The King's Avatar

Not even Wind Howl’s fans felt any hope for them, and in a match against a powerhouse like Blue Rain, not even 70 percent of the tickets had been sold. Many fans gathered outside of the stadium, refusing to go inside and watch and thus expressing their displeasure for Wind Howl’s recent performance.

Yet it was on this night that Wind Howl won an individual competition, won the group arena, and then won the team competition. They beat the current number two, Blue Rain, 8 to 2.

”There are many factors that can influence a match. Doing the right thing at the right time is the most efficient way to win a match. Wind Howl’s offense was strong tonight, and our defense wasn’t up to par,” Blue Rain’s captain, Yu Wenzhou, commented at the post-match press conference.

The reporters in the audience had a very clear understanding of this match. Team Wind Howl had fallen, their fans cooled, but there was one aspect that was indisputably admirable about them. No matter how terrible their performance was, their desire for victory burned as brightly as ever.

Yu Wenzhou’s comment was a good summary.

If you say that victory required doing the right thing at the right time, then the previous Wind Howl could never find that right time to do that right thing.

And this time? In this team competition, Wind Howl had used an extremely crude playstyle. After their starting lineup had loaded into the map, they immediately switched their healer out for their sixth player, creating an all-DPS formation. Then, they had attacked Blue Rain, forcing their members to fight 1v1.

This sort of strategy was extremely rare in the high-end pro circle. Once the 1v1 arrangement was completed by Wind Howl, Blue Rain’s team was ripped asunder. Apart from their healer, Yu Wenzhou wasn’t good at 1v1s either, making things far more difficult for Blue Rain. In the end, they were unable to regroup and support each other efficiently, losing the team competition.

The right thing at the right time...

The reporters digested this comment from Yu Wenzhou. It seemed like words of courtesy spoken post-match, but the meaning behind the words were clear. There was no need to comment any further.

As for the stars of the day, Team Wind Howl… This long-awaited victory against such a powerhouse finally let them raise their heads, standing tall and confident at the press conference.

”The competition is just beginning,” they intoned solemnly.

Sure...

The reporters looked to the rankings after 27 rounds. Wind Howl was still just outside of the playoffs, though they were only 8 points away from the eighth ranked team. The problem was that none of the top eight seemed to be falling behind.

The one who was one place above Wind Howl was 301 Degrees, who had been rising up ever since the winter transfer window. This round, they had defeated Heavenly Swords 8 to 2 in their away game, scoring their tenth consecutive win. The Life Risking Strike assassination didn’t appear in this match, but that meant that 301 Degrees didn’t just have that one method of winning. They would judge the situation for the method necessary to obtain victory. Their captain Yang Cong wasn’t so stiff as to stubbornly stick to his new Life-Risking style no matter what. He could still use the warrior-like playstyle that he favored before, charging at the head of his team if the team so required.

301 Degrees wasn’t planning on relying on this singular strategy; everyone had realized that by now.

Team 301 Degrees had risen through the ranks, and the one they had knocked out of the top eight was Wind Howl. Now Wind Howl had become the pursuers and the reporters checked the schedule. A good show was soon to come. Round 28 was a faceoff between these two teams: Wind Howl’s home game would be against 301 Degrees.

This seemed quite like a fight to the death.

There were still eleven rounds in the regular season. Eight points of difference wasn’t a small gap, but it wasn’t a very big gap either. If you wanted to turn the tables in one round, then this face off was a chance. If they won with a 9 to 1, then they’d be even. Ten to zero and they’d overtake them.

However, Wind Howl, having already disappointed everyone so much, couldn’t win back everyone’s faith and admiration with just a single victory against Blue Rain, especially compared to 301 Degrees with their 10 consecutive wins.

However, Team Wind Howl’s members had an indomitable will to fight against the tides. The more the outside world didn’t believe, the more focused they were on the match.

On March 28th, the day before Round 28 of the Pro League, the teams generally would choose such a time to announce the lineup they were to use in the match the following day.

”What? You’re putting me in?”

For Tema Happy, when their lineup was announced, the loudest voice came from the computer on their meeting table.

The last time Luo Ji had played in an official match since coming to Happy was all the way back during the Challengers League. His contributions to Team Happy were more like that of a R&D member, rather than a player.

However, Luo Ji was doubtlessly a registered player of Happy’s. Though he usually couldn’t stay with the team because of his studies, when matchday came, no matter home or away game, Luo Ji would rush over to the stadium and meet with everyone.

Though he had never been on the stage, he had the chance to watch up close and personal. Luo Ji was no longer the noob he once was. His judgement, knowledge, were far from average. As for skill, he naturally knew his own level. In the current Happy, not even Wei Chen had much of a chance to be fielded. For himself, he was satisfied with just sitting at the sidelines. Maybe, after honing himself for another year and half, he might get some chance to play.

