Qiao Yifan watched the match as he felt his way back to Tiny Herb’s seats.
“Yifan!” Apart from Gao Yingjie’s shout of surprise, the others only glanced at him.
If this was the past, Qiao Yifan would definitely feel ashamed, but now, his att.i.tude had already completely changed after going out and coming back. The team’s cold treatment towards him was no longer important. As long as he had enough strength, he wouldn’t need to worry anymore.
“I went to the restroom.” Qiao Yifan smiled to Gao Yingjie, while quietly moving to Gao Yingjie’s side, where his original seat was at.
“Tang Hao’s challenging Lin Jingyan! He’s being very disrespectful. As soon as he went up on the stage, he said that the junior would succeed the senior. Both of them are using their own accounts and both are truly sparked.” While Qiao Yifan sat down, Gao Yingjie hastily told him the match’s situation.
“Oh, oh.” Qiao Yifan nodded his head and immediately focused on the match. He felt very grateful in his heart. He knew that his best friend wasn’t just saying all of this to have him catch up on the parts he had missed. He had said all that to help distract Qiao Yifan from his worries. No one would feel happy with the results of that previous match. Gao Yingjie was a very shy person. He wasn’t the type to directly say any consoling words, so all he could do was use this type of method to help Qiao Yifan bring up his spirit.
There was quite a bit of discussion among the pro players and some of it made its way to Qiao Yifan’s ears. Everyone was discussing the current match. Quite a few of them were comparing it to the previous match between Gao Yingjie and w.a.n.g Jiexi.
It was clear that this year’s Rookie Challenge was abnormal. Gao Yingjie and w.a.n.g Jiexi had fought seriously and the new rookie had mercilessly struck down his captain.
Also, during this match, which had Tang Hao versus Lin Jingyan, everyone could tell that it would be another great match just from Tang Hao’s att.i.tude. Sure enough, as soon as the match started, the two sides rapidly met and began to battle without any signs of holding back. Tang Hao’s words had been announced wide and clear. If Lin Jingyan backed out, no one would see it as style. If he was going to back out, he would have to at least convince Tang Hao through fighting. Then, if he said something nice, that would be true style.
However, this was just a theoretical situation. Tang Hao wasn’t a normal rookie. If this was during any other time, this wouldn’t only be considered a challenge by a rookie. In everyone’s eyes, he was already at the same status as a senior.
The Alliance did desire this type of challenge by a highly skilled rookie, though. Putting the rookie experience limit to two years had been a result of this consideration.
Tang Hao’s conduct wasn’t consistent with the Rookie Challenge’s intentions, but it was certainly eye-catching. This could be seen from the audience’s loud cheers and shouts. The atmosphere right now was even more intense than it had been for any previous match.
The reporters who had originally thought that nothing today would ever top the match between Gao Yingjie and w.a.n.g Jiexi had their spirits rekindled once again.
It was true that Gao Yingjie beating w.a.n.g Jiexi had been surprising news, but the genius rookie himself didn’t have a very suitable persona. How could he be more eye-catching than Tang Hao’s “the junior succeeds the senior” words?
The reporters were all appreciating the match. Quite a few of them had already started writing down things. The battle on the field was extremely intense, but any experienced Glory player could tell that Lin Jingyan’s situation was looking very bad.
In his former years, he had been the King of Brawlers, but it was already a fact that his condition had greatly fallen. Although his Three Hits was much stronger than Tang Hao’s Delillo, in a direct match, he was still much worse overall.
Tang Hao’s play was quicker and he was practically always on the offensive. Lin Jinyan’s reaction speed and mechanics were no longer as acute as they were before and he was only barely keeping up through his experience. He knew that, for this match, there was no point in talking about any style for winning. Leaving the match as a whole was already looking like an extravagant hope.
His only hope was that Tang Hao would make a mistake.
It wouldn’t be surprising if someone, who had only been playing as a pro for two years, made a mistake. The efficient and shrewd Lin Jingyan tried his hardest to keep up. As time went on, he hoped that he’d be able to catch Tang Hao in a mistake and counterattack. He truly wasn’t capable of clas.h.i.+ng directly with him anymore.
Lin Jingyan had already carried out every method he knew, but things never turned out the way he expected.
Tang Hao had obviously made a few mistakes, but his reactions had been faster and he made up for it quickly, too. Half of these openings were seen by Lin Jinyan, but he wasn’t able to seize any opportunities and could only watch as Tang Hao closed the openings. Aside from these, there were those he was able to seize, but the damage he returned couldn’t even compare to Tang Hao’s repeated fierce attacks.
Lin Jingyan knew that he was too slow. He saw many openings, but he wasn’t able to capitalize on them. Tang Hao’s quicker hands were always able to dissolve his counterattacks.
Was there no chance?
