Chapter 63 Advancement to the Second Division
At 4:30 p.m., accompanied by rousing music, the official cameras focused on the entrance of the two teams.
Unlike the silence and dead silence after the first match, the MEK players showed a visibly relaxed attitude after learning that the JR team would be changing their support positions.
The format of the Duxing League is lengthy. All teams first have to go through a long points race. The team with the most wins in the points race will face the champion of the previous season in the final. Only the winner of this final can advance to the second-tier league.
JR did perform well in the points tournament, but MEK has a lot of experience participating in major events, so his mentality is definitely more stable.
Not to mention them, in the other stars' leagues, it's common for the champion team from the previous season to crush the team ranked first in points in the finals.
What's more, JR's boss confidently replaced the original support player this time, which is just too unprofessional. He doesn't understand the importance of the support player to a team at all. This is the team's true core brain.
This victory was practically a sure thing for MEK and his team.
They did a few simple warm-up exercises, gave each other a high five, and waited for the organizers to notify them to enter the virtual pod.
After finishing their preparations, they frequently looked towards the backstage area—ever since the players from JR's side entered the venue, the five people on the other side had been staying backstage.
As the beam of light from the official venue shifted to the backstage exit, JR's five members finally arrived, albeit late.
Captain MEK's eyes were glued to him.
The five opponents had all changed into expensive isolation suits. This ultra-thin fabric with friction could reproduce the actual movements of the players inside the cabin to the greatest extent. A set of isolation suits cost tens of thousands of yuan, and they often broke down after only a few games. The fabric was as fragile as the cicada-feather garments worn by ancient nobles.
This level of protective gear was usually only seen in important matches of veteran teams. Does JR really value this match that much?
The MEK players exchanged glances, then looked at the training record watches worth over 100,000 yuan on the wrists of the opposing players, and a hint of disdain flashed through their minds.
What's the point of spending so much money renting all sorts of luxury peripherals?
The veteran players in the support positions have all been loaned out by their team owner, so they temporarily found a newbie who has only played PC games. Do they really think this person can replicate Cheng Che's level of genius?
The group let out a soft chuckle and quickly stepped into the virtual reality pod.
As soon as Wu Yucun left the tower, he pretended to be so unsteady that he could barely fly, and would occasionally stumble and get stuck on a tree.
In JR's team voice chat, Hardtank couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Hey bro, is there something wrong with your equipment? Should I call a pause for you?"
Wu Yucun: "No need to call me, I'm faking it."
Hard Tank: "???"
Less than three minutes into the laning phase, the opposing team coordinated their long and short blade attacks with their information and positioning, heading straight towards Wu Yucun's location.
In other matches, two squishy characters would definitely not dare to fly straight into the face of a highly mobile support mech like that, but the opponent probably really thought he was a newbie.
The moment the two sides drew close, two long grappling hooks flung the opposing mechs to the ground. The next second, a cold light flashed, and in the third minute of the match, Wu Yucun, in coordination with Cheng Che, successfully took down two opponents.
Realizing that JR's new support player wasn't as bad as they thought, MEK and the others didn't dare to make any rash moves and started to cower behind the minion wave. Whenever Cheng Che got a little close, they would immediately use the terrain to circle around him.
After a few back and forths, the situation remained tense for another three or four minutes.
Wu Yucun immediately saw through MEK's plan: "The enemy wants to play a macro game with us. Cheng Che, you stay here to defend the line. The gunner and the tank will follow me to control the dragon."
The dragon in the mid-range position can turn the original beetle minions into giant beetles. With Cheng Che protecting the minion wave and pushing forward, after three waves of giant beetle minions, even if the opponent plays conservatively, their base will inevitably be destroyed.
Wu Yucun wanted to force the opposing team to fight him in this Baron fight.
As he hurried toward the Dragon Pit, he asked Cheng Che, "How many people are missing from the MEK line?"
After receiving a reply, he continued to instruct the gunners:
"Wait a minute, gunner, hide behind that low hill behind the Dragon Pit. Tank, come with me to the east side of the Dragon Pit. The enemy will be coming from this side. Cheng Che, you come over after you finish leading this wave of soldiers."
Before Hard Tank could even ask Wu Yucun how he knew which direction the enemy was coming from, he had already spotted the ME armor exposed from behind the bushes to the east.
...So accurate, is this divine prediction?
During the match, both teams' in-game voice chat was displayed in real-time on the official live stream's secondary feed, and the chat exploded with excitement—
[Wait, I have a feeling the JR boss has picked up another genius.]
[I take back what I said earlier. It seems that top players in PC games are actually quite skilled. Their positioning and gameplay are impressive. Once their contracts expire, they'll probably be highly sought after by top teams.]
[...pretending to be unsteady at the start was too sneaky. If I were on MEK's side, I would have jumped on the bandwagon too. And how did he know MEK's team was coming from the east side of the Dragon Pit? Did he open it?]
[If cheating were allowed in competitions, so many business owners wouldn't have gone bankrupt. This was pure mind-body domination.]
