Chapter 1304: Challenger
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
No one was paying attention to the sixth player right now. Everyone was discussing Little Cold Hand's huge transformation.
A full set of Silver equipment. Even though they could not see the stats, to the players, the dazzling silver lettering could only be described as tyrannical. 1810 Intelligence. It was immediately obvious that this was the highest Intelligence any Cleric had in Glory. The entire Xiaoshan Stadium was buzzing with whispers.
Was Happy's weak point, their healer An Wenyi, about to make a counterattack?
The problem was that the main criticism towards An Wenyi had been his skill. Everyone felt like if Happy could find a better healer, the team would instantly improve. However, Happy did not replace their healer and instead sharply upgraded his character. This method of fixing their weak point didn't seem logical?
The crowd didn't care about all that though. As soon as they saw their own team's character suddenly burst onto the stage with flashing Silver equipment, they instantly erupted with excitement. On the broadcast, Pan Lin and Li Yibo started to discuss this issue.
Why was Happy willing to spend so much on strengthening their healer character instead of spending the money on a better healer player?
Was there something special about An Wenyi that made Happy willing to pile so many of their resources onto him?
Pan Lin and Li Yibo looked at their information on Happy, but they just couldn't figure it out. The battle officially started, and the two characters loaded onto opposite corners of the map.
The map was Labor Mining Site, located at a mining site at the foot of a mountain. The structure of the terrain was complex, and there was no part of the map spacious enough to fit all ten players fighting at the same time. It was a map which required each team to move into a formation before advancing ahead into the terrain.
Happy moved swiftly as soon as the battle began and pressed forward, taking the middle route. Samsara pushed forward as well, but as they moved, their chat blossomed with liveliness.
"Did you guys see Happy's Cleric?" Jiang Botao and Lu Boyuan typed out simultaneously.
"I saw," Fang Minghua replied.
"What are your thoughts?" Jiang Botao asked. When discussing a healer, Fang Minghua would obviously be the one with greater authority.
"High intelligence, high crit, his heals will be stronger. Happy is making up for An Wenyi's weakness to a certain extent," Fang Minghua said. Samsara had analyzed Happy's weaknesses long ago. There was no need to re-emphasize this point.
"But aren't his stats a bit imbalanced?" Jiang Botao said.
"It's a bit on the extreme side. His cast speed is too mediocre. He'll require more protection when he's healing," Fang Minghua said.
"So you're saying that his teammates will have to take up a greater burden?" Jiang Botao pointed out the important part.
"Yes," Fang Minghua affirmed.
"It's indeed not bad a adjustment!" Jiang Botao said.
"How are we playing this?" Sun Xiang asked. The huge change that Happy had made happened to be the main focus point of their prepared plans.
"I suggest no change," Fang Minghua said.
"Mm, just treat it as a normal match and put pressure on the healer!" Jiang Botao said.
Happy's healer was their weak point, which became the focus of every team's strategy. But even without the healer being the weak point, targeting the healer was a very common strategy in the team competition. Samsara adjusted by treating this match as an ordinary one. They clearly had their misgivings towards suddenly upgrading An Wenyi's equipment.
Along with Pan Lin, Li Yibo, and many others thinking the same question, Samsara didn't think strengthening the character was a good solution.
This method may have resolved the old issue, but it brought up a new one too: the rest of the team had to share the extra burden. That meant everyone else needed to focus more of their attention towards protecting him. The hazard might have been reduced, but it had also become more spread out. What would happen if someone became distracted for a moment and failed to complete their task of protecting him?
Therefore, focus the healer!
Team Samsara's final decision for the core of their strategy had not changed. As for the specifics, those would change depending on the circumstances. They had to at least just how much the upgraded healer character impacted Happy.
The two teams soon came across each other. They did not immediately fight. On this complicated map, the instant the two teams found one another, the two teams scattered to quickly occupy advantageous positions.
The long-ranged classes searched for attacking spots, where they could better display their firepower. The close-ranged classes searched for routes, where they could better hide themselves while moving forward.
As the main team, Happy had a smoother time on this point. They had been prepared and practiced long beforehand. Everyone quickly found a good spot for themselves. Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain climbed to a rock jutting out of the mountainside and made the first attack in the team competition.
Bang!
A Stinger arced in a curve as it flew through the air. It quickly dropped down, and with a bang, it exploded like fireworks. Countless missiles burst out.
Boom boom boom...
The stingers crashed to the ground and turned the area into a sea of fire. Sun Xiang and Lu Boyuan were depressed. These two close-ranged players had picked this ditch to close in on Happy, but as soon as the fight started, Su Mucheng sent a missile at them.
