TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 109

It wasn’t just the Nine-Headed Bird manager who thought all of Polaris were monsters. Everyone online who had watched the livestream thought the same thing.

【I’m stunned. How did the matches take three hours over the past two days, but today’s ended in barely half an hour?】

【Why do I feel like I got ripped off buying a ticket to today’s live event!!!】

【You’re not the only one. I also bought a ticket for today, and all I can say is: unless today’s second group can play for six whole hours!! Otherwise I’m going to cry in front of the organizers!!】

【It was like a dream. I woke up and was still moved…… I feel like I came all this way just to watch absolutely nothing!】

【Wait, I don’t get it. How exactly did Polaris win?? Is Amoon really that bad??】

【Same question!! I watched all of Amoon’s team-queue practice streams during their preparations!! Every one of them was incredibly good. They really aren’t that bad!】

【I strongly demand that the officials inspect Amoon’s cocoon equipment!! Could it have been damaged by the officials while it was being transported?!】

【Seconded!!! Please check whether there were any lag or transmission problems!! There’s no way Amoon could perform this badly at their level otherwise!!】

【While you’re at it, please inspect Polaris’s cocoon equipment too!! Was there some kind of cheat!!!】

【If there were no cheats, then why were two of the three arena maps in a row non-pure-combat maps?! The officials owe the audience an explanation!!】

【The entire Polaris team is cheating!!! The entire Polaris team is cheating!!】

【I’m laughing so hard. Are all the people demanding equipment inspections brainless Amoon fans? Do you seriously think your official daddy is going to listen to you?】

【As a P-fan, I’ve already become numb to it. How many times has Polaris been accused of cheating this season already? I guess being too strong is a crime.】

【Are the people complaining about the maps stupid? Did you watch the matches over the past two days? Four out of yesterday’s ten matches were on non-pure-combat maps. It’s obvious the officials are trying to reform the gameplay!】

【What’s the point of this kind of gameplay reform? It completely goes against the original spirit of PVP!】

【I think this kind of gameplay is way more interesting than the old-fashioned approach of simply killing each other over and over.】

【Sigh. An eight-year veteran Wangling fan here to tell you why Polaris won. It’s because they don’t just have amazing mechanics—they’ve got brains, too. You know what I mean? They’re smart.】

【Maps like this really highlight the difference in intelligence between players! [doge]】

【The five little brats on your Amoon team all want to play the hero. The way they charged out to capture the flag looked just like someone lifting a manhole cover and poking a nest of cockroaches—made me laugh my ass off. One smack with a slipper and every one of them would go down.】 

【I’m honestly starting to wonder if they didn’t even turn on their team voice chat. What a complete mess they were!】 

【No, no, seriously, it’s not that Amoon was a mess—it’s that P’s teamwork was insanely strong. Blink kept everyone’s HP at such an even level! Didn’t you guys notice?】 

【Exactly!! Blind guy, you spotted the key point!! Blink’s poke and attrition were so damn precise!! I didn’t realize until the very end, when ZGod blew up Asheng, that Asheng was actually their real target!!】 

【Fire and Island’s axe-knight combo is as solid as ever! They protected Timer incredibly well!!】 

【Waaaaah, my team spirit is burning again!!】 

【Am I the only one who noticed that every member of Polaris was out for blood……? In the first game, none of them even wanted to capture the flag!】 

【Not just the first game—the second game, where they had to destroy the stele, was the same! Not one of them even looked at that thing!】 

【Polaris: Our eyes are only on our opponents. Our goal is to wipe them all out! What the hell do map objectives matter? As long as the other side is dead, we win.】 

【What do you mean by the original spirit of PVP? Weren’t you guys screaming for the original spirit of PVP? Isn’t this PVP enough for you?】 

【Mom! I’ve sat back up out of my coffin again!!】 

【Hahahahahaha, Blink and Fire can finally go back and catch up on their sleep!!】

 ……

 The game’s official organizers, of course, paid no attention to Amoon fans’ demands to have the Cocoon devices inspected. The online tide of public opinion turned incredibly quickly. The P-team fans who had been crying that they were too scared to watch the match were suddenly full of swagger again, spontaneously banding together to fight back against the haters. 

Meanwhile, the five members of Polaris climbed out of their Cocoon devices and stretched one by one inside the soundproof glass room. The group-stage qualifiers were essentially a mass elimination round. Because the schedule was so tight, they were nowhere near as formal or grand as the later advancement rounds. The two teams didn’t even need to shake hands or anything like that. Basically, you showed up, played, and left. 

“You said it’d be easy, but I really didn’t expect it to be this easy,” Shiya said. 

“Does Amoon just not use any strategy at all? Why did they play with absolutely no structure?” Bo Yu asked in confusion. 

“They clearly did have a strategy and structure.” Lin Mingfei stretched his back, laced his hands behind his head, and said lazily, “Look at the way Asheng kept trying to run out and capture the flag. Doesn’t it remind you of me getting hammered by Goblin half a month ago?” 

