Chapter 99:

A good start to the best of five game was very important. Now that they’ve won the first round, the expressions of everyone in Free’s lounge backstage were a little more relaxed than before the game; especially Zhou Huo. He no longer stared fixedly at the live broadcast screen. He could now be distracted enough to urge the artist to hurry up with those posters for the official announcement; one for if they win and one for if they lose. He was also urging the copywriter to come out with two editions of official announcement for later use.

“I didn’t expect them to play so fast.” Zhou Huo asked doubtfully while contacting the copywriter, “Didn’t you plan before to hold back a bit for now? What’s the matter now? You decided not to hide anything anymore? They’re already going all out in the first game?”

Old Qiao wiped his sweat and shook his head, “It’s precisely because they didn’t want to expose everything they’ve got that they played so fast.”

They didn’t want to expose too much in the domestic competition but at the same time, they didn’t want to lose. They also didn’t want it to interfere with the upcoming World Championships. It was truly difficult to find a balance in this. All of Free’s tactical arrangements were jointly decided by the coaching staff and the data analysis team. It was not an exaggeration to say that making all the arrangements for the playoffs was like walking on a tightrope. As the head of the coaching staff, Old Qiao was under the most pressure. He sweated layer after layer while watching the game just now. Old Qiao had folded tissues in his hand for later use. “Planning something and executing something are two entirely different things. The longer we drag it out, the more we expose. How many teams at home and abroad are staring at us now? How can we dare to be like Saint, just laying everything for every match? We have to look towards the future.”

Zhou Huo took a bottle of mineral water to Old Qiao: “Relax. They don’t even seem like they’re under as big a pressure as you are.”

“There’s not such thing as big or small pressure. We’re all under the same f*cking amount of pressure.” Old Qiao drank a few sips of water and stared at the broadcast screen, “It just depends on who’s more big-hearted and can resist the pressure. All of our players are fine. Let’s look at NSN in the next game. Wawa was slightly targeted during the previous game. I don’t know if he’ll be affected in the next game.”

While they were conversing, the second game began.

“Although I’m a bit embarrassed to say it,” Chen Huo rubbed his hands while waiting for the countdown, he said, “Wawa and I also have CP fans and there’s ever quite a lot of them. If we target him in this round too, I think the fans will come and scold me for being inhuman…Sigh. Why, oh why? When it’s clearly you guys’ idea to target him. There’s a big chance I’m the one who’s going to be made to carry this pot.”

“Wake up, would you? Shi Luo and Wawa’s ship is obviously more popular.” Puppy leisurely poured cold water all over him. “And what does it matter? Isn’t our team the ‘the more you hate, the more you love’ type? Look at our Yu Shen. From the fans’ perspective, Yu Sui was absolutely abusive to Luo Luo back then, right? Other CP fans should feel that this is cute too.”

Shi Luo frowned. “Don’t be disgusting.”

At the end of the countdown, they set all jokes aside.

During the last round, they had been targeted from the beginning. This time, NSN hid in their side’s fog, refusing to take the lead in clearing up the poisonous fog. They were motionless, ready to spring an ambush on Free.

Puppy couldn’t see anything in the back row and reminded them. “There’s no movement on either side of the boundary. They’re lying in wait for you, they…where are they lying in wait…”

If they weren’t hiding in the center of the map, preparing for a wave of three-on-three, they would be hiding at the edge of the map to create a three-on-one ambush. NSN hid very well. Puppy couldn’t see anything. They would have to rely purely on a guess. He said uncertainly, “Are they hiding in the middle or did they go to the side, waiting to grab the lone player? Will you stay in a group or separate?”

Compared with staying fixed in the center of the map, it was much less riskier to go to the edge of the map to grab the lone player as their opening move. Naturally, the benefit to the team was also much smaller. But handing over the middle of the map on a silver platter while you can only clean the edge of the map didn’t sound like a very good deal.

Generally, a team would only use this as an opening move when one of their team members was really afraid of a head-on confrontation. Puppy was hesitating only because he was guessing that Wawa might have been affected by the previous game and was afraid to meet and bump into Yu Sui head on.

“They are still huddled together in the middle. Trust me.” Shi Luo whispered, “Wawa’s not so easy to collapse now. They’ll still want to fight us head on.”

There was no movement at the edge of the map. Puppy, their eyes at the back row, was very uncomfortable. He hissed, “Are you sure…?”

“Yes.” Yu Sui said, “It’s better to fight them quickly. Don’t dally with them. Shi Luo, go steal from the side of the map. Chen Huo, set down the purification dishes.”

