Glory [e-sports]

Translated by 🎏 Edited by apricot, @babyybluebear

FTW internal voice chat.

Lu Feng: “Xiaoxiao, can I play the Shadow Thief today?”

Wei Xiao’s ears trembled. In the face of such a boyfriend, he’d offer the moon and the stars if he could; nothing was out of the question. “Sure you can, anything for you.”

Brother Cai had enough of repeating himself. He truly had enough.

Please calm down, Mic Explosion King! This bit can’t be turned into a voice clip!

If Chen Feng still didn’t understand what was happening, then he might as well go ahead and forfeit his position as a founding member of FTW.

Chen Feng exhaled softly and instead began fighting for the best draft.

In Worlds, a team could only pick and ban a specific talent once throughout the series of games.

For example, the Shadow Thief. If Lu Feng used it, that was virtually the same as putting a permanent ban on the talent for the rest of the match. Naturally, FTW could still ban the Shadow Thief once and prevent the other side from using it.

That was the reason Lu Feng had asked Wei Xiao about the Shadow Thief. If he was going to play it, then Wei Xiao wouldn’t be able to play the Shadow Thief today.

Why would Wei Xiao care about that? The Shadow Thief was FTW’s heirloom, so wasn’t it fair game for anyone to use?

What was his was also his boyfriend’s!

The tips of his ears heated up solely from hearing his captain’s voice…

It was way too pleasant to the ears!

I want to sleep with him!

Oh… I already did.

But still, it’s been way too long QAQ.

During the pick-and-ban phase, Chen Feng and Echo fought an invisible battle to snatch sufficiently strong talents for their cubs.

Naturally, Echo also secured a strong draft for her team.

Although nobody believed that Lu Feng was going to play the Shadow Thief, the moment they saw the Broken Rifle Thief being locked in, the audience broke out in whispers.

“No way, no way. Is the Great Demon King really going to play the Shadow Thief?”

“No way, no way. They’re already pulling out the big guns for the second game?”

“I’m feeling a bit panicky. Isn’t FTW’s team comp too squishy?”

“Brother Cai’s Giant Shaman is super tanky!”

“But the problem is that the other team is tankier… Just look at the Divine Warrior and also that Power Thief. They even have a healer for protection.”

There was no such thing as a perfect draft; it all came down to the team strat.

For example, in this game, FTW was using the Shadow Thief in the top lane and the Broken Rifle Thief in the jungle. They were compensating for that with their tankiest talent, the Giant Shaman, but this still left them at a slight disadvantage in the early stage.

The Giant Shaman was durable and also excellent at crowd control, but it was too easy to slip up if they were only relying on this talent throughout the game.

Even if the other talents were nukes, it was pointless if they couldn’t survive long enough.

While the Death Knight was a counter to the Shadow Thief, unfortunately, it was unable to suppress Close’s Shadow Thief.

Rather than botch things with the Death Knight, they were aiming for stability with the Divine Warrior.

EVE’s top laner Smith’s objective this game was not to claim honour, but to make zero errors.

In the last game, CC ended up being hounded so ruthlessly by the little lunatic that his head had been left covered with lumps. This time round, he selected the Power Thief. It was more durable and was better for crowd control, which made it the best pick for a mid-jungle duo with mid lane core.

It was because of these two talents that EVE added a strong healer for support.

They were hard to kill to start with, and topping it off with a healing ability turned the duo into invincible cockroaches. Not only were they indestructible, engaging them meant risking a chunk of health bitten off in retaliation.

FTW was as in-your-face as ever, while EVE took a more roundabout approach.

Of course, once the game started, it dawned on everyone that the roundabout approach was a farce. His teammates could be wimps, but God Xie always stood firm.

If previously, the Immortal Warlock in the mid lane had been likened to a father, in this game, it was an ancestor.

One whom the whole field was forced to shout at him to take it easy… that type of ancestor.

Little Ning was using the Spirit Mage. Taking the high mobility of the Spirit Mage into account, logically, the Immortal Warlock’s abilities shouldn’t be hitting him to this extent.

It wasn’t as if the abilities were unit-targeted. If he was unable to withstand the damage, shouldn’t he just dodge the hits?

