Chapter 61 Because he felt... this game...
The little fish's concerns are not unfounded.
That afternoon, shortly after the trash talk promotional video aired, the words "Golden Broom" prominently appeared on Weibo's entertainment trending topics.
A large number of unidentified individuals appeared under the official Weibo account of the Eternal Rebirth event, flooding it with likes and comments, and relentlessly tagging You Qing's studio, demanding that they come forward to gather evidence and protect their rights.
However, he was quickly and thoroughly criticized by the yux fans who arrived one after another.
[Didn't you guys provoke us first? Why are you so sensitive about all this trash talk?]
Let me see what Xiaoyou said. Oh, she told the truth. [vomiting emoji]
[Actually, yux remembered wrong. This 208 acted in two movies, once at age 16 and once at age 24. The reason he didn't win the Golden Broom Award the first time was purely because of the Juvenile Protection Law, I think.]
The online trolls were no match for the real, popular fans, and quickly suffered a series of defeats.
Then, someone came up with a terrible idea: to hire online trolls to vote on the official support rates for both sides of the competition.
So much so that at 4:30 PM, when the live stream switched to the studio, the two commentators on the podium, looking at the data prompts given to them by the director, fell into a deep silence: "………………"
After a long pause, the commentator, with a pained expression, forced himself to read aloud: "In this epic showdown, our CG team garnered 280 million views..."
"Wow, it seems our CG team is quite popular!" the second commentator awkwardly chimed in.
After they finished speaking, they each gave a dry laugh, neither daring to look to their right—to their right sat You Qing, the special commentator for today's final, who was busy posing for the camera, making a perfectly timed toothy smile, completely unaware that the awkwardness in the studio was entirely their fault.
[Why does this guy, number 208, seem a bit slow on the uptake?]
[These fans are just like their idols; how much intelligence can you expect from someone who can come up with the idea of manipulating votes for support?]
[For those unfamiliar, this person has a terrible reputation in the industry, lots of scandals, and despite having connections, everything they act in flops. Their acting skills are probably only noticeable to their fans!]
Soon, the director removed the embarrassing support rate and replaced it with the winning probability predictions of the thirteen commentators and guests.
The predictions for CG and Angel Team's victory were placed in the blue and red groups respectively, and the contrast was so obvious that it was almost unbearable to look at – the blue group had twelve members, while the red group had only one lonely member.
"Currently, more people believe CG will win, with scores mainly around 3-1 or 3-2. Meanwhile, those who believe Angel Team will win are predicting... 3-0?!" Upon seeing this, the commentator couldn't help but laugh out loud. "This... it seems that Aoki-sensei is indeed a die-hard fan! This is truly 'daring'!"
"To be honest, I'm not afraid of being criticized. Today, we on the commentary stage, and even the fans supporting Angel Team, probably all felt to some extent that this was almost an impossible battle to win," another commentator said. "In fact, it's already an incredible miracle that this 'amateur team' that fought its way out of the Juxing Cup has come this far."
"Two teams fielded their full starting lineups in this competition: HYG and CG. Of course, as everyone knows, there was a minor issue within the HYG team... We might as well think it's fate that brought these two teams together on this stage today."
"But there's something I've always wanted to say to everyone: 'Knowing it's impossible, yet still doing it.' It means facing something that seems almost impossible with courage... I think the fact that this team can stand here now, bravely facing strong opponents, and that their fans can sit in the audience, bravely supporting their favorite team, is a kind of heroism unique to them!"
As the commentator finished speaking, cheers erupted from the audience. The camera zoomed in on the crowd, showing fans raising their support signs high amidst deafening cheers.
The camera shifts again, and the players from both sides enter the arena one by one. CG has five players, and Angel's team has four—having reached this final stage, they still lack a training team and have no coach to help them.
The first map is [Ruins].
In this game, CG took the initiative and broke through Angel's defense with a fast-paced lineup, winning the first game in 34 minutes.
