# Chapter 100
Free took the first two games, and by this point it would be very hard for NSN to make a comeback. In a BO5 format, come-from-behind 3-2 victories weren't unheard of, but with such a gap in skill, the odds were practically zero. On a stage where victory depended on raw skill, you couldn't rely on miracles. The four NSN members knew this as well, but before the third game started, they weren't all glum-faced—instead, the whole team had been discussing something.
"What are they talking about over there?" Chen Huo glanced toward the NSN side, frowning. "Are they plotting some sneaky strat? Why does everyone like coming up with counters specifically for us?"
"We've been marked as the opponent team to beat ever since we built this roster this season. Getting targeted isn't surprising?" Puppy glanced up. "Just react to whatever they throw at us."
Tian Luo had only one thing on his mind: Whisper's words in his ear—"Tomorrow the team goes to Hangzhou for vacation. Neither of us is going." Tian Luo took off his headset, fixed his hair to compose himself, then put it back on. "We've still got three games left. Three match points. What are we afraid of?"
"I'm just curious what they're still discussing." Chen Huo craned his neck to stare at the other side. "Still talking... Xinran even smiled. Damn, that smile of his makes me nervous."
Whisper stared at his computer screen, voice flat: "Some backbone you've got."
Before Tian Luo could respond, the broadcast cut in with a pre-game interview.
By convention, such segments usually featured interviews with the losing side.
On the giant screen, the broadcast showed Wawa's solo interview.
In the shot, Wawa sat up straight and spoke slowly: "I didn't dare think too much about facing Free in the finals before, because we were playing against Saint in the semis—their team won the championship last season. We were actually under a lot of pressure, worried that if we lost the semifinal, our chance at Worlds would be gone completely. There's no way we'd make it to the finals, so we were very nervous. And my main playstyle is similar to Angel Sword's, except I'm not as good as him. I was pretty worried, worried I'd hold the team back."
"We spent most of our energy preparing for Saint, and we were really happy when we won. Facing Free feels a bit less mentally draining, because we knew we'd made it to Worlds. The pressure eased up a little."
"Win or lose is hard to say, because that's Free we're talking about. Their medic is still God Whisper. Their frontline combat capability is too strong. It really is tough."
"We'll have less counter-strategy prepared specifically for Free, there's no helping that." Wawa scratched his neck, smiling. "When you haven't even played the semifinals yet, of course you're not going to make plans targeting Free. That'd be too arrogant. We didn't dare assume we'd beat Saint in the first place. But since we've made the finals, we'll definitely go all out."
Wawa looked into the camera, seriously: "I really am not as good as Whisper. I was also very afraid of facing him before, afraid of fighting God Whisper head-on. But our NSN team produces rushers. Flanking head-on is our team's strength. I can't be afraid. I believe in my captain and Xinran."
The interview video ended. Chen Huo couldn't help but laugh: "We've been cast as the villains again. They just said flanking head-on is their strength, and in the last game they hard-flanked us and got crushed."
The countdown for the third game started. Puppy shook his head: "This round probably won't be a flanking match anymore, right?"
Tian Luo was silent for a moment, then didn't speak.
NSN didn't have time to prepare many targeted strategies, but they could fall back on tricks they'd used before. Though the odds weren't great either.
The countdown ended, and the game officially began.
"So we're still going with the 'adapt to the unchanged' approach?" Puppy asked from the back. "Still having Tian Luo flank?"
Whisper nodded: "Everything stays the same."
Tian Luo heard this and went to the map's edge himself. Whisper moved mid with Chen Huo. Before they even reached the map's boundary line, Whisper heard footsteps.
Whisper's lips curved slightly: "Nobody's playing fancy today? Just going to duke it out to the end?"
After two straight losses, NSN hadn't broken mentally or backed down. Since they hadn't prepared any surefire strategies, they were fighting on raw skill. NSN seemed completely unafraid of letting opponents beat their strongest flanking rush tactics—they were going to throw down another round.
"Tian Luo drop one cleanse and come back."