However…

Ning Zhehan: “Ahhh! I can’t take it, I really can’t!”

Brother Cai: “……”

Yue Wenle had taken the Gun Launcher this game, which allowed Brother Cai to head to the middle lane.

If a player couldn’t fend off the Immortal Warlock alone, then they could only send another to share the burden.

And so Bai Cai reached the middle lane, tanking the powerful hits of the Immortal Warlock with the strong and sturdy body of the Giant Shaman.

The broadcast observer dedicated the lens to the middle lane, and the audience also weren’t able to tear their gaze from the scene.

It was a 1v2 and yet God Xie was still able to force his opponents back. He was truly the Mage God, truer than solid gold.

It was also worth mentioning that Ning Zhehan had long since graduated from newbie status, and additionally, Bai Cai wasn’t actually a noob.

FTW’s growth from Nationals to Worlds was visible to the naked eye. Even in the match against L&P, Ning Zhehan hadn’t been so badly humiliated.

But against Xie He, he was being pounded into the ground like a little chicken who could do nothing but chirp in panic.

Surprisingly yet understandably, nobody scolded Ning Zhehan in the chat.

It was entirely due to the Immortal Warlock, who had an ability called precognition – also known as Xie He’s insane familiarity with the Spirit Mage. Ning Zhehan wasn’t to blame indeed, for Xie He himself was practically a glitch.

No wonder the Team of Gods clean-swept their way to the championship crown back then. At a certain calibre, the professional esports scene was incapable of unleashing the five’s full potential!

In a sense, it wasn’t entirely a bad thing that the Team of Gods had split up.

Otherwise there wouldn’t be such high-quality matches.

Not that such words could be said in the chat without FTW’s O.G. fans baying for blood.

Everyone’s eyes were focused on the 1v2 in the mid lane until the system announced –

FTW.Close killed EVE.Smith.

Lu Feng took first blood. The Shadow Thief had killed the Divine Warrior at such speed!

The livestream chat was spitting in anger: “Stupid observer! Don’t you know how to switch perspectives!”

“How is it First Blood already? What happened?”

“I’m convinced by the Great Demon King’s Shadow Thief, completely won over!”

The broadcast observer changed the perspective in a fluster, but by then, only the Shadow Thief remained in the mid lane clearing minions calmly and silently, just like the player behind the controls.

The audience: “…………” What in the world happened! Ahhhh!

Luckily, there was still the replay function. They hurriedly switched to the replay, and then everyone understood.

It wasn’t the cameraman’s fault for not switching perspectives in time; it was just that the Great Demon King’s hand speed was too fast.

At first, blood was spilled on both sides. Smith had zero intention of underestimating Lu Feng; despite his high HP, he didn’t venture in overconfidently. He had been tense from the start, constantly keeping an eye out for the movements of the Shadow Thief while working hard to control the minion waves, trading damage and waiting for support.

In the chat earlier, someone had roasted him: This Divine Warrior is so cautious even though he’s so tanky.

But the fact was that Smith still hadn’t been cautious enough.

They collided in the first wave and traded hits until half-health. Smith let out a small sigh of relief; looking at the state of things, he thought it was impossible that the Shadow Thief might charge over and duke it out with him.

The Divine Warrior had a defence buff and the Shadow Thief was as flimsy as ricepaper. If they fought seriously, he was confident that…

Just when the thought flashed through his brain, a tiny exclamation mark popped up from his head. Smith’s pupils contracted. “Fuck!”

A surprise attack from behind resulted in a crit-hit, and an armour-break was stacked on top of the enhanced basic ability. Invisible, the Shadow Thief had snuck around the minions to attack the Divine Warrior. There was only a glimpse of a crimson blade gleaming from beneath a cloak before the Divine Warrior’s health suddenly bottomed out.

It all happened so quickly that even Smith’s professional instincts couldn’t help him evade the attack. Despite using flash, he still ended up dying under his own tower.

The game had a damage counter and the Shadow Thief’s attack had landed. Even if the Divine Warrior had been quick enough to increase their distance, it would have resulted in nothing more than a different location of death, wasting a precious escape ability at the same time.

