Chapter 234 – National Team Selection (1)
After the national team"s lineup was announced, the happiest ones were Cheng Wei and Zhang Shaohui. They had previously been worried they wouldn"t be selected and now their cla.s.ses had been given two places. Zhang Shaohui was confident that he could enter the national team with his brother and show the Lou Zhang combination to the world-cla.s.s players. Cheng Wei also didn"t have to worry about Red Fox"s Yang Muzi being selected over him.
The Miracle fans also selected 80% of the national team"s players. For example, Tan s.h.i.tian must have one of the bard places, the black magicians were definitely the Yan Guo combination and the a.s.sa.s.sins had to be the Lou Zhang brothers.
There were many famous G.o.ds in the league and the national team lineup set by Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng could be said to have taken care of all aspects, basically including all the famous G.o.ds.
However, unexpected situations couldn"t be ruled out. For example, some players making a mistake in the selection trials. Most netizens had a wait and see att.i.tude towards the final list for the national team.
The national team"s selection trials would officially start the following morning. All players who wanted to partic.i.p.ate used the remaining day to register and prepare.
That night, Xiao Han went online and saw a message pop up in the lower right corner. The person with a profile picture of a blood kin spider was Qin Mo.
[The summoner only has two places. My master and your master each have one place. I have no chance.]
Didn"t he seem somewhat lost?
Xiao Han wondered: [Are you telling me this so I will comfort you?]
Qin Mo: [……]
[Then I will comfort you.] Xiao Han finished the sentence with a "patting a dog"s head" emoji.
Qin Mo wanted to cough up blood. What was this animation? When did Xiao Han learn to download emojis from the Internet?
He was wondering this when Xiao Han sent another message: [I feel that I have no hope myself. An a.s.sa.s.sin only has two places and they will certainly go to the Lou Zhang brothers.]
Qin Mo ignored the strange words and sent the same emoji back to Xiao Han. [I touched your head to comfort you.]
[It is hard to differentiate between an elder brother and younger brother.] Xiao Han sent a "hug and cry" expression.
Qin Mo copied it and correct him: [The saying is: It is hard to differentiate between an elder brother and younger brother.] (TL: Xiao Han uses a different character for "elder brother" and Qin Mo corrects him about the right one)
Xiao Han had a question mark: [Isn"t it the same?]
Qin Mo explained: [Fixed idioms can"t be changed.]
The two people filled the screen with emojis. Suddenly, Qin Mo sent a message: [You should first try for the a.s.sa.s.sin quota. If you can"t beat Lou Wushuang and Zhang Shaohui, you can partic.i.p.ate in the free quota. That quota isn"t limited by cla.s.s.]
Xiao Han inexplicably felt this person"s tone was different from Qin Mo and asked: [Are you Qin Mo?]
The other party replied: [I am his master.]
Xiao Han suddenly realized. [Oh, Master is well.]
Then he found he was wrong and immediately corrected: [Captain Ling is well!]
Qin Mo was standing behind his master at the time and was really scared. He was just exchanging emojis with Xiao Han when his master came and told him to partic.i.p.ate in the selection of the free quota. Then he sat down and told Xiao Han the same thing.
Qin Mo didn"t expect Xiao Han to realize the person had changed. Was it because the two of them often chatted together? Xiao Han seemed to understand the way that Qin Mo spoke. Qin Mo couldn"t help feeling a bit happy when he thought this.
A moment later, the opposite person sent a "Cat G.o.d stunned" expression. [Xiao Han actually collected my expression pack…]
This was obviously Li Cangyu. Ling Xuefeng"s lips curved as he asked: [Did you also come looking for your apprentice?]
[Yes, I guess that he is unlikely to win a place in the a.s.sa.s.sin group. I wanted him to go to the free group to try.]
[I thought so as well.]
[My guess is that 90% of the great G.o.ds will be selected for their cla.s.s group. The free group is last and there shouldn"t be many G.o.ds, but the compet.i.tion will still be intense. Xiao Qin should be prepared to do his best.]
Ling Xuefeng looked back at Qin Mo. "Cat G.o.d is telling you to be mentally prepared. The compet.i.tion for the free group will be very intense. Don"t be careless, understood?"
