FOG [e-sports]

Chapter 123:

Wawa was shaken by Shi Luo’s mental attack and for a while, he was shaking, unable to speak.

On the other end of the voice chat, Wawa’s voice grew a little louder. He gulped and amidst his mental confusion, hope began to grow in him, “If we encounter Sacred Sword, if we really win…”

“This year’s World Championship crown would be yours. Even if it weren’t, it would still be yours.” Shi Luo’s tone was firm, as if his family had relatives on the World Championship organizing committee, “There would be no need for you to play in the semi-finals. You would be crowned in advance. At least, you would be given the spiritual overall victory. You can go to the Internet to see for yourself. Apart from the European division, who the hell likes Sacred Sword? Many of their own European players are disgusted with Sacred Sword. If you shoot them down in the quarterfinals, this year’s protagonists would be your NSN.”

Wawa was trembling, “But if we lose…”

“Sacred Sword is so strong right now. No one would lose face for losing to them. And if you really do lose…” Shi Luo knew how the sprayers operated and said, “As long as Sacred Sword doesn’t win the championships, the sprayers will let you off.”

“Of course, you don’t have to worry about them winning the championship. Not to mention the finals,” Shi Luo said, all casual, “As long as we and Sacred Sword wind up in the same half when the lottery is drawn, they won’t even make it past the semifinals.”

“I won’t let Sacred Sword live to see the finals.”

Wawa was ready to fall on his knees.

As though Shi Luo had gotten a hold of the script of fate, Wawa was steadily hypnotized by Shi Luo. He truly believed that he was the chosen of Heaven and that NSN was the dragon slayer in this World Championships.

Wawa rubbed his face and let out a shout, urging everyone to start the next game quickly.

Everyone returned to their seats. Zhou Huo looked fixedly at Shi Luo, and murmured regretfully, “…If someone like Shi Luo joins the MLM market, he will definitely be a master of brainwashing.”

“I’m starting to suspect that…” Zhou Huo couldn’t help but add, “NSN’s psychological counselors aren’t as effective as you are…Old Gu owes you a meal. Your bluff was too invigorating. Wawa must believe every word of it.”

Shi Luo refuted seriously, “I’m not fooling anyone, thank you. I am that confident.”

Zhou Huo: “……”

“I’ve always said that this year’s group stage draw was crap. The distribution of strong and weak teams is too uneven.” Old Qiao looked at Shi Luo anxiously. “We made it through as the first team in Group A and it’s made Shi Luo’s head swell…Luo, listen to me. There won’t be that many Experience Baobao’s in the quarterfinals.”

Shi Luo glanced at Old Qiao, his expression unchanged. “So what if there aren’t any Experience Baobao’s? We’ll win all the same.”

Chen Huo said softly, “In previous competitions…there were a lot of players that also entered the World Championships in their teens, but there really aren’t a lot who could go ‘f*ck everything’ like you.”

“Manager Zhou, maybe you should do a documentary recording Shi Shen’s time here in the World Championships. Later, you can sell it to the big teams.” Puppy, this money making genius said, “Have them show it to their newcomers. Just tell them that if Xuanzang were to watch our team video, he could revolt; Wu Dalang would dare to climb Liangshan. Suggest to them that each of their successful youth trainees, after joining the team, should first watch Shi Shen’s documentary one hundred times to undergo brainwashing.”

“No problem, provided that we can achieve good results this time.” Zhou Huo agreed. “Go on, go on. While serving as training partners, pay attention to our team’s problems as well. If you want to watch NSN’s qualifying match tomorrow, you definitely won’t have time to play practice matches tomorrow. So, you must make the most of today.”

Everyone nodded and served as NSN’s training partners until early morning.

After sending NSN off, Free did an internal game review for another two hours. The more game review they did, the more energetic they felt. They didn’t leave the training room until nearly three in the morning.

Free was still having a lively discussion before going to bed. If they managed to get up early tomorrow, they will ask for tickets to the competition to watch the NSN’s qualifying matches live. However, each one of them slept later than the other and by the time they got up the next day, it was already two o’clock in the afternoon and Group C had already started playing the second best of one match. It was absolutely impossible to go watch it live now and they could only watch the live broadcast in the hotel.

“I have bad news.” Zhou Huo was the first to wake up. With no trace of a smile on his face, he said to Shi Luo and Chen Huo, who had just entered the training room, “Shi Zai’s brainwashing doesn’t seem to have been particularly effective. They’ve already lost one round and another point.”

Shi Luo’s lips moved, “F*ck.”

