ARML CH92

After Team Yaoguang’s match ended, a massive amount of press releases indeed appeared online, with titles like: “Rookie Marksman Yang Jingyu Debuts with Pentakill and Ascends to Godhood, Season 10’s New God is About to be Born!”
“YG-Yu’mao Secures Pentakill in Debut, Achieving Fame in One Battle!” and so on. It was obvious these articles had been written in advance.

Chi Shuo and Coach Lin’s guess that “the Yaoguang Club wants to promote a rookie” seemed to be correct.

Backed by abundant capital, Yaoguang definitely spent a lot of money to open up media channels. The rookie they wanted to promote had indeed delivered, conveniently securing a Pentakill, which allowed them to seize the opportunity for a wave of hype.

Not long after, the official Gods’ War Professional League released the highlight reel of today’s matches.

The official channel released such highlight reels every match day, but today’s share count was exceptionally high—over a hundred thousand shares in less than half an hour, pushing the topic onto the hot search list.

The comment section became filled with veiled sarcasm:
“No wonder Xie Weiyu transferred, the new marksman is much better than him!”
“He’s more handsome too.”
“Keep it up, new little brother. When Xie Weiyu led the team, Yaoguang only ever got second place at best. I have high hopes for you guys winning the championship this year!”

These comments unanimously directed their spearheads at Yaoguang’s former captain, Xie Weiyu. There were definitely casual viewers or Xie Weiyu’s anti-fans intentionally fanning the flames, but Ye Shaoyang guessed the majority were still the Water Armies they had bought. If they wanted the rookie to replace Xie Weiyu, they had to make the club’s fans believe that the rookie was better than the former captain in every aspect.

After reading the Weibo topic section, Qu Jiang couldn’t help but complain: “During Xiao Yu’s time on their team, he was considered diligent and conscientious, and he never made any major mistakes, right? Is it necessary to make things look this ugly?”

Qin Yizhu laughed: “If I remember correctly, Yueying is in Group S this season, right? The two teams won’t bump into each other for now. They probably want to seize the opportunity to build momentum and draw over Xie Weiyu’s former fans to support the new marksman.”

Xie Weiyu had debuted two years ago and had average looks, so he didn’t have that many die-hard fans. When casual fans saw that the new marksman was both handsome and highly skilled, there was a high probability they would jump ship to support the rookie. It could only be said that the Yaoguang Club was very adept at fandom routines.

However, by causing such a fuss, they had offended two powerhouse teams all at once.

Did they really think they could win the championship this year? Wouldn’t it look incredibly ugly when they got completely crushed later?

Just then, Chi Shuo’s phone suddenly rang. Opening it, he saw a private message from Xu Zhuo: “Did you watch Yaoguang’s match today?”

Chi Shuo: “Just finished watching.”

Xu Zhuo said: “Many of those cursing Xiao Yu on Weibo are his Water Armies. I suspect the ones smearing Ye Shaoyang yesterday were also them. Ye Shaoyang’s momentum has been too strong recently. They’re creating negative public opinion to let their own marksman’s momentum overshadow Ye Shaoyang.”

Chi Shuo: “I guessed as much.”

Xu Zhuo: “Idiot boss, does he fucking want to create an esports idol boy band?”

The style of a boss with an entertainment industry background was indeed unique, with one cheeky routine after another. The 5 players of Team Yaoguang this season did indeed have high appearance values, and they were all youths around 18 years old—the peak state for an esports player. With good skills and handsome looks, standing together they were pleasing to the eye. Wasn’t that exactly an “idol boy band” in the esports circle?

Who knows, in a while, they might even find a TV station to film a team variety show.

Maybe write a group song too, having the fans sing it in unison before every match to inflict “mental pollution” on the opponents?

Chi Shuo found it somewhat amusing and casually replied: “Don’t worry about these things, just focus on competing.”

Xu Zhuo said: “You guys too. Hurry up and get to Group S, I can’t wait to play against you!”

After this match, Yaoguang Yu’mao’s Weibo follower count rapidly skyrocketed to 3 million, and the other team members also surpassed a million followers. This wave of promotional hype was indeed very effective.

—It was a pity that no matter how much they promoted, they still couldn’t compare to Ye Shaoyang’s popularity.

Ye Shaoyang came from a streamer background. Before his debut, his Weibo follower count was already at 5 million. Who could compare to that?

Among his fans were a large number of casual viewers who didn’t follow esports and only watched streams, or pooper scoopers who loved his kitten. These were all accumulated day by day from him streaming Ranked matches. They wouldn’t jump ship to support some rookie marksman.

