# Chapter 132
During the mid-match break, Zhou Huo had no mind to tend to his own players. He was so anxious he could dig a hole straight through the earth to peer into the Holy Sword rest room and see what expressions they were making.
"We've taken three match points from them, and I'm really curious what they're even discussing now?" Zhou Huo was genuinely curious. "Why don't you send me over there—your marketing genius—to discuss things. How should we handle post-match PR? They controlled their group stage results and maneuvered themselves into eighth place. This PR problem isn't something just anyone can solve. I happen to have a ready-made 'how to lose gracefully' press release that I could give them for free..."
After taking two consecutive games, Old Qiao's expression relaxed as well. He mocked, "Didn't your former team NSN poison themselves during yesterday's rehearsal, saying they might bomb out in quarters? Didn't they ask their former manager for PR materials? You were going to give it to Holy Sword but not NSN?"
"Better to give to outsiders than to household servants." Zhou Huo shook his head, waving his hand grandly. "NSN won't need this. They don't deserve to lose."
Shi Luo smiled slightly, took the two heat packs the staff handed him, and stuck them on the backs of both hands. He walked to the side, grabbed his jacket and wiped his hands with it, then pulled out a cigarette case.
"Don't get cocky. Watch out for a 2-3 comeback." Even though he knew the odds were slim, Old Qiao didn't dare relax too much. He looked at Shi Luo and Chen Huo. "You guys okay? Honestly... this game was a grind. Any issue in the middle and it would've collapsed. It wasn't actually that stable."
"Got it." Chen Huo nodded. "Honestly, I don't know if Shi Luo can keep going, but my hands are about to break off."
Chen Huo looked at the group. "But we can hold."
"Next game we'll switch up the strategy. We're not limited to just this one approach." Yu Sui took the hot water the staff handed him and drank a couple sips. "We stunned them at the start and affected their mental state. That's enough. Next game we'll change tactics and have some fun."
The data analyst exchanged a look with Yu Sui, then nodded. "OK, but the pressure's still on you. As long as you can handle it."
In the room full of people, Shi Luo lit a cigarette without避开了 for the first time, took a deep drag.
Looking closer, one could see Shi Luo's hands trembling from pain.
If he hadn't wanted to win so badly, he wouldn't have pushed this hard in the first two games.
Zhou Huo kept glancing at the livestream screen, feeling increasingly anxious.
Why wasn't it playing yet?
Why were they still running sponsor ads?
Based on the previous match's mid-break timing, they could've already played their video. Why was it dragging on and on when it was their turn? Were they being targeted? By the time the match started, the ads still wouldn't be finished. The players would enter the soundproof booth and see nothing—what good would that do?
Zhou Huo kept looking at the synchronized livestream. The data analyst took a pitying look at this person experiencing Worlds for the first time, then walked over and无奈地 explained quietly: "It's not the director's fault. Blame your players."
Zhou Huo frowned at the data analyst, who simply shrugged. "Since the sponsors paid, you have to air all their ads during this BO5. There should've been four mid-break slots for ads, but your team opened with a 2-0. What if your players win the next game too? Then there'd be no third mid-break. You want the tournament organizers to skip on the sponsors? They wouldn't dare."
The data analyst撇嘴. "They wouldn't dare, but they can definitely leave you hanging."
Zhou Huo: "..."
The data analyst无奈地看着直播屏. "But you can't complain either. You voluntarily shortened their ad time, so they had to cram all the ads into this one slot. Whose fault is that?"
"My fault..." Zhou Huo had calculated everything but never anticipated this explanation. He choked with frustration. "My players are too unreasonable... I brought this on myself."
Zhou Huo was so pissed his chest hurt, but he couldn't tell anyone. He could only watch ad after ad play continuously. When the staff came to remind the players to enter, the ads were still running.
Zhou Huo gave up, laughing bitterly. He abandoned any hope of his hastily-made video being played. He forced a smile, shouted words of encouragement, and sent the players out of the rest room.
After opening with a 2-0, the Chinese region fans in the arena had started swaggering around. Throughout the entire mid-break, the cheers and加油声 never stopped. When the Free ref led the players back in, they deliberately stopped everyone before entering the soundproof booth, wanting them to see the passion and frenzy of their own fans in the arena.
And at that moment, the endless stream of ads on the giant screen finally ended, and Chen Huo's face suddenly appeared on the giant display. The fans in the arena erupted into wild screams.
The ref was also stunned. "You guys have a pre-match video too?"
Chen Huo stared blankly. "...No, wait..."
Chen Huo's expression changed. "A few days ago, Zhou Huo asked me to record a video, saying it would be used for the club's one-year anniversary next month. He told me not to be embarrassed, to say something sincere. So... this..."
