Seeing Zhou lingering in silence for a long time, Ningluo and the others finally realized that she was truly angry this time. They wanted to persuade her, but didn't know where to begin, after all, they were the ones who had made her angry.
"We were already outmatched, and now that our mid laner is so frustrated with us, doesn't that make our chances even slimmer?"
"It's a small matter if she can't beat them. What's the problem is if Zhou Zhou performs too poorly? Will she be able to make it in the entertainment industry? After all, she's an idol."
"Yeah, actually, if she performed normally, she should have been quite impressive. Fans and haters can't expect her to carry several professions, right? If she performed even slightly better, the blame wouldn't fall on her. But now..."
"Yes, why don't we try to persuade her from this perspective?"
“... ..."
Zhou Paihuai was initially furious, but hearing them whispering amongst themselves so loudly that everyone could hear them, he couldn't help but laugh. This feeling of being both angry and amused was truly irresistible.
"Shut up!" Zhou Huapai suddenly interrupted them. "I've never worried about being unfairly criticized, so I won't have any pressure when I go on stage to play. Besides, you might find it hard to believe, but being able to play in a formal match used to be my biggest dream. Now that I finally have this opportunity, I will give it my all. In esports, no one wants to lose, but I'm not afraid to lose, and I don't want you to lose your courage to win either."
Hearing Zhou Paihuai's words, Ningluo and the others were deeply moved. They suddenly realized that she made a lot of sense. They didn't think they were afraid of the KPY team, but rather that they couldn't beat them in terms of raw skill, and with Zhou Paihuai around, they were feeling somewhat discouraged. But no matter how many excuses they made, they couldn't shake the fact that they themselves didn't believe the TKL team could beat the KPY team.
"Hey, who cares if it's KPY or CPY, let's just do it! Brothers, what do you guys say?" Shilong finally couldn't hold back anymore and directly expressed his opinion.
Chicken soup may not be of much use most of the time, but once a person's passion is ignited, the power of the accumulated chicken soup will burst forth in an instant.
"Yeah, who cares who the opponent is, just do it!"
They all high-fived, and Zhou Paihuai joined in: "Play well in a bit, and give it your all no matter who wins or loses."
... ...
The competition officially began, and Zhou Paihuai and Ningluo stood together on the stage. Hearing the host call her name, she felt incredibly excited.
But when Zhou Paihuai sat down in the mid-lane seat and put on her headphones, she unexpectedly felt calm. After entering the room, she chatted enthusiastically with the others and even texted with members of the KPY team.
Logically, both sides should be on high alert during the ban/pick phase, racking their brains to ban the strongest heroes of the current meta and choosing their most proficient strategies. However, today, the coach of the KPY team seemed a bit out of sorts. He banned Jones, Moriarty, and Ariel in the first round, heroes that, in principle, shouldn't have been banned.
"Zhou Zhou, it seems that your smokescreens have been working for a while now. The opposing team thought that once these heroes are banned, you would retire on the spot."
These are the heroes that Zhou Paihuai often uses to climb the ranks during her live streams. They make for good streaming content, and she plays them quite well. However, they are rarely seen in competitive matches.
Zhou Paihuai is indeed most skilled with these few heroes, but that doesn't mean she can only play these few. Unexpectedly, her usual laziness has had a surprising effect.
"Looks like I've done a great job, forcing the opponent to have no bans in the first round, right?"
"I'm suddenly full of confidence now." Jiu'an is one of the team members with a relatively shallow hero pool, and he used to be a key target during the ban/pick phase, but today, none of the first bans targeted him.
The ban/pick phase ends, and the game officially begins.
On the screen, the adorable Bu Huanyan waddled along the mid lane. Despite her short legs, she arrived at the lane almost simultaneously with the enemy mid laner, Jelka. However, Bu Huanyan's wave clear ability was inferior to Jelka's. Jelka cleared all the minions and reached level two, while Bu Huanyan had only cleared one. Therefore, Jelka was able to provide support faster than Bu Huanyan.
