Chapter 75 "Why did you choose to say this recently? Because..."
HYG's upper bracket final is a week later, and their opponent will be WD, the champion of this year's Spring Split.
Prior to this, the loser's bracket matches were held one after another, and CG lived up to expectations and lost in the match on the 8th, becoming the first popular team to miss the World Invitational.
"My question is for Coach Zds. I'd like to ask if the 0-3 defeat was significantly related to Yux's departure from the team?"
During the post-match group interview, the CG team sat in a row, some with their heads down cracking their knuckles, others with their heads buried in their hair, a scene reminiscent of last year's finals.
The microphone was passed to Zds. He glanced around the audience with an evasive expression, and finally uttered three words: "I don't know."
"So, if you were given another chance, would you listen to his business plan advice back then?" The media didn't let him off the hook and continued to press him for an answer.
"..."
After a long silence, Manager Stone, who was holding another microphone, suddenly spoke up.
“Not choosing Yux… was indeed our biggest mistake this year,” he said, forcing a smile. “Next year we will reorganize the training team to ensure smoother communication between the players and the training group.”
This statement, which can be interpreted as "a dying man's words are kind," failed to evoke sympathy from the audience. After the clip was posted on social media, the comments section was filled with mockery: "Does he think he can get Yux back next year?" and "Whether he'll even be around next year is another question."
However, at the same time, HYG's playoff journey has also encountered unprecedented difficulties.
In the winners' bracket final, after losing the first and third games, HYG lost to WD 1-2. In the crucial fourth game, tank player rock performed superbly throughout the game, successfully pulling HYG back from the brink of defeat and ultimately reversing the score to 3-2, securing the first ticket to the finals.
The commentator exclaimed on the spot, "The HYG team... they've really gone all out just to catch a glimpse of Yux's girlfriend's photo!"
"No way, does that mean he hasn't even met anyone from the team?" another commentator questioned.
In the post-match interview, Rock answered his question: "Well... actually, none of us have seen it before, it's been kept very secret, so we're all quite curious. Anyway, we hope everyone will support our team in the finals!"
His eyes shone brightly when he spoke, leading to the assessment that he had "no hope of victory, only a desire to watch the drama unfold."
There is also a seven-day interval between the winners' bracket final and the final day.
In recent years, a "winners' bracket curse" has been circulating in the region, which means that teams that advance from the winners' bracket are easily defeated by underdogs in the finals. The reason for this is probably that teams that advance from the winners' bracket have too many gaps in their playing time, making it difficult for them to maintain their form.
Especially as the season draws to a close and most teams have been eliminated, scheduling scrimmages becomes increasingly difficult.
The CN region's matches happen to be the last to finish among all the regions. By this time, HYG's only opponents for scrimmages are their own second-team players and youth trainees.
"I'm starting to suspect that Yux doesn't actually have a girlfriend." While having lunch, Rock looked at his phone and suddenly declared with certainty, "In all my years of playing competitive games, I've never seen anything like this—the finals are almost here, and not a single person on the official Weibo account is discussing who will win or lose, not even a single person is criticizing me? This is just not logical! Shouldn't there be ten, a hundred, a thousand people on Weibo criticizing me for playing badly and telling me to go become a gaming companion on livestream?!"
As he spoke, he looked up and said to You Xin with admiration, "You are truly a marketing genius."
"You flatter me," You Xin said calmly.
Nan Zhiyi was eating at the other end of the table when she heard this and almost choked.
It must be said that You Xin's "championship pact" did relieve a lot of pressure on the team, but it also brought some new problems.
A large number of people were busy joking, "Yux's move was too ruthless. Pigeon must be in agony now, no matter who wins or loses." Others criticized him for being too frivolous, making up for his lack of skill with hype, and not taking the finals seriously at all.
Every time he sees these kinds of comments, he really wants to post the photos he took one day when he accidentally fell asleep upstairs and woke up at four in the morning to find Yux still in the training room. He wants to shut up the trolls by posting them online. However, countless past experiences have shown that people only see what they want to see. The more he posts, the more pressure the team members face from public opinion.
Finally, with three days left until the final, Lao Xu came to the training room and gave instructions: "Everyone, take a rest tonight and relax. You can do whatever you want."
Rock jumped up from his seat with a "thump": "Playing other games is fine too?"
"Can."
"Can I also start a live stream to increase my watch time?"
Old Xu: "As long as you're not afraid of getting scolded."
Upon hearing this, You Xin thoughtfully turned his chair around and said, "Can I start a live stream? I'll stream ROE."
"Didn't you say you didn't have a time limit?" Old Xu asked, puzzled. "...Never mind, whatever you want. If you think this will help you relax, then it's fine too."
-
At 8 PM that evening, at the WD base.
The three members of the training team sat neatly in front of a computer, staring intently at the screen.
After a long pause, the analyst spoke up: "Can we really find out any tactics by doing this?"
