really spoils him enough.”

Eurostar understood what he meant by this. He’d felt it during his match with Quiet. This kid had been very familiar with his playing methods, and had played very steadily, paying attention to some small details where he was prone to make mistakes. Wei Xiao had deliberately avoided his strengths, and directly targeted his shortcomings. This kind of feeling…

It was like meeting the great demon king in the individuals competition.

He had never soloed with the grandmaster again after he switched to the bottom lane, so the only way Wei Xiao could know him so well would be because Lu Feng had given him pointers.

After all, there was nobody in the Glory professional circles who didn’t know about the great demon king’s ability to ‘copy’.

Eurostar sighed, “A genius like this, how could he not spoil him.”

Fu Li was born with paralyzed facial expressions, and he never smiled.

His unsmiling face was different from Lu Feng’s. Lu Feng was cold all year ‘round, and paired with that face of his, the fans only dared to howl and cry in secret.

Fu Li was serious and rigid. He was a top student from South University who’d suspended his studies, and was the famous data emperor of the Glory circle.

His operations weren’t the most outstanding, and his technical ability wasn’t the strongest, but his tactics were definitely strong enough to go up against the heavens.

TPT’s coach, Old Wang, was more like a manager. It was Captain Fu Li who really shouldered most of a coach’s work.

This contestant in the starter team could do better analysis than most of China’s coaches.

Fu Li: “Tell me what you know about Quiet.”

Eurostar understood his captain’s temperament and recounted everything he knew in detail.

One Lamp Grandmaster had become a ‘legend’ in the Glory circle over the past two years, but this legend was only limited to the second teams in each club and the new generation of contestants. The older players didn’t know much about it.

For one, Bai Cai would only target players from the second teams or little-known smaller clubs. He wouldn’t contact players from teams that were ‘pillar’, or backbone teams. Of course, even if he did contact them, they might not agree to come.

Secondly, the players who’d been abused by the grandmaster were young and full of energy. At that age, their hearts and dignity were more important than anything else. They wouldn’t cry to their elders about how they’d been abused by an ‘outsider’ until they wanted to go into seclusion even if they died. Oh, and they’d also spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy this kind of abuse. How could teenagers of 18 and 19 ever say it out loud!

So, not only did Fu Li and Money not know any details about the grandmaster; if Lu Feng hadn’t poked through Bai Cai and Wei Xiao’s ‘business’, then he also wouldn’t know about Grandmaster’s existence, let alone know that Wei Xiao was still thinking about the professional arena.

After listening to Eurostar’s narration, Fu Li frowned, “He’s the best with thieves?”

Eurostar: “To be exact, it’s the jungler position.”

Fu Li held a slender pen in his hand and scribbled lightly on the paper.

Eurostar knew that this signified that the captain was thinking, and he continued, “As far as I know, he really likes Close. He loses his head every time he watches Close’s matches, so he’s very good at all the heroes that Close is good at.”

The tip of Fu Li’s pen stopped. He laughed lightly, and his eyes flashed, “It’s great. Lu Feng finally let go.”

Eurostar: “Hm?”

Fu Li stood up, “Be prepared. FTW’s jungler is going to change.”

His words were light and casual, but they were enough to shock Eurostar, “What?!”

There were many people like Eurostar who knew of One Lamp Grandmaster, but none of them thought that FTW’s jungler would change after learning that the grandmaster had joined FTW.

It was true that the grandmaster was very strong in the jungler position, but how could he be stronger than Close?

Amongst the new generation of the China competition zone, Close’s jungler was tantamount to a belief.

Even if FTW closed down for good, they would still never give the jungler position to anyone else.

This was something that countless fans, players included, all believed.

But now…

Eurostar, who believed in his captain’s conjecture, bounced up and exclaimed, “F*ck! Close is going to switch to top-lane? Damn it, who can hold him down?!”

He’d originally thought that TPT was ready to take FTW’s place in the global competition this year and obtain the championship, but unexpectedly, FTW was even more fierce!

They’d cut the great demon king loose. Wasn’t this just cutting off all possible roads for everyone else?!

The fourth match was with 3U’s Asleep.

Wei Xiao had a very deep impression of Asleep. One year ago, they’d soloed for several hundred matches. By the end, the win rate for the two had reached 50-50.

Asleep only played assassin heroes, and he was most skilled at the berserker thief.

The berserker thief and the shadow thief were very different. The former was very aggressive. It could lead the rhythm of the game, and once its momentum picked up, it could suppress the other side until they couldn’t breathe.

In fact, four years ago, the shadow thief was the favorite hero of countless jungler players, and they loved it to death.

Later on, Close appeared. He used the shadow thief and took the world crown in one grand sweep, and the shadow thief began to decline.

