translator: Oyen editor: Ciel
The next day, Mojue’s team members returned to Changsha after breakfast. Wu Zewen had also booked a ticket on the same flight, and returned with the team.
After reaching Changsha, Qin Mo allowed everyone to return to their dormitories. They would gather in the training room at 4.30pm.
During the meeting, Qin Mo briefly summarised everyone’s performance in this team competition, as well as offered praise to a few of the newcomers.
Next, he outlined detailed arrangements for subsequent training tasks—— He Beiguang would continue to follow Zhu Qingyue every day, in order to train his understanding and view of the overall situation during team games. He would also need to go to the arena alone in the afternoon, to look at how other people cooperate as well as improve on his ability to resist pressure as the front row tank. Li Muran and Pei Yu would both follow Qin Mo, one to learn tactics, and the other to improve his awareness in case of emergencies in the team battles. Finally, Xiao Han, Shen He, and Liu Hong would be preparing for the next competition.
According to the schedule agreed upon by Qin Mo and Xiao Han, the individual competition was for warming up, and the partner competition was to pry into the other teams’ tactics. Next, Qin Mo would stay behind for the KOF three-player competition, recharging his batteries and analysing their opponents’ characteristics in preparation for the larger projects in the second half of the year. This time, Xiao Han would bring Shen He and Liu Hong along to participate in the three-player competition.
This time, Mojue would only send one combination.
Qin Mo had originally planned on participating, but the KOF system involved the three players fighting in a relay match, where the winner was the last person standing. However, Zhu Qingyue’s auxiliary and Li Muran’s healer were unable to fight one-on-one in the arena, and even if Qin Mo brought He Beiguang and Pei Yu to the three-person arena with him, their odds of winning were not great.
After all, Qin Mo’s finger was injured. Xiao Han was afraid the burden for his hands were too heavy, so he urged Qin Mo to stay in Changsha.
Knowing that Xiao Han was worried, Qin Mo did not continue to insist, instead allowing Xiao Han to lead the team for the three-person arena competition.
The team members did not know the reason behind Qin Mo’s decision, but everyone tacitly agreed not to question it, simultaneously expressing their agreement to obey the captain’s arrangements.
After the meeting, Qin Mo asked Li Muran and Pei Yu to hand him their assigned homework. Reading the papers carefully, Qin Mo offered some comments, before instructing them to watch the games once again to find out what they had previously omitted. Li Muran and Pei Yu were very excited; god Mo corrected their homework very seriously, even more so than Chinese teachers in high schools.
He Beiguang followed great god Qingyue to continue to play in the challenge arena, while Xiao Han gathered Liu Hong and Shen He to practice cooperating for the three-person challenge arena.
***
With the end of the partner competition, the league’s official website was once again updated with the total number of points for each team.
After Qin Mo finished his tasks, he went to the official website to look at the points list. Monjue was still first overall; however, because of their civil war, Liu Hong and Pei Yu were only able to make it to the top 16, while the combination of Han Mo made it to the championship. Thus, Mojue earned a total of 16 points from the partner competition.
This time, Dynasty was the biggest winner. Lin Yao and Wen Hua made it to the top 8, while Chu Sang made it to the finals, earning their team 18 points in one go.
Sky and Frost Moon had a pair in the top four and another in the top 16, scoring 15 points each. On the other hand, Whisper, Without Fire and National Grace all scored 13 points. Of the remaining non-governmental teams, Interlude scored 8 points, and Sword Song scored 5—— after the start of the official league, the inexperienced players of these teams were exposed, and were subsequently targeted by the various experts of the major clubs. Naturally, this was a very normal phenomenon experienced by new teams. Qin Mo believed that these two teams were currently in their growing stage, and would no doubt perform better in the second half of the year.
It was a pity that none of Graceful Beauty’s players qualified from the group stage in this partner competition.
On the Peerless Jianghu league’s scoreboard, Graceful Beauty only had a pitiful 2 points to their name from the individual fraction, which was a tiny fraction of Mojue’s total score. It looked particularly miserable.
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.
Seeing this, many people commented on the office Weibo, mocking the Graceful Beauty team impolitely. “Perhaps Graceful Beauty came here as a joke?”
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There was nothing wrong with the original intention of this approach. With a complete lineup of players from all eight sects, different lineups could be sent to deal with different opponents in the future team battles.
However, Xu Sizhe forgot the most important criterion—— the captain had to be strong enough.
If the captain himself couldn’t figure out how to use tactics on his home map, as well as how to break out of the opponent’s layout on their away maps, then a team composed of the eight different sects would only ever amount to an army without any cohesion. Such a team could never be as powerful as a team with distinctive characteristics.
Xu Sizhe was unconsciously imitating Qin Mo, but because his level was not good enough, his Graceful Beauty team ended up looking like a laughingstock.
