ARML CH71

At the same time, at the Tianhuan team base.

Coach Lin looked at the post-match statistics, patted Cheng Xing’s shoulder, and said, “Although we won this scrimmage, Xiao Xings’ damage output still isn’t looking too good!”

Cheng Xing looked at the data and awkwardly lowered his head.

In the first game, his damage output was only around 20%. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang each outputted over 35%, and Qin Yizhu 10%—Old Qin’s low damage output was justifiable, as he picked an engage-focused top laner, whose innate damage capabilities were very poor. However, as a marksman, having only 20% damage output was far from qualified for the competitive stage!

The second game was even more tragic. He was killed 6 times in a row, and his final damage output was only 15%.

These stats were truly unwatchable, just like a noob marksman in the bronze tier.

Coach Lin smiled and said, “Start extra training tomorrow. Aren’t Captain Chi and Shaoyang PK-ing with the rookies from Team 2? Xiao Xing, you join the PK queue too. Team up with Qu Jiang to 2v2 against Chi Shuo and Shaoyang. Have the mid-jungle duo specifically target the bottom lane, so you can practice how to escape more.”

Cheng Xing: “…?”

2v2 against the two Great Demon Kings?

It seemed his life wouldn’t be easy from now on!

After the scrimmage ended, Coach Lin and Coach Tom exchanged a few polite words, and the players on both sides collectively went offline.

Coach Tom privately messaged Coach Lin and asked, “Did Tianhuan replace your mid-laner? Where did you buy such an incredible mid-laner?”

Coach Lin sent a smiley face and replied, “Confidential.”

Coach Tom also knew the rules of the esports circle.

Before a club officially announces it, which players they have signed cannot be casually leaked to the public. He sent a thumbs-up emoji to Coach Lin and said, “Good eye! It looks like Tianhuan will be able to make it to the World Championship next season. Our FNO will also work hard to secure a qualification spot in the North American region.”

Coach Lin said, “Let’s do our best together, and see you on the World Championship stage!”

It was already 1:30 PM, so Coach Lin led everyone to the cafeteria for lunch.

It was 1:30 AM in the United States, but Mitchell felt no sleepiness. He watched the replays of the two scrimmage games from start to finish again, then opened his friend list, found a person named zhouzhou, and sent a private message.

Mitchell: “Are you there?”

Mitchell: “[Shattered.jpg][Shattered.jpg]”

Zhou Jiawen had just finished lunch and arrived at the training room. Seeing a long row of shattered emojis sent by this old friend, he replied in complete confusion, “What’s wrong? Why are you shattered?”

Mitchell: “Take care of yourself next season.”

Zhou Jiawen: “??”

Mitchell: “Lighting a candle for you guys in advance [Candle.jpg][Candle.jpg]”

Zhou Jiawen and Mitchell debuted in the same year, met on the international server, and became very good friends.

This new captain of FNO usually spoke with great humor. Having interacted with Zhou Jiawen for a long time, he had also downloaded many emoji packs commonly used in Chinese online chats, making him a “major emoji pack hoarder” among international friends.

Every time he chatted privately with Zhou Jiawen, he loved spamming emoji packs.

A row of shattered emojis, a row of candles—what exactly provoked him?

Zhou Jiawen sent a question mark: “What exactly happened?”

Mitchell: “The coach told us to keep it confidential. Anyway, take care of yourself next season.”

Mitchell: “A BOSS has appeared in your China region [Laughing and pounding the floor.jpg]”

Zhou Jiawen pondered his words carefully and quickly realized—they must have lost a scrimmage.

In the S9 season, the FNO team also failed to secure a qualification spot for the World Championship. During this period, FNO had no official matches to play, but their bottom lane duo had been replaced, so the coach would definitely schedule a few scrimmages to build synergy.

It seemed FNO got crushed in a scrimmage, which was why Mitchell sent so many [Shattered.jpg] emojis.

A Boss in the China region?

Zhou Jiawen remained silent for a moment, then turned and asked Coach Li, “Coach, have you heard any news? Which team in our region scheduled a scrimmage with FNO?”

Coach Li replied, “Haven’t heard anything. Scrimmages are all scheduled privately.”

Zhou Jiawen analyzed carefully, “It can’t be Jingzhe and Binghun. These two teams just finished the grand finals and definitely need to take a break before preparing for the World Championship. Among the remaining teams, Tianhuan’s mid-laner Qu Jiang can’t beat Mitchell in a 1v1 laning phase, which wouldn’t make Mitchell this agitated; Yueying’s mid-laner also plays a utility style…”

He paused, and his eyes suddenly lit up, “It’s Beimu, isn’t it!”

Coach Li thought carefully and immediately nodded, “Right, Beimu’s mid-laner retired this year, and no one knows who their mid-laner will be next season yet. Could it be they paid a high price to sign a powerful mid-laner?”

