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Chapter 73
The second round of their best of three was about to start and the players re-entered the stage.
Just now in the lounge, Free's players, Old Qiao and the data analyst who came with them discussed several options.
First, Yu Sui could also play as a milktank, copying Saint's configuration. It would be an endurance battle. Each confrontation, would be a battle to see who would die first. This method was proposed by Chen Huo and was immediately rejected by Old Qiao.
Whether they'd be able to coordinate well on their first try was secondary. The main issue was that although Yu Sui's milktank play was also one of the best in high-level matches, it couldn't quite measure up to Angel Sword's.
Each player has a skills specialization. While he could use it to play in ordinary matches, the likelihood of success was too small if they use it against Angel Sword.
The second method was for Puppy to abandon his usual style of play. He won't keep control of the back row or serve as eyes for the team. Instead, all four of them would rush to the front line together. They would tough it out and play four-on-four against Saint. Free wasn't at all scared of Angel Sword and the others.
But then here comes the problem. Who knows how Saint was going to play this round?
What if their sniper didn't come? If Saint's sniper had his scope open in the rear, they would immediately know the position of all four of Free's players in the front line. Saint's front line players can slip away and continue to use their guerilla style play. Puppy's sniper scope would be of no use. If he were to use it while he was positioned at the edge of the opponent's map, the scope of what he could observe would be greatly reduced. It's usefulness would be severely limited.
Despite discussing for the entire 10 minute duration of their rest, in the end, they still weren't able to come up with an excellent and feasible counter measure.
The game started immediately. The broadcast director used their in-stadium camera and panned it across the glass room on Team Free's side of the stadium. You could see that the players have been discussing since they sat down. They put on their headsets and continued their discussion until the game countdown finished. Only then did they gradually stop talking.
Saint's new tactic was very successful in the first round. They would probably still use the same tactic they used in the previous game. In the second game, the commentators, the audience in the stadium, and the players watching the live broadcast were most concerned about how Free would respond. As soon as the game started, the director used Free's perspective for the broadcast.
During the intermission, the two commentators also discussed for a while. They speculated that Puppy, during the opening stages of the game, would no longer be keeping his position in the rear. Free's four players would act as a group and charge to the front line, using their consistently high damage output to make an overwhelming start. However, contrary to what the two commentators expected, Puppy remained at the rear of the map for this round as well.
Commentator A frowned, "This isn't very good. As we can see from the bird's eye perspective, Saint has still chosen to fight as a four-person group this time. They're charging towards the front line together. They still have one less person on Free's side. Isn't this going to be a repeat of their disadvantage during the first game?"
Commentator B didn't understand either. He frowned, "No, it can't be. There's been no adjustment at all on Free's side? Do they want to try this again? But... the conclusion of the last game has already shown us, Saint's targeted style of play can't be solved head-on with a 3 vs 4."
"I don't understand..." Commentator A said quickly, "It's started. They've clashed!"
At the intersection of the map, the two teams met. As the commentator said, it played out almost exactly like the opening of the previous game. But this time, Free played very carefully. There was almost no mistakes in the way the three frontline players played. But after taking down one of Saint's players, the three front row players were all killed. Once again, Free only had their sniper, Puppy, left.
This time Puppy didn't even provide enough firepower to suppress Saint's advance. He changed positions after firing a shot. He began to simply evade Saint.
"I... don't quite understand." Commentator A was confused."What's wrong with Puppy? It doesn't matter that he didn't go with them to the front line but now, he's not even doing his job as a sniper. Even though that shot just knocked out a third of Angel Sword's blood, that's not fatal. And then, there's no more assists, this..."
Commentator B hurriedly made a compromise, "Saint obviously came prepared. They prepared this tactic for a long time. How could Free come up with a solution so quickly?"
"Nevertheless, shouldn't they try out other methods? Obviously, blindly charging in won't work. Now, Saint has upgraded all their equipment and the team's strength has gone up. They'll be even harder to fight against." Commentator A shook his head, "Free's a bit reckless. You see, here they come again."
Before Commentator A finished speaking, the second team battle broke out again in-game. This time, Shi Luo hadn't even waited for Yu Sui to put a shield on him. He went directly for Angel Sword.
"There's no denying it. At present, in the domestic league, Evil is considered to have the fastest response among the strikers. After all, he is a little bit younger. So, it's fine to let him attack head-on, but there's no need to be so fierce." Commentator A smiled helplessly, "Luo Zai is a bit crazy. Ah, look, he was killed again."
Commentator B hurriedly tried to give a justification."You said it yourself. Evil is young, this is the courage of young players. I'm going to fight head-on against you and see if it works. If it doesn't work, I'll try again. I don't accept this strange outcome."