QIn Mo immediately nodded. "Yes, I understand!"
Li Cangyu asked: [Are you busy tonight?]
Ling Xuefeng: [No.]
Li Cangyu: [Then come play a few rounds with Xiao Han. I will play with Xiao Qin and this will let them exchange ideas with different styles of players.]
[Okay.]
The two apprentices stood behind and watched their masters chat, not daring to come forward. Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng chatted for a while on the Q number of Qin Mo and Xiao Han and decided the training for the two apprentices tonight.
After their masters left, Qin Mo immediately typed: [The free group only has two places. It would be best if we both make it.]
Xiao Han said: [Don"t draw my name or you will be eliminated.]
Qin Mo: […Shouldn"t I be the one saying this? You should be careful not to be eliminated by me!]
Xiao Han was puzzled. [It is the same sentence. Why does it matter who says it?]
Qin Mo: […I"m going offline. See you later!]
Qin Mo went offline and Xiao Han scratched his head, still not understanding what he said wrong.
He turned off Q and immediately logged into his side account. Li Cangyu pulled him into a room and then Ling Xuefeng and Qin Mo appeared. The two masters exchanged apprentices and abused them. Qin Mo and Xiao Han were mercilessly abused for one night and really wanted to cry!
***
The next morning, the national team"s selection schedule was officially announced.
Apart from the summoners quota where it was decided that Cat and Ling were the players, the other cla.s.ses would hold an open compet.i.tion.
In order to make the national team"s selection more transparent and fair, this selection would adopt the offline compet.i.tion mode and would be divided into two sub-tournaments at Beijing"s large e-sports venue.
The referees for these trials were Liu Chuan and Xiao Sijing from the E-Sports League. The match mode was a "three games, two wins" match "double defeat knockout", where random draws would determine the opponent
In other words, each player had one chance to lose. The defeated player would enter the elimination group and if they lost again, they would be directly eliminated. This system was to avoid a situation where masters met prematurely, e.g. Lou Wushuang and Zhang Shaohui. If they met in the first game, one of them would enter the losing group and still have a chance to qualify from the losing group.
At 8 in the morning, the first groups to be selected were the black and white magicians. Xiao Sijing and Liu Chuan were the referees for one side while Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng drank tea in the backstage command room. They watched the live broadcast on the big screen to see who would be selected.
The number of magicians in the online game was very large and there were also a lot of magicians in the professional league.
Cheng Wei"s luck wasn"t bad and the opponents he drew in the first two games weren"t strong. In the finals, he met the vice-captain of the Red Fox team, Yang Muzi. Cheng Wei relied on using G.o.d"s Seal at a key moment to quickly empty Yang Muzi"s blood, taking first place in the white magician group and entering the national team. Of course, Yang Muzi also successfully entered the national team.
The names of the two white magicians were confirmed. In the column of national team players on the official website, the images of Cheng Wei and Yang Muzi were added.
Cheng Wei was very excited. He signed his name on the paper submitted by the referee and immediately went backstage to report to Li Cangyu. He stood upright and bowed to Cat G.o.d. "Captain! Team member Cheng Wei has come to report!"
Li Cangyu was amused and couldn"t help reaching out to rub Cheng Wei"s head. "Good."
Yang Muzi"s character was more lively. The short-haired girl shook hands with Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng and said, "I also came to report. Cat G.o.d, Captain Ling, please advise me in the future!"
Ling Xuefeng nodded at her. "You can go back to the hotel first to rest."
Cheng Wei immediately exclaimed, "It is too boring back at the hotel. I will wait for the rest of the team members!"
Yang Muzi was the same. "I also want to wait and see."
The two of them were the first to get the qualification to join the national team but their teammates weren"t the same. They naturally didn"t feel like going back to the hotel to rest and waited with Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng.
Almost all the professional players had signed up for the trials, including those in the training camps. This was the decision of the captains of various teams. It was rare to have an opportunity to fight against the G.o.ds. Even if they weren"t selected, they could join in the fun and gain some experience.
Fortunately, the trials were three games and two wins. Soon after the white magicians were confirmed, the black magicians were also decided.
Yan Ruiwen and Guo Xuan of the Wind Colour both signed the "national team invitation letter" handed to them by chief referee Xiao Sijing and then excitedly reported to the command room.
