Chapter 20 – The Time Team
At the same time, the Time team"s training room.
The normally sunny vice-captain, Cheng Wei"s face was very wrong today. He was staring at the computer and looking through Weibo, flames almost being fired from his eyes.
Cheng Wei was really angry when seeing the comments on Weibo!
What do you mean "What is your relationship with a Wulin team?", "Canglan"s disbandment has nothing to do with you", "Why are you posting about such an insignificant thing?", "Concentrate on preparing for tomorrow"s game", "I"ve never heard of Li Cangyu"…
His fingers pressed against the keyboard but he didn"t know how to reply. Cheng Wei angrily closed the Weibo page and suddenly felt sad.
Such a strong player, he was forgotten by everyone only three years after leaving Miracle?
But Cheng Wei couldn"t forget.
At that time, he was a newcomer who just debuted. A newborn calf wasn"t afraid of the tiger. Li Cangyu might have a very high solo win rate but Cheng Wei wasn"t afraid to challenge the elf summoner.
In the regular season"s match between the Time team and FTD team, Cheng Wei"s first appearance in the arena coincided with Li Cangyu"s and he lost to Cat G.o.d without any surprises. Cheng Wei wasn"t convinced and asked to fight in the online game. The result was Li Cangyu beating him five times.
Cheng Wei was flushed from the beating and couldn"t wait to dig a hole to bury himself in.
However, Li Cangyu didn"t say anything against him. Instead, he gently encouraged Cheng Wei. [You are only 16 years old. A newcomer who can push me to this level is truly very talented]
Cheng Wei was stunned and couldn"t say anything as he stared at the words on the computer screen.
Li Cangyu asked: [Do you know the reason for losing to me today?]
Cheng Wei replied with a red face: [Is it because I am inexperienced?]
[Experience is one of the reasons but it isn"t the key.] Li Cangyu smiled and typed: [The angel white magician, you haven"t grasped the essence of this gameplay yet.]
Cheng Wei"s eyes widened as he stared at the small words in this chat box.
[Angels are a race that favours peace. They have more control skills than attack skills. Your aggression is very high. When you encounter a melee cla.s.s like a swordsman or berserker, you can take advantage of your remote position to quickly attack and win. But once you encounter an archer, black magician and summoner who are ranged like you are, you have to play a steady game and will lose.]
[A match between ranged cla.s.ses isn"t about who attacks more but who is able to seize the opportunities. When you just fought with me, there were several control skills that were completely useless. I suggest you reset the location of the shortcut keys. When playing against a remote cla.s.s, think about how to control the opponent to deal high damage instead of quickly attacking to suppress the opponent.]
[Magic type cla.s.ses are very fragile and their consumption of blue is also very serious. Therefore, every attack is best used to decreased blood. Having fast hands is a good thing but being too fast can invalidate some attacks. You need to practice connecting your skills. You can use general attacks during the cooldown period of skills so that you can better grasp the b.u.t.ton rhythms. Then slowly take advantage of your blood volume.]
Cheng Wei, "…"
No one had ever told him such things.
He thought that his talent was outstanding and in the Time team, he felt a high appreciation for Captain Xu Luo. However, Captain Xu was very busy dealing with many things inside and outside the team and didn"t have time to guide new people. Most of the time, Cheng Wei studied and explored by himself. He felt that the white magician"s fast style of attack was very cool. He might"ve failed in attacking sometimes but he thought it was just his own miss.
It wasn"t until today that he realized how superficial his understanding of Miracle was!
As Cat G.o.d said, he didn"t realize the essence of a white magician.
It was necessary to adjust the tactical strategy when facing different opponents. He had a high winning rate when playing against close combat cla.s.ses but was simply looking for death when encountering black magicians and summoners.
Li Cangyu knew this game very thoroughly and his few words completely shifted Cheng Wei"s view of the white magician.
Cheng Wei felt ashamed and at the same time, particularly warm towards Li Cangyu in his head.
Cat G.o.d didn"t look down on him or laugh at his rashness. Instead, Cat G.o.d patiently explained his shortcomings.
They weren"t in the same time and would fight to the death in the game, but Li Cangyu generously shared his experience with the newcomer. This type of senior player really made Cheng Wei feel respectful and moved.
[Thank you for Cat G.o.d"s guidance!] Cheng Wei typed excitedly. [By the way, can I recognize you as my master?]
Li Cangyu laughed. [Forget about recognizing me as you master. If you have anything you don"t understand then you can ask me at any time.]
