Chapter 115: Relegation Matches

In the second phase of the regular season, there would be Relegation/Promotion Matches (often called “Card Position Matches” or “Seeding Matches”). The bottom 2 teams of Group S and the top 2 teams of Group A would play crossover matches. In the end, those with higher points would enter Group S, while those with lower points would drop back to Group A.

The establishment of these matches was to prevent weak teams from lucking into Group S and strong teams from getting stuck in Group A.

After the match, the Tianhuan team members returned backstage and went directly into the Yueying team’s lounge.

Xu Zhuo immediately walked up to Chi Shuo, hugged him, and laughed: “Good job!”

Ye Shaoyang took the initiative to sit next to Xie Weiyu. Xie Weiyu smiled at him and said, “Your lineup today was interesting. A beautiful win.”

Ye Shaoyang said softly, “Next is the relegation match. We have to play Yaoguang.”

Xie Weiyu quickly adjusted his emotions and said, “I will do my best.”

The two teams stayed at the venue and watched the final match of Group S, Yaoguang vs. Huowen, which ended in a 1:2 loss for Yaoguang. With this, the second round of the regular season concluded.

In Group S, Yaoguang had 1 win and 4 losses, and Langzu had 0 wins and 5 losses, both facing the risk of relegation.
In Group A, Tianhuan and Yueying qualified for promotion.

These four teams would be placed in the “Relegation Zone” for crossover matches.
This meant Tianhuan vs. Yaoguang & Langzu, and Yueying vs. Yaoguang & Langzu. The top 2 of Group A would PK the bottom 2 of Group S, respectively. Finally, Group S slots would be decided based on match wins and net win score.

The relegation matches were scheduled for next weekend at the Star City Esports Center.

Xu Zhuo offered to treat everyone to a late-night snack. People from both Tianhuan and Yueying went to a nearby restaurant for a steaming hotpot. Chi Shuo, Xu Zhuo, Ye Shaoyang, and Xie Weiyu sat at the same table.

Xu Zhuo spoke frankly: “Langzu lost 5 in a row in Group S; they aren’t strong enough to stay there. Beating them shouldn’t be hard. The key is Yaoguang… Chi Shuo, what are your thoughts?”

Chi Shuo said calmly, “In the relegation matches, the points of all 4 teams are reset to zero. The top two are admitted based on wins and net win score. Against Langzu, it’s best to win 2:0 to get 2 net points. Against Yaoguang, as long as both our teams beat them, they will undoubtedly be relegated.”

Xie Weiyu suddenly said, “Yaoguang isn’t weak. Their poor results in Group S were just because they couldn’t keep up with the rhythm.” Everyone turned to look at him. Xie Weiyu’s face was pale, but he spoke seriously: “I led this team before. Yaoguang’s Top Laner and Mid Laner are excellent players. The marksman ‘Yu’mao’, who swapped in this season, although…”

Ye Shaoyang finished for him: “Although arrogant, he does have some skills. His [Sharpshooter] play is good; his long-range sniping is accurate, and he even got a Pentakill.”

Xie Weiyu smiled forcedly and nodded: “Yes. So we can’t be careless.”

Xu Zhuo frowned: “That brat’s tail has been up in the sky since his debut. Their boss is even more disgusting, constantly buying water armies (paid trolls) for marketing and hype. Press releases one after another, buying off quite a few media outlets. I think we shouldn’t surf the internet for the next week; we might see negative news about ourselves.”

The schedule for the relegation matches came out quickly.
May 8th, Saturday: 19:00 Tianhuan vs. Yaoguang; 21:00 Yueying vs. Langzu.
May 9th, Sunday: 19:00 Yueying vs. Yaoguang; 21:00 Tianhuan vs. Langzu.

After these four matches, 2 new members of Group S would be officially admitted based on the rule of wins + net points, while the remaining two would be relegated to Group A.

The week passed peacefully, and Tianhuan seized the time to practice lineups. On Friday morning, everyone flew to Star City. On the way to the hotel, Ye Shaoyang opened Weibo out of boredom and actually scrolled onto a trending topic—

#GodsWarS10MarksmanPowerRankings#

A blogger ID’d as “Gods’ War Professional Data Analyst” posted a ranking list specifically comparing the performance of marksmen from major teams this season, including average kills per game, KDA rating, MVP count, etc.

