“Happy and 301 Degrees’ match has come to an end. Happy won.”
In the live broadcast of Samsara and Hundred Blossom’s match, Pan Lin immediately announced the results of the other match once he received them.
“Happy won, huh?” Li Yibo sighed, his tone filled with sorrow. Pan Lin didn’t respond, and let out a sigh of relief as well, before focusing on the match again.
Happy had won. Originally, this was great news for Hundred Blossoms, but unfortunately, they hadn’t managed to grasp their chance this time. In the team competition against Samsara, Hundred Blossoms was clearly at a disadvantage. Currently, it was five against four on the field, with Hundred Blossoms down one person. It looked like they weren’t going to be able to defeat Samsara twice in the regular season after all.
Would they have a chance to turn the tables?
Pan Lin and Li Yibo both silently watched on. If there wasn’t any miraculous save, then there was little need for them to commentate.
“How is Wind Howl’s match going?” Li Yibo suddenly asked.
“It’s not over yet.” Pan Lin was also, in fact, checking up on the other match every now and then. However, the only information he had gotten so far was that the match wasn’t over yet, but no details.
The match continued. With the fall of each Hundred Blossoms character, the hope for a miracle dimmed a little more.
Pan Lin sighed again.
Hundred Blossoms had done everything they could. Even in front of a powerhouse like Samsara, they maintained hope. Finally, they were able to gain two points in the group arena and overtake Wind Howl, grasping the initiative.
But fate had once again played a cruel trick on them. They had gotten the initiative, but it had slipped out of their grasp again. Right now, all they could do was wait for the results of the Tiny Herb and Wind Howl match.
But by the time Samsara and Hundred Blossoms match ended, the results still hadn’t come out.
6-4. To Samsara, this wasn’t any spectacular victory, but the venue had exploded into a sea of cheers.
The thirty eight rounds had finally came to an end. Samsara had obtained a total of 319 points. They had started in the lead and had never once been overtaken. Their entry into the playoffs had been guaranteed four rounds ago. However, out of respect, they didn’t celebrate too much. But now, with all thirty eight rounds over, there was no need to hold back any longer, and this was Samsara’s home stadium as well. They had long since prepared a celebration ceremony, and some hadn’t even managed to wait until the end of the match to start.
Team Hundred Blossoms shook hands with Samsara’s members amidst this joyful cacophony. Samsara’s members were courteous enough to wait until after these procedures were over to wave their fists in celebration with the Samsara fans in-venue, a celebration of thirty eight rounds of victory.
“We are the champions!”
This classic by Queens blared through the stadium speakers. The fans in the stadium all roared along with this line. This was a truth in the regular season and a beautiful blessing for their playoffs journey.
Team Hundred Blossoms left the stage disappointed, surrounded by this sort of atmosphere. No one would care much about the losers, and it wasn’t the first time Hundred Blossoms had been filled with disappointment in a celebratory situation. Their seniors had walked off the stage of the grand finals in disappointment like this thrice.
“Has it ended?” The players that had just finished playing in the match didn’t know the results of the other match. After asking, they found out that Tiny Herb and Wind Howl’s match was still ongoing.
“Is there any hope left?”
Everyone held hope, but this feeling, how they couldn’t grasp this hope with their own two hands, was terrible. They felt like a grounded fish. They could do nothing but wait.
What would it be?
Their eyes held hope and anxiety, and a mess of similar emotions.
All until the news came.
“We’re in,” The person who obtained the news said.
“Is that so?” Yu Feng gave a long sigh and sat down on the player bench. The tension in him finally drained out.
“We’re in?” Some others still needed confirmation.
“Yes, we’re in. We’re in. Wind Howl lost to Tiny Herb. We’re one point in the lead, we’re in for the playoffs!” The person who had got the news burst out in excitement.
Hundred Blossoms’ members looked at each other.
Excitement? Delight?
They didn’t seem to be feeling any of that.
After all that had occurred, all they felt was a sense of relief, like they had managed to escape death.
In the yet unfinished live broadcast, Pan Lin and Li Yibo had naturally also received the news.
“I didn’t think it there would be such a dramatic ending to all this,” Pan Lin commented.
“Yeah, in the last team competition, the three teams that needed to win didn’t manage to win any of them. Thus, the points remain unchanged,” Li Yibo said.
“We can’t really say it’s completely unchanged,” Pan Lin laughed, “One round ago, Wind Howl sat at eighth and Hundred Blossoms was at ninth. However, Hundred Blossoms gained four points this round, overtaking Wind Howl and squeezing into the top eight.”
“Unfortunately, Team Wind Howl wasn’t able to enter the playoffs,” Li Yibo lamented.
“But they’re still young. They can try again next year!” Pan Lin said.
