ARML CH91

The next morning, Ye Shaoyang and his teammates set off together for the airport.

The team manager had chartered a bus to take them. After getting on the bus, Ye Shaoyang still smiled at Chi Shuo and took the initiative to sit with Captain Chi. Cheng Xing sat in the seat next to Ye Shaoyang, separated by the aisle.

Sporting a pair of dark circles, Cheng Xing secretly peeked at Ye Shaoyang from the side, hesitating to speak. Ye Shaoyang noticed his little movements and couldn’t help but say, “Xiao Xing, if you have something to say, just say it. Don’t hold it in.”

Cheng Xing asked cautiously, “Brother Yang, did you see the hot search last night?”

Ye Shaoyang replied, “The one congratulating Lieyang for winning the Season 10 MVP?”

Everyone: “…”

It seemed he already knew.

Cheng Xing habitually went to sleep at 3 AM last night. When he searched Weibo before bed, he was shocked to find someone cursing Brother Yang onto the hot search! Unable to swallow this breath, Cheng Xing put on an alt account and traded insults with the anti-fans for a while. Before he knew it, he had stayed up until 5 AM, so he simply gave up on sleeping, washed his face, ate breakfast, and hurriedly ran to the bus to gather.

The young boy sported obvious dark circles under his eyes, looking listless. Ye Shaoyang couldn’t help but laugh, “Don’t tell me you put on an alt account to curse people out and stayed up all night?”

Chi Shuo also followed Ye Shaoyang’s gaze and looked at his own disciple.

Cheng Xing immediately shrank his head back. “N-no, I don’t have that many alt accounts!”

Coach Lin walked over from the front row and sat in a seat near them. Looking at Ye Shaoyang, he said, “Shaoyang, don’t take the hot search incident from last night to heart. After I saw it, I left a message for the club’s PR department, and the hot search has already been taken down. Such a topic is obviously someone intentionally setting the rhythm to smear you.”

Cheng Xing was stunned for a moment, raising his head in confusion. “Could it be BOB? They were crushed 2:0 by us, so they refused to accept it and bought water armies to smear Brother Yang?”

Coach Lin shook his head. “It wouldn’t be BOB. With their strength, they are very well aware that they can’t beat Tianhuan. I’m guessing…” He glanced at Chi Shuo and lowered his voice, “Is it Yaoguang?”

Chi Shuo nodded. “Yeah, I think so too.”

Qu Jiang and Qin Yizhu perked up their ears one after another. Qu Jiang said, “When Xie Weiyu suddenly transferred, I thought it was strange. A top-three ADC in the league, just leaving like that.”

Qin Yizhu gossiped, “I watched Yaoguang’s new marksman this season, he’s pretty average, isn’t he?”

Coach Lin said, “The marksman who played in the pre-season was Xie Weiyu’s substitute from last season, and his skill level is indeed quite average. I’m guessing they’re still hiding a trump card. Yaoguang’s first regular-season match is scheduled for this Saturday, which is 4 PM this afternoon. The marksman they truly want to promote should be taking the stage.”

Coach Lin closely followed up by looking at Ye Shaoyang and explaining, “Yaoguang is a rather complicated team. Their boss doesn’t understand esports but his family is extremely wealthy. He invested heavily in an esports club, buying many powerful players at high prices to form a team, and there have always been rumors of internal discord within the team.”

Chi Shuo said flatly, “A team just established in Season 8, their foundation isn’t stable enough yet. But because the boss is very rich, the players bought at high prices all have good strength. They took runner-up in S8 and 4th place in S9. This season, they should be aiming for the championship as well.”

Ye Shaoyang thoughtfully rubbed his chin—looking at it this way, Xie Weiyu’s departure must have been due to a disagreement with the club’s upper management. The club simply sold him for a good price, abandoning him to promote a new god instead.

Some bosses loved esports and respected esports players, working together for results and championships. But there were many other bosses who valued players’ commercial value more. Especially since Yaoguang’s boss had an entertainment company backing him, the idea of buying players at high prices to create stars was entirely from the entertainment industry’s playbook.

Ye Shaoyang looked out the window. On the way to the airport, the route was lined with palm trees unique to the south, and the azure coastline merged with the distant sky. The beautiful seaside scenery eased his mood considerably.

Fortunately, he had come to a team like Tianhuan. The major shareholder, Ming Sheng, was Chi Shuo’s master and a former world-class mid-laner, giving Ye Shaoyang sufficient respect. Ye Shaoyang had known for a long time that winning the championship wouldn’t be that smooth, and in this world, not everyone was cheering for his arrival.

But it didn’t matter.

The gods of the esports circle were never hyped up by topics and water armies.

They were fought for by players, match after match, with their own hands.

It was already 12 noon when the members of Tianhuan returned to the base. After everyone ate lunch, the coach let them have free time. No training was scheduled today, it was a day of rest—because Tianhuan happened to have a bye week this week with no scheduled matches. Their next match was in 2 weeks, so time was very abundant for them.

Gods’ War’s tournament format wasn’t as condensed as the LPL or KPL from his past life. Because it wasn’t divided into Spring and Autumn splits, the regular season schedule in the first half of the year stretched quite long, running from late January all the way until late May before yielding results.