Ranked first was Sister Zhao Xinping from Team Beimu, with a total of 11 MVPs.
Ranked second was surprisingly Team Yaoguang’s marksman, Yu’mao.
MVP count 10 times, including 8 MVPs from his winning streak in Group A and 2 MVPs from winning small games in Group S.
Average kills 7, KDA 9.5, very impressive stats.

Third place was Jingzhe’s marksman, JZ-I Am Very Round (Xie Yuan).
Xie Yuan’s MVP count was 6. Not because he played poorly, but because more than half of Jingzhe’s MVPs were taken by Fang Zhengqing. The two obviously had no intention of fighting for the MVP award this season and wouldn’t yield kills to each other; whoever got it, got it.

Further down were marksmen from other S and A Group teams.
Group B was already eliminated and not included in statistics.

Xie Weiyu ranked 6th.
And Cheng Xing…
Ranked dead last.

Cheng Xing’s data was indeed pitiful. MVP count only 2, average kills only 3.

Marksmen in most teams were core damage dealers. Because Tianhuan’s Mid-Jungle performance was too outstanding, kills were taken by Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang, and Ye Shaoyang also had the most MVPs, leading to Cheng Xing’s ugly ranking among marksmen.

Actually, picking out a single position for such a ranking was meaningless.
Because every team’s situation was different. The key reason for Tianhuan’s marksman’s poor stats was that the Mid Laner took too many MVPs. Just like Jingzhe’s Xie Yuan ranked lower than Yaoguang’s Yu’mao—did that mean Xie Yuan was worse than Yu’mao?
Didn’t Yaoguang get stomped by Jingzhe?

Besides, what did it matter getting many MVPs in Group A?
Not getting MVPs in Group S proved your strength was still insufficient.

Ye Shaoyang glanced at the comments section. Sure enough, a group of fans began to mindlessly praise Yaoguang’s new marksman.

[Yu’mao is still a rookie, yet he got 10 MVPs. So amazing!]

[Debut Pentakill. The brightest marksman this season is Yu’mao.]

[Last season the three great marksmen were Beimu Xinping, Jingzhe Yuanyuan, Yaoguang Xiaoyu. This season’s three greats should be Beimu Xinping, Jingzhe Yuanyuan, Yaoguang Yu’mao!]

[Xiaoyu has been washed up for a long time. His stats are too ugly to look at. Putting him with Sister Xinping is an insult to her.]

[After he went to Yueying, their results dropped severely. Simply a team cancer.]

[You guys are all discussing Xiaoyu; nobody notices the dead last Fanying (Cheng Xing)?]

[The one who got carried the most this season is Tianhuan’s Xiao Xing.]

[Xiao Xing is either dead or on the way to die. Tianhuan’s bot lane was played by him into a ‘no-farm lane’.]

[If he didn’t rely on his master being Tianhuan’s captain, could he be a starter?]

[Lieyang has some skill, but Xiao Xing, saying he’s the league’s trashiest marksman isn’t controversial, right?]

[Who told him to have an awesome master? His master’s master is a Tianhuan shareholder.]

[In other teams, his level would be scolded to death. In Tianhuan, just getting carried is enough.]

[Tianhuan Fanying, carried by strength.]

Ye Shaoyang frowned tightly. The timing of this ranking list was too coincidental.

During the professional league, officials would release full player data rankings. Yet this “Marksman Power Ranking” released today specifically highlighted Yaoguang Yu’mao’s excellent record and the terrible data of Xie Weiyu and Cheng Xing.

Looking at data couldn’t be done by isolating one position; this was something all pros understood.
If you singled out Qin Yizhu, he was also a bottom-tier Top Laner in the league, because his role in Tianhuan was to be bait, play weakside, and tank damage for teammates, so he definitely died a lot.

But netizens didn’t care about this, swarming out to take the opportunity to mock Xie Weiyu and Cheng Xing.
It was hard not to overthink this.

Moreover, the style of those comments was weird. Some pretended to be Zhao Xinping fans to step on Xie Weiyu, saying Xiaoyu wasn’t worthy of being mentioned alongside top marksmen. Others pretended to be Jingzhe fans to mock Cheng Xing, even fabricating a rhyming slogan “Tianhuan Fanying, carried by strength” to spam the screen.

