This was not the first time that Team Apocalypse and Team ACE, the kings of the Chinese and Korean regions, respectively, have met in an international tournament.
In the past seasons, if they met in the semi-finals, it was treated as an early final by the media. Although this year the Apocalypse team didn’t enter the international tournament as the top seed, it still didn’t affect their weight in the eyes of most people.
As the tournament entered the preparation stage, the media from all over the world were already gearing up to write about any highlights they found. Among them, the one who paid the most attention to this match was undoubtedly the Chinese media.
Captain Yan Duzhou of the Apocalypse team, a veteran who has always been on the front line of the domestic League and the undisputed number one e-sports player in the country, has been waiting for his first international trophy for too long.
When the director focused the lens on Yan Duzhou, looking at this tall figure, all the fans in China watching the game boiled with excitement.
Go for it! The Apocalypse team was making another dash for the World Championship trophy!
Yan Duzhou did not notice the excitement of the crowd. After confirming the battle strategy for this round with his team members for the last time, he took a deep breath and spoke in a firm tone, “Let’s do our best.”
“We will!” The Apocalypse team members looked at their captain and responded in unison in a loud voice. They knew this would be the last time they would fight side by side with their captain on this stage. Right now, all the reluctance and bitterness turned into one belief – they must win this match!
In such a passionate atmosphere, Qiu Zhiyuan, as the competitor in the first individual competition, took charge of opening the first battle.
The ACE team was represented by Vice-Captain Park Xinyang, operating the character of a magic swordsman.
Devin’s favorite disciple trained from scratch, Park Xinyang, was famous in the ring for his unexpected fighting style. Facing Qiu Zhiyuan, who dared to charge forward, as soon as they entered the field, they headed straight for each other in the center of the map and instantly entangled.
Because both sides were melee-type professions, they avoided a lot of roundabouts and complex operations, and the actual head-on collision made the first game of the individual competition look particularly sparkling.
Park Xinyang deftly controlled the shadow swordsman, dealing with Qiu Zhiyuan’s tomahawk fighter‘s aggressive attacks while waiting for opportunities.
The magic swordsman was one of the few melee professions with strong control. How to gain enough advantage for oneself through control skills was the essence of the operation of this profession. However, in this round, he encountered a tomahawk fighter who could counter his control by force, which basically annulled his main advantage.
Attack, attack, keep attacking!
Facing Park Xinyang’s attempt to avoid confrontation on the field, Qiu Zhiyuan chose the most direct approach.
Attack relentlessly!
Skill after skill was used as the female warrior swung her large battle axe with almost barbaric force, firmly suppressing Park Xinyang’s magic swordsman.
Damn, is this still a woman?
The audience in the arena stared dumbfounded. Not to mention the extremely tough body of the tomahawk fighter, just this insane fighting style actually pushed a big man like this into such a state. If they couldn’t clearly see the close-up shots of both players, they’d probably suspect there was a mistake in player identification.
Below the stage, watching his team member fall into a disadvantage, Devin turned his head and glanced at the player seats of the Apocalypse with a slight smile on his face. Obviously, this kind of deployment must have come from that man’s hands and was very targeted.
This almost crushing situation continued until the end of the game, and the magic swordsman, in the end, found no chance to counterattack and was completely drained of energy.
When Park Xinyang walked out of the battle room, his head hung so low that it was almost buried into the ground.
To actually be beaten by a female player in such a sorry state, disgraceful, just plain disgraceful!
At this moment, the door of the other battle room also opened. Qiu Zhiyuan’s long, wavy hair spread behind her, and with bright eyes, white teeth in contrast to those bright red lips, and her well-proportioned figure, she looked like a delicate and charming rose.
This truly is a poisonous rose… With the cheers of Chinese fans in their ears, Korean fans were unhappily criticizing inside.
Qiu Zhiyuan’s good start brought a sudden boost to the team morale, and they quickly got into preparations for the second game.
In the second match of the individual rounds, the Apocalypse team’s Luo Wei’s demon hunter faced off against the ACE team’s Zheng Junhao’s assassin.
This lineup sent an uproar throughout the audience.