After watching the match, the teammates went downstairs to eat.

Chi Shuo chatted with Ye Shaoyang alone for a few words: “Most players in the esports circle still focus on competing. But every year or two, some strange bosses pop up who don’t understand esports at all, thinking money can buy championships, and just mess around blindly. Ignore them, we’ll train as usual.”

Ye Shaoyang smiled and said: “Mhm. There are 3 matches left in Group B. Shall we aim for a win streak?”

It was already early February, and the regular season had reached its second week.

Team Tianhuan had a bye in the third week, and one match each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth weeks. After finishing these 3 matches, the group stage would end. At that time, based on rankings, the top two teams from Group B would be promoted to Group A.

Chi Shuo said: “For the remaining 3 matches, I suggest you pick more mage carries. I’ll yield the economy to you.”

Ye Shaoyang was a bit surprised: “Does Captain Chi mean you want me to get more MVPs?”

Chi Shuo nodded: “Mhm. It’s relatively easy for us to play against Group B teams. You can just use Mid Laner to control the tempo. By picking mages with strong damage output, it’s easy to achieve a good KDA and get MVP. Once we reach Group A, relying solely on a mid-core definitely won’t work, and later in Group S, mid-jungle synergy might not guarantee a win either. Your MVP count will decrease then.”

Ye Shaoyang asked doubtfully: “Actually, Captain Chi also has the strength to compete for the Season MVP award. If you pick assassin-type jungle carries, your KDA would look even better than mine, right?”

Chi Shuo had been questioned for so many years. This season, opponents finally wouldn’t target him at every turn. If he could win the MVP, he could also prove he hadn’t regressed and shut the mouths of those anti-fans who cursed him.

Yet he wanted to give this opportunity to Ye Shaoyang.

There was only one Season MVP award each season, and only one MVP per game.

Both Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had the strength to compete for this award. However, if two people from Tianhuan competed for the MVP, the final result would be that neither of them would make it onto the leaderboard.

In 10 matches, if Ye Shaoyang got 10 MVPs versus Chi Shuo getting 5 and Ye Shaoyang getting 5—who would have an easier time winning the award?

It was obvious.

“I won this award in Season 6, there’s no need to compete with you.” Chi Shuo paused, looking at Ye Shaoyang with a gentle gaze: “Moreover, in my heart, you have the strength to win the Season MVP.”

“I understand.” Ye Shaoyang looked at Chi Shuo with a smile: “Thank you for yielding, Captain Chi.”

Chi Shuo met his eyes, his heart skipping a beat slightly, and embarrassedly looked away: “You don’t have to keep saying thank you to me. We are teammates, there’s no need to be so polite.”

Ye Shaoyang nodded happily: “Then I won’t be polite!”

Chi Shuo hummed in agreement: “Let’s go eat. There’s also a Group S match tonight we can watch.”

This season, the teams that made it into Group S during the pre-season included Jingzhe, Xueying, Yueying, Beimu, Huowen (Fire Rune), and Luoshendian. Group S matches were usually scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays to guarantee viewership ratings.

Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo sat together on the living room sofa and watched a Group S match.

Group S teams were very strong. If they stayed in Group B for too long, they might not be able to keep up with the tempo of Group S. Therefore, during the regular season, they had to constantly keep an eye on Group S matches to study the compositions, routines, and playstyles of these strong teams.

After watching the match, the two went back to their respective rooms to sleep, continuing their training the next day.

Because of the bye in the third week, they had two weeks to prepare for their next match. Their opponent was Team CYC, which had a very good record in Group B. Coach Lin adopted Chi Shuo’s suggestion and let Ye Shaoyang pick mid-core mages.

Coach Lin said: “CYC is a veteran team. Although they haven’t won any awards despite competing for several years, their players have incredibly rich tournament experience. They are the strongest team in Group B besides us. As long as we can take down this team, there’s nothing to worry about for the remaining matches.”

He opened the latest standings on the official league website and said: “Tianhuan and CYC currently both have 4 points. We won two matches 2:0, while CYC won one 2:0 and one 2:1. Our net win score is higher than CYC’s. So theoretically, as long as we beat CYC, we are guaranteed to advance to Group A.”

As for how the points were specifically calculated, Cheng Xing’s math was poor, so he couldn’t figure it out either.

He only knew that Tianhuan had a total of 5 matches in Group B and had already won two 2:0. If they won another 2:0, they would steadily advance to Group A!

