Chapter 5, 4v3, defeat is inevitable.

Nan Zhiyi clutched the banner, sitting in the VIP audience seat in despair.

He didn't throw it away.

Since the worst has already happened, what could be worse than this?

Song Baiyu was still winking at him from the side: "What are you standing here doing without moving? Hey, did Yux recognize you just now? See what I told you? He didn't have any hostility towards you at all."

"..." Nan Zhiyi really wanted to slap the banner in the face of this culprit. If he had known that Murphy's Law was so accurate, he would never have followed the other party backstage. "How can you still laugh?"

Song Baiyu shrugged heartlessly: "Just tell me if I'm right or not."

"Shut up. You don't understand at all."

"What could I not understand? There's nothing in this world that your brother doesn't understand." Song Baiyu snorted twice.

After thinking for a moment, I added, "Except for love. We single women should be more modest."

Nan Zhiyi: "..." He really didn't want to say another word to this person.

As the match time approached, the stands gradually filled with spectators.

Song Baiyu ran into a few players he was on good terms with and they started chatting. Judging from their tone, they were probably gossiping about something.

Nan Zhiyi had no interest in joining in the other people's chatter and absentmindedly started scrolling through her phone.

He received a message notification mentioning him in a group chat called "Eternal Friendship Conference".

There are more than 20 people in the group, mostly popular streamers in the gaming section of Stars.

Nan Zhiyi scrolled through the chat history.

[Tangyuan: Tonight, Xingxing and I are watching the match offline. @Taoxing, we're one short. Is there anyone else who can come?]

[Matsutoshi: Aren't you with the city lord?]

Tao Xing: He has something to do and can't come.

[Tangyuan: Brother Qiu went back to his hometown. He just got into a controversy with a big star, how could he dare to broadcast this?]

[Song Shi: Ugh, I can't handle this wave of attention [laughing while covering mouth]]

There was a brief silence in the group chat.

After a while, Tao Xing posted another message.

[Tao Xing: @Angel Yi, want to come join us?]

[Tangyuan: I guess Yi Ge isn't coming with us.]

[Tangyuan: Big streamers don't even get to play with us little shrimps [laughing and crying emoji]]

The message was from an hour ago.

Nan Zhiyi (@Tao Xing) replied to her message: 【Sister Xingxing, my friends and I are traveling, so we won't be coming today】

A new reply quickly appeared in the group.

[Tangyuan: Which girl did Yi Ge go out and have fun with? He's even skipping the finals.]

Tangyuan: You're going to make Xingxing sad [winking emoji]

Tangyuan and Qiucheng are streamers signed by the same guild. Their usual streaming style is flamboyant. They often make a scene by suddenly jumping up and overturning their own chairs during the stream. They are very loud and their usual chatting style is not very boundary-bound.

Nan Zhiyi didn't want to reveal that she was at the finals venue at that moment, so she didn't respond to his teasing.

Tao Xing: @Tangyuan, don't talk nonsense.

[Tao Xing: Xiao Yi, have fun! Don't keep looking at your phone when you're out having fun.]

Nan Zhiyi typed a reply.

[Angel's Wish: Thanks, sis, I'm going to play now [happy]]

-

Nan Zhiyi sent a happy emoji, but she couldn't really be happy.

He was a little nervous.

The opening ceremony of the finals was much grander than that of other events, and included song and dance performances.

Nan Zhiyi stared blankly at the group of people jumping around on the stage, as if in a daze. He didn't come back to his senses until the contestants from both sides started to take the stage.

The venue was very warm, but his palms were sweaty and his heart was pounding.

The host was introducing the players in English, which Nan Zhiyi only half understood. However, when You Xin came on stage, the host clearly perked up. He heard the host loudly describe Yux as "King," and the crowd erupted in cheers. Despite being an away player, Yux received just as much welcome as the home team, OTG.

The murmurs at the scene gradually subsided only after the competition officially began.

The first game went more smoothly than Nan Zhiyi, and many viewers from the CN region, had imagined.

Yux picked up his favorite professional archer and dominated the jungle map, ending the game with an amazing score of 14-0-2.

In the second game, CG was at a disadvantage in the early stages, but yux stepped up again at the crucial moment, taking on three opponents and turning the tide to win. His performance amazed the commentators.

CG leads 2-0, holding three match points.

When the word "Victory" popped up, Song Baiyu shouted from the side, his voice cracking, "Holy crap, Little! Wandering! God! Awesome!!!"

—The team that shaved WD's head and nearly made Song Baiyu and his teammates swim back to China was OTG.

Seeing his brother team avenge him, Song Baiyu was extremely excited.