Chen Huo's expression froze. "So... you guys, also recorded something?"
The other three from Free: "..."
Puppy clapped his hand over his face, filled with regret. "...I recorded one."
Shi Luo reacted quickly, turning to the ref. "Where's the director's booth? Or the venue's electrical control room?"
The ref had never seen a player go this far off the rails. He swallowed hard, his whole face screaming refusal. "Evil, you're about to qualify for quarterfinals. You have a brilliant future ahead. Don't get disqualified for misconduct at this stage..."
The ref looked to Yu Sui for help, hoping the Free captain would maintain some discipline. But unexpectedly, the usually calm Yu Sui showed a hint of awkwardness on his face. Looking closer, Captain Yu's ears were actually a bit red, and when their eyes met, he quickly looked away.
The ref was stunned. "What on earth did you all say that's so terrible? Was it something offensive? Don't worry—if it was profanity, the director team will definitely bleep it out for you."
"It's precisely because it wasn't offensive that I'm embarrassed letting it play..." Chen Huo stared at his bare face directly on the big screen, eyes closing in despair. "My hair's such a mess. I'm going to kill Zhou Huo's—"
The ref had never seen this entire band of troublemakers panic like this. He offered kindly, "Otherwise, you guys want to go to the soundproof booth? Once you're inside, you won't be able to hear it."
The four hesitated, not really wanting to leave.
Each person had only recorded their own segment and didn't know what the others said. Now they were actually feeling a bit curious.
After all, if there was embarrassment, everyone shared it. If they were going down, they'd go down together. They all wanted to see who would be most embarrassed.
Ten minutes later, the third game of Free versus Holy Sword in the quarterfinals officially began.
Inside the soundproof booth, the four Free players waiting for the match to start no longer tried to mess with each other's mental state.
Manager Zhou had just executed a master-level psychological attack, and they were still processing it. They had no energy left to bother each other.
When the countdown ended, the four didn't rush out first this time.
Switching tactics, this game they no longer pushed for fast attacks. Yu Sui started with Chen Huo, then successively cast Photon Shields on everyone.
In the pre-match video.
Chen Huo stared at the camera for a long time, then awkwardly laughed first. "Fuck, this is so awkward... Recording this stuff."
"First, about Yu Sui. Yu Sui..."
Chen Huo paused, then after a long while, smiled, rubbed his eyes, and slowly continued—
"Just suddenly remembered... you're actually younger than me."
"I'm supposed to be your older brother, but... I never took care of you. These past few days, you've let me walk through without a worry in the world... and I actually owe you for that."
"Even though you never buffed me, you're still my best medic."
"In any case... let's move on to Puppy."
"Puppy, I always said you蹭热度 during streams, but that was a lie. Don't take it to heart."
"Even though I know you wouldn't."
"Shi Zi..."
"I don't even know why we were at each other's throats from the day you joined the team. I was never actually annoyed with you."
"Oh, and a secret—back when we got into that fight over barbecue skewers... I definitely ate all your skewers. Yours were just too much to my taste. Sigh... I didn't want to say it."
"That's it. Should I go get Puppy?"
---
On the stage, Puppy followed the tactical arrangement and started playing conservatively, conserving ammo, not rushing or charging, staying in the back with his scope open like a quiet pair of eyes, providing timely callouts.
Holy Sword had been tormented through two games. This time, right after the start, their nerves were wound tight, preparing to go all-in and rush Free head-on. But after an early skirmish revealed Free suddenly wasn't pushing anymore, playing steady and methodical—the Evil player who looked like a地狱阎罗 last game was actually sneaking to the map edges to capture points.
Puppy called out for Shi Luo: enemies incoming. As soon as they arrived, Free's four would immediately group up, push them back and disperse, not chasing or拉扯, and when they were gone, continue capturing points. Piece by piece, unhurried.
In the pre-match video.
Puppy looked at the camera, helpless. "I hate this kind of segment the most. What am I supposed to say?"
"First, Yu Sui."
"Just... I won't praise him too much. Everyone knows how good Yu渣 is. I can only say..."
"If not for you, I wouldn't have followed you across the world."
"Thanks. Because of you, I now have a club where I can completely relax, stream whenever, and focus on competing in peace."
"Next, Chen Huo."
"I always say you're缺心少肺, but I know... you're not."
"That year Holy Sword sold me, Yu Sui was going through his withdrawal phase, we couldn't reach him—those days, I had you to thank."
"You were always finding ways to cheer up that Yu渣男, always finding ways to look after me from halfway across Europe... Thanks."
