The competition has progressed, and the teams have now entered the final sprint. Their only goal was naturally set on the four places in the semi-finals.
With Black Rose losing to Apocalypse, the current standings showed that they were out of the running for the top tier of the standings. Looking at the current situation, apart from the veteran Apocalypse team, and the Scattered Clouds team, who had already come out on top in several scoring battles, the last two spots would be contested between the Black Rose, Red Leaf, Nine Heavens, and Seven Stars teams.
Thus, the next few days of the tournament were particularly important in determining the finalists for the playoffs.
However, what no one expected was that Lin Xiao, who had been regarded as an important scorer for the Black Rose, had suddenly ‘disappeared’ in the later matches of the season when the rookies of the Black Rose team stood out unexpectedly.
To say he ‘disappeared’ was not an exaggeration. Since the match against the Apocalypse, in the following days of competition, the Black Rose team, under the leadership of You Jing, gave a perfect and powerful answer to the doubts of the outside world. But it was not hard to notice that Lin Xiao, who had been active in the competition before, had never appeared again – not only on the list of players but also, when the camera scanned the players’ bench of the Black Rose team, he was never seen again.
Was there a conflict within the team or was he strategically hidden? The media could not stop having such suspicions. However, in the following games, You Jing showed his personal best condition so far this season, which allowed the Black Rose team to win several games in a row in an undeniable fashion. Once again, media reporters could not speculate on Lin Xiao’s possible problems.
Speaking of the Black Rose team, it has been one of the most talked-about teams in recent years.
This team once stood on the podium of the international championship as a king that could not be matched by any national e-sports team. However, after the departure of the team leader, Old Ghost, it was not even shortlisted for the domestic league semi-finals for two consecutive years. Then, after You Jing became the captain, they regained their strength but had to make complete adjustments and transformations after the team members withdrew one after another and fell back into the painful transition period. Ups and downs, twists and turns, it never ended.
Many people watched with emotion as this veteran team went all the way. No matter what stage the Black Rose team was at, there was no shortage of people paying attention to it, because, no one doubted their strength. No matter whether it has made fans angry or whether they have lost consecutive games, it always made people hope. And this hope has become more intense now, after several brilliant rookies stepped onto the stage this season.
As if to respond to everyone’s expectations, in the last few games of this preseason, the Black Rose team won a Grand Slam victory over the Blitzkrieg team, gaining sufficient advantage in the standings. Coupled with the defeat of the Nine Heavens team in the same round, the first team to reach the final competition was settled.
In the next game against the Undead team, Black Rose‘s successive defeats in the individual competitions made the situation tense. However, in the following individual and team matches, You Jing, as the main healer, relied on his amazing skills and allowed the team to win two games in a row without losing anyone. Once again, the team won another game by a huge margin.
Those two consecutive victories seemed to have boosted the morale of the Black Rose team. The last game was a complete victory over the opponent, almost taking the form of a demonstrative match.
With that, the tickets for the semi-finals have been practically in the bag.
“Hopefully, we will give everyone a satisfactory result in the next playoff games.” Shen Changyu smiled gently in front of the cameras. There was joy in his smile and also a sense of relief that came after the tension was over. For this day, in the downturn of the last two years, both the supporters of the team and the players themselves have waited too long.
Things were getting better. At this thought, the smile on his face grew even wider.
Playoffs, here they come.
Naturally, the ones who were even more joyful than the Black Rose members were the Black Rose team fans.
Their king had returned! Everyone couldn’t help but think so. Successive victories over the next few days made them forget about the fiasco with the Apocalypse team that day and even subconsciously find excuses for their own team in every way. Such a string of wins one after another gave them strong confidence for the semi-finals and even the final.
With the promotion of the Black Rose team assured, another promotion spot was also a foregone conclusion after the Red Leaf team swept the Seven Stars with a big score. That game was different from the heavy crushing of the Black Rose team. In the initial individual match, the Red Leaf team lost 1:2, allowing the Seven Stars team to gain the upper hand. However, with the next team match, they never gave way again. The opponent had the opportunity to completely crush the team and win the small and main team competitions. In the end, the Seven Stars team never had a chance to counterattack.