Chen Huo followed Shi Luo and entered the training room. He was startled when he heard the news, “They lost another round? NSN strayed pretty far off. Can they still qualify?”

“No, no, no. It’s not as bad as that.” Zhou Huo said hurriedly, “NSN’s current record is 2-2, theoretically…wait, let me compute.”

Zhou Huo wanted to find a pen and paper to make the calculations. Shi Luo couldn’t wait for Zhou Huo’s written calculations and asked, “Who did the NSN lose to?”

Zhou Huo said, “It’s still to that North American god team.”

Shi Luo confirmed, “The North American team is now 4-0?”

Zhou Huo said, “Yes, this team is so strong. It deserves to be the North American champion. They haven’t lost a game so far. If we run into them later, we have to be careful.”

Shi Luo nodded, “Then it’s now impossible for NSN to be first seed for their group.”

Zhou Huo hadn’t computed it out yet. Shi Luo sat down and said to himself, “They can still compete for the second place in the group stage… Yes, as long as the North American team doesn’t pull their groins and lose points and the Thai team doesn’t turn into a water demon and the South Korean team doesn’t suddenly pull off an explosive performance.”

Zhou Huo wanted to say something but stopped. He sullenly said, “Sorry, I didn’t understand a word you said.”

Shi Luo glanced at Zhou Huo, puzzled, “How did you learn probability in high school?”

Zhou Huo choked.

What everyone was most worried about now was whether NSN will be able to qualify. Shi Luo mustered a little more patience. He sat down and said slowly, “The North American team is basically a shoe-in to qualify. There’s nothing anyone can do to stop them now. If you can’t beat the eldest brother, then you can only be the second brother. Instead, now, you’re hoping that the eldest brother can earn more points and won’t raise another second brother. If that happens, it will be difficult for NSN to qualify.”

“The Thai team already has no chance of qualifying. Because of this, they no longer feel any mental pressure. Unlike us, who have multiple considerations and burdens. Sometimes, teams perform very well under that kind of situation and thus they turn into a water demon; they can’t reach the shore but they can drag others down with them. If the Thai team wins one point off NSN, NSN will basically be dead.”

“The Korean team is the other potential second elder brother. If they’re in a particularly good form today and win all three BO3s, then they’ll be the second elder brother and maybe they’ll go fight for the no. 1 spot with North America. NSN will be completely out of the competition and will have to go home.”

Shi Luo looked at Zhou Huo, “Understood?”

Zhou Huo took a deep breath. He wanted to admit that he didn’t understand, but he was afraid that Shi Luo would look at him like an idiot. He reluctantly nodded, covering his conscience, “Understood.”

Shi Luo sat down and watched the live broadcast screen with a sullen face, muttering to himself, “I have to explain it in such a detailed way and he went to college…”

Zhou Huo held back his anger, thinking of waiting for Yu Sui to come to the training room to lodge a complaint.

Twenty minutes later, Yu Sui also came to the training room. The second game for Group C was also over. The South Korean team played against the Thai team. The South Korean team won and just like NSN, their record was now 2-2.

Puppy sighed, “They’re half-cold now.”

“F*ck! Thai team, you were supposed to be a fr*ckin’ water demon. You have zero f*cking pressure. Drag them down! But all you do is hand over points! A point here! A points there! Points everywhere! “Now, you’ve raised another second brother.” Chen Huo watched the game and felt completely fed up. “Thailand has even entered the World Championships before. Why are they playing like sh*t this year? 0-4. They’re just scattering money!”

Yu Sui sat down and glanced at the current points, “…It’s not looking too optimistic.”

“Now it’s the battle for the second brother.” Puppy, sitting farthest away from the live screen, sighed, “I originally thought that NSN, after being duped by Shi Luo yesterday, would outperform themselves today and come out first in the group stage. Then, we’d each perform wonderfully in the quarterfinals. There’s no chance of that now. I’m going to tell you something scary. If NSN goes second, given that teams can’t be matched against the same team from their group stage, NSN will have a thirty-three percent chance of encountering us and also a thirty-three percent chance of encountering Sacred Sword, and…”

“The way things are looking now, it would be a good thing if we ran into each other in the quarterfinals, okay?” Old Qiao didn’t expect Group C to be so difficult today. “Let’s have them make it through first. If they can make it, it’ll be all fine.”

The third BO1 started — South Korea vs. North America.

NSN wasn’t playing in this game but the results of this round was crucial to whether NSN could qualify.

Zhou Huo prayed silently, ‘The South Korean team can’t win anymore.’

