In the first round, Free used super-fast tactics to quickly win the game in 17 minutes, setting the minds of the domestic players watching the match at ease.

  In the best of five match that takes three wins to finish, snagging the first win in a major competition does not actually represent much of an advantage. However, Free’s operations in the first round was truly suppressive; their rhythm was too fast, forcibly compressing a half-hour game into just these seventeen minutes. The commentators simply couldn’t keep up with their moves. After the game, Shi Luo and Chen Huo’s finger joints were tingling slightly.

  Chen Huo grabbed the data analyst’s hand and pressed it against his chest. He bared his teeth, “Listen. My heart’s about to jump out, okay? I now suspect that you were planning on messing with us when you guys came up with this tactic. Damn it. Who’s going to take responsibility if I develop a heart disease?!”


  The data analyst kept laughing, “We also didn’t expect that you could operate so well in actual combat. It’s amazing. You’ve all worked so hard, so so hard.”


  “Do you want to change your tactics for the next round?” Old Qiao asked Yu Sui, “These two are really too tired and the strain on your brain commanding like that is also too much. If you keep fighting like this, I’m afraid you won’t be able stand it. Do you want to slow down?”


  Yu Sui asked the staff for a heat pack. Once he got it, he rubbed it and then pulled Shi Luo’s hand over. He pressed it to the back of Shi Luo’s hand, against his joints. He shook his head, “No need.”


  There wasn’t much time during the intermission. There were people all around and they still had to discuss tactics with the coaching staff. There was no time to pull Shi Luo to somewhere private to have a few words with him. Yu Sui simply decided to treat it as though everyone in the lounge, including the official league staff, didn’t exist. He rubbed both of Shi Luo’s hands with the heat pack. “Does it hurt?”


  Shi Luo nodded, “A bit……but it won’t affect the next game, no problem.”


  Chen Huo’s hands also hurt. In the first place, a striker’s play was more intense than the other professions. Playing this kind of tactic completely used him and Shi Luo as beasts of burden. Chen Huo gritted his teeth and glanced at Yu Sui. Deliberately adding fuel to the flames, “First you say that there’s no need to change our tactics and then you ask if it hurts. If Shi Luo had said that it hurt hell of a lot, would you have changed tactics?”


  The referees came in and asked Yu Sui to sign and confirm the result of the last game. Yu Sui still held Shi Luo with one hand. He held the pen with the other and bit off the pen cap. He quickly signed his ID, and said, “No change.”


  Chen Huo took the heat pack Puppy handed him and covered his hands. He clicked his tongue. “Shi Shen, look at what kind of peerlessly good slag man you’ve found.”


  Shi Luo raised his eyes and looked face to face with Yu Sui. He said in a low voice, “I’ve fallen for a slag man……haven’t I already known this long ago?”


  “Sigh. These two are peas in a pod. Did you actually think Shi Luo’s some kind of good person?” Puppy coolly said to the side, “Playing with Yu Sui’s feelings……sleeping with Yu Sui…… not allowing Yu Sui to publicly disclose their relationship…… Really, if you replace Whisper with an ordinary person, wouldn’t Shi Luo come out like a complete slag?”


  Knowing that the players were adjusting the tense atmosphere, several staff members around the players laughed. The data analyst rushed to explain the problems that they encountered in the previous game and the problems that they might encounter when using the same tactic for the next one. From beginning to end, Yu Sui held Shi Luo’s hand.

  Zhou Huo stood at the farthest side, he raced against time and made use of every second to report the situation, “I just went to around the vicinity of Sacred Sword’s lounge. You should have seen their faces! They’re not looking so cocky now. I can’t understand German but they must have been cursing. Everyone, keep it up.”


  “For now, don’t get complacent and don’t underestimate the enemy.” Old Qiao was afraid of poisoned milk. He did his best to keep a stern expression. “We’ve got another game and our opponents aren’t to be trifled with. Just now, we knocked them stupid. In the next game, you should pay attention to counter their every move. Yu Sui, the pressure will be on you now. This ‘race against time’ tactics, if we withdraw a bit too early, it would be a waste for us; but if you withdraw a bit too late then we’re going to run into problems. Whether we win or die will be up to you……”


  Old Qiao paused, “It can’t be helped. This job can only be done by someone who’s never make mistakes. Yu Shen&#k2026;whether we live or die is all on you. Can you do it?”


  Yu Sui nodded, “I don’t need you to be my psychological counselor. Just go and tell Chen Huo about his problem at the latter part of the game.”


  When they had the game in the bag, Chen Huo relaxed a bit and made a small mistake. Old Qiao nodded and hurriedly went to Chen Huo to emphasize his usual positioning problem.

  Yu Sui took a deep breath. He put both his hands on Shi Luo’s and rubbed them.

  The referee reminded everyone that the second game was about to start. Everyone nodded and after drinking a couple sips, headed out one by one. No one paid attention to others anymore. Only Old Qiao who was walking at the very back noticed that Yu Sui bowed his head and kissed Shi Luo’s hand before letting him go.

  A straight man like Old Qiao, looking at Yu Sui and Shi Luo’s backs, suddenly felt his heart turn sour.

  It wasn’t that Slag Man Yu wasn’t distressed.

  That was his Shi Luo. After a game, Shi Luo’s hands were trembling from overuse. How could he not feel distressed?

