Glory e-sports

Translated by 🎏 Edited by apricot, @babyybluebear

Don’t ban the Immortal Warlock in the first round?

Little Ning piped up before Chen Feng could react. “I can play the Immortal Warlock!”

They could snatch it if they weren’t going to ban it. It was a bit obnoxious to flaunt the Immortal Warlock in front of a true expert, but since it was going to appear on the field either way, it would be better to grab it quickly. Having fully opened his third eye, Little Ning was undaunted and had become even more daring.

In actuality, Ning Zhehan neglected to consider one thing, but there was no way that Chen Feng had forgotten. He reminded them, saying, “EVE has the first pick this round.”

Ning Zhehan jammed up.

If EVE didn’t have the first pick, Chen Feng wouldn’t have been taken aback by Lu Feng’s words.

The team that has second pick got to set the ban. Not banning it was equivalent to freeing up this strong talent for anyone to play. If they got pummelled to a pulp this game, they would be the target of scathing insults.

Chen Feng didn’t care for that, though; he was merely trying to guess what Lu Feng had in mind.

Wei Xiao leisurely reclined in his gaming chair. “It’s just a matter of time before you have to release it.”

Chen Feng: “……”

Wei Xiao tilted his head and looked up at him. “No way, Coach, did you think we could get a clean sweep?”

It was a tone that was just asking for a beating!

Chen Feng didn’t resist the urge, flicking the little scamp on the forehead.

Wei Xiao mumbled, “If you ban it the next two games, wouldn’t the Immortal Warlock be unbanned for the deciding game anyway…”

Chen Feng’s expression froze up.

Wei Xiao did have a point.

Chen Feng mused over it. Although he really wanted to win the series with three straight victories, how could their opposition, EVE, allow a clean sweep?

Forget match point. If it got dragged to the fourth game, the Immortal Warlock would be free to use anyway.

See, if they banned it this game and Ning Zhehan deny-picked it the next, then they would be left helpless watching EVE swoop in to claim the Immortal Warlock in the fourth game.

If the fourth game was FTW’s match point, that would be disastrous.

Xie He could often work miracles during a match point with his aggressive playstyle and force the match into a deciding game.

But was this really the only recourse?

And was this Lu Feng’s only consideration?

A loss after a win basically meant starting afresh for FTW. Furthermore, without the threat of the Immortal Warlock looming over their head, there would be less pressure on them in the subsequent games.

However, if FTW banned the Immortal Warlock in this game and took another point, wouldn’t it be more encouraging to fight on a 2:0 lead?

Taking a gentle breath, Chen Feng chose to trust Lu Feng’s decision.

FTW left the Immortal Warlock open, and the audience, as realisation slowly set in, were left dumbfounded. “Their heads are swelling.”

“They dare go so wild in the second game despite only a narrow victory in the first game using a strong comp?”

“They should press home the victory with another one! Why ease off now?” Leaving the Immortal Warlock free to play was tantamount to dropping the second game.

When Lu Feng locked in the Shadow Thief, the audience were even more electrified. “Holy shit, what are they doing?”

“Who took the Shadow Thief. Quick, someone tell me who it’s for!”

“The little lunatic, duh. Lu Feng was just helping him grab it.”

“Ahhhh, FTW’s win streak with the Shadow Thief is going to be broken!”

“Not necessarily, you never know…”

“Never know my ass! Take a good hard look at God Xie, okay? He has already transformed into the grim reaper!”

The camera went to Xie He. His lean shoulders were taut, his eyes were cold under a black fringe, and bloodless lips were pursed into a thin line. He was surrounded by tall teammates, yet he still exuded an imposing aura of lethality.

Clearly, the devastating defeat in the first game had only served to stimulate this grim reaper.

But someone had to break the silence, and that was Gary. “Captain, I remember you mentioning that God Xie’s Immortal Warlock was a result of you and Close…”

Yuan Ze abruptly raised his eyes.

Old G: “!”

Sh-Shock.

Yuan Ze stretched his long legs, rising to his feet. “Move over.”

Gary: “……”

The hulking man turned to the side, nagging in a low voice. “The game is starting soon, captain, don’t go smoking.”

Yuan Ze: “Shut up.”

Gary muttered internally: ‘Brutally honest advice is the most effective medicine’, boss QwQ… damn, I actually can’t say such an awesome idiom aloud!