One went left, and the other went right as they scurried out of the ditch. The two could only stare at Dancing Rain, who was on top of that rock with her hair fluttering in the wind. There was nothing they could do. They didn't have the range.
Zhou Zekai looked to have moved sluggishly, but he had been waiting for Happy to fall into position to make the first move. After Dancing Rain attacked and exposed herself, Cloud Piercer, Samsara's longest-ranged character, immediately moved towards her. Only he had the range to keep Dancing Rain's support under control.
But before Cloud Piercer could move into position, a gunshot landed beside him. Zhou Zekai could tell from the sound that it wasn't from Dancing Rain. The only other person who could fire a gun was Ye Xiu's Lord Grim.
Lord Grim had climbed over a ruined wall. The distance between him and Cloud Piercer was only five steps. Lord Grim could even combo his movement skills. What was five steps to him?
Zhou Zekai also realized the crisis. Cloud Piercer hastily retreated.
Lord Grim used his movement skills and rapidly rushed at him.
Ye Xiu, Zhou Zekai.
The number one players of the old and new generation. A face to face confrontation had come.
Who was better? Everyone was curious about this question.
Zhou Zekai had debuted in Season 5. It was from that season onwards that Excellent Era never entered the finals again. But at that time, Ye Xiu shined as brilliant as ever. The crown of number one player in Glory belonged to him. Who would have thought that Samsara, a mid-tier team, would find this quiet person who would one day became the Great Gunner and become the number one Glory player of the new generation.
When the Zhou Zekai of that era fought against Ye Xiu, no one would have regarded it as a battle between number ones, but rather a pretty good rookie versus a God.
But soon, everyone started to realize that this Zhou Zekai wasn't as simple as "pretty good". After Samsara took in this player, their fate instantly turned around. That season, Samsara made it to the playoffs, a breakthrough for them. However, because of the quiet personality of Zhou Zekai, he didn't synergize well with the rest of the team. In the end, the team was only able to make it to playoffs but nothing more.
Samsara had a headache over this problem, but soon afterwards, they uncovered a new rookie in Season 6. At that time, Jiang Botao had been a part of Team Parade. After a careful observation, Samsara quickly confirmed that Jiang Botao was exactly what their team needed, a person to stand by Zhou Zekai. That winter season, Team Samsara impatiently purchased this rookie. After half a year of practice, Jiang Botao was able to become the link between Zhou Zekai and rest of the team just like they had wanted. And in Season 7, Jiang Botao took up the position of vice-captain. At this point, the young players of Samsara had matured. The Season 7 Samsara had finally broken past the first round of the playoffs. Zhou Zekai's popularity was incomparable that season. In comparison, Excellent Era had started to go on the decline. The title of number one started to falter. Wang Jiexi? Huang Shaotian? Zhou Zekai? These names started being mentioned. Among them, Zhou Zekai was the youngest and his performance on stage was the most dominating. Everyone thought highly of his future. The only thing he was missing was a championship victory.
Finally, in Season 8, Ye Xiu retired midway. The former number one said goodbye to the stage, and someone needed to take up his banner. That season, Zhou Zekai and Team Samsara seized the championship cup. It seemed to be a declaration that he was the successor to the title. And in Season 9, Samsara won the championships for a second time. From then on, his title as number one was unshakeable. But then, in Season 10, the former number one, Ye Xiu, returned...
Who was the real number one?
The media definitely wasn't going to miss such a fiery topic. But Ye Xiu was already at such an old age. Excellent Era had started declining years ago, and now, he was leading a grassroots team. Wouldn't debating whether Zhou Zekai and Ye Xiu was the current number one be seen as a joke?
Ten years of glory, the former number one player, had now unexpectedly become a challenger. And some even thought that he wasn't qualified.
But Ye Xiu's performance and Happy's performance showed otherwise.
Ye Xiu was undefeated in the individual competition. After Happy started coming together in Round 9, their record had crushed Samsara's ever since. Ye Xiu had earned the qualifications to take back his title as number one.
As a result, the media started working hard to utilize this as a topic. In Round 1, everyone had been questioning Ye Xiu's qualifications!
Unfortunately, neither Ye Xiu nor Zhou Zekai came across each other in the individual rounds. Finally, not long after the team competition began, the two had already started fighting.
Lord Grim rushed forward, while Cloud Piercer retreated backwards. Everyone seemed to have stopped breathing. Thenn, a formless qi suddenly struck Cloud Piercer from behind.
FUCK!!!
Countless curses exploded.
We want to see a fight for number one, could a dirty bastard like you not fucking interrupt it???