Chapter 798: Defeat After Defeat
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
For the others of Excellent Era, Qiu Fei’s sudden departure left them confused. They exchanged puzzled glances, but none of them really cared much. All those from the training camp were rivals, so Qiu Fei leaving would only make them happier.
On the other hand, Chen Yehui was a bit worried. That guy was much more skilled than the other training camp members. He had taken notice of the few times Qiu Fei let his expressions slip through. Coming from the training camp, he could definitely tell that it was a training match, and that the opponent had to be Ye Qiu.
And Qiu Fei’s strange mood started from when Ye Qiu stepped into the arena.
Perhaps the others hadn’t heard, or just didn’t care, but Chen Yehui noticed: upon stepping into the arena, Ye Qiu had started talking to Qiu Fei.
"I am grateful for your guidance."
Chen Yehui could clearly hear the coldness of that tone. Considering Qiu Fei and Ye Qiu’s relationship, just the tone used was a big hint that something was wrong. Maybe, Qiu Fei had fallen out with Ye Qiu. It wasn’t hard to guess why either. How could there be a shortage of people who were disgruntled with Ye Qiu, what with his recent actions?
Qiu Fei hated Ye Qiu.
When Chen Yehui came to this conclusion, he immediately felt a connection with Qiu Fei. He even wanted to talk trash about Ye Qiu with Qiu Fei.
On the battlefield, the newly arrived Steam Bun Invasion won a match. The training camp member who had been smashed out of the match by a brick was flushed in bewilderment.
The person’s name was Bai Shengxian, people usually called him Little Bai. After a few exchanges with Steamed Bun Invasion, he thought that this guy was the real noob, turning to smile at his companions: "Watch me crush this noob."
That’s right. He had thought that this opponent was very much an amatuer. How could he be skilled with such simple approaches? He was just fast and technical. For a pro-player, this kind of player was nothing but a noob. Bai Shengxian had confidence that he could deal with him swiftly.
He had set himself up, only to find that reality wasn’t so.
Steamed Bun Invasion fought without much thought or depth in a terribly childish way.
But… shouldn’t there be a limit to how childish, how lacking in thought and depth you could be? He had never seen anyone who was so lacking in thought, so lacking in depth, so utterly childish!
Bai Shengxian’s scorn towards his opponent exceeded his own expectations over and over again. That chaotic fighting style wasn’t a style he had witness before in any brawler. Players who were wild and unrefined in style weren’t uncommon, but never before had he seen such a crazy style. What on earth was this mess?
Eventually, Bai Shengxian’s character fell to a brick.
His disbelief and anger made him want to yell at this player, "That’s not how you play Glory!"
That’s right. That was what Bai Shengxian believed. Of everything he knew about in Glory, there was no such style as the one that had been displayed before him. What nonsense was this?
And yet it was just this messy play style that defeated him. He didn’t want to believe it! That must be beginner’s luck. He hadn’t been prepared at all for someone so reckless. Did he really think he could win more than once with such a style?
The match that was foretold to be played according to the regular tournament rules never happened, so Bai Shengxian ignored the rules too, angrily stepping back into the arena. He wanted revenge, he wanted to wash away this humiliation, and he wanted to tell this opponent: that’s not how you play Glory. It’s not that simple.
Yes, Glory wasn’t so simple.
And when Bai Shengxian’s character fell once more, the one who realized this was himself.
He thought he had seen through this opponent, thought that he could easily turn the tides, yet in end he was still the one who fell.
His opponent was as messy and reckless as ever, so much so that it made his intentions completely incomprehensible. Sometimes he would fight with a steady tempo, sometimes he would make amateurish mistakes, and sometimes he would achieve incredibly smart plays. How are you meant to fight such an opponent? Your experience was useless; your predictions were never right. Though it was a one on one fight, Bai Shengxian felt as if he were in a free for all, and suddenly, bang bang, he was hit!
Bai Shengxian still wanted to make a comeback, but he was afraid. He was afraid that not only would he fail in ridding himself of this humiliation, he would then further humiliate himself.
As for the others, they were also carefully studying Steamed Bun Invasion. None of them dared to take him lightly. Not even Li Rui. This guy was utterly strange, completely beyond the comprehension of experts of Glory like them.
They all stared at one another helplessly, not daring to step forwards to fight.
Then came the awkwardness from ignoring the rules.
If everyone had just played by the rules they set in the beginning, wouldn’t Steamed Bun Invasion have just left of his own accord? Yet since no one cared about the rules, he still stayed in the arena despite winning. What were they to do now? It’s not like they could go up and say, we’re too afraid to fight you, please switch out.
If they said that, then even winning the next match wouldn’t win back their face.
Asking them to obey the standard tournament rules would be even worse. After all, they were the ones who violated them first!
Having thought of this, Chen Yehui glared at Li Rui in irritation.
The good thing was that they didn’t make any promises about this. If they won, then they would’ve been happy about getting one over Team Happy, if they lost then they can just retreat quietly. It’s not like this was their first time getting tormented by Ye Qiu. They could take this humiliation.