The other four suddenly understood. So Amoon had simply gone down the same road they had failed on before. 

“I guess this is what they mean by ‘failure is the mother of success,’” Xia Tong said with a clap of his hands and a laugh. 

“You’re right. So failure really isn’t anything to be afraid of,” Lin Mingfei said with a smile. 

“Huh?” Zhou Yanjun was no longer sleepy and suddenly perked up. “So can I go chat with those little brats now?” 

Lin Mingfei raised his chin. “Sure, but you’re only allowed to talk. No fighting.” 

“Gotcha!” Zhou Yanjun immediately became delighted and scampered out of the glass room. 

Lin Mingfei led the remaining three out at a leisurely pace, calmly enduring the looks from the staff standing outside the door as though they were staring at a group of demons. 

“Seriously, those three games only took us a little over half an hour, and it isn’t even ten yet. Where are we supposed to go? Surely we’re not expected to sit here staring into space until noon, right? Can we leave early?” Shiya said.

 “I want to go back and rest!” Xia Tong glanced over and saw a group of “tomato-and-scrambled-egg” uniforms hurrying out of the venue without looking back, as if their butts were on fire. 

Naturally, Zhou Yanjun was chasing after them, waving his arms and shouting, “See you around, boys!! MUA!!”

 “You really sounded sincere when you called them ‘boys,’” Lin Mingfei said with an amused smile. 

“You bet.” Zhou Yanjun’s mouth drooped as he rolled his eyes. “A bunch of damn brats. They think just because Dad hasn’t shown his teeth, he’s a sick cat?” 

“Did they all go back?” Xia Tong blinked. “Looks like we can leave early!” 

He moved over beside Lin Mingfei, curled his fingers around the hem of Lin Mingfei’s clothes, and whispered, “Then let’s hurry back. I’m really sleepy. I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.” 

Lin Mingfei patted his little head and said gently, “Okay.” Just as they were about to leave, several frantic stage-control staff suddenly rushed in from outside to meet them. “Wait!! ZGod, wait!” the man in front shouted, putting on an ingratiating smile. 

“ZGod, could we borrow the adorable Blink for a little while?”

“What for?” Lin Mingfei sensed the little Omega instinctively shrinking behind him. “Well…… Polaris just won the match, right? It was such an amazing victory, and Blink had plenty of standout moments in there too. He really drew a lot of attention! As the league’s only Omega player so far, we’d like to arrange a brief interview with Blink. It won’t take long.” 

Lin Mingfei pressed his lips together and looked down at Xia Tong. “Do you want to go, Blink?” 

Xia Tong: “Emmmm…….” His big eyes fluttered as he fidgeted shyly, his gaze wandering uncertainly, until he saw the head stage-control staff member clasp his hands together and gesture pleadingly, silently mouthing, “Please, please.”

 “Okay.” Xia Tong’s heart softened, and he nodded. 

“That’s great!!” The man was so moved he nearly cried. He clapped his hands and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t prepare any deliberately difficult questions. An Omega participating in holographic esports is a very novel topic, and it’s also a positive symbol for the direction of the sport. Rest assured, we’ll do our best to help you avoid any negative controversy.” 

Then he turned to his assistants and waved. “Xiao Wang, Xiao Han, go to the production room right now and pull Polaris’s in-game voice recordings. Tell the editor to make a rough cut of the parts I’ll need later.

“Okay! Got it!” The two young men immediately dashed off in a flurry of activity.

Xia Tong froze for a moment, not understanding what was going on. He saw Lin Mingfei wink at him and say, “Make the most of this opportunity, Blink. We’ll wait for you outside.”

Ten minutes later, Xia Tong was standing on the same stage where the pre-match interview had taken place.

The beautiful female host was ready to go again. She walked over with a bright smile and said, “Those three games just now were truly spectacular and completely unexpected! I’m sure Blink—the most outstanding Omega player in the history of the Wangling League—has already become the number-one player everyone is most looking forward to seeing.” She walked over beside Xia Tong. “Ah, our Blink is just so, so adorable. I’m sure you must have lots of big-sister fans and mom fans online, right?”

“Ah, I—I don’t know either……” Xia Tong swallowed. Before he could even finish speaking, the jade-white tips of his ears had already turned shyly red. He had never been asked questions like this in front of such a large crowd before, and his tongue became hopelessly tied with embarrassment. All ten fingers twisted together nervously in front of him, making him look like a little kid who had been dragged out and forced to perform.

But an enormous wave of screams had already erupted from the audience.

“AAAAAAAH, I’M DEAD!!!”

“Baby Tong!! You’re your big sister’s pride!!!”

“Baby Tong!! Mommy loves you!!! Go get ’em, baby!!”

“Beat that bastard Zero!! Then marry Tongtong and take him home!!!”

Xia Tong: “……?”

–

Author’s note: 

Xia Tong: Fans are so scary!!

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