[Could the team coach please try to find more players from the game in the future? At least their game sense is definitely on point.]
[For betting on mech competitions, choose the waliwali platform]
[Can these betting websites please stop advertising? It's so annoying. I bet 1000 yuan on MEK to win before the tournament started... Now I've lost half my living expenses for next month.]
[With that thousand yuan, it would be better to save it and donate it to JR. At least it could support these small, grassroots teams to continue operating. I feel like next season won't have this amazing roster anymore. It's sad.]
[Look at the protective suits the athletes are wearing and the training watches on their wrists. Do you think they look like they're about to go bankrupt?]
[Hilarious! This kind of equipment isn't impossible to rent. Renting a set for all five people would only cost 100,000 yuan in total, while the prize money for the Lone Star League is much more than that.]
[How come this poor boss always gets all the good things? Picking up the first genius is bad enough, but how come even someone he randomly grabs from the game is a genius? I'm thinking of registering a team for him next season.]
[A team logo costs a million? Are they trying to make a living?]
[Any residents of Star 6C here? I want to go to the offline support event. Should I still be able to make it in time to see the players leave if I rush there now?]
[Actually, not necessarily. I feel like today's game will end very quickly.]
The team fight within the game continued. Wu Yucun had no intention of actually fighting the dragon; he only wanted to use the dragon fight to quickly break the stalemate.
He knew he couldn't beat them in terms of skill or team fights; all he wanted to do now was end the game quickly.
A dozen seconds later, the grappling hook, combined with the arc of the long blade, allowed them to control and attack, almost taking down one person with just two strikes. The huge difference in skill made it as easy for them to deal with the MEK players as if they were cutting vegetables.
If there were a surrender button in the game, MEK would have pressed it until it was worn out by now.
At 11 minutes and 4 seconds, the MEK base completely exploded, setting a new record for the shortest match duration in the history of the Six C Stars Solo League.
A magnificent golden rain fell inside the venue. When the MEK team members emerged from the virtual reality pod, they were exhausted, and their expressions were even worse than when they had failed for the first time.
Golden ribbons rained down on the contestants' shoulders; the final match was shorter than any of them had anticipated.
Before taking the stage, Wu Yucun underwent ten days of special training without internet access, spending all his time in the virtual reality pod day and night, and was also frequently given a lot of strength training by Tao Tao. Yet, the victory only took ten minutes.
The award ceremony was playing on the large screen outside the venue. Star government officials from Star 6C were present and posed for a photo in front of a huge sign with a prize of 280 million yuan.
At the same time, the fee was transferred to Fang Zhuo's personal account through the card linked to the team. With the system's tenfold rebate, the total amount was more than 3 billion.
This money is funded by the government. If the team manager manages it properly, the champion team can make full use of this money to achieve a virtuous cycle, strengthen the players and continue to win the championship. MEK previously achieved long-term dominance of the Solo Star League in this way, and now the baton has been passed to JR.
However, this huge sum of money was just a small fraction of Fang Zhuo's savings; he didn't rely on such a small amount to run his team.
The moment the prize money arrived, he transferred two million to each of the contestants' accounts.
Fang Zhuo glanced at his watch and listened quietly to the system's broadcast in his mind—
[Congratulations, host! You have achieved the 'tenth win' achievement.]
[Congratulations again, host! You have achieved the achievement 'Winning the Lone Star League Finals']
[Congratulations, host! You have achieved the accomplishment 'A Small Goal']
[Company's current reputation value: 5, matching the title 'Emerging Talent']
[A total of four unnamed blind boxes have been given away and added to the system inventory]
[Investment Target Number Two: Cheng Che]
[Intelligence: 62][Stamina: 95][Appearance: 61][Emotional Intelligence: 39][Loyalty: 93]
[Initial valuation: 840]
[Current Value Assessment: 112,000,000]
[Investment Target Number Three: Wu Yucun]
[Intelligence: 89][Stamina: 91][Appearance: 52][Emotional Intelligence: 60][Loyalty: 92]
[Initial valuation: 53200]
[Current Value Assessment: 166,700,000]
[The return on investment has exceeded 100 times; the above fields can be freely unbound]
[Based on the settlement results, investment slots five and six have been opened for the host. Please keep up the good work!]
Surprisingly, this system is quite intelligent; it calculates value based on each player's contribution in the corresponding match.
The awards ceremony on the big screen had ended, and a large number of media outlets had gathered outside the venue, along with many citizens who hadn't managed to get tickets.
The official live-streaming drone has also taken off, silently and slowly gliding over the area according to the established procedure.
Realizing that time was running out, Fang Zhuo drove the car down from mid-air.
Backstage, Yang Yurong looked visibly nervous, making a cheat sheet in her palm and repeatedly reciting the short script.
As an engineer, he was used to working quietly behind the scenes on research and development; this was the first time he had been pushed to the stage of a press conference.
Fang Zhuo walked over and patted Yang Yurong on the shoulder: "Don't be too anxious, take a deep breath, the press conference is about to start."
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