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The curtains closed on Round 26.

Happy won against Heavenly Swords 9-1. Although their relationship was good, it didn’t affect Happy’s ruthlessness on stage.

Blue Rain versus Tiny Herb. The away team Tiny Herb utilized their strong momentum from Gao Yingjie beating Lu Hanwen, winning the following two individual competition rounds and the group arena. They went into the team competition With a 5-0 lead. However, in the end, the home team Blue Rain won and the round ended with a 5-5 tie.

Wind Howl versus Tyranny. Tang Hao losing to Lin Jingyan was undoubtedly the highlight of the match. However, they were still able to win 2 points, ending the round 2-8.

This sort of outcome did little to help their placements on the rankings. Team
301 beat Parade 8-2. Hundred Blossoms beat Bright Green 10-0. The distance
between Wind Howl and the top eight was growing wider and wider, and in their
next round, Wind Howl would be facing Blue Rain.

Wind Howl had the home game advantage, but the community did not think highly of
their chances. In their eyes, Wind Howl was becoming more and more lackluster.
Would they be able to win back their reputation? Everyone was already numb to
this question, though, so not many people paid any attention to them. 　　

Round 27. The highlight match was the home Team Tiny Herb welcoming the challengers Team Happy.

After several rounds during the second half of the season, the Happy haters finally found a point to pick at.　

In the second half of the season, the teams played in the first half of the season would play again but with the home and away teams switched. Happy had started the first half of the season poorly, and while the second half of the season was a large improvement, it couldn’t compare to their previous win streak. These haters compared the results from both halves of the season and quickly found the teams that had won against Happy in both their home and away games.

Samsara, Blue Rain, Tyranny...

These three teams had won in a dominating fashion twice.　　

As a result, an article titled ”What Looks to Be Beautiful” was published in the Esports Time. The author was the Esports Time writer Ruan Cheng, who had been attacking Happy ever since Tang Rou’s 1v3 challenge.

In the article, Ruan Cheng detailed the relationship between Happy’s ups and downs and their season schedule. In the first half of the season, Happy had met many strong teams at the beginning, so their first few steps had been difficult. But after passing through this bump, Happy started finding their confidence through Beating weak teams. But this sort of confidence could not last. Because of the competitive format, where each team played the other twice, Happy once again faced these unbeatable opponents. And this time, whether it was home or away game, Happy still wouldn’t beat these opponents.

”Those who hold hopes for Happy should give up,” Ruan Chen wrote at the end of the article, ”This team is not able to reach the top. If you think they can win the championships, you might as well just buy a lottery ticket. Being able to make the playoffs would be a joke with their strength. And in the latter half of the season, teams will muster everything they have to make it through the door to
playoffs. If Happy falls behind, no need to feel disappointed. Relying on luck to make it to the end of the season is impossible.”

”This Ruan Cheng is always out to get us!” Reading the Esports Time, Chen Guo suddenly shouted furiously.

”If you know, then why do you still buy the Esports Time!” Ye Xiu laughed at her.

”...”

Chen Guo was speechless. Why did she pick up an issue? Wasn’t it because she was still hoping to prove these haters wrong with their outstanding performance? And the result? Nothing. Instead, any time Happy messed up even the tiniest bit, those guys would target it and talk about it endlessly. This time, they had actually labelled Happy as a fake powerhouse just because they had been double killed by a few top teams.

Shouldn’t this label be given to Wind Howl! Why was it given to Happy instead? Chen Guo was absolutely furious.

”Don’t be angry with these people. No matter what we achieve, as long as someone wants to paint us black, they’ll always be able to find something to pick at,” Ye Xiu said.

”Wind Howl went from a top team to their current stage, but he didn’t say a single word about them. He’s completely fixated on us,” Chen Guo said.

”Next match, he’ll probably be even more heated,” Ye Xiu said.

Round 27, Happy would be challenging Tiny Herb. In Round 8, Happy lost to Tiny Herb 2-8, and Tang Rou had failed to keep her 1v3 promise, destroying her image at the end of the round. It was at this point that Ruan Cheng had started walking the hateful path towards Happy.

Right now, the league had cycled back. Happy would be facing Tiny Herb in an away game. This time, the match would be even more difficult. Ruan Cheng probably had an article written already and ready to be published. If Happy lost again, Tiny Herb would become another team that had double killed them. There would be even more proof that Happy really was just a fake powerhouse. Who knew how much ridicule would come their way? 　

Chen Guo was suddenly deeply worried.

Do like Ye Xiu said and just ignore these haters? Chen Guo just couldn’t do it. Even if they couldn’t persuade them to switch sides through action, Chen Guo hoped to at least give them a hard slap in the face. The problem was that they would be facing a top team like Tiny Herb in an away game. Saying something like ”you have to win” would be unreasonable and put too much pressure on the
team.