Cheng Wei reflected on himself and realized he was too rash. After all, they weren"t in the same team. If he recognized the captain of another team as his master, it would definitely be irresponsible to the Time team and Li Cangyu would be very embarra.s.sed when facing Captain Xu.
Cheng Wei dismissed the idea of having Li Cangyu as his master and asked excitedly: [When Cat G.o.d is free, can you PK with me?]
Li Cangyu smiled. [No problem.]
***
Cheng Wei"s character was lively and he wasn"t afraid of death. He soon became familiar with Li Cangyu.
Since then, every night Cheng Wei would log onto the game with a separate account to learn from Li Cangyu. Li Cangyu would accept Cheng Wei"s invitation whenever he was free and Li Cangyu beat Cheng Wei up. This could also be considered relaxing after a match.
In the third season, Cheng Wei"s level soared by leaps and bounds, making everyone stunned.
Among the numerous rookies that appeared that year, the 16 year old Cheng Wei won the Rookie of the Year award.
In fact, Cheng Wei appreciated Captain Xu but he was very clear that he could only win this award due to the guidance of Cat G.o.d behind the scenes. He PKed with the league"s strongest elf summoner every day and his technical skills progressed quickly!
Unfortunately, due to being on different teams, he could only be grateful to Li Cangyu in his heart.
After the awards ceremony that year, the FTD team disbanded and Li Cangyu left Miracle behind with his few teammates.
The young Cheng Wei was sad for a long time.
Cat G.o.d"s personal ability was so strong and he could obviously have a better development. But G.o.d seemed to be unfair to him, letting him a.s.sume the responsibility of captain of a weak team, not allowing him to win the trophy so he could only leave Miracle with regret…
Cheng Wei might not be a formal apprentice but in his heart, Li Cangyu"s existence was always as a "teacher and friend." He was even more important than Time"s captain, Xu Luo.
Once Li Cangyu led his team to Wulin, Cheng Wei silently watched the events there and hoped that Cat G.o.d could achieve good results. Unfortunately, Cat G.o.d also suffered setbacks in Wulin. It took a year for Cat G.o.d to reorganize the Canglan team and join Wulin. In the two professional leagues that followed, the Canglan team scored in the top eight in the playoffs and failed to get better results.
Now the Canglan team was once again disbanded and Cheng Wei was really sad. He felt that Cat G.o.d really suffered too much!
A young player like Cheng Wei followed the Time team and won many trophies. Cat G.o.d was clearly much stronger than him so why couldn"t he win a prize?
***
Cheng Wei was feeling depressed when a bright voice was heard next to him. "Xiao Wei, what are you thinking about? It is time to prepare for tomorrow"s game."
It was the captain of the Time team, Tan s.h.i.tian. As he spoke, he stretched out a hand and rubbed Cheng Wei"s head.
Cheng Wei really hated this guy!
Was his head a fur ball? Why did this person keep rubbing it? Every time he talked, he had to rub it. Wasn"t this annoying?
Captain Xu retired and handed over the captain"s position to the team"s main elf archer, Tan s.h.i.tian. He was also an apprentice personally brought on by Captain Xu.
Tan s.h.i.tian wasn"t as steady as Captain Xu. He always liked to make funny little jokes and often practiced hand writing lyrics on Weibo. His lyrics weren"t bad so he attracted a group of people who didn"t understand e-sports. Pa.s.sersby who liked music followed him.
He graduated from the Chinese department of a prestigious university and due to his frequent Weibo jokes, he had the nickname of "Storytelling G.o.d" in the Miracle League.
A mature and stable person like Captain Xu was more suitable to be captain. Tan s.h.i.tian smiled all day and seemed to have no serious thoughts. In addition, this person debuted in the fourth season which was even later then Cheng Wei"s debut. He lacked experience in the compet.i.tion and was directly led by Captain Xu. Now that he was appointed as captain, Cheng Wei always felt that Tan s.h.i.tian wasn"t reliable and didn"t agree with him. Tan s.h.i.tian was currently 19 years old, half a year older than Cheng Wei, and he was the youngest captain in the Miracle League.
Now that Tan s.h.i.tian was once again rubbing his head, Cheng Wei couldn"t help staring at him before directly standing up.
This person was taller than Cheng Wei, meaning he couldn"t do anything. Cheng Wei had to suppress his anger as he said, "I have something to talk to you about alone. Let"s go back to the dormitory."
Tan s.h.i.tian came up to him and whispered in his ear, "Asking me to go back to the dormitory alone. Are you confessing to me? I"m not prepared yet."
Cheng Wei was stunned. "…Get lost!"
This person was completely unreliable! He was so angry that he didn"t want to say a single word.