"If we win today, I'll declare yux a god!" He grabbed Nan Zhiyi's shoulder and shook her. "I think I complained about him to you before, right? That main carry from OTG, Hust, he's got terrible character. I ran into him in ranked before, he camped at the gate and killed me. It was so damn satisfying..."

Nan Zhiyi was a little dizzy from the 2-0 lead, but she still raised her hand to stop Song Baiyu from popping champagne in the second half: "Don't you think beer isn't in very good form?"

In the second game just now, beer died three times in a row at the start. If it weren't for Youxin stepping up at the end, they probably would have already been defeated by the opponent.

"Isn't he always like that, sometimes unpredictable, sometimes crazy?" Song Baiyu said, as if it were commonplace. "Actually, we secretly call him 'Crazy C'."

Nan Zhiyi: "..."

Nan Zhiyi: "But what if Yux can't step up later? We can't keep relying on him to carry the team all the time."

Song Baiyu chuckled, "It's the finals, don't say such unlucky things."

"I'm just worried."

Song Baiyu: "...I've figured it out. You true fans all like to lie in your coffins first, and then lift them up when you win, right?"

Nan Zhiyi smiled.

However, he soon stopped laughing.

In the third game, CG's hidden strategy was exposed by OTG, and in response, Youxin got a class that was very unfavorable in the current version.

The map for this game is Sky City, and CG's win rate on this map is a pitiful 34%.

Forty minutes later, the game was lost without any suspense.

“2 to 1…” Song Baiyu was no longer as excited as before. “It’s not a big problem. We can’t be reverse-swept in the finals, can we? That hasn’t happened in years.”

The audience didn't have much time to be on edge, as the fourth game began soon.

During the pick phase, CG locked up the [High Priest] on the last floor.

"Yux's playing High Priest is something else," Song Baiyu remarked thoughtfully. "I don't recall him often playing this... Wait, he gave High Priest to Beer?!"

He stared at the big screen in disbelief: "—Is this some kind of CG game?!"

The roles of sub-DPS and main DPS are mostly the same; the only difference is which one teammates tend to protect.

Some teams will choose to delegate more of the damage output to the secondary carry when the main carry is not performing well.

Classes like the High Priest, which have long range but are fragile, are usually assigned to the position with the highest damage output.

There was a murmur of discussion in the stands, and the commentator sounded surprised.

The director gave You Xin a close-up shot at just the right moment.

By the fourth game of the best-of-five series, most of the players were drenched in sweat, but You Xin remained calm and composed.

Even the direction of her hair strands is exactly the same as when she first came on stage.

In this game, he chose the [Elemental Mage], a class with relatively low damage output but decent survivability. On camera, he didn't speak, seemingly agreeing with the team's decision.

Nan Zhiyi was getting restless.

He turned to Song Baiyu and asked, "In that last game, was the main carry playing really badly? Was it necessary to switch positions like that?"

In regular playoff best-of-five series, very few teams would make such a decision, let alone in the finals.

In the third match, although yux was targeted by his opponent and ended the game with a score of 0-4-2, he only made one minor mistake throughout the entire game.

Song Baiyu stared at the screen.

He looked somewhat serious: "...I feel like CG's tactics are no good. They've been completely outmaneuvered by the opponent. Even without switching positions, after the class selection, it looks like this game is over."

The fourth match was a complete rout.

The only difference is that OTG is destructive, while CG is withered and decaying.

The match reached an extremely tight 2-2 tie.

Down in the audience, Nan Zhiyi was completely unable to look at the big screen.

He discovered that during the battle, CG was attacked whenever he looked at the screen.

He stopped looking at the screen, and his CG performance actually improved quite a bit.

He secretly prayed that if he didn't look at the next one, he might actually win.

How many times in a lifetime can one stand on the finals stage and hold the match point?

Nan Zhiyi, seemingly lost in thought, fixed her gaze on the second member of the CG team on the left.

Until everyone around them gasped in surprise.

Before he could even ask what was wrong, he looked up and saw that above You Xin's ID on the 2nd floor, a profession was clearly locked.

—The witch.

"Holy crap, is he crazy?" Song Baiyu was so shocked he was almost speechless. It took him a long time to finally manage to stammer out, "The witch hasn't been on the field for years... Has nobody played her all year?"

The requirements for a professional character are completely different in ranked matches and in competitions. The Witch, a character with poor balance and extremely low margin for error, is almost never used by players even in regular leagues.

Now, someone has chosen her for the finals.

The director gave the four CG characters another close-up.

In the footage, You Xin, who had just made a surprising move, still had that expressionless look, while the other three turned to look at him in unison.

Wind looked surprised, beer lowered his eyebrows, and tank player boss made no attempt to hide his surprise, opening his mouth wide into an "O" shape.