"Shi Luo..."
"Let's be serious for once. Sigh, this is so awkward."
"Shi Zi, I want to tell you..."
"During the hardest days... the few of us in Europe weren't doing well, but you back in China probably weren't either."
"From the day you joined the team, I treated you the same as I treat Chen Huo and the others."
"You were never an outsider."
---
On the stage, Puppy warned Shi Luo that someone else was coming to flank him. Shi Luo nodded to show he'd heard, and quickly said: "No need. Just two people. I can handle this myself."
"You sure?" Yu Sui and Chen Huo were holding off Holy Sword's front line. "Don't die, got it?"
"Got it, no need to come over." Shi Luo was highly focused, using subtle sounds through his headphones to track enemy positions. He crouched behind cover and dropped a Purification Dish, then quickly repositioned to another piece of cover and set up to defend against the incoming wave.
At the same time, Yu Sui and Chen Huo engaged with Holy Sword's medic and an assault player on the map center—a true 2v2. Yu Sui topped up Chen Huo's health and engaged directly, killing one assault player before quickly retreating.
Shi Luo was facing one assault and one sniper. The two were slowly, stealthily approaching Shi Luo's position.
Puppy called out: "Yu Sui's finished over there. Want him to come over? You'd be safer with a medic."
Shi Luo's expression was focused. He whispered, "...No."
Shi Luo timed his position and movement perfectly, suddenly shifted stance and fired, rapidly breaking the Photon Shields of Holy Sword's two flanking players. Shi Luo retreated back into cover.
In the team chat, Chen Huo also said, "Should Yu Sui come over?"
Yu Sui topped up Chen Huo's health again. "Who's the shot-caller?"
Chen Huo obediently shut up.
Shi Luo reloaded his assault rifle. "I can handle it... Don't split focus for me."
This play style had been tested and refined countless times in practice. Every time the "two plus one plus one" strategy called for splitting an assault player to solo clear毒圈, it was always Shi Luo going alone.
The reason was simple—Yu Sui and Chen Huo had years of partnership. Their coordination and attention to detail was stronger than what they had with Shi Luo.
Puppy's job this early game was to save money and serve as eyes. With his mouth finally free, he couldn't help but插入. "Yu渣 really is a渣... He's protecting the central map with everything he's got, watching his little boyfriend fight 1v2, and won't even go save him."
Holy Sword's assault player deduced that Shi Luo was truly alone here, stopped circling, and alongside his sniper teammate directly closed in. Shi Luo heard footsteps in the bushes, reacted instantly, spun around and flanked, firing directly—a burst of three shots connected, though he took one hit himself.
Holy Sword's players' mechanics were also dialed in. The position they'd chosen to flank Shi Luo happened to be in the slope area where Puppy had no line of sight, so Puppy couldn't assist with covering fire.
Shi Luo's shield was shattered, but fortunately the enemy had no medic. Shi Luo held his breath, relying on his quick reflexes and movement, without depleting the enemy further, instead rushing forward, rapidly taking down the assault player. With barely any health left, he pulled off a极限操作 and caught the enemy sniper during his reload, taking him out as well.
Puppy breathed a sigh of relief. "Nice! Team wipe! First respawn is in fifteen seconds!"
Shi Luo was setting down Purification Dishes as he moved. "Can I come over to heal and shield now?"
In the team voice channel, Yu Sui said, "No, not possible right now."
The map center already had eight Purification Dishes planted like rice shoots by Chen Huo. Once Holy Sword's front line respawned, they'd definitely come to disrupt the疯狂 capturing Chen Huo. Shi Luo was at the map edge—his travel time to center map was about the same as the enemy's respawn time. Going there now would just be feeding.
Everything was for the win. Being abandoned by tactics was normal. Shi Luo struggled on his own with his fragile sliver of health, still争分夺秒 planting Purification Dishes at the map edge.
Yu Sui's gaze swept across his teammates' status bars in the game interface—his own, Chen Huo's, and Puppy's health bars were full. Then he looked at the farthest one: Shi Luo's, that tiny little health bar.
Holy Sword's front line was about to rush Yu Sui and Chen Huo head-on. Soon they'd have incoming on their side too. Shi Luo's current state meant one touch would shatter him. To avoid the enemy sniper's long-range attention, Shi Luo was planting Purification Dishes very carefully, exposing his position as little as possible, walking a tightrope on the edge of a cliff. The first Holy Sword respawns indeed charged the front line. In the heat of battle, as Shi Luo protected his tiny health bar, he heard Yu Sui say quietly during a tactical gap: "Evil, hold on. I'm coming over."