Zhou Jiawen said, “It’s possible. Mitchell said a BOSS appeared in our China region. If Beimu signed a powerful mid-laner who can fight Mitchell to a standstill, then next season’s Beimu will indeed become a BOSS.”

Coach Li immediately opened the “Beimu Esports Club” official Weibo.

The official Weibo didn’t have any news related to a new mid-laner, but there was one post: “Thank you @Beimu-Ah Feng for your contributions to the Beimu team over the years. Ah Feng has accompanied the Beimu team in matches for three years, and now has chosen to retire. Although we are very reluctant to let him go, we respect the player’s decision. We hope that after leaving Beimu, everything goes smoothly for Ah Feng and his future is bright.”

A very official farewell. The tens of thousands of comments below were all bidding farewell to this veteran player.

Coach Li said, “Beimu’s side lanes are very formidable. If they get a powerful mid-laner on top of that, they’ll be very tough to play against next season! I wonder who they signed?”

Zhou Jiawen smiled slightly, closed Mitchell’s chat window, and said, “It seems we also have to start our troop training early; we can’t fall behind.”

At the Beimu team base.

Zhao Xin’an sneezed three times in a row, rubbed his nose, and said, “Fuck, why do I feel like someone is cursing me?”

Zhao Xinping glanced at him: “It’s rare enough for you not to curse others; who would curse you?”

Zhao Xin’an smiled and scratched his head, “Has the coaching staff decided on the new mid-laner yet? S10 is approaching, if the new mid-laner doesn’t come soon, how are we supposed to train?”

Speaking of this, he couldn’t help but get angry, muttering softly, “It’s all because I was too stupid, sending Xiao Bai’s video to the group chat back then. Otherwise, Xiao Bai wouldn’t have been poached! It’d be great if we could have signed him, sigh…”

Zhao Xinping said calmly, “Xiao Bai’s style might not necessarily suit our team, stop complaining about it here every day. He streams for 2 hours every day now, it’s highly likely he signed with a tier-two team and has already started training with them.”

Zhao Xin’an said, “Oh right, isn’t our Beimu Team 2 participating in this Silver Dragon Cup? Maybe we’ll run into Xiao Bai’s team! Tier-two and tier-three teams will definitely all go to the Silver Dragon Cup.”

Speaking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh, “What a pity! Signing with a tier-two team like that, he can only play in cup tournaments! If he had signed with our Beimu, with good synergy, he might even be able to play as a starter next season.”

After all, Xiao Bai was a talent Zhao Xin’an discovered first.

Having him ultimately sign with another team made him feel very displeased.

Just then, Beimu’s coach suddenly walked into the training room, leaned close to the siblings, and said with a smile, “Let me tell you some good news. Our manager has vast connections and has already contacted a world-class mid-laner from the European region, and they are currently negotiating the transfer details!”

Zhao Xinping’s expression remained calm, “Let’s wait until it’s finalized to talk about it; there’s no need to celebrate too early.”

Zhao Xin’an’s eyes lit up, “From the European region, who is it?!”

Beimu’s coach whispered a name.

The siblings exchanged a glance, and Zhao Xinping looked thoughtful, “If he joins Beimu, we won’t have any weaknesses in the top, mid, or bottom lanes.”

Zhao Xin’an said excitedly, “Awesome, does this mean we can push for the World Championship next season!”

Beimu’s coach said, “The club also paid a hefty price to sign him. However, the transfer windows for the European region and the China region haven’t officially opened yet. Once the first round of transfers opens in December, we will immediately process the paperwork. His visa has already been sorted out; barring any unforeseen circumstances, he’ll be able to return to China to participate in training in December.”

There were only 2 months left until S10.

It wasn’t just the Tianhuan team seizing the time to train; other teams were also meticulously preparing for the next season.

Whether it was signing formidable players to enhance their strength, or making internal adjustments and roster changes…

The competition next season would be far more intense than they imagined.

Tianhuan’s training entered its third phase—targeted special training.

Currently, the mid-lane and jungle tempos were synchronized, and Qin Yizhu and Qu Jiang also had synergy. However, through the training during this period, the coaching staff discovered that when all 5 of them engaged in team fights, it was very easy for them to become disjointed.

Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s tempo was too fast. Once teammates couldn’t keep up, when encountering strong teams, it would very likely turn into a tragedy of mid-jungle synergy resulting in one dying and one feeding. No matter how formidable the two of them were, it was impossible to fight 2v5.

As for the bottom lane, Cheng Xing was Tianhuan’s most obvious weakness at present. It wasn’t that he was too terrible, but rather that he lacked major tournament experience. He was very prone to being forcefully killed by ganks from the jungler or mid-laner, and his self-preservation ability was still insufficient.

