Glory [e-sports]

If there had been the slightest bit of hesitation in his movements, the gold hunter would already be dead.

Li Heran’s recovery totem stabbed into the ground beside the gold hunter, replenishing his health second by second.

Bai Cai was startled by Wei Xiao’s words, but his hands didn’t slow down at all. He understood this beast too well. If he made a mistake at such a critical moment, Wei Xiao would eat him alive!

The light priest’s first skill flew out. He came out of the grass to provide vision, and at the same time, the skill locked in on the nearest target.

Li Heran blocked in front of Kim Sung-hyun and took the brunt of the control skill.

Wei Xiao: “Tsk.”

The shadow thief didn’t pause at all. As soon as his skill cooldown ended, he immediately jumped up again. Although he didn’t have his ultimate move yet and couldn’t brush out any light arcs, combining his first and second skill was already enough to deal explosive damage.

Li Heran wasn’t anxious or hurried. The totems in his hands switched out very quickly, smashing right into the shadow thief.

Kim Sung-hyun hid behind his captain’s body, and the golden arrows fell down like rain…

Was the first kill of the game about to explode here?!

Which team would be graced by First Blood?

Everyone stared nervously at the screen, watching this shadow thief who was like a newborn calf that was unafraid of the tiger, and the gold hunter who trampled thieves beneath its feet all year round.

Who would…

“F*ck!” The scrolling comments were full of howls.

“I originally thought it would be like a spark on dry firewood, either you die or I die. Why did they back off?”

“I already placed all my bets, but you guys aren’t fighting anymore?”

“Fight, hey, the shadow thief should go up and mess with the gold hunter!”

“Gold hunter, shoot and kill the shadow thief!”

After both sides met in the canyon and exchanged a set of skills, both sides retreated rationally, choosing to avoid fighting each other.

The commentator: “Both sides are playing very cautiously in this game. It seems that there won’t be any fighting in the early stages, and they’ll focus on developing for a while. After all, the shadow thief is very dependent on its ultimate move…”

As soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped in the face by the scene on the screen.

To hell with a rational retreat, to hell with avoiding a fight!

These four people had clearly been engaging in tactical acting!

Pretending to retreat was in fact a tactic to lure the enemy in.

Kim Sung-hyun hadn’t expected Wei Xiao to be so cautious.

Wei Xiao hadn’t expected Kim Sung-hyun to be so timid.

The two sides were halfway through their act when they watched the other side want to ‘escape’. Both sides then quickly turned back to fight again.

The audience in the scrolling comments: “…………”

Commentator A: “……”

Commentator B saved his colleague, “The shadow thief’s skills are up, but the elemental shaman’s protection is very comprehensive, and the gold hunter is dealing considerable damage!”

For better or worse, things were smoothed over for Commentator A, and they went back to talking about the fight.

Retreating rationally was impossible. If they didn’t fight against each other, then how could they live up to the feelings that had built up when they enjoyed the cold sea breeze together?

Wei Xiao focused on Kim Sung-hyun, and Kim Sung-hyun was also locked in on Wei Xiao.

The shadow thief used its positioning to avoid damage, and the gold hunter was also careful to deal damage from the furthest possible distance, never giving him a chance to approach.

Bai Cai wasn’t just there for show. He healed Wei Xiao and looked for opportunities, “I’ll control Li Heran. You go up and mess with Kim Sung-hyun.”

Wei Xiao: “Wait.”

This fellow who was normally so playful, became even colder and calmer than the shadow thief once he was immersed in the game.

Those who played assassins, if they didn’t have the opportunistic nature of a cheetah, they wouldn’t be able to kill people at all!

Bai Cai stared fixedly at the screen and finally found the right time, “Steady!”

Wei Xiao had already rushed up.

Bai Cai’s control skill only lasted for 0.5 seconds. This time period was too short; if he couldn’t kill the gold hunter while Li Heran was unable to move, then Wei Xiao and Bai Cai would both be dead.

Wei Xiao took advantage of a short-range movement skill to strengthen his basic attack, then shadow jumped to the gold hunter’s back.

Kim Sung-hyun was very calm. He wasn’t flustered at all; a shadow thief without its ultimate move wanted to kill him? They must be dreaming.