The South Korean team had just scored a point and they were now tied with NSN. It saw hope of qualifying, morale was high, and the team’s overall confidence was brimming. The players were each in better shape than the other and they grabbed a clear advantage in the first few minutes.

The situation was getting worse and worse. The Free training room was getting quieter and quieter and their conversation gradually died down.

When the match reached the ten minute mark, even Zhou Huo could see that the Korean team had a huge advantage here.

“…Isn’t it…” Zhou Huo gave a hollow laugh, “Isn’t…isn’t this second elder brother better than our second elder brother? The South Korean team isn’t going to be the second seed team, right?”

If they win this round, the South Korean team will surpass NSN in points.

“There’s still hope.” Old Qiao frowned, “This North American team is also very good. They have constantly been looking for opportunities and the more they play, the more careful they are, they may be able to turn it over.”

Chen Huo was speechless, “Truthfully, the overall strength of Group C is really high. Look at the level of their group stage and then look at the level of our group A… This is the World Championships. When compared to ours, it was like we were abusing elementary school students in an Internet cafe competition.”

In the early stage, the South Korean team had a near-crushing superiority. The map was utterly broken and the center was almost completely cleaned up. Parts of the east and west sides of the map had also been cleared. If this were just any other team, given this big of a disadvantage, the players would be making more and more mistakes. It would then be easy for their opponents to seize opportunities.

But not the North American team.

Even though the South Korean team seized the advantage as soon as the game began, the North American team has been unceasingly biting down hard on the South Korean team. They made very few mistakes and they’ve been constantly looking for opportunities to come back.

Shi Luo watched the game seriously and admitted, “Group C is much more exciting than our group.”

The South Korean team and the North American team were head-to-head the entire way. The North American team obviously didn’t want to break its winning streak and give the South Korean team any more points. If they lose this game and their legs get dragged down by the Thai water demon team, they will have to have to have a rematch with the South Korean team to determine who would be the first team for their group.

If the North American team could win this match then they will be assured of being the first team for their group. This point was very important.

Of course, it was even more important to the Korean team.

The longer the match went, the more meticulously they played. The North American team did not want to lose. They kept contending with the other and dragged the game to a full forty minutes. However, they were never able to fully recover from their early disadvantage. The South Korean team won by the 47th minute of the game.

As the points currently stood, the South Korean team has surpassed NSN.

The next BO1 was the North American team vs. the Thai team. The disparity in strength between the two teams was huge. The result of the game was relatively clear and the results of the match wouldn’t affect the qualifying situation for their group. Those in Free’s training room watched the match disinterestedly. They were all worried about NSN’s two succeeding matches.

“Their next game is against Thailand and their game after that will be against this suddenly explosive South Korea team. They have to win both games. If they lose one game, they’re gone.” Old Qiao thought about how stressed Wawa was yesterday and was speechless, “Wawa won’t be able to hold on…”

Chen Huo shrugged, “He’ll still have to even if he can’t.”

Zhou Huo smiled, “If I put myself in Wawa’s shoes, I would have burst from the pressure… If I make a mistake and we lose a point, we’ll have to pack our bags and go home. I’ll have to carry this baggage while I play the next two games…”

Zhou Huo put himself in Wawa’s position and thought of his situation. He trembled and couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath. “Ordinary people really wouldn’t be able to do what pro-players do. If it were me, let alone play well in the next two games, just stepping foot outside the lounge might erase any courage I had left.”

Chen Huo snorted, “Now you understand it isn’t all that easy to earn our salary, is it?”

Puppy was helpless, “They were definitely unlucky in the group draw. There are too many strong teams in Group C this time.”

Yu Sui said nothing. He heard Shi Luo’s phone buzz. After a while, Shi Luo took his phone and left the training room.

Chen Huo turned his head and cast a glance, “What’s the matter?”

Yu Sui didn’t even need to look at it. He said, “It’s probably Wawa calling him.”

Yu Sui hadn’t guessed wrong.

In the corridor, Shi Luo quietly listened to Wawa talking incoherently to him about the main points of yesterday’s practice match. Shi Luo listened for three full minutes without hearing any noise or other people talking in the background.

Wawa wasn’t in his team’s lounge.

After listening for a while, Shi Luo interrupted Wawa, “Where are you?”

Wawa went quiet and he said after a while, “In the public restroom. There’s…no one here.”

Shi Luo tried to gentle his voice as much as possible, “Don’t be so scared. I promise you, no matter what the result, if anyone dares to spray you, I will definitely help you spray them back. You know how amazing I am at spraying people.”