That was what Luo Ji thought. He never would’ve expected that Ye Xiu planned to field him in this crucial time as the season approached its end.

”Do you want to play an individual match or group arena?” Ye Xiu asked.

”I, I, I…” Luo Ji stuttered, speechless. It was shocking enough that he was getting a chance to play, never mind being able to choose the match for himself. This… was probably the encouragement and reward he was getting for this season.

There are still eleven rounds. It’s time you gained some real battle experience,” Ye Xiu decided.

Luo Ji was one of the elite students of an institution for higher education. His IQ was high, that was undebatable, and he soon figured out the logic in Ye Xiu’s words.

From his view, with only eleven rounds left, if Happy had a massive lead like Samsara, then it was fine to let some newbie take the stage and gain experience in some relatively unimportant matches as the regular season came to a close. However, Happy was currently sixth with a total of 178 points, 4 points ahead of number seven Hundred Blossoms and 12 ahead of number eight 301 Degrees. Compared to number nine’s Wind Howl, they did have quite a lead with 20 points ahead.

However, even if Happy didn’t drop out of the top eight, falling to eighth place wasn’t good either. If the current situation was any clue, Samsara’s lead was certain to continue. In accordance with the playoffs rules, the eighth ranked team would be up against the number one team, Samsara, in the first round… Everyone was naturally trying to avoid such a strong opponent. If it became unavoidable, like in the finals, then they’ll just go all out and hope for the best.

Happy wasn’t at the point where they could relax and train their newbies. However, if Ye Xiu fielded him now, that seemed to mean that Ye Xiu was placing importance on his use later and not throwing him some unimportant matches to gain experience!

Yet Ye Xiu had said that he had to gain real battle experience in these eleven rounds. Could it be that Ye Xiu was planning on having him play in the playoffs?

Though he was sitting down, Luo Ji felt his legs go weak.

After gaining some experience in eleven rounds, he’d have to contribute to that vicious competition where a single mistake could mean a year’s worth of work wasted called the playoffs?

”Is that… really alright?” Luo Ji didn’t voice any of what he had thought, merely asking the question that was going through his mind.

”You’ve been working hard for a long time. It’s time to experience what being on the stage is like,” Ye Xiu replied.

”But my skill…” Luo Ji hesitated.

”Your skill is already at the point where you need real battle experience to improve. It’ll tell you what to give up and what to strengthen, how to make decisions. You have to develop such an awareness yourself; if I just tell you, there’s little use,” Ye Xiu explained.

”You can tell me first, I’ll focus on it,” Luo ji said.

”Don’t worry about the details,” Ye Xiu intoned.

”Just say it, I’ll definitely be able to look at things clearer if you do,” Luo Ji reassured.

”I already said it!”

”Ah? Just don’t worry about the details?” Luo Ji was dumbfounded for a moment. He had thought Ye Xiu had been telling him to not worry about the detail of ”listen to it first and then focus on it”.

”Yes, see? There’s not much use, no?” Ye Xiu said.

This harsh reality had Luo Ji struck speechless. These words really weren’t much use to him.

”Or, rather, pay more attention to the details you need to,” Ye Xiu added.

”Pay attention to what details are important?” Luo Ji’s IQ was impressive, able to easily find the implications.

”Yup,” Ye Xiu confirmed.

”I’ll pay close attention to it.” Luo Ji nodded and didn’t say much more. This was because he realized this really was something you could only develop through going through the battles yourself. Then he considered his current situation. Paying attention to details was his habit and style, and it was because of this that he could create those incredibly detailed guides. However, when 1v1ing, the more you paid attention to, the more you had to worry about. In addition, Summoners already had very complex mechanics so he often floundered and flailed when it came to it.

Ye Xiu’s advice of paying attention to what details could be ignored and what should be considered wasn’t telling him to stop paying attention to detail, but to find the details that would benefit him the most when it came to defeating his opponent and then utilize them effectively. If he could do this, then he probably wouldn’t be all over the place when it came to controlling his character. Luo Ji knew that he was no hand speed expert. He couldn’t control a bunch of summons under complex battle situations.

Choosing between these details really was something he needed to master to improve from his current level. Ye Xiu had probably noticed that he had reached such a level and arranged for him to improve through actual matches.

However… there were only eleven rounds left.

Even if he played one match per round and even gained some experience from the team competitions, was it enough to improve and allow him to perform well in the playoffs?

This question lingered in Luo Ji’s heart, and Chen Guo had doubts about it, too.

”Will Luo Ji be alright?” Chen Guo asked Ye Xiu after the meeting was over.

”Don’t forget, he has a high IQ!” Ye Xiu replied.