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Although Samsara’s performance was as strong as ever, on the points rankings after this round, they slipped down two places. Tiny Herb, who had originally only lagged behind by one point, won 9 to 1 against Miracle and surpassed Samsara by one point. Wind Howl, who was originally behind Samsara by two points, had swept Bright Green 10 to 0 and were also now one point ahead of Samsara. Because of their alphabetical advantage, Wind Howl (Huxiao) was currently in the lead. Tiny Herb (Weicao) was in second with the same number of points, 36, and third place was Samsara with 35.

After losing in their away game to Samsara, 3 to 7, there was a bit of distance between their 30 points and the first three places. Misty Rain had 30 points as well, but lost alphabetically (Yanyu) to Blue Rain (Lanyu) and were currently in fifth.

Sixth place Tyranny was now a full ten points below the first place. Although their 7-3 win against Happy wasn’t terrible, the fact that they’d gotten a big fat 0 in the individual competition was still snatched up by the reporters looking for a topic of interest.

There were two other teams also at 26 points, Thunderclap and Void. This round, Thunderclap played an away game at 301 Degrees, and in the end they tied at 5 to 5.

This result happened when one team won all of their individual battles, and the other team won 5 points in the team competition. This result was relatively rare. The individual battles were split into the individual competition and the group arena, and those 5 points were split up, so a team could normally snatch at least one or two points. Unlike the team round, there were no teammates to help save a dangerous situation, and the team’s strength was scattered. There could be a situation like Tian Ji’s Horse Race*, or just one large mistake that affected a battle’s outcome.

Thus, even when a powerhouse faced a weak team, they wouldn’t dare to guarantee a full 10 point victory. With one small mistake, the opponent could snatch that one or two points. It could be said that it was even more difficult to get all 5 points of the individual battles than the 5 of the team competition, since the team competition was determined in one battle.

And in this match, 301 Degrees won 5 points in the individual battles. As long as they won the team competition, they would win 10 to 0, a perfect victory. But in the end, even though they had the home advantage, they were still defeated by Thunderclap…

To fail to get a single point in the individual battles would definitely have an effect on a team’s mindset when entering the team competition. Thunderclap, however, was exceptionally resolute. Thunderclap’s change this season had been discussed all throughout the past three rounds, some people felt that they had changed, while others felt that this was just the return of the old Thunderclap. But after this team competition, famous commentator Cha Xiaoxia wrote that Thunderclap had indeed changed, even from the previous Thunderclap that had Xiao Shiqin.

”The current Thunderclap is more confident and more determined.

This change is what Xiao Shiqin brought back upon his return. He experienced a failed year with Excellent Era, but he found exactly what he needed. He brought this back and changed the face of Thunderclap. I look forward to their performance this season.”

This was the commentary Cha Xiaoxia wrote after this round. And, as a self-proclaimed Happy fanboy, he of course wouldn’t skip on the commentary of Happy vs Tyranny.

Regarding Tang Rou’s promise of a 1v3, fanboy Cha Xiaoxia was resolute in his hope that Tang Rou would succeed, but he was still a bit worried. He worried that Tang Rou couldn’t accomplish it, but he also worried that Happy, in order to facilitate the 1v3, would ruin the rhythm of their their team arrangement. In this round, Happy’s order of battle for the individual battles were indeed different from before.

In comparison, the Esports Time reporter Ruan Cheng, who attacked Tang Rou the most, didn’t write much after Tang Rou lost to the first opponent in this match. All he said was a simple ”as expected.” It seemed that Ruan Cheng wasn’t someone who would get excited over the just smallest thing, and it even seemed that he had begun to lose interest in this matter. However, the people who knew Ruan Cheng understood that this was just because the time wasn’t yet ripe. She had five rounds to 1v3, this was only the first.

”If she doesn’t do it in four rounds, and in the eighth round, Ruan Cheng isn’t at the Tiny Herb vs Happy post-match press conference, then there are only two possibilities. One, Tang Rou completed the 1v3 in that match. Two, Ruan Cheng experienced an inescapable natural disaster.” This was the judgment of someone who knew Ruan Cheng well. This wasn’t even a Glory match any more, it seemed to be a showdown between player and reporter.

Winning 7 points against Happy, Tyranny’s current score of 26 points wasn’t too bad. But Void (Xukong), who also had 26 points and was one place behind Tyranny (Batu) by alphabet, hadn’t done too well this round. Although they were playing an away game, their opponent Conquering Clouds wasn’t any strong team. The final score of 6 to 4 was unsatisfactory to Void supporters.

There was also Hundred Blossoms. After losing to Happy in their away game, they played a home game in the third round, but lost to 301 Degrees, 3 to 7. It seemed like Hundred Blossoms was beaten senseless. This round they fought an away game against Seaside, but the end result was still only 6-4. It had to be remembered that Seaside was the team with the worst performance in the first three rounds. Aside from winning 2 points against Misty Rain in the first round, they were swept in the second and third round. In low spirits, they fought against Hundred Blossoms who was also in bad condition, they actually managed to snatch 4 points. Even though Hundred Blossoms won and Seaside lost, but because of each of their skill levels and positions, Hundred Blossoms was the one unsatisfied, while Seaside seemed to have found the light of dawn.