Wei Xiao’s three available skills were all smashed onto Kim Sung-hyun’s body. Kim Sung-hyun’s health plummeted, and he fell into a seriously injured state instantly.

However, he still wasn’t anxious. He countered with a shower of arrows, shooting at Wei Xiao.

Bai Cai’s control skill was gone. Li Heran’s hand speed was amazing, creating a stack of totems that landed around Kim Sung-hyun, returning him back to half health right away.

The shadow thief was still attacking. He made use of perfect positioning, and in a situation where no mistakes were made, he could continue on until his mana ran dry.

“Old Bai!”

“Got it!”

Was Li Heran the only one who could heal? Brother Cai could heal, too!

The health that Kim Sung-hyun had taken away from the shadow thief was once again raised back up.

The players themselves were executing their flashy moves calmly in the face of danger, but the audience was so nervous that they were breaking out in goosebumps.

“They still haven’t f*cking died!”

“He-he-he’s not dead?!”

“They’re not level six yet. How come these four people fight like they’re already in the second half of the game?”

“I didn’t expect that Brother Cai would be so strong. He was actually able to keep up with this pace.”

“Haven’t you noticed? The Brother Vegetable who supports Quiet and the Brother Vegetable who supports Close aren’t the same vegetable.”

The CP fans were crying, “So, Brother Vegetable’s true love is Quiet? Laozi has been shipping the great demon king and his little spoiled lover, but it’s all fake?!”

This fight looked like it had lasted for a century, but in fact, only a few seconds had passed.

In the mid-lane, Ning Zhehan held back the ice mage, not letting him go down to the bottom lane to provide support.

Pro’s jungler stalked Yue Wenle so that he couldn’t help by dealing extra damage.

The top-laners for both sides were too far away. If they rushed over to support, they would lose their tower, and the gains wouldn’t be worth the loss.

This was a battle between Wei Xiao and Bai Cai versus Kim Sung-hyun and Li Heran.

Whoever won, whoever lost, it would all depend on these four!

System Announcement––

FTW.Quiet killed Pro.Succe.

The shadow thief killed the gold hunter!

Quiet took First Blood!

“Amazing!”

“But the shadow thief is done for…”

Another system announcement emerged.

Pro.Ran killed FTW.Quiet.

Wei Xiao, who had only a sliver of health left, was killed by Li Heran.

“This wasn’t a loss. FTW made a profit in this wave.”

“That’s right. Not only did they take First Blood, the shadow thief kill was given to the other side’s support. It’s a steady profit.”

Gold would be earned with each kill, but out of the entire team, the support position was the one that least needed the farm. Li Heran had killed Wei Xiao, but it was a meaningless kill for Pro.

On the other hand, Wei Xiao killed Kim Sung-hyun and obtained the First Blood bonus, instantly becoming number one in farm value on the map.

With such a smooth start, FTW’s momentum increased!

The fans in South Korea were nervous, “Hasn’t Captain Li’s hand recovered?”

“In this wave, the elemental shaman didn’t make any mistakes. It was the gold hunter that was too anxious in the last half a second, and his positioning was a little too far ahead.”

“God Kim doesn’t seem to be in a very good state…”

“No way, are we going to lose to FTW?”

“F*ck, Laozi’s coins, I’m going to be broke after this wave!”

“What are you guys anxious for? It’s only been a few minutes since the start of the game. So what if he took First Blood? When the gold hunter is developed up, the shadow thief can only kneel down and beg for mercy.”

The China competition zone was naturally jubilant.

“Love it, love it. Quiet always surprises me.”

“A thief who managed to survive under Daddy Hyun’s hands, Quiet is amazing!”

The anti-fans also added to the drama, “If FTW can win the championship in winter training, I’ll turn into a FTW fan for three minutes.”

The fans, collectively, “Get lost.”

Wei Xiao was able to play out a strong momentum in the bottom jungle zone, but in the top lane, Lu Feng actually missed a soldier.

Even if he was a firm-hearted person, he would still be shocked after getting taken by surprise by Wei Xiao’s previous sentence.

Especially…

After he’d basically confirmed Wei Xiao’s feelings.

The most important event of one’s life.

