Chapter 1455: Shut Out
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
63%.
Huang Shaotian’s Troubling Rain had 63% left. Tang Rou’s Soft Mist had traded 69% of her health for 37% of Troubling Rain’s.
It was not an equal trade, but if the fight had followed the pace that Huang Shaotian had set, the trade may have been even worse. In the end, Tang Rou had used her usual style to break through Huang Shaotian’s control.
Tang Rou was the same Tang Rou, strong-minded and refusing to back down.
You want me to increase the tempo? Okay, I’ll do that.
You don’t want me to increase the tempo anymore? Sorry, I’m going to keep doing it.
Rude and stubborn without reason.
From the day Tang Rou stepped into the pro scene, that was her playstyle. Countless people hoped to see her fall, but she never did. She continued to do what she did throughout the entire season. Facing Huang Shaotian, although she lost, she had achieved the outcome she wanted.
Even so, did that mean Happy would definitely win?
Many people questioned Tang Rou’s final words.
Troubling Rain had a little more than half his health left. Huang Shaotian just might be able to win under these condtions.
More importantly, who would Happy send out next?
Su Mucheng? Qiao Yifan? Bao Rongxing (Steamed Bun)? Wei Chen?
Pan Lin and Li Yibo quickly did an overview of Happy’s remaining players.
Su Mucheng seemed to be the most reliable of the four choices. But the problem was that this map was unfavorable for Launchers. Launchers could not display their ultra-long-range advantage.
“If Happy knew that Blue Rain would choose this sort of map, then they definitely would not have put her in the group arena,” Li Yibo said. He implied that he favoured having Su Mucheng as Happy’s anchor. It would indeed be Happy’s most stable arrangement. Unfortunately, the map chosen by Blue Rain erased this stability.
“This is probably one of the reasons Blue Rain chose this map: to make Su Mucheng useless!” Li Yibo said.
Who would it be?
The crowd members and the viewers at home were waiting nervously. It was as if whoever was chosen would dictate the winner of the group arena.
Under everyone’s gaze, someone stood up from Happy’s player seat and headed towards the stage. Her long hair fluttered in the wind.
The Blue Rain fans were wild with joy. For the Happy fans, it was as if a bucket of cold ice had been splashed onto their heads.
Su Mucheng.
In the end, it was Su Mucheng.
The crowd immediately started livening up. Blue Rain’s fans had been on the backfoot the entire time, but at this moment, they could see the dawn of victory.
“So Happy really did pick Su Mucheng!” Pan Lin sounded somewhat gloomy.
“Yeah,” Li Yibo sighed.
The map chosen today by Blue Rain had troubled Happy again and again. Happy had pa.s.sed through each test, finding themselves in the lead at the final step. However, they were now met with one last obstacle in their path.
Launchers.
Launchers had an attack range of 40 units. The map itself didn’t change the Launcher’s attack range. However, visibility was limited to 20-25 units, thus, having an extremely long range was pointless.
20-25 unit attacks was still quite a distance. However, for Launchers, it was still too close. Launchers had strong AoE and high damage attacks, but their attack speed was very slow. At too close of a distance, before the attack went off, it was very possible that the attack would be interrupted. What’s worse was that her opponent was the opportunist king, Huang Shaotian.
Thinking of all these points, Blue Rain’s fans felt like victory was already theirs. The depression from the previous rounds had been swept away.
“We didn’t know that Happy’s final player was Su Mucheng, but Tang Rou should have! Was it not the right move to entrust the win to Su Mucheng on this map?” Pan Lin said.
“What else could she do?” Li Yibo said, “If she could beat Huang Shaotian, do you think she wouldn’t try? It was exactly because she couldn’t see herself winning that she went through with such a strategy. This map is unfavorable for Su Mucheng, but Su Mucheng is still a pro player. I’m sure Tang Rou’s confidence in her will act as motivation, not pressure.”
“I hope so!” Pan Lin replied.
At this moment, the two female players on Happy, one coming down from the stage, the other heading towards the stage, met midway.
Pa!
The two girls didn’t say anything. When they pa.s.sed by each other, they gave a high-five as if handing off the torch from one player to another. Neither of them turned back as they continued forward.
Tang Rou went back to her seat.
Su Mucheng went into the player booth.
Chen Guo was extremely worried. Her concern for Su Mucheng was extraordinarily abnormal. She was concerned for her as a friend and as an idol that she wors.h.i.+pped.
“Hey!” She yelled at Ye Xiu.
“Hm?” Ye Xiu turned his head.
“How will it turn out?” Chen Guo said.
