FOG [e-sports]

Chapter 100:

Free was first to grab two rounds. At this point in the game, it would already be difficult for NSN to make a comeback. In a best of five, it’s wasn’t unheard of for a team to make a comeback, winning the next three rounds in a row, after being down two. But when there was really a difference in strength the probability of that was tantamount to zero. There was no hope or miracles in a head-on competition. NSN’s four players naturally understood this. Despite that, before the start of the third round, none of NSN’s players had a dark expression on their faces. Instead, they kept on discussing something.

“What are they saying?” Chen Huo looked in NSN’s direction, frowning. “Are they discussing some sort of sick routine? Why do they just love formulating routines against us?”

“This season, since our team’s formation, many teams have established us as opponents. Isn’t it normal to be targeted?” Puppy raised his head and took a glance. “They’re all just full of tricks.”

Shi Luo’s mind was full of what Yu Sui had whispered into his ear, “When the team goes on vacation to Hangzhou tomorrow, we won’t be going.” Shi Luo took off his headphones and tidied up his hair, taking the opportunity to adjust his emotions before putting his headphones on again. “There are still three games to get the last point. What are you afraid of?”

“I’m just curious about what they’re talking about that just won’t finish.” Chen Huo stretched his neck and stared at the other side. “They’re still discussing…Xinran’s even smiling. Wah, I’m actually feel a little panicked by his smile.”

Yu Sui looked at his computer screen and said faintly, “Breathe out.”

When Shi Luo was about to speak, the director outside suddenly inserted a pre-match interview.

According to international practice, at this junction, it would generally be the disadvantaged side’s interviews that would be shown.

On the giant screen, the director broadcasted a one-on-one interview with Wawa.

In the video, Wawa sat upright and said slowly. “I didn’t dare think too much about a possible finals with Free before because we were going up against Saint in the semifinals. Saint — last season’s champions. We were actually under a lot of pressure. I was worried that we’d lose the semi-finals and any chance of going to the World Championship. If that happened, there wouldn’t be any finals. So, I was very nervous. On top of that, my main style of play is very similar to Angel Sword’s, but not as good as his. I was very worried. I was so worried that I would hold my team back .”

“Before I spent a lot of energy focusing on Saint. We were very happy to win the game. Facing Free, the psychological pressure is a little bit less. Knowing that we can still go to the World Championship, the pressure is a little bit less.”

“It’s hard to say whether we’ll win or lose. After all, this is Free and the enemy medic is even Yu Shen. Their frontline combat ability is too strong. It really is difficult.”

“We’ve got fewer tactics targeting Free. That can’t be helped.” Wawa scratched his neck and laughed. “We definitely couldn’t make plans for Free when we hadn’t played the semi-finals yet. It would have been too conceited. At first, we didn’t dare make any plans to win against Saint but since we have reached the finals, we will definitely go all out.”

Wawa looked at the camera and said seriously, “I’m indeed inferior to Whisper. I was also very afraid of going up against him before and I was afraid of getting into a head-on battle with Whisper but our NSN has excellent strikers. Playing head-on is our team’s strength. I can’t be afraid. I trust my captain and Xinran.”

At the end of the small interview video, Chen Huo laughed. “They’re making us into the villains again. They just said that playing head-on was their strong point. Last round, they fought a desperate head-on battle and we hammered them into the ground.”

The countdown to the third game started. Puppy shook his head and said, “They wouldn’t be fighting head-on for this match too, would they?”

Shi Luo remained silent, no saying anything.

NSN didn’t have time to create too many targeted tactics but they could copy some tricks that had been played before, although the hope of it working against them wouldn’t be all that great.

The countdown finished and the game officially began.

“Should we stick to our usual?” Puppy asked from behind, “Shi Luo’s still going to steal a path at the side?”

Yu Sui nodded: “We’ll continue as usual.”

When Shi Luo heard that, he went to the edge of the map. Yu Sui and Chen Huo made their way to the middle. Before they even reached the junction of the map, Yu Sui already heard footsteps.

The corners of Yu Sui’s lips ticked up slightly. “Looks like no-one’s playing anything flashy today. They’re just going for a full-on confrontation to the end?”

Despite being beaten two games in a row, NSN’s sprit hadn’t wavered and they had no intention of retreating. Since they had not prepared any tenable routines, they were going to fight their way through. NSN didn’t seem at all afraid that their opponents had beaten them at their specialty full front assault and they still came to match strengths.

“Shi Luo, set the purification dish and come back.”