  Zhou Huo looked back at Old Qiao and followed Old Qiao’s gaze——


  On the back of Shi Luo’s pale hand was a red mark burned by the heat pack and upon closer look……Yu Sui’s right palm was also burned red.

  Old Qiao accidentally locked eyes with Zhou Huo. He gave an embarrassed smile and shook his head. Voice a bit unnatural, he said, “What’s this? How much can it possibly hurt? It’s not like he isn’t already that tired every day……”


  Despite saying so, Old Qiao’s expression still sank even more and the corners of his mouth twitched unnaturally.

  Maybe he’d been infected by those light signs before the start of the game that were so numerous they blotted out the night sky. Old Qiao was feeling more sensitive than before.

  Old Qiao watched the four players walk out of the lounge. After everyone left, he grudgingly smiled at the data analysts and Zhou Huo, “Sigh, if you want to win, you have to suffer more hardships than others. You think they don’t have to endure hardships just because they’re geniuses? That’s also……”


  The accompanying videographer in the lounge turned the camera to Old Qiao, who was too embarrassed to continue. He waved his hand and sat down.

  Everyone in the room knew how these players have trained in the base behind everyone’s back for these hidden tactics. There was no need to explain.

  Zhou Huo has always been fiercely protective of his children, He knew that he could not blame the coaching staff’s strategic decision, but he still nevertheless prattled on, “Actually, you could have waited until the third or fourth game to whip out this kind of killing move……”


  “Sorry to butt in but,” the data analyst said timidly, “On the day of the draw for the quarterfinals, when we were discussing tactics…… it was Evil himself who proposed it. He suggested that they use the killer move they’ve been hiding away for a long time in the first game to immediately strike Sacred Sword stupid.”


  Zhou Huo was speechless. There was nothing left to say.

  The players needed a break between games but the spectators in the stadium didn’t. It was inevitable that there would be a gap during the intermission and so videos of the players recorded in advance would be shown in the stadium.

  At the moment, the video of Sacred Sword’s family members giving Sacred Sword’s players their blessings was playing on the giant screen of the stadium.

  Old Qiao frowned when he saw the blessings video of Sacred Sword’s family members on the live broadcast screen, “Hasn’t all these been uploaded before the game? What’s the use of playing these all over again……”


  None of their own players’ parents participate in this segment and Old Qiao didn’t bother to watch it.

  Zhou Huo raised his eyes and glanced at it. Without the slightest irritation on his face, he said, “It’s okay, let them replay it; make it seem like we don’t have one.”


  Old Qiao looked at Zhou Huo in surprise, “Where did ours come from?”


  “Don’t worry about it. In any case, we also have one.” Zhou Huo said confidently, “We’ll let them have this one. Next intermission, they’ll play ours.”


  Old Qiao frowned, “You…… did you contact their family to record something?”


  “We’ve got two rich second generations in our team. Each family more awesome than the other. Who could I possibly contact?” Zhou Huo smiled helplessly, “No. Sigh, don’t ask anymore. You can see it after the game…… I didn’t dare bother their family and the players definitely wouldn’t allow it either. In any case……”


  Zhou Huo said in a low voice, “.……Our players have always been self-reliant no matter what. We should be used to it by now.”


  Old Qiao was silent for a moment, and then forced a smile, “I don’t know if it’s because we’re always partial to our own children but why do I always feel like……in every matter, our players have always got it tougher than others?”


  “They’re all f*cking players and it’s not like they earn more than other pro-players of the same level so why do our players always have to take the roundabout route and suffer more?”


  Zhou Huo choked. He waved his hand, “Don’t stir up my emotions, I’m begging you. I’m saving my tears for the finals. Oh yeah, today is the finals. Moreover……”


  Zhou Huo got up and straightened his clothes. He whispered softly, “How can there be such an easy road to godhood?”


  “Not to mention……” the data analyst interjected weakly, “Evil was the first to propose today’s tactics and the remaining three agreed.”


  The data analyst looked humbly at the videographer and he said, not quite confidently, “Rather than be sprayed by the fans when the competition finishes and this all comes out, I should learn from Manager Zhou and ask our videographer gege to give me, this unnamed and lowly data analyst, a chance to say a few words?”


  Zhou Huo was angered into laughter, “What do you mean learn from me? Shoot whatever you want.”


  Zhou Huo thought silently: Anyway, you won’t be able to do anything if I decide to cut the entire thing out when I edit it later.

  The hardworking videographer turned the camera lens at the data analyst and gave him the go signal.

  The data analyst looked at the camera and said humbly, “Fans, if your favorite player is overworked after the game…… For example, Whisper overtaxes his brain, or Evil or Chen Huo overuses their hands and suffers an injury, please don’t blame our coaching staff. Yes, these tactics were developed by us with the players’ cooperation but it was the players who decided how to run and arrange the entire BO5 match. As for why they had to make such a decision……”


  The data analyst swallowed, “Well, after the match, if the results are to the players’ liking, they’ll probably say it in the post-match interview.”


  In the soundproof room on stage, Shi Luo exercised his hands with their red joints. He looked at the IDs of Sacred Sword at the opposite side of the game interface and said coldly, “Because Laozi wants a shut out. I want to shave their heads. I want a 3-0.”


  “I would rather break my hand than let Sacred Sword get even a single point in the quarterfinals.”