"Relatively speaking, Chen Huo has become more mature and conservative. You have to first ensure that you aren't dead before you can follow up... Uh... Chen Huo's dead." Commentator A hasn't finished speaking yet, when Chen Huo, it seemed like he made a desperate charge at Angel Sword, swinging his gun at him. He was immediately riddled with bullet holes and made into a sieve by the two strikers in front of Angel Sword. Commentator A was given a frenzied face-slapping. After a second of silence, he said in embarrassment, "Chen Huo may also be suffering from a bout of stubbornness. After all, he was dejected about the last game, this..."
In the game, after Shi Luo and Chen Huo died, Yu Sui escaped smoothly. While Puppy seemed to have started a stand-alone game. Puppy didn't even fire a single shot this time.
"Puppy..." Commentator A laughed in spite of himself, "No, this shouldn't be. I admit that he had a bad experience in the last game. At the end of the game just now, he looked a bit like he was having a fit but it shouldn't be this bad. Our pro-players, should be able to adjust their emotions quickly..."
Commentator B reluctantly said, "They're all just people. They're not machines. It's understandable, isn't it? Both teams attach great importance to this regular season game. Both teams are now on a winning streak. Although there'll be other matches, we all know that the team that wins this game will basically enter the playoffs as the number one in the regular season. I think the pressure on both sides is quite high."
"They have to adjust their mental state quickly. This situation's not quite right." Commentator A said as he helplessly watched Chen Huo charge directly at Angel Sword without even a shield. He was unable to stop himself from laughing, "Fine. We all know what Chen Huo can really hold a grudge. But this... is just..."
Commentator A shook his head and said, "Right now, Free has completely lost it. They must adjust their mental state immediately to have a chance to fight back. Or even if they think this match is already a loss, they should use it to try and see if there is any way to break through Angel Sword's ultimate milktank. , Uh... Chen Huo's up again, so is Shi Luo."
"Hahaha..." Commentator B couldn't help but smile."I heard that Chen Huo usually likes to double row with Angel Sword. Evil used to team up with Angel Sword too. From their usual live broadcasts, I can see that the two of them like Angel Sword very much. They should get along quite well off-stage. So what is this? Is this a case of the more you love someone, the more you hate them?"
Commentator A nodded helplessly, and then joked, "Maybe Chen Huo's this angry because Angel Sword's the only medic who's milktank-ed for him so well? So now, he's particularly indignant at being schemed at by Angel Sword?"
"Wawa will be sad to hear you say that." Free played really badly in the second game. The two commentators automatically tried to adjust the atmosphere. Commentator B said with a smile, "Hasn't our Wawa been a good milktank to our Chen Huo Ge?"
Commentator A smiled, "Based on how many points he dropped, it seems their match-up hasn't gone very smooth. Let's take a look at the game. Right now, Free has lost a total of 14 heads. Saint is clearing a path straight to Free's resurrection stone. They're nearly halfway there, this... looks like Free's cold again."
"Even if they adjust their tactics now, it seems it's already a bit late. You can see from both team's data. Now... eh?" Commentator B's eyes widened a little, "It's... am I... being... paranoid...... ?"
Commentary B had the director open up the comparison of both team's economic resources using their OB perspective——
Saint remaining economy: 4420.
Free remaining economy: 7790.
They way the game is set up, players in the game can only see the remaining economy of their own team. They were blind to how much the other team still has.
"How much more? I really can't hold it anymore!" Chen Huo already irritated to the extreme, "I'm going to kill these two little bratty strikers ah ah ah ah ah ah ah, I just want to run them over!"
Yu Sui: "4500."
Shi Luo: "4400."
The two opened their mics at the same time, Chen Huo said angrily, "Why is it different?!"
"Evil's count will prevail." Yu Sui said, "If you're angry that it's not accurate, then keep track of it yourself."
"If I could, would I be asking either of you?!" Chen Huo roared louder than anyone else, "Puppy, how much based on your count?"
Puppy was lying in the back row without firing any shots but he was watching things very closely. He said slowly, "With them around, I usually don't keep track, but based on my mental estimate. Angel Sword and the others should have around 5000 left."
Chen Huo snorted and said, "Can you get anymore vague?"
"If you can, then keep track of it yourself. If you can't, then shut it and listen to your fathers." Puppy cautiously fired a shot and then hid."Do you know how difficult this is? They fire a shot and I have to remember that they consumed economy for that. They used 10 gold. Angel sword sets a shield, I have to remember that. He used 30 gold... Damn, the medic's is the most annoying, the different kinds of shields aren't the same price. The primary shield has a different price. The upgraded half-body hexagonal shield is 25 gold, the ultimate three-sided hexagonal shield is 30 gold..."
