Chapter 1289: Second Half of the Season
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Little Cold Hands' complete set of Silver equipment, a new equipment creation methodology, the fans' boom in material donations during the Spring Festival, these non-stop, pleasant surprises took a while for Team Happy to digest. However, they couldn't bask in celebrations for too long, since Round 20 was in two days.
This was Happy's home game, so the team did not need to travel arduously. However, it could be said that their opponents this round were the strongest within the entire Alliance.
Team Samsara stood before Team Happy again after half a season's worth of matches.
Nineteen rounds ago in Round 1, the reigning champions showed their dominance to the team fresh out of the Challenger League. After 19 rounds though, most were seeing Happy in a completely different light. No one still considered Happy to be a grassroots team; this was a team that was shoulder to shoulder with Blue Rain, Tiny Herb and Tyranny, with 130 points each. Also, Team Samsara was no longer undefeated. In Round 19 which happened the previous round, they lost to Team Hundred Blossoms. In the Pro League, there was no such thing as "impossible".
In their previous encounter, Happy lost to Samsara 0 to 10. It could be considered a complete and utter defeat. This time, the media was sure to label this a grudge match, and fans of Happy were hoping for Happy to take revenge.
Although everyone was paying attention to this match, all the reporters of the big media companies were still focused on the transfer market. The end of the winter transfer window was in less than three days, and every team had only made minor adjustments so far. Were none of the teams going to make any big changes this winter? That was improbable!
Wind Howl and Misty Rain had proven themselves unsuccessful for the first half of the season. Even the fans' support might waver if they didn't make any significant changes in the winter, especially for Team Wind Howl, who were very vocal when they tried to acquire Zhang Xinjie from Tyranny? Why did they fall silent after the offer of 20 million?
The media waited for a big move from these teams in vain. Instead, they received word that Team 301 expressed interest in Royal Style's Tian Sen and his Exorcist Peaceful Hermit. Apparently they had already made an offer to Royal Style.
301 was currently in 10th with 98 points. Royal Style's performance was abysmal, ranked 13th with only 82 points, even losing to the new Miracle.
Royal Style's points were dismal, and the transfer market's atmosphere this season was also dismal. Furthermore, the long term sponsor of Peaceful Hermit was losing patience with Royal Style. There was already leaked information that they would not be working with Royal Style after the end of this season.
Royal Style was a powerhouse past its prime. In Season 1, they had battled Excellent Era for the title of champions. Their decline was hard for many to witness. Royal Style would be the most suitable representative of a "has-been" in the Alliance if it wasn't for the freakishly quick decline of Excellent Era.
In this sad state, even a forever-sidelined team like 301 wanted a slice of their pie. And this slice was the former top God character, Peaceful Hermit.
Team 301 has fully revealed their ambitions. After their long term captain Yang Cong stepped down from the team's core position, they actually took the stance that they would like to shake things up.
Royal Style's performance had declined year by year. Their financial situation was no better, being limited by their core player Tian Sen. The timing of 301's move was picking at Royal Style's achilles heel.
What would happen if Tian Sen and Peaceful Hermiet really transferred to 301?
There were already people who couldn't resist fantasizing about this. This purchase would definitely end up in 301's core lineup. Along with their captain Yang Cong, who had stepped aside but could still throw down with the best of them, and the new recruit, the mysterious Bai Shu. The reporters always thought that Bai Shu was no ordinary player. However after much investigation, they could only prove that he was not a member of 301's training camp. Although at the age of 22 wouldn't he be way too much of a late bloomer if he really was from the training camp? If he wasn't from the training camp or another team, where did 301 pluck him from? He was also directly given control of 301's existing Knight character. With no previous characters to explore, the reporters were out of options and could only wait for 301 to reveal some information on their own terms. However, 301 had put that idea to the side for now and instead made plans to acquire Royal Style's Tian Sen and Peaceful Hermit...
The biggest commotion in the winter transfer window actually came from Team 301, who only had a small role in the playoffs for many years. This was very surprising for everyone.
Regrettably, this show didn't get another act. Tian Sen personally expressed his intention to stay at Royal Style no matter what.
"Peaceful Hermit belongs with Royal Style. His inheritance will never be severed while he's in my hands!" This is the resounding statement that Tian Sen made through the media, thus ending any plans 301 had for a purchase. There would never be a shortage of idealistic individuals within the Alliance. All players shared the desire to be champions, but all players also had their own goals, their own ideals that they would never abandon. Tian Sen refused to abandon his team for his own advancement,and further expressed that he was willing to take a salary cut to reduce the financial burden on his team.