Ye Xiu understood what she meant. His expression wasn’t too carefree either: “This map isn’t good for Launchers.”
“Then what can she do?” Chen Guo said.
“Even if it’s not easy to play, she’s still got to do it,” Ye Xiu said.
“Stupid,” Chen Guo rolled her eyes. It might sound stupid, but it was the truth. There were countless times where the matchup was bad or the fight seemed unwinnable, but giving up and getting discouraged was never the solution.
She’ll win!
Chen Guo could only tell herself this. The match began.
“Ah, how unfortunate, to think you’d have to play on this map,” Huang Shaotian started chattering. He chatted, but he also hoped for the other person to talk back. When facing players like Mo Fan, Huang Shaotian felt discouraged at times when he typed madly. As a result, he usually got excited when he met a player he was familiar with because it meant an actual conversation. It wouldn’t be just him talking!
But he immediately started by poking at Su Mucheng’s weak point and didn’t get a reply back.
“Why aren’t you talking? Too much pressure? Hahaha,” Huang Shaotian continued.
“Where are you going to go? With a visibility of 20-25 units, are you going to the left or the right?” Huang Shaotian guessed.
“But I don’t think you’ll be that naive. With only 20-25 units to work with, will you be able to set up a firing line?”
“If you can’t, then I’m sure you know that closing this distance will be too easy for me.”
Huang Shaotian chattered on and on. As for the firing line, everyone knew that the closer the distance, the harder it was to set one up. Launchers had slow attacks, so they needed distance. At 20-25 units away, her attacks would need to be extremely accurate. Only by hitting the opponent would she be able to maintain a safe distance.
But against Huang Shaotian, no one dared to say that they would never miss.
Huang Shaotian was also confident.
Last round, Tang Rou had taken out 37% of Troubling Rain’s health, which was outside of Huang Shaotian’s expectations. He was feeling a bad premonition.
No one could say that they could win 100% of the time, let alone when he wasn’t coming in with 100% of his health. Huang Shaotian felt a bit uneasy about this last round. But he did feel a lot better after seeing that his opponent was Su Mucheng.
Li Yibo’s a.n.a.lysis wasn’t wrong. One of the reasons for choosing this map was to shut out Su Mucheng. Su Mucheng had plenty of experience and her skill was first-cla.s.s. Her character Dancing Rain was quite powerful too. Compared to Happy’s rookies, she was a much more reliable choice. Happy didn’t know what map Blue Rain chose, so it had been very likely that Happy would choose Su Mucheng.
Su Mucheng really did come out and in the final deciding round too. Huang Shaotian’s Troubling Rain may only have 63% of his health left, but everyone thought that he had a higher chance of winning. He had no qualms about using his map advantage to bully Su Mucheng either. Troubling Rain didn’t take a roundabout route and took the central path. As he made his way to the center while chatting, Troubling Rain and Dancing Rain met.
“You!”
Huang Shaotian was surprised. The viewers had noticed it, but he found out now. At this rate, it would be a face to face fight, and because of this map, Launchers would lose their long-range advantage.
23 units.
The two found each other at this distance. Under normal circ.u.mstances, Launchers would feel that the distance was too close and would need to pull away. But in this map, Su Mucheng could only take the fight at this distance.
Huang Shaotian was somewhat startled, but he didn’t think much of it.
The purpose of the map was to shut out Su Mucheng. It could be seen that they had come prepared against Su Mucheng. They didn’t underestimate her just because the map was unfavorable for her. Under these limitations, how would she fight? They had studied this question too. At 23 units apart, Huang Shaotian didn’t think Su Mucheng could give him any trouble. On the other hand, this distance would make her feel uncomfortable.
Launchers feared close combat. The heavy armor and cannon slowed down her movements, plus she didn’t have close combat skills like Sharpshooters did. If the Launcher was closed in on, then the Launcher needed to run.
“Watch my sword!” Huang Shaotian typed. After finding Dancing Rain, Troubling Rain rushed at her. A trace of blue was left in the dense fog wherever the sword swung. The sword light was like a storm as it swept towards Dancing Rain.
Boom boom boom!
Three missiles flew out.
Anti-Tank Missiles. This low-level skill was quite fast. But against Huang Shaotian, how could a few missiles stop him?
Blue light flickered amidst the fog. Troubling Rain turned slightly, avoiding the missiles. He didn’t slow down as he continued forward.
As for Dancing Rain, she used the recoil from the Anti-Tank Missiles to fly backwards. She needed to keep her distance no matter what.
“Can you run?” Huang Shaotian messaged. Suddenly, an explosion sounded from up above.