Before Yu Sui even finished speaking, Gu Gan was already charging at him. Yu Sui dodged quickly and gave Gu Gan a slash before his shield shattered. Both their photon shields shattered at the same time. At the same time, Chen Huo and Xinran were opening fire. The two sides were fighting two-on-three. Yu Sui took Gu Gan’s two bullets and retreated behind Chen Huo. Yu Sui had bore all the firepower in front. Chen Huo was still in perfect condition at the moment. It took a whole cartridge clip to take down the shield-less Gu Gan. Chen Huo broke Wawa’s shield but was taken down by Xinran at the same time. At this moment, Shi Luo had already returned to the middle of the map. He filled in Chen Huo’s position and took Xinran down. Wawa sacrificed Xinran and returned to hide behind the bunker to mend his health. At the end of the first wave of confrontation between the two sides, Free was up two-to-one.

“They’re already throwing everything they’ve got at the start of the game?” Chen Huo was almost exasperated. “They’re going to try to see which team’s striker dies first? Just a little bit more and I would have taken down Xinran!”

“The dead should just shut up.” Shi Luo didn’t look for Yu Sui to mend his condition. He took this time to put down two purification dishes to expand their advantage from this wave. He then retreated back to Yu Sui’s side, “They just want to see who can hold out longer. They’re just going to charge head-on, waiting to see who makes more mistakes. This can actually be regarded as a tactic as well; the lose 8,000 men to kill 10,000 enemies kind of tactic…

Before Shi Luo finished speaking, Gu Gan was the first to resurrect. He knew that there were only Yu Sui and Shi Luo on Free’s side and he guessed that Shi Luo was in the middle of getting healed. Gu Gan seized this moment and taking on greater risk for greater rewards, instead of looking for Wawa to have a shield set up, he placed a string of three purification dishes at the junction of the map. Puppy sent him a shot but only hit Gu Gan in the leg. Gu Gan quickly backed away and NSN once again gained a small advantage on the map.

The off-court commentator looked at the two teams fighting it out at the very start of the game and exclaimed, “Gu Gan knew that Free didn’t have any means to control the junction of the map at this time. He obviously could have gone to the edge of the map to clear a bit of the fog, but NSN chose not to! He stole the map fight in front of Free!”

“Maybe it was the worst decision but maybe it was the best decision too.” Another commentator exclaimed, “Wawa just said so. They hadn’t even dared to plan for the finals before and they don’t have enough tactical measures formulated for Free. Of course, after having seen the first two rounds of the match, we have to admit that no team can say that they have a reliable tactical play against a team like Free. That being the case, it’s already the third round, NSN might as well take the greater risk for the possibility of reaping the greater reward. NSN has decided to still charge on with a full frontal attack and prove themselves. Our specialty is head-on battles. Why should we sneak to the side of the map to clear the fog? We just want to give it a try! Scenes from the last game reappeared. NSN has decided to give it another shot, this time with a much stronger showing than in the last round!”

Actually, the game was most enjoyable to watch when both teams choose to clean up the poison up front. When this was done at the center of the map, this wasn’t stealing the map anymore. It was outright robbing the other to their face. Both sides needed to constantly exchange fire. I’ll kill you and steal your map. If you will kill me, you’ll steal mine. If there are casualties on both sides, then they had to make every second count; taking advantage while the opponent hadn’t yet managed to resurrect, rest and recoup to continue putting down purification dishes. It came down to who had the faster hands.

“Gu Gan put down three! Three!!!” Chen Huo said angrily in the voice chat, “We only put two! Shi Luo! Why? Why? Why? What are you doing spacing out? They’ve turned the tables on us. Go and f them up!”

There was no need for Chen Huo to kick up a racket. Shi Luo wanted to fight back. NSN’s rhythm was too fast. If they didn’t pay attention, they could really lose. Shi Luo was extremely focused. He made no useless chatter and kept his eyes are fixed on the monitor. Once he was back to full health, Shi Luo ducked sideways into the other bunker, forming a triangle formation with Yu Sui, Chen Huo and the other team. Chen Huo said angrily, “You can’t stop when playing this kind of fast attacks. They will eat up the map once you stop!”

“Shut up.” Yu Sui was not as nervous as his two strikers. His expression was as usual. He was completely focused. There was thick fog in front of him. He could only use his hearing to judge the opponent’s positions. Within two seconds, Yu Sui said, “Shi Luo, to your left.”

Shi Luo had already opened fire before Yu Sui was done. From the thick fog, Gu Gan and Xinran shot back. Yu Sui didn’t go to the front row this time. He took advantage of Chen Huo being in the middle of a firefight to put down a purification dish and then quietly making his way towards Wawa. He got behind Wawa and took him out. In the two-on-two confrontation happening in the front lines, Shi Luo took down two before being taken out and having to resurrect. All three of NSN’s frontline players were wiped out. However, when Free went in too deeply, ROD took aim and fired. Chen Huo’s health dropped to barely a sliver.

Shi Luo was waiting for the resurrection time and Chen Huo couldn’t wait to get his health fully replenished. He had Yu Sui mend him up a bit and then he rushed to the boundary line and continued to put down purification dishes. This time he placed four in a row before being hit by ROD. When he once again only had a sliver of blood left, he rolled back to behind the bunker and gave up continuing to clear the fog.

