Chapter 1146: Launcher versus Spitfire (2)
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Under the pressure of Dancing Rain's relentless attacks, Zou Yuan pushed forward instead of retreating. He had Bright Blossoms steadily advance, so he could get into a range from which he could attack her.
Under normal circumstances, Zou Yuan's current strategy would certainly lead to Bright Blossoms taking a lot of damage, and there was the possibility that he wouldn't even be able to break through Dancing Rain's attacks at all. But now, the Flash Bullet and Smoke Bullet were serving their purpose. Dancing Rain didn't stop attacking because Su Mucheng was relying on her technical skill to continue, but Zou Yuan knew that she had no way of aiming accurately when she couldn't see.
Bright Blossoms fiercely charged forward, and as expected, there were no changes in Dancing Rain's attack patterns. Su Mucheng had just increased her firepower, but since she couldn't see anything, she had no way of adjusting to Bright Blossoms' change in movements.
This unchanging attack pattern posed no difficulty to Zou Yuan, for he was now a confident core player. Bright Blossoms endured the damage, and Dancing Rain finally entered his attack range.
He lifted his gun and prepared to fire a Freezing Bullet, but just as he was about to shoot, he heard three sounds of cannon fire. Three Anti-Tank Missiles, spitting fire, had flown in front of him.
Zou Yuan was shocked. The effects of the Flash Bullet on Dancing Rain still hadn't faded, so how did Su Mucheng know his movements?
Bright Blossoms could obviously take the damage from the Anti-Tank Missiles, but the problem was the impact caused by the explosions would shake his character and prevent him from attacking. This was a special characteristic of Gunner classes. Even for normal attacks, as long as the target was accurately hit, there would be a Stun effect to the part hit. And the Launcher had heavy firepower compared to the other Gunner classes, so this characteristic was the most apparent out of all of them.
As a result, Zou Yuan had Bright Blossoms duck to the side. But then he heard a series of bangs, Dancing Rain had fired an artillery shell in a low arc which exploded, sending Stingers flying in all directions.
Seeing this attack, Zou Yuan suddenly understood. In reality, Su Mucheng hadn't seen Bright Blossoms' movements, but she understood what kind of attack she was most vulnerable to at the moment. So, she kept track of the time and took preventative measures. As it turned out, Zou Yuan had done what she was guarding against, allowing Su Mucheng stop him with her eyes closed. You want to continue? The effects of the Flash Bullet had faded, and Su Mucheng could see Bright Blossoms closing in ahead, so she used Aerial Fire. Her character flew backwards and pulled away, and in an instant he was smothered under her attacks again.
Zou Yuan despised this narrow little road. If the map weren't like this, he wouldn't be suffering so badly right now. If the map weren't like this, Su Mucheng couldn't have crushed him with her eyes closed like that. If the map weren't like this, he wouldn't have once again fallen under Dancing Rain's suppression.
In reality, a Spitfire could also similarly render an opponent helpless with their firepower, but unfortunately for him, Su Mucheng was taking full advantage of the Launcher's superior range. Despite facing a Spitfire, another long range-attacker, she could still use distance to suppress him.
If he charged forward, Dancing Rain would retreat back; if he tried to retreat, Dancing Rain would approach. The precision of her attacks and technique left Zou Yuan stunned.
Su Mucheng… One year without playing any pro matches. Even though she might not be able to immediately adjust to the tempo of high-level battles so quickly, but her personal skill had unexpectedly advanced over this past year. As a result of her skilled usage of the map, Bright Blossoms was beautifully trapped in this narrow alley, and Zou Yuan couldn't find any opening to escape.
Was this Su Mucheng?
Zou Yuan, beaten down, was puzzled.
Personally, he didn't really understand Su Mucheng. He had debuted as a pro in Season 7, becoming a rookie in Team Hundred Blossoms alongside Tang Hao. But because he played the same class as Zhang Jiale, he had pitifully few chances to play during that season, and he wasn't much different from an audience member. In Season 8, he was suddenly thrust into the role of the main character, and he stumbled through that season in a trance. He wasn't able to find his own bearings, how could he pay attention to anyone else? Then, by Season 9, when he became a truly stable main player, Su Mucheng wasn't among his list of opponents, so he had no reason to investigate her.
What kind of player was Su Mucheng?
Zou Yuan's understanding only came from gossip. He knew that although Su Mucheng was extremely popular, many people didn't think much of her. They would say that she relied on her physical appearance, that her strength was overrated. Some people directly called her a flower vase, and some radical Excellent Era fans blamed on her the team's decline after its three consecutive championship victories. After all, she joined Excellent Era in Season 4, and after then, Excellent Era had never managed to win another championship.
To the public, Su Mucheng was a controversial player, but what about in the pro circle? Zou Yuan knew that, aside from some rookies who didn't know anything, no one viewed her like that.
Then what about Zou Yuan himself?