"What’s wrong? Does no one dare to try anymore?" At times like this, Chen Yehui had to try and prod them a little. He could tell that they had been startled by Steamed Bun Invasion’s incomprehensible style, and without any firm understanding of how to deal with it, none of them wanted to try.
Yet, you couldn’t just give up a match because you had no idea of how to counter your opponent.
Just thinking of it made Chen Yehui furious. If it wasn’t for the fact that it wasn’t appropriate for someone of his standing, he would definitely berate these guys. At such a time, he wished Qiu Fei were here. If it was Qiu Fei, he wouldn’t cower no matter what his opponent’s identity was. With these guys, they would probably surrender the moment Ye Qiu came out.
Chen Yehui’s provocation worked. As soon as the words left his mouth, they all saw it for what it was, but were still unable to remain unaffected out of shame. Li Rui, who was most prone to overconfidence, stood forward.
"Give me another account. I’ll do it," Li Rui said.
Fuck, you can’t even win. All you do is switch accounts! How many Battle Mages do you think I have? Chen Yehui criticized in his head, but only allowed the latter half to be spoken. "There aren’t that many accounts, so don’t waste them!"
There was no lack of mockery in his words, and Li Rui noticed, but had no way of retorting. He was only in the training camp after all, so it wasn’t unexpected that the guild leader wouldn’t think much of him. On the other hand, Li Rui didn’t want to get on this person’s bad side. The guild leader had no say over members of the training camp, but it wouldn’t hard for him to soil Li Rui’s reputation. He was a senior member of the club, after all.
Li Rui quietly accepted Chen Yehui’s remark and returned to the arena after taking another Battle Mage account.
Li Rui’s abilities were above that of the others present. As for Steamed Bun, his chaotic style didn’t make him invincible. After a messy brawl, Li Rui finally managed to deal with Steamed Bun. Li Rui felt no shortage of relief upon winning. Though he won, it wasn’t easy. It would be hard to say how another match would go.
Yet Steamed Bun Invasion didn’t seem to have any plans on letting Li Rui out of a rematch, he stayed standing in the arena despite his loss.
Li Rui knew that without rules this just wouldn’t work. Even if people lost they would just fight again. Among all the repeated defeats and victories, he would have a hard time standing out and their goal of humiliating the other side would never be achieved!
But how should he do this? If he says the loser should be swapped out, wouldn’t he also get forced from the arena? He stayed despite his loss, too!
Just as Li Rui was trying to figure out how to go about this, he suddenly realized something! He had already switched accounts, he wasn’t a loser who refused to come down, he had a new account now. What was there to be afraid of?
As soon as he thought it through, Li Rui sent a message: "If we keep going like this, it’ll be endless! Why don’t we have the loser switch out?"
At this moment, Li Rui had a plan in mind. This was an individual competition. Compared to the group arena, one versus many was much easier to achieve. Unlike now, the winner’s health wouldn’t be replenished in the group arena. He should take this chance with this mismatch of individual and group arena rules to defeat more opponents. That way he would definitely stand out!
Seeing Steamed Bun Invasion step down, Li Rui was overjoyed! Soft Mist and Steamed Bun Invasion were rather strong, and victory against them wasn’t certain, but now they’ve both switched out. Who else does Team Happy have? Are there any other experts? Ye Qiu wouldn’t come up would he?
Just as Li Rui was beginning to feel uneasy, someone stepped into the arena. Windward Formation, a Warlock.
Windward Formation hadn’t fought many matches. He wasn’t as well known as Soft Mist, and he wasn’t a Battle Mage. Li Rui was relieved. The match started and very soon, Li Rui wanted to cry.
Defeat!
He lost again!
Just a little more! He was so close to winning, but his luck today had simply been abysmal.
Li Rui didn’t want to lose this chance, he hardened his heart and sought Chen Yehui out once more. "Give me another account…"
The fourth time...
Li Rui had swapped accounts four times now. Never mind Chen Yehui, even the training camp members were feeling a little ashamed on his behalf.
Yet Chen Yehui didn’t refuse him, giving him another account. In the end, he lost by just a bit once more.
"F*ck!" Li Rui was furious, looking back at Chen Yehui. This time Chen Yehui decided to be nice and just tossed him another card.
Once more, he entered the arena. Once more, he lost by just a bit.
Li Rui stared dumbly at his screen. Losing thrice in a row by just a bit. It doesn’t seem possible to say it’s simply bad luck! It’s not like he could have the same sort of luck every time.
"This person’s a little strange. Let me test him out with another account." Li Rui finally had a proper excuse.
By the sixth Battle Mage account, Li Rui had already started to pay close attention. This time he lost again, and again, it was just by a small margin, and now he understood why. This tiny margin meant that if he just put in a bit more effort, if he was just a little luckier he could overcome it. His opponent was intentionally manipulating him, toying with him, mocking him.
This tiny margin was a very much despicable one!
Bang!
Li Rui got up and stormed out. Angry and humiliated, he couldn’t stay any longer.