Puppy's position was found out and and he hurriedly continued to hide. Avoiding getting shot at while covering his head and scurrying away like a rat, he murmured, "A bandage is 5 gold, blood injection, 30 gold... Angel Sword didn't buy a long dagger so he didn't spend that 50 gold..."
"I have to remember how many bullets they shot, how many shields they broke, how many medicines they used... Ah, f*ck you, Chen Huo!" Puppy said angrily, "I was talking to you so I forgot how many shots they fired just now!"
"Twelve shots, that's another 120 gold." Shi Luo said coldly, "Saint's remaining economy, 4280."
Yu Sui set a pitiful primary shield on Chen Huo, "What are you doing just standing there? Go send them your head."
Chen was about to vomit blood. Carrying his gun, he followed after Shi Luo once again. After their group was wiped out, the commentator's could see that Saint's economy only had 3, 560 gold left.
"Awesome!!! I told you they wouldn't have let their emotions get the better of them!" Commentator B said excitedly, "I see. Now, I understand. Free is going to fight poison with poison. Isn't Angel Sword and expert at being a milktank? Doesn't he love wearing his opponents down? Then Free's wearing down Saint's economy!!! The more kills Saint makes now, the more economy they consume. Right now, there's still one third of the fog to Free's resurrection stone. If Saint can't wipe them out with their last 3000 gold economy, then they'll be defenseless against Free's counterattack!"
"What kind of turnabout is this..." Commentator A was completely dumbfounded."Puppy never fired any shots because he was preserving their economy, leaving as much of the economy as possible to the front line strikers, Chen Huo and Evil, so that they can effectively obstruct Saint's advancement and at the same time force Saint to consume their economy! My God... Since ancient times, it's never the one who is sincere that obtains the heart of the people, but the one who schemes and plans. Who did Free learn this dirty tactic from? This is great!!"
"Looks like we didn't play that practice match for nothing. Looks like we've picked something up from them... I have to admit, although this tactic of Sacred Sword is absolutely dirty, it works." Puppy gave a tsk-tsk, "It's just that our two strikers are a bit miserable."
"At least you know!!!" Chen Huo yelled, "Whisper, you are nothing but a points slave! In order to win you'd even sell your brothers out! Ah, ah, I'm dead again!!!"
Yu Sui added blood to Shi Luo and said, "Didn't you agree to this before that game started?"
Chen Huo said, mortified, "I did!"
"Then stop it with your bb!" Shi Luo reloaded with a full of magazines and said coldly, "Have you resurrected yet? Let's continue using grass boats to borrow arrows."
Chen Huo was full of grievances but he followed Shi Luo to continue charging at Angel Sword. After he was killed off once again, he was even criticized by Shi Luo, "Why'd you let yourself get killed with only four bullets?"
Chen Huo gritted his teeth, "Because I suck. I don't have your ability to borrow arrows, okay? I'm begging my father to give a definite answer. How much longer?"
"Hold on for another three minutes and they won't be able to destroy our resurrection stone. They'll have to withdraw." Yu Sui quickly did a mental calculation of the time, "They also understand that their economy is about to bottom out. Puppy, you can stop running around. Come here and block them."
As soon as he heard this, Puppy rushed to the front lines. At this moment, Saint also realized the problem and immediately began to play more conservatively.
Chen Huo gritted his teeth, "They realized it? Okay, okay, okay. Let's fight, let's fight. Can we?!"
Shi Luo glanced at their own economy and hesitated for a moment.
On the other side, Yu Sui also hesitated for half a second. Team Saint had gotten so many heads and they've fully upgraded their equipment. In theory, if they were to fight them head on, they wouldn't be able to do it. But Saint already realized their economic problem and they didn't want to fight. Angel Sword was afraid that fighting would consume a large amount of the final economy and even step on their own resurrection stone. Time was too limited. Now the chance of winning for both teams have reached a delicate balance. At this moment, they couldn't only fight to the very limit of their abilities and rely on luck.
Yu Sui said between the flashes of gunfire, "Fight."
Before he finished speaking, the four had already rushed forward. Shi Luo dodged left and right, evading a few bullets and sweeping away the remaining blood of one of Saint's strikers. At the same time, Chen Huo rushed in. Angel Sword retreated in time but bumped straight into Yu Sui, who had been hiding behind Saint for a long time.
Yu Sui murmured, "So you're really good at milking, huh..."
Yu Sui stabbed Angel Sword with the dagger and at the same time kicked him away away with a spin kick. The shield on Angel Sword shattered. Puppy then shot Angel Sword's head off.
Chen Huo's gun was too broken and he was taken out. Yu Sui, calculated the most extreme distance and stuck a shield on Shi Luo. At the same time, he struck at Saint's striker. Saint's striker only had a sliver of blood, but he fired his last bullet and took out Puppy.
