Translated by 🎏
Edited by apricot, @babyybluebear
No doubt Yan Jiang’s words jogged everyone’s memory.
Brother Big Mouth had also returned to his senses by now. Despite cursing vehemently on the inside, he still helped to intervene, “The IDs in the opening game for the world solo tournament in China were rather interesting.”
They were interesting indeed. I Like Close The Most, Close Has Great Skills, Close Is Very Strong, Close Has Super Endurance…
At that time, Close’s legendary fan group had made themselves known across the globe.
The international audience also cottoned on just then.
Oh…
It wasn’t an accidental confession on livestream as they had thought, but a meme?
That did sound about right. A pro player like Quiet wasn’t afraid to say whatever he liked!
The Chinese fans were much more composed. Even if they had not immediately associated Wei Xiao with this ID, they wouldn’t fall for any insinuations made by Wei Xiao.
So what if he liked Close?
Even if a day came where Quiet announced his marriage with Close on social media with a photo of his marriage certificate, they would calmly applaud, while casually remarking that Quiet had pretty decent photoshop skills.
Likewise goes for coming out of the closet. There would be millions of fans helping him jam the door shut in synchrony.
Wei Xiao was naturally so daring in the commentary booth because he knew how far he could push it.
But he didn’t expect that Yan Jiang would help him bring it a step further and even play along with him so casually. It would cause a stir, but it wouldn’t cause Wei Xiao to go too far. It was just right.
Wei Xiao snuck a look at Yan Jiang. His mental evaluation of Yan Jiang was truly not low at all.
This guy was terrifying.
His IQ, EQ and even his were shockingly high.
Nobody understood him, yet he seemed to have a clear vision of everything around him.
Brother Big Mouth and Sister Ji took back the reins. They no longer dared to let Little Lunatic Wei lead the conversation.
Topics about the game proceeded much more normally. As one of the top players in the world, Wei Xiao had his own understanding of every talent, and the commentary booth at last saw some regular chit chat.
On the contrary, it was Yan Jiang’s performance that surprised everyone.
They had thought he would be a conversation killer and end up enveloping the commentary booth in a perpetual chill.
But he really didn’t. Whenever anything was directed at him, he could respond smoothly and even provide a new perspective on the situation.
Yan Jiang had a unique voice. It was cool and calm; he didn’t speak loudly yet the enunciation was clear. He could convey sharp insights with just a few words.
Forget about the fans; even Brother Big Mouth and Sister Ji were startled.
Wei Xiao was doing great and so was Yan Jiang. They got along well and could even carry the conversation back and forth. It made for a wonderful show.
Nearly twenty minutes of waiting time slipped by unknowingly. When the camera finally tuned in to the competition, the audience were actually slightly reluctant.
They couldn’t see the commentary booth anymore.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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It was as Wei Xiao had said. Close’s talents were without suspense, namely – Death Knight, Shadow Thief, Immortal Warlock, and Storm Hunter.
Yuan Ze decided on a full warrior comp, Xie He went for a full mage comp, Kim Sung-hyun picked three hunters and one support, and God Hai’s four talents matched Yan Jiang’s prediction earlier.
Close’s all-roundedness was widely known, but it still stood out amidst this hundred players free-for-all.
It wasn’t as though no other had used Close’s line-up in unofficial matches; however, winning with it would be a challenge.
Everyone took league games seriously. Nobody would joke around with the humongous prize money at stake, so the line-up selected would definitely be the talents that they were most familiar with and suited for.
Everyone knew how powerful the Death Knight, Shadow Thief, Immortal Warlock and Storm Hunter were. But not just anyone was able to bring all these four talents to their fullest potential.
After the drafting, the hundred players entered the Sky Island of Light. The first World Solo Tournament after the competition format revamp officially began!
It was a lot of work for the broadcast observer to show the Sky Island in its full glory.
Each of the five outer zones had a dedicated camera, and every player in the host stadium had a small window showing their progress. At the same time, the holographic projection was on standby for any exciting close-up action that could happen at any given moment.