Before Whisper even finished speaking, Gu Qian had already rushed him. Whisper dodged swiftly, landing a slash on Gu Qian before his shield shattered. Their photon shields broke simultaneously. Chen Huo and Xinran opened fire at the same time. The 2v3 on both sides erupted directly. Whisper took two bullets from Gu Qian and retreated behind Chen Huo, taking all the fire upfront while Chen Huo remained in perfect condition. One magazine later, Chen Huo finished off the shieldless Gu Qian, broke Wawa's shield while getting finished by Xinran. Tian Luo had by now returned to mid-map, took Chen Huo's position, and eliminated Xinran. Wawa sacrificed Xinran to retreat into cover and heal. After the first exchange, Free traded one for two.
"They're going all-in from the start again?" Chen Huo was almost frantic. "Watching which side burns out their flankers first? I almost had Xinran just now!"
"Dead men don't talk." Tian Luo didn't go to Whisper for healing. Seizing this brief moment, he placed two cleanse dishes to expand the advantage they'd built from this engagement, then fell back to Whisper's side. "They just want to grind us down. Unlimited frontal clashes. See whose frontline makes more mistakes. This is technically also a strategy—'kill a thousand, lose eight hundred'..."
Before Tian Luo finished, Gu Qian had already respawned first. He knew Free only had Whisper and Tian Luo here, and guessed Tian Luo was healing. Gu Qian seized this moment—fortune favors the bold. Without going to Wawa for a shield, he placed three cleanse dishes in a string at the map boundary. Puppy shot him once but only hit Gu Qian's leg. Gu Qian retreated quickly, gaining another small map advantage.
The outside commentators watched the two teams' bloodbath at the opening and exclaimed: "Gu Qian is very clear that Free can't control the map boundary line right now. He could absolutely go to the edge and quietly clear some zones, but NSN chooses not! He wants to take Free's frontal map position!"
"Maybe the worst decision, maybe the best decision." The other commentator赞叹道. "Wawa just said they didn't dare plan for the finals before. Their tactical储备 for Free was insufficient. Of course, after watching the first two games, we have to admit no team could claim to have surefire tactics against a team like Free. With that in mind, they're already at game three. Fortune favors the bold—NSN decides to rush the frontal once more to prove themselves. Our specialty is the frontal. Why would I偷图 to the corners? I'm going to try! The last game's scenario is replaying. NSN decides to try again, and with even greater intensity!"
If both teams chose to clear zones from the frontal, the gameplay would actually be most exciting to watch. The very center of the map—this was no longer sneaking. This was openly snatching from right in the enemy's face. Both sides needed constant firefights. I kill you, I take your zones. You kill me, you take mine. If both sides suffered casualties, it was all about split-second timing—pressing the advantage when the enemy wasn't fully respawned and healed, rushing to place cleanse dishes first. It all came down to who had faster hands.
"Gu Qian placed three! Three!!" In the team voice chat, Chen Huo roared. "We only placed two! Tian Luo! Why? On what grounds? What are you standing there for? They've gotten in our faces! Screw them!"
Without Chen Huo's shouting, Tian Luo was already counter-sniping anyway. NSN's tempo this round was too fast. If he wasn't careful, they'd really lose. Tian Luo was highly focused, no nonsense, eyes locked on the monitor. Once his healing was complete, Tian Luo sidestepped into another cover position, forming a triangle formation with Whisper, Chen Huo, and the enemy. Chen Huo yelled: "In this kind of fast attack you can't stop for even a second. The moment you do, they'll eat the whole map!"
"Shut up." Whisper wasn't as tense as his two flankers. His expression was normal, his focus sharp. The fog was thick ahead; he could only judge enemy positions by sound. In less than two seconds: "Tian Luo, your left."
Before Whisper finished, Tian Luo was already firing. In the thick fog, Gu Qian and Xinran both returned fire. This time Whisper didn't go front line. Using the moment when Chen Huo was engaged, he placed a cleanse dish and silently flanked to behind Wawa, eliminating him. In the front line 2v2, Tian Luo traded one for two and went to respawn. NSN's three front-liners were all eliminated, but Free had penetrated too deep and Rod caught Tian Luo's movement pattern. Chen Huo was shot down to critical HP.
Tian Luo waited out the respawn timer. Chen Huo couldn't wait to heal—he had Whisper patch him up slightly, then rushed to the boundary line to place cleanse dishes. This time he strung out four. After Rod shot him in the shoulder again, downing him to critical HP, Chen Huo rolled sideways into cover, giving up on continuing to clear zones.
Chen Huo absolutely needed to heal properly now. But just as he got his shield up, the NSN three front-liners came at them again. Again. And again.
