Chapter 98
On the day of the finals, both teams arrived at the venue bright and early.
Unlike usual regular season matches, the day before the finals both teams had already visited the venue for a walkthrough and rehearsal. The venue wouldn't be handed over to anyone else, and the players' backup peripherals had been set up and tested at the venue the day before. Each team's locker room had been decorated with the team's logo days in advance. Compared to regular season and semifinal matches, the overall setup was several levels above.
Perhaps influenced by Saint's team members going all-out in sacrifice, perhaps because the players from NSN and Free had always been close, or maybe because they didn't want to put too much pressure on the two teams before heading to Worlds, this season's finals lacked the usual intense rivalry. Gone was the cutthroat atmosphere between fans of the two teams that typically characterized finals. Whether regular players or fans of either team, most people's attitudes before the match were quite mellow. Usually, once spectators entered but before the match started, fans of both teams would compete by shouting slogans and trying to out-cheer each other. This time, that whole exchange was gone too. After NSN fans shouted a few encouraging cheers, Free's fans, despite having more people, didn't try to shout louder to drown them out. They just chimed in with a few cheers and stopped.
"Yu Sui's girlfriends and Shi Luo's sister-fans are so gentle today." The game division referee's assistant had come to Free's locker room to get Zhou Huo's signature. After hearing the fans outside stop after just a few cheers, she remarked in surprise, "NSN fans dared to cheer first. Normally would you guys let that slide? When did you all get such good tempers?"
Zhou Huo was signing his name on the pages assigned to the manager. Enjoying the benefit without remorse, he smiled: "Our fans always have great temperaments. We never play the shouting game."
The assistant shrugged. Glancing at Yu Sui and Shi Luo nearby, who were looking at the coach's notebook together, she whispered to Zhou Huo: "So you're all about peace and harmony now? During the regular season match against Wild Bull, your fans drowned out their fans so badly we couldn't pick up any audio except your team's voices."
Zhou Huo thought to himself that was old grudge territory—how could it be the same?
Zhou Huo finished signing everything, smiling: "Causing you less trouble isn't a good thing?"
"Of course it's good. But when we get to Worlds, you can cause us more trouble." The referee's assistant blinked with a smile. "Fans from international regions are pros at heckling and messing with mental game. Don't let them push you around."
"Count on it."
Zhou Huo saw the referee's assistant out and walked over to the players who were resting with closed eyes: "So? Any issues?"
"What issues could there possibly be." Chen Huo said with an easy expression, helplessly. "Don't complain we're not nervous enough. I swear NSN is even less nervous. Last night Wa Wa that little rascal still contacted me, asking if we wanted to eat together after the game and what we wanted to eat. I'm done—wasn't Old Gu managing this? We have a match to play! What's with making everything so family-friendly?"
"Seriously, this is my first time in all these years playing a finals with this little fire. Not only do we have no grievances with the other team, but half of them are basically related to us through marriage—it's all connection stuff." Puppy glanced at Shi Luo, clicking his tongue. "I don't understand why Wa Wa is so buddy-buddy with everyone. It's like our team is his second home."
Shi Luo's expression froze. Pretending he didn't understand Puppy was hinting that Wa Wa was Yu Sui's brother-in-law, he took Old Qiao's coach's notebook and flipped through it.
"What nonsense are you all talking." Old Qiao couldn't stand the older guys bullying the younger ones. He pushed Puppy's head, not letting him mess with Shi Luo's headspace. "Is harmony a bad thing? Doesn't it reduce your pressure? It's not like we have any guaranteed victories. If we really went all-out trash-talking before the match and then lost, don't you know how embarrassing that would be?"
Puppy gave a mocking laugh: "Lose?"
"Don't get cocky. Just play according to our regular season experience." Old Qiao hurried past this topic, turning to look at Chen Huo. "Did you agree to Wa Wa?"
"No way, how could I agree? Didn't Yu Sui book a hotel in Hangzhou?" Chen Huo said innocently. "Didn't we say we'd go to Hangzhou for vacation the day after the match?"
Old Qiao didn't know about this. He turned to look at Yu Sui: "You booked a hotel?! How many days?"
"Three days." Yu Sui's expression was natural. "It's less than an hour by high-speed rail to Hangzhou. You can't possibly object."
"Whether I object or not, you should have told us in advance." Old Qiao frowned. "When did you book it? Did you consult anyone?! Even though there is vacation after the finals, you..."
Zhou Huo whispered quietly: "Ninety-one hundred per night for the villa suite. That hotel you mentioned before—the one you've always wanted to stay at. Traditional and elegant. Perfect for your old-man aesthetic."
"But—but you still—" Old Qiao's anger immediately halved. His stance became less firm. "That still doesn't mean you shouldn't have discussed it with me. We could have arranged another practice match, and now you..."
Zhou Huo whispered quietly again: "All other expenses during the trip are also covered by the team."