Tian Sen's actions was praised by many. A pro player did not only shine on the battlefield. In this moment, Tian Sen's personal character far outshined the God-level character that he controlled in the game.
Such a rare opportunity for a big transfer ended just like that. The media did not get what they were waiting for, so they could only dutifully report the regular situations and predictions for the second half of the season. Round 20 was finally set to begin.
The arrival of the reigning champions once again allowed the focal point of the alliance to be brought to Xiaoshan Stadium. On match day, countless Glory fans roamed around helplessly, hoping against hope that they would encounter someone who wanted to return their ticket to the match.
At around six o'clock, Team Samsara's bus pulled into Xiaoshan Stadium. The players entered the stadium while flanked by the on-site security, through packs of fans and media personnel. There was no shortage of attention for the reigning champions.
And what about the players of Team Happy? At around half past six, they left from the back door of Happy Internet Cafe and crossed the road. There was even someone eating a piece of fruit. They arrived in the most lowkey fashion.
The two teams entered their own prep rooms respectively. They performed some final touches, such as collecting their thoughts, revising their battle plan, and making any last-minute adjustments before the match.
After this at around 7:40, the two teams entered the stage. There was no need for a fancy opening for such an anticipated match. The viewers' enthusiasm would be sparked as soon as the players entered via their entrances. Team Samsara displayed the terror of being the reigning champions. Their fans fully filled the area of the stands specifically for the away team supporters. They immediately created a deafening commotion, loudly yelling out their team and their players' names. Samsara's banner fluttered in midair in Xiaoshan Stadium. In the first half of the season, this banner was only placed below their opponent's once, and that was to Team Hundred Blossoms in Blossoms Stadium. This time, the banner waved rather menacingly, as Samsara was facing Happy, who they had swept previously in a 10-0. After an ordinary opening of introducing the players, handshakes and greetings, each team made their way towards their player stands and waited for the match to begin.
In the broadcast, the casters Pan Lin and Li Yibo had already turned the show into you guess, you guess, no, you.
"Will Team Happy once again send out Ye Xiu first in the individual competition? We know that from the nineteen rounds that have been played so far, Ye Xiu's win streak in the individual competition is eighteen rounds; it's off by one because he didn't play in the individual competition in the first round match against Samsara. Well, how would Happy go about this match against Samsara? Coach Li, if Ye Xiu doesn't appear in the individual competition this match, will his win streak count as broken?" Pan Lin asked.
"From the way the Alliance calculates their statistics, this would count as breaking his win streak. A win streak constitutes continuous victories. If you stopped playing for one match then that breaks the continuity. If you then resumed and won, we could only call it a perfect win rate, and not a win streak," Li Yibo explained.
"Well Coach Li, do you think Ye Xiu will have a perfect win rate or maintain his win streak?" Pan Lin asked.
"I reckon Ye Xiu will not shy away. His win streak is like the insurance for Team Happy's morale. He would dampen it if he chose not to play," Li Yibo said.
"Then what about Samsara's side? Will they send out Zhou Zekai or Sun Xiang to attempt to end Ye Xiu's win streak?" Pan Lin started his guessing game once again.
"This will probably depend what the Samsara players themselves want. Er… it doesn't seem likely for Zhou Zekai to try. As for Sun Xiang, I think it's possible that he might even put himself forward," Li Yibo did not dare to be too concrete with his words.
"Haha, then let's wait and see!" The two commentators finally concluded their guessing game.
"Okay, the match is about to begin," Pan Lin saw that the referee has approached the players' stands of each team so they could send out their players.
"Let's see who Team Happy sends out!" Pan Lin called out, while the cameras quickly panned to Happy's player seats.
"Ye Xiu. It's Ye Xiu!!" Pan Lin shouted loudly.
At Happy's bench, Ye Xiu stood up, waved at the clamoring fans to acknowledge them, and walked towards the competition booths.
"What about Samsara!" Pan Lin continued shouting. The camera shots cut about wildly.
On Samsara's side, the first player for the individual competition also stood up.
It's… Jiang Botao…" Pan Lin said, after glancing at Li Yibo. This time, Happy didn't slap their faces; rather, it was Samsara. Albeit, it was more of a gentle pat across the cheek. Zhou Zekai? Sun Xiang? Neither appeared. Samsara has sent out their vice captain, the Spellblade player Jiang Botao.
"It looks like Samsara didn't want to allow Ye Xiu's win streak to disrupt their rhythm too much. Jiang Botao has been sent out in the first round of the individual competition quite frequently in the past. It looks like Samsara didn't put much thought into what we were discussing earlier. Let's see how Jiang Botao plans to play," Li Yibo skimmed over the arrangement.