Chapter 974: Forced Into Helplessness
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The third round of the individual competition began. The characters on both sides loaded into the map and prepared to fight.
It was just like Wei Chen said. In theory, this round was pointless for both sides. This single point wouldn't affect the overall outcome of the match. However, competition was not as simple as adding two numbers together. This point wouldn't have any effect on the outcome of the match, but the winner of this round could affect their team's momentum in the following sections of the match.
Team Happy had won two rounds in a row in the individual competition. Their morale was undoubtedly at a high. As for Team Mysterious Fantasy? Losing two rounds in a row in such an extreme manner was a heavy blow to their morale. Zhang Yiwei pretending that it wasn't a big deal wouldn't be enough to neutralize the effects.
Neither team dared to overlook how this round would affect their morale.
The characters quickly finished loading into the map. Wei Chen's Windward Formation was without a doubt the character in the spotlight in this year's Challenger League. Although Team Excellent Era had One Autumn Leaf, Life Extinguisher, and Dancing Rain, these were all All Star characters. Players were used to seeing their greatness, but Windward Formation? This character had come out of nowhere and appeared with eight pieces of Silver equipment. In the pro scene, most subs didn't have characters that enjoyed such beautiful equipment.
Team Mysterious Fantasy had been a bottom-tier team in the pro scene. Let alone subs, their team didn't have a single character even among their main roster that had eight pieces of Silver equipment. Facing Windward Formation, it was Team Mysterious Fantasy that looked like a grassroots team.
The commentator joked around and introduced these two players in this way.
"Okay, the match has started. In the previous two rounds, Team Happy won in surprising ways. Will they surprise us again this round? Wei Chen. I think the older folks might be familiar with him. He was Team Blue Rain's very first team captain. The number one Warlock, Swoksaar, was actually created and brought into the Alliance by him. Those who have watched his matches in the past definitely have a certain impression of him because he has a... yes, yes... very distinctive personality. Next, let's enjoy this round."
"Little demon, bring it on!"
Wei Chen typed out in the all-chat at the start of the match and then just stood there. Windward Formation didn't seem to have any intentions of advancing and simply waited for his opponent to come to him.
This Team Mysterious Fantasy player didn't know. He just treated it like an ordinary provocation and had his character charge ahead at full speed. Halfway through, he still hadn't seen Windward Formation. He felt like something wasn't right.
Usually, at this point, both sides should have already come across each other in the middle of the map! Why was there no sign of him?
Not good!
This Team Mysterious Fantasy player was using a Sharpshooter. He turned around nimbly and raised both of his guns, cautiously pointing to the left and right.
The crowd was waiting for him to hurry over to Windward Formation's spawn location and start fighting. Who would have thought that this guy would start admiring himself and stop halfway there. At first, they were puzzled. Then, they realized what he was doing and suddenly roared with laughter.
This scene clearly illustrated why every round in a match wasn't as simple as counting points. This player had clearly been affected by the previous match. After not seeing any traces of his opponent on his way over, he thought the opponent had employed a strategy similar to Deception's and immediately began cautiously checking his surroundings.
It didn't stop there. After looking around and failing to notice anything, he extended his search radius. He didn't hurry forward and began spinning around in a circle.
The crowd roared with laughter again, but after laughing, they started feeling a bit tired of it. How long was this guy going to stay overly suspicious?
The crowd's laughter made everyone on Team Mysterious Fantasy feel very embarrassed. However, they had no way of telling the player on stage. They could only continue watching with faces flushed with embarrassment as their Sharpshooter spun around, not moving towards Windward Formation's location.
"Ha ha, little child, you think you can find this senior just spinning around like that?" A message from Wei Chen suddenly popped up in the all chat.
The crowd went into an uproar. In theory, this guy shouldn't know anything about his opponent's movements. However, he had been standing in the same place for quite a while. The other side still hadn't appeared. It wasn't hard to guess that his opponent was running around in circles, but this guy took advantage of it and put on an act. This was too much like trying to hit a snake with a stick, but seeing the snake curl around the stick.
When Team Mysterious Fantasy's player saw these words, he became even more nervous and started searching even more frantically for Windward Formation.
Where was Windward Formation? He had finally started moving, but he wasn't moving towards his opponent. Instead, he walked over to a big rock near his spawn location and quietly crouched down behind it.
Despicable! Too despicabe!
The rules didn't forbid this type of strategy, but pro players valued their images. There would be so many people watching them every round. In the eyes of the spectators, this strategy was too shameless. This wasn't just playing dirty. It was being dirty.