When encountering a bye week, players could take the opportunity to relax a bit.

With no training tasks today, Ye Shaoyang went back and caught up on sleep with a nap.

When he woke up in the afternoon, he received a message. Qu Jiang had created a small group chat called “Tianhuan One Big Family.” There were only 5 people in the group: Zhuhuo, Jiangshui, Lieyang, Shuoyue, and Fanxing.

This name truly lived up to what the netizens said: Water and Fire are Incompatible, Sun, Moon, and Stars—a very chuunibyou family style.

Qu Jiang said mysteriously: “This is a small group chat I pulled together privately. Don’t leak the chat messages. If anyone gets scolded by the coach, you can come here to complain~~”

Qin Yizhu: “You’re making this look like an underground organization.”

Cheng Xing popped out and said: “Feels a bit like a group chat for skipping class behind the homeroom teacher’s back when we were in school.”

Ye Shaoyang asked doubtfully: “Qu Jiang suddenly creating this group chat, it’s not that simple, right?”

Qu Jiang said: “I have an idea that’s hard to discuss with the coach, so I pulled you guys together privately to discuss it.”

Chi Shuo: “What idea?”

Qu Jiang said: “Isn’t Yaoguang trying to create a god? And they even bought water armies to smear our Yangyang. If we don’t teach them a lesson, do they really think Tianhuan’s rookie is easy to bully?”

Ye Shaoyang didn’t mind the hot search smearing incident himself, but his teammates were all feeling indignant for him. Chi Shuo stepped up directly to confront it head-on, Xiao Xing put on an alt account to argue with netizens, and Qu Jiang, who had many wicked ideas, privately created a group to discuss it.

It seemed his Tianhuan teammates already saw him as family.

Everyone had indeed gotten along harmoniously during this time. Qu Jiang and Qin Yizhu also felt that Ye Shaoyang’s addition had completely reversed Team Tianhuan’s predicament. Naturally, they also liked having such a powerful teammate.

Not to mention Cheng Xing, who was now Ye Shaoyang’s biggest fan.

Ye Shaoyang asked curiously: “Do you have any good ideas?”

Qu Jiang said: “Doesn’t Yangyang play Goddess of Destiny very well?”

Ye Shaoyang asked: “So, you want me to pick Goddess of Destiny to crush them?”

Qu Jiang sent an emoji covering its mouth and laughing: “Let them know that this season’s Rookie of the Year award belongs to our Tianhuan. Goddess of Destiny’s classic ultimate voice line—’This is destiny, do not attempt to resist.'”

Ye Shaoyang: “…”

How wicked! Once that voice line comes out, the opponent will be angered to death after being killed.

Goddess of Destiny, also known as “Fortune-Telling Goddess.”

When casual players picked her, whether they could kill anyone entirely depended on fortune-telling, just like pulling a blind box. But in Ye Shaoyang’s hands, he could play this mechanically most difficult mage hero to perfection, catching people off guard and one-shotting them with a combo.

When [Abyssal Lord] came to kill you, you could at least see his shadow.

But when [Goddess of Destiny] wanted to burst you down, you wouldn’t even see where she was. A flashy pile of talismans would fall from the sky and you’d be gone—this long-range, high-burst mage was the nightmare of all squishy heroes.

Qin Yizhu sent a row of thumbs up in the group: “Qu Jiang’s wicked idea is quite good. Goddess of Destiny’s voice line is the most infuriating! Besides, weren’t they cursing Shaoyang for constantly eating Captain Chi’s blue buff? Goddess of Destiny doesn’t have a mana bar, so Yangyang won’t eat the blue and can still kill him.”

Chi Shuo said calmly: “We haven’t practiced the team fight comp centered around [Goddess of Destiny] yet. However, Xiao Qu’s line of thought is good. I’ll mention it to the coach tomorrow and have the coaching staff research a lineup as quickly as possible.”

Ye Shaoyang felt a warmth in his heart and said in the group: “Thank you, everyone. I know that every time I get MVP, it’s the result of everyone giving up economy and kills to me. Hugs to you all.”

Qin Yizhu sent a silly smiling emoji pack: “As long as we can win, it’s the same whoever gets MVP.”

Qu Jiang said: “Exactly. After Yangyang came to Tianhuan, playing matches has been much easier for us. You deserve MVP every game. Honestly, make a push for the S10 Season Regular Season MVP award, I think there’s a chance.”

Qin Yizhu: “I think so too. Although the competition is fierce, as long as we win enough matches in the regular season and Shaoyang gets a lot of MVPs, he can definitely enter the top few spots on the leaderboard!”

Cheng Xing said: “My Brother Yang is the best player in my heart, he absolutely deserves MVP!”

Looking at the messages in the group, Chi Shuo felt a mix of emotions. He hadn’t expected Shaoyang to integrate into the team so quickly. The esports circle was indeed a place where strength spoke volumes. That Ye Shaoyang could earn the recognition and respect of his teammates was naturally because his strength was great enough, and his teammates were willing to let him carry.

