Chapter 49 – A Very Familiar Newcomer

After many days, whether it was defaming or defending the Black Rose team, the situation calmed down with the passage of time.
However, on the morning of the match against Team Seven Stars, the newspaper E-Sports Times published a report titled “The Former Giants Fell Again–Reporting Behind the Black Rose Team’s Abandonment” on the Internet, which once again brought back the attention that had been somewhat diverted.

The author of this report was Kong Yan, a rising journalist who has been particularly popular recently.
In the article, he analyzed the round of battles between the Black Rose team and the Apocalypse team from various angles.
The narrative was sophisticated and objective, and the analysis was brutal but with an impersonal style.
After making a good reason for You Jing’s problematic situation, he further concluded that the Black Rose team would stop here and miss the playoffs.

After this report was released, it could be said that one stone stirred up a thousand waves, and everyone’s attention was undoubtedly focused on the match between the Black Rose team and the Seven Stars team that day.

Until then, if a fan was randomly selected and asked what the core of the Black Rose team was, almost no one would hesitate to speak one person’s name, You Jing.

It was true that, as a priest player, You Jing has never stood on the individual competition stages.
But whether we are talking about the small team competition or the main team competition, as long as he was present, the lineup of the Black Rose team can be said to be secure. It was precisely because of You Jing’s presence that no one ever doubted the overall strength of a veteran team like the Black Rose, which should not be underestimated.
However, without its captain, no one ever imagined how far the team could go in the League…

Of course, after such an unsubstantiated and even fanciful report appeared, many people criticized the E-sports Times.
The fact that even such a one-sided speculative article could be published without considering the consequences was a sign of the irresponsibility of the magazine towards professional teams.
In order to get stronger evidence to accuse Kong Yan of acting like a clown who uses hot topics to gain attention, many people opened their eyes wide and prepared to watch the game closely.

As an avid reader of the E-Sports Times, Xu Yiming also saw this long-winded report early in the morning and was so pissed off that he yelled in the lounge: “I say, the hearts of these reporters are really one dirtier than the other.
I don’t remember our team ever offending that Kong Yan, right? To provoke us like this, what does he want to achieve!”

Xiao Li also read the newspaper just now, and he didn’t look too good after learning the content: “Who is the sponsor of this E-Sports Times? When I get back today, I’ll call the old man and see if there’s any chance I can buy it.
I will make sure they pay the consequences.”

Lin Xiao, who was trying to take a nap, looked at him speechlessly, “Boss, it’s really not easy to be your friend when you’re so rich and powerful.”

Li Bochuan pushed the door and walked into the lounge, ignoring the commotion of the few people: “It’s time to go.”

…

The atmosphere in the arena was in high spirits, and when the players from both teams entered the venue one after the other, the already bubbling emotions escalated to the highest point.

This was not the first time Lin Xiao experienced this competitive stage, but it was the first time he was under the hot lights again as a player after becoming the current ‘Lin Xiao.’ Looking up, he could see the star-like lights sprinkled across the ceiling of the arena, then inadvertently, he glanced at Shen Changyu walking in front, just as he suddenly looked back toward him with a complex expression.
When their eyes met, his smile deepened.

The contestants came forward to shake hands and greet each other before the game.
After seeing the other team’s players, Wei Chengzhe, the captain of the Seven Stars team, had a flash of surprise in his eyes but still kept a polite smile: “Captain You, it looks like there are quite a few new faces on the team.”

Xiao Li, one of the new faces, smiled, looking calm compared to the shy Zou Qiguan, the second new face.
He wore the black team uniform, making his slender figure appear even more good-looking and straight.
With that handsome face, he caught the attention of many female fans of the Black Rose team.
As for Lin Xiao, the third new face, after they had finished greeting, he quietly yawned, looking a little sleepy.

At Wei Chengzhe’s words, You Jing calmly replied with a very official attitude, “I am looking forward to today’s wonderful showdown.”

Already familiar with the cool attitude of the Black Rose captain, Wei Chengzhe just laughed it off.

Stepping off the stage, the contestants went to their seats, and the individual competition was officially launched amid everyone’s attention.

In the first match, Shen Changyu’s summoner from the Black Rose team faced off against Tang Qian’s assassin from the Seven Stars team.

At first, Shen Changyu fell into a passive stance due to Tang Qian’s aggressive style, but then he used an extremely difficult slope angle to get the assassin to expose himself.
He took advantage of this short-lived opportunity to turn things around, then, in a burst of energy, managed two kills in quick succession, winning the first round of the individual competition.
The Black Rose team took the lead with 1:0.

