Chapter 40: Doubles Competition

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Everyone at the scene was boiling with excitement, “Yes, yes!”

“Quiet’s really fierce!”

“This is clearly him expressing that he doesn’t accept Marshal!”

Everyone had heard the conversation between Wei Xiao and Yuan Ze earlier.

Yuan Ze had said that his captain couldn’t play doubles, and Wei Xiao had said that there wasn’t anything his captain wasn’t good at.

At this moment, he was seizing the opportunity to prove it right away!

With such an indisputably confrontational tone, this young man clearly had backbone and spirit!

Regarding Close, people both loved and hated him.

They didn’t like to meet him in the singles, but they loved watching him play.

For him to come up on stage, regardless of whether it was for a solo match or doubles, was enough to make everyone happy.

If they just so happened to draw Kim Sung-hyun and Li Heran in the doubles match…

Ah, taking his new teammate to crush his old one would be the best!

Yuan Ze spoke quietly to Wei Xiao before stepping off the stage, “You will regret it.”

Wei Xiao was just about to open his mouth to reply, but Yuan Ze had already left.

He spoke the words to himself internally: I’ll definitely never regret it!

Off-stage.

Chen Feng pushed Lu Feng lightly, “Little Lunatic Wei is waiting for you.”

Lu Feng came back to his senses and frowned.

Chen Feng knew what he was worried about and said, “It’s fine, it’s just a performance match.”

Lu Feng: “Mm.”

He got up, walked through the aisles and came to the brightly lit stage.

From his first match at the age of 17 until now, he had stood at that place in the limelight countless times.

There had been team competitions in the global finals and individual competitions in the global finals; he had experienced many peak events that made professional players so nervous their arms and legs went numb. He’d been nervous before, excited as well, but not uneasy.

This time, it was clearly just a doubles performance match, but Lu Feng experienced the feeling of uneasiness.

Chen Feng’s left hand was against his lips as he bit his nails.

Tang Chen knew about this bad habit of his where he would bite his nails whenever he was nervous, “It’s just a performance match.”

Chen Feng was really defeated by his obliviousness, “Close cares too much about Wei Xiao.”

Tang Chen: “It’s a kid that he brought back with much difficulty. Of course he has to care.”

Chen Feng smacked the back of his head, “Can’t you grow some f*cking brains!”

Bai Cai’s ears were perked up super high. He asked curiously, “Speaking of which, it seems that the captain has never played in a doubles match before.”

Chen Feng closed his eyes, “It’s already like that for 5v5. How can he play in a doubles game?”

Bai Cai was stunned.

Ning Zhehan was a newcomer and understood even less, “What do you mean?”

Yue Wenle sighed and explained to Little Ning, “Think about the training match you played in when you first joined the team.”

Little Ning thought back for a moment and went back into seclusion for an instant, “I’m such trash.”

Indeed. In those training matches, his eyes had been filled with the word TRASH in capital letters, packed densely like scrolling comments.

Chen Feng sighed, “A doubles match relies more on cooperation than in a 5v5 game.”

Tang Chen wasn’t worried, “It’s fine, there won’t be a problem with Little Lunatic Wei.”

Chen Feng wasn’t as optimistic as he was.

Solo and doubles were two different things.

Doubles and 5v5 were definitely different, but there was a lot of relationship between the two.

For example, if they could cooperate well in a doubles match, then it would absolutely not be a problem in 5v5.

Another example was that if they couldn’t coordinate with each other in the doubles match, then it would become a hidden danger in 5v5.

Chen Feng never wanted Close to play doubles with anyone in the team, but he hadn’t had time to tell Wei Xiao this. Of course…

There was a high chance that telling him would’ve been useless.

However, he definitely wouldn’t have wanted to have the two of them play doubles in this kind of scene, under the attention of so many people!

L&P.

Gary: “Speaking of which, I’ve never seen Close play doubles.”

Yuan Ze looked at the two people on the stage, “He can’t play doubles.”

Old G was curious, “Why? Have you guys played together before?”

Yuan Ze: “Yes.”

He controlled the smile at the corner of his lips.

There was also someone asking the same question on the Pro side.

Kim Sung-hyun sighed, “Please don’t draw the two of us.”

Li Heran: “……”

Kim Sung-hyun: “I don’t want to play a doubles game against Close at all.”

Regardless of whether it was as a teammate or an opponent.

In that year’s FTW, the FTW that was like the sun, this all-around team had been eager to try the doubles competition, just like they had with the team competition and the individual competition.

At the time, the coaching team tried desperately to find the right match for the starting line-up.

As a result…

No matter how they paired them up, it was all rotten. Even the support position could end up in a fight with the ADC, and they were really unable to participate in the doubles competition.

Later on, Close joined the team. The 17 year old talented player looked cold, but after all, he was still a rookie, and he was a genius who could play in any position.

