Chapter 40 Beating a streamer isn't anything to brag about...

Ten minutes before the start of the competition, the contestants began to take the stage.

The entire Angels team changed into the team uniforms provided by the organizers. The uniforms had a white team logo printed on the back: two wings crossed like swords, with an angel's halo at the very top.

Song Meng walked at the front, followed by You Xin. Xiao Yu, who was in third place, was too nervous because it was her first time on a big stage. She tripped and fell while passing through a gap, but Nan Zhiyi, who was at the back of the group, caught her with quick eyes and hands.

Finally, he and You Xin each took one arm and lifted the little fish to stand in the middle of the stage.

The four men bowed to the audience, which erupted in screams. The director gave them a close-up shot.

"Wow, I've noticed that all four members of the Angels team are very good-looking." The commentators were the same two who played against the Little Bells team last time. They were clearly more enthusiastic than before. "They are also very tall."

"Except for tank players."

Someone in the audience laughed. Xiaoyu was a head shorter than Nan Zhiyi, which made the team's height formation appear to sag in the middle. Moreover, there were two people in the team who were over 180cm tall, making him look like a stunted little potato in comparison.

"But this contestant is only 16 years old this year, and he still has room to grow taller."

"Yes, the other players in the team are also taking good care of him. They're helping him set up his equipment right now." On the big screen, You Xin and Nan Zhiyi, who had already left the stage and returned to their seats, were flanking Xiao Yu on either side.

One of the commentators had a sudden inspiration: "This scene is so heartwarming, it looks like a parent taking care of their child."

The audience burst into laughter again, just as expected, mixed with a few jeers.

Nan Zhiyi: "…………" Can someone please do something about these crazy commentators?

He secretly glanced at You Xin on the other side and found that the other party had no reaction at all. He was looking down at Xiao Yu's screen with his eyes downcast, and there was only a faint smile on his lips. So he could only keep his eyes down and pretend that he was deaf and didn't hear anything.

On the other side, the four members of the Songshi team also appeared one after another.

"Today's match is a highlight of the Juxing Cup, with the first-place team from Group A facing off against the first-place team from Group B. The winner will directly qualify for the finals on the 12th, while the loser will have to play another best-of-five series," the commentator explained.

Commentator 2: "The panel now shows the pre-match support rates for both sides. The blue team, Angels, has 65%, and the red team, Songshi, has 35%... To be honest, it's more balanced than I expected."

Commentator 1: "What did you think it would be? A 90/10 split?"

"More or less," the second commentator said. "However, there's another possibility: CG's fans are currently fully supporting the red team."

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

The commentator laughed and said, "Aoki-sensei has gone completely crazy!"

Meanwhile, the official online livestream of the Juxing Cup reached 24 million views. This was despite the presence of numerous secondary commentators.

During the preparation phase of the match, the director switched the camera to the audience. The second commentator was right; at least 90% of the people in the audience were wearing Angels' team support items on their heads, and the fans on camera were excitedly waving and giving thumbs up to the big screen.

After cutting to several shots of fans, the camera focused on a middle-aged man with a receding hairline who sat in the middle of the crowd and was not particularly noticeable.

"Huh? This guy..." The commentator paused for a moment, then received a reminder from the director, "HYG team manager Xu has also arrived at our match venue!"

Old Xu found himself on the big screen and waved helplessly. He had been trying to keep a low profile today, but the director's sharp eyes wouldn't miss anyone with a name or identity present.

"I wonder which team Mr. Xu is supporting today?" the commentator said thoughtfully. "I remember that Song Shi played for HYG's second team for a while."

"Mr. Xu also used to be the youth training manager for CG. There are rumors that Yux is a player he trained," the second commentator added.

Upon hearing this, Lao Xu touched his shiny bald head, then bent down and rummaged around under his seat for a while before pulling out a huge support sign.

He held the support sign above his head and waved it vigorously.

The support sign boldly read: 【Angels' hearts soar freely, Mom will always be with you】

The crooked handwriting was clearly the author's, followed by a long string of hearts.

The whole audience burst into laughter.

Narrator 1: "...Well! This is quite unexpected."

In the first game of the BO5 series, the map was randomly assigned to the Castle.

Both teams completed their banning phase. Angel Team routinely banned two strong classes from the current version of the Castle map, but Song Shi Team's bans were quite targeted—they banned [Elemental Mage] and [Bard].

They practically had "Angel's Will: We're Targeting You" written all over their faces.

The blue team made their first selection, and Xiaoyu locked in the current meta's strong secondary DPS, the Swordsman. The Castle map is known for its frequent skirmishes, giving short-range, high-burst damage classes a significant advantage.