Chen Huo needed to have his health properly mended but just as he had his shield set up, NSN’s three frontline players were back for the umpteenth time.

“Shi Luo, no shield. Follow me.” Yu Sui quickly gave his commends, “It’s still a flanking attack. Chen Huo, go up and sacrifice yourself. Shi Luo’s condition isn’t like theirs that can’t fight it out.”

Shi Luo had just come back to life and Chen Huo had to sacrifice himself even if he didn’t want to. This was what it was like fighting head-on. If you were slow, the opponents won’t be. If you dare to hide behind a bunker, the opponents would take this chance to place down ten purification dishes. Chen Huo got up and rained down bullets and after buying Shi Luo some time, they rushed towards the opponents at the same time. The map is being cleared more and more, giving the strikers on both sides space to operate. After officially entering the four-on-four stage, they were firing almost all the time. Puppy is also rarely ever provoked but since shooting has already exposed its position early on, he simply might as well keep on sniping people. He would give it a try regardless whether he had a clear line of fire or not. If he misses, it was no skin off this back and if he hits, then he profits in blood!

Neither side was willing to give the other even one second. The more the strikers on either side played, the hotter their hands became. Shi Luo’s neck was becoming a little red. His hand speed was getting faster and faster, fiercely competing with Gu Gan and Xinran. Chen Huo, to his side, quickly followed up and yelled, “We’ve still got to play the World Championship, alright? Of what use is it to anyone if you use up all your strikers at this point? My brain is going to overheat. Aiyo, f*ck it. Fight, fight, fight! Xinran’s set down another purification dish!”

Shi Luo was starting to see red, completely focused on killing. Seeing Xinran approaching him, putting down a purification vessel, he immediately charged at him. He first slammed against Xinran to interrupt his purification and then swept Wawa with two shots. He let himself be used by Yu Sui as a bunker to avoid Rod’s shots. Yu Sui disposed on Xinran with a sweep of his dagger. The blood-stained white medic uniform flashed past, heading directly toward ROD in NSN’s back row.

Every time a sniper fires, be would need to reload. During this time, he was a piece of meat open for slaughter. When working by himself, Yu Sui loved targeting snipers. The poisonous fog on both sides has been almost been cleared up. Playing up to this point in this round, even Yu Sui’s blood was running a bit hot. He doesn’t want to drag this on and lose the advantage. He took the initiative to charge the back row. Before Rod could react, he had already snuck in. ROD was shocked to discover his presence and fired at him. He dodged and then when ROD had to reload, he hit Rod with the dagger.

“Puppy, come to the front. Their sniper’s gone.” Yu Sui replace his own shield. “Time to harvest.”

Puppy, together with Shi Luo and Chen Huo pressed deeper into NSN’s home map. Puppy advanced gradually and entrenched himself at every step, cooperating at close range with Shi Luo and Chen Huo. The four rushed forward, attacking all the way. After repelling NSN twice, they broke the NSN’s resurrection stone.

At the same moment, golden confetti rained down in Team Free’s glass room.

Shi Luo wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced at the time—

This game was actually only 18 minutes long.

“F*ck each and everyone of NSN’s players… A few more waves of that and I wouldn’t have been able to take it. They would have beaten me until I had to throw up…” Chen Huo took a deep breath, “I admit it. NSN’s really strong at fighting head-on. Really…they had a chance to take this round.”

In the other glass room, NSN was honorable even in defeat. None of them were dispirited. During the last round, both sides played beautifully. After a brief dazed moment, the NSN team smiled and motioned to Free, congratulating them for winning the match.

“Woah… cool! That last round was the most invigorating game I played this season.” Puppy patted the table vigorously and smiled, “A shame that Rod has to postpone his proposal.”

Yu Sui pushed aside the keyboard and rubbed his neck: “If he didn’t lose, I would have lost the bet on my side.”

Shi Luo was still immersed in the nervous excitement from the surging adrenaline from the last game. He was only brought back to his senses once he heard that. Shi Luo controlled himself not to blush, and lightly flicked his own mic, reminding Yu Sui that while the glass room was yet to be opened, they were still under monitoring.

Yu Sui tilted his head to look at Shi Luo. As though completely unaware, his eyes were dark and bright. “Shi Shen, what did I promise you before the game?”

Shi Luo coughed, his eyes hinting to Yu Sui to pay attention to the voice monitoring.

Yu Sui did not avoid arousing suspicion. He also didn’t take off his headphones. Instead, he adjusted his microphone and asked openly into the mic, “Let me ask you. Did ge lie to you? What others have, don’t you also have it now?”

Shi Luo was stunned and then the corners of his lips ticked up a little. After a while, he said into his own mic, “No…you didn’t lie to me.”

What other have, I already have it all.

What others don’t have, you also trying your best to give to me.

I know that clearly.