Therefore, this upcoming match was of utmost importance and absolutely could not be taken lightly.

Cheng Xing rubbed his hands in anticipation, looking at Ye Shaoyang and saying: “I believe Brother Yang can carry me to an easy win.”

Ye Shaoyang smiled at him: “Just don’t die too many times.”

Cheng Xing said: “Don’t worry, my reaction speed for pressing Flash is super fast now! Being killed by you guys has given me conditioned reflexes!”

Two weeks passed quickly, and the league standings saw changes again.

Because Team CYC won another match in the third week, their total points became 6, while Tianhuan was still at 4.

Everyone knew that the clash between these two teams would determine the promotion list for Group B.

The fourth week’s match was scheduled in the bustling first-tier city of Rongcheng on Friday night at 7 PM.

As the match began, the caster yelled excitedly: “Good evening, viewers, and welcome to the Rongcheng Esports Center! This is the venue for the Gods’ War Official Professional League Season 10 Regular Season, Round 1, Week 4 match!”

“Today’s matchup is between Group B’s Team CYC and Team Tianhuan!”

“Let’s take a look at the points situation for both teams. CYC has currently played three matches with scores of 2:0/2:0/2:1, totaling 6 points with a net win score of 5, temporarily ranking first in Group B. Tianhuan has played two matches, both 2:0, with a net win score of 4, ranking second.”

“Therefore, today’s match is a duel between the two strongest teams in Group B. They will fight for the first place in Group B!”

Tianhuan had built up some reputation over the first two weeks. At today’s match venue, the audience attendance rate exceeded 70%, and the cheering banners, posters, and glow sticks were noticeably more numerous than the previous match.

Before the match began, an unknown young lady holding a megaphone screamed at the top of her lungs: “Tianhuan, let’s go!” The fans beside her also joined in, screaming so excitedly their voices cracked.

The two casters laughed: “Thank you to the fans for your passionate cheering! The first game is about to begin. Let’s look at the BP phase. Tianhuan randomly rolled the Red side this time, banning and picking second. What hero will CYC’s coach ban first?”

CYC’s first ban slot went directly to [Abyssal Lord].

Sure enough, the Abyssal Lord that Ye Shaoyang used for his Pentakill was still not let out today.

Tianhuan followed their usual routine and banned a Support to ease Cheng Xing’s laning pressure in the bottom lane.

CYC’s second ban slot was not given to [Illusionist], but instead to the [Blessing Priest] Support.

This ban was actually highly quintessential because the key reason the [Illusionist] system was so disgusting wasn’t the [Illusionist] itself, but rather the “four-wheel drive” speed-boosting Support!

Sometimes, when banning heroes, one had to see clearly where the enemy’s core lay. Don’t be fooled by Ye Shaoyang getting 15 kills with the Illusionist in the last match; without Qu Jiang’s four-wheel drive speed boost, their rapid guerrilla tactics wouldn’t have worked.

At the same time, Tianhuan’s macro system of [Ocean Goddess] + [Blessing Priest] also relied on creating a speed differential. Therefore, by directly banning this team speed-boosting Support, [Blessing Priest], CYC instantly broke two of Tianhuan’s systems.

It seemed the opponents had specifically studied Tianhuan and came prepared!

Naturally, Coach Lin wasn’t a vegetarian either.

A single composition couldn’t be used repeatedly; they had long since prepared for this.

CYC’s first pick was [Frost Goddess], a Mid Laner with comprehensive overall abilities. It possessed freeze crowd control, an AoE ultimate with explosive damage, could coordinate with teammates to fast-push towers, and could also defend the high ground.

Caster: “CYC first-picked Frost Goddess. Illusionist somewhat counters Frost Goddess, and it was left open this game. In the last match, Lieyang’s Illusionist got 15 kills, which was very terrifying. I wonder if Tianhuan will pick it this game?”

Tianhuan did not pick it.

They wouldn’t use the same routine consecutively, not to mention that with the speed-boosting Support banned, the Illusionist couldn’t play guerrilla warfare.

Tianhuan’s first pick directly snatched the [World-Ending Mage] artillery hero, and their second pick locked in the [Trap Hunter] Jungler.

The two casters were a bit bewildered: “Trap Hunter Jungle? What kind of routine is this?”

“We all know that [Trap Hunter] is usually paired with [Flame Goddess] to play a positional warfare system. Pairing it with a [World-Ending Mage] Mid Laner is a first!”

“Ahem, Tianhuan has quite a few new compositions this season. Let’s look forward to their performance in this game!”