Compared to the audience at the stadium, the livestream viewers had even more freedom to choose.
There were many options provided; a viewer could even follow the viewpoint of their favourite player such as Lu Feng, whose popularity was so high that there were mirror streams running in order to prevent lag!
In the free-for-all, players were randomly assigned to different zones. As all five outer zones had already been mapped out by the players, it was unlikely that there would be a repeat of the opening game, where some players tragically lost their bearings at Shining Gold Temple.
The spawn point was purportedly randomised, irrespective of the player’s calibre or competitive results, but they were still graded.
Close spawned at Zone A’s Moonlight Wetland this time, where Wei Xiao and Yan Jiang had previously spawned in the opening game. Kim Sung-hyun and Moonlit spawned at Zone B’s Battlesong Plains. Xie He and Eurostar spawned at Zone C’s Falling Star Lake. God Hai and Brother Sleep spawned at Zone D’s Shining Gold Temple. Teacher Yuan, the previous solo king, spawned at Thousand Needle Forest.
It could be observed from the distribution that the two strongest at solo matches among the Team of Gods were assigned to a zone by themselves.
This wasn’t skewing things in favour of them, but out of kindness to the other top players in their domestic leagues so they wouldn’t suffer the tragic fate of being offed by two big daddies right from the outset.
Nevertheless, God Kim, God Xie and God Hai were no pushovers either.
This arrangement excited everyone. There was entertainment to be had in every zone!
Kim Sung-hyun, a world-class marksman, was up against Moonlit, the best mage of the Chinese league. God Xie, Glory’s Mage God, was up against Eurostar, a rookie marksman in the Chinese league.
“Ultimately, is the Mage King or a marksman stronger? Keep watching Battlesong Plains and Falling Star Lake to find out!”
It was Wei Xiao who had spoken, giving Brother Big Mouth a disconcerting feeling that his job was being stolen.
With a tongue so glib, did he intend to become Glory’s top anchor after retiring!
After remaining professional for a while, Wei Xiao went straight to the key point. “Moonlight Wetland is pretty interesting too; it is well suited for Close to go on a killing spree there.”
With that, he turned to look at Yan Jiang, asking, “Isn’t that right, Captain Yan.”
But Yan Jiang was not keen on revisiting the previous opening game, giving him a sidelong look before countering, “Is there anywhere that doesn’t suit him?”
Wei Xiao’s eyes lit up, and he immediately started bragging, “That’s true! Moonlight Wetland, Battlesong Plains, Thousand Needle Forest – even Falling Star Lake and Shining Gold Temple with their strange terrains – Close would get First Blood all the same!”
Even before the livestream could tell him to zip it lest he jinxed it, a system announcement came hot on the heels of his words.
First Blood!
FTW.Close killed IMP.Goo!
He seriously got First Blood?
Even in Moonlight Wetland, a gloomy and damp terrain that made for many hiding spots for the players, and he still actually managed to snatch First Blood?
It didn’t matter which region IMP was from nor who Goo was. As the first to die under Close’s hands, all eyes would be on him!
The observer hurriedly cast the replay onto the holographic projection, thrusting the entire Moonlight Wetland into the spotlight.
In the dark wetland where the moon was hidden, the Shadow Thief stealthily attacked the Spirit Mage like a spectre.
Goo chose to open with the Spirit Mage. It was a highly mobile burst talent, which made it a good starter.
A player’s competitive region or whether they qualified for the World Tournament didn’t matter. As a pro player that could stand on the world stage, there was no doubt that Goo was not weak.
It was just a pity that he had encountered Close.
Brother Big Mouth provided commentary on Lu Feng’s spectacular five-second kill at such rapid-fire speed that no one was able to interject.
Wei Xiao didn’t intend to, anyway. He simply waited for Brother Big Mouth to finish before adding, “Take a closer look at the pathing of Close’s Shadow Attack. He minimised the volume of his footfalls.”
Brother Big Mouth: “!”
Yan Jiang: “The rustling vines concealed the sound of a blade being drawn.”
