# Chapter 123
Wawa was left speechless for a long while after Shi Luo's mental pep talk. His voice grew louder over the voice call, and after swallowing hard, he spoke with muddled thoughts, "If we run into the Holy Sword team, and we actually win..."
"This year's World Championship will be yours. If it's not yours, then it is yours." Shi Luo's tone was firm, as if he had relatives on the World Championship committee. "You won't even need to play the semifinals—you'll be crowned early. At minimum, they'll give you a spiritual honor of championship. Go check the overseas websites yourself. Besides those cancer players in the EU region, who even likes the Holy Sword? A lot of their own local players think they're disgusting. If you execute them in the quarterfinals, this year's protagonists will be NSN."
Wawa trembled. "But what if we lose..."
"The Holy Sword is on such a hot streak right now, nobody loses to them and loses face. If you do lose..." Shi Luo, familiar with the tactics of internet trolls, said, "As long as the Holy Sword doesn't win the championship, the trolls won't latch onto you."
"You don't have to worry about them winning the championship, obviously. Let's not even talk about finals yet." Shi Luo's tone was natural. "As long as the draw puts me and the Holy Sword in the same bracket, they won't even make it past the semifinals."
"I won't let the Holy Sword survive to the finals."
Wawa surrendered.
Shi Luo spoke as if he'd already mastered the script of fate, and Wawa was gradually hypnotized by him, truly believing he was the chosen one—that NSN was the dragon-slaying king of this World Championship.
Wawa rubbed his face for a long time, howling for them to start the next game as soon as possible.
Everyone returned to their computers. Zhou Huo stared fixedly at Shi Luo, lamenting softly, "...A person like Shi Luo, if he'd gone into the MLM industry, he'd definitely be a brainwashing genius."
"I deeply suspect the same." Zhou Huo couldn't help but add, "NSN's team psychologist probably isn't as useful as you... Old Gu owes you a meal. That brainwashing was too effective—Wawa probably actually believes it now."
Shi Luo seriously rebutted, "I'm not brainwashing, thank you. I'm genuinely this confident."
Zhou Huo: "..."
"I keep saying this group's draw was bad, the distribution of strong and weak teams is uneven." Old Qiao watched Shi Luo anxiously. "Finishing first in Group A inflated your ego... Luo, you'll see in the quarterfinals—there won't be that many inexperienced baby teams."
Shi Luo glanced at Old Qiao, his expression unchanged. "So what if they're not inexperienced babies? We'll win anyway."
Chen Huo clicked his tongue softly. "Looking at all the tournaments throughout history... many players in their teens make their World Championship debut for the first time. But players in their teens who can challenge the heavens like you've done? That's really rare."
"I suggest Manager Zhou make a special documentary episode about God Shi at this World Championship and sell it to all the teams." Puppy had ideas for making money. "Let them show it to their new recruits. Tell them, 'Watch our team's video. Tang Sanzang would rebel after seeing it. Wu Dalang would dare to join the Liangshan Rebels.' Suggest every team's youth trainees watch God Shi's documentary a hundred times for brainwashing after joining."
"Sure, provided we can actually get results this time." Zhou Huo agreed to everything. "Let's start. While you're practice sparring, also find your own problems. Tomorrow we'll definitely be focused on watching NSN's advancement match, so we won't have time for practice matches. Let's make it up today."
Everyone nodded, and they sparred with NSN all the way until dawn.
After NSN left, Free's team spent another two hours reviewing the replays among themselves. The longer they reviewed, the more energized they became. It wasn't until nearly 3 AM that they finally left the training room.
Before going to bed, these Free players, half-asleep and delirious, discussed that if they woke up early, they'd ask the organizers for tickets to watch NSN's advancement match live. But that night, everyone slept later than the next. The next day, when the group slowly dragged themselves out of bed, it was already 2 PM. Group C had already started their second BO1 match. Watching live was absolutely impossible now—they'd have to watch the stream at the hotel.
"I have some bad news for everyone." Zhou Huo woke up earliest. His face held not a trace of a smile as he said to Shi Luo and Chen Huo, who had just entered the training room. "It seems Shi Luo's brainwashing wasn't particularly effective in practice. NSN lost their first game today and dropped another point."