Keyboard warriors and anti-fans were always numerous online, but usually, they came out to scold after a loss. For example, if Tianhuan lost and it was Cheng Xing’s fault, it would be normal for haters to pop up.
But today, Tianhuan didn’t play a match, and they won the last one quite beautifully. Suddenly a bunch of people came out calling Cheng Xing the “League’s Trashiest Marksman.” This was a bit eerie.

Ye Shaoyang sent the topic link to Chi Shuo and typed: “Is it Yaoguang playing tricks behind the scenes again?”

Chi Shuo: “High probability. I just saw it too. The timing of this ranking is very clever.”

Ye Shaoyang frowned: “We have a match tomorrow. Don’t let Xiao Xing see it; it affects mentality a lot.”

Chi Shuo: “…He already saw it.”

Ye Shaoyang turned his head and saw Cheng Xing scrolling through Weibo on his phone, his face very pale.

Xiao Xing had a habit of taking photos along the way and posting to Moments as a souvenir every time he went to a new city for a match. But they had been to Star City many times; last year’s playoffs were hosted here. There wasn’t much to photograph on the way from the airport to the hotel, so he scrolled Weibo out of boredom—and happened to see this topic.

League’s Trashiest Marksman.
Stats too ugly to look at.
If his master wasn’t Tianhuan’s captain, could he start with this skill level?
Tianhuan Fanying, carried by strength.

Those sarcastic comments made Cheng Xing’s face look worse and worse.
The boy’s fingers stiffly gripped the phone, his eyes red. These words were like needle tips stabbing deep into his heart, hitting his most sensitive nerve—
He had always been carried. Without Brother Yang and Master, he couldn’t turn the tide at all.
He was indeed… Tianhuan’s weakest existence.

Suddenly, the phone was taken away. Cheng Xing looked up and saw Ye Shaoyang smiling. “Don’t stare at the phone all the time. Think about what to eat later?”

In the front row, team manager Tang Can, who already knew about this, immediately followed the topic: “We won’t eat at the hotel tonight. I booked a restaurant for everyone. We’re eating crayfish!”

A cheer erupted inside the car.
Cheng Xing took a deep breath and forced a relaxed smile. “Great, I love crayfish too.”

No one mentioned the matter voluntarily. The group ate dinner happily.
After returning to the hotel, Chi Shuo was just about to go find Cheng Xing to chat when a knock sounded outside. He opened the door to see Ye Shaoyang standing there, saying, “Captain Chi, going to talk to Xiao Xing? He’s young after all. If his mentality is affected by this, I’m worried he might make mistakes tomorrow.”

The two thought of the same thing again.
Chi Shuo whispered, “I was just about to go over. Let’s go.”

Next door, Cheng Xing had just washed his face and opened his laptop to log into Weibo when the doorbell rang. He opened it to see Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang standing there.
Cheng Xing was stunned and scratched his head. “Master, Brother Yang, are you looking for me?”

The two walked in. Ye Shaoyang said directly, “You saw the Weibo topic, right?”

Cheng Xing lowered his head. “Mn.”

Ye Shaoyang patted his shoulder and laughed. “You really took it seriously? This is obviously Yaoguang playing psychological warfare. It’s not like you don’t know about them trying to smear me before.”

Cheng Xing paused. “Huh? Is it Yaoguang playing tricks?” He thought a netizen really made this marksman ranking, and the data on the list was indeed correct. His record… was truly ugly right now.

Chi Shuo looked at his apprentice and said calmly, “They wanted to smear Shaoyang before, but found Shaoyang didn’t care and couldn’t be shaken, so they changed targets. The match is tomorrow. If your mentality collapses and you make mistakes during the game, Yaoguang wins against Tianhuan and keeps their S Group spot. Understand?”

Cheng Xing looked blank. “It, it can work like that?”

Ye Shaoyang said, “There are 18 teams in the professional league. There are always some weird clubs that don’t play by the rules. Don’t take this to heart. Your stats are ugly not because you’re bad, but because everyone is taking care of me, trying to let me get the Season MVP, so they yield a lot of kills to me.”

Cheng Xing recalled the group discussion earlier; they indeed said they wanted to let Shaoyang compete for the Season MVP award.