Sister Ji: “!!”
Wei Xiao’s eyes crinkled. “Goo didn’t die in vain.”
This accord had the audience confused –
Quiet was a Close simp, confirmed, but why was God Yan adding fuel to the fire? Did he feel that the other wasn’t simping enough?
With a brief exchange of words from Wei Xiao and Yan Jiang, they were able to hit the heart of the matter.
The biggest difference between the Sky Island of Light and the Glory Canyon was the sound effects. While ability-related sound effects did play an important role in the canyon, it wasn’t as fatal as in a free-for-all.
For example, Moonlight Wetland was a complex battlefield which included swamps, dead leaves and also ever-changing vines. These didn’t follow a fixed pattern so it wasn’t something that you could master simply by mapping out the terrain. It required strong improvisation from the players themselves.
Everyone only saw Close kill Goo in less than five seconds, but they did not realise how he had soundlessly approached in order to make the kill.
The Shadow Thief was indeed invisible after using Stealth, but it was challenging to conceal the sound of his footsteps. Close was able to forestall the enemy thanks to precise positioning which minimised the volume of his approach to an inaudible level.
Then, he leveraged the noise of vines sweeping in the background to hide the sound of his blade being drawn, so Goo was left without even a moment to react, dying on the spot!
The Shadow Thief had average damage output in the early stage, but that did not stop him as the Spirit Mage was rather squishy.
After gaining the initiative, it was not that hard to get an instant kill.
It was a one-shot kill that occurred within a fraction of a second, yet it hid so much cunning and skill!
At this, even the most unimpressed of fans were gawking.
What a beast.
Close was a beast!
Wei Xiao and Yan Jiang too! They were able to catch so much within such a short time frame!
What was this dynamic vision?
No wonder they were Glory’s top players!
Seizing First Blood conferred a bonus ability.
There was no need for the commentator to speak; the livestream had already erupted in a frenzy.
“Is it Fury?! Is it the bonus ability that would raise damage dealt by 80%?!”
“Holy shit, if I can see ten Light Arcs today, I can die in peace!”
“Sisters, don’t rub it in. I stayed up in order to snatch tickets for the sight of ten Light Arcs, but in the end my hand speed still lost out to others!”
Over ten thousand tickets to the solo tournament were sold out in an instant. Close’s popularity did have a hand in that.
There were truly more than enough talking points about today’s competition – the first solo tournament in the new format, the gathering of the Team of Gods as well as the mythical ten Light Arcs.
Any one of which was enough for the fans to manically snatch up tickets!
Brother Big Mouth initially wanted to tease Wei Xiao and have him guess what ability Close would get from the First Blood.
But little did anyone expect that right after getting first blood, Close would go on a rampage; the camera didn’t dare to shift away.
The view was locked onto Moonlight Wetland, and the stage was set up for a rendition of a Shadow Thief slaying the swamp!
Let alone talk about anything else, even solely analysing Close’s movements was pushing the limits of how fast Brother Big Mouth could talk.
Double kill.
Triple kill.
Quadra kill…
Deca kill (10)!
There were a total of five outer zones on the Sky Island of Light. Twenty people spawned at Zone A, Moonlight Wetland, and Close had single handedly killed half of them!
He virtually turned Moonlight Wetland into Battlesong Plains.
The Great Demon King, when going all out, shocked the world!
His form was slipping?
He was unfamiliar with the new rules?
What were you thinking.
The hundred players free-for-all truly unleashed Glory’s demon king.
– Any old afflictions he had were gone, leaving only the blazing sun in his wake.
The victor of the solo tournament was going to be Close!
@babyybluebear: Ah yes, when wife and mother-in-law agree, the family is harmonious and at peace. Gay-men.
Thanks for the chapter. Shadow thief is written twice in the paragraph starting with everyone knew…
Thanks for the catch, fixed (o)
thanks for the chapter!! <333
How can Xiaoxiao and Yanyan be so cute 💖
Thanks for the chapter
Love Lu Feng! He has been loosened. Thanks for the chapter.