”In short, we just have to try our best,” Ye Xiu said.

Chen Guo sighed. She really envied Ye Xiu’s calmness.

Sure enough, Ruan Cheng was very excited about Round 27 to an unprecedented extent too. This time, he had actually received an invitation to the TV station to be a guest, commentating the match together with Li Yibo. The highlight match chosen to be broadcast was Happy versus Tiny Herb.

”This time, we have a new face for our broadcast, however, I don’t think anyone is a stranger to him. Please welcome Esports Time’s special column reviewer Ruan Cheng! I’m sure many of you viewers out there have read an article by Teacher Ruan, especially the latest issue of Esports Time. Teacher Ruan’s ’What Looks to Be Beautiful’ had a loud reaction! Teacher Ruan has always had a different viewpoint towards Team Happy. I figured that Teacher Ruan would definitely be paying particular attention to the match today, so I invited him to the broadcast to discuss this match together with us. Thank you Teacher Ruan for coming today,” Pan Lin introduced today’s guest before the match officially began.

”Haha, you’re welcome. Hello Pan Lin, hello Coach Li,” Ruan Cheng greeted Pan Lin and Li Yibo confidently.

”Should we start off by listening to Teacher Ruan’s thoughts on today’s match?” Pan Lin asked.

”Haha, I still stand by the viewpoint I detailed before in the past. There is still quite a gap between Team Happy and the top teams. And today, Happy is facing a top team like Tiny Herb, who also has the home game advantage. I think the chances of Tiny Herb winning should be very high,” Ruan Cheng didn’t mind predicting the outcome of the match. Compared to the cautious Li Yibo, it was
truly too big of a difference.

”Gotcha. What about you Coach Li? What are your thoughts? You seem to think highly of Happy these days,” Pan Lin didn’t forget about his old partner Coach Li just because they had a new invited guest today.

”Haha, Happy is a new team, so their potential is huge. In the past half season, their growth has been very obvious. I think that this team has a chance at beating anyone, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if they won or lost,” Li Yibo’s remarks were still as sly as ever. However, compared to Ruan Cheng’s clear-cut position, his evasiveness seemed to show that he still stood by Happy.

”Okay, we’ve heard the opinions of our two guests. Let’s take a look at the stage. The two teams have entered the venue,” Pan Lin said.

The camera cut to the stadium. The players on both teams were waving their hands to the crowd as they walked in.

”I wonder who Tiny Herb will be sending out first.” Pan Lin asked. What he was really asking was, who would be fighting Ye Xiu today? Would Ye Xiu’s winning streak finally end here?

”Most teams put their best players into the group arena to win those 2 points. Figuring out who will be playing in the individual competition truly isn’t an easy matter,” Ruan Cheng sighed, but the implications within his words were clear. He was saying that Ye Xiu was only able to reach his win streak because Happy’s opponents rarely placed their core players in the individual competitions.

If he had said these words a few rounds ago, the reasoning would still hold up. But right now, Ye Xiu had won 26 matches in a row, an incredible achievement. Even if he had never encountered a top God, just being able to win 26 matches in a row was an achievement that seemed possible only by pro players competing in the online game’s arena. The difference in skill between pro players wasn’t so large that anyone could be casually beaten. Those top Gods had stumbled against countless non-Gods, but Ye Xiu had never faltered in 26 matches. Indeed, not meeting any top Gods was a reason, but using it to try and persuade people was purely for the purpose of denouncing him.

Ruan Cheng seemed to also know that focusing on this topic wasn’t reasonable, so he stayed within the appropriate boundaries and didn’t directly say these implications out loud. He simply mentioned it in the passing.

”Okay, the players on both teams are coming down from the stage. Ha, Ye Xiu is just staying there. The big screen hasn’t even released the lineups yet!” Pan Lin said.

”Let’s see who Tiny Herb will send up,” Li Yibo said plainly.

Xu Bin!

Finally, the two players competing in the first round of the individual competition were displayed on the screen. Happy had sent Ye Xiu. Tiny Herb had sent Xu Bin and his Knight character Angelica.

”It’s Xu Bin. What are your thoughts on this arrangement?” Pan Lin asked.　　

”Ye Xiu’s unspecialized plays fast, but the Grind King Xu Bin made his name through his ability to slow down the pace. This matchup will depend on who is better at controlling the pace. Whichever side is able to drag the other into their pace will have a better chance at winning,” Li Yibo said.

”It sounds like it’ll be a very interesting match. What are your thoughts, Teacher Ruan?” Pan Lin said.　

”Yes…” Ruan Cheng simply replied with a nod. Even though he really wanted to hate on Happy, he didn’t like to be slapped in the face either. Ye Xiu had already won 26 matches in a row. He didn’t dare casually favor Ye Xiu’s opponent.