They all obeyed Yu Sui’s commands. Chen Huo made the first move and set down the purification dish. Just as Shi Luo expected, this was the moment NSN’s three front row players, who had remained motionless during the first two minutes of the match, had been waiting for. It takes a few seconds for the purification dish to take effect. It’s fog on NSN’s side that would be cleared. During these limited seconds, NSN had the advantage of vision. As soon as Chen Huo’s purification vessel was put down, Gu Gan zeroed in on his position and fired shots directly at him. Chen Huo quickly got up and opened fire even as he retreated. In this two-on-three confrontation, Free was robbed of the first move. It would be unwise to stubbornly fight now. Chen Huo swept NSN with over ten rounds of bullets to suppress them and quickly retreated behind the bunker with Yu Sui.

Chen Huo’s initial photon shield shattered earlier than the other side’s. It was a bit of a loss but Shi Luo had successfully placed three purification dishes on the left side of the map and had successfully retreated after being under fire from NSN’s sniper, Rod. Free started with four more purification dishes than NSN and it still gave them an advantage overall.

“You really guessed it right.” Chen Huo was speechless, “Wawa’s quite tough. He still wants to fight us head on.

Shi Luo had already exposed his position and could not continue to clear the fog. He automatically came back to find Yu Sui to have his blood replenished. He said in a low voice, “I told you not to underestimate him.”

While they were talking, NSN took advantage of both of Free’s strikers mending their condition to quickly place four purification dishes in a row. Puppy couldn’t see their positions. He tried to predict their positions and fired a couple of shots to suppress them. Both shots missed though. Free wanted to play a fast game. They weren’t willing to perform a ‘you come, I retreat and build up strength’ kind of routine. At this time, even though Shi Luo’s life bar wasn’t full yet, all three of them rushed out and started fighting directly. Wawa was once again first to be defeated. But before he died, he replenished the blood Gu Gan had just lost. Gu Gan relied on his full health advantage to take out Chen Huo and beat Shi Luo into residual blood. Shi Luo was in the middle of a confrontation with Xinran. After being swept two shots by Gu Gan, he decided he was going to take Xinran with him. Before he died, he took out Xinran and then Gu Gan, who only had a trace of blood left was taken out by Yu Sui. After their three-on-three, only Yu Sui was left.

“The opposition’s so fierce today.” Puppy was stunned, “Their positioning’s beautiful. They’re not giving me any chance to snipe at all.”

“After you resurrect, come here immediately to clear the fog. Purify first and then find me to get your shield.” Yu Sui said quickly, “Both kills were credited to Gu Gan. Xinran has no kills yet. Let’s take advantage of this wave to clear the fog in advance so that we can build up our dominance.”

NSN obviously knew as well the speed at which Free would attack cities and seize territories after they seize the initiative. After resurrecting, they had their condition mended and they then immediately rushed to the front line.

After putting down the purification dish, Shi Luo successfully retreated and joined Yu Sui. Chen Huo’s movements slowed only by half a second and Rod shot him in the arm. He was able to preserve his life with a thread of blood left.

“The last game was fast enough, I didn’t expect the rhythm of this game to be even fiercer.” Commentator A said, surprised, “Both sides are really biting down on the other. They staking everything to prevent the other side from gaining a greater advantage. They’re going to attack strongly to keep hold of the front line battle. Although Free currently has the advantage, I have to say that NSN has also been training their troops. Wawa is no longer as timid as when he used to face Yu Sui during the regular season. Not only was he not affected by the previous game but his play is getting more and more seasoned. He wasn’t at all scared by the past few waves. He just keeps on playing. ‘We’re both medics. I may still be inferior to you, but I’m not afraid of you anymore!'”

“Yes, in fact, most medics would feel nervous to some extent when facing against Yu Sui and Wawa has managed to overcome this a bit.” Commentator B nodded, “But… to be honest, I feel that fighting head-on from start to finish is still pretty dangerous. Although NSN is already handling it very well, every time they face off, Free still manages to more or less get the advantage. It’s not very obvious right now, but after a few more waves, it will be hard to say. This three-man front row team of Free is too strong.”

Before they finished speaking, the two sides met again at the front lines. Both teams had cleared out quite a spacious area in the middle of the map. Both snipers now have enough vision to join the battle. The game officially entered the four-on-four stage and the amount of firepower went up another notch. In the early stage, the two teams restrained each other and they were almost unable to steal anything from the sides of the map. Almost all the purification dishes of the two teams were placed in the center of the map. At this point, even if they didn’t want to fight head on, they already had no choice. If they were to go to the sides of the map to play some devious strategy, their remaining economy wouldn’t enough to support the final confrontations of the game.