“First-person perspective provides more information than replays,” head coach Ash nodded affirmatively. “It will help in analyzing their thought process.”
"Yux picked Bard again this game, marking his fourth time using Bard in the last few days. This might be a hidden strategy they're using against them in the finals, although in this version, Bard is too..."
Ash paused for a moment, then continued, "But Yux must have his reasons for making that choice."
“Their team’s picks are very flexible now, and they often play completely unpredictably. If we don’t prepare well, we’ll be caught off guard as soon as we go on stage, and our morale will be ruined.”
After Ash finished speaking seriously, the entire room fell silent for a moment.
All that remained were the sounds of Yux operating his livestream and chatting with the viewers in the chat.
"The championship promise? We will keep it. I'm not lying."
I won't tell you.
"Yes, we've known each other for many years. And we've liked each other for many years."
"I didn't mean to hide it. This is my own business and it won't affect my training... Why did I choose to say it recently? Because I only recently got together with her."
"I'm not joking." She paused for a moment, then said, "Why does everyone think I'm joking? It's not like I made up a person who doesn't exist out of thin air."
"Yes. It's someone you all know."
An analyst swallowed hard.
He seemed to finally be unable to contain himself: "Yux is talking about his girlfriend?"
"..." Head coach Ash moved his mouse hand slightly, unconsciously turning on the barrage of comments.
In an instant, a barrage of densely packed, rapidly scrolling comments appeared before everyone's eyes.
【Dude, do you even know what you're saying?】
[Is this a tacit admission?]
[Can we fast forward to the championship win? I really want to know what the streamer will announce!]
What does "someone we all know" mean?
So, are South and North on that list really you two???
What are you all talking about? I don't understand a single word.
[Disconnected from the internet, saving data: Angel Yi and Yux used to be in the same youth training team.]
"Angel Yi and Yux used to be in the same youth training team?" Another WD analyst couldn't help but read the comment aloud, then suddenly realized that he had revealed he had been staring at the comment section the whole time and hadn't been watching the live stream at all. "…………"
"It seems like there is such a thing, I vaguely heard someone mention it. But I'm not sure." Ash frowned. "Angel's understanding of the game is quite good."
As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the bullet comments section. Suddenly, he saw an account with dazzling special effects and an ID consisting of a string of initially set gibberish, actively commenting in the bullet comments.
No, if you like shipping couples, just do it, don't spread rumors.
[Angel Yi is not gay; he has a partner.]
I give up. Believe it or not, it's up to you.
However, the garbled message only earned ridicule.
[Yux's livestream room has a level 132 badge, so wake up, his son is gay!]
Yes, he has a girlfriend. Her last name is Y and her given name is UX, right? We all know that.
[This account's homepage also has an Angel's Wish level 142 badge; the composition is a bit too complicated.]
Ash's gaze slowly fell on the garbled OD of this account.
A moment later, I clicked into the account's homepage.
IP: City S.
“…This gl546276.” He gritted his teeth and said, enunciating each word clearly, “This seems to be Pigeon’s alt account, right?”
-
Before the coach ganked into the training room, Song Baiyu was sitting with his legs crossed, chatting away with fans in Yux's live stream.
In the past, he would have been happy to follow this gossip, but ever since Nan Zhiyi revealed that she had rekindled her relationship with her first love, he suddenly felt a heavy sense of mission on his shoulders—
As one of the few who knew the truth, he had a responsibility and a duty to protect his good brother's innocence with his life.
However, after nearly half an hour of effort, all he got in return was a barrage of ridicule in the live stream chat, leaving Song Baiyu utterly bewildered.
"Seriously, are these people really obsessed?" he couldn't help but say to his tank teammate, Monster, beside him. "It's fine to joke around, but do they really think Yux and Nan Zhiyi are a couple? Look at the way they're acting, do they look like homosexuals? Huh? Isn't it just pure bromance? And people actually take it seriously?"
"It's one thing to believe it yourself, but when others say it's fake, he comes to criticize you! He insists on dragging you into believing it's true! What kind of person is this?!"
"...What do you mean by homosexuality? What are you doing?" Monster looked even more puzzled. "The competition is in two days, and you're here worrying about whether your opponent is gay or not?"
"Ah...right." Song Baiyu put down his phone and scratched his hair in a daze.
He remembered what he was about to do.
It seems he received a notification on his phone that Yux was streaming, so he clicked into the stream to try and find out some tactics...
But why, after a full half hour, is all he's heard gossip?
-----------------------
Author's Note: This is our smokescreen!
————
I'm taking the day off tomorrow. I've been too busy these past two days to update. This chapter was even written in a few moments on the high-speed train, subway, taxi, and back at the hotel. [Heartbroken]
Because some events are randomly refreshed every day, it's really hard to determine the update frequency. I can only say that I guarantee at least 15,000 words per week (week is defined as: every Thursday to the following Wednesday).
Since the article is also nearing completion, you can save it for later reading! Thank you for your understanding.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com