In the top lane, Qin Yizhu was a very standard player, with no glaring weaknesses but no major highlights either. Most of the time in the isolated top lane, he was just watching the show. When joining team fights, his crowd control skills were placed quite well and could seamlessly connect with Qu Jiang’s support crowd control skills. However, diving the enemy backline? He wasn’t very adept at that violent fighter top-laner playstyle.

But sometimes, being standard isn’t a good thing—it can become the opponent’s breakthrough point. If they ran into teams like Beimu or Yueying with exceptionally formidable side lanes, Qin Yizhu would very likely be unable to withstand the pressure.

Therefore, the upcoming special training targeted the top and bottom lanes.

First, Cheng Xing’s survival ability; second, Qin Yizhu’s pressure resistance. The training method was very simple—have Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang team up to gank them.

Consequently, every night after 10 PM became “nightmare time” for the Tianhuan team players.

From 22:00 to 23:00, Ye Shaoyang would 1v1 Team 2’s mid-laner Xie Xiaotian, letting him experience the pressure of laning against a top-tier mid-laner. Xie Xiaotian: “I basically don’t dare to step out from under the tower, and even if I don’t, I’ll still be tower-dived and forcefully killed by Yang-ge T_T”

Chi Shuo would enter the 5v5 mode with Team 2’s jungler, assigning 4 AI bots to other roles, while the two clashed in the jungle. Qin Sui: “When I go over and take a look, the jungle is completely empty, and my heart goes cold!”

After educating the youngsters of Team 2, Team 1 would begin their internal training.

From 11 PM all the way to 1 AM, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang would team up to gank the Cheng Xing and Qu Jiang duo, or gank the top laner Qin Yizhu.

Qin Yizhu usually liked to place a bowl of walnuts next to his computer during training. Ever since being frequently ganked by the two Great Demon Kings, he didn’t have time to eat walnuts for the entire night!

The pressure was immense; he would be killed in various fancy ways by the jungler and mid-laner at the drop of a hat.

The Flying Duo, the Dual Wolves, and the like—even using Flash immediately upon seeing them was useless. These two would tower-dive and forcefully kill you; they were incredibly vicious! Other combinations were also very hard to fight: Illusionist + Stealth Rogue? Holy Spirit Mage + King of Fighters?

Having played matches for so many years, the number of times Qin Yizhu had died wasn’t even as many as the times he had been forcefully killed by Chi Shuo + Ye Shaoyang over these past few days—they practically turned the “top lane pressure-resistance lane” into the “top lane can’t-withstand-the-pressure lane.”

Cheng Xing?

That goes without saying.

The bottom lane farming lane directly turned into the “farming-hell lane”—Hell mode activated at any time.

At least the top laner was thick-skinned and meaty; when ganked, they could occasionally eke out a meager survival and escape. The marksman itself was extremely squishy. A burst combo from the mid-laner, a burst combo from the jungler—even if he had two lives, it wouldn’t be enough to kill!

Even with the support trying every means to protect Cheng Xing, Cheng Xing was repeatedly forcefully killed by these two demons in every conceivable posture. His computer screen constantly went black, then black again… Cheng Xing was almost killed into depression.

—Dad, I really want to go home, this game is so hard to play. I’m being jointly forcefully killed by Master and Yang-ge, I’m being killed so much I don’t even know how to walk anymore!

Later, the moment he saw Ye Shaoyang show his face, Cheng Xing would use Flash in terror.

He even used Flash into a wall.

Ye Shaoyang: “…”

The child was scared silly; his psychological fortitude still wasn’t strong enough.

What to do? Then kill him a few more times.

…

Amidst such day-to-day training, time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was late November.

The World Championship officially opened. The Binghun and Jingzhe teams, representing the China region, traveled collectively to this year’s host city, Paris. The teams that failed to secure a spot for the World Championship also followed this grand event domestically.

Simultaneously, the Silver Dragon Cup tournament commenced, and Tianhuan Team 2, led by Captain Yan Bin, traveled to Rong City to participate in the competition.

With Team 2 going to participate in the Silver Dragon Cup, the main team couldn’t play 5v5 training matches. Therefore, Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang continued to rub Cheng Xing into the ground. Cheng Xing died dozens of times every day, and Qu Jiang very considerately made a “100 Ways Cheng Xing Dies” kill montage video as a souvenir.

In the video, Cheng Xing was insta-killed in various ways by Abyssal Lord, Illusionist, Stealth Rogue, Bloodstained Assassin… over 50 mid-lane and jungle heroes in rotation.

Qu Jiang was a talented video editor, and the video’s special effects were done very interestingly.

It was even paired with very sad music.

Cheng Xing: “…”

Brother Qu, there was really no need!

I’m only a teenager; this music makes it feel like I’m attending my own funeral!