Zhou Paihuai told her teammates the direction of Jelka's support, while she quietly cleared the minion wave. Clearing the minion wave before going to support would always be a step too late, so instead of going to support the top or bottom lanes, she went to the enemy's side and stole the enemy jungler's small monsters.
This playstyle is not common in matches; players prefer to provide support. However, Zhou Huapai is well aware that, currently in this game, apart from a few specific heroes, lane dominance is not strong. Although Jerkka clears waves quickly in the early game, providing support doesn't offer much benefit. She'd rather stick to her own playstyle, which ensures her own development while indirectly harassing the enemy jungler.
As expected, with Zhou Paihuai's strategy, when Shilong reached level four, the enemy jungler's experience bar was still below level four. Zhou Paihuai and Shilong then went to the bottom lane to coordinate a four-man gank on the bot lane duo, securing a beautiful double kill.
"Nice!"
Wow!
"Keep going, keep going! Let's take this game before they get into the zone!" Zhou Huapai focused all his attention on the game, encouraging his teammates to increase their advantage.
They then ganked the bottom lane duo several more times, turning the enemy's damage core, Apollo, into a sitting duck and securing the victory.
The first game ended, and the second game started quickly. This time, the KPY team had discovered that Zhou Paihuai's hero pool was a smokescreen. Although they didn't know why she suddenly became so strong, they had to admit that she was indeed very strong. So they started the standard ban/pick phase, targeting Jiu'an, who had a shallower hero pool, and banning most of the strong marksman heroes.
Seeing their draft strategy, Zhou Paihuai and the coach exchanged knowing smiles, realizing that their own team had also started banning marksmen. This seemingly desperate draft surprised even the commentators on stage. They were curious: there weren't many marksman heroes to begin with, and now with so many banned, practically none of them would be viable in the match. What would they choose?
KPY team preemptively picked one of the remaining marksman heroes, leaving even fewer for TKL team. However, to everyone's surprise, TKL team didn't choose a marksman, but instead picked warrior heroes for both the top and bottom lanes.
Zhou Paihuai glanced at the heroes chosen by her team and the opposing team, a knowing smile spreading across her face. Having watched countless matches over the years, she possessed an almost superhuman understanding of the game's meta, far surpassing the coaches who had to learn through trial and error. In the current version, even without a marksman, a dual-warrior strategy was perfectly viable. Marksmen required too long to develop and were easily targeted. She was confident in her mid-lane skills and believed she could catch the KPY team off guard today.
Chapter 28 It is impolite not to reciprocate.
The game "Peak of the Sky" is a five-player cooperative tower-pushing game, and marksmen are the fastest tower-pushing heroes. Therefore, no matter what strange team compositions appear on the field, marksmen have never been abandoned. However, this time, the TKL team surprisingly didn't choose a marksman, but instead selected two warriors.
When the hero was chosen, there was an uproar at the scene. Not only the audience, but even the commentators on the commentary stage were very puzzled.
"Did Coach Xu Feng make a mistake in the draft? It seems that Coach Xinghun's draft pick is making him very uncomfortable. Has this effectively shut down Jiu'an?"
"It seems that way now, but with Bruno and Lyca still out there as marksmen, it's really not right to pick heroes like that."
“... ..."
However, the audience and commentators did not affect the players who were wearing headphones during the game.
"We've practiced this lineup before, so we can play normally!" Zhou Huahuai picked his best hero and was full of confidence.
"Go for it!" the group shouted in unison. The first game not only brought them a victory, but also gave hope to the veteran members of the TKL team. So this time, their cheers were exceptionally inspiring.
This time, Zhou Paihuai still didn't ask Chu Shang to follow her into the game. However, this time she cleared the minion wave very quickly. With a second skill and a basic attack, she got the first minion. After leveling up to level two, she used her first skill again and cleared all the minions.
After clearing the minion wave, she headed towards the enemy jungle's small monsters. However, this time she wasn't actually going to steal the monsters. Instead, she first revealed some vision, then concealed herself and turned to the bottom lane, where she quickly secured a double kill.
"Takiriz played a crucial role in this play. She concealed her vision and successfully drew the enemy mid laner and jungler to the jungle monsters."