What a shame…
Seeing Qin Mo lost in thought, Xiao Han leaned over to ask, “What are you thinking about?”
“I just feel that the players of Graceful Beauty are a little pitiful,” Qin Mo shook his head.
Glancing at the scoreboard displayed on Qin Mo’s computer screen, Xiao Han shrugged. “I’ve also realised that Graceful Beauty’s lineup includes players from the eight major sects, and has a similar configuration to Mojue. Furthermore, the combination of Qingyue and Xiao He in the group stage just happens to match the auxiliary and Kuangdao Gate combination from Graceful Beauty. Xu Sizhe ought to be copying you.”
Qin Mo’s lips curved into a gentle smile. “It’s such a shame that his efforts have proven to be a failure.”
Xu Sizhe was a very strange character. He regarded Qin Mo as an enemy, wanting to defeat and surpass Qin Mo, yet he constantly imitated Qin Mo’s ideas, like an immature child trying to argue with an adult. By now, he had gotten stuck in a pit of his own making, and even if others were to advise him, he might not necessarily listen.
Despite the both of them being rich second-generations, Lin Shuangcheng was much smarter than Xu Sizhe, and had a stronger psychological endurance. Despite Sword Song not having much in terms of achievements, Lin Shuangcheng was not anxious. He also lost the opportunity to qualify for the individual competition due to food poisoning, but his personal strength was enough for him to reach the top 16 in the partner competition. However, Lin Shuangcheng had a graceful personality, constantly encouraging Xiao Song to progress step-by-step with him—— he was very clear that Sword Song was still in its infancy, and that it was impossible for him to seize a huge slice of pie in one go. Experts in the Peerless Jianghu alliance were plentiful, and Sword Song ought to focus on allowing its newcomers to adapt to the environment of the league as soon as possible. It was impractical to aim for prizes, so it was better to let the team adjust and improve first.
It was precisely this clarity and realistic positioning that allowed Lin Shuangcheng not to be too frustrated by repeated losses, allowing him to maintain his peace of mind.
Qin Mo admired Lin Shuangcheng’s rationality and open-mindedness very much.
Even though Sword Song wouldn’t get good results this season, Qin Mo firmly believed that under the guidance of such a captain, Sword Song would slowly make their way into the ranks of the first-class teams in the alliance.
As for Graceful Beauty, with a captain like Xu Sizhe, their road would not be long.
***
Seeing that it was almost time for dinner, Qin Mo stood up. “I have an appointment with Zewen in the office at 5.30pm. Would you like to come along?”
“Of course.” Standing up, Xiao Han followed Qin Mo out of the training room.
The two went to the general manager’s office at the end of the corridor, and knocked twice. Sure enough, when they entered the room, Wu Zewen was already there, sorting out the data on the computer.
“You’re here? Wait a minute.” Wu Zewen supported his glasses on the bridge of his nose, still staring at the computer screen. “I’m checking from the very beginning, and I’ll be ready soon.”
Walking over, Qin Mo stood behind him to peek at the computer screen, which was covered with a dense amount of text and numbers. “Xueba really is a professional.”
After checking the information, Wu Zewen pointed at the computer screen to explain. “I used the same template that I do for the Wulin league. This data was collected from both the individual competition and the partner competition. The first column is the hand speed of all the players in the league, the second is their highest explosive output, average output, and minimum output data. The third column is the player’s fluctuation index.”
“How are the numbers calculated?” Qin Mo asked curiously.
“For example, a player has participated in ten matches. The closer the data of each competition is, the more stable the player’s state, and the fluctuation index will have a value closer to 1,” Wu Zewen explained. “For yourself, Xiao Han, captain Nie, captain Chen, and captain Chu, who all have several years of experience, there will not be many changes in your states. However, the fluctuation index of newcomers is relatively high. For example, Song Changdong of Sword Song and Shen He of Mojue occasionally have explosive output, but at other times are killed by opponents. These players are still growing, and their unstable state is a weakness, but they have plenty of room for improvement.”
With Xueba’s patient explanation, Qin Mo immediately understood—— there were two kinds of stable players: the ‘strong stability’ and the ‘poor stability’ players. Needless to say, the players who were both strong and stable were the giants of the major teams, while players who had poor stability were mainly newcomers. Some of them would eventually soar, becoming a new generation of great gods, while others might fail to break through their limits, or even go astray.
“I see,” Qin Mo realised. “From this data, we can see the growth of the players, and predict their combat power in the future.”
“Correct,” Wu Zewen nodded.
Pointing at the last column labelled ‘tactics’ which had been left blank, Xiao Han asked doubtfully, “Why is there nothing here?”
“In the end, Peerless Jianghu is not my speciality,” Wu Zewen replied seriously. “It’s not good for me to rank the tactical ability of the players directly.” Glancing at Qin Mo, he continued his explanation. “I think that Qin Mo ought to have his own analysis about this, so for this column, please fill it in yourself.”