As Yuan Ze left, he tossed another sentence over his shoulder. “I’m going to the washroom.” Not to smoke.

Gary: “……”

Yuan Ze: “I urgently need to use the fucking toilet.”

Gary: “…Oh.” I believe you, I do.

Yuan Ze did need to use the washroom, but he also wanted to catch some fresh air.

He didn’t smoke. After being eliminated from the playoffs, he made a vow to himself: since he didn’t take the championship, he had to quit smoking.

Men should have self-discipline, and Teacher Yuan was a real man.

– Actually, he did have a very mild craving for a smoke right now.

Yuan Ze touched his pocket. Let alone any cigarettes, he had even personally given away his twenty thousand yuan limited-edition lighter.

Tch… Yuan Ze could only enjoy the evening breeze from the window.

The Immortal Warlock was released less than two months after Close entered the team. They had not participated in any official tournaments yet and were still breaking in the new line-up.

When the new talent was released and a mid-lane hero to boot, Xie He naturally itched to take it out for a spin.

For a while after the Immortal Warlock was released, it had been the laughingstock of Glory with the nickname ‘Pretty Face’.

The reason being?

Aside from the pretty face and beautiful skills – oh right, let’s not forget the awesome-looking skins – there was nothing else to commend.

Its combat range wasn’t long enough to be an effective artillery mage. The enemy had to be right in its face in order for it to land an attack, not to mention that the damage output of both Connecting Clouds and Landing on Clouds was mediocre.

It didn’t have any one-shot abilities to serve as a burst mage. It could charge up showing off its flashy kit and the enemy would think he was done for, only to discover that he was still at half-health.

Zero ability to harass their opponents from a distance or nuke them up close. Pretty on the outside but lacking substance underneath.

In essence, just a pretty face.

When Xie He first tried it out, he expressionlessly let loose a wave of abilities. Then, from a ‘Pretty Face’… he was hammered by Teacher Yuan into deadmeat.

Yuan Ze said bluntly, “Don’t use it in tournaments. It’s junk.”

Xie He remained silent, of course, in typical obstinacy.

Glory was slow in releasing new talents. Compared to similar games, the rate of new releases was turtle paced. Furthermore, they had a penchant for making a splash, for example, dropping five new talents right before the World Tournament.

The occasional talent drops in between were like serendipitous encounters, enough to make people wonder if someone in the game development team was going to leave after getting married and going off to have children.

The slow release meant that any new talents were treasured all the more.

Especially for the mid lane. They had been left high and dry for two years, so Xie He had been looking forward to the Immortal Warlock for a long time. Now that it was finally here, there was no way he was going to let it remain as a pretty face!

Yuan Ze and Kim Sung-hyun yawned and went to bed. Xie He holed up in the training room, resolutely solo queuing with the Immortal Warlock night after night.

Eventually, when everyone in the ranked matches uniformly banned the Immortal Warlock, he then hopped over to play normal matches without the pick-and-ban phase.

Unfortunately, the standard of players in those lobbies was so poor that he couldn’t make any headway at all. He kept at it all night until Close came back from his morning jog. By then, Xie He was on the verge of imploding.

Close: “……”

Xie He: “……”

The two deities wouldn’t even grace each other with a ‘morning’.

Captain Yan, who had pulled an all-nighter, floated by like a ghost and snagged some breakfast from Close’s hands in passing.

Close glanced at the one remaining meal in his hand. “Breakfast?”

Xie He: “No.”

Then, he continued to solo queue with the Immortal Warlock.

At that time, FTW’s facilities weren’t as luxurious as they were now. The old base had so few training rooms that they would even occupy the dining room.

Most of the pro players would have their meals in the training rooms. Breakfast in particular was so insignificant that they would simply find a random place to eat it.

Close pulled out a chair and sat down, watching Xie He practise with the Immortal Warlock.

The beauty of the Immortal Warlock was undeniable.

It levitated with an ethereal quality, shrouded in clouds and mist.  These visuals still enticed countless female players to give it a try, even if they didn’t understand how to play it.

With the hours of practice that Xie He got, he had long familiarised himself with the abilities and executed them fluidly, forcing his foes to retreat again and again in defeat.

In random lobbies, Xie He could already use the pretty face to overpower the opposing side, but Close was able to tell that it was still not viable competitively.

The limitations of the talent were too glaringly obvious, and the awareness of amateur players could not hold a candle to that of pro players.