As if inspired by their vice-captain, the Black Rose team members who played later won the remaining two matches one after the other.

Compared to Xu Yichen’s narrow 2:1 victory, Xiao Li, who played for the first time, completely overwhelmed the veteran Wei Chengzhe from start to finish, so that when he won with a 2:0 score, not even 10 minutes passed.

Faced with such an unexpected result, the whole audience was boiling.

If before this, the name “Laughing Sky” only gave a vague impression of a ‘wanderer expert’ to many people, at this moment, all the audience present and fans everywhere who watched the live broadcast finally understood for the first time why this person can rank first on the leaderboard all year round.

Xiao Li did not display any strategy from the beginning to the end of the duel.
To put it more clearly, he was playing a League-style 1v1 game, practically a live broadcast of a ranking match with an audience.

From the start of the game, he went straight to the coordinates in the center of the map without any tactical movement.
Then he simply stood in an empty ice field, waiting for Wei Chengzhe to appear.
There was no concealment around the coordinates he chose, which made Wei Chengzhe’s sneak attack from any angle appear particularly useless.
After that, the outcome of the battle was inevitably set in terms of hard power.

As the captain of the Seven Stars team, Wei Chengzhe has not been much of a tactical player, focusing mainly on tricky versatile techniques.
Now, facing a rookie playing for the first time, as a veteran, of course, he saw no reason to be overly cautious.
However, during the battle, he soon found that no matter how he launched an offensive to catch him off-guard, the opponent could always cope with it and even launch a counterattack in return.

What vexed Wei Chengzhe even more, was that such a sharp reaction was not because his opponent anticipated his plan beforehand, but it was entirely out of an uncanny intuitive instinct.
Even in retrospect, it seemed like the best reaction at first glance.
That kind of reflex was like a wild animal’s…

Wei Chengzhe lost, but he was convinced.
When he shook Xiao Li’s hand, he was very emotional and praised him, “You are very talented.”

With such recognition and the thunderous applause he received when he came off the stage, Xiao Li felt very satisfied.
He returned to the players’ seats, humming a little tune on the way, and seeing him, Lin Xiao stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, “Well played.”

Lin Xiao glanced at him and smiled back: “But of course.”

After the successive defeats in the individual competition, the atmosphere in the Seven Stars team was very depressing.

At this time, the list of players for the small team competition was displayed on the big screen in the center.
Jiang Shiqi, who was about to play, was quietly cheering himself up when he inadvertently glanced at the big screen and froze as he stood up.

Wei Chengzhe, who had just stepped off the stage, noticed his strange expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

With a grimace, Jiang Shiqi said: “Captain Wei, do you still remember a few days ago, Tang Qian and I mentioned a ghost priest who rose strongly through the ranks on the individual leaderboard?”

Wei Chengzhe nodded: “I remember.
I was already planning to ask Manager Chen to find an opportunity to contact him.
What’s the point of talking about this now? Let’s talk later; go and play a good game first!”

“I guess you won’t need to contact him anymore.” Jiang Shiqi remembered the victory records, entire pages completely green, and suddenly felt deeply worried about the next team match: “He is now on the list of the Black Rose team, that is, that Adorable Ghost…”

Surprised, Wei Chengzhe turned his attention to the big screen.

…

Meanwhile, at the training base of the Flowing Cloud team, Yan Lingjiang, who was sitting in front of the computer screen with his teammates, felt he was going crazy when he saw the name “Lin Xiao.” When he saw that familiar figure on the live stream, his body finally tilted, and he fell to the ground amid the confusion of his teammates.

On the other hand, at Team Apocalypse‘s training base, the focus of the team members was to see if You Jing was really injured.
However, after seeing the strange ID on the battle list, Song Lan couldn’t help but mutter: “What’s going on, the Black Rose team is actually using newcomers one after the other in such a crucial match? Laughing Sky it’s fine, but where did this Adorable Ghost come from?”

Such a complaint set off a flurry of nods from the rest of the team.
As they were laughing and joking, suddenly, a voice came from behind them: “Did you just say Adorable Ghost?”

All the members of Team Apocalypse, who were still eating melon seeds and chatting a moment ago, reflexively stood up as they looked back and saw Yan Duzhou.
However, seeing their captain’s gaze, more cryptic than usual, they suddenly felt their breath tighten and even forgot to respond except for a subconscious nod.

Yan Duzhou’s gaze had already fallen on the live broadcast of the event on the computer screen.

The author has something to say: Yan Duzhou: You mean Adorable Ghost?

Lin Xiao: That’s right, it’s me, it’s me, it’s me! ^_^~