Many thought this way. However, the veteran’s perseverance wouldn’t let him give up. Lin Jingyan persevered and continued to wait for an opportunity. Until the very last second, no one would know of the result. Perhaps a huge mistake he could capitalize upon would come. It was still too early to give up.
So the match continued.
The junior succeeds the senior. The main theme was being displayed beautifully right now.
Tang Hao and Lin Jingyan weren’t home players, so there was a clear divide between the fans. After all, Tang Hao wasn’t someone like Gao Yingjie and Qiao Yifan who hadn’t partic.i.p.ated in an official match. His G.o.dly performance in the season had quickly helped him gather quite a few fans.
The match’s situation could be seen from the two sides’ supporters.
On Lin Jingyan’s side, the fans were encouraging him.
And Tang Hao’s side? His fans were already yelling like crazy. They were no longer shouting anything of substance and had already entered a party animal state.
Tang Hao’s fierce attacks looked even madder. Brawlers weren’t a cla.s.s that directly fought. Brick, Sand Toss, Apply Poison. Just from these skill names, people could figure out this cla.s.s’s wretchedness. However, Tang Hao’s Delillo looked as if he were a Striker.
Attack, attack, attack. Continuous attacks.
Waiting waiting waiting. Patiently waiting.
The fans’ emotions wouldn’t affect a veteran like Lin Jingyan. He was still patiently waiting for an opening to arrive.
Here!
Just as he entered a Red Blood state, Lin Jingyan’s eyes brightened. The fierce Tang Hao finally failed to follow up on one of his attacks, creating a huge opening. With the match nearly over, such an opening might not be enough to reverse the situation, but it could be the start of one.
Lin Jingyan didn’t overthink it and seized the opportunity to fiercely attack Tang Hao.
His right hand shot out. Three Hits executed a Strangle towards Tang Hao’s Delillo.
However, Delillo suddenly somersaulted as if he knew the attack was coming.
Lin Jingyan started. He hastily tried to adjust himself, but then his screen turned black. Delillo’s legs kicked forward and smashed into Three Hit’s forehead.
Brawler skill: Powerful Knee Strike.
Lin Jingyan knew that things weren’t looking good. So his opponent was ready for it… Had the previous opening been a bait?
The Powerful Knee Strike wasn’t enough to make the opponent fall, but the instant Delillo struck Three Hits, he grabbed him with his arms and used the skill Tiger Flipping Mountain to knock Three Hits to the ground.
Delillo also flipped over, but he Quick Recovered faster than Lin Jingyan. Three Hits wasn’t able to get up in time and was pressed to the ground by Delillo, which was followed by a flurry of fists.
High-leveled Brawler skill: Tyrannical Chain Punch.
Lin Jingyan well understood the skill’s damage. He looked at his health and saw that there was no longer any hope.
Under Tang Hao’s quick hands, the Tyrannical Chain Punch came out even faster. And after this move was completed, Three Hits’ health disappeared and he was not able to stand up anymore. Along with the word “Glory”, the announcer announced the final winner.
The junior had succeeded the senior.
The media only wanted more things to talk about. They wouldn’t favor any one side because of their feelings.
The two players came down from their platforms and shook hands in the middle of the stage.
“You played well……..” Lin Jingyan forced a smile. After playing in the pro scene for so many years, he was already used to hiding his true emotions.
“The junior succeeds the senior.” Tang Hao shook Lin Jingyan’s hands. Only these five words were said.
Even the master of ceremonies felt that the situation really was somewhat awkward. Just as he was about to interrupt, the two players finished shaking hands. Tang Hao stood up, waved his hands towards the audience, and then left the stage.
The master of ceremonies looked pitifully at Lin Jingyan. He didn’t know what he should do.
But Lin Jingyan only continued to smile at the host and then after waving his hands to the audience, he silently left the stage. By normal standards, he wasn’t considered old at all. But on the eSports stage, his leaving figure made the audience feel as if he was doddering a bit.
The pro players looked at each other. Tang Hao’s actions had challenged the tradition. Even though Gao Yingjie had beaten his team captain, from start to finish, he hadn’t been disrespectful in the slightest.
Amidst everyone’s discussion, the commentators announced the next match.
Rookie challenger: Team Excellent Era, Sun Xiang.
Veteran challenged: Team Tyrannical Ambition, Han Wenqing.
Soon after, the commentators excitedly announced that for this match, the rookie requested that the veteran use his own account.
The shouts and cheers from the audience were earth-shattering.
With this request, the hype for this match far exceeded the last one.
Tang Hao’s Delillo was a very mediocre character in the pro scene. And even though Lin Jingyan’s Three Hits was considered the number one Brawler character, it wasn’t considered a G.o.d-level account. But the accounts owned by Sun Xiang and Han Wenqing were very different.
Battle G.o.d, One Autumn Leaf.
King of Fighting, Desert Dust.
Ever since the Glory Alliance was founded, these two G.o.d-level characters had never stopped fighting.