Guo Xuan cried out, "Captain Ling, I have been selected with Vice-Captain Yan!"
Ling Xuefeng nodded and told them, "Report to the captain."
He meant for them to find the captain of the national team, Li Cangyu and report. Guo Xuan looked a bit awkward but fortunately, Yan Ruiwen was relatively calm. He took Guo Xuan to Li Cangyu and smiled. "Captain is well."
Li Cangyu asked bluntly, "Is it strange to call me captain?"
Yan Ruiwen replied, "You are now the captain of the national team. We will listen to your arrangements in the future." Ling Xuefeng gazed at Yan Ruiwen with appreciative eyes and Yan Ruiwen suddenly felt that acting like this was correct!
***
In the bard selection group, Tan s.h.i.tian made it all the way and came out as first in the victorious group. Lu Xiao of Time was the first to qualify from the losing group and the two of them came backstage.
The Time fans were very happy about this outcome. Lu Xiao had always a.s.sisted Tan s.h.i.tian with output. His reputation might not be as high as Captain Tan but the low-key player wasn"t much worse.
Cheng Wei saw his captain and immediately ran over. "Captain Tan, Captain Tan! Ah, Lu Xiao as well. Hey, I knew you would definitely enter the national team. Come over to the captain and sign!"
Tan s.h.i.tian smiled and went to Li Cangyu. They shook hands and Tan s.h.i.tian said, "Captain Cat is well."
Li Cangyu wondered, "Captain Cat? This name is too strange…"
Tan s.h.i.tian changed his words. "Should I call you Captain Li?"
Cheng Wei laughed. "Captain Cat is good. The group of Chinese fighting cats will sweep the world!"
Li Cangyu looked over at him. "Who is a Chinese fighting cat? Are you talking about yourself?"
Cheng Wei blushed and Tan s.h.i.tian thought he looked particularly cute. He rubbed Cheng Wei"s head and asked, "Fighter Cat, what else should I do?"
Li Cangyu handed him the national team"s confirmation form. "Sign this."
The two arrivals signed their names on the form, confirming that eight of the 22 vacancies had been filled. Tan s.h.i.tian felt great. He could see the national team gradually filling, causing his blood to heat up.
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Chapter 235 – National Team Selection (2)
Next up was the swordsman group.
A terran swordsman needed speed, attack and defense. Its defense wasn"t weak and it could serve as a front row tank when necessary. It could be called one of the most comprehensive melee cla.s.s and its cla.s.s costume was white and gold-rimmed. The shape of the big sword in the hand was also very handsome. Thus, the number of swordsmen players in the online game was always ranked first.
In the Miracle Professional League, a master swordsman was usually used to breakthrough enemy formations. This meant that the number of professional players who played a "swordsman" was the highest and the candidates for the swordsman group actually entered the double digits.
Xie Shurong hit quickly and made it all the way to the finals. Then he met his older apprentice brother, Su Guangmo. The two brothers met and weren"t polite to each other. Both of them played fiercely, allowing the audience members who liked swordsman to feel addicted.
Li Cangyu watched the game backstage and couldn"t help saying, "Ah Shu is still a bit lacking compared to Captain Su. Ah Shu likes the rapid attacks of a swordsman while Captain Su prefers to use skills. His play is fast and stable."
Ling Xuefeng nodded. "I remember the Xie Shurong from the third season. His standard was a lot worse than his brother but he has really progressed playing abroad."
Li Cangyu added, "I hope he can be selected, In the case where we meet the US team in the future, at least Ah Shu knows them very well."
At this moment, Su Guangmo suddenly used Spirit Lock on Xie Shurong and then broke out the big move, Light and Shadow Rotation, emptying Xie Shurong"s blood!
The fallen Xie Shurong typed: [Come again!]
Su Guangmo sent a smiley face. [You still can"t beat me even if you come again. A younger brother is a younger brother.]
Xie Shurong: [Don"t you have any face?]
Su Guangmo replied: [You don"t have any bark. Why do I need face?]
The audience couldn"t help laughing. They thought their relationship was bad after Ah Shu left Flying Feathers. Now it seemed that the two brothers had a very good relationship as they joked on the public channel.