"It seems KPY needs to be careful; TKL won't use the same tactics twice."
"Another kill was secured in the top lane. It seems that having a support like Quan Yuanyuan makes lane rotations faster. Takiriz is usually a short-legged champion, but now she can provide support so quickly."
“... ..."
Without a doubt, TKL team won the second game again. In a best-of-five series, winning two games puts them directly at match point. This means that if they win just one more game, TKL team will break their team record and defeat KPY team for the first time today.
Fifteen minutes later, the third draft phase officially began, and the teammates all seemed very excited.
"We're sure to win this match." Shilong was full of confidence and couldn't wait to start the game.
"That's right, Zhou Zhou is so strong, they definitely can't beat us now!"
“... ..."
Although Zhou was confident in the larger arena, she lacked confidence in the smaller arena. The reason she won the first two games was mainly because the KPY team underestimated her and were unfamiliar with her. After those two games, players like the KPY team had a basic understanding of her game habits, and the third game would definitely not be as easy as the first two.
"We must determine our strategy for this game during the draft phase, and we must not change our initial ideas because of the ever-changing situation on the field."
Don't worry!
... ...
Just as Zhou Paihuai had predicted, at the start of the third game, all five opponents came to the mid lane, and she gave up first blood. She didn't even get a single minion wave.
"It seems like this team has switched tactics this time. KPY team has successfully taken down Yehuo Zhanyan. This is a disastrous start!"
Ye Huo Zhan Yan is a hero who relies heavily on farming. If he has a lot of gold, he can stick to others and fight. But if he has little gold, he is a useless hero. Zhou Paihuai lost a life and a wave of minions in the early game, which was indeed a disastrous start.
"Zhou Zhou, why don't you come and eat my wild boar!" came the voice of the Dragon Slayer through the earpiece.
Chu Shang also said, "Or I could follow you and protect you?"
"No way!" Zhou Heihuai appreciated their good intentions. Of course, she would be very comfortable playing the game that way, but her purpose in playing the game was not for her own comfort, but for the team to win. In this draft, she seemed to be the core, but in the late game, the marksman and jungler are the real core. How could she steal the jungler's jungle monsters and take the marksman's support? "I'll play it safe, you guys focus on farming."
Zhou Paihuai uttered lewd words, but given her aggressive style and the fact that the opposing team was deliberately targeting her, Ye Huo Zhan Yan, she was like she was back in that training match, constantly respawning and quickly returning to the fountain. Fortunately, the respawn time was fast in the early game, so the mid-lane tower remained standing until the fifteen-minute mark, when it finally fell. By then, she was already 0-7 and had fed terribly.
However, Jiu'an and Shilong developed very well, and even Ningluo solo killed the enemy top laner twice. Although their total kills were less than the enemy's, their number of towers pushed was actually higher.
Zhou slowly improved her economy and finally completed her core item: a defensive item. This prevented her from being instantly killed in a crowd and gave her a sliver of hope for a counterattack. She seized the opportunity when the enemy mid-laner was alone, using her second skill to rush in and stick to him. Although her equipment wasn't enough to kill him, she was also invincible, so she waited for the Dragon Slayer's support and secured the kill.
At this point, the counterattack began in earnest. Zhou Paihuai and Shilong quickly pushed down the enemy's mid-lane tower, moved into the enemy jungle, and trapped all five of the enemy players at the second tower, preventing them from pushing out the minion wave. However, this resulted in a stalemate between the two sides. The enemy mage and marksman cleared the wave quickly, and after destroying the three second towers, they were unable to advance on the high ground.
"If the game drags on to the late game, it will be a matter of one team fight, so you must protect your marksman."
"Don't worry, leave it to me!"
"Once we get the dragon, I'll go up and sell some minions. You guys follow up depending on the situation!" These were Zhou Paihuai's words. Her wave clear ability was very poor. Although she had the advantage now, if the game dragged on, she might lose.