Commentator A smiled helplessly, “Before, they wanted to fight this head on but now they have no choice but to. However, I want to say that fighting head-on, toughing it out against a team like Free…that’s a bit difficult. At least in domestic region, there’s currently no team that can overpower Free head-on.”

After a head-on confrontation that lasted for eight minutes, Free won the game.

“While trying to look for a way to compete with us in a direct confrontation, they’re also training Wawa.” After the second game, Old Qiao’s expression in the Free lounge finally relaxed a little. He laughed with the players, “It could also be that they simply refuse to accept it. They want to compare skills against our front row players. You’re both three-man front line teams so why can’t they attack you, right?”

“They can attack us. Who says they can’t?” Chen Huo rubbed his shoulders and raised his eyebrows, “but they won’t be able to beat us, tsk…”

“Put that away.” Old Qiao knocked on Chen Huo’s shoulder, “You were the one who lost the most heads just now. You also made a lot of mistakes. After the game, you’ll have to review it well.”

Shi Luo, who had to clean up Chen Huo’s mess twice in the last game, raised his eyes and said coldly. “Nerve knife.”

“I know…” Chen Huo said helplessly, “It’s your requirements that are too high, okay? Making us play this kind of fast-paced games. And two consecutive rounds of it too. I’m a striker and I can’t stay that focused for so long… er, fine, Shi Luo did it but then how old is he? When I was young…”

“You were still a nerve knife.” Yu Sui said lazily, “Just admit that your innate ability to concentrate isn’t top-notch. When you fight against each other, you’re not as steady as Shi Luo. You can see it for yourself and it’s not shameful.”

“It’s my fault. It’s our fault. We’ve been pressuring you too much.” Old Qiao also knew how much his own tactics test the patience of the players. “Bear with it and then bear with it some more… you’ve endured for this long, let’s not lapse here, okay? So …Manager Zhou? What will be their rewards after the game, so as to appease the hearts of the people?”

“There’s no need to mention your bonus.” Zhou Huo was finally able to interrupt and said eagerly, “At the end of this season, all the equipment in the training room will be updated. Each setup would start at a minimum of 100,000 yuan. You can configure it yourself. You can dictate each component model yourself. We’ll get you any configuration that you’d like.”

“There’s more.” Zhou Huo said hurriedly, “After today’s game, it was originally going to be a three-day holiday. I considered that it would be too strenuous if we were to train after coming back from Hangzhou so I added another day of holiday. It’s an exception for after this game. Four days off.”

Old Qiao instinctively wanted to refute, but after thinking about it, his heart went soft. He nodded and reluctantly said, “It’s fine… it’s fine. After so many months, you were only given that rainy half-day holiday. What’s one more day?”

The referee outside was urging them to get on stage and they players got up. Zhou Huo, worried that he had not given enough rewards, nervously tried to convince them one by one. “There’s also a nice surprise! Chen Huo, you can buy all the skins you want for your little wife next season and the team will reimburse you. Yes…Puppy, I’ll negotiate a better live broadcast contract for you next season. If we don’t upgrade your live broadcast contract after you’ve been broadcasting everyday, I just couldn’t bear it… Okay, everyone, jiayou!”

Shi Luo stopped, turned his head and frowned, “Where is my surprise? Where’s Yu Sui’s?”

Zhou Huo was startled and dumbfounded. “Does Yu Sui even need me to give him a surprise? He owns the entire team. As for you… your hobbies are not healthy. I can’t reimburse you for smoking and drinking next season, okay? It just doesn’t sound right, does it?”

The referee accompanying Free was doing his absolute best to hold back a laugh and urged in a low voice: “The players can go up now.”

Shi Luo rubbed his neck, dissatisfied. He continued to walk forward. Yu Sui walked behind Shi Luo when he entered the glass room. He whispered quickly into Shi Luo’s ear: “Your surprise…when the team goes on vacation to Hangzhou tomorrow, we won’t be going.”

Shi Luo was taken aback. He suddenly turned his head to look at Yu Sui.

Yu Sui had already sat in his seat. He put on the headphones as usual, tried the team’s voice chat and signaled OK to the referee. He accepted the confirmation sheet he needed to sign from the referee.

Shi Luo sat in his seat. He gulped and he realizing belatedly.

Yu Sui arranging that the Hangzhou trip for the team was not to legitimately get them out of the house. It was merely a to send away the other members of the team.

Once everyone was gone, only Yu Sui and he himself would be left in the base for three days.