It wasn’t that nobody loved it, but rather that they loved it too much. The game planners felt that the hero was too strong and impacted the balance of the game, so they’d sliced it down with a few cuts.

With these first, second, and three cuts, as of now, other than Close who could still use it to pull off amazing plays, the shadow thief had become a hero that even ordinary professional players were wary of using.

It was the berserker thief who’d taken over as the most beloved jungler hero after the shadow thief.

The berserker thief’s weapon was a slender death scythe, and it had a very long blade. It was like a declaration of death for anyone it hooked around.

The passive ability that made this talent spec match with its name was that once the berserker thief killed a player, they would enter a state of rage. Their stats would double, and they would kill people like cutting down melons and vegetables; this feeling was so great they could fly up to the heavens!

Asleep was a player who was zzz-ing if he wasn’t eating or playing games, but he was born looking pale and gentle, and his sleepy eyes and hazy appearance gave off a kind of lazy handsomeness. A screenshot of him yawning on the competition court could make his fans love him, then love him more.

He was like a reincarnation of a koala in his daily life, but on the court, he was reckless and crazy.

It was especially the case when he used the berserker thief. His roiling murderous aura was enough to burn up the entire canyon!

The 3U team had been famous for its gentle and delicate style before they signed him. After he joined the team, their style changed a lot. There was no more gentle and delicate style, and it was all rage and wanton recklessness!

“Hey, Asleep.” Wei Xiao sat up straight.

Out of his many clients, the one who’d given him the strongest impulse to solo was Asleep.

He also played the jungler position, was similarly proficient with thieves, and had also entered the circle after watching Close’s competition, and also wanted to beat Close.

When they entered the hero selection interface, the live broadcast had already filled with the scent and smoke of war.

“Aaaaah God Sleep!”

“My Sleep God is invincible when he wakes up!”

“Fellow brothers, let’s raise the bet. My life savings are all here, and I bet that Asleep will win!”

“Sisters, let’s draw our knives, Sleep-sleep is mine alone!”

The scrolling comments were bustling. As a rising star in the China competition zone, Asleep’s level of popularity was terrifying.

Wei Xiao asked, “Berserker thief?”

Asleep: “Shadow.”

Wei Xiao’s lips curved, “You sure?”

Asleep: “Start.”

Wei Xiao shifted his fingers, and started the match.

The berserker thief was Asleep’s favorite hero, but the shadow thief was Wei Xiao’s.

If Wei Xiao used the berserker thief to solo with Asleep, Wei Xiao had a 60% chance of losing. But if they used the shadow thief…

Sorry, but even looking at the entire Glory circle, other than Close, there was nobody who could even think of winning!

3U base.

Manager Zhou was very nervous, “Why doesn’t Asleep use the berserker thief?”

Moonlit and Eurostar had both lost. If Asleep can win this time, it would definitely be a great opportunity to pick up fans!

This newcomer to FTW was really powerful. The value he’d created with just one day of effort was enough to make all the capitalists red-eyed with envy. Manager Zhou was a business minded manager, and he couldn’t help but want to snatch up a share.

The vice-captain answered, “No point.”

Manager Zhou was silent for a moment, “It’ll make a difference if he wins!”

What did he mean, there was no point? If he could really win against this arrogant and domineering FTW newcomer, then wouldn’t Asleep be…

The vice-captain paused, then turned to give Manager Zhou a smile, “What if he loses with the berserker thief?”

Manager Zhou: “!”

The vice-captain smiled gently, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, “Asleep’s berserker thief is a signboard. Losing to a top-laner isn’t very appropriate.”

Manager Zhou was a little afraid of this person…

Compared with the obedient Asleep, the one he couldn’t understand the most was the vice-captain Cong Yi who’d grown up with Asleep, and had a tacit understanding with Asleep even when they played games.

Manager Zhou sighed, “Forget it, it’s not a big deal losing with the shadow thief. It’s still better than RR and TPT who lost with their own strongest heroes.”

Cong Yi didn’t say anything else. He simply stared at the screen, watching the two shadow thieves in the canyon.

In fact, Asleep’s favorite thief talent was the shadow thief.

Most of the Glory circle praised Asleep’s berserker thief, but Cong Yi knew that it was because the shadow thief belonged to Close that 3U had tied the berserker thief together with Asleep as a commercial gimmick, and stuck him with the label of loving the berserker thief the most.

This wasn’t a big deal. After all, Asleep liked all assassin type heroes.

Only, when he soloed with the grandmaster, he wanted to prove himself with the shadow thief.

After more than one year of training up his berserker thief, he had the confidence to win against the grandmaster.

However, the one that Asleep was unable to let go of and move past was actually the grandmaster’s shadow thief.

A shadow thief that was inferior to Close, yet arrogant enough not to be shrouded in Close’s shadow.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

This was the shadow thief that Asleep yearned for.