Chapter 1278: Mid-Match Break Wind Howl
The King's Avatar
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
A historic record! The majority of people who cared about this record were reporters. The viewers cared more about the feeling of a 10-0. Happy just needed to win the upcoming team competition.
The 1v3 chants in the group arena were replaced by 10-0s. The loyal fans who followed Wind Howl all the way to their away game were in low spirits. Liu Hao being dominated by Fang Rui wasnât a small blow to them. They had originally been hoping for Liu Hao to turn the tables with an astonishing 1v3 and show them their teamâs might! But they couldnât see any sort of fighting spirit in their vice-captain. Liu Hao looked completely lost facing Fang Ruiâs dirty tricks.
Wind Howlâs fans were quiet, very quiet.
Seeing the excited cheers from Happyâs fans, they felt an unpleasant taste in their mouths. This exhilaration should have belonged to them! Because Fang Rui... didnât he used to be part of Team Wind Howl? Despite having switched classes to a Qi Master, his style was still very familiar to Wind Howlâs loyal fans.
This was someone who had used to bring them joy, and now?
The Wind Howl banners created by the fans always flew in the air whether it was Wind Howlâs home or away game, but right now, it seemed to be thrown aside, drooping in disappointment. Wind Howlâs flag bearer looked dispirited. The others werenât worried about him though, because they knew that Fang Rui had been this personâs favorite player. Fang Rui had been hard for him, and now, seeing Fang Rui complete a 1v3 against Wind Howl produced a feeling he couldnât describe with words.
How would the upcoming team competition go?
Team Wind Howlâs loyal fans were unexpectedly feeling doubtful towards their own team.
Their captain and core, Tang Hao. The new generation Zhao Yuzhe who they had high hopes for. Lin Feng who they wanted to inherit Doubtful Demon. The super value Liu Hao who the team had gotten at an amazing price... in the individual competition and group arena, they seemed to have been crushed by opponents on an entirely different level than them. With these people making up the team, how could they hope to beat Happy?
Wind Howlâs teamwork wasnât anything too praiseworthy! Wind Howlâs own fans knew this point better than anyone else. As for Happy? Starting from Round 9, their team had yet to lose a single round. Was Happy a team their Wind Howl could beat?
The fans were doubtful, doubtful that their team could win this match, doubtful of their teamâs claim to be the champions this season. Wind Howlâs win record this season wasnât as stable as last seasonâs! Didnât the team say they would form an all-new team more compatible than before after letting Fang Rui go? An all-new team? Wind Howl could see it. The team had given up on the dirty style. The dirty tricks from before had turned into a more aggressive offensive.
Perhaps this style was more like a championâs. Apart from Blue Rainâs deviation from the norm, the other champion teams had all given off this sort of grand aura. Wind Howl was trying hard to construct this aura, but did it really fit them?
The former Criminal Partners had never considered themselves as the strongest duo in the Alliance, but the fans always felt steady with them there. No matter how much of a crisis the team was in, they would always be confident about their team. But now? The teamâs win record was worse than last seasonâs. The team was still within the playoffs zone, but how could they not be nervous about why? The current Wind Howl made them feel like there was something missing. This sort of mystery feeling really didnât feel good!
Wind Howlâs most loyal fans were pacing back and forth. Wind Howlâs players were also in low spirits.
In the individual competition, their core player Tang Hao was crushed by Ye Xiu and then their other two players lost as well.
In the group arena, the team sent three strong players, but their former teammate Fang Rui took all of them down with just two thirds of his health.
How humiliating. The player you let go just casually cleaned up three players you had cultivated with the utmost care. Right now, the first thoughts that came to their mind were classic idioms like "have eyes but cannot see" or "buying a wooden box and returning the pearls"...
Team Wind Howlâs players felt this embarrassment the most. What should they do? Beating their opponents would obviously be the greatest retaliation. However, Wind Howlâs players had been beaten one after the other. It seemed like they couldnât break free from their losses. Only the remaining second-string players on the side busily circling around and around.
"Whatâs going on? Have you guys gone stupid from losing?" Finally, someone spoke up.
Ruan Yongbin.
Wind Howlâs Cleric.
Healers were never replaced in any team, so their status in the team was always relatively high. In addition to healers being rarely transferred, healers almost always held seniority.