Yu Sui frowned. The shield on his body had broken long ago. There was no time to put on another shield on himself. Saint's sniper, Illusion, was still alive. Barring any mishaps, he was going to be taken out. Yu Sui hacked at Saint's striker. At the same instant that Illusion shot him, Whisper also took out Saint's remaining striker.
Only Shi Luo and Saint's sniper, Illusion, who had already exposed his position were left on the field.
"No problem, it's the same as when he 1v1 with me that day." Puppy said calmly, "Illusion is... F*ck, it's too late."
Saint's players didn't die as many times as Free did in the early stages and their time to resurrect was shorter than that of Free's. While he was speaking, Angel Sword had already resurrected.
With Angel Sword, there was no way Shi Luo could fight one-on-two, but he couldn't let Saint advance. Shi Luo was full of bullets and began to output frantically. His expression was calm. In his heart, he was counting down Saint's economy. 1200, 1000, 800, 500...
"We can still get this."
After Yu Sui was resurrected, it was too late to put a shield on anyone. Once again, he stubbornly fought, single-handedly stabbing to death one of Saint's striker, while over on the other side, Shi Luo directly shot to death Angel Sword.
Within that same second, Saint's economy had bottomed out. Saint's last surviving wounded striker, carried the last purification dish and set it down. The next second the purification dish slowly started to work...
In that same second, Yu Sui cut down Saint's striker. Puppy had been madly fighting with Illusion. One on one, Puppy wasn't afraid of Illusion. Illusion knew this very well. Illusion didn't want to fight with Puppy at all. With so little of their economy left, what Illusion needed to do now was to snipe Free's resurrection stone. But the purification dish hadn't completely cleared the fog yet. The resurrection stone looked blurred and he couldn't see anything. Illusion was afraid that Puppy would take his head in the next second, and gritted his teeth. He took a blind shot into the fading poisonous fog!
The bullet passed through Free's resurrection stone.
Game over.
"Oh my God......"
Commentator A was shocked, "I'm already... unable to explain. This, this..."
"It really was just half a second. If Illusion had died half a second earlier, he couldn't have fired that shot. And he couldn't see clearly at the time. That was a completely blind shot! If he was just a little less lucky, Free would have absolutely won!" Commentator B explained quickly amidst his shock, "Of course, it can't be said that Saint won this round by luck. In that situation just now, both sides played to the absolute limit. Who won and who lost, probably, all we can say is that... this time the goddess of luck smiled upon Saint. Let us congratulate Saint!"
Commentator A hadn't recovered from the game yet. He kept clapping his hands, "Yes, let's congratulate Saint, but also give Free a round of applause. Although Free lost the second round, they already found the way to overcome Saint's tactic. All they lacked was a little luck and some intensive follow-up training. Congratulations to Saint once again!"
In the soundproof room, Chen Huo took off his headphones, "F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!"
"I f*cking..." Puppy made as if to speak then stopped, "Just a little bit, I..."
"This is the first time we faced against it, we already did the best we could." Yu Sui got up to pack his peripherals, "Let's go."
Yu Sui noticed that Shi Luo didn't get up. He turned to look at Shi Luo, "Evil?"
Before Shi Luo got up, he looked at his monitor and shook his head slightly, "I'm fine."
The game was over, Shi Luo didn't need to control it anymore. There were too many negative emotions in his heart right now and he couldn't resolve it at the moment.
This was the first time he'd gotten a 0-2 since coming to Free. Shi Luo felt a little bit suffocated. If he went out now and heard the commentators talk about medic twin stars, Shi Luo was worried that he would lose control.
But Shi Luo didn't need Yu Sui to console him or anything.
To play in the playoffs, to win the championship, to go to the World Championships, to become a world class-player like the three other players in the team, this was the only way.
After half a minute, Shi Luo got up to pack up his peripherals. He took his messy mouse, keyboard and mouse pad out of the soundproof room, and walked into the backstage corridor amidst the cheers from the audience for Saint.
The second he entered backstage, Shi Luo took a deep breath and suddenly realized that Yu Sui had experienced this same situation countless times years back.
The others had already returned to the lounge, and only Yu Sui was left waiting for Shi Luo, carrying his own peripherals.
Yu Sui looked straight at Shi Luo, and said softly, "You really don't need me to... ?"
Shi Luo knew what Yu Sui was talking about. He knew Yu Sui wanted to help him regulate his emotions, but Shi Luo instinctively frowned and refused, "No need!"
Thinking of how Yu Sui had probably endured this when he was only sixteen or seventeen, Shi Luo already felt that this was nothing. He glanced at Yu Sui and muttered in a low voice, "Wait until tonight... wait until I sort out my emotions and then I'll deal with you."
Yu Sui was startled and smiled, "Okay."
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