The red team also locked in their choices, with their first pick being the High Priest – Qiu Cheng's signature class.

"Hmm... are we going to choose Priest in the Castle map? It seems the red team is planning to avoid small-scale team fights today and only engage in resource battles as much as possible." The commentator seemed slightly puzzled by this class choice.

The High Priest's skills have a wide range, so he doesn't have much of an advantage in close-quarters team fights.

Commentator 2: "It's also possible that the player is confident in this role. The main carry player on the red team, Qiu Chengzhu, has won the title of the number one high priest in the Asian server three times during the settlement." Another commentator said, "What others can't do, I can do—that's the charm of a one-trick pony."

"So, Angel Yi has often chosen the High Priest class before, but mostly in the other three maps. This should also be one of his best main DPS choices. I wonder what class he will choose in this map today."

Nam Ji-yi revealed the answer in the next round of the pick.

He swiftly locked in his choice on the third floor: the witch. He didn't give the audience any time to react.

"Witch...Witch!" the commentator exclaimed in surprise, and a cheer erupted from the audience. No matter when or where, as long as Yux's team revealed this class, even if it wasn't ultimately locked, the audience would be incredibly excited. "Is this for Angel or for Yux? Is it a Witch support?"

Commentator 2: "Angel also used this class at the All-Star game, and I actually think he played it quite well."

"I've noticed you seem to really like this player?" the commentator chuckled.

"I've been a fan for ten years," the second commentator said calmly. "I'm even planning to find a chance to get an autograph."

It was the blue team's turn to make their final pick, and Yuxin on the 4th floor locked in [Knight].

"Huh? I completely don't understand Angel's picks anymore." The commentator was totally bewildered. "Swordsman, Witch... two tanks? Who's going to ride a horse inside the castle? Can they even manage that?"

One minute later, the four contestants revealed the final answer—there was no action to switch professions on the 3rd and 4th floors.

Angel's character portrait has a witch's potion bottle glowing below it, while Yux's portrait has a knight's steed below it.

Playing the Witch against the meta is commendable.

[At least they used their best skills, why are you looking down on them like that?]

[Yux is going to ride a horse in the castle?! Amazing!]

"Witch, our Xiao Yi is about to unleash her sword," Song Meng joked in the Blue Team's voice channel.

"...It's unlikely we can play this game." Nan Zhiyi muttered, turning the game interface around and seeing that his character on the screen now had a witch's potion bottle in his hand.

“No problem. I gave him special training,” You Xin said calmly.

Song Meng: "Oh? How did you train them?"

You Xin: "...Never mind that."

Nan Zhiyi: "..."

If... you're worried about the other person not sleeping well, so you chat with them every night before bed, and if talking about the witch's opening strategies and operational techniques can be considered "special training"...

Nan Zhiyi considered himself only mediocre at playing the witch, but his support was clearly much more confident than him. However, during the time he spent with her, he had also learned a lot from her and had some unique insights into the profession.

The two teams were born in the east and west watchtowers, respectively.

“Everyone, stay close to me,” Nan Zhiyi said. “Do as we agreed before.”

On the big screen, the four members of the Blue Team furtively climbed out of the fourth-floor window of the watchtower one by one, landing on a narrow path formed by a gap between the platform and the main castle. They then lined up and headed towards another watchtower.

"The Angels didn't choose to go to their own resource points at the start of the game, nor did they choose to relocate their respawn point. What are they planning...?"

The four men hid in two blind spots on the city wall. You Xin had some trouble keeping his horse's tail from showing.

Not long after.

Qiu Cheng then appeared on screen, controlling the High Priest, who jumped over the wall onto the platform.

He stood still, not making any further moves immediately, but instead gazing into the distance towards the East Tower.

"The High Priest has now entered the enemy's ambush!" the commentator whispered nervously. "But what is he doing here at this time? There's no information here, and we can't see the enemy at all!"

"so……"

“Look, he always comes here at the start of the game to enjoy the scenery,” Nan Zhiyi said in the voice chat. “Now’s the time. Catch him!”

As soon as he gave the order, the other three immediately leaped out from their hiding places and pounced on the high priest's face!

The high priest was clearly startled; his entire character trembled violently. His health plummeted almost instantly, and he tried to flee southwest, but the knight, sword in hand, was already waiting on horseback, ramming him back—

[Witch] AngelYi has killed [High Priest] Fall!

The hissing sound of poison echoed throughout the venue. Nan Zhiyi picked up the dropped items with satisfaction; the equipment the other party had bought was exactly what he needed.

A murmur rippled through the arena. The second commentator exclaimed excitedly, "The High Priest has had a bad start! He was inexplicably wandering the platform and got caught by the Angel Team! This must have been a pre-planned opening... Uh? It seems the City Lord is a little angry?"