"If everything's reimbursed then... well..." Old Qiao's voice got quieter and quieter. "Ahem... resting isn't so bad."
Chen Huo and Puppy suppressed their laughter.
"What made you want to go to Hangzhou anyway? Tired of Shanghai? Feeling too confined?" Old Qiao still didn't understand. "Though I wouldn't mind spending a few days in Hangzhou myself..."
Yu Sui looked relaxed: "I was worried you'd all get tired of staying at the base. I discussed it with Zhou Huo a few days ago. After the finals, all staff get paid vacation. The players go to Hangzhou for a holiday."
"That works." Old Qiao was increasingly tempted the more he thought about it, but still forced himself to look stern. "The match isn't finished yet! Focus! You have half an hour before you go on stage. Either look at the notebook or close your eyes and rest. Don't just think about playing around. If you lose, how fun can playing be? Winning makes playing much more enjoyable."
"That sounds right." Chen Huo sat up straight, snatching Old Qiao's notebook from Shi Luo and flipping through it. "It really is better to win..."
Puppy leaned against Chen Huo to look at the notebook. Shi Luo, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, picked up his phone to search for Hangzhou hotels.
Yu Sui sat next to Shi Luo. He spotted what Shi Luo was searching for at a glance and said softly: "Look at where you want me to sleep?"
Shi Luo quickly put away his phone. He looked around, pretending he hadn't heard.
Yu Sui ruffled Shi Luo's hair: "Relax. You're the only one nervous."
Shi Luo pressed his lips tightly together without speaking. He thought, Obviously. You all have your hearts set on Worlds. I'm the only one still worried about my bet.
Half an hour passed quickly. Everyone from Free stood up. Zhou Huo patted each player's shoulder: "Just play your normal game. Don't be nervous, don't relax. If we lose we can still go to Worlds, but if we win it's a satisfying conclusion to our season's regional report card. Let's go."
Everyone filed out of the training room and, guided by staff, walked to the main stage.
The finals venue was more than ten times larger than the semifinal venue. Before they even left the backstage area, Free's members could already hear the fans' thunderous cheers. Chen Huo jumped lightly a couple times, laughing: "Here we go, here we go, here we go... Getting excited."
After the team introductions, both teams entered their respective glass booths. After checking that all peripherals were working correctly, Yu Sui gave the referee final confirmation. The match officially began.
First game started.
During the countdown, Chen Huo clicked his tongue: "Are we really going to bully Wa Wa? Honestly, I don't get it. Isn't Wa Wa Shi Luo's good brother? He's also kind of half your disciple, Yu Sui? You're usually pretty nice to him. How come when it comes to the actual match, you're not cutting him any slack?"
Shi Luo said coldly: "Overestimating me. I once killed Wa Wa thirteen times in a single match."
"We're not even specifically targeting him—he gets scared just seeing Yu Sui anyway. Might as well use him as the weak point." Puppy said leisurely. "Wa Wa got too arrogant against Saint. He'd been holding back against us before, and now we just have to mess with him a little—it's itching our hands."
"Hold on." Chen Huo suddenly realized something, frowning. "Every pre-match briefing we don't we mess with our own teammates' mental game? Why are we talking about Wa Wa today? Nobody's going to attack me?"
"You want some? Consider your wish granted." Yu Sui adjusted his microphone, saying flatly, "During the pre-match in-game win probability poll, it's one-to-one tie between us and NSN."
Before Yu Sui even finished speaking, a few laughs from Chen Huo and Puppy came through Free's team voice chat.
The referee monitoring Free's team voice chat glanced at the group in surprise, unable to figure out what was so funny, and couldn't understand why a one-to-one win probability was supposed to shake their own morale.
"One-to-one..." Puppy nodded slightly. "Alright. Let's do this."
The countdown ended. Both teams rushed out from their respawn stones.
Free still used their usual standard playstyle. Yu Sui and Chen Huo pushed the front line, Shi Luo flanked, Puppy covered the rear.
NSN's front line had originally spread out three players, but after the initial contact revealed Free only had two people, they quickly called Xin Ran, the other flanker-assaulter, to come help. They wanted to three-versus-two and eliminate Yu Sui and Chen Huo at the start.
The rear player Puppy calmly reminded: "I saw movement in the western bushes. Xin Ran's gone over there."
Shi Luo had already swiftly taken down two purification dishes. Hearing this, he said: "Should I go over?"
"No need."
Before Yu Sui even finished speaking, in that flash of an instant, he'd already slashed off most of Wa Wa's health bar. Chen Huo followed up with shots to finish him off, then fired off a burst to take out Gu Qian. By the time Xin Ran arrived as backup, it was already too late to retreat. Trying to get a one-for-one trade by taking Yu Sui's life, he was instead picked off by Puppy's sniper shot from a distance.
A soft click of displeasure came through Free's team voice from Yu Sui.