Tan s.h.i.tian looked at the angry man in front of him and couldn"t help smiling as he endured the urge to continue rubbing his head. "Okay, I will go back to the dorms with you."
***
The two people returned to the dormitory. Cheng Wei closed the door and turned around. "The Canglan team has announced that it is disbanding."
"Yes, I saw you forward the message on Weibo." Tan s.h.i.tian was puzzled. "You are looking for me because of this?"
Cheng Wei said seriously, "I want to find the manager and ask him to invite Cat G.o.d to our Time team. Since Canglan has disbanded, he can come back and play Miracle."
Tan s.h.i.tian, "…"
Cheng Wei continued, "Cat G.o.d had already left when you debuted so you might not be familiar with him. In fact, Cat G.o.d"s level isn"t lacking compared to Ling Xuefeng. He is a very strong elf summoner but his teammates weren"t strong enough and he couldn"t win a trophy. Now that he has regained his freedom, it is better for us to win him over." He suddenly added, "I will give him the vice-captain"s position when he arrives."
In fact, Cheng Wei wanted to tell Tan s.h.i.tian to make Li Cangyu captain. However, this person"s expression didn"t seem very good so Cheng Wei resisted.
Once Tan s.h.i.tian heard these words, the smile on his face faded away and his expression became serious. "I don"t agree on this matter."
“Why don"t you agree?” Cheng Wei was surprised. "I have said that his personal level is very strong. If he joins the Time team, won"t it increase our team"s strength to a higher level?"
Tan s.h.i.tian patiently explained, "I don"t know Cat G.o.d but I have seen a lot of videos. His style is particularly distinctive and it will be difficult to integrate him into our Time team. Our team doesn"t need a summoner."
Cheng Wei bluntly asked, "Aren"t you afraid that he will take away your captain"s position?"
"…" Tan s.h.i.tian frowned. "Cheng Wei, is this how you see me?"
"Am I wrong?" Cheng Wei was so angry that he couldn"t help speaking quickly, "Do you think you can beat Cat G.o.d in a solo match? I"m afraid he will be able to control you to death with just a few pets! You are afraid that you will lost your captain"s position when he comes right? Don"t use the team as an excuse. You can"t tolerate another master in the team. You really are unworthy of Captain Xu"s trust!"
Cheng Wei loved to laugh but once he was angry, he was very tough. His way of speaking would become fast like a machine gun and it was really a mystery how his tongue didn"t twist up.
Tan s.h.i.tian waited for him to finished before smiling. "Have you finished? Or is this a half-time break and you will continue to the second part?"
"…" Cheng Wei stared without speaking. His eyes were also burning and his cheeks were flushed with rage.
What was a second part? Did he think this was a comic dialogue? Scolding this cheeky person was like throwing pearls before a swine!
Tan s.h.i.tian thought that Xiao Cheng"s cheeks were particularly cute when angry and couldn"t help pinching Cheng Wei"s face. "I won"t agree to let Cat G.o.d come to the Time team. You aren"t young so think about the problem and don"t be so willful."
Cheng Wei, "…"
Cheng Wei was furious as he watched Tan s.h.i.tian turn away from him. He wanted to rush over and bite him to death.
Tan s.h.i.tian must be jealous of Cat G.o.d, absolutely!
Cheng Wei was busy sulking and didn"t see Tan s.h.i.tian"s helpless expression.
Cheng Wei had a blind worship towards Cat G.o.d and wouldn"t be calm when hearing news about Cat G.o.d. But as the captain of the Time team, Tan s.h.i.tian must consider the style and configuration of the whole team when introducing a new player. Cat G.o.d"s style of play with the elf summoner was difficult to match with the elf archers of Time. The summoner"s partic.i.p.ation would just make the Time team nondescript.
Therefore, even if Cat G.o.d was very strong, Tan s.h.i.tian never thought about pulling him into the group.
After a moment of silence, Tan s.h.i.tian took out his phone and called a number. "Call everyone to the conference room. Tomorrow"s game needs to be redeployed."
Chapter 21 – Regular Season Match
After Li Cangyu abused Qin Mo in the online game, he continued to do the bounty mission with his teammates.
Xie Shurong couldn"t help sighing. "In this battle, Qin Mo"s self-confidence suffered a serious setback. It is estimated that he will be slow for a while."
Bai Xuan gloated. "It is a misfortune caused by underestimating Cat G.o.d."
Gu Siming couldn"t help asking, "What if he goes back and tells his master? Then he will ask his master to help sweep us up… Ah, can I see Captain Ling?!"
Xiao Gu was obviously Ling Xuefeng"s fan and his voice became excited when he talked about Captain Ling.
