“What are the scores?” Asked Men Wu, who was lying on Xi Zhe like he was a human-sized pillow.
Wu Biaoqing swatted Chang Huic away, stopping him from stealing his food, and humed thoughtfully, “I didn’t check.”
“So far, we’re tied,” Yan Shufen chimed in, “Crypto lost against Hardcore, and lost again to UWO after SWA & ZDs match. ZD won again against UWO, and SWA managed to beat crypto as well, so their team is in a dire position right now. ZD is in the lead with three wins…”
Her voice died out, as if she realized who she was talking about and began to worry if it would affect Wu Biaoqing’s mental state again.
They had all been tactically avoiding mentioning anything related to ZD, especially that morning when he’d been at his worst, just in case something happened.
Wu Biaoqing sighed, both grateful and slightly embarrassed by their attentiveness.
But really, he wasn’t a child that they needed to be cautious around lest he have a temper tantrum.
“Anyway,” she cleared her throat and started speaking again once she realized he seemed alright, “as long as we can keep it up for this last match, we should be fine. Tomorrow is the difficult part, because we have to get the momentum going all over again.”
Xi Zhe nodded, “should we get up early and do some practice rounds? Our next match isn’t until later in the day, so it’s fine if we don’t arrive exactly on time.”
“That’ll just make us stress even more,” Chang Hui griped, turning to mooch off of Men Wu now that Wu Biaoqing’s food was deemed a lost cause, “we should sleep in and head here well rested.”
“Yes, sleep… goddamn it, I want to sleep!” Men Wu whined.
“Wu Biaoqing? Any opinion?” Their manager asked helplessly.
He laughed lightly, “not really. Tomorrow’s my day to show off, so I’ll be in good shape no matter what.”
The others stared at him, confused, before Chang Hui gasped.
“Oh my god, you’re actually meeting him!”
Wu Biaoqing blushed, “it’s not that big of a deal. I promised him tea, didn’t I?”
“Not a big deal my ass! This is a potential boyfriend we’re talking about here! I’m not going to relinquish my right as your mistress to just anyone.” His friend teased.
He sighed, turning to the others for help only to watch Xi Zhe sniffling dramatically while Men Wu patted his back comfortingly, crying, “oh, they grow up so fast!”
He rolled his eyes, “can you guys focus on the competition?”
As he spoke, the deafening sound of cheers erupted from the audience and echoed down the hall, loud enough to be noticeable even with the venue’s thick walls.
“I guess that means we’re going to be up soon,” Chang Hui laughed, as a staff member came to get them for their last round of the day.
“Eight thrilling matches, with only one more to go,” Qian Liqiu exclaimed, “let’s give it up for the first team in this final match, LIFE!”
The crowd went wild with cheers, considerably more so than the second time the team was announced.
Regardless of the situation online, Esports fans admired those who were strong, and it was no wonder the crowd would be enthusiastic upon their return after such brilliant plays in the previous round, and their all around improvement.
Whether they were a fan, an anti, or someone neutral, everyone was anticipating the outcome of this match.
Could LIFE continue their moment to the very end of the day, or would Wu Biaoqing’s unpredictable performance be what ruins it?
Especially when they remembered the bold praise Qian Liqiu had thrown out previously, they were even more eager to know what would happen.
After all, Crypto had been playing so well but had been beaten down embarrassingly, so there was no questioning whether the team would be in top shape—
This was their last chance to prove themselves that day of the competition, after all.
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.
“And their opponents, crypto!”
The team walked out silently, no cheers or waves, just grave expressions on their faces and a stifling air of desperation around them.
Wu Biaoqing understood the feeling—
If he hadn’t gotten his focus back on track, or his teammates had played poorly in the previous rounds, LIFE might’ve been in a similar position.
He took a deep breath, sitting down at his computer, and noticed out of the corner of his eyes a member of Crypto who seemed oddly… familiar?
He was a red haired youth with a strong determination in his eyes, and he held himself high despite the embarrassment the rest of his team was feeling.
He seemed both confident, yet also imperceptibly nervous, as there was nothing to worry about for himself, but the main problem was with the rest of his team.
It wasn’t shocking—
There are always instances of the strong being too strong, and one player doing most of the work for a team wasn’t all that out there.
Still, there was a nagging feeling like the two of them had met before somewhere that followed Wu Biaoqing into the game.
He refused to let himself get distracted, following Xi Zhe’s orders and teaming up with Men Wu to man their base as it was built, but the thought lingered in the back of his mind, and he subconsciously began racking his brain for any memory of someone like that Crypto member and came up with nothing.
But the red-haired youth was a very unique character after all, with his striking appearance and handsome face, so Wu Biaoqing felt it was pretty much impossible for them to have met and him to not have any recollection of it.
