# Chapter 99
In a BO5 match, getting off to a good start was crucial. After taking the first game, the atmosphere in Free's backstage rest room had loosened up compared to before the match. Zhou Huo in particular had stopped staring intently at the live stream screen and could even spare attention to urge the graphic designers to get both the win and loss versions of the official promotional posters out quickly, reminding the copy editors to draft both versions of the announcement text ahead of time.
"Didn't expect to win that fast." Zhou Huo联系文案一边疑惑道, simultaneously reaching out to the copy team, confused. "Weren't you guys planning to hold back? What's going on? Not holding back anymore? Going all-out right from game one?"
Old Qiao wiped his sweat and shook his head. "That's exactly why we had to play fast—we didn't want to use up all our strength so early."
Finding the balance between not revealing too much in domestic competition while also not wanting to lose, all while not letting down their guard for the upcoming international competition at Worlds, was incredibly difficult. All of Free's tactical arrangements were joint decisions made by the coaching staff and data analysis team. Everything about their playoff preparations truly felt like walking a tightrope. As the head of the coaching staff, Old Qiao was under the most pressure. During the previous match, sweat had been pouring off him in waves. Old Qiao folded a tissue neatly and kept it ready in his hand. "It's not that simple. The longer it drags on, the more we expose. Countless teams domestically and internationally have their eyes on us. We can't afford to act like Saint, just having fun every match. We have to think ahead."
Zhou Huo grabbed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Old Qiao. "Relax a bit. The pressure on you is bigger than on any of them."
"Pressure doesn't come in different sizes. It's all the same damn pressure." Old Qiao took a few sips of water, eyes locked on the broadcast screen. "It's just about who has the stronger heart and can withstand more pressure. Our players are doing fine. Let's see what NSN does next game. Wawa got focused a bit in the last round—wonder if it'll affect his gameplay this time."
As he spoke, the second game began.
"Though this is a bit embarrassing to admit." While waiting for the countdown, Chen Huo rubbed his hands together, muttering. "Wawa and I have CP fans too, quite a few of them. If I focus him again this round, I bet the fans are gonna come骂我不是人了……" He sighed. "Why is it always me? You guys are the ones who decided to target him, but I'm the one who probably ends up taking the blame."
"Come on, the Shi Luo and Wawa combo is clearly more popular." Puppy chimed in lazily, pouring cold water on the idea. "And it's not like it matters, right? Our team has always虐待越喜欢的选手么？" Puppy continued. "Look at our God Yu. From the fans' perspective, Yu Sui back then虐洛洛虐到家了吧？Their CP fans still think it's cute."
Shi Luo frowned. "Don't be disgusting."
The countdown ended, and the team's expressions sharpened.
Since NSN had been focused from the start of the previous round, this round they hid in their own fog and didn't rush to clear the zone, staying still and preparing to set up an ambush for Free.
Puppy, positioned in the back row, couldn't see anything. "There's no movement along the entire border line. They're probably蹲你们呢……" He trailed off. "Where are they waiting? Are they lurking in the center ready for a straight 3v3, or went to the edges for a 3-man gank? They hid really well. I can't see anything, just guessing. Can't say for sure—are they playing passive in the middle or waiting at the edges for a 3-man gank? Are you guys sticking together or splitting up?"
Compared to a straight fight in the map center, going to the edges to catch a lone target as an opening was much less risky—though naturally, the team benefit would also be smaller. Giving up the prime map center and only being able to clean up the edge zones wasn't worth it.
Generally, this strategy was only used when one player really didn't dare to engage head-on. Puppy hesitated simply because he suspected Wawa was affected by the previous round and didn't dare to face Yu Sui directly.
"They're still sticking together in the front. Trust me." Shi Luo said quietly. "Wawa's not the type to tilt that easily. They're still going to come at us head-on."
There wasn't a single bit of movement at the map edges. Puppy, whose eyes were essentially useless from the back line, hissed. "You sure about that?"
"Sure." Yu Sui said. "Still going for fast attacks, not dragging this out. Shi Luo, go clear the edge. Chen Huo, drop purification dishes."