In the second round, Xie Shurong burst out his highest hand speed and used Spirit Lock on Su Guangmo at a crucial moment, killing the master in one breath.
Xie Shurong proudly sent a row of smiles on the public screen. [A younger brother is a younger brother! Do you understand it?]
Su Guangmo, "…"
The two men played the third round and Su Guangmo thrillingly won the first spot on the national team.
The defeated Xie Shurong entered the loser group and become the champion, eventually becoming the 10th member of the national team!
***
Compared to the fierce battles in the swordsman group, the atmosphere of the a.s.sa.s.sin selection was completely different.
There was a large number of a.s.sa.s.sins in the league"s major teams. There were six a.s.sa.s.sins in Ghost Spirits, not to mention the a.s.sa.s.sin players of other teams. The number of applicants in this group also reached the double digits.
Surprisingly, Zhang Shaohui"s hand was very stinky and he directly drew Lou Wushuang in the first round. Many fans wanted to cry. Captain Zhang, did you have to be so unlucky?
Fortunately, the selection system was a double defeat knockout and the loser group also had a chance.
The surprising thing was that Lou Wushuang was actually beaten by Zhang Shaohui. Zhang Shaohui looked at the result with a dazed face. Once the game ended, he immediately ran over and asked, "Brother, what"s wrong? Do you have a fever?"
Lou Wushuang replied coldly, "It is nothing."
His face was strangely pale. Zhang Shaohui worriedly reached out and touched his forehead. He found that Lou Wushuang"s forehead was scarily hot. Zhang Shaohui"s expression changed and he immediately helped his brother to the side to sit down. "You are sick, what should we do? Should we apply to postpone the matches with the league?"
Lou Wushuang shook his head at his brother"s distraught words. "The league can"t change the schedule because a candidate is sick… forget it."
Zhang Shaohui looked like he was about to cry. "You are sick. If you lost another game, you will…"
"Be eliminated." He couldn"t bare to say these words.
Lou Wushuang replied calmly, "It doesn"t matter. It isn"t a big deal if I don"t go to the World Compet.i.tion since you are there."
In fact, he felt a bit uncomfortable. When he was a child, his health wasn"t very good. In order to play the game, he was forced by Zhang Shaohui to frequently run and exercise. His physical fitness improved. This sickness came very suddenly. It was probably because he kicked off the quilt when sleeping last night and the air conditioner"s temperature was set too low. He had a headache since the morning.
In the games, Lou Wushuang could always be absolutely calm, the dagger in his hand sharp and cold. Today, he made a mistake at the crucial moment, making him lose to Zhang Shaohui in three consecutive games.
Li Cangyu was also very surprised by this result. He couldn"t help glancing at Ling Xuefeng. "Is there something wrong with Captain Lou?"
“I hope he can adjust as soon as possible." Ling Xuefeng whispered.
Among a.s.sa.s.sins, Lou Wushuang was absolutely the strongest. There was no doubt that if he had problems in the selection trials, it would be a great loss for the national team.
Unfortunately for the Ghost Spirits fans, Lou Wushuang couldn"t adjust very quickly. Lou Wushuang relied on his rich experience to win against the next few players before meeting Xiao Han, who was sent to the loser ground by Zhang Shaohui.
Xiao Han was the best at grasping opportunities. His mastery of the timing for sneak attacks was a match for the first-cla.s.s a.s.sa.s.sins in the league. He took advantage of a gap made by Lou Wushuang"s mistake and unleashed a set of violent combos. Lou Wushuang"s blood fell and then Xiao Han used the terrain to move to the other side, finally winning.
The 12th ticket to the national team actually went to the newcomer of the Canglan team, Xiao Han!
The result surprised many people. In particular, the Ghost Spirits fans couldn"t accept that Captain Lou was actually eliminated. Zhang Shaohui"s expression was very heavy.
The two players went backstage to report and Xiao Han seriously ran to the side of his master. "Master, I have entered the national team."
Li Cangyu smiled and patted him on the shoulder, letting him sign his name.
After filling out his name, Zhang Shaohui told Li Cangyu, "I will take my brother back to the hotel to rest."
"Okay."