Shi Luo's lips twitched. "Fuck."
Chen Huo followed Shi Luo into the training room and froze. "Lost another game? This... is NSN finished? Can they even advance?"
"No no no, it's not that bad yet." Zhou Huo hurried to say. "NSN's record is now 2-2. Theoretically speaking... let me calculate."
Zhou Huo reached for pen and paper to calculate carefully. Shi Luo couldn't wait for Zhou Huo's scribbling and calculating, asking, "Who did NSN lose to?"
Zhou Huo said: "That North American powerhouse team again."
Shi Luo confirmed: "North America is 4-0 now?"
Zhou Huo said: "Yes, that team is really strong. No wonder they're the NA first seed—they haven't dropped a single game yet. If we run into them later, we'll have to be careful too."
Shi Luo nodded. "NSN's chance at finishing first in the group is gone."
Zhou Huo was still working on his calculations. Shi Luo sat down, mumbling to himself, "They can still fight for second place in the group... it's possible. As long as North America doesn't choke and drop points, as long as Thailand doesn't become a water ghost, as long as Korea doesn't suddenly pop off."
Zhou Huo started to speak, then stopped, awkwardly saying: "Sorry, I didn't understand a single word."
Shi Luo looked at Zhou Huo in confusion. "How did you pass probability in high school?"
Zhou Huo was speechless.
Everyone was most worried about whether NSN could even advance now. Shi Luo showed a bit more patience, sitting down with a slightly grim expression. "North American team has basically secured advancement. You can't stop them now. If you can't beat the big brother, you can only be the second brother. Now we actually have to hope the big brother racks up more points, so we don't accidentally create another second brother. Otherwise it will be hard for NSN to advance."
"Thailand is already eliminated from advancement. That kind of team has no pressure now. Unlike us, they don't have multiple considerations and burdens. Sometimes that actually helps them perform better. They might become a water ghost—they can't reach the shore themselves, but they can drag others down with them. If Thailand wins even one point against NSN, NSN is basically done."
"Korea is that other second brother. If they have a really good day today and win all three BO3s, then they'll be the second brother, or they'll compete with North America for first seed. NSN will be completely finished—they'll go home."
Shi Luo looked at Zhou Huo. "Got it?"
Zhou Huo took a deep breath. He wanted to say he didn't understand, but he was afraid Shi Luo would look at him with that "looking at an idiot" expression, so he forced a dishonest nod. "Got it."
Shi Luo sat there with a dark expression, staring at the livestream, muttering to himself, "Have to explain this meticulously, and he went to college..."
Zhou Huo swallowed his pride, thinking he'd complain to Yu Sui when he came to the training room later.
About twenty minutes later, Yu Sui also arrived at the training room. The second game of Group C had finished—Korea versus Thailand, and Korea won. Like NSN, they were now also 2-2.
Puppy sighed. "Halfway frozen now."
"Damn it, Thailand! You're a water ghost, what pressure do you have?! Drag him down! Feed them! You're feeding another point again, literally raising another second brother!" Chen Huo was completely flabbergasted watching the game. "Thailand's team has been to World Championship before, how are they this bad? 0-4! They're a walking charity!"
Yu Sui sat down, glancing at the current standings. "...Things aren't looking optimistic."
"Now it's a battle of the second brothers." Puppy was furthest from the livestream screen and sighed. "I was originally thinking NSN might actually overperform after being brainwashed by Shi Luo yesterday and get first place in the group. Then in quarterfinals everyone could have their own exciting matches. Now there's no hope. Tell a scary story—if NSN advances as second place, according to the quarterfinals rule that same-group teams can't be drawn against each other, NSN has a 33% chance of running into us, a 33% chance of running into the Holy Sword, and also..."
"Now getting any quarterfinal match is looking like the good outcome." Old Qiao also didn't expect Group C to be this tough. "Let's just focus on advancing first. As long as they can advance, that's enough."
The third BO1 started—Korea versus North America.
NSN wasn't playing, but the outcome of this match was crucial for whether NSN could advance.
Zhou Huo prayed silently. "Korea can't win again."