Zou Yuan was forced to admit that he was biased against Su Mucheng. And this bias didn't come from his own analysis, but was influenced by surrounding opinion.
Rookies within the same team always tended to have good relationships with each other. And the year Zou Yuan debuted, his fellow rookie was a player named Tang Hao.
Given Tang Hao's personality, it wasn't hard to guess that he would have an opinion about such a controversial player. And because Zou Yuan had the most interactions with this fellow rookie Tang Hao, his opinion of Su Mucheng was influenced by Tang Hao, so he tended not to think much of her.
But at that time, they were just two gossiping rookies. Neither he nor Tang Hao had the status to treat Su Mucheng as an opponent!
By the time the two of them had that status and position, Su Mucheng had run off to the Challenger League.
Zou Yuan didn't remember much of the gossip of his rookie days, but that impression from back then lingered in his heart. On the battlefield, Zou Yuan didn't carry that mentality with him. No matter the opponent, he wouldn't underestimate them. But Su Mucheng's demonstrated skill still truly shocked him - it far surpassed his expectations of the Su Mucheng he thought he knew. Because of his bias, the Su Mucheng he thought he knew didn't have all that much skill.
But now, he was thoroughly suppressed by Su Mucheng. Zou Yuan wasn't as arrogant as Tang Hao, so he quickly recognized this reality.
But so what?
This realization came too late. At the end of this battle, Zou Yuan was defeated.
In the individual round, Happy gained an early lead of 2 to 1. As this was Happy's home game, there were of course cheers and applause from the crowd.
In the midst of the cheers, Su Mucheng walked out of the player booth and offstage.
She was calm when facing victory, just like when facing criticism. She would always smile and not reply.
Because she didn't care about that.
She walked offstage and returned to Happy's player area, where Ye Xiu stood and clapped to welcome her.
"Heehee," Su Mucheng giggled, making a victory sign with her hands.
"Impressive," Ye Xiu praised. "You suppressed him without leaving a single opening, you played really well."
"Don't you think?" Su Mucheng was still smiling as she sat beside Ye Xiu. She would always strive for victory, but beside this person, she felt that her hard work had greater meaning.
"Alright, next is the group round, those who are going…" Ye Xiu turned to call for those who were playing in the next round. Of course, Su Mucheng couldn't go on again, so she simply sat to the side and watched. Her smile was even brighter than it was when she had obtained victory.
Happy was bright, but Hundred Blossoms was lost.
They had lost two points in the individual round, and the one point they had won was under strange circumstances, the opponent clearly wasn't in good condition.
"Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng already went in the individual round. No matter what, we can't lose the group round," Yu Feng said to the two players who would be playing with him in the group round. The two of them nodded determinedly, and then they looked over at Happy.
In their eyes, Happy's strongest players were Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng. Although Fang Rui was also an All-Star, he was in the midst of changing classes, and he couldn't completely adjust so quickly. If he were still a Thief, Hundred Blossoms would also treat him as a dangerous opponent, but as a Qi Master, he was a little weaker.
There was a short break between the individual and group rounds, but Hundred Blossoms' three players were already walking toward the player booths. The large screens at the stadium displayed to the audience the players of both teams who would be playing in the group round.
Team Hundred Blossoms: Zhou Guangyi, Yu Feng, Zhu Xiaoping.
Team Happy: Fang Rui, Mo Fan, Tang Rou.
The first matchup was Fang Rui against Zhou Guangyi. Both characters had already logged on, and it was now the pre-match display segment. In their player booths, the players could see this on their screens as well. Fang Rui, this number one Thief in Glory, suddenly becoming a Qi Master… to be honest, Zhou Guangyi respected his courage.
Zhou Guangyi was familiar with Fang Rui, as they had both debuted in Season 5. He had better opportunities at the beginning than Fang Rui did, because he had been in Tyranny, and at that time, Tyranny had just toppled Excellent Era's dynasty to win the Season 4 championships and officially stand at the summit. Zhou Guangyi began in a championship team, and his future was nothing but bright.
The next few seasons, Zhou Guangyi's development was smooth. Although he didn't become a star, he was continually improving, and he became a very strong player.
However, while Zhou Guangyi was improving, Tyranny was declining. After Season 4, they didn't managed to fight their way to the finals again.
Last season, Tyranny made huge adjustments, inviting two top experts Lin Jingyan and Zhang Jiale. Tyranny's plan was clear, they wanted to let these veterans at the end of their careers shine brilliantly one last time. Lin Jingyan and Zhang Jiale shone brilliantly, exciting the players, but at such a time, it was inevitable that there would be grief for some members of Tyranny. There were only so many spaces on a roster, and if a player came, that meant that another one had to go.
Every player longed for a chance to play onstage, so that season, Zhou Guangyi left Tyranny sadly, the team where he had fought for four years. He had originally thought he could play on that team until he retired…