After the dragon spawned, Shilong and Jiu'an quickly rushed it down, and Zhou Paihuai also bought equipment for a desperate gamble. With the Baron buff following, Zhou Paihuai communicated with his teammates in the team mic and then entered the tower simultaneously with the dragon. He used his second skill to stick to the enemy marksman, and two seconds later, his teammates followed—it was a gamble for survival. If they won, Zhou Paihuai would pull off a spectacular play; if they lost, he would take the blame—it was that simple.
However, Zhou Paihuai won this gamble. Although she was quickly killed under the enemy tower, Jiu'an's marksman output was too powerful. He actually killed the turret and the person who was trying to kill her with the lifesteal equipment. Her own marksman and mid laner died, while the enemy lost four people, leaving only the mid laner alive. The high ground tower also fell, so naturally they could not defend and were directly wiped out in one wave.
Zhou Huapai excitedly stood up and hugged his teammates. Before today, they had never thought about winning. Before this moment, they never thought they could win the game 3-0. But at this moment, both of these things that they dared not imagine have actually come true.
... ...
While Jiu'an and Chu Shang were being interviewed on stage, Zhou Paihuai had already been dragged back by Cheng Minxin. Her month with the production team was up by the end of the competition. Cheng Minxin dared not let her stay at the club any longer, lest she lose interest in returning to the club.
"Sister Cheng, you're in such a hurry! At least let me finish the interview!" Zhou Paihuai complained, sitting in the van.
Cheng Minxin rolled her eyes at her and said, "Didn't you see how excited the fans were? Aren't you afraid you won't be able to leave in a little while?"
"Where would I get so many fans?" Zhou Huaihuai muttered to himself as he opened a live streaming platform to watch the live broadcast of the match.
"To be honest, I am most grateful to my teammate Zhou Paihuai for winning this game today. Although we have only been teammates for a short time, I have learned a lot from her... In esports, you never have to give up. I will always maintain this mindset and never give up in the future."
Zhou Paihuai listened, a smile playing on his lips.
Cheng Minxin saw the smile on her face in the rearview mirror and said, "You're so happy to hear others praise you? It's a pity that e-sports isn't your main profession."
"No, I was laughing at Jiu'an." Zhou Huai put down his phone. "It was just a post-match interview, but it was made to sound like the TKL team had won the championship and was giving an acceptance speech."
"..." Cheng was speechless. The other person was clearly expressing their reluctance to part with her, and she, the person directly involved, was actually mocking them. Luckily, Jiu'an didn't know, otherwise the two of them definitely wouldn't be able to be friends. "Right now, all the trending topics are about you winning the competition. Are you sure you want to make your move?"
"Of course, before my collaboration with the production team ends, I have to give them a big gift, right? As a way of thanking them for giving me this opportunity to fulfill my dream."
"You really are vindictive!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Sister Cheng!" Zhou Paihuai and Cheng Minxin smiled at each other. As the saying goes, it is impolite not to reciprocate. She accepted the "gift" from the production team, but she didn't know if the production team could accept the "gift" she gave them.
--------------------
Author's Note:
Take the esports part with a grain of salt; the probability of this happening is less than 0.1%, and the probability of winning a match 3-0 is zero.
Chapter 29 A So-Called Empty Celebration
Zhou Paihuai had long anticipated that Li Wen's revelation would be explosive news, but she did not expect the power of this trending topic to be so great that it actually brought the "Life Exchange" program to an abrupt end, with the TV station announcing an indefinite suspension of the variety show.
When the official announcement was made, Zhou Paihuai was playing games with Xiao Heifen. It had only been two weeks, and he hadn't expected Xiao Heifen's gaming skills to improve so quickly; he was almost at the King rank in solo queue. Her gaming talent seemed quite high.
However, just as the team battle was about to begin, Zhou Paihuai's other phone suddenly rang. Without even looking, she knew it was Cheng Minxin calling, because this phone was specifically for the domineering Cheng Minxin, who demanded that Zhou Paihuai answer her call within one minute. To avoid such unexpected calls during team battles, Zhou Paihuai had gotten herself a second phone.
She answered the phone while turning down the volume of her game: "Sister Cheng?"