Just then his phone rang. A message popped up in the “Tianhuan One Big Family” group Qu Jiang built.
Jiangshui (Qu Jiang): “Is Xiao Xing there? I’m coming to find you. I made the third episode of your ‘100 Ways to Die’ compilation.”
Fanying (Cheng Xing): “…………”
Zhuhuo (Qin Yizhu): “I’m coming too. I just bought lots of snacks from the supermarket.”

The doorbell rang again. Cheng Xing opened it to see Qu Jiang and Qin Yizhu.
Seeing Captain Chi and Ye Shaoyang there too, the two were stunned, then exchanged a knowing look.

After entering, Qu Jiang opened his laptop and played the video for Cheng Xing. “Third episode of ‘Xiao Xing’s Death Compilation’, summarizing all your death clips from Group B and A. The music is even sadder.”
Cheng Xing was originally sad, but hearing the sorrowful music made him laugh out loud. “Brother Qu, you’re too much!”

Ye Shaoyang reached out and gently rubbed Cheng Xing’s head. “Don’t overthink it. We are always by your side. If they want to break your mentality before the match, you absolutely must not fall for it.”
A warm current surged in Cheng Xing’s heart, and he nodded seriously. “Mn, I know. I won’t think about it anymore. Destroy Yaoguang tomorrow!”

Qin Yizhu said, “Right, destroy Yaoguang!”

When Coach Lin arrived, finding all 5 Tianhuan members present, he was stunned and said, laughing and crying, “Sigh, as a coach, my job of pre-match psychological counseling for players was snatched by you guys again?”
Qu Jiang suggested, “Coach just needs to share half his salary with us next month.”
Qin Yizhu: “Right, share half.”

Coach Lin walked over to look at Cheng Xing and found the little guy’s expression had returned to normal, with a smile in his eyes. Obviously, the matter had passed.
Coach Lin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Then I won’t say much. Tomorrow, everyone go all out.”

He extended his hand. Everyone immediately stacked their hands on top, shouting in unison: “Tianhuan, Fighting!”

The coach and teammates left Cheng Xing’s room one by one.
Chi Shuo was the last to leave. Walking to the door, he suddenly turned back to look at Cheng Xing. Cheng Xing was seeing everyone out, and upon being looked at by his master, he froze immediately. The boy brought his legs together, posture upright, as if about to salute.
He was indeed still very afraid of his master.

Chi Shuo’s lips curled slightly, and he whispered, “I’m not someone who acts on emotion. Letting you start has nothing to do with you being my apprentice. It’s because your talent is prominent enough; you are the most excellent player in the Tianhuan training camp.”

Cheng Xing was stunned, looking up at Chi Shuo in disbelief.

“No need to care about those rumors. Starting this season, you are not just my apprentice.” Chi Shuo paused, looking at the boy before him with gentle eyes: “You are also my teammate.”

——Not just my apprentice, but also my teammate.
A simple sentence, but to Cheng Xing, it was the greatest recognition!

He decided to become an esports player and join Tianhuan initially because he was Chi Shuo’s fan. So he shamelessly acknowledged Chi Shuo as his master and learned jungling from him.
But now, he was no longer that fan, apprentice, and follower behind Chi Shuo.
He was Chi Shuo’s teammate.
He needed to fight side-by-side with Chi Shuo, face all upcoming setbacks and difficulties together. He had to grow up and mature as soon as possible. He must become an aid to his master, not a little apprentice protected by Chi Shuo.

Cheng Xing looked up at Chi Shuo, eyes red but expression exceptionally firm. He took a deep breath and said seriously, “I understand. Rest assured, Captain Chi, I definitely won’t drop the ball during the match!”

Chi Shuo smiled slightly and patted the boy’s shoulder. “Fighting.”

Outside the door, Ye Shaoyang watched this scene with complicated emotions.
Chi Shuo was truly a very good captain. Meeting Chi Shuo was also Tianhuan’s luck, right?
Current Tianhuan indeed didn’t have World Champion strength yet.
But Ye Shaoyang believed that with Cheng Xing’s growth and Qu Jiang’s adaptation to the support role, Tianhuan would eventually twist into a single rope, becoming a team of 5 united hearts, without weaknesses, indestructible