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One skill, one step back. In the end, Mo Fan ended up setting this repetitive rhythm. Liang Fang’s reckless health trade immediately became out of sync. By the time he realized this, he had already traded his health away for a disadvantage.

He lost.

In the individual competition, Happy ended with a 3 to 0. The entire stadium was speechless.

”Hahaha, Happy’s performing well today!” Li Yibo commented.

”Do they plan on obtaining another perfect victory?” Pan Lin wondered.

Ruan Cheng heart thumped. If Happy really did destroy Tiny Herb in their away game, then it’d be like they had thrown him here naked - he’d be completely humiliated!　

What the hell are you bastards doing!?

Ruan Cheng was even more desperate and worried than Tiny Herb’s boss.

”Su Mucheng didn’t go up for the individual competitions this round. Has Happy left her for the group arena?” Li Yibo said.

”Fang Rui, Su Mucheng, Tang Rou? Happy’s group arena line-up is very impressive this round!” Pan Lin commented.

”In the eighth round, Happy’s Tang Rou alone managed to wipe out two of Tiny Herb’s members in the group arena and get to Wang Jiexi!” Li Yibo reminded them, ”It’s just unfortunate that the two players after Tang Rou didn’t perform so well and were all defeated by Wang Jiexi in a 1v3 that turned the tides.”

”However, it was after that round that Tang Rou stopped spearheading the group arena and switched to third position,” Pan Lin lamented.

With that, the two side eyed Ruan Cheng together.

Yet, when Ruan Cheng had heard the two say that Happy had an unusually impressive line-up, his insides clenched. He didn’t even register the discussion the two had afterwards.　　

”You think they’ll have Tang Rou spearhead again?”

In the end, Ruan Cheng only heard that before the players for the group arena entered the stage.

Happy, Fang Rui, Su Mucheng, Tang Rou, as expected, an impressive line-up.

As for Tiny Herbm, they sent out Liu Xiaobie, Liu Fei, and Wang Jiexi.

”Seems like Tang Rou still isn’t spearheading the round!” Pan Lin exclaimed.

”Yeah. Fang Rui leading and Tang Rou bringing up the rear, Happy hasn’t changed that arrangement in a long time,” Li Yibo noted.

”The match is about to start, let’s see how the players perform!” Pan Lin announced. At the same time, the first player in each team were inserting their cards and loading into the first round of the match.

”Er, this map… It’s a pretty rare sight in the group arena,” the commentator and guests discussed upon seeing the map. The map Tiny Herb had chosen for their group arena was the same kind that Ye Xiu had set as his signature map choice this season: straight and simple. This kind of map often implied a test of mechanical skill. For individual matches, the maps could be chosen according to personal preference. However, in the group arena, there would be three people per team, and you needed to make sure that all three were comfortable with the map, thus, the map choice was rarely so extreme. Generally, maps with more varied content that could be useful in different situations would be chosen.

”This map choice… it’ll probably negatively impact Happy’s Fang Rui and Su Mucheng, but Tang Rou clearly prefers this sort of map,” Li Yibo noted. ”As for Tiny Herb… What do you think, Mr. Ruan?” Feeling that Ruan Cheng had gone silent for long enough, Li Yibo threw him a question helpfully.

”Ah… I guess they’ll be alright since they’re Tiny Herb?” Ruan Cheng guessed.

What on earth was he saying?

Li Yibo stared in shock and glanced at Pan Lin. Pan Lin seemed rather helpless as well. This Ruan Cheng really didn’t have much mental fortitude! No matter if you’re a fan or a hater, you should at least work hard to support your side! Even if its complete bullshit, that’s better than this utterly defeated look after a 3 to 0!

Li Yibo and Pan Lin could only leave Ruan Cheng with his answer that wasn’t really an answer. On the field, due to the simple map, the two sides soon met and clashed in an open fight.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!

Flying Swords’ sword was as fast as lightning.

Liu Xiaobie was feeling rather depressed this season. He had wanted to become an all-star this season through his ceaseless hard work and improvement. Yet, Happy and Excellent Era’s players had returned and the competition for this season’s All-Stars was much tighter all of a sudden. Unfortunately, Liu Xiaobie once again wasn’t voted in.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

Liu Xiaobie vented his frustrations through his mechanics. Flying Sword’s attacks were swift and his pacing was solid. This level of skill was definitely enough to be considered All-Star level. It was unfortunate that the All-Star voting wasn’t just about skill.

On the other side, Fang Rui, was in a very different position from Liu Xiaobie. Liu Xiaobie was just unable to become an All-Stars, and he, on the other hand, had been consecutively voted into the All-Stars, only to fail this season.

He also made light of this failure, expressing to the media that he always got in so it was pretty good that he had finally managed to drop out.

That sort of attitude was just asking for a beating to Liu Xiaobie. Many other also thought Fang Rui was unreasonable.

It was probably a little of both, but Fang Rui’s performance really hadn’t been affected by any of it. His performance had improved slowly as he got more used to the Qi Master, and his opponents, because of his chosen playstyle, often were unable to keep up.　　

