Chapter 79 His luck was very good, next time...
On their first day in City C, the venue for this year's World Invitational Tournament, almost everyone slept like the dead.
Nan Zhiyi, barely managing to stay awake, followed Mike and Lao Xu to see the training room that HYG would be using for the next month. The organizers had prepared training facilities for all teams, but HYG ultimately chose to borrow the training room from the local team FS.
The company behind FS is a sports media platform, which also sponsors HYG and has its logo printed on the team uniforms.
In this year's European competition, FS was eliminated early in the playoffs, and as the sponsoring company, they were naturally happy to lend their training room to HYG.
"But if that's the case, won't their local fans say that FS is betraying their region?"
On the way to the base, Nan Zhiyi asked thoughtfully.
"It shouldn't be that bad," Old Xu waved his hand. "And even if things get really bad, we can just keep quiet about where we are."
“But I heard from milk that he also plans to stream from someone else’s base and change the title to something like ‘Backdoor FS Team’.”
"...What?!" Old Xu's forehead vein throbbed. He picked up his phone and glanced at it. "No way! I have to go back and talk to him later..."
After getting off the bus, Mike took on the role of communicating with the base manager. Although they were in different countries, City C was very close to Mike's hometown, and the official language was the same. On the way there, Nam Ji-yi jokingly said that he was the local bigwig, but it took her several minutes to explain that "local bigwig" was not an insult.
After waking up, the HYG team members also came to the base, and all expressed their great satisfaction with the training environment.
Upon hearing that the base had been loaned out, some members of the FS team even made a special trip from their vacation. The two new trainees who debuted this year are both fans of yux, and they somehow managed to get a huge headshot of him and ask him to sign it.
You Xin clearly didn't like this kind of overly enthusiastic merchandise, but still politely signed his name on it. Nan Zhiyi, suppressing a laugh, secretly took two photos, planning to post them later in her nine-grid WeChat Moments summarizing the World Championship.
After a two-day break, the qualifying rounds of the World Invitational Tournament officially began.
Having secured first place in the regional annual points standings, HYG naturally didn't need to participate in the round of 16 qualifiers. However, milk expressed his desire to attend the match in person.
"What's so interesting about this bunch of weaklings fighting each other?" Rock blurted out, then suddenly became alert, looked around and found no cameras filming him. "No offense to anyone... just stating the facts."
milk: "I have to keep my promise to win the championship, I can't exactly wear it to the competition."
"...No, you're serious?" Rock was dumbfounded. "Don't tell me you packed that outfit in your suitcase and brought it with you, right?"
Milk smiled brightly, happily pulled the high priest cosplay outfit out of her suitcase, held it up in front of her, and spun around to show it off.
Rock felt his vision go black: "Dude, you go by yourself, none of us are going. We can't afford to lose face like that."
"They couldn't refuse the animals and insisted on performing," You Xin commented from the side.
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In the end, it turned out that Nan Zhiyi, You Xin, along with several staff members and Milk, who was dressed as a high priestess with a silver wig and turned heads wherever she went, went to watch the final match of this year's qualifying rounds. The reason was that the staff told Nan Zhiyi that the organizers had invited him to draw lots on stage during the group stage this year.
Since Nan Zhiyi went, You Xin would naturally go with her. He didn't really mind appearing in the same scene as Milk, who was dressed as a woman.
"Should I participate in the draw?" Nan Zhiyi asked, puzzled. These kinds of draws are usually conducted by retired players or celebrities from other fields. "That's not a good idea. I have a direct connection with the participating teams."
"It's alright. Since the organizers invited you, it means there are no problems with the process," Lao Xu said. "It's a good thing to be able to show your face. I guess the organizers also want to use your fame for some marketing or something. Everyone likes to see a handsome guy."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered the most important question: "Wait a minute—how's your luck?"
Before Nan Zhiyi could speak, You Xin interrupted, "Very good."