Three kills at the start, and Yu Sui didn't get a single one.
"Don't blame me." Puppy reloaded. "You two were blocking the front, giving me no angle at all. I actually just wanted to scare him—hoping he'd position toward you guys in a panic. But little Xin Ran panicked instead, didn't reposition at all, and I just picked him off. Seriously, Yu Sui, blame yourself. How long has it been since you used that spin-kill from the side kick? Why did you use it on my Wa?"
Yu Sui fell back to heal himself: "Psychological warfare. To crush their morale."
"Hold back, hold back, otherwise Old Qiao will blow a gasket later." Chen Huo said this, but he placed a purification dish at the edge of the poison zone. Without even retreating to cover to wait for it to activate, he took two steps to the side and placed another. "I bet Rod won't dare snipe me."
All three front line players were dead. Rod didn't want to reveal his position early. The entire front was foggy. He couldn't snipe anyone. He could only watch helplessly as Chen Huo and Shi Luo pushed from both flanks.
Free got a beautiful start, winning a two-versus-three exchange at the opening. Taking the whole enemy team despite being outnumbered was the biggest blow to morale. To avoid the issue of the two assaulters having uneven resource consumption, after the first wave, Yu Sui had Shi Luo and Chen Huo switch positions.
All those hours of duo grinding weren't just for flirting. After a full season of磨合, Shi Luo's coordination with Yu Sui in frontal assaults was already flawless. Opponent Rod saw Free's two assaulters switch positions and immediately called it out. Gu Qian tried to cut off their repositioning and catch them when they were separated for a pincer maneuver. But before he could even reach the front line, Shi Luo spotted his position. A full magazine later, Shi Luo had taken out Xin Ran and Wa Wa. Gu Qian barely retreated back to cover.
Yu Sui's callouts came rapid-fire: "Don't move. Place your purification dish and I'll heal you. Chen Huo, just do your own thing. After placing five purification dishes, whether there's anyone there or not, come switch positions with Shi Luo."
"OK." Chen Huo nodded and asked, "Shi Luo, are we counting our resource consumption now?"
"Counting." Shi Luo held his position while placing purification dishes. "You're consuming more than me, you amateur."
"Ooh, you little punk." Chen Huo laughed. "Did I or did I not take down one more person than you?"
"Shut up." Puppy warned. "They're going to gank you, Huo."
Chen Huo didn't hesitate. He immediately fell back. Glancing at his combat data: he'd just placed his fifth purification dish.
Chen Huo laughed: "Yu Sui, you were timing their respawn, weren't you? You predicted they'd try to pick off someone when we were separated?"
"The front line was already broken. What else could they do but try to pick off separated targets?" Puppy still hadn't revealed his position. He didn't need to reposition. He kept opening his scope to check both sides, and couldn't help but admire: "But I still have to say... God Yu Sui is God Yu Sui. He's a pro at playing these dirty tricks. His timing is so precise."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Yu Sui asked Puppy, "Have they cleared the poison at the map edges?"
Puppy waited a moment to confirm: "They started clearing after Chen Huo left. Should we go for the encirclement?"
"No." Yu Sui said quickly. "They're clearing slower than us. Keep going."
Chen Huo regrouped with the other two. Both assaulters placed purification dishes. The poison zone forced NSN to return to defend the front. This was exactly what Yu Sui had been waiting for. Before Gu Qian's team could even stabilize their position, he went straight for Wa Wa. The three of them quickly eliminated Wa Wa. The front map was already dominated by Free. This time they didn't give NSN's two assaulters any chance to retreat. Trading off Chen Huo, they eliminated NSN's front line of three again.
"Rod sniped you. Nothing you could do." Puppy said. "But now I know his position. I'll blind-snipe him a few times. He won't dare show his head. You two keep clearing."
By the time NSN's front line respawned and rushed back to the front map, Free had already taken over the map. NSN had been broken open from the very start and had almost no chance to fight back. After barely holding on for another fifteen minutes, NSN collapsed completely. Free took the first game victory. The single game took less than twenty minutes.
When the game ended, fans and commentators alike took a moment to process what they'd just seen.
Commentator A shook his head: "That game ended too quickly. As everyone knows, during the regular season, when Free faced strong teams like NSN and Saint... it wasn't this absolutely dominant."
Commentator B hesitated: "Free didn't really bring out any new tactics. They just played more aggressively overall. It was probably them performing above their usual level. NSN's early mistakes were quite obvious."
Commentator A nodded: "Maybe it was them exceeding expectations on the day. Maybe NSN made mistakes. But maybe... we simply haven't had high enough expectations for Free."
"Some teams are like that—they get stronger against strong opponents." Commentator A sighed lightly. "I'm more inclined to think we didn't expect enough of them. Free during the regular season seemed reluctant to show their full potential. But three championship players on one team—did people really think that was a joke?"