“These women are one more ferocious than the other…” People who have watched the game had to wipe their sweat silently. From this scene of heavy gunfire, it was really hard to imagine that it was a duel of an all-female team.
By the end of the last round of competition, the rankings were finalized.
Unsurprisingly, first place was firmly held by the Apocalypse team, followed by the Scattered Clouds with a one-point difference, and the Black Rose team in third place. The Red Leaf team obtained fourth place at the last minute.
The rosters of the four semifinalist teams have now been officially released.
According to the competition system, after the semi-finals, the process will directly enter the final. Before that, to give the players enough time to adjust, there will be a week of tactical reorganization.
The competition has since entered a period of tense silence.
However, this silence has not deterred the media from releasing a wide range of predictive reports. At the same time, hot topics on various major themes were updated on the official forums, hoping to make eye-catching headlines every day. It was precisely because of this that, what was supposed to be a calm week had become extraordinarily turbulent due to such obscure exaggerations.
…
After a day of training, the entire corridor on the 18th floor of the hotel was silent. It was obvious that the specific training for the semi-finals these days was so intense that even an energetic man like Xu Yiming could no longer fight. This made the night feel particularly deserted.
A dim light from the computer screen shone through the door of the hotel’s room 1802. The man sitting at the desk had his hair hanging slightly over his face, and the dim light made his tired face look even more handsome, albeit a little pale.
The knock on the door sounded particularly loud on such a quiet night.
You Jing glanced at the time, and seeing that it was already midnight, he involuntarily frowned. Who would come to see him at such a late hour?
When he opened the door and saw a black shadow lunging at him, he subconsciously raised his foot to kick it. The moment the light swept over the face of the visitor, his body tensed, and he managed to stop the kick. Next, he felt a heavy weight pressing down on him. The unexpected weight caused his body to sway uncontrollably, but he finally managed to hold the unwelcome guest firmly so that they wouldn’t fall down together.
“You…?” You Jing frowned even harder at this moment. However, before he could finish his words, he felt the unknown figure gently brushing against his neck, and his breath even and slightly warm, caressed his ears. He was obviously asleep, so he could only swallow back his questioning.
Throw him into the hallway? You Jing subconsciously thought, looked sideways at Lin Xiao, who had fallen asleep like a dead pig, stood quietly for a moment, closed the door, dragged him into the room, and threw him directly on the bed.
There was a very loud thud. However, Lin Xiao only mumbled twice, then rolled over and very smoothly tucked the soft quilt from the bed into his arms, comfortably curling his body inside.
“…” You Jing looked at the disheveled man in front of him who slept like a log and pursed his lips in a depressed manner.
Looks like it’s time to have the cleaners get him a new set of sheets and comforter tomorrow.
Thinking this, he turned back in front of the computer again, picked up the pen, and continued writing.
He only knew that Lin Xiao had gone to do intensive training alone for a few days, but he didn’t know exactly where and in what way. Judging from the current situation, this man did not look like he went for special training. He looked more like he was caught by someone and forced into physical labor. Not to mention the smelly appearance, but even with his eyes closed, the deep dark circles under his eyes were obvious, as well as his indescribable fatigue. His state was more like having just escaped from the hellish purgatory and ascended to heaven.
After a few days, he became so thin that he looked like a completely different person. It was really hard to imagine what he had experienced in these short days.
The night was clear and cold. The lights in the room had been turned off, and apart from the deafening snoring coming from the bed, all that remained was the slender figure at the computer desk, enveloped in the dim light of the screen, and the curtains swaying slightly.
A night of peace and quiet ended as everyone noisily entered the room the next day, pushing and shoving each other. After seeing the dark figure on the bed, the whole world suddenly became quiet for a moment.
A particularly eerie kind of quiet.