Nan Zhiyi was both amused and exasperated: "Don't take out a loan for me! What if I get an OTG?"
OTG, the reigning World Invitational champions, remain as strong as ever this year. Although they suffered a surprising upset in the Summer Split finals, losing 2-3 to YT, their overall performance still makes them the top team in the region.
However, due to their defeat in the finals and entry into the second seed pool, OTG and HYG are likely to meet in the group stage.
While a match between these two teams would likely turn their group into a "group of death," fans of both teams would probably be unwilling to be drawn together. After all, anything can happen in a best-of-one (BO1) series. If one team were to unexpectedly lose to a weaker team and be eliminated in the group stage, they'd be lucky to escape with their lives.
"It's okay, draw whoever you want," You Xin said. "I'll beat up whoever you draw."
Rock let out a strange yell from behind: "Don't speak for me! I really don't want to play OTG!"
You Xin gave him a disdainful look: "How can you win the championship if you don't play against OTG?"
Rock didn't stand on ceremony and started ordering: "That's simple. First, OTG and YT are in the same region, right? Then they'll be placed in Groups A and B, and we'll be drawn into Groups C or D. In the quarterfinals, we won't be in the same half of the bracket as them, so we can just watch them fight each other. Oh, and it would be best to draw two more teams that came in from the play-in stage to guarantee their advancement. As for WD? I don't care about their fate."
—Then, in front of the 8,000 audience members present and the 8 million online viewers worldwide, Nan Zhiyi drew the exact same lot that Rock had mentioned.
He put down the last autographed piece he had just taken apart and displayed, which bore the name of a qualifying team. He looked up at the camera, his expression somewhat bewildered.
In stark contrast, Milk was incredibly excited in the audience—he ripped off his wig, jumped up, waved it wildly at the coach on stage, and shouted, "Nice!!!"
This draw is practically unbeatable; it's a guaranteed admission.
[HYG's performance is purely due to their training staff carrying the team, I think]
[The head coach doesn't even need to warm up anymore; his divine intervention has instantly summoned an SSR!]
Uh, isn't this just too lucky...?
[Making the draws? Who made the draws? Did the organizers make all the draws for their own region?]
Furthermore, the other teams in the CD half of the bracket aren't very strong... If HYG performs normally, they'll at least secure second place.
WD is devastated; they were paired with OTG again this year, hahaha!
Group A is another group of death...
Wake up, guys! Don't repeat last year's group stage exit.
[In that case, HYG and OTG will only meet in the finals, right?]
[It feels like a repeat of last year's finals. OTG is incredibly strong this year; they're not a team like HYG that can pull off a knockout performance.]
What's the psychology behind starting by badmouthing your own people?
"I really didn't collude with them." Even after returning to the training room, Nan Zhiyi was still a little dizzy. "I just randomly drew a number, and that's how I got it."
He asked with some concern, "Wouldn't it be a bad idea to only play against weak teams in the group stage?"
"Relax, relax." Rock patted him hard on the shoulder. "Isn't this a good enough result? Why fight so hard when you can get a guaranteed admission? Why settle for a C when you can just coast along?"
He glanced at You Xin and said meaningfully, "Only young people think about striving all day long! Old people like us wish we could just beat the qualifying teams and win the championship—what do you mean a championship has no value? Even if it has no value, isn't it still a world championship?"
There is no break between the group stage and the play-in stage; there are six matches a day. WD and OTG from Group A will play their match the day after tomorrow.
This also means they have less preparation time than other groups. In contrast, HYG, ranked in Group D, not only has the weakest opponents but also the longest preparation time.
However, it is clear that the length of preparation time is unlikely to affect a truly strong team.
On the first day of the group stage, OTG swept Group A 3-0, while WD came in second 2-1, with their match against OTG being a crushing defeat.
Both teams are the second seeds in their respective regions, yet their strengths are so vastly different.
As soon as the match ended, Nan Zhiyi received a WeChat message from Song Baiyu.