One was a ranged fighter, the other a melee, but both were professions with the imprint of a killer in their respective fields.
This was a showdown of two assassins.
As the match began, the two opponents’ figures instantly disappeared into the map, starting tactical maneuvers.
Unlike the previous brutal and simple match, these two players appeared exceptionally cautious and careful, like wild beasts waiting for an opportunity to strike, seeking that moment of direct lethal attack to tear each other’s throats apart.
As if to match the thrilling atmosphere on the field, the entire audience fell silent instantly, waiting with bated breath for the killing blow.
Closer. Even closer.
In the process of searching for each other, the shadow of the opponent’s character finally crossed the computer screens of both sides. Almost at the same moment, both sides went invisible and once again lost sight of each other.
The whole place was in an uproar, and everyone felt as if their hearts were in their throats at this moment. They stared unblinkingly at every move on the field, afraid to miss any exciting details.
The first one whose stealth time ended was Zheng Junhao’s assassin. However, with a 0.5-second interval, Luo Wei’s demon hunter also appeared. And at the moment he had confirmed his opponent’s position, he already made his move.
The moment the invisibility ended, an arrow was shot out, hitting the assassin‘s shoulder.
On impact, the assassin was knocked back several steps, and before he could stop, he was hit by another arrow.
Seizing the opportunity once again, the Apocalypse took control! All the Chinese fans present were over the moon with excitement!
The demon hunter pressed closer step by step with a cold-lighting bow, and the assassin‘s health and blood dropped layer by layer, appearing particularly alarming. But suddenly, a crisp “click” sounded especially clear in the low background noise.
Luo Wei’s advancing paused briefly as an uneasy feeling rose in his heart. Looking to the upper left corner of the screen, he indeed saw a dark green debuff icon appear in a series of buffs lists. Regretting his carelessness, he muttered, “Not good!”
Two seconds of imprisonment and silence came from the assassin‘s Assassination Trap, which Zheng Junhao quietly planted at his feet during his gradual retreat.
This was a short-term control skill, but it was enough to change the whole situation.
The sharp blade in the assassin‘s hand flashed with scarlet blood, and as the figure split into two, he rushed toward Luo Wei’s demon hunter with lightning speed.
In an instant, everything exploded.
Under the unleashed blade, the demon hunter was like meat on the chopping block for a moment. Seeing the end of his control time, he immediately rolled to one side with agility to put a certain distance. At the same time, he pulled up his bow and arrow and in a flash shot a deadly arrow directly at the assassin.
Just as it was about to hit, the assassin suddenly closed the distance with a Leaping Step, and the arrow almost missed him. Not being hit in full, he was left with a sliver of blood intact. At the same moment, the assassin raised his blade again and engaged his ultimate move toward the demon hunter.
One hit kill!
Seeing that the blade was about to take away his last drop of blood, Luo Wei’s hand speed surged in that final instant as he threw a dart toward the oncoming person.
The blood bars on both sides were emptied almost at the same time in a split second.
Who won?! Because they were too nervous, many of the spectators had subconsciously stood up, and everyone’s attention was glued to the big screen.
Victory！
The word “victory” finally appeared on Zheng Junhao’s computer screen.
The director quickly adjusted the slow-motion replay, and at ten times slower speed, everyone could clearly see that both sides hit each other almost at the same time. However, Zheng Junhao’s sharp blade was slightly faster than the oncoming dart by 0.5 seconds.
Such a small difference! Many people felt extremely reluctant but also helpless. On this stage, not to mention 0.5 seconds, even if it were 0.1 seconds, it would be a world of difference.
When Luo Wei came back from the stage, he looked extremely dejected. He had thought of ten thousand ways to express his regret, but when he actually returned to the player’s seat, he found himself at a loss for words.
However, he did not receive any blame, not even words of consolation that would make him feel uncomfortable.
“You did well.” Yan Duzhou patted his shoulder and said in a calm tone. He took off his team uniform jacket and put it on the chair. “Now, leave it to me.”
After saying this, he glanced at the eye-catching 1:1 score on the big screen and walked up to the stage.