The second game, [Sky City].
Beer lived up to expectations, once again choosing his signature swordsman on this long-range map—not long ago, he had used this lineup to secure a small victory against his formidable opponent NJ.
But this time, fate did not favor him.
In this game, Meng's Mercy performed exceptionally well, achieving a near 86% Terror Arrow hit rate and dealing significant damage to Beer three times in a row before crucial resource team fights, rendering the opponent's lineup completely ineffective.
At 36 minutes, the CG respawn point was destroyed, and cheers that nearly lifted the roof off the stadium erupted.
Among the audience members present today, besides fans of both teams, there were also casual viewers who didn't favor either side and simply managed to snag tickets.
But at this moment, they also began to support Angel Yi's team, this cobbled-together streamer team, Yux's determination to leave the league, Xiaoyu's fearlessness in facing the league championship at the age of 16, Angel Yi's responsibility in leading the team to face all doubts, and Meng's courage to start over.
The third game, [Jungle].
As if the heavens had made a choice and ultimately chose to favor CG, in this Elf Altar match, CG killed the neutral creature with a mere three drops of damage advantage, gained a buff, and completed a comeback against the Angel team, which had an early advantage, at 45 minutes.
The 1-2 scoreline put Angel Italy on the brink of elimination.
"Congratulations to Team CG for securing two match points!" During the halftime break, the camera switched from the main stage to the studio.
Of the three present, two official league commentators looked regretful, while You Qing was beaming with joy, making no attempt to hide his expression.
One of the commentators said, "Actually, I think it's already very difficult for Angels to get to this point... I hope that even if they lose today's game, no one will blame anyone, because in my opinion, they have all done their best and left no regrets in this game."
Another commentator said, "But I'm really curious... what would happen if they won?"
The commentator then turned the conversation to You Qing at the opportune moment: "As for this question, I guess we'll have to ask our Brother Qing, haha."
The camera focused on You Qing, who blinked and pretended to be deep in thought.
After a moment, he smiled and said, "Then I think someone in our CG team needs to get out."
"Uh... Hahaha, it seems Brother Qing is very confident in his team!" The commentator was a little embarrassed; he had intended for the other party to say something encouraging to his players.
After chatting for a while and taking the opportunity to advertise for the sponsors, the scene returned to the main stage.
The director focused the camera on the Angels team, who were making preparations.
"Oh?" After seeing the screen, the commentator's tone became lighter. "Now we can see that Angel Yi is helping Yux put on his headphones... As a captain, that's quite thoughtful."
"In previous interviews, the players from the Angels team also mentioned that their captain has always been very attentive to the players' condition, and is always the first person to stand up and encourage everyone when morale is low," another commentator said.
“These two contestants seem very close.” You Qing suddenly spoke up, looking at the screen where Nan Zhiyi patted You Xin’s shoulder and tidied his hair that was caught in his earphones. “They seem to have a very special relationship.”
The other two commentators: "...?"
How did we suddenly get onto this topic?
After speaking meaningfully, You Qing was quite satisfied with the hint she had given.
However, at this very moment, in the main live stream room...
That's right~ Their relationship is definitely not ordinary~
[This 208 finally spoke a sensible word today, which is truly cause for celebration.]
What was this person saying today? Was he just repeating what he dreamed about?
[Please be more rigorous when reviewing commentator qualifications for future tournaments, okay? I really don't want to see Yunzi commentating on stage. She can't utter a single coherent word, and the first thing she asks is whether Yux will pick the Witch in the jungle map. It's infuriating!]
Meanwhile, on the stage.
“I get annoyed just hearing his voice,” You Xin said expressionlessly. “That idiot.”
Just then, a camera happened to pass in front of him, clearly capturing the lip movements of this "idiot".
Nan Zhiyi: "…………"
He grabbed the headphones from the other person's table, pulled them off, and put them on the other person's head, completely stuffing You Xin's ears.