The Korean team had just picked up a point and tied NSN in record, seeing hope for advancement. Their morale was high, their overall confidence was building, and every player's condition was getting better and better. Just a few minutes into the game, they had already built a significant advantage.
The situation was getting worse and worse. Free's training room grew quieter and quieter. Gradually, even the talking stopped.
By the ten-minute mark, even Zhou Huo could see it—the Korean team had a very large advantage.
"...No way." Zhou Huo forced a laugh. "This... this second brother is stronger than our second brother. Is Korea going to advance as second place?"
If they won this game, Korea's points would exceed NSN's.
"There's still a chance." Old Qiao's brow was tightly furrowed. "This North American team is also playing well. They've been looking for opportunities the whole time, and they're getting more and more careful. They might turn it around."
Chen Huo clicked his tongue. "Honestly speaking, Group C's overall skill level is really high. Look at the quality of their group stage matches. Then look at our Group A quality... They're the real World Championship. Comparing ours to theirs is like a cybercafe tournament bullying elementary school kids."
Despite being pushed into an almost overwhelming advantage early on, with their map in shambles, the middle nearly cleared out, and both sides of the map being nibbled away piece by piece—in a normal team, with a deficit this large, player mistakes would inevitably increase, making it easy for opponents to capitalize.
But North America didn't.
Even though they'd been deliberately disadvantaged by Korea in the opening, North America had been stubbornly holding onto Korea, with very few mistakes. They'd been constantly looking for ways to turn the game around.
Shi Luo leaned in to watch seriously, even admitting, "Group C is playing a much more exciting game than us."
Korea and North America fought tooth and nail. North America clearly didn't want to break their perfect undefeated record, and also didn't want to give Korea any more points. If they lost this game, and then North America got dragged down by the Thai water ghost later, they'd have to play a tiebreaker with Korea for first place.
This game was critical for North America to win and lock up first seed in the group.
Of course, it was even more important for Korea.
The two teams played more and more carefully. North America absolutely refused to lose, constantly maneuvering, dragging the game all the way to forty minutes. Unfortunately, the early deficit could never be fully recovered. At the forty-seven minute mark, Korea won.
Current standings—Korea had already surpassed NSN.
The next BO1 was North America versus Thailand. The gap in strength between the two teams was enormous, the result was relatively predictable, and the outcome wouldn't significantly affect the group's advancement situation. The Free team members in the training room weren't really focused on watching. They were all worried about NSN's next two games.
"Next game is against Thailand, and the game after that is against this suddenly-popping-off Korea team. They have to win both games. Lose one and they're done." Old Qiao thought about how Wawa had been under immense pressure the day before, clicking his tongue. "Can Wawa handle it..."
Chen Huo shrugged. "Can't handle it, they've got no choice."
Zhou Huo forced a laugh. "Let me put myself in Wawa's shoes right now—my stress is through the roof... One mistake I make, one point lost, and I have to pack my bags and go home. And I have to carry that burden into the next two games..."
Zhou Huo put himself in Wawa's position and imagined his current state. He shuddered, continuously sucking in cold air. "Professional gaming really isn't for ordinary people. For me, forget about performing well in the next two games—I probably wouldn't even have the courage to leave the rest area."
Chen Huo snorted. "Now you know why our signing fees aren't easy to earn?"
Puppy sighed helplessly. "They also had bad luck with the draw. This Group C has too many strong teams."
Yu Sui didn't say a word. He heard Shi Luo's phone vibrate. A moment later, Shi Luo left the training room with his phone.
Chen Huo turned to look. "What's up?"
Yu Sui didn't even need to look. "It's probably Wawa calling him."
Yu Sui wasn't wrong.
In the hallway, Shi Luo静静地 listened as Wawa somewhat incoherently discussed the key points from yesterday's practice match. Shi Luo listened for a full three minutes. In the middle, he didn't hear any ambient noise or anyone else talking.
Wawa wasn't even in his team's rest area.
After listening a while longer, Shi Luo interrupted Wawa. "Where are you?"
Wawa was speechless. After a moment, he said awkwardly, "The public restroom. Nobody's... here."
Shi Luo tried to soften his voice. "Stop always being so scared. I promise you—no matter the result, if anyone dares to flame you, I'll definitely flame them back for you. You know how good I am at flaming people."