The subtle discomfort of recognizing him, but not know where it was he recognized him from, continued even after they won two out of the three rounds—
It wasn’t until the third match that he finally started putting the pieces together.
“Fucking hell, does this guy ever stop attacking?” Men Wu cursed, using his healing skills on Xi Zhe who had taken the brunt of the attack.
“He’s gaming like we spit on his ancestor’s grave or something, my god…” Chang Hui sighed, “how are things on your end?”
Wu Biaoqing frowned, his tone serious, “not good. Their troops have already started to infiltrate our base, while ours are barely breaching the edges of their base. We might not make it if we can’t hang on.”
“The people online weren’t kidding when they said it wasn’t that Crypto was playing bad, their opponents were just better,” Xi Zhe lamented, “Isolation, stay where you’re at. I’ll find a way to lure him away, and you can meet up with me wherever we end up.”
Wu Biaoqing hummed, “that’s a bit underhanded,” but made no attempt to disagree with strategy.
After all, whether something could be considered underhanded or not like a purposeful ambush, it was a good way to get closer to a win.
Crypto’s star player, Sturdy, was impossibly strong, but having only one strong player amidst a team of average players was akin to announcing their obvious weakness.
While the other player’s skills weren’t lacking, and they were definitely stronger than a normal player of LOW, there was still a noticeable difference between the skills of the rest of the Crypto team and other professional players.
Something as uneven as that is bound to be a problem, especially when facing a team just as relentless as crypto themselves, like LIFE.
A team desperate to prove they still had a chance, and a team hell bent on defeating them—
It was a match that was particularly exhilarating.
“It seems like Ferocity is trying to draw Sturdy away from their current location,” Qian Liqiu noted, “but getting closer to their base, what are they planning? Xi Zhe’s attacks aren’t like Wu Biaoqing’s, so getting closer risks it becoming susceptible to Xuan Qi’s attacks. It’ll be worse if he calls his teammates over.”
“Well, it’s clear that Crypto sent out their strongest player first for a reason. They wanted to overwhelm them by exhausting them, and then it would be easier for Crypto to fight them altogether and gain the upper hand. But such a naive approach is really…” Liang Enlai paused, originally wanting to say stupid, but when he thought about it, it really was Xuan Qi’s kind of idea.
A youth barely of age who signed with Crypto the same day as his 18th birthday, someone who was clearly skilled and knew a decent amount when it came to LOW in a professional setting, yet was too young and inexperienced to be able to accurately assess the situation and make appropriate battle decisions.
It was more than likely Xuan Qi wasn’t trying to underestimate his opponent—
He simply didn’t know what tactic to use during such a vital match other than brute force.
“Sturdy isn’t someone who can be underestimated though,” the host added, “he might not be the most strategic, but there’s still a possibility he can kill off some of LIFE before he dies. If he does, then there’s a high chance of winning thanks to Cryptos current advantage with troops.”
“That’s true,” Liang Enlai nodded, “there’s still a chance for Crypto to seize victory, they won the first match after all. As long as they hold out this round, they’ll manage to score a round win, and it’ll keep SD in the lead. Though part of it will be up to sheer luck, since there’s no telling whether or not LIFE will be able to gain more troops and level the playing field.”
Just as he said that, a familiar figure appeared in the distance, not too far from where Xi Zhe was running to in the middle of the icy plains.
For someone like Wu Biaoqing, who loves sneak attacks, a more blank map such as the icy plains was disadvantageous.
But Wu Biaoqing was great at adapting, and utilized a feature specific to the icy plains—
A player couldn’t notice another player unless they were in a certain rendering distance, due to the snow.
The moment he realized he was slightly in view, he stepped back by only a space, and his entire player instantly disappeared as if him being there was only an illusion.
For Sturdy, who was busy duking it out with Ferocity, he didn’t have any time to notice Isolation, and even if he had caught a glimpse of him, it was so quick there was no way he’d be able to figure out who it actually was.
The only disadvantage of Wu Biaoqing stepping back, however, was that he had to rely on the sounds of their fighting as opposed to seeing them.
In the icy plains, where snow was falling everywhere, it was especially difficult to hear sounds amidst the other in-game noise.
However, Wu Biaoqing was incredibly focused, listening intently as he followed them close, looking as if he was predicting each and every one of their moves right as they happened, though he was really just moving based on what he heard.
Wu Biaoqing once again proved his incredible hand speed as he nimbly treaded through the icy plains, following hot on the tail of the current 1V1 battle near him.
They needed to buy as much time as possible so Chang Hui and Men Wu could focus on collecting troops and toppling Crypto’s tower.
Even if it meant sacrificing themselves in the process, it was better than letting him wipe out their entire team.
Xi Zhe sighed, and the exasperation of it was picked up by the microphone.
Wu Biaoqing laughed a bit, but decided not to tease his team captain, instead focusing on his plan to kill Sturdy.