Back in her seat, Nan Zhiyi felt a strange sense of peace.
He looked at the random map that popped up on the screen for this game, "The Inner World," and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.
Because he felt... they wouldn't lose this game.
As the images of the "Inside and Outside Worlds" appeared on the large screen on the main stage, another round of cheers erupted from the audience.
"Wow... this map is really tricky!" the commentator exclaimed involuntarily. "I heard that this new map, which was only released half a month ago, has already stumped the training teams of many teams."
"Based on their current performance, CG has the best understanding of this map among all teams. In the previous two BO3s, they won with a score of 2-1, and coincidentally, the deciding game of both of these BO3s was randomly selected to be on the map 'The Other Side'. Their developed double-DPS strategy with long and short range not only fits the map perfectly, but also perfectly matches their team's individual style, to the point that other teams that try to imitate their tactics will be defeated by them in the competition."
"So far, Angels have not drawn this map in any of their matches... I wonder if they will choose the same lineup, or if they will come up with some new strategy?"
"Everyone remembers what I said, right?" Nan Zhiyi said in the voice channel, "CG likes to pick short-ranged heroes for beer and long-range heroes for xww to deal with the terrain changes in the surface and the world map, and they like to initiate team fights at the time of terrain changes rather than when resource points spawn."
"Our breakthrough point is right here."
"CG's lineup remains the same, still the Swordsman + High Priest combination, while Angel's team... um? A Red Elf plus... an Assassin plus a Priest?! A pure double melee lineup?!"
"In that case, if CG had insisted on engaging them in a skirmish seven minutes ago, they would have been completely unable to fight back, right?"
As the Pick round ended, all the Angels fans were on tenterhooks.
If we lose this game again... then there really will be no more.
Map loading.
The map scene of 【The Inner World】 is an abandoned temple. In 【The Inner World】, the map is filled with giant stone pillars that reach the sky. Climbing up the stone pillars can lead to the top of the temple. There are also some stone slabs floating in mid-air that can be jumped on. The view is extremely open, making it a paradise for long-range classes.
At the 7-minute mark, the map terrain will undergo a dramatic change—the temple will collapse, the floating stone slabs will fall, and the entire temple will plunge into the [Inner World], transforming into ruins. At this point, due to obstructed vision and a reduced fighting area for both sides, short-range classes will have more room to maneuver.
The two CG characters are both specializes in different areas, one excelling in long-range attacks and the other in short-range attacks, often making them look awkward in both long-range and short-range battles.
As a result, many viewers criticized the designer, saying that the map was custom-made for this team.
Seven minutes ago, both teams were developing steadily. Due to the disadvantage of Angels' double short-range lineup and their intention to avoid fights, they also gave up some of their resources.
However, as the seven-minute mark approached and the map terrain was about to change, CG's offensive desire suddenly surged.
"xww has switched to Light form and is chipping away at the health of the Angel Team members from a distance..." The commentator's tone became tense. "CG's goal isn't to kill you, but to cripple you, so that even with a lineup that's more advantageous in the Otherworld, you won't be able to compete with them for resources, since the damage from neutral creatures in the Otherworld is too high... It seems that the Angel Team is planning to avoid fighting altogether and not retaliate at all?"
On the screen, the High Priest's long-range attack reduced the health of both of Angel's main DPS to half. Even with priests replenishing their health, they still struggled to compete with CG for neutral resource points at the 10-minute mark.
Throughout the entire map of the abandoned temple, there are neutral creatures called "Heroic Spirits" that roam freely. In the surface world, these Heroic Spirits are harmless, but in the underworld, they transform into "Wraiths" corrupted by the resentment of war, and will actively attack if the player enters their attack range.
Therefore, maintaining a healthy blood level is essential in the [Inner World].
Soon, CG took the lead by virtue of its health advantage and obtained 2,000 gold coins from the treasure chest, putting it far ahead of the opponent in terms of economy.