In the shot shown by the director, Qiu Cheng slammed his hand on the table with great force.

[666 is now at a high temperature]

Is feeding at the start of the game just another attempt to leech off your teammates?

[This guy calls himself a master of special skills? He's more like a sleepwalker.]

[Angel, could you lend me your brain? I can't imagine how many points I could score in a day with a brain like that.]

For the next twenty minutes, Angels' gameplay seemed to return to normal. Like other teams, they swept up early resources, probingly engaged their opponents, and withdrew before things got out of control.

However, there is one exception.

—As the knight, along with his horse, broke through the encirclement countless times, charging straight towards the enemy's main carry, the High Priest, the commentator finally couldn't help but ask: "This... does Yux seem to have a grudge against the High Priest?"

His words had barely faded when two more kill notifications appeared. The support and main carry from both sides had once again traded kills.

The number of deaths for both sides has reached 5 and 4 respectively.

The camera panned to the players' bench, where Qiu Cheng's face was flushed red, a shade darker than his teammates. You Xin, meanwhile, was casually clicking the mouse with one hand on the keyboard and the other, seemingly unconcerned about his 0-4 deficit.

He certainly didn't need to care. Because he never intended to have any fun in the first place.

"Yux is back in the game. He rode his horse out of the respawn point and picked up a treasure chest in the tower. Now he's planning to jump out of this window... Is this window a bit small? Can he really jump?" The commentator was embarrassed. "Okay, he jumped, one, two, three... Oops, he got stuck!"

In the game, a character with long gray-black hair and wearing armor is riding a horse, with half of the horse's body outside the window and half inside, stuck in mid-air.

"..."

You Xin's expression remained unchanged. He then performed two more jumping movements.

The horse remained unmoved.

By this point, the Blue Team's advantage was quite obvious, so the fans in the stands simply laughed in relief. The commentator, half exasperated and half amused, exclaimed, "I told you not to ride horses in the castle!!!"

Hahahahaha

[We have the most realistic physics engine.jpg]

I'm not entirely convinced that his head didn't get stuck in the door frame.

[Yux was just messing around this game. What normal person rides a horse in a castle? He picked this champion purely to charge into the enemy priest's face. Every team fight resulted in a one-for-one trade.]

[I don't usually follow the streamer scene, does yux have a grudge against the opposing high priest?]

[If you don't understand, you can search the keyword "beating a streamer is nothing to brag about" on Yux's Weibo.]

It took You Xin nearly twenty seconds to jump out of the window, but this little incident did not change his plans for the trip.

He leisurely rode his horse over the wall—performing a high-wire act on the spot—and took a shortcut to catch up with the main group.

Then, he stopped moving.

The director thoughtfully provided a perspective from behind the knight. In the footage, the enemy high priest could be clearly seen appearing in his field of vision.

As if some command etched into his DNA had been triggered, the knight spurred his horse and galloped toward the high priest!

The high priest reacted as if he'd seen a ghost upon seeing the knight, immediately panicking and trying to flee. However, the knight had imbued his sword with a slowing effect, clinging relentlessly to his back!

[Witch] AngelYi has killed [High Priest] Fall!

"Pfft... He didn't even forget to bring the witch's potion with him, helping the carry get the kill." The commentator's tone had become helpless at this point, "The knight and the high priest swapped for the fifth time, and yux was completely immersed in his own art and couldn't pull himself out... Okay. I think the high priest's mentality might be a little broken."

Yau Cheng's mentality has indeed collapsed.

After his best-performing professional High Priest suffered a dismal 0-7-1 defeat in the first game, he lost the next two games again, this time with a score of 0-3 and 0-5, making it two games in a row.

The first-place team from Group A faced off against the first-place team from Group B, resulting in a crushing 3-0 victory that surprised most people. Aside from support player yux, who was constantly charging around the field and had a less-than-stellar performance, almost the entire Angels team suffered zero casualties.

Angel Yi, who was underestimated by some who believed that "offline matches would expose her true skill level," won three MVPs in three games using the hero [Witch], [Bard], and [Elemental Mage].

His opponent, Qiu Cheng, failed to secure a single kill in these three games.

-

The post-match interviews for the offline tournament were conducted by two people, and Nan Zhiyi, as the three-time MVP, unsurprisingly took to the stage again. Beside him was Xiaoyu, who had also performed well that day.

Interviews at the Juxing Cup typically feature the two best-performing players, so Yux, who let loose and fed three games, wasn't eligible to go on stage. One wonders if the organizers regretted losing this potential audience.

Nan Zhiyi stood next to the host, the spotlight shining down on him. He held the microphone and waved to the audience, his eyes sparkling: "Hello everyone, I'm Angel Yi."