"Tian Luo's shieldless. With me." Whisper's commands came rapid-fire. "Still sandwich attack. Chen Huo, go sell front. Tian Luo, your current HP is lower than theirs—you can't hard push."
Tian Luo had just respawned. Chen Huo had no choice but to sell. That's how frontal fights work. You're slow, the enemy won't slow down. If you dare hide behind cover for even one rotation, the enemy will drop ten cleanse dishes during that time. Chen Huo rose and sprayed, buying Tian Luo some time, then flanked the enemy face alongside Tian Luo. More and more of the map was being cleared. The snipers on both sides had increasing room to operate. Once they officially entered the 4v4 phase, it was practically non-stop fighting. Puppy was even难得 fired up. Since constantly shooting had long since revealed his position anyway, he might as well keep sniping people. No vision? No problem—just try. Missing a shot cost nothing; hitting one was a bonus!
Neither side would give the other even one second. Both flankers on each team got more and more fired up with each exchange. Tian Luo's neck was flushed red. His APM was climbing faster and faster, locked in an intense duel with Gu Qian and Xinran. Chen Huo rushed forward at full speed while screaming in frustration: "We're all going to Worlds, you know! What's the point of burning out both teams' flankers? My brain is overheating—holy f***, Xinran dropped another cleanse!"
Tian Luo was also bloodthirsty. When he saw Xinran silently approach and drop a cleanse dish, he charged directly. First crashing into Xinran to interrupt his cleanse, then spraying Wawa twice. Using his own body as cover for Whisper to dodge Rod's bullet trajectory. Whisper's dagger finished Xinran. His bloodied white medic coat flashed as he charged straight for NSN's backline sniper Rod.
Every time a sniper fired a shot, they needed to reload. That brief window was when they were just sitting ducks. Whisper loved targeting snipers in solo fights. The zones on both sides were nearly cleared. By this point in the round, Whisper was also feeling the bloodlust. He didn't want to waste any more time and miss the advantage. He charged the backline first. Before Rod could react, he crept close. When Rod frantically tried to scope-snipe him, Whisper dodged with positioning. Then when Rod was reloading, Whisper finished him with a dagger.
"Puppy, push forward. Their sniper's gone." Whisper refreshed his shield. "Mop up."
Puppy, Tian Luo, and Chen Huo pushed together into NSN's map territory. Puppy advanced methodically, coordinating closely with Tian Luo and Chen Huo. The four of them pressed hard. After repelling two more NSN pushes, they broke NSN's respawn stone.
At the same moment, golden confetti rained down outside Free's glass room, sparks flying everywhere.
Tian Luo wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at the time—
This round had only taken eighteen minutes.
"Holy f***, NSN are a bunch of beasts... A few more waves like that and we really couldn't have held on. I almost threw up..." Chen Huo took a deep breath. "I admit it. NSN's frontal is genuinely strong. I yield. Really... This round they weren't without a chance."
In the other glass room, the NSN members, though defeated, had no regrets. They weren't depressed. In the final round, both sides had played beautifully. After a brief daze, the NSN members smiled across the distance and gestured to Free, congratulating them on winning the match.
"Phew... That felt good! The final round was the most satisfying game I've played all season." Puppy slammed the table hard, grinning. "Too bad Rod's going to have to postpone his proposal."
Whisper pushed back from his keyboard, rolled his neck. "If he hadn't lost, I would've lost that bet."
Tian Luo was still沉浸在 the adrenaline-fueled tension and excitement of the final round. It took him a moment to react to the words. He controlled his expression, fighting the blush creeping up. He gently tapped his mic, signaling to Whisper that the glass隔音 room hadn't been opened yet—the team voice chat was still being monitored.
Whisper turned his head to look at Tian Luo, seemingly unaware, eyes dark and bright: "Tian God, what did I promise you before the match?"
Tian Luo coughed, eyes gesturing for Whisper to pay attention to the voice monitoring.
Whisper showed no concern, didn't even take off his headset. Instead, he adjusted his mic, and squarely, confidently, spoke into the microphone on his headset: "I'm asking you—did I lie? Do you have everything everyone else has?"
Tian Luo froze, then gradually a smile tugged at his lips. A moment later, he spoke into his own mic: "N-no... you didn't lie to me."
Everyone else has, I have too.
What everyone else doesn't have, you're still working to give me.
I understand all of it.