After winning the game, Wei Xiao wanted to do the most important event of one’s life.

It had something to do with him.

Lu Feng suddenly recalled the words Wei Xiao had spoken in the hotel corridor after rushing out with his hair still wet––

Captain, I like you.

Lu Feng’s fingers trembled slightly. He tried to stabilize his operations and make no mistakes.

Could it be that ever since then…

10 days ago, Wei Xiao had…

Lu Feng took a deep breath and didn’t dare to think about it anymore.

Win the game. Win the game as soon as possible.

He wanted to ask him, he wanted to ask him about it clearly!

Ding…

The death knight reached level six, and became a death knight who could switch forms.

––One form was for attack and was like a roiling black fog, filling the air with killing intent like a death god who’d walked out of hell.

System Announcement––

FTW.Close killed Pro.UU.

After Wei Xiao grabbed First Blood, FTW took down another kill!

“The great demon king is steady!”

“FTW should’ve changed lanes a long time ago. With Close’s powerful solo ability, the team has a strong iron wall in the top lane.”

“That’s for sure. This top lane is just like an iron plate, anyone who hits it ends up smashing their heads against it.”

The commentators began to praise FTW like crazy, and the audience also felt that FTW had high chances of winning the game this time.

Under the stage, Chen Feng leaned back in his seat, his expression calm.

He wasn’t nervous, because he’d already made his mental preparations a long time ago.

Winning wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Losing wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Seizing the opening advantage with two kills was something that FTW had fought for fiercely.

Pro’s line-up tended towards the late stage. The ice mage could only be described as miserable as it faced off against Ning Zhehan’s immortal warlock in the mid-lane.

Little Ning played assassin mages very fiercely, and he was in a good state for this game. He was actually able to suppress the other side.

Yue Wenle didn’t understand the concept of cowering at all. Adding on Wei Xiao’s crazy ganking, they pressured Kim Sung-hyun until he had to stay beneath his own tower, passively clearing soldiers.

No matter how one looked at it, it was FTW pressuring Pro, and there was hope that FTW would win this game.

However…

A calmer person would know the real situation when they looked at the farm panel.

It was hard to say.

FTW, who had such a big advantage in terms of the situation on the surface, had never been ahead of Pro in terms of farm.

Kim Sung-hyun, who’d been pressured constantly, even had a little bit more gold than Wei Xiao did.

Other than Pro’s top-laner who’d died twice and fallen behind in farm, the other lanes were stable and on par with FTW’s.

This was not a good omen. They’d had such a big advantage, yet still hadn’t been able to snowball the situation. It was really uncertain how the situation would develop in the later stages.

Pro’s team chat had been quiet the whole time.

Except for normal signaling and communication, there was no nonsense at all.

Kim Sung-hyun stared at the screen. The operations of his hands were perfect, not even the tiniest bit of resources was left behind, and not a single drop of damage went to waste.

He executed very precise micro-operations. IWho knew how long this level of skill had been tempered for, or how much work had been put into it.

Playing ADC was very tiring. It was a profession that relied on basic attacks and required clicking on the mouse continuously, constantly shifting and moving positions.

Even without mentioning other things, ordinary people’s fingers wouldn’t be able to stand blindly clicking the mouse mechanically, let alone when it required such precise movements.

Countless marksmen’s hands had been destroyed by this endless overwork.

During the middle stage of the game, during a fight over the ancient creature, Wei Xiao once again ganked the gold hunter, and the two of them died together!

The ancient creature was taken down by Lu Feng, and Pro lost another wave of fighting.

The later the game dragged on, the longer it would take to resurrect.

Kim Sung-hyun stared at the dim screen, “I want to win.”

These four words rang in four people’s headsets, making their hands clench over the mouse.

Li Heran: “……”

The corners of Kim Sung-hyun’s lips tightened, and his voice was somber, “Big brother, I want to win.”

It was unknown how much time had passed; perhaps it was only one second, or perhaps it was three or five years.

Li Heran whispered, “Okay.”

Pro, who’d won the world doubles championship and galloped all the way into the global finals, woke up.

In FTW’s team chat.

Bai Cai said nervously, “Li Heran’s started to roam!”

