Editor: Decembery
It was clear that Qiu Yu took to the chaotic atmosphere in survival mode like a fish in water. He was much more adept in taking advantage of momentary opportunities as opposed to the more predictably confrontational battles in defence-offence and point-capture modes.
Splitting the team into four and one, he no longer had to consider matters of teamwork, looking after his teammates, or adjusting his rhythm when setting off on his own. At this time, he returned to being the unpredictable storm, Ghost2207—In the vast map, every single person was his prey, save for his teammates.
Thinking of it carefully, today’s Qiu Yu was even stronger than the initial person who shot Mu Feibai through the heart with a single arrow.
Switching from the gaming helmet to the much more sensitive gaming cabin and learning to apply his understanding of real-life battlefields against virtual opponents, Qiu Yu gradually got used to this new form of combat after many post game analysis sessions. Thus, he has gotten much better at grasping the thoughts and mentalities of his opponents.
Hence, the current Qiu Yu was an absolute menace.
The second round quickly ended. As he exited the gaming cabin, Qiu Yu was greeted with He Jingxing’s strange stare.
Predictably, He Jingxing questioned the moment they entered the infirmary, “You’re targeting KKL?”
Qiu Yu calmly smiled and spread out his hands, “I’m just getting kills for the team.”
He was certain that his performance did not expose any flaws. Even if a professional game analyst were to squat in his perspective from beginning to end, there still wouldn’t be able to find any evidence of him targeting KKL.
Even more, although the league’s rules prevented more than two teams from teaming up, they had no provisions against teams digging pits for each other nor for players to target particular teams. Thus, even if Qiu Yu’s actions were discovered, all that would happen would be a couple of sentences of verbal criticism about bringing personal vendettas into the game, but there would be nothing about infringing competition rules.
He Jingxing also knew that Qiu Yu’s actions weren’t against the rules but he still seriously cautioned, “Be a little more subtle. If KKL were to figure out what you’re doing, they’ll definitely tattle to MIG and ally to screw us over first.”
MIG was the other team from the Eastern Third Star District.
Qiu Yu nodded. “Don’t worry, Coach.”
If they dared, he’d kill MIG as well.
At the same time, KKL’s coach went into a fit of anger once more during their post game review.
When the coach got tired of yelling, he picked up a glass of water and finished it in one breath. Only then did KKL’s captain start speaking. “Now I also think that Omega from EWG is targeting us.”
Seeing someone supporting him, Blondie immediately started shaking from anger. “See! That’s what I said! I was killed by him in the first round and then again in the second! He’s definitely got his eye on my life!”
He then proceeded to spew out a string of ear-curdling curses.
The coach spoke with a nasty expression, “You still have the face to curse! After being beaten by an Omega without even being able to retaliate, you still have the nerve to curse?!”
Blondie retorted, “Well he’s only strong in the game! After being raised by MU and even being his mistress… I know, he’s definitely been directed by MU to kill me, and MU has definitely been helping him from the shadows! Coach, we can’t not retaliate! It would be too ugly of a result if we’re still ranked eighth in tomorrow’s two rounds!”
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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……
Opening the door to his room, Qiu Yu looked at Mu Feibai who stood outside.
“Is there something?” He turned to the side and let Mu Feibai in, a towel still around his neck.
Mu Feibai entered naturally and took a seat on the arm of the couch at the end of the bed. “In the two games today… did you purposefully control KKL’s ranking to make them barely hang onto group A?”
Wiping his hair, Qiu Yu sat down at the end of the bed with a smile hovering about his lips, “Yeah.”
Mu Feibai continued, “Want to force them out of the top 16?”
There was no reason to deny it, so Qiu Yu nodded, “Two games, if they’re still in last place of group A in the third and we completely suppress them in the fourth, it is possible for them to be eliminated.”
Even though this method had a lot of variables.
After all, the top eight teams who could stay in group A after two rounds were definitely the cream of the crop. Qiu Yu couldn’t risk forcing KKL into group B in round three, as KKL must stay where he could control. Thus, even if he were to annihilate KKL as fast as possible in the fourth round, there was still a possibility of KKL qualifying after total points were calculated.
However, targeting KKL was his personal choice and Qiu Yu didn’t wish to use the entire team.
Thus, he didn’t talk it through with Mu Feibai and relied on himself.
Of course, Mu Feibai also noticed and understood.
But still…
“The competition is the entire team’s concern and it’s also beneficial to us if KKL could be eliminated earlier.” Mu Feibai said, “You didn’t stay with the group these two rounds so you might not know, but MIG has also been targeting us. There’s also TNS and EL so Su Se isn’t having the best time either.”
TNS and EL were teams from the Western Eighth Star District. Competition was intense between Star Districts with a bigger focus on Esports and neither team wanted their opponents to qualify that easily. Of course, they wished to block the strongest competitors outside the doors of the finals. However, there were no wraithlike assassins on their teams so the results of the schemes were not so satisfactory.
“Moreover, if I can tell, there’s no way KKL’s coach can’t.” Mu Feibai placed one leg over the other, “You know the moral qualities of those people from Third Star District, they’ll definitely ally with MIG next round.”
Even though the league prohibited multiple teams from allying, as long as they don’t make it too obvious and there’s no clear evidence, there would be nothing for the referees to enforce. The line between “allying” and merely “using” was quite blurred.
Qiu Yu now understood the purpose behind Mu Feibai’s visit. “You want to dig a pit next round?”
Mu Feibai supported his chin with one hand and lazily leaned back into the couch, a smile in his eyes, “We’ll dig it together.”