Wawa whispered, “I’m not afraid of being sprayed if I lose. I’m…”

There was a moment of silence on Wawa’s end. Wawa’s voice turned hoarse, “Shi Ge, if I lose, all of Captain Gu’s hard work this year will be wasted.”

“How many years can he still play?”

Shi Luo’s chest seized.

Wawa tried to hold back from being choked with sobs, “There’s also ROD, Xinran… Our entire club has worked hard for a year to get results in the World Championships. If we falls in the group stage, I… It wouldn’t be enough even if I retire.”

Shi Luo was silent for a moment.

Being constantly surrounded by these big-hearted players, Shi Luo nearly forgot that not every player was a cast iron machine.

Shi Luo squatted down and listened quietly to Wawa’s muffled crying.

At this moment, Shi Luo felt for the first time the suffering of those who hid in stadium restrooms.

“You medics…can’t you be a little less angelic?”

Shi Luo sighed and adjusted his tone, “Why would you be blamed if NSN loses the match? Not to mention that you haven’t lost yet. Why are you so anxious to carry the blame?”

Wawa said with a hoarse voice, “It would be because I couldn’t heal them and they died…”

Shi Luo laughed, “Then you shouldn’t call me. Call Yu Sui, let him share with you his medic principle.”

“Strikers who are not strong enough are not worthy of being healed.”

“If you died it’s not because gege didn’t heal you. It’s because you suck and don’t deserve to be healed.”

“Take the time before you resurrect to think about it. What else have you done besides waste my Photon shields and deliver your head to the opponents?”

Wawa stopped sobbing and couldn’t help but smile.

Shi Luo looked at the time. There were still more than 40 minutes before NSN’s next game. Shi Luo whispered, “You’re hiding because you’re afraid they’d get worried, but I really can’t help you a lot. Trust me and go to Captain Gu. Go to your team’s psychological counselor. You guys would know the situation in your own team best. Play well in the next two games.”

Shi Luo earnestly said, “You really do have great skills but you’re always affected by your mentality and you aren’t able to perform well because of it. Believe me.”

On the other side of the phone, Wawa sniffed and whispered, “Okay.”

Shi Luo said, “See you in the quarterfinals.”

Shi Luo waited for Wawa to hang up, and then sent Gu Gan a WeChat message.

Teams needed to handle their own matters.

Shi Luo returned to the training room and continued to watch the live broadcast with everyone.

The fourth BO1 for Group C finished quickly and the North American team scored another point.

The next game is very clear. In the last two games, NSN will qualify if they win a game, and lose any game and be eliminated.

Shi Luo didn’t know how long Wawa conversed with Gu Gan and the psychological counselor, but he was still uneasy. Before the start of the fifth round of best of one match, Shi Luo received several WeChat messages from Wawa.

Shi Luo looked down for a moment, and let out a sigh of relief.

The fifth round best of one match started, and Wawa’s expression on the court was obviously firmer.

Just like Saint, NSN’s own team also has its own story and legacy. Compared with Shi Luo’s bravado brainwashing, NSN’s own strength would better be able to comfort Wawa.

In the fifth game, NSN played against the Thai team. Despite going into batter with a light pack, knowing that they had no chance of qualifying, the Thai team still failed to turn into a water demon. NSN easily won this game and pulled the score to 3-2.

In the sixth game, NSN vs. South Korea, both sides have a 3-2 record. Whoever wins will qualify.

It was an absolute life and death situation. The pressure on both sides was not small.

NSN had a small advantage. They had just played in the last game; everyone’s hands were still warm. He didn’t know how Gu Gan had told Wawa, but he was filled with more confidence than before. When the match started, he followed Gu Gan to charge ahead. Their momentum didn’t look as though they were fighting a life and death match. The South Korean team was obviously more cautious. They wanted to deal with NSN carefully, but because of this difference in approach, NSN seized the start of the match to lay down four purification dishes in a row.

“Nice!” Chen Huo slapped the table. “That opening was beautiful!”

The South Korean team was also the champion in their division. They weren’t weak. Despite having the advantage seized from them in the opening, they didn’t mess up their positions. In order to disrupt the NSN’s rhythm, they rushed to the edge to steal the map.

The movements of the South Korean team was quickly discovered by the NSN’s sniper. At this moment, normally NSN should deal with the problem at the edge of the map by splitting up. They won’t be able to continue to advance, lest their own map be stolen by the South Korean team.

Yu Sui looked at the live screen and listened to the analysis of the commentators. He shook his head, “Not necessarily.”