Bai Xuan smiled. "Xiao Gu, tomorrow is a regular match between the Time team and Wind Colour team. Ling Xuefeng won"t have time to care about the online game. Moreover, I heard that Qin Mo has a very high self-esteem. Such a shameful thing, he certainly won"t tell his master."
"Oh…" Gu Siming felt regret before he cried out excitedly. "By the way, the game between Wind Colour and Time is at 9 in the morning. Do you want to watch it?"
Li Cangyu asked, "Then it is 9 in the evening in New York?"
Bai Xuan nodded. "Yes."
Li Cangyu said, "Then we can watch it."
Xie Shurong added, "My team has a holiday tomorrow. I will come over and watch it with you."
“Aren"t you really coming over for dinner?" Bai Xuan poked him.
Xie Shurong smiled. "Vice-Captain Bai knows me too well. Your cooking is too delicious. Tomorrow, can you cook fried bamboo shoots and braised pork ribs? I will bring you a full race set of commemorative Miracle postcards."
Bai Xuan, “…”
"Okay, I will look at the gift to satisfy you."
Li Cangyu said, "Tomorrow, take a trip to the supermarket and buy more fish."
Bai Xuan, “…”
Okay! He would do this for Cat G.o.d"s sake!
Gu Siming listened to the three people discussing food and couldn"t help sending a row of tearful expressions. "I want to eat too!"
Bai Xuan smiled and said, "You are halfway around the Earth and can"t eat. Once we return, I will invite you for a meal."
Bai Xuan"s voice was gentle and Gu Siming"s eyes immediately lit up. "Yes! I want to eat mapo tofu and braised chicken wings!"
Xie Shurong added, "I want to eat roast duck."
"Cough" Li Cangyu decided to switch the topic. "Stop or I will become hungry again. We still need to level."
***
The four people kept doing the bounty mission until 11:30 in the evening. Li Cangyu, Bai Xuan and Xie Shurong had risen to level 35. Gu Siming was with the three masters and quickly rose to level 27.
It wasn"t good for Bai Xuan to stay up late. Li Cangyu urged him to rest while Xie Shurong was still part of the ICE Club and also couldn"t stay up late. The three of them went offline while Gu Siming followed his captain"s arrangement and did the missions to level up.
He had played three accounts before and was familiar with the road for the beast race"s main storyline. By 8 in the evening, he really rose to level 35. On the other side in New York, Li Cangyu and the others also woke up and everyone met up.
At level 35, the bounty missions couldn"t be completed anymore and a new instance called "Frost Temple" opened. The elite groups of the major guilds went to Frost Temple. For a time, everyone was busy levelling and nothing happened in the game.
After one day, there were people who had risen to level 40 in the new Moonlight Forest district.
The presidents of the major guilds stared at the leaderboard and found that Love to Eat Braised Fish had been offline for eight hours. They were confused for a moment. What was the routine of these people? Did they sleep in broad daylight and stay up all night?
The witty Luo Xiaoluo reacted first. "Perhaps they are abroad? Isn"t it the opposite of our schedule?"
Time Machine hit his thigh. "It makes sense! Their online time means they are likely to be overseas!"
Everyone was excited at discovering this.
Unfortunately, it was useless after their excitement died down. Did the fact that they were abroad mean anything? The Time Guild was still confused about the ident.i.ty of Love to Eat Braised Fish.
***
Li Cangyu continued to lead the team in the Frost Temple instance. There were many mobs in this instance and the pressure on the front row knight was very big. It was an opportunity to see if A"Shu and Xiao Gu could handle the front lines together.
A"Shu"s style had always been fast so Li Cangyu was surprised when he saw that Xiao Gu could actually keep up with his rhythm.
Xie Shurong was also surprised. He didn"t expect this 17 year old to be so energetic and jump around everywhere.
Bai Xuan turned back and said, "It seems that we underestimated Xiao Gu"s strength. It is just an instance but he is clearly very skilled to be able to keep up with Xie Shurong"s fast rhythm."
Li Cangyu nodded. "I think that the nickname of "Small Madman" really suits him."
The four people smashed through the instance and the levelling process was very fast.
Xiao Gu was young but he played a paladin very well. He dragged a group of mobs with him without the slightest fear. A"Shu cooperated with him to suppress the blood of the mobs in the front row. Cat G.o.d attacked and killed the monsters from a distance while Bai Xuan only needed to occasionally add blood to his teammates.
The players would hide from most of the high-damage skills themselves. This was just a simple instance but Bai Xuan hadn"t had such an easy time for ages. Thanks to his forceful and considerate teammates, the pressure on the healer was reduced in an instant!