Thinking of Ye Shaoyang standing on the podium, lifting the “Season Most Valuable Player” trophy, Chi Shuo’s chest couldn’t help but grow slightly hot—at that moment, Shaoyang standing on the podium would definitely be dazzling, right?

Chi Shuo had won this award in S6. At that time, his master had been helping him all along, yielding kills to him when necessary. An MVP wasn’t a solo show by one player, it also relied on the support of teammates. Therefore, this season, he would do his best to help Ye Shaoyang win this award that best proved individual value.

Seeing that it was almost 4 PM, Chi Shuo said: “Is everyone free this afternoon?”

Everyone replied with questions: “What’s up, Captain Chi?”

Chi Shuo: “Come to Dorm 301, let’s watch the 4 PM match together.”

A moment later, Old Qin arrived holding peanuts, melon seeds, and walnut kernels, with Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing closely following behind.

Xiao Bai was very excited to suddenly see so many people coming to “his home” as guests, rubbing against everyone. Ye Shaoyang took the initiative to pour drinks for everyone, and the 5 of them sat on the living room sofa, turning on the big TV to watch the live broadcast.

It was a day off today, so they didn’t need to go to the training room. Watching the match live stream privately in Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s dorm, without the coach around, was actually freer. Not to mention, there was the little white cat for everyone to pet.

This was a Group A match, Yaoguang VS Langzu.

After Yaoguang’s 5 players went on stage, Ye Shaoyang noticed that the rookie standing in the marksman position was very handsome, smiling politely. His looks could rank in the top ten of the league, so it was no wonder the boss wanted to heavily promote him.

Qin Yizhu sighed with emotion: “This new marksman is much more handsome than Xie Weiyu.”

Qu Jiang complained: “Since when did the esports circle also need to rely on looks to make a living?”

Ye Shaoyang hugged Xiao Bai, petting its head while saying: “Having only looks and no skill definitely won’t work. But what if he’s very handsome and his strength is also very high? It’s normal for the club to want to promote him.”

Yaoguang’s new marksman this season was indeed quite handsome, now they just had to see his true strength.

The match quickly began.

The Group A match was clearly better to watch than the Group B ones, with both sides trading blows back and forth.

In the first dragon team fight, Yaoguang’s new marksman, “YG Yu’mao,” had tricky positioning and secured a Triple Kill in one wave!

A marksman who secured a Triple Kill in the early game could easily see their economy take off. Yaoguang also had a support sticking close to act as his bodyguard. Once the late-game team fights began, the marksman dealt insane damage from an ultra-long distance, wiping out the opposing Langzu team.

Yaoguang won the first game, and the MVP was indeed given to YG-Yu’mao.

In the second game, Langzu directly banned the [Holy Spirit Archer] that Yu’mao had played so smoothly. As a result, Yu’mao picked another hero, [Sharpshooter].

This hero, Sharpshooter, had a Q skill called “Aimed Shot,” which could store 5 bullets and fire a single shot after aiming from a distance. Once his economy was built up in the late game, he could one-shot a squishy with a single bullet. But if he missed the enemy, then firing a bullet into thin air was extremely awkward.

This hero was very squishy but had extremely high critical damage, heavily testing one’s accuracy.

A well-played Sharpshooter could be called a “Gun God,” killing one person per shot; a poorly played one meant your teammates were all dead while you were still aiming at the air, dealing 0 damage in a team fight and getting cursed to death.

For Yu’mao to dare pick this hero in a match, he must be sufficiently proficient.

The facts proved this to be true. His skill accuracy exceeded 80%, with 4 out of 5 bullets hitting a target, which was quite terrifying—finding an opening, shooting suddenly, and scoring a headshot with one bullet!

Such a long-range marksman posed a massive threat to the squishy backline, and even the frontline wouldn’t be able to withstand two shots from him.

In the final team fight, with his teammates’ help, Yu’mao hid in a distant brush, continuously aiming and shooting. Because his teammates had whittled down the entire enemy team, he killed one person per bullet, actually securing a Pentakill in one breath!

The caster yelled excitedly: “My god, a Pentakill! The second Pentakill of this season is born!”

“Yaoguang’s rookie, Yu’mao, one shot, one kill, five consecutive shots, each a fatal blow, without a single bullet missing its mark—a truly well-deserved Gun God!”

“The rookies this season are truly incredible. First, there was Tianhuan’s Lieyang, whose Abyssal Lord showed off the entire rift and secured a Pentakill; now there is Yaoguang’s Yu’mao, shot after shot, all 5 bullets hitting their mark, securing a Pentakill!”

“Let us congratulate Team Yaoguang for winning the match 2:0!”

The bullet screen was filled with 666s.

If it weren’t for Ye Shaoyang’s Pentakill happening first, this Yaoguang rookie would have been the undisputed heaven-sent prodigy. Unfortunately, Ye Shaoyang had stolen his thunder beforehand.

Ye Shaoyang slightly narrowed his eyes: “This rookie’s strength is pretty good, isn’t it?”

If the opponent was too weak, simply crushing them wouldn’t be very interesting.

Only against a sufficiently strong marksman would Ye Shaoyang feel an even more intense desire to kill the opponent ^_^