The coaching team was excited, thinking that this newcomer might be able to match up with one of these four hedgehogs and win them a doubles championship.

So, the pairing started again.

One week later, the coaching staff went into seclusion.

To hell with the f*cking doubles, FTW didn’t care about that small bonus!

Yuan Ze spoke to Gary, “When Close and I played doubles, he was only 17 years old. In the first game, I thought to myself, what is this? How could someone of this level enter FTW? Is the coaching team crazy?”

Gary was surprised, “Is Close really not good at doubles?”

Yuan Ze laughed sarcastically, “He did it on purpose.”

Gary blinked, “Why? What’s the point of that?”

Yuan Ze continued to withhold information, “Watch. You’ll know soon.”

As soon as Lu Feng came up, Wei Xiao’s entire mental state improved. He gave Lu Feng the right to draw opponents right away.

Lu Feng looked at him, “You do it.”

Quiet, who refused to give way when faced with Yuan Ze, was very humble now, “You’re luckier than I am.”

As soon as he said this, all the players off-stage were a little puzzled. Quiet’s luck had been pretty good last time, and he’d gotten Ali and Ayu. They were strong enough, but their experience was insufficient, which was why he and Yuan Ze had had a chance to win.

Wei Xiao’s next sentence was, “Maybe if you do it, we can draw the doubles champion from last year.”

Everyone: “………”

Alright, your definition of lucky isn’t the same as ours.

Lu Feng didn’t say anything else. He accepted the button and pressed it.

Wei Xiao looked eagerly at the big screen…

Kim Sung-hyun grabbed Li Heran’s arm, “Don’t be me, don’t be me, don’t be me…”

Li Heran: “……”

Kim Sung-hyun: “F*ck!”

The two names on the big screen––Pro.Kim Sung-hyun, Pro.Li Heran.

Wei Xiao spoke in surprise, “You’re really lucky!”

He’d really managed to draw the doubles champions from last year!

Off-stage, Chen Feng slapped Tang Chen’s leg.

Tang Chen: “Ow.”

Chen Feng: “Hurry up and find the network cable and pull it out for me!”

Everyone in FTW: “…………”

Was that necessary? Little Lunatic Wei, who wasn’t even afraid of soloing with the great demon king, would be afraid of playing a doubles game with the captain?

Kim Sung-hyun came up onto the stage with the support of his own milk dad.

Pro’s teammates were also wondering about it, “Is Close so strong in doubles?”

“Our vice-captain… doesn’t he love to abuse thieves?”

“Wake up, that’s Close’s thief.”

In fact, they’d thought wrong. Kim Sung-hyun wasn’t afraid of the shadow thief, and he wasn’t afraid of Close’s shadow thief. He just didn’t want to play this game, and it was purely that he had a psychological shadow…

Sitting in front of the computer, without the microphones, Wei Xiao spoke to Lu Feng, “Captain, you take the shadow thief.”

Lu Feng didn’t say anything and quietly worked on checking over his equipment.

Wei Xiao continued, “Yuan Ze actually said that you can’t play doubles!”

Lu Feng’s hands paused slightly on the keyboard.

Wei Xiao continued angrily, “I’ll play the divine warrior. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you well!”

He had experienced a lot from the previous match, and the doubles competition was very interesting. He and Yuan Ze could win even if they were tearing it up over the headsets, so he and the captain must be able cooperate as well.

It had to be known that he was the one who knew Close the best. He would definitely be able to cooperate with the divine warrior!

All the way until the start of the fight, Wei Xiao was still very confident.

Although he had almost never played doubles with Lu Feng, he was very familiar with Lu Feng’s shadow thief, and he was very confident with the divine warrior. Additionally, he had the experience from the 5v5 training matches, and he felt that he could play out perfect cooperation with Lu Feng.

So what if the opposite side held Kim Sung-hyun and Li Heran?

So what if they slept in the same room?

Had they ever cuddled together and slept together for 24 hours?!

Ha, scum!

These brain circuits that Wei Xiaoxiao had were really amazing.

When they picked heroes, Lu Feng finally spoke up, “You play the shadow thief. I’ll take the divine warrior.”

Wei Xiao replied immediately, “That won’t do. You’re the jungler, and I’m the top-laner. We’ll have to cooperate countless times in the future!”

Lu Feng: “…….”

Although Wei Xiao was caught up in the moment, he could still sense that Lu Feng was in rather low spirits, “Captain?”

Lu Feng locked in the shadow thief, “You take the divine warrior, then.”

Wei Xiao: “’Kay!”

Lu Feng glanced at the youth beside him out of the corner of his eyes, and his fingers trembled almost imperceptibly on the keyboard.

He wanted Wei Xiao to take the shadow thief, but this wasn’t the right time.

He hadn’t yet informed the team about the change in positions, and if he suggested it too hastily, it might cause confusion in the FTW team.

It was just a performance match, it was fine.

With this in mind, Lu Feng couldn’t help recalling the past.

