The King's Avatar

Amidst applause, the curtain closed on the match. In the post-match press conference, Samsara continued to display the attitude they’d had when exchanging greetings with Happy right after the match. They had lost, but they were calm. They didn’t lose control of themselves, and demonstrated the appropriate bearing of a championship team. Although they were regretful that their home game win streak had been broken, they expressed that this allowed them to set down some pressure.

And then the victorious Happy came up. The reporters had an armful of questions they wished to ask, but surprisingly, Fang Rui, the player that had attracted the most attention during the match, didn’t appear in the press conference at all.

This was quite unreasonable.

Players who did poorly were often protected after a match and not sent out to the press conference. This, the reporters could understand. But for players that did well, stepping into the spotlight again during the press conference was something that both the reporters and the team would want to see. And Fang Rui was no rookie, there was no need for this kind of protection.

When they thought about Happy’s unusual actions onstage after the match, the reporters suddenly realized something. After congratulating and praising Happy’s victory, someone immediately asked, in a half-joking tone, why Fang Rui was hiding away.

And then, they heard an answer that they had already guessed in their hearts: Fang Rui had expended a lot of energy during the match, and was feeling a bit worn out.

However, the one who gave this answer was Ye Xiu, so the reporters had to think it over.

Before, no one had any experience interacting with Ye Xiu, but after this season, the reporters for all of the major media outlets complained about him incessantly. They knew all too well that this person wasn’t easy to deal with. His answer right now, was it true or false? Was it a smoke bomb for the last round of the finals?

When they thought about this, the reporters decided, they didn’t need to worry about whether it was true or not. The plot to deceive the enemy had already been deployed. Whether or not Fang Rui would make it onstage in the finals, Samsara could go and guess!

Since there were such sinister motives, they definitely wouldn’t be able to get anything about Fang Rui’s condition. After experimentally throwing out another few questions and receiving answers that were clearly ambiguous on purpose, the reporters were clear and they didn’t tangle with the issue any longer. From Happy, Fang Rui’s performance was the most eye-catching, but the performances of the other players were all very attention-grabbing as well. There was still much to ask…

Fang Rui hadn’t accepted any post-match interviews, but he was still the protagonist of all the news articles released the next day. Esports Weekly had even used “Fang Rui! Class Change! Return to Godhood!” as their headline, acknowledging Fang Rui’s godliness right at the top.

Because he’d changed classes, because his performance had fluctuated, because of his unique dirty Qi Master style, Fang Rui hadn’t been chosen as an All-Star this season, even though he used the number one Qi Master, Boundless Sea. From that day, there was endless discussion over whether or not this class change would be his end. When he performed well, people would come out to praise him; when he performed average or poorly, people would proclaim his decline.

Esports Home was the authority in the circle, so there were of course articles about his class change. But with Esports Home’s level of professionalism, they were very attentive to detail in their analysis, they didn’t rely on simple surface-level discussion. But today, relying on his performance in this one match, Esports Home concisely acknowledged and approved Fang Rui’s class change.

Fang Rui! Class change! Return to godhood!

As she ate breakfast, Chen Guo held this week’s report. Whenever their team or their players made the headlines, it would always put her in high spirits. She had even saved and organized all of the newspapers from this season that featured Happy in the headlines. But seeing this bold headline today, Chen Guo couldn’t be as excited as she was before.

Because Fang Rui’s condition right now really wasn’t very good. That day, he’d energetically greeted the crowd and mocked Samsara right after coming out of the competitor booth, and he’d gleefully boasted to his teammates as well. But after returning to the prep room, Fang Rui had all but collapsed. It was as though all of his energy had suddenly run out, and everyone could see how exhausted he was.

Fang Rui was exhausted, so he hadn’t attended the press conference. Ye Xiu had spoken the truth, even though the reporters didn’t believe him and thought it was a smokescreen. But this time, this smokescreen had affected even Happy themselves. No one could say for sure how well Fang Rui would recover for the final match in two days. Even though Fang Rui stubbornly insisted that he would be fine, everyone was already quietly preparing for the scenario where Fang Rui was unable to play.