After finally gaining the advantage in the early stage, will Gu Gan still choose to play this safe and deal with the edge of the map at the cost of eroding his advantageous chance to push forward?

NSN’s sniper ROD moved. When the commentator thought he was going to deal with the edge of the map, ROD charged directly towards the center of the map.

Chen Huo stared in surprise, “…Old Gu’s going to go all out.”

In this life and death match, NSN was going to break the cauldrons and sink the boats. They took a gamble and the entire team charged down middle of the map. The sniper has no advantage in close combat, but one person was still one person more and one shot was still one shot more. With four people, they had the numbers advantage and they immediately felled the South Korean medic and striker stationed at the frontline. Afterwards, NSN continued to frantically lay down purification dishes.

At the same time, the other South Korean striker kept clearing the map without any interference at the edge of the map. NSN has already occupied the advantage in numbers at this time, but they still did not go to deal with the South Korean striker.

NSN’s four players occupied the center of the map, frantically laying down purification dishes.

Old Qiao was stunned, “Wow, even if they are the best at playing a full frontal assault, this is… too rigid, right? They’re giving up the sides of the map? They’re not scared that they won’t be able to keep up with the speed of the Korean team?”

“Scared, my ass. If they get scared, they’re going to lose this round again.” Chen Huo unconsciously stood up, “They’re playing to the extreme. Wawa’s playing pretty well. They still haven’t’ lost a single player.”

They ignored the other team stealing the sides of the map, having made up their minds to fight for speed. This required NSN to keep everyone alive so that they would have the maximum number of people, this was a lot of pressure on their medic.

But Wawa persevered.

“If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was Angel Sword playing behind that avatar.” Puppy smiled, “This healing…it’s good, really good. This is the best they’ve played in the group stage so far. They’re finally able to play their specialty. They were too cautious before.”

After a few minutes of the two teams frantically clearing the map, the South Korean team finally showed signs of being unable to endure.

Clearing the map at the side naturally wasn’t as fast as clearing it down the middle. The South Korean team wanted to take down a few of NSN’s players without having to fight too much, but Wawa was healing like his life depended on it. Wawa’s constant healing prevented the South Korean team from taking a single head. The South Korean team was left with no choice. They gave up on the sides of the map to take their entire team to confront NSN.

The already weakened South Korean team wanted to fight with NSN using NSN’s specialty head-to-head style of fighting; obviously, they wouldn’t be able to beat them.

The entire NSN team was in full health and they wouldn’t yield even an inch of ground. By the game’s eighteen minute mark, NSN had zero injuries and the stats were shocking.

“Is this still… Wawa?” Puppy was dumbstruck and couldn’t help looking at Shi Luo. “Yu Sui said he called you? What did you say to brainwash him? It’s that effective?”

Shi Luo shook his head, “The brainwashing failed. He went to see Captain Gu.”

Shi Luo took out the WeChat messages that Wawa had just sent him. He raised his hand to give Puppy a look.

They all had 20-20 vision. They could read it clearly without having to pick up the phone.

Awa: [I should have talked to the captain earlier.]

Awa: [The captain told me that he chose me as the medic for the team. Among the three medics, he immediately chose me. ]

Awa: [It’s the first time I found out about it; that he was the one who chose me. He said that he has never regretted it. ]

Awa: [Truth be told, since I entered the industry, I have only believed in his words. If he says not to give up, I feel that I can’t give up. If he believes I can fight, then I can fight. ]

Awa: [The captain told me that he would take me to the quarterfinals.]

Awa: [He said he would take me there, so I can definitely get there.]

On the live broadcast screen, Gu Gan was beaten to residual blood and he was about to get his head taken. Wawa was in the middle of replenishing blood for Xinran. In a flash, Wawa broken off in the middle of replenishing his blood and in a display of masterful maneuvering walked in front of Gu Gan and took three bullets for him and placed the photon shield in front of Gu Gan’s body. Gu Gan then smoothly hid behind the bunker.

The game has reached twenty-three minutes and Wawa was carrying this match; he still hadn’t let the South Korean team get a single head.

Old Qiao whispered, “He’s steady now.”

The pace of the competition was extremely fast, and the two sides continued to clash. At the 27th minute of the game, NSN, with crushing force, won the last qualifying spot for their group.

The director cut the camera to Wawa. In the soundproof room, Wawa took off his headphones and buried his face in his arms. Then he lay on the keyboard, his shoulders shaking.

“Congratulations, Awa.” Shi Luo looked at Wawa on the live broadcast screen and whispered, “You have made a name for yourself in this battle.”