Xiaoyu followed suit and introduced herself. She was so excited that the microphone bumped against her lips: "...I am Xiaoyu."

Nan Zhiyi smiled and patted his shoulder, signaling him not to be too nervous. The audience responded with deafening cheers.

"Today is actually Angel Yi's first interview with us, as a contestant in the main competition," the host said with a smile. "Three weeks of competition have passed, and I believe our viewers have many questions and curiosities about you. Could you answer some of them for us?"

Nan Zhiyi raised the microphone: "...I will try my best to answer."

"First, a small question about the match. Your outstanding performance today, as well as in the previous group stage matches, has been evident to everyone. How would you rate your recent performance on the field?"

"Well... actually, everyone knows why I came to participate in this competition." Nan Zhiyi raised one hand, twirled it to indicate that her hands were 'empty'. "I just want to say... to those who posted videos to slander me before, do you really think I would need to hire a substitute player or cheat?"

For a moment, the audience almost fell silent.

Then, someone started clapping. The word spread like wildfire, and thunderous applause echoed throughout the venue, with some people shouting "Xiao Yi!!!"

Wow, that's so tough!

[A bunch of unknown, despicable creatures spread rumors that someone was using cheats or having someone else play for them, but when they actually competed, they got completely thrashed.]

[This is already considered mild. If it were Yux, they'd probably go straight for a live-action Mortal Kombat.]

"Wow..." The host was clearly moved by this scene. "Before you came to our Juxing Cup, almost no one could have imagined that you were so 'hidden'. I believe many viewers, like me, are now very curious: with such a high level of gaming skill, why do you usually only make entertainment-oriented videos? Have you ever thought about... more? Like participating in professional training?"

Nan Zhiyi lowered her eyes slightly: "Well... being a streamer is definitely more fun than climbing the ladder every day, and it can also provide entertainment value for everyone. That's all I have to say. I'm already 22 this year, and if I were to go pro now, well, it feels like I'm abusing an old person."

He cleverly avoided the core contradiction of the issue. The audience chuckled.

"It seems that Angel's fans can rest assured, the streamer will not abandon you!" the host laughed.

The post-match interview couldn't go too long, so the host asked him two more questions about the game, mainly about why he targeted the enemy's main carry player so much. He frankly said, "The enemy team had a bad mentality. If you kill the main carry, the whole team will collapse." "They targeted me, so I can have my teammates target them too." "Yux didn't perform badly. He died so many times to protect me."

The audience below the stage: "..."

Regardless of the consequences, just rush to the enemy's main DPS and kill them first... So that's what protection is called, huh?

When the host turned to Xiaoyu, his expression was noticeably more affectionate. Considering it was Xiaoyu's first interview, the questions were mostly gentle, such as "What's your favorite class to play?" and "Why did you make that move on the map today?"

After Xiaoyu stammered through his explanation of the Berserker's skill strategy, the host asked the final question: "Would you like to say a blessing to each of your three teammates?"

Little Fish nodded. He frowned and began to think seriously.

"Wishing Meng a happy retirement." After a moment, he raised the microphone. "Well... since he's retired now, I wish him happiness every day from now on."

Nan Zhiyi nearly dropped the microphone. The host's expression also became a bit strange, as if he wanted to laugh but was trying his best to hold it back.

【。。。。。】

[…These kids [facepalm]]

[They're still competing, why are they already talking about retiring? Hahahaha]

"My best wishes to player Yux." Xiaoyu paused, then suddenly straightened his back, his eyes and tone becoming incredibly firm, and he spoke without hesitation, as if he had uttered these words countless times in his heart. "—I wish him that this year, he can defeat all doubts, win the World Invitational Championship, and fulfill his dream!!"

"…………"

Nan Zhiyi really wanted to cover his mouth. The host, on the other side, was laughing so hard he covered his face.

【？】

【？？？？？】

[So genuine and heartfelt that it's like a string of...]

Before she could feel any more heartache, Nan Zhiyi heard him say, "Finally... our captain, Angel Yi."

After Xiaoyu finished reading his name, she fell silent, revealing an expression of deep thought. Clearly, she couldn't find a suitable blessing for him in time.

"..." Although Nan Zhiyi had a bad feeling, he still looked at Xiaoyu with a smile and encouraged him with his eyes.

As if receiving a positive signal from him, Xiaoyu nodded, his gaze gradually shifting from confusion to determination.

He raised the microphone and said earnestly, "I wish that our captain, Angel Yi, will be able to disregard the opinions of the world and one day find true happiness!"

Nan Zhiyi's smile froze completely on her face: "…………?"

-----------------------

Author's Note: What to do when your child is too talkative?