After watching the replay, the audience felt euphoric for less than two seconds before being stupefied again.

Another system announcement arose –

EVE.xiehe killed FTW.Silvery.

EVE.xiehe killed FTW.White.

In the mid lane, Xie He got a double kill in the 1v2!

Furthermore, the Immortal Warlock had yet to reach level 6. He hadn’t unlocked his ultimate ability and hadn’t put Thousand Cloud Layers into play!

The audience erupted: “Stupid cameraman, ahhh! Don’t you know how to show the perspective! I caught absolutely nothing!”

“What on earth went down? Did the sky fall onto the middle lane during these ten short seconds!”

“The Great Demon King solo-killed the Divine Warrior, and God Xie double-killed the Spirit Mage and the Giant Shaman?”

“Where’s the replay! Hurry up, laozi wants to witness the scene of a god-tier double kill!”

The broadcast observer was also flustered. They had noticed action in the mid lane, but they couldn’t just cut away again when the camera was in the middle of replaying Close killing the Divine Warrior. They could only pray that Xie He would move a little slower and give them a bit of reaction time to open a mini cam.

But that was impossible. The Immortal Warlock was dying for the chance to grind all five members of FTW into the dirt.

They could only show a replay again as the audience stared intently, unable to look away.

The audience’s guess was that the Power Thief must have come over to assist to allow the Immortal Warlock to get a double kill in the early game. Either that, or one of FTW must have made an error that Xie He was able to capitalise on.

Unexpectedly, it was neither of the scenarios.

CC hadn’t assisted, and neither Ning Zhehan nor Bai Cai had made any errors. On the contrary, the duo had worked together seamlessly.

It happened like this. After Close killed the Divine Warrior in the top lane, FTW’s morale had been boosted. Brother Cai keenly spotted that the Immortal Warlock was positioned slightly forward and made a split-second decision, swinging the massive club in his hand, smashing it down.

It was unlikely to score a hit on the Immortal Warlock, but striking the ground could send Xie He airborne.

As long as they could disable him for half a second, the Spirit Mage would be able to cross the distance to do away with the Immortal Warlock.

Taking a kill in the top lane and God Xie’s life in the mid lane would be the grandest opening!

If not already forewarned of the result, the audience would be hooting at this moment.

Lamentably…

Brother Cai’s club struck down accurately, and Little Ning also stepped in at the perfect time in order to lengthen the status effect on the Immortal Warlock.

Up to this point, Ning Zhehan and Bai Cai’s coordination had been flawless. This combo was praiseworthy, and there wasn’t a single fault.

However, they just could not kill Xie He.

Xie He didn’t make a move when the Giant Shaman’s attack sent him flying. He waited until Ning Zhehan approached, and in the space of a millisecond before the duo connected their abilities, the Immortal Warlock hit a key and dispelled the status effect. He struck with Connecting Clouds right as Ning Zhehan launched an attack, piercing through Ning Zhehan to also strike the Giant Shaman.

The blade of Connecting Clouds passed through them in an astonishingly straight line. Catching two foes within his maximum attack range caused the damage to stack, and following up with Landing on Clouds further doubled the damage.

At level 3, just by using these abilities and without turning to Thousand Cloud Layers or Cloudy Vista, he had swept away the Giant Shaman and the Spirit Mage in the early stage of the game.

Ning Zhehan: “……”

Brother Cai: “……”

The chat exploded: “WTF, is he using a cheat?”

The audience’s shock was understandable. Even the pro players at the VIP seats backstage were momentarily stunned.

Was this really something that a human could do?!

Offstage, the Team of Gods were the only ones who had remained calm.

There was not a smidgeon of surprise in Yuan Ze’s, Kim Sung-hyun’s, and Yan Jiang’s eyes; they simply watched it all play out serenely.

Watched the Immortal Warlock dominate the field by his own power.

Echo’s dainty eyebrows creased. Under her long eyelashes, heartache flitted across those aqua green eyes –

Did he miss home that much?

@babyybluebear: I felt that. I felt that PDA at the start of the chapter chipping away at my poor single soul after watching all the normies on Valentine’s Day…(small voice: all normies be gone)