***
The next night, Xie Shurong really brought a gift when he came over.
He knew that Bai Xuan liked to collect all types of fun goods regarding Miracle and was willing to exchange them for a meal.
Bai Xuan"s dishes were more abundant than last time and Li Cangyu and Bai Xuan happily hate. Bai Xuan was the chef and his mood was particularly good.
It was because Xie Shurong brought a beautiful set of six commemorative postcards containing the Miracle races as a gift for Bai Xuan. This set was extremely difficult to buy.
Bai Xuan felt that if he could receive this type of "meal payment" every time, he would happily cook every day! Bai Xuan couldn"t help setting up the collection in the area.
The three people ate dinner and some fruit, before Xiao Gu woke up and went online.
Once the boy entered the game, he shouted in the voice room, "It is at 9 o"clock. Don"t forget the game!"
Li Cangyu replied, "Okay, let"s watch it together."
He took the laptop to the table in the living room and opened it to the live channel of the Miracle Professional League.
***
There were too many teams in recent years and not enough time. Therefore, the Miracle League divided the compet.i.tion into two grades: the first division and the second division.
There was 16 teams in the second division, which started after the spring festival and ended two months after Lunar New Year. The team ranked first at the end would have a match with the last ranked team in the first division. After winning, they could advance.
The first division took place after the second division and contained the matches between the most powerful teams in the league. The league only placed eight teams in the first division. AT the end of the season, the team with the worst score would have a match with the first ranked team of the second division. If they lost, they would be downgraded.
This mode of "eliminating the last team of the first division" and "promoting the first team of the second division" undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on the professional players. The strong teams were afraid to relax and it made the overall strength of the domestic league higher and higher.
At 8:45, the live broadcast finally started.
The commentators who appeared on the live channel were a handsome girl with short hair and a gentle-looking man in gla.s.ses. The two people wore dark blue suits and had silver medals on the collar.
“Good morning everyone. This is the last game in the first stage of the sixth regular season of the Miracle Professional League. It is the match between the Wind Colour team and the Time team! I am Kou Hongyi and I will be explaining this game."
The short-haired girl nodded to the camera and said calmly. "h.e.l.lo everyone, I am Commentator Yu Bing."
Li Cangyu was surprised. "Yu Bing changed to a commentator?"
Gu Siming said in a positive manner. "Sister Bing became a commentator after she retired from the Red Fox team and she is currently the most popular commentator in the Miracle League! Her partner is Kou Hongyi and Sister Bing generally only explains important events in the league!
Li Cangyu didn"t know Kou Hongyi but he had a very deep impression of Yu Bing. After all, female players in the Miracle League were rare. Yu Bing was the first captain of the Red Fox team and she also created a pure female team.
In the second season, the appearance of the Red Fox team made the male players of the Miracle League feel complicated. Should they show mercy to females on the field? The result was that they were a bit distracted and the female players abused them. The group of people realized that female players were also very scary and shouldn"t be underestimated.
Some male players might feel that losing to females was humiliating but Li Cangyu had no prejudices against gender. In his view, as long as the male and female people worked hard for their goal, they were opponents worthy of respect.
It was because Cat G.o.d treated men and women equally that female players such as Yu Bing saw him as a "good friend" and he hadn"t found a girlfriend yet!
Of course, this was just Bai Xuan"s guess.
After retiring, Yu Bing became a commentator with a good way of explaining the game. Her popularity was very high and her disposition generally calm. A professional player speaking game commentary was better than the nonsense of laymen.
On the live channel, Yu Bing said, "The first round of the regular season is almost over. I believe that many friends are concerned about the rankings of the eight teams in the first division. You can look at the latest points list that the league has just released."
The screen showed the team leaderboard.
At present, Flying Feathers, Ghost Spirits and Cheetah were in the top three. Time and Wind Colour were tied for fourth while Red Fox, Pure Cleansing and the Terminator team had similar points. Once Wind Colour and Time finished today"s match and won different points, this list would definitely change again.
Xie Shurong asked, "Cat G.o.d, who do you think will win between Wind Colour and Time?"
Li Cangyu thought for a moment before replying, "I don"t know Tan s.h.i.tian so I bet that Ling Xuefeng will win."
Xie Shurong said, "Then I bet that Time will win. I am more familiar with Cheng Wei."
Bai Xuan smiled and added. "I will be the referee. The person who loses the bet will go to the kitchen and wash the dishes."
The two men regretted it. If they knew they would have to wash the dishes, they wouldn"t have made the bet!