Lou Wushuang saw his brother come out and was puzzled. "What are you doing out here?"
Zhang Shaohui decisively lifted him up. "I"ll take you back to rest."
Lou Wushuang, "…"
Lou Wushuang lay on his wide back and suddenly felt a bit sour. This fool might only see him as a brother but at least in Zhang Shaohui"s heart, he was very important. Zhang Shaohui should be excited about joining the national team but he wasn"t smiling at all and his brow was deeply furrowed.
Lou Wushuang sighed. "I"m sorry that I can"t enter the national team with you."
“It"s not your fault.” Zhang Shaohui interrupted in a low voice. "Go back and have a good sleep. Don"t say such dumb things."
After carrying Lou Wushuang back to the hotel, Zhang Shaohui gently placed him on the bed, poured him a cup of warm water and bought him cold medicine to take. Then he patted the quilt and said, "Go to sleep."
Lou Wushuang closed his eyes and slept well, waking up at two in the afternoon.
***
Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng took the group back to the hotel for a lunch break. In the morning, 10 places were decided and the remaining 10 places would be arranged in the afternoon. They were hunters, front-line tanks, healers, psychics and the random group.
The hunter group started at 2:30 and it was like the a.s.sa.s.sin group!
Chen Anran, the vice-captain of the Cheetah team, once again continued Zhang Shaohui"s tragedy. His stinky hand directly drew his own captain Jiang Xu and Chen Anran was defeated.
It was reasonable to say that according to the rules of the double defeat knockout, Chen Anran could win in the losing group and get the national team quota by coming first in the losing group. However, the audience members were worried because there was another strong player in the hunter group. Zhuo Hang of Canglan who just won the Most Promising Rookie award
After Zhuo Hang was defeated by Jiang Xu, he also entered the losing group. Then the second hunter quota would go to either Zhuo Hang or Chen Anran.
This match was more intense than the one between Xie Shurong and Su Guangmo, because both teenagers knew that they had to win this game. They couldn"t lose!
Chen Anran was a typical fast player. His effective hand speed could almost reach the level of Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng. This was why he won the Most Promising Rookie Award last season.
Zhuo Hang"s basic hand speed wasn"t as fast but Zhuo Hang had made rapid progress in the playoffs this season, especially when it came to the combination of traps and terrain.
In the first and second game, the two of them were randomly connected to a square map with open terrain. They each seized an opportunity to make it a 1:1 draw. They reached the third and deciding game!
The system randomly chose a mountain map with many obstacles!
Zhuo Hang arranged a wave of traps according to the terrain and then deliberately lured Chen Anran in. This wave of operation was smooth and level. Chen Anran accidentally stepped into the first trap and suffered from chain explosions. His blood was directly blown away to residual blood in one breath. Zhuo Hang followed with three consecutive Death Traps and killed him!
This approach gained Yu Bing"s appreciation. "This is a real hunter! It can be said that Zhuo Hang has mastered the essence of the hunter cla.s.s."
Kou Hongyi said, "The Cheetah fans might not feel good but it is very fair. Zhuo Hang"s selection won"t lower the level of the national team. His strength isn"t bad compared to Chen Anran and he is very good at using maps. Thanks to the existence of Zhuo Hang, perhaps the national team can use the map to play more strategies."
Compared to the uncomfortable Cheetah fans, Chen Anran was quieter. To be exact, he was still a baby who hadn"t grown up and would hide shyly every time a match finished.
Jiang Xu explained for him. "Xiao Chen wants me to tell you that Zhuo Hang"s strength isn"t worse than his. He has no opinions about Zhuo Hang being selected for the national team. In addition, I will take him to watch the game abroad and also train him when there is time. I hope everyone can support the national team."
Li Cangyu was naturally the happiest about Zhuo Hang being selected.
He watched this young man grow step by step. The fact that Zhuo Hang could join the national team was a result of his own efforts. Li Cangyu was going to the World Compet.i.tion with a player who was good at grasping the terrain. This was more reliable than taking a shy baby.
Chen Anran was only 16 years old. He might be even better when he was two years older!
Li Cangyu patted Zhuo Hang"s shoulder and had him sign his name next to Jiang Xu. Zhuo Hang signed the national team"s list, leaving eight names left.
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