Ruan Yongbin had been a part of Team Wind Howl for nearly six years. He had joined the team alongside Fang Rui. When Fang Rui left, Ruan Yongbin became Team Wind Howlâs most senior member. He was the type of player who obeyed orders and didnât like to talk too much. However, seeing how the teamâs morale had been shaken and how the main players all looked like they had been swatted down like flies, he couldnât resist it anymore and finally spoke out.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Healers were only needed in the team competition, so the outcome of the individual rounds never impacted them as much as the others. They could always maintain a rational mind and watch from afar the morale of their teammates rise up and down in the individual rounds. As a result, for the most important team competition, a level-headed healer could always act as a stabilizing force for the team.
But unfortunately, Ruan Yongbin spoke too rarely in Wind Howl. He didnât fully utilize the special existence brought by his classâs speciality. Everyone looked at him when he suddenly spoke out. Their eyes were completely filled with confusion. They didnât look like they had been enlightened in any way.
"The team competition hasnât been fought yet! Half the points are waiting to be taken by us. We can do this!" Ruan Yongbin tried his best to say words that he wasnât use to. Anyone could say this though. The logic was obvious. What was needed was a wake up call to break apart the doubt formed in the players during the individual rounds. However, Ruan Yongbinâs wake up call didnât have enough power behind it. He was talking, and everyone was looking at him, but... morale? Their morale hadnât been ignited. Only Liu Hao clapped his hands and squeezed out a smile: "Yongbin, youâre right! The match isnât over yet. We still have five points to take. Why does everyone look like weâve already lost?"
Liu Hao was the vice-captain. His popularity among the fans this season wasnât bad. His relations with other people in the team werenât bad either. His words were clearly more effective than Ruan Yongbinâs. Ruan Yongbin let out a sigh of relief and looked at Liu Hao with gratitude. He was glad that their vice-captain could maintain a level-head and look at the match with reason.
Liu Hao had a smile filled with reason on the surface, but inside, he was feeling extremely annoyed. After walking off stage, he saw the expressions of his teammates and the silence from Wind Howlâs loyal fans and knew his performance had disgusted quite a few people. However, Liu Haoâs strength was his practically cruel ability to fake it. He could cover his true feelings well and then push the most suitable attitude for the situation onto the surface.
As a result, he had been depressed and silent along with the other players. But when Ruan Yongbin spoke out while the others didnât respond, he could force himself and wake himself up. He acted like a vice-captain and started encouraging the others following Ruan Yongbinâs example.
"Look, our fans, our fans who traveled so far to support us are feeling bitter and in low spirits! How could we disappoint them? Everyone, hurry up and get your spirits up. Letâs get our Wind Howlâs banner flying into the air again! We lost quite a few points, but itâs just five points. Next, if we win just this upcoming team competition, we can win five points. Then, the score will be 5 to 5. Is that a loss? No! If the away team wins five points, shouldnât that be considered a win? Right now, we still have a chance to win!" Liu Hao put up his thumbs and emphasize that they just needed to win this team competition.
"What bullshit!" Wind Howlâs captain, Tang Hao, suddenly interrupted Liu Hao very rudely.
"Let alone five points, if we can win even one more point, we canât give it up!" Tang Hao grit his teeth.
"Captain Tang is right, we canât back down even if it was just one point," Liu Hao didnât appear to be unhappy with Tang Hao interrupting him. Instead, he immediately agreed with Tang Hao. Tang Hao had raised the teamâs morale to the peak.
"Letâs go beat them!" Tang Hao shouted, "Donât tell me youâre willing to let a certain someone slap our faces!"
It was obvious who he was pointing to. Taking a former hero of Wind Howl and pinning him as the enemy was a bit ugly. When an old veteran of the team like Ruan Yongbin heard these words, his expression turned unnatural. Ling Jingyan and Fang Rui had left the team peacefully, but how could those inside the team not understand? This had nothing to do with what was right or wrong. It was the choice for the team to grow. For this choice, the team should feel sympathy for those that had been given up. Team Wind Howl shouldnât have these negative feelings towards them.
Fang Rui had won the group arena and had embarrassed Wind Howl, but this was competition. There was only victory. Nothing else mattered. It wasnât like they could hope that Fang Rui would throw the match for them.
Tang Hao unadorned despise made Ruan Yongbin feel quite unhappy. But what about the other players? Zhao Yuzhe? Lin Feng? They had just been humiliated by Fang Rui. Tang Haoâs out-of-line attitude had ignited their fighting spirits.