At 15 minutes, the neutral resource "Bound Curse" spawned in the center of the map.
In the [Surface World], there stands a luminous altar with an angel statue at its center. The corresponding blessing buff is [Divine Grace], which reduces the damage the character receives.
In the [Inner World], the corresponding buffs increase attack power, and both types of buffs are permanent once acquired.
This time, CG could no longer compete with the Angel team for resources—the High Priest's performance was frequently hampered by the various collapsing stone pillars, and his skills would often miss the wall. Once the assassin and the red elf got close, he had no chance to fight back.
"Angel Team got the Curse buff. It seems their strategy is to prioritize the buff over the treasure chest?" the commentator mused. "But right now, all teams seem to be prioritizing the treasure chest..."
After 17 minutes, as if the scene had been reversed, the collapsed stone pillars returned to their original positions, and the terrain became open again.
Twenty minutes later, another wave of treasure chests refreshed.
"Hmm?" The commentator was the first to notice something was wrong. "Actually, right now, although Angels didn't get the 2000 gold chest, their gold difference with the opponent is only 1700... I remember in the last game, when NJ got to this point, after they lost the chest, the gold difference had already widened to 3000, and they didn't get the curse buff either... This double melee lineup seems to be much more effective than going head-to-head with the opponent?"
"Both sides are now positioning themselves around the resource point... Is the Angel Team going to fight? They shouldn't be a match for CG in the real world. The Assassin and the Red Elf have both climbed onto the suspended stone slab; they seem to be planning to cross over from there... No way, could it be... they're coming back?!"
The red elf and the assassin sprinted at full speed, and as they approached the high priest, they leaped straight down from mid-air—
They have to withstand the fall damage and kill the enemy's carry!
The high priest was caught off guard, and the operator, xww, seemed to panic for a moment, his hand trembling as he missed a skill.
At the same time, the priest's healing spell landed right in front of him, hitting yux and meng precisely!
[Red Elf] Meng has killed [High Priest] CG.Xww!
With Yux's assassin's instant-cast skill combined with the Red Elf's execute effect, the High Priest fell to the ground in less than 0.5 seconds!
At the same time, the two of them took damage, and their health bars dropped to 1/3. Seeing this, CG naturally wouldn't let the opportunity pass, and the remaining three immediately rushed forward!
"The Bard went in, but his skill failed to control the enemy, and the Assassin dodged it! The Assassin's damage is very high right now, extremely high. With a well-timed dodge, one strike, two strikes, and the Bard fell! On the other side, the Red Elf is still fighting. He finished off the Swordsman, but he himself only has a sliver of health left. Now, everyone on the Angelic Team has only a sliver of health left... In this desperate battle, they won!!!"
"The damage boost that the curse buff provides to short-ranged teams is so significant that all previous teams probably underestimated the priority of this resource!!!"
0 for 4.
Four members of CG fell to the ground, and the Angels team got the treasure chest. Their economy was instantly leveled, and then they took the lead.
They didn't try to contest the 25-minute buff—the terrain changed again at the 27-minute mark.
【The Other World】.
This place is their territory now.
"At 34 minutes, CG's four players were wiped out again, and there was no way to turn the tide... Let's congratulate Angel Team for winning a crucial game in the 'Inside and Outside World' mode, which they had never played in the main tournament, after the opponent took two match points. This pushes the final to a fifth game!"
"Previously, all the teams would have chosen the exact same lineup to counter the long-range/short-range strategy developed by CG, but today! Angel Team tells us that their understanding of this map surpasses everyone else present!!"
"—They showed us through their own understanding of the game that they didn't need to follow the pioneers, because they themselves were the true masters of this map!!"
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Author's Note: The final round is a relatively important one, and therefore quite long.
I'll update with another 8000-word chapter tomorrow to finish writing the finals. Thank you all for your support! ~ Heart
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