Wawa said quietly, "I'm not afraid of being flamed for losing. I'm..."
The other end of the phone went quiet for a moment. Wawa's voice was hoarse. "Shi-ge, if I lose, all of Team Leader Gu's hard work this year will be for nothing."
"How many more years can he play?"
Shi Luo's chest tightened.
Wawa suppressed a sob. "There's also ROD, Xin Ran... our entire club. We worked so hard for a whole year, just to get some results at the World Championship. If we fall in the group stage, I... I might as well retire."
Shi Luo was silent for a moment.
Surrounded by big-hearted players every day, Shi Luo had almost forgotten—not every player was made of iron.
Shi Luo squatted down, silently listening to Wawa's muffled crying.
At this point in the World Championship, Shi Luo had, for the first time, witnessed the hardships of ordinary people hidden in the restrooms of the competition venue.
"Can your team's medical staff stop being so angelic?"
Shi Luo sighed, choosing his words carefully. "How is losing a game entirely your fault? Plus we haven't lost yet. Why are you so eager to take the blame?"
Wawa's voice was hoarse. "I couldn't heal them, so they died..."
Shi Luo burst out laughing. "Then you shouldn't have called me. You should have called Yu Sui and let him share his medical theory with you."
"'A support who isn't strong enough doesn't deserve to be healed.'"
"'You didn't die because I didn't heal you. You're too bad and don't deserve healing.'"
"'When you respawn, think hard—what did you do in that fight besides wasting my photon shield and feeding the enemy?'"
Wawa's sniffling stopped. He couldn't help but laugh a little.
Shi Luo checked the time. There were still over forty minutes until NSN's next game. Shi Luo said quietly, "Hiding here and being scared is just worrying them. But I can't really help you that much. Trust me—go find Team Leader Gu. Find your team's psychologist. You all definitely know your own team's situation best. Play the next two games well."
Shi Luo said seriously: "Your skill level is actually not weak. You just always get affected by your mentality and can't perform. Trust me."
On the other end of the phone, Wawa sniffled and said quietly, "Okay."
Shi Luo said, "See you in quarterfinals."
Shi Luo waited for Wawa to hang up first, then sent a WeChat message to Gu Qian.
Other teams' business always had to be solved by themselves.
Shi Luo returned to the training room and watched the livestream with everyone.
Group C's fourth BO1 finished quickly. North America picked up another point.
The situation was now very clear. In the last two games, NSN had to win both to advance. Lose any game and they'd be eliminated.
Shi Luo didn't know what Wawa discussed with Gu Qian and the psychologist, or how long it took. Still worried, before the fifth game BO5 started, Shi Luo received several WeChat messages from Wawa.
Shi Luo looked down at his phone for a moment, then let out a soft breath.
The fifth game BO1 started. On stage, Wawa's expression was noticeably more determined.
Like Saint, NSN also had their own story and their own legacy within the team. Compared to Shi Luo's world-dominating brainwashing, NSN's internal team strength was actually more effective at comforting Wawa.
The fifth game: NSN versus Thailand. Even though Thailand, knowing they were eliminated, played lighthearted, they still couldn't become the water ghost. NSN easily took this game, bringing the score to 3-2.
The sixth game: NSN versus Korea. Both teams had 3-2 records. Whoever won would advance.
An absolute do-or-die game. Pressure was high on both sides.
NSN had a slight advantage—they'd just played a game recently, everyone's hands were still warm. Whatever Gu Qian had discussed with Wawa, Wawa was much more confident. From the start, he went straight with Gu Qian for a frontal fight. That momentum completely didn't look like they were playing a do-or-die game. Korea was obviously much more cautious. Originally planning to carefully maneuver with NSN, they lost this crucial step—NSN seized the initiative and took down four purification dishes right at the start.
"Nice!" Chen Huo slammed the table. "What a beautiful opening!"
Korea was also their region's first seed and wasn't weak by any means. After being disadvantaged at the start, they didn't panic. To disrupt NSN's rhythm, they rushed to the map edges to steal territory.
Korea's movements were quickly spotted by NSN's sniper. At this point, NSN should have sent someone to handle the map edge issue and stop pushing so hard, to avoid having their own map carved out like Swiss cheese.