Lu Feng: “Shadow thief, be careful.”

Wei Xiao hadn’t even opened his mouth yet when the sound of something streaking through the air came over. He looked at the golden arrow that shot straight at his face and was stunned for a moment.

There was a bang.

The golden arrow hit him, and a powerful control skill lasting 3.5 seconds kept him completely immobile.

Bai Cai: “Not good!”

Wei Xiao immediately said, “Don’t come over!”

Bai Cai stopped moving, knowing that it was already too late. If he went over, he would just be sending himself to his death.

The elemental shaman gave his teammates an acceleration totem, and a set of skills from the power thief landed on Wei Xiao.

How could the squishy shadow thief withstand such a concentrated attack.

Park Guizhi killed Wei Xiao, and Pro was finally able to take a kill.

Kim Sung-hyun didn’t show up at all during the entire process, but this kill was to his credit.

The gold hunter’s ultimate move could cross the entire map. The further away the enemy was from him, the longer the control time of his ultimate move.

What did 3.5 seconds represent?

Launching a whole set of skills only took one or two seconds. 3.5 seconds was enough time to die twice!

Pro began to fight back.

A Li Heran who was following Kim Sung-hyun the whole time wasn’t terrifying, but as soon as he started to roam, that was where the real horror lay.

The tacit understanding of a doubles team was really amazing. Li Heran provided Kim Sung-hyun with vision, and Kim Sung-hyun’s golden arrow never missed.

Why did everyone say that Kim Sung-hyun could smear thieves all over the ground?

With Li Heran’s cooperation, he could make any jungler collapse.

He hit the target with every shot, and it was followed by death.

Kim Sung-hyun didn’t take a single kill, but Wei Xiao died three times.

The audience in the live broadcast studio were stunned.

“The gold hunter is really surnamed Kim.”

“This prediction is godly, how does he manage to make every arrow hit.”

“The key isn’t Kim Sung-hyun, it’s Li Heran.”

“Li Heran is too familiar with the gold hunter. The signals he gives have already estimated the startup time and trajectory.”

“Li Heran…”

“After all, he was once the number one marksman.”

After switching to a support position, he was still someone who understood marksmen the most.

In just a short ten minutes, the situation on the field reversed. Pro harvested five kills, and even pushed down a tower on the bottom lane. Their farm pulled ahead of FTW by 3000 gold, and they started on the road of absolute suppression.

Pro’s tactics were really fierce.

The mid-lane and top-laner held down Close.

Kim Sung-hyun guarded the bottom lane alone, while Li Heran and Park Guizhi roamed around and ganked people.

All the kills began with a golden arrow. Once it hit, the power thief would use a set of skills to take the kill.

Wei Xiao and Ning Zhehan died three times and two times, respectively. They were completely unable to think of a way to fight back.

They were unable to break this 3.5 second forced control and could only wait to be slaughtered.

What could they do?

How could they stop this situation that was heading constantly towards defeat?

Wei Xiao’s hands were sweating.

He wanted to win, he needed to win, there was something he had to do after he won!

Lu Feng’s voice came from over the headset, “Lead them to the dragon pit.”

Wei Xiao was stunned, “Captain…”

Lu Feng: “Trust me.”

Wei Xiao gritted his teeth, “Okay!”

Lu Feng, who’d been entangled by two people on the top lane, inhaled lightly and stared at the ice mage’s positioning error.

Opportunity.

The death knight switched to its more dexterous form, using a series of moves to trigger the passive that avoided control skills. He ignored Pro’s divine warrior and suddenly appeared right in front of the ice mage’s face.

Pro’s mid-laner yelled, “Not good!”

Park Guizhi, who’d been dragged over to the dragon pit by Wei Xiao, couldn’t make it over in time.

It was already too late to provide support. The emissary from hell who was surrounded by an aura of death tore into the ice mage.

The ice mage fell to the ground. The divine warrior’s long spear stabbed forward, and the death knight moved to avoid it, switching back to heavy armor. He sliced down with the long sword, and the divine warrior instantly lost half its health.

System Announcement:

FTW.Close killed Pro.UU.

FTW.Close killed Pro.Cui.

Close, who’d been surrounded by two people, took a double kill!