Coach Zds, standing behind the team, looked extremely grim.

You Xin's unexpected career choice seems to have thrown OTG off balance.

After much hesitation, OTG locked in two professional players who had performed poorly and didn't quite fit the team's style.

CG chose the cat-man, who is a good fit for the witch, for the support role.

Song Baiyu's eyes lit up: "OTG's pick is a bit confusing... But looking at it this way, it doesn't seem like it's a bad idea?"

"Maybe," Nan Zhiyi said, but still sighed. "I think, well, it's not likely."

"Don't be so pessimistic," Song Baiyu nudged him with her shoulder. "It's just one more shot away."

Nan Zhiyi hesitated for a moment. If they were in a live broadcast room right now, he would never have said those words: "No, that won't do."

“Wind’s cat… isn’t very good,” he said. “It’s not about the operation. I’ve watched so many CG matches, and every time he plays cat, fundamentally, his thinking is flawed.”

"It's not noticeable when playing against weaker teams. But against strong teams like OTG, under pressure, his thinking can skew the entire team."

Song Baiyu was stunned for a moment: "Really? Tell me about it later, I've never noticed before."

The intense final battle has finally begun.

This also confirms that Nan Zhiyi's sixth sense is extremely accurate.

Shortly after the start of the game, everyone watching the match noticed something was wrong.

—Wind clearly chose the cat person, but spent the whole time clinging to the secondary character, beer.

Beer, holding the resurrection point, and the two of them acted together, but ended up leaving the witch, who needed protection, alone in the castle.

Even the commentators couldn't help but ask, "...Is this a new tactic developed by CG?"

Another commentator was caught off guard: "Uh... well..."

Because it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see that this is less of a tactic and more of an isolation tactic.

Many main DPS players have experienced this firsthand in ranked matches.

In solo queue, it's common to play without a support. As a result, most main carry players have very unique playstyles, attempting to win games by single-handedly carrying the team.

Right now, Yux doesn't seem to be playing a do-or-die game in the finals; he's more like playing a solo queue game with no teamwork whatsoever.

Soon, OTG also discovered the problem with CG.

Nan Zhiyi noticed that several OTG players were exchanging information quickly.

Next, OTG set up their respawn point. The four players split into two groups: the secondary carry, support, and tank moved towards yux's location, while the main carry moved towards beer's location.

“OTG must have guessed that the resurrection point was in beer’s hands,” Song Baiyu explained with a frown. “But why did they only send one person…”

As he was speaking, he suddenly slapped his thigh: "Oh no! They're not going to destroy the resurrection point!!"

Nan Zhiyi had already seen through the opponent's actions. At this moment, she felt extremely heavy-hearted, but she could still barely analyze the game: "--They want to interfere with Yux's resurrection."

The next moment, OTG's main DPS appeared near Beer, whose resurrection point had not yet been set up.

This person killed beer five times in the last game.

Beer was startled and immediately ran to the other side with the kitten.

The moment he made a move, the other three OTG members who were lying in ambush on the witch's path instantly appeared!

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Amidst screams from the crowd, yux faced a sudden opponent, fighting three against one, barely managing to take down the opposing secondary carry before collapsing in front of the OTG tank wielding a heavy sword.

On the other side, Wind and Beer faced off two against one, but were so frightened that they scattered and fled.

Beer is holding the fourth stone, which has not yet been placed.

The Resurrection Gate is active for 10 seconds after a teammate dies.

Eleven seconds after the witch fell, beer shook off the enemy's main carry and finally placed the stone in the correct position.

—It's all too late.

[The Witch] CG.Yux's soul has been banished from the world.

As the dust settled, the OTG fans in the stadium cheered.

There are only seven players left on the field.

With 4 against 3, defeat is inevitable.

Amidst the overwhelming chants of "Let's go OTG," Nam Ji-yi subconsciously looked towards the stage.

He was sitting very close to the front, so he could clearly see the actions and expressions of everyone on the CG side.

The screen in front of You Xin had turned black and white forever. He stared at the game screen for a while, his hands on the mouse and keyboard clenched tightly, as if he couldn't believe that he had fallen in such an absurd way, just one step away from the trophy.

After a long while, the hands loosened, slowly slid off the table, and fell to their sides.

-

"What are they thinking?" Song Baiyu grumbled the whole way back to the hotel. "Why abandon the witch to protect the secondary DPS?"

As he spoke, he got a little angry with himself and turned to Nan Zhiyi: "If it were me, I would go on stage and protect the witch, and maybe we would win?"

Nan Zhiyi stopped in her tracks.