Even the commentator noted it. After seeing Windward Formation's move, he also felt powerless. As a professional commentator, he had done his homework beforehand. He obviously had some understanding of Wei Chen's background, but he didn't have that much time. He had only skimmed through a few articles relating to Wei Chen.
Shameless, unscrupulous…...
The information that he had seen was filled with all sorts of synonyms for this words. It wasn't convenient for him to directly say these words as a commentator, so in the end, he just said that Wei Chen had a very distinct personality. Now, he finally witnessed this distinct personality. He couldn't even make any comments on it.
As a result, the entire stadium was silent. Wei Chen's Windward Formation just sat there, hiding behind a rock. Team Mysterious Fantasy's Sharpshooter continued to looked at everything suspiciously. The commentator didn't know what to say. The crowd was speechless. Was this a match or a farce? Seeing how Wei Chen would say a few words in the all chat from time to time, everyone in Team Mysterious Fantasy felt a bit regretful. Maybe they should have listened to Wei Chen and just forfeited. Wasn't that actually a good suggestion?
The other side was calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos. He didn't seem to be embarrassed at all, hiding in a corner. On the other hand, their player was being overly suspicious. He had told himself that he would try very hard. After the initial fun and embarrassment, Team Mysterious Fantasy started to feel some sympathy and bitterness. It would be better to just lose this round, than to watch their teammate keep trying and making a fool of himself.
Zhang Yiwei could feel his team's emotions. He turned around and said a few words to a player.
"Forfeit?" Tang Xin heard his coach's decision. He was still astonished. Even though he had thought about it, he still gave up on it, but now, the coach had actually decided on it.
Tang Xin was Team Mysterious Fantasy's captain. The Pro Alliance hadn't approved of a coach position. The team captain had a lot of power. Coaches did not enjoy that same authority. For example, if the team wanted to forfeit right now, besides the player playing on stage, only the team captain had the power to make that decision. As a result, only the team captain could go and talk to the referee. If Zhang Yiwei went to the referee with his position as a coach and told him that his team would forfeit this round, the referee would simply ignore him.
"Are we really going to forfeit?" Tang Xin hesitated. Even though the team captain had that right, it was still an individual competition. The player on stage hadn't given up yet. Making this decision would certainly hurt the player who was trying so hard.
"It's fine!" Zhang Yiwei made his decision.
What he wanted this round wasn't a victory because that one point wasn't important. Zhang Yiwei had wanted to utilize this match to win back some morale to the team, but their player was just being toyed with. The other side was happily waiting for his exhausted opponent. If this continued, their chances of losing were very high. This result would be an even greater blow to their morale. Even though winning in this situation would certainly be a huge momentum swing for their entire team, Zhang Yiwei wasn't willing to gamble because he could already tell that giving up on this match would be freeing for the entire team. This round was too sullen and depressing.
"Okay….." In Team Mysterious Fantasy, their coach was supreme. Tang Xin could only respect Zhang Yiwei's decision and walked over to the stage.
No one was allowed on stage in the middle of a match. When Tang Xin got close, the referee blocked his path. Tang Xin told him what he had come over to say. The referee was startled. He made one final confirmation with Tang Xin. After confirming it with Tang Xin, he returned to the stage and went over to Team Mysterious Fantasy's player.
Tang Xin didn't return to his seat. He had to pick up his player here. He was certain that this decision would definitely make his player very disappointed with himself. He had to do his best to console him.
Soon afterwards, the referee told the Team Mysterious Fantasy player on stage that the team had forfeited this round. And just like that, with neither side meeting each other, Team Mysterious Fantasy's player left the stage. The referee announced Team Happy's victory.
"What?" Wei Chen was still hiding behind the rock, thinking of what else to say next, when he suddenly saw a notification that the other side had left the match. He was puzzled. In a match, there were times when you were aware that you were outclassed and admitted defeat in a stylish manner, but the two sides hadn't even seen each other yet and the other side already forfeited?
Wei Chen got up from his seat and saw Team Mysterious Fantasy's player leaving the stage. He walked down from the stage filled with bewilderment and looked at Team Mysterious Fantasy's side: "Now you forfeit? What were you doing before?"
We didn't know you'd be so shameless!
Team Mysterious Fantasy's players were all cursing in their hearts. They revealed all sorts of unfriendly looks towards Wei Chen. However, just like Zhang Yiwei predicted, this loss actually made everyone else ease up quite a bit. The player who had been forced to forfeit was sitting in a corner, staring blankly into space. No one knew what he was thinking. The team captain, Tang Xin, was sitting next to him, trying his best to console him. Then, everyone heard Wei Chen's words after he returned to Team Happy's seats: "How was that? I played pretty well, didn't I?"