After Hundred Blossoms’ small victory of 6 points, they were 11th on the leaderboard with 18 points. Ahead of them was the team that had tied with Thunderclap, 301 Degrees with 19 points. Ninth was Parade, after fighting a home game against Radiant, a team around their skill level, they earned a beautiful 8 to 2, and currently had 20 points.

Royal Style was at 12th, having suffered in their away game this round against Heavenly Swords 3 to 7. Royal Style slid down two places on the leaderboard, while these 7 points allowed Heavenly Swords to finally fight out of the relegation area, to 16th place.

At 13th was Happy, at 15 points after four rounds. Aside from their big win against Hundred Blossoms in the second round, they had not tasted another victory. Disregarding the first place on the leaderboard, their distance to eighth place, the last playoff spot, was a large 11 point difference.

This ranking was a far cry from their early declaration of aiming for the championship. Quite a few people talked about this alongside Tang Rou’s 1v3 in five rounds. Was this sort of arrogant attitude just Happy’s style?

Crashing in two consecutive rounds, Happy couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened. Even though they knew that this team still had problems here and there, their thirst for victory wouldn’t be dampened at all. Sundays after match Saturdays were Alliance-regulated rest days, but when Chen Guo came to the Internet cafe early Sunday morning, she saw that the door to the second floor was already opened, everyone already lined up in the training room.

These guys…

Chen Guo couldn’t help but sigh. In reality, she’d already lamented this many times. Even if Happy’s people might lack in skill, their spirit was never something to worry about. Big loss, big win, ups and downs, many people might not even be able to sleep at night. But Happy’s people could always adjust, and continue to sit in front of their computers, working hard.

Like this, we’ll win for sure. Chen Guo carried this thought, and Happy continued to train hard.

Round 5…

Round 6…

Time passed quickly. September was over in the blink of an eye, and they were now halfway through October. Starting from the fifth round, the Pro Alliance was reaching consecutive highs, powerful matches appearing one after another.

In Round 5, Samsara played an away game at Tiny Herb. Samsara’s crushing dominance seemed to shrink again, but they still managed to win, 6 to 4. On Tiny Herb’s home field, Samsara obtained a small victory. In the same round, another match between powerhouses received attention, Tyranny against Blue Rain. On their home field, Blue Rain emerged victorious, 7 to 3.

And then in Round 6, there were two more important faceoffs. Tiny Herb at Tyranny, Wind Howl at Samsara.

In the end, Tyranny earned a small victory over Tiny Herb, 6 to 4. But the discussions about their capabilities didn’t quiet down. Compared to their strength last season, where they had led the leaderboard the entire time, this season Tyranny was hovering just above the cutoff for playoffs, even falling down occasionally. They no longer had the boldness of last year.

Samsara had their home game this match, taking down Wind Howl 8 to 2. And in the post-match press conference, the manager of Club Samsara suddenly expressed his complaints about Samsara’s match schedule this season.

”Starting from Round 3, Tyranny, Blue Rain, Tiny Herb, Wind Howl… If I called this the most demonic match schedule in history, I don’t think anyone would object? At the same time I haven’t forgotten, after this round in Rounds 7 and 8, we’re facing Misty Rain and Void. This is truly an unforgettable journey to the championship.”

In reality, the sharper reporters discovered early on that Samsara’s match schedule was so demonic, and they’d used this in some of their questions toward Samsara. Samsara didn’t try to avoid the topic, but they downplayed it. Now after six rounds of opponents, four of which were powerhouses, no matter whether they were home or away, Samsara managed to defeat all of them. No one asked, but Samsara now voluntarily brought up this point.

The reporters suddenly understood. Samsara didn’t want to discuss this before because they wanted to follow the style of their captain Zhou Zekai: no talk, just do!

And so they won their way here. Big or small victories, they won against every powerhouse.

And so now, they could discuss this problem with no pressure at all. This wouldn’t feel like an excuse, because they had completely conquered this challenging match order.

The cameras clicked and flashed as the reporters asked each of the players onstage about their feelings after facing this demonic match schedule.

”These victories were extremely important, both in earning points for our team, and in suppressing our main competitors. I’m glad we were able to accomplish this,” Vice-captain Jiang Botao said.

”Not bad, but I think that we can do even better.” Bringing One Autumn Leaf from Excellent Era and swiftly becoming a crucial player for Samsara, Sun Xiang had become less haughty than before, but his confidence had increased quite a lot.

”…” Samsara’s Captain Zhou Zekai, after about ten seconds of long thinking, finally nodded. ”Good.”

”What’s good? That winning these matches was just ’good,’ or ’good’ thing you managed to win these matches?” one reporter asked.

”Mm…” The long thinking was inevitable, and everyone waited patiently.

”Both!” After this long thinking, Zhou Zekai replied with this one word.

”Could you talk about your views of Tang Rou of Happy, who declared she would complete a 1v3 in five rounds?” The reporters tirelessly chased after almost every player in the Alliance with this question. They were still asking, which meant that Tang Rou had yet to succeed. Right now, three of the five rounds had passed. Tang Rou only had two more chances.