As the two young team captains fought and fought, Wu Biaoqing managed to sneak closer without Sturdy noticing, doing his best to hide.
He’s almost gotten caught multiple times, but managed to get close enough to reach him in the end.
Right as Sturdy aimed to take his final blow, one that would no doubt kill Xi Zhe, Wu Biaoqing fired.
Bang!
{Crypto.Sturdy was killed by a headshot by LIFE.Isolation. 10 second cooldown enabled.}
A headshot to turn the tide, an Isolation special!
The match drew to a close quickly after that, with LIFE given a small opportunity to gather more troops, and managed to kill two out of the three remaining Crypto members before Sturdy finally revived.
Those few seconds made all the difference, and in the end, they were the key to success.
Sturdy rushed to kill Wu Biaoqing, who was the only one left standing for those few seconds before the match ended, but Wu Biaoqing was matched in terms of strength, so Sturdy’s fighting made no difference.
At the last moment, as if realizing trying to beat him was futile, he moved to run and join his team again, only to be blocked by the revived Chang Hui.
Just as Chang Hui prepared to fight with Sturdy, their screens all changed—
It was the winner screen!
While they were battling it out, LIFE had managed to gather more troops than Crypto, successfully putting an end to the long, drawn out match.
Wu Biaoqing couldn’t help but feel a bit sad as he took off his headphones.
Such a promising youth, but it was impossible to win a team game while playing what was basically 1V4.
If another strong seedling joined Crypto, perhaps they would be a very strong contender not just for the CCC tournament, but for the national championships.
“What a beautiful match!” The host cried, “both teams can go home knowing that, no matter what the outcome was, they played an extraordinary game. I’d say this is the perfect end to today’s competition!”
As he spoke, Wu Biaoqing’s gaze drifted to the gloomy team of gamers that were already making their way off stage solemnly.
It irked him even more after having played against the red-haired kid, as one of the biggest reasons Wu Biaoqing was able to gain the upper hand as they fought during the final match was because he felt overly familiar with his style of gaming.
But where would they have fought against one another?
As he stared at the youth’s side profile, all sad like he couldn’t believe he’d failed again, an image of a familiar gamer popped into his head, and it suddenly all made sense.
“Ah, wait a second,” he blurted aloud, “xuanxuan?”
The cheers from the crowd, and banter from the hosts, quieted when they realized the players were still on stage and were talking, something that immediately sparked their interest.
LIFE had just beaten Crypto, after all, and Crypto had been beaten very bad that entire day of the competition.
The two teams originally had nothing to do with each other, and some fans secretly hoped that the match would form a rivalry between the two teams, because the gossip would be immensely popular.
What no one expected, however, was for the dejected Xuan Qi to suddenly charge straight at the player who’d called out to him!
At first it looked like he was running up to ram into him or something, and it had the security on high alert, but he actually… threw himself into a big hug with isolation at the last second?
“Wu-ge! Your hair is so long now, I didn’t realize it was you. You really grew it out?” Crypto’s captain gasped.
Wu Biaoqing smiled at him, a doting smile like that of an older brother spoiling a younger one that fans had never seen before, and certain fans had already begun building a ship in their minds, “what are you doing back in China?”
“I came back a few years ago when mom’s health got worse and she couldn’t keep traveling,” he replied, “did cousin really never tell you?”
Regardless of who they were, everyone there lol instantly had an idea as to who the cousin he was referring to was.
That was simply because it was a well known fact that Xuan Qi and He Weizhe were cousins who were raised together during childhood.
“He never mentioned it,” Wu Biaoqing sighed regretfully, “I wish I asked, we could’ve met sooner- but Xuanxuan… why the red?”
“Oh, this?” He pointed to his hair as if confirming, laughing to himself as he explained, “I lost a bet with my sister in law and she got to do whatever she wanted with my hair. I look totally different now, don’t I?”
Thinking about the brown haired, bowl-cut, thick glasses wearing little kid in his memory, Wu Biaoqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “different is an understatement!”
“Well, this is a touching reunion, but we do have to wrap up.” Qian Liqiu cut in awkwardly, and the two of them finally remembered where they were, breaking apart from their embrace at last, before the two teams scurried off stage like little ducklings worried about getting a scolding.
However, it was much too late, as the internet immediately went wild, for one simple reason—
Wu Biaoqing, the gamer they’d been dissing to hell and back for being nowhere near Saint’s level, might actually know He Weizhe personally?
The author has something to say
Hello dears~ I somehow managed to get this one out in time, thank goodness! It’s very, very late (or well, early in the morning) right now though so there’s definitely extra typos. I’ll try to edit it a bit after I get some sleep 555
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So wholesome! This xuanxuan seems to be really sweet!
I’m curious about WBQs connection to He Weizhe, he is the best player of LOW if I remember correctly after all.