The team followed Yu Sui's calls. Chen Huo was the first to place a purification dish—and just as Shi Luo predicted, the three NSN front-liners who hadn't moved an inch for two minutes had been waiting precisely for this moment. The purification dishes took a few seconds to activate, clearing NSN's fog. During those critical seconds, NSN held the vision advantage. Chen Huo had barely set down the dish when Gu Qian shot him mid-rise. Chen Huo quickly got up while strafing backward and returning fire. Free was now in a 2v3 and had lost first strike advantage—continuing the straight fight wasn't smart. Chen Huo fired a dozen or so shots to suppress NSN before quickly retreating with Yu Sui behind cover.
Chen Huo had broken his initial photon shield half a second before the enemy did—small loss—but on the left side of the map, Shi Luo had successfully dropped three purification dishes. Even after getting leg-sniped by NSN's sniper Rod, he managed to retreat safely. Free had already placed four more purification dishes than NSN from the start—overall, they still held the advantage.
"You actually called it." Chen Huo clicked his tongue. "Wawa's really going aggressive—still trying to trade blows with us head-on."
Shi Luo had exposed his position and couldn't continue clearing. He automatically returned to find Yu Sui for healing and murmured quietly, "Told you not to underestimate him."
During this exchange, NSN, taking advantage of Free's two flankers healing up, quickly dropped four purification dishes in succession. Puppy couldn't see their positions—his preemptive shots only suppressed and missed. Free wanted fast attacks and wasn't playing the back-and-forth recovery game. Before Shi Luo's health bar was even full, all three rushed out, engaging face-to-face. Wawa went down first again, but before dying, he fully healed Gu Qian, who had just lost health. Gu Qian then used his health advantage to take down Chen Huo and wounded Shi Luo to critical. Shi Luo was trading blows with Xin Ran—when Gu Qian landed a few extra shots, Shi Luo and Xin Ran executed a critical 1-for-1 exchange. Before dying, Shi Luo finished off Xin Ran. The one-hp Gu Qian was then picked off by Yu Sui. After the 3v3 concluded, only Yu Sui remained.
"They're playing really aggressive today." Puppy clicked his tongue. "The positioning is sharp too—completely not giving me any sniping angles."
"Respawn and rush straight to contest zone. Drop purification dishes first, then come find me for shield." Yu Sui spoke rapidly. "Both kills go to old Gu—not Xin Ran. We have a small advantage. Push this wave to clear zone quickly and extend our lead."
NSN was clearly very aware of how fast Free could push and capture after gaining initiative. The moment they respawned, they repaired and rushed straight to the front lines again.
Shi Luo successfully retreated after dropping his purification dish and regrouped with Yu Sui. Chen Huo was half a second too slow—his arm got sniped by Rod, but he survived with a sliver of health.
"The last round was already fast enough. I didn't expect this round's tempo to be even more brutal." Commentator A exclaimed in surprise. "Both teams are locked onto each other, desperately not wanting to give the other side a bigger advantage. Both insisted on holding the front-line engagement. Although Free currently has the advantage, I have to say NSN is also using this for training—Wawa no longer shows the hesitation against Yu Sui like usual. Not only wasn't he affected by the last round, his mechanics are getting sharper too. Those last few exchanges—he wasn't afraid at all. Fight就 fight, we're both medics. I might still be worse than you, but I'm not afraid of you anymore!"
"Yeah, honestly most medics would be somewhat nervous facing Yu Sui. Wawa overcame that hurdle." Commentator B nodded. "But...说实话我感觉始终拼正面还是危险。Although NSN handled things really well, Free still gets more or less advantage in every head-on clash. It's not super obvious yet, but after a few more exchanges, it'll be bad. Free's front three are just too stacked."
Before the commentators finished talking, the two teams collided head-on in the center again. The central map had been cleared by both teams, creating a wide open area. Both snipers finally had enough vision to join the fight—officially entering the 4v4 phase, with firepower escalating further. Early game, the two teams had been dancing around each other—almost neither could clear much at the edges. Nearly all purification dishes from both teams had been dropped in the map center. Now, whether they wanted to or not, they had to fight head-on. If they tried to play the edge game again, the remaining economy wouldn't be enough to sustain the final push.