Thus, the regular season ended just like that…
Tiny Herb’s stadium wasn’t as lively as Samsara’s. After all, for Tiny Herb, they had merely finished a match that had little to no effect whatsoever on their points. There was no need to celebrate getting into the playoffs either. They acted like this was all a very normal match, with an applause given to the two teams. However, under the applause stood the most disappointed team of the round.
They lost. It was over.
In the moment the match ended, Wind Howl knew that this would be the result. They were the ones who needed to win this round. The team that wouldn’t have any chance whatsoever if they didn’t win. However, in the end, they lost.
Especially knowing that 301 Degrees and Hundred Blossoms had both lost, Wind Howl were even more frustrated. A chance had appeared but unfortunately they weren’t able to make use of it.
With Round 38 of the regular season, Team Wind Howl’s journey fpr Season 10 had come to an end. They weren’t able to get into the playoffs and, for a team that had set its goal as the championships, this was a complete failure. They had never expected that their summer would end so soon. They didn’t know what they would do next. Everyone felt lost, and silently left the stadium just like that. A season of hard work, a season of their efforts, all dispersed in the wind.
The results of the matches of Round 38 were out one after the other. This would decide the teams final rankings and also the teams’ first opponents in the playoffs.
The live broadcast still hadn’t ended. It was waiting for this moment, the moment the final match results came out. Pan Lin and Li Yibo swiftly organized the materials at hand, giving a simple report on this season’s final results.
Team Samsara was the regular season champions at 319 points.
After them was Tyranny in second with 278 points. They weren’t as impressive as last season, and even began the season under doubt from all sides. However, after thirty-eight rounds, they had silently managed to climb over the other teams into second place.
Blue Rain was third, just a point away from Tyranny. They had switched places several times with Tyranny, and in the last round had ended things with a one point disadvantage.
Team Tiny Herb was at 270 points, placed fourth. Fifth was Thunderclap with 254 points, then it was Happy, 301 Degrees, and Hundred Blossoms, whose places were only confirmed with the last round.
Team Wind Howl, unfortunately, falling short by just one point. Void was tenth and Misty Rain was eleventh. After that, it was Miracle, Royal Style, Parade, Heavenly Swords, Lightly, Conquering Clouds and Radiant. Bright Green and Seaside were the only two teams of the season whose points didn’t manage to reach the hundreds, and they were both relegated.
It’s over!
For the teams not in the top eight, Season 10 was done. As for the top eight, they would enter the final war of the season. Considering the matchups the Alliance had always used, everyone could draw the matchup situation of the playoffs from the rankings.
“The ranked first Samsara will be up against Hundred Blossoms in the first match of the playoffs,” Pan Lin announced the first set of opponents.
“This… the teams have just finished playing a round against one another, and now they’re going to fight two more rounds in the playoffs, or maybe even three,” Li Yibo pointed out.
“Then it’s Tyranny versus 301 Degrees, Blue Rain against Happy, Tiny Herb against Thunderclap,” Pan Lin continued.
“Yup. And then the winner of Samsara and Hundred Blossoms will fight whoever wins between Tiny Herb and Thunderclap, while the victor of Tyranny versus 301 Degrees will go up against whoever wins between Happy and Blue Rain. Then the winners of these two battles will go up against one another in the grand finals,” Li Yibo announced the rest of the matchups for the playoffs.
“Coach Li, can you give a prediction of how the playoffs might go?” Pan Lin asked.
“Haha, the results are hard to say. In the playoffs, what’s gained from the regular season loses its value, especially with the new rules in place. This makes it even harder to predict from the results of the regular season. For example, for Team Tyranny, they were a subject of doubt in the regular season, but now everyone’s realized that they were saving up strength for the playoffs. Under these circumstances, it’s hard to say how well Tyranny will perform in the playoffs,” Li Yibo replied.
“Then what about Team Happy? What do you think of them, Advisor Li? This team managed to enter the playoffs as a new team. This is something that has never happened before. Where do you think they’ll be able to get to, Advisor Li?” Pan Lin inquired.
Li Yibo could feel his insides clench. Happy was a team he didn’t dare make predictions about!
“Er, Happy… well, they might count as a new team, but this new bottle holds old wine. Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, just the three of them alone have plenty of playoffs experience, comparable or even more than the other seven teams. Apart from that, it’s all rookies. Such a conflicting team composition has never been seen before. I’m eager to see how they’ll perform, as well,” Li Yibo said.
“Haha, Happy’s just finished their post match press conference. The reports asked about the playoffs, and guess how Ye Xiu replied.”
“How?” Li Yibo asked.
“He said, now that they’ve gotten here, he won’t be thrown off again,” Pan Lin said.
“Ha! Let’s hope that’s true!” Li Yibo laughed.