“En,” Qin Mo nodded. “Thank you.”
Having received the data from Wu Zewen, the two people tacitly agreed to stop bothering him, and instead went to the cafeteria for a meal.
***
After returning to the dormitory, Qin Mo placed Wu Zewen’s USB disk in his computer, once again reading the file from the beginning.
Standing behind him, Xiao Han sighed. “Xueba is really considerate. In the past, when he compiled a database for the Wulin league, he would write a score and a brief description in the tactical ability column, but this time, he left the entire thing blank for your own evaluations. It seems like he recognises your ability.”
“If he didn’t recognise my strength, he wouldn’t have helped me compile this database,” Qin Mo replied. “Wu Zewen is a very strict man. With his help, we can get twice the results with half the effort.”
“Are you going to study this data over the next few days?” Xiao Han asked.
“En,” Qin Mo nodded, “I want to understand the current situation of the Peerless Jianghu league as a whole. At the present moment, I’m still a little unsure about the team matches in the second half of the year.”
Naturally, this was something he would never say before the other team members, because he was the captain, and the team members needed to have confidence in him.
However, Qin Mo did not need to hide himself in front of Xiao Han. The mechanisms of the team competition in the second half of the year was quite different from that of the smaller projects. In particular, the escort mode, the secret letter mode and the unique treasure hunt mode of the professional league’s matches were not things that could be solved by simply forcing a team PK.
Qin Mo had no clues as to what the team competition was going to be like, so he could only study carefully.
Looking at his serious expression, Xiao Han noted that the dark circles under Qin Mo’s eyes had become more obvious, no doubt because of fatigue. “Xiao Mo, you are too strict with yourself,” Xiao Han whispered, patting him on the shoulder gently. “You can take it slowly; there’s still a lot of time.”
“En,” Qin Mo nodded, rubbing his temples. “I won’t take part in the three-person competition next week. I’ll leave it to you.”
Xiao Han nodded. “Relax, I am also a former captain. You should stay in Changsha and rest properly, don’t overwork yourself.”
Qin Mo hummed in agreement. Sometimes, Xiao Han’s care for him bordered on protective, causing Qin Mo to feel a little embarrassed.
At this moment, his phone screen lit up, showing a new private message on WeChat. “Captain Qin, how about a friendly match next week?”
The sender was Dynasty’s Sang Jun.
Qin Mo replied: “Friendly match? How do you know I’m free next week?”
Sang Jun’s reply was extremely quick. “I wasn’t sure originally, but with your reply, I’m now certain. You aren’t participating in the three-person arena, correct?”
To think that this guy would set a word trap for him. Smiling, Qin Mo sent another message. “It seems as though vice-captain Sang is not participating either?”
“Well, after overusing the brain, the pace needs to be slowed down a little,” came the reply. “The official three-person battle allows players to be banned. Captain Qin should be aware of this?”
Qin Mo: “Naturally. I will remember to ban you from playing when we meet Dynasty.”
Sang Jun: “Many thanks to captain Qin for your love. When we face Mojue, I will not forget to ban you from playing either.”
Seeing Qin Mo speedily type out messages to Sang Jun, Xiao Han smiled. “It seems like you’ve made another friend.”
Turning around, Qin Mo glanced at him. “Are you unhappy?”
Smiling, Xiao Han rubbed Qin Mo on the head. “Of course not. I’m very happy that you have friends and opponents who you can chat with.”
—— Compared with the lonely experience of staying alone in Nanjing for rehabilitation in the past three years, the you of today, who is willing to compete with others in terms of tactics and strength, and even joke around with others, more closely resembles the lively Qin Mo of that year in my memories.
—— the Qin Mo whom Xiao Han likes should be this sort of high-spirited person.
Sang Jun is such a witty-cutie new friend…. Thanks for the love haha
Lol, agreedd~
You’re welcome~ ❤
A three-player competition? I totally forgot about it! Looking forward to it~~!
I wonder when the others are going to find out about the car accident of Qin Mo… Aww Xiao Han is so caring~ So sweet! 😍🥰 Thank you for the chapter ❤️❤️❤️
Yes, three-player competition is a relay competition thought, and I think it’s the last competition for the first half of the year.
I think the other will never know? >_<
You’re welcome~ ❤
What? Really? I thought that the others soon will find out about Qin Mo‘s injury and why he retired back then…
I think they just know something was off with his hands, but don’t know abt the detail 🤔
And i was looking forward to the reveal… 😪
Sang Jun is a very dangerous character ^_^
Glad Qin Mo is able to make new friends. Seems like Xiao Han was his only friend back then since they always stuck to each other.
he is a snake after all, lol~
But Xiao Han back then is his special friend, and now will be his life partner 😍
Wu zewen is such a useful guy, one day I shall read his story too