Yu Sui watched the livestream and listened to the commentary, shaking his head. "Not necessarily."
Finally getting an early advantage—would they still play it safe and handle the map edges, slowing down their advantage push?
NSN's sniper ROD was already moving. When the commentators thought he'd go handle the map edge issues, ROD directly charged toward the center of the map.
Chen Huo gaped. "...Old Gu is going all in."
In this do-or-die game, NSN went all out with a bold gamble. The entire team pushed to the map's center. The sniper had absolutely no advantage in close-quarters combat, but every person counted. If they could land one shot, they'd land one shot. Four against many, they directly consumed Korea's frontline medic and an attacker. Then NSN continued their疯狂 rush to take purification dishes.
At the same time, Korea's other attacker was at the map edge, clearing territory undisturbed. NSN already had a numbers advantage, but they still didn't send anyone to handle Korea's attacker.
NSN's four people死死 occupied the map's center, frantically taking purification dishes.
Old Qiao watched, stunned. "Wow, even though they're best at fighting the front line, this is... too aggressive. They're basically abandoning both sides of the map. Aren't they afraid of falling behind Korea's speed if they take casualties?"
"Who cares! If they're still scared, this game is gone again." Chen Huo unconsciously stood up. "So extreme. Wawa's playing well—they haven't lost anyone yet."
They completely ignored the edge-stealing player and committed to racing. And this required NSN's medic to not take any casualties while out-sustaining. The pressure on the healer was enormous.
But Wawa held on.
"Anyone who didn't know better would think an angel was playing on his account." Puppy smiled. "This healing... not bad at all. Seriously. This is their best game of the entire group stage. They finally played to their strengths. They were too cautious before."
After the two teams raced to clear territory for several minutes, Korea finally couldn't hold on first.
Naturally, taking the long way around to clear edge territory was slower than staying at the map's center. Korea wanted to use fewer players to trade and chip away at NSN's numbers. But Wawa was literally healing with his life,死死 holding on and not letting anyone die. Korea had no choice but to abandon the edges and recall everyone for a frontal fight.
Already at a disadvantage, Korea had to fight NSN at NSN's strongest—frontal confrontation. Clearly, they couldn't win.
NSN brought their A-game, refusing to give an inch. At the eighteen-minute mark, NSN had zero casualties team-wide. The stats were shocking.
"Is this... really Wawa?" Puppy was stunned, couldn't help looking at Shi Luo. "Yu Sui just said Wawa called you? What kind of brainwashing did you do to him? It was so effective?"
Shi Luo shook his head. "The brainwashing failed. He went to find Team Leader Gu on his own."
Shi Luo pulled out the WeChat messages Wawa just sent him and showed them to Puppy.
Both of them had 5.3 vision—no need to take the phone, they could read it directly.
Awa: [I should have talked to the team leader sooner.]
Awa: [The team leader told me, when he was choosing a healer for the team back then, among three healers, he directly chose me.]
Awa: [It was the first time I knew he chose me. He said he's never regretted it.]
Awa: [Actually, ever since I entered this profession, his words are the only ones I've truly believed. When he says don't give up, I feel like I can't give up. When he says he believes I can play, I can play.]
Awa: [The team leader told me, he's taking me to quarterfinals.]
Awa: [Since he says he's taking me, I'll definitely make it.]
On the livestream, Gu Qian was at critical health doing a backdoor play and about to be taken down. Wawa was healing Xin Ran. In an instant, Wawa stopped healing, made an extreme reposition, went in front of Gu Qian, took three shots for him, and put his photon shield on Gu Qian. Gu Qian safely retreated to cover.
Game time had reached twenty-three minutes. Wawa was carrying with his life, and still hadn't let Korea take a single kill.
Old Qiao said quietly, "It's over. They got this."
The game's pace was extremely fast, with constant skirmishes. At the twenty-seven-minute mark, NSN crushed their way to the final ticket out of the group stage.
The director cut the camera to Wawa. In the soundproof booth, Wawa took off his headset, buried his face in his arms, then laid his whole body across the keyboard. His shoulders kept heaving.
"Congratulations, Awa." Shi Luo watched Wawa on the livestream, saying softly, "A battle that made your name."