[Pigeon: Brothers! Brothers!!! Avenge me!!!]
[Pigeon: I'm so angry! The other team keeps spamming emotes to taunt me, and we're at a disadvantage so we can't talk back. I'm so frustrated!!!]
OTG teams have a distinct style: wild, fond of pranks, and outspoken. Or perhaps the entire region is like that. When they win, they act like they own the place; when they lose, they stand at attention and take the beating. This alternating cycle doesn't make them too annoying.
This team wins so many times that most of the time their opponents are furious with them but can do nothing about it.
[Xiaoyi Xiaoyi: OO]
[A little something: Okay]
[Xiaoyi Xiaoyi: I'll talk to Yux about it later]
[Pigeon: ?]
[Pigeon: You actually took this seriously.]
Nan Zhiyi smiled and followed the other members of the training team out of the room to the training room.
As soon as I entered, I heard Rock loudly proclaiming, "...You can joke around, you can joke around, but you have to know your limits, right? If a joke goes too far and people don't find it funny, then it's not a joke anymore. Look at what he's saying, don't you think it's a bit too harsh?"
"What's wrong?" Nan Zhiyi asked.
Rock turned around, saw it was him, and hesitated for a moment: "Uh... well, OTG officially subtly criticized us. I only found out when I saw people making a fuss in the fan group."
"Pretty much. OTG just tweeted something like, 'Those who rely on luck won't make it to the end,'" team leader Awen said from the side. "They also included a picture of... you during the draw."
Nan Zhiyi raised her eyebrows.
"Haven't they always been like this?" he said.
Generally speaking, the teams that OTG considers rivals will be the ones most thoroughly mocked by OTG's strategy in the season's competition. In last year's World Championship, that team was CG.
Rock: "Yi-ge, aren't you angry?"
"Are you alright?" Nan Zhiyi shrugged, glancing furtively at You Xin beside her. She noticed he was wearing headphones, engrossed in his practice, showing no intention of joining the discussion.
Milk turned around and gave him a thumbs up: "Look at that, that's what you call magnanimity."
He held his head and paced around in his seat twice: "It's useless to talk back to teams like OTG. Only when you actually defeat them head-on will they be convinced."
However, while the person involved is very magnanimous, the fans may not be.
The official tweet from OTG quickly garnered numerous Chinese comments.
[Uh, you don't actually think @天使意 is just an ordinary team coach, do you? Guess why the organizers invited him up on stage to draw lots?]
[Image] (@AngelStars, 20.17 million followers)
【…? You know his fanbase is bigger than your country's population = =】
[@OTG, your follower count is 4M, his is 20M. If his fans attack, each of your team's fans will have to attack four times over.]
At this point, OTG still doesn't know who they've really offended...
If you offend the angel's will, the angel will just walk away flat, but if you offend the angel's will, @HYG.Yux will punch you away, you know that?
[Some images are already starting to appear in my mind...]
Is the awards ceremony 2.0 about to take place?
[@yux Someone is bullying your wife here]
I have a feeling something bad is about to happen... no, not exactly bad... maybe, it's not good for OTG...
However, to everyone's surprise, You Xin's accounts on all platforms remained completely silent for the next few days, without the slightest new activity.
It wasn't until three days later.
In the Group D group stage, HYG's three matches all ended within 20 minutes, with three bizarre and unpredictable lineups. Yux won the MVP in the three games with DMG scores of 47%, 45%, and a high of 51%.
The day after the match, his official account posted an update.
[@HYG.Yux commented on @OTG's blog post]
[@HYG.Yux: He's very lucky. You can try mine next time.]
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Author's Note: I've been so, so, so busy lately. Updates will be less frequent this week, and there won't be an update tomorrow either. I'll make up for it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, and Saturday. (So frustrating!)
Red envelopes are dropping in the comments section! Thank you everyone for your understanding [crying emoji]
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