Qiu Yu raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Sure.”
……
The next day, at 18:00 sharp, the third round of the Star Alliance Cup’s qualifiers began.
After splitting into four and one for both of yesterday’s games, Team Eagle Riders changed up their strategy and split into one, three, and one. Qiu Yu and Du Chen would go solo, and separate from the other three the moment they parachuted off the plane.
According to his observations from yesterday’s games, he more or less knew of KKL’s parachuting habits and guided Du Chen to track them through the team channel. As such, after barely three minutes, Qiu Yu discovered KKL’s tracks with the assistance of kill announcements. Only then did he realise that KKL was surprisingly hunting for Mu Feibai and the others, while MIG split into groups of three and two and was not far from the Eagle Rider team of three’s location.
Seeing this situation, Qiu Yu and Mu Feibai immediately turned to surround KKL after some quick discussion.
As the fierce battle began, the commentators’ perspective turned to their side.
“Eh? EWG actually chose this time to start a team battle. Would that prove to be too short-sighted of a choice?” Seeing the scene before him, the commentator wasn’t too certain in his judgment.
The other commentator was more focused on the entire scene. “However MU is still extremely capable and has obtained quite the advantage in this map. Oh, Wera has killed EWG’s SunSet, but was very quickly sent out of the game by MU and RainZ. Nak is facing off against Dust, the two’s skills are quite equal—Nak! Killed by a single arrow to the head! A kill by Cupid! …But where is he?!”
“Dust has been killed? Oh damn, is that MIG’s KID?” The commentator suddenly took notice of a nearby ruin. “MIG is close by, they’re joining in!”
“EWG is about to face attacks from two teams from both directions, are they still not retreating? Exchanging two teammates for three enemies is already a pretty good result in this situation, but MU didn’t choose to cut his losses! He’s going in again! MU has killed KKL’s MOVE, but he has been sighted by MIG! Can he still escape in one piece?”
“KKL’s last surviving member has fallen into Cupid’s hands while retreating! A mere five minutes after the game began, KKL has been completely annihilated!”
“Oh my god—”
The result of this chaotic team battle was: the annihilation of team KKL while only Cupid remained of EWG, and MIG had only lost a single player.
“The results don’t seem to be worth the loss.” The commentator handed down the verdict.
“Indeed, although KKL has been eliminated, EWG is now also in a tight spot.” The other person added, “In this team battle, MU seems to have made some mistakes in command. Now they must place all hopes on Cupid and hope that he will persevere until the end of the game by himself.”
The facts soon proved that he couldn’t.
Qiu Yu calculated their points and casually took a couple more heads to ensure their ranking wouldn’t be too ugly. He then exposed himself in the enemy’s sights and was sent off-field by a bullet.
The commentators’ field of view wasn’t focused on him, but he saw the announcement. In a regretful tone, he said, “Ah, Cupid has been killed. EWG was actually eliminated early this round—how unexpected.”
Speaking until here, he suddenly smiled. “However, EWG’s performance in the previous rounds has been stellar, so they have quite the advantage in points. There shouldn’t be a need to be too worried about qualifying.”
After the game ended and points were calculated, EWG ranked ninth while KKL fell straight down to thirteen. Neither of the two teams managed to remain in group A.
After the game, another stream of enraged scolding sounded from KKL’s lounge accompanied by sounds of glass shattering against the floor.
In a nearby lounge, He Jingxing pinched his nose bridge, head hurting.
“Our Eastern First Star District has never had a team who uses such underhanded strategies!” He ranted, “Do you guys worry that the media will have nothing to smear our reputation with? What is this? Huh? A feigned defeat? Only those Third Star District teams would use such schemes!”
“Hey, we’re just using magic to defeat magic right?” Mu Feibai shamelessly laughed, “If we let them pull these tricks over and over again, wouldn’t it be too stifling?”
He Jingxing had no more emotions left to even get angry. “Looks like you don’t need a coach anymore, huh? Every single one of you is full of stinky ideas.”
Mu Feibai quickly admitted his wrongs, “No no no, this was us being too hasty. We shouldn’t have pointed our warspears towards them after an insult. How could we do without you as our coach, sir? You were the one who trained and raised us and made us this strong. You’re the reason why we have such confidence in qualifying, we’d definitely need your guidance in future competitions!”
After listening, He Jingxing’s face turned the colour of vegetables, “Don’t you start honeying your mouth when talking to me!”
Mu Feibai held back laughter and pointed three fingers towards the sky in an oath, “We’ll definitely play seriously next round!”
He Jingxing huffed and puffed, “…It’s the last round, you dare to not play seriously?!”
He shot a glare towards Mu Feibai, exhaustion rising from the bottom of his heart, “Fine, at least MIG and those Western District teams remained in group A. You guys don’t have to worry about an allied attack next round, just focus on finishing KKL quickly.”
After speaking, he put on a furious expression and passed down a final command, “You must take first place in group B. Otherwise… just see how I’ll deal with you!”
The author has something to say:
Coach He: The human realm is not worth this torment 🙂
tn: Heyhey!!! I’m back from the break and Decemebery will be back in a bit asw😊 Wishing everyone a good start to 2024!
Welcome back and thanks for the chapter. HNY!
Read this in one and a half day and I’m hooked. Xiao Mu and Xiao Qiu are a menace together on the field in this round 😭
This story is too good, I love how good those two work together!
KKL flat out insulted them and didn’t expect them to do anything about it? Smh 😭