Shi Luo stared at his thin health bar, paused for half a second, then quickly said, "Focus on your fight. I've got this."
---
In the pre-match video.
On the giant screen, Yu Sui was in casual clothes, looking困惑 at the camera. "The thing I most want to say to Shi Luo? I'll just tell him myself after the scrimmage, won't I?"
"You're still going to air it publicly, right? Not airing it? Fine... I'll take that on faith."
"..."
"The thing I most want to say to Shi Luo..."
In the pre-match video, Yu Sui was quiet for a long while.
---
In the actual game.
Free had set up too many smoke screens early on. It wasn't until nearly ten minutes into the game that their tactical intentions gradually became clear. Holy Sword was beginning to realize—Free had adapted Holy Sword's old strategy, using guerrilla warfare to slowly drain their resources. Once they were弹尽粮绝, Free would directly begin屠城.
This tactic was inherently tied to Free's previous one. With several players exhausted from the first two games, starting a slower-pacedattrition war was the most明智 decision. Holy Sword adjusted quickly, and upon realizing they were being slowly depleted, immediately began rationing as well, looking to turn the tables on the exhausted opponents. Free's players weren't flustered, continuing to follow their节奏, depleting Holy Sword wave after wave.
Both teams were deliberately conserving resources, making every fight increasingly precise. The central map skirmish lasted a full minute before concluding. Holy Sword lost one medic, and the remaining assault player quickly retreated—but didn't go far, hovering like a附骨之疽, watching the struggling Yu Sui and Chen Huo.
"Top up health." Puppy called out. "Their sniper's respawned and has eyes on you two. Shi Luo..."
Puppy frowned. "Don't move for now. The second you peek, you're dead. Fuck, Holy Sword's play is genius—they've got their sniper holding position... I can't determine his location. He's doing it deliberately, deliberately not revealing position, trying tocouple you to that cover spot!"
Puppy cursed angrily. "Damn it, they specifically put him in a slope where I have no vision!"
Shi Luo loaded his rifle full of ammo. "It's fine. I've been marked as bait."
At Shi Luo's position, those familiar窃窃声响 sounded again. The Holy Sword assault player Shi Luo had killed earlier had respawned and was coming back.
The Holy Sword sniper's position was unknown. Shi Luo couldn't act recklessly. He still had only a sliver of health—though his solo-kill ability exceeded his opponent's, it didn't matter.
The Holy Sword assault player approaching was actually their team captain.
That guy had been频繁挑衅, had started several of those incidents.
Shi Luo clenched his jaw lightly. He'd ratherfeed his head to the enemy sniper than let this sneaky bastard profit.
The窃窃声 sounds grew closer. Shi Luo was高度集中, running through countless strategies in his mind for the confrontation ahead—
But he knew it was useless.
His health was too low.
Just a tiny bit.
The footsteps drew nearer. Shi Luo shifted slightly, and不经意地 glanced at his team's map. He froze.
On the ally map, the white icon representing their medic was rapidly approaching his position.
Shi Luo was at the map edge, capturing points far, far from the map center.
Very, very far.
"This one can actually be given up." The off-stage casters,惊叹于 the meticulous tactical operations of both teams, shook their heads upon noticing Yu Sui approaching Shi Luo. "Although the center pressure isn't too bad now, Yu Sui doesn't have to stay at the map center anymore, but this distance is just too far. One kill on Shi Luo alone... there's really no need to protect it."
The other caster nodded. "Cost-benefit ratio is too low. It's way too far."
The casters could see it. Yu Sui would obviously know it even better.
But from Shi Luo's perspective, looking at the ally map, that little white icon was still weaving left and right, doing its best to avoid the Holy Sword sniper who had already gone dark, moving bit by bit, step by step toward his position.
Chen Huo was engaged in a你一枪我一枪 bidding war with his opponent's sniper. Glancing at the map, he also said, "What effort for this? Didn't everyone say to give him up?"
On the map, the white icon threaded through forests and water, still moving.
In the team voice channel, Yu Sui unmuted. "Is everyone now a shot-caller? When did I say to give him up?"
Shi Luo was carefully defending against Holy Sword's captain-assault while involuntarily watching the map.
The ally medic's icon was still moving.
Yu Sui was the shot-caller. Yu Sui hadn't said to give him up.
What Yu Sui had originally said was:
"Evil, hold on. I'm coming over."
Shi Luo took a deep breath, reminding himself: This is a goddamn match. Don't get sentimental just because you watched a video before the game.
No matter how理智 he tried to be, watching that tiny icon, Shi Luo's eyes reddened involuntarily.
---
In the pre-match video.