Commentator A chuckled helplessly. "A moment ago they wanted to fight, now they have no choice. But I have to say, trying to outmuscle Free's roster... it's still pretty tough. At least domestically, no team has won a straight fight against Free yet."
After eight minutes of continuous head-on clashes, Free took the match.
"They're also looking for ways to crack our front-line push, and training Wawa in the process." After the second game, Old Qiao in Free's rest room finally relaxed a bit. He smiled at the players. "Or maybe they're just not convinced—wanting to measure up against your front line. It's also a front three lineup, so why can't they push us?"
"They can push, nobody said they can't." Chen Huo rolled his shoulders, raising an eyebrow. "But they just didn't succeed.啧……"
"Don't get too cocky." Old Qiao knocked on Chen Huo's shoulder. "You lost the most kills last round—too many mistakes. Review it thoroughly after the match."
Shi Luo, who had cleaned up Chen Huo's messes twice in the previous round, looked up coldly. "Unstable."
"I know..." Chen Huo sighed helplessly. "Aren't you guys asking too much? Making us play these fast-paced rounds, two in a row. I'm a flanker—my focus can't stay that sharp the whole time... Um, okay, Shi Luo did it, but how old is he? When I was his age..."
"You'd also be unstable." Yu Sui said lazily. "If your natural concentration isn't top-tier, just admit it. You're definitely not as steady as Shi Luo in trades—anyone can see it. It's not embarrassing."
"My fault, our fault—working you guys too hard." Old Qiao knew full well how demanding their tactics were on the players. "Persist. Keep persisting... We've made it this long. We can handle a bit more. So, uh... where's Manager Zhou? What's the post-match reward? Something to calm everyone down ahead of time."
"Let's not even mention the cash bonus." Zhou Huo finally got his chance to speak, hurrying over eagerly. "At the end of this season, all equipment in the training room gets updated. Each computer starts at 100,000 yuan—configure them however you want. Report your own component models. Want to build some god-tier setups? We'll make it happen."
"And that's not all." Zhou Huo added hastily. "After today's match, there was originally a three-day holiday. Considering you guys will come back from Hangzhou and have to train immediately—too exhausting. Adding one more day. Breaking protocol just this once—four days total."
Old Qiao was about to protest instinctively but reconsidered and softened. "...Alright. That works too. For the past few months, the only break was that half-day when it rained. One more day is one more day."
The referee outside was hurrying them. Everyone stood up. Zhou Huo, worried his rewards weren't generous enough, anxiously went around giving individual reminders. "More surprises coming, more surprises. Chen Huo, next season all skins for your waifu—team covers everything... Puppy, next season I'll negotiate a much better streaming contract with the secret spot. Daily streams without upgrading the contract? I couldn't stand it either... Okay okay, everyone fighting!"
Shi Luo paused mid-step, turned his head, and frowned. "What about my surprise? What about Yu Sui's?"
Zhou Huo froze, then laughed awkwardly. "Does Yu Sui need me to turn around and give him surprises? The team is already his. As for you... your hobbies aren't exactly healthy. I can't reimburse cigarettes and alcohol for you next season, can I? That doesn't look good."
The referee from Free's team, who had been holding back laughter the whole time, quietly urged, "Players may now take their positions."
Shi Luo dissatisfiedly rubbed his neck and continued forward. As he entered the glass booth, Yu Sui passed behind Shi Luo. At Shi Luo's ear, Yu Sui murmured quickly, "Your surprise... tomorrow the team goes to Hangzhou for vacation. Neither of us is going."
Shi Luo froze. He whipped his head around to look at Yu Sui.
Yu Sui was already seated at his position. His expression was as usual as he put on his headset, tested the team voice chat, signaled the referee that everything was ready, and took the captain confirmation form to sign.
Shi Luo sat at his position. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Only then did he understand.
Yu Sui had arranged for the team to go to Hangzhou not to have a legitimate excuse to take Shi Luo out for a hotel stay—but simply to send everyone else away.
When everyone was gone, only Yu Sui and himself would remain at the base. Three whole days.