It was ineffective to continue practising like this, but Xie He didn’t have the slightest intention to take a break.

Close faltered.

Xie He looked at him after finishing another game.

Close averted his gaze.

Xie He: “……”

He returned to solo queuing.

This went on until Yuan Ze awoke and looked at them through bleary eyes. “You guys…”

He’d thought that they were either solo or duo queuing together which was pretty meticulous, but he was rendered speechless upon closer inspection.

Xie He was playing normal matches with the Immortal Warlock, while Close was playing ranked matches on the international server.

It was impossible for them to be queued into the same match; they might not have even exchanged a single word with each other!

Yuan Ze had a migraine when he woke up, and seeing Xie He’s Immortal Warlock only made his migraine worse. “It’s a useless talent, what the hell are you practising it for?”

Xie He ignored him.

Yuan Ze turned back to Close. “Fuck, your Berserker Thief has climbed to the top?”

This wasn’t just the domestic server; it was the top of the international server – was this rascal even human!

Yuan Ze looked one way then the other, and lit a cigarette. “Will it kill you guys to queue together?”

Neither gave a response.

Yuan Ze rolled his eyes. He pulled a chair and said, “Old Xie, come.”

Xie He granted him a tiny sidelong glance.

Yuan Ze: “Laozi will help you train up your pretty face.”

Xie He said, with a glacial look on his face, “Pass.”

Yuan Ze snuffed his cigarette and sent him an in-game invite.

Despite the verbal rejection, Xie He’s hand earnestly clicked on the accept button.

It was a custom lobby. Yuan Ze immediately maxed out their levels and filled the item slots when he went in, then he pulverised Xie He in-game.

Xie He was getting a bit sleepy after going a full day without sleep, but this instantly energised him.

Yuan Ze wasn’t bragging; his Death Knight was world-class in solo matches.

When Xie He went up against him in solo matches, his win rate was a third of the games at best. Therefore, he both hated and liked Yuan Ze in equal measure.

Fighting against an evenly matched opponent stretched Xie He, and his understanding of the Immortal Warlock deepened.

After practising for so long, he was able to deal regular damage with the Immortal Warlock, but he kept feeling that there was more to it than that.

The intuition was hard to describe. He simply had a hunch that he hadn’t played the Immortal Warlock to its full potential.

Just then, a cool and aloof voice carried over from his side. “Go for items with cooldown reduction instead and stack a few more layers of clouds, see how that pans out.”

Xie He gave a start, only then realising that Close had sat down beside him at some point in time.

Their eyes met and their mouths clammed shut again.

Yuan Ze clicked his tongue. “Are you guys innocent virgins?”

They were both men; seriously, how could they be so damn awkward with one another!

He was met with the united scorn of these little brothers. “You are.”

Yuan Ze: “………………”

Huffily, Teacher Yuan pulled a chair and said, “Close, c’mere.”

Close: “……”

Yuan Ze shook a cigarette out of the box and bit on a stick as he said, “Solo him with the Shadow Thief. He might actually be onto something with the Immortal Warlock.”

Close sat in Yuan Ze’s position and picked the Shadow Thief.

Later, during the practice match in the afternoon, the coaching team watched in shock as light arcs and cloud layers filled the canyon.

Yuan Ze stuck a hand into a pocket, saying carelessly, “Nine Light Arcs and Thousand Cloud Layers; next season is going to be interesting.”

It was more than just interesting.

Close’s Nine Light Arcs and Xie He’s Thousand Cloud Layers…

Debuted in the new season and shocked the world.

Mechanics that surpassed previous peak-tier mechanics.

Constructing myth after myth!

If it was just that, then Yuan Ze wouldn’t have had to come out for some fresh air to relieve the tight feeling in his chest.

Instead, what discomfited him was this…

FTW once had a little blackboard that Yuan Ze would record win stats on whenever he had the chance.

Back then, the score between Close and Xie He was 1231:1232.

Close was down by a single game.

However, Xie He never got the opportunity to challenge him again.

In the freestyle battle earlier tonight, Close had played the Shadow Thief and Xie He had played the Immortal Warlock, but that hadn’t really been their fight.

This game was.

In terms of the Shadow Thief and the Immortal Warlock, there was now only one of each in the canyon.

ID: Close.

ID: Xiehe.

@babyybluebear: The fated rivalry…I would have said, but no, someone please sign me up for YuanZe-Gary fanclub LOL