On the giant screen, Yu Sui was quiet for a long while. He looked at the camera and said:
"You once told me: the more you like someone, the more you worry about them."
"...I feel the same way about you."
"This past year... during the hardest, most exhausting training sessions, just seeing your ID on the同队 interface would make my heart ache."
"There's a lot I want to say. I don't have one thing I want to say most. I only have regrets about not saying things earlier."
"Beginning of the season... I should've come to find you the moment I returned to China."
---
On the stage, Holy Sword's sneaky assault player finally locked onto Shi Luo's position. At the moment of firing, Holy Sword's assault player was stabbed through the throat by a幽灵般 figure who had跋山涉水—the Whisper—and the kill was secured.
On the slope, Yu Sui slowly brought Shi Luo's thin health bar back to full, then cast a six-sided Photon Shield around him.
Yu Sui said he would come, and he came.
This time, he didn't break his promise.
Shi Luo fought to suppress the lump in his throat. Once Yu Sui topped off his health, he took a deep breath and charged out of the slope without hesitation.
---
Both teams had been skirmishing for twenty minutes. Free's remaining economy: 5600. Holy Sword's remaining economy: 4500.
At thirty minutes: Free 4100, Holy Sword 3700.
At forty minutes: Free 2500, Holy Sword 2300.
At fifty minutes: Free 1300, Holy Sword 800.
The match dragged on for a full hour. Free's remaining economy: 300. Holy Sword's remaining economy: 100.
The two teams had danced for a full hour. The map looked like it had been chewed up by dogs. Purification Dishes were scattered乱七八糟, turning the map into a labyrinth.
Free stopped spending their remaining economic resources. They officially began fighting with cold weapons. Holy Sword was about to be sent home from quarterfinals. The Holy Sword players never imagined this ending. At the end of their rope, they started acting—mimicking Free's previous scrimmage tactics, also stopping use of firearms, pretending their economy was exhausted, trying to bait Free into spending their last resources.
But Free had Shi Luo, whose mental math was like a computer.
"装你妈."
Shi Luo also switched to a dagger, disregarding everything as he rushed straight for Holy Sword's respawn stone. The Holy Sword players had been trying to force Free to retreat by clearing their side of the map. Seeing this, they couldn't—在绝望之下—had to open fire again.
The two chaotic fights hadn't even finished when Holy Sword exhausted their last 100 economy. They genuinely had zero bullets left.
At this point, Holy Sword was completely pushed back to the cold weapons era.
All Holy Sword guns had become烧火棍. Their medic couldn't afford any Photon Shields. All their职业 advantages had vanished. The Holy Sword players could only pull out long daggers, fighting their last desperate battle.
Yu Sui looked at the daggers in the four Holy Sword players' hands, expressionless.
In the current pro scene, no player handled a dagger better than Yu Sui.
One-sided slaughter officially began.
Shi Luo, Chen Huo, and Puppy intentionally stopped fighting all-out, leaving the Holy Sword players for Yu Sui.
Yu Sui drew his long dagger.
---
In the pre-match video.
Shi Luo looked at the camera and slowly said: "A few days ago in an interview, everyone said I'm arrogant..."
In the game, Yu Sui's white-gloved character had blood on them. One dagger thrust killed Holy Sword's captain.
Shi Luo said: "I'm not arrogant. I just want to make a彻底 break."
In the game, Yu Sui killed another assault player.
Shi Luo said: "Things from the past... there's always this wall there... I can't get past it, and you guys seem to have some trouble letting go too."
In the game, Yu Sui claimed the Holy Sword sniper's kill.
Shi Luo said: "Pinning Holy Sword in eighth place... that completes our final chapter with the past. Deal?"
In the game, Yu Sui cleanly finished off the Holy Sword medic, then plunged his dagger into the Holy Sword respawn stone.
---
The match ended. Free 3-0, shutting out Holy Sword.
Two years of wandering, seven hundred days and nights of the past, shame that couldn't be washed away, brands etched into their careers, Holy Sword's frequent provocations over this month... All of it, in this moment, truly passed.
The Free players removed their soundproof headphones. The deafening chorus of "DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!" from the crowd instantly pierced through the booth and crashed over them. Chen Huo and Puppy were嗷嗷直叫 with joy, shouting "DELETE" while waving to the ashen-faced Holy Sword players in the other soundproof booth.
Yu Sui stood and looked at Shi Luo. Their eyes met, both filled with countless stars.
I can act like a reckless young fool and wage a亿万人见证 deletion war against an entire club, for you.
I can also跋山涉水 and walk step by step to your side, for you.
And I can, for you, wash away all the dust and frost in my heart.