However, Liu Xiaobie didn’t fall into this disadvantage because he took the initiative to attack as soon as possible. His hand was speed rising dramatically.

Thus, the match progressed a little like Liang Fang and Mo Fan’s match, both sides attacking fiercely and trying to prevent the other from using their preferred style.

However, compared to Liang Fang exchanging blows and blood, Liu Xiaobie had less to worry about with his offensive. For Liang Fang, he was also trading blood to win, and his defeat was because of it, too.

”This kid’s mechanics is getting crazier and crazier,” Wei Chen exclaimed with a hint of envy, observing the way Liu Xiaobie was displaying his hand speed.

”The point is that he isn’t just fast, but also very steady. He has everything in his grasp,” Ye Xiu added.

”Fang Rui’s met trouble this time,” Wei Chen noted.

”Yes. This isn’t a good terrain for him,” Ye Xiu commented.

Ye Xiu had used this kind of terrain to bully quite a few opponents himself, so he naturally understood what sort of foundation Liu Xiaobie’s advantage was built upon. He also knew that it was because there was nothing that could be used on the map, thus Liu Xiaobie’s rhythm would be very hard to break.

Perhaps he could find some openings in Flying Swords’ attack, but Liu Xiaobie’s mechanics were just too fast, so fast that these opens flashed by. When his opponent wanted to use them, they were already gone.

The only thing you couldn’t counter was speed.* 1

In regards to Liu Xiaobie, this phrase was rather fitting.　

”His APM is almost reaching 400…” The live broadcast gave a shot of Liu Xiaobie’s APM data. Since the match was still ongoing, his mechanics were still ongoing, and thus the number wasn’t stable, fluctuating at just under 400.

The system data wasn’t smart enough to differentiate between effective APM and random keyboard mashing, but considering the situation on the field right now, there was little possibility for such noob mechanics to exist. Most, if not all, were effective.

For a single player game, even if Glory’s mechanics were a little more complicated, an APM heading directly for 400 was still stunning. When the audience at the stadium noticed this data, sounds of awe rose from the crowd, and these voices were filled with pride. Liu Xiaobie was a player on their team, Tiny Herb.

For comparison, Fang Rui’s APM data was quickly placed next to Liu Xiaobie’s.

289, 290, 291…

The number kept rising.

”Fang Rui’s APM is much faster than usual, too!” Pan Lin said, holding Fang Rui’s previous match statistics.

”Of course. If he doesn’t raise his hand speed under this sort of situation, he’d probably have been wiped out quickly,” Li Yibo commented.

”However, there’s still a 100 APM difference!” Ruan Cheng followed up.

Fuck!

Pan Lin and Li Yibo cursed to themselves simultaneously, glancing at Ruan Cheng.

Was this still that dispirited Ruan Cheng from after the individual matches? This kind of energy… Was Liu Xiaobie a Cleric or something? Had his near 400 APM healed this guy or something?

”Their hand speed has a gap, looking at the statistics, but from the situation, Fang Rui isn’t at much of a disadvantage,” Li Yibo noted.

”Heh. He’s not at much of a disadvantage, but he’s still at one,” Ruan Cheng retorted.

”Fang Rui’s current APM isn’t his peak,” Pan Lin added, looking through Fang Rui’s info.

”His current APM is very steady,” Li Yibo observed the APM stats on the screen. APM was calculated by the minute, but what was usually shown in a match was calculated by the second. It showed what the mechanics done in this second would be if maintained for a minute.

Fang Rui’s APM was fluctuating at around 290, which meant that his hand speed was very steady.

”If given the chance, he’ll give himself a burst of speed,” Li Yibo said.

”What about Liu Xiaobie? Is this his peak?” Ruan Cheng smirked. He was, in the end, an expert, and wasn’t ignorant.

Pan Lin naturally also had Liu Xiaobie’s match statistics and, after taking a look, shook his head. ”It’s not… but, not all of his actions are effective. A lot of these statistics came from him making a bunch of useless actions at the beginning of a match to drive his APM up.”

Li Yibo was carefully watching the match.

Chance. Fang Rui was waiting for a chance. Waiting for a chance where he could strike and break Liu Xiaobie’s rhythm. Otherwise, if this continued, he would lose.　　

When would a chance appear?

Li Yibo couldn’t be bothered to discuss with the other two. The pace of the match was so fast, so this chance would only appear for a mere moment...

There!

Li Yibo’s eyes lit up.

”Cha…”

He only managed to get out the first half of the word because his speech wasn’t nearly as fast as the two player’s on the stage.

The APM statistics skyrocketed.

Fang Rui, 372!

This was his chance to turn the tables.

However...

He failed.

Just as Fang Rui’s hand speed rocketed, Liu Xiaobie’s APM also rose alongside it.

442!

The peak APM of the match finally appeared.

Liu Xiaobie used his immense hand speed to crush Fang Rui’s defense.

In the end, the first match of the group arena went to Tiny Herb’s Liu Xiaobie.