“No more, no more, don’t ask me to play doubles with Close.”

“Coach, I’m begging you, even having me eat shit is better than playing doubles with him, okay?!”

“I’ll practice with the divine warrior. Isn’t it enough to train? Just don’t have me team up with little Close for doubles again.”

“There’s no way to play.”

Lu Feng was very resistant to the doubles competition.

Yuan Ze had spoken correctly. He really couldn’t play doubles.

Because……

Wei Xiao: “Captain, we’re starting.”

“Mm.” Lu Feng focused his mind on the canyon. Maybe things would be different.

The match began.

There was no surprise with the line ups.

Wei Xiao took the divine warrior, and Lu Feng took the shadow thief. The line up was exactly the same as the previous match, but the people playing the heroes had changed.

Kim Sung-hyun took a frost hunter, and Li Heran used the elemental shaman.

Everyone was very much looking forward to this match.

Wei Xiao was so flamboyant when playing with outsiders, how could he not show off all the way to the heavens when playing with his own captain?

Perhaps this year’s doubles would belong to someone different!

With this thought, it became even more exciting!

However…

10 minutes into the game, the audience was very disappointed.

No, that wasn’t quite right.

Even the commentators couldn’t find anything to praise.

Commentator A: “This… it seems that they aren’t quite cooperating well?”

Commentator B: “The divine warrior is playing very well, but Close’s shadow thief seems to be a little…”

He didn’t dare to say that it wasn’t fierce enough, because Lu Feng’s shadow thief was famous for its fierceness. How fierce was it? It was to the point where his opponents would want to surrender directly when they saw him take the shadow thief.

But now…

Old G was dismayed, “What’s going on with Close? He got seen through by that noob?”

Yuan Ze: “Just watch.”

The FTW side was even more silent.

Chen Feng stared fixedly at the screen, nervously biting his nails.

Tang Chen was a little uneasy due to the atmosphere, “Hey… Old Lu, today…”

Chen Feng: “Shut up!”

Tang Chen: “……”

In the arena, Kim Sung-hyun said to Li Heran, “Ah, hurry up and push to win. I don’t want to see this anymore.”

Li Heran whiz-whiz-whizzed and inserted four totems for him, making it so that the handsome frost hunter looked like a hornet’s nest that nobody dared provoke, “Go.”

Kim Sung-hyun sighed, “So, that’s why I said, I don’t like to play doubles with Close…”

He hadn’t finished speaking when he suddenly cursed, “Damn it, I’m done for!”

Outsiders could see it very clearly. How could Wei Xiao, who was teamed up with Lu Feng, not sense it?

He endured for a full seven minutes before he couldn’t help it anymore, “Captain… are you feeling unwell?”

It was too strange. Today’s shadow thief was too strange!

It wasn’t that it wasn’t amazing, and it wasn’t that it wasn’t strong, but… it wasn’t fierce enough.

The aura that belonged to Close didn’t even show its head the tiniest bit.

Lu Feng didn’t say anything.

Wei Xiao couldn’t help but say, “If you’re not feeling well…”

Lu Feng spoke, and his voice was a little hoarse, “No.”

Wei Xiao: “Then…”

Lu Feng paused, then spoke quietly, “Do you want to know why Yuan Ze said that I can’t play doubles?”

Wei Xiao paused.

Lu Feng: “Watch.”

In the next moment, the entire scene fell silent.

Li Heran’s headset was full of Kim Sung-hyun’s shrill screams, “F*ck f*ck f*ck, captain, save me, captain, hurry and save me ahhhhh!”

If the first part of the match made the audience drowsy, then the second half of the match made them feel as nervous as if they’d also been trapped in the narrow canyon.

Commentator A: “This…”

Commentator B’s mouth was wide open: “……”

Terrible.

Each scene that appeared on the scene could only be described as terrible.

The shadow thief that was so quiet it was clumsy in the first half instantly restored its presence of absolute control.

It seemed as though he didn’t have any teammates, as though he was in an empty canyon.

The crimson blade was locked closely on the enemy’s life and nothing else.

Off-stage, Yuan Ze sneered, “Do you see it? This is the Close in doubles.”

An absolute control over the field, this terrifying oppressive force pressured not only the opponent, but also his teammate.

Gary was stunned, “Shit, I feel a little heartache for Quiet.”

Those who had never played Glory before would only think that this shadow thief was too amazing, so amazing that it seemed he was the only one in the canyon filled with four people.

Only those who knew Glory could feel this terrible pressure even across the screen.

As an opponent, one wouldn’t want to run into such an enemy.

As a teammate, one wouldn’t want to have such a partner.

Close wasn’t suitable for doubles.

It wasn’t that he didn’t play well, but that he played too well.

Back then, the Team of Gods’ starting lineup, the four men who were now listed in the Temple of Glory, couldn’t cooperate and keep up with him.

Let alone anyone else.