Losing Fang Rui would be a massive blow to their strength. No one could imagine that this kind of thing would happen at such a critical moment. Compared to the physical competition of normal athletics, it was fairly rare in Glory competition for a player to be unable to appear because of illness or injury.

Chen Guo stared at the paper’s headline without flipping the pages to read the content. Holding a cup of milk, she sat in the dining room in a daze.

The final match was in two days. Because Samsara had ranked higher than Happy in the regular season, the third match would be held in Samsara’s home stadium. In order to demonstrate determination, Chen Guo had booked hotel rooms here for Team Happy all the way until the end of the third match. Now, as they hoped, the third match awaited them. But because of Fang Rui, another shadow weighed upon everyone’s hearts. Last night, Chen Guo hadn’t slept well, and now that she looked at this paper, the shadow floated back.

“So early?” As she was spacing out, she suddenly heard someone talk. She lifted her head to see Ye Xiu holding breakfast as he sat down across from her.

“Mm…” Chen Guo nodded.

Ye Xiu’s gaze landed upon the Esports Weekly report in front of her.

“Fang Rui! Class Change! Return to Godhood!” Ye Xiu read the title, and after clicking his tongue in marvel, he made no comment.

“How is he?” asked Chen Guo.

“Probably still sleeping,” said Ye Xiu.

“I meant, for the match in two days, will he be alright?” Chen Guo said.

“We’ll see when the time comes!” Ye Xiu said.

Uncertainty.

The final battle was imminent, but Happy had this uncertainty. But Chen Guo understood that this wasn’t the time to be deeply worried. There needed to be determination.

“Then we should let everyone prepare,” said Chen Guo.

“That’s straightforward enough.” Ye Xiu smiled. “Fortunately, the maps for this last match are random, and the roster usually isn’t decided until after the map is chosen. Everyone will be fully prepared.”

“But… No matter what the map is, have you thought about not letting Fang Rui go onstage?” Chen Guo said.

Ye Xiu fell silent.

Chen Guo was often rendered speechless by Ye Xiu, and she had often hoped for the chance to do the same to him one day. But now, faced with a Ye Xiu that truly had nothing to say, she didn’t feel happy at all.

Chen Guo knew that she had hit the nail on the head.

No matter which map was chosen, Happy couldn’t go as far as to bench Fang Rui. Even though he wasn’t the absolute core of Happy, he was still a part of the central axis. And with Fang Rui’s style and resourcefulness, there really weren’t any maps that would impede his performance.

Silence.

Chen Guo didn’t ask any more questions. She quietly drank her milk, and quietly watched Ye Xiu as he rapidly finished his breakfast.

“Does it matter if he goes on or not?” Ye Xiu said, after wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Either way, we’ll win.”

Chen Guo laughed.

This wasn’t logical at all! But after hearing Ye Xiu say this, she suddenly felt very relaxed and very calm. Because in her mind, Ye Xiu had never said anything that he couldn’t do. Not a single time.

“So that’s to say, we’re the champions?” Chen Guo said.

“If not, then why are we here?” Ye Xiu looked at Chen Guo, astonished, as though he were looking at an alien.

“I’ll go see if that Fang Rui’s awake yet,” Chen Guo said, standing up.

“Give the newspaper to him, it’ll lift his spirits,” said Ye Xiu, gesturing toward the paper on the table.

“What about you?” asked Chen Guo as she took the paper.

“I’m not full yet.” Ye Xiu held his plate, looking around.

Chen Guo left first, returning upstairs to Fang Rui’s room. It was the finals, so to make things convenient for everyone, they were all in separate rooms. But when she arrived at Fang Rui’s room, the door was already open, and when she looked inside, there were many people. Everyone from Happy was here…

What was this?

As Chen Guo was about to enter, she already heard Fang Rui chattering away. “Did you guys think I was dying or something?”