He thought for a moment: "It's still difficult. Wind chose the cat, so she can't carry the resurrection point by herself. The other two people in the team are not very flexible and can hardly act alone. So this pick must kidnap the witch to set up the resurrection point, otherwise the cat will have to follow someone else."

“If…” Nan Zhiyi paused for a moment, “If it were me, given the situation, I would actually choose to stick with Bost. Not to protect the carry closely, but to keep the enemy out of their attack range. If the two of them go into the danger zone, generally nothing will happen.”

Song Baiyu pondered for a while and said, "Damn... what you said makes a lot of sense."

"If I had your brain, our team might have made it into the quarterfinals." He said, then suddenly thought of something, "Xiao Yi, what if you hadn't quit back then? Maybe you and Yux would be on the court today."

"..." Nan Zhiyi kindly reminded him, "Wind is the CG captain."

Song Baiyu seemed not to hear, still lost in his own imagination: "Back in the day, when you and Yux were partners, you were invincible! In training, weren't you always number one on the team? The first time I played against your B team, I called my brother that night, crying and saying I didn't want to play anymore and wanted to go home. It took him over an hour to persuade me to stop. Hey, if it were you today, you'd go up there and slap Hust a few times, leaving him completely bewildered..."

Back at the hotel, Song Baiyu went straight to the bathroom, intending to wash away her resentment with water.

Nan Zhiyi, meanwhile, was watching a group interview with the losing side of CG while lying in bed.

When he entered the live stream, the reporter was asking Yux a question: In the fifth game, the team chose to protect the secondary carry instead of the main carry. What was the communication situation within the team at that time?

The camera slowly panned across the stage, revealing Wind, who had already been subjected to a round of questioning, with his head bowed, as if he wished he could bury his face under the table. Beer, standing next to him, was deathly pale, clutching a bottle of mineral water, the wrapper almost torn to shreds.

You Xin sat on the far right of the line, looking straight ahead.

His expression shifted slightly when the host read out his ID.

Taking the microphone from you, You Xin asked, "Are you asking about our team communication back then?"

Reporter: "Yes."

There was no communication within the team at the time.

After You Xin finished speaking, he simply shoved the microphone into the arms of the coach next to him, as if to say, "Ask him if you want."

Coach Zds's expression immediately changed.

A large number of [?] comments immediately flooded the screen.

Has this meant things have completely fallen apart?

[Didn't you mess things up yourself? And now you're trying to shift the blame to your teammates?]

[This isn't the only way Xiao Youshen acts. Is this your first time seeing him interviewed?]

Is stating the facts considered shifting blame?

[You immediately lock in the Witch, an orphan class, at the start of the game, and then expect your teammates to protect you?]

Choosing the witch is clearly an admission of abandoning teammates and wanting to carry the game alone.

[Barking like a dog? This person was already the top witch in the Asia server before becoming a pro. And who are you?]

[Brother You is a decent guy. If it were me, I would have been immediately banned. He worked so hard to carry his bot teammates into the finals, and then he dragged them down.]

Being swept 3-2 is worse than being swept 3-0; at least I wouldn't have to stay up all night only to end up with a bad meal.

The reporters in the audience were clearly stunned by this answer.

After a long pause, she continued, "The next question is still for Yux... Although today's result wasn't ideal, you still led the team to the finals. You have one year left on your contract with CG. What are your plans for the next year, Yux?"

The microphone was returned to You Xin's hands.

You Xin, who was looking at his hands, lifted his eyelids upon hearing this and glanced at the people below the stage.

After a long pause, he said calmly, "Let's start over."

...

There were many different opinions about CG's last match of the year.

Some say the three members of ABW took money to fix the match, some say yux is a pure and innocent person, and some say coach Zds is a Class A war criminal.

The atmosphere during the match has faded, but the intensity of the discussions has only increased.

Everything reached its climax on the day the transfer window closed and all teams announced their rosters.

Since yux's three-year contract with CG has one year left, previous discussions about him did not focus on this.

However, on the roster for the CG 2025 Spring Season, the word "substitute" was clearly written below CG.Yux's ID.

The original main carry position has been replaced by xww, a newcomer who was promoted from the second team and has never played a single league match.

One stone stirs up a thousand waves.

Yux's fans had no idea that this was just the beginning.

—In the following months, Yux, the top player of the new generation, the winner of the ROE League Spring and Summer Championships and the FMVP, and the biggest contributor to the team's championship, did not play a single match, did not play a single ranked game, and even his usual ranked accounts did not log in for more than 100 days.

It's as if they suddenly vanished into thin air.

A note from the author:

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Xiao Yi: (Lifts the coffin) (Lifts the coffin and lies flat) (Lifts the coffin) (Lifts the coffin) (Lifts the coffin and lies flat) (Starts editing Moments) #What if the main team is in the district#