AWM: PUBG - Chap 17
Chapter 17
Edited by Tin
When Yu Yang returned to the HOG lounge, the third round of the competition had already begun.
He Xiaoxu could smell the strong scent of smoke from Yu Yang and frowned. “Smoke less. It harms your eyes.”
Yu Yang did not say a thing and just made a sound of agreement, before he sat back onto his seat to continue watching the livestream.
In the competition venue, Yu Qianxi kept breaking out in cold sweat and spacing out. After Qi Zui called for him to jump off the plane, he delayed for two seconds before he jumped.
This time, even Bu Nana could no longer stand it and said unhappily, “Qianxi, what’s wrong with you today?”
“I’m nervous…” Yu Qianxi said dully. “I’ll be fine in a moment.”
They had landed in the Nuclear Power Plant1
“Qianxi?” Lao Kai ran to the garage, very confused. “What’s the matter with you? Are you feeling unwell?”
“There’s no need to care about him.” Qi Zui said, “Go and loot.”
Bu Nana frowned, instinctively looking towards where Qi Zui was sitting. However, there were partitions between the players and he could not see anything.
Yu Qianxi let go of the mouse and rubbed his hands together, mummering , “Sor…Sorry.”
Qi Zui did not speak and Yu Qianxi closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, trying his best to get back into the right state of mind, however… the feeling was already completely off.
He had acted for two rounds, panicking all throughout the game and Yu Qianxi felt that it was about time. He needed to play properly now, and get more kills, to let the fans think that he was making a lot of effort to try to turn the tides and help to pull the team’s points up. That way, he could totally push the blame onto Qi Zui.
More importantly, he wanted the high-ranking leaders of other eSports teams to see that he was the true pillar of the team, someone who can control the fate of a match. Qi Zui kept making mistakes ever since the matches started, and it was because of him2, that their ranking did not drop that much…
However, the situation had spiralled out of his control.
In the first hour, he had been completely focused on making Qi Zui the scapegoat, and it had wasted too much of Yu Qianxi’s energy. Currently, he was flustered and was completely nowhere close to the level he was usually at. Even though he wanted to play properly, it was impossible for him to quickly increase his playing standard. His hands and brain were no longer listening to him3.
In the third round, three of HOG members carried4 one member and ended up with a final result of fifth place. They managed to get seven kills, and their score for that match was 300.
Yu Yang took a look at the overall rankings. HOG was in fifteenth place.
There was too much of a difference.
“Alright, there’s half an hour of rest time now. You should speak to them properly, don’t scold them as soon as you see them.” He Xiaoxu patted Lai Hua’s shoulder. “Everyone is under a lot of dress, it isn’t that they don’t have the ability to do well, it’s purely because they are playing abnormally, so talk to them properly.”
Lai Hua’s face was dark and he did not say a thing.
He Xiaoxu laughed dryly. “Isn’t this just three rounds? They are still able to catch up later on. The main thing is that Qi Zui messed up the choice of landing location in the first round and their results were…too low. Everyone was affected by the first round and it restricted their ability to play, but didn’t it get better after that first round?”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with the Captain.”
“What did you say?” Lai Hua turned his head to look at Yu Yang, about to explode in anger.
He Xiaoxu hurriedly lowered his voice and told Yu Yang. “Youth, help me open this box of water. They’ll want to drink it later…”
“I said, what happened for those few rounds have nothing to do with the Captain.” Yu Yang threw his phone into the pocket of his baseball jacket. “With a shitty teammate5, it’s already very remarkable that he could get fifth place here.
Lai Hua instantly wanted to curse. He Xiaoxu was extremely annoyed. “What’s going on today? Is everyone trying to force me to jump into the river? Yu Yang, have you forgotten that scolding your teammates is one of our bottom lines? Thankfully, there’s no outsider listening in. Do you not know that if this gets out, you’ll have to go to Team Two tonight?
“I’m sorry, I have bad behaviour.” Yu Yang had suppressed his anger for such a long time, it was already quite good that he was not resorting to violence. He was quiet for a moment, before he said indifferently, “In the three rounds, they got a total of fifteen kills, Qi… Drunk has 11 kills, Banana had 3 kills, kay has 1 kill, Yu Qianxi has 0 kills.
“So what?” Lai Hua’s expression was cold. “Qi Zui is the sniper, he should have more kills than others.”
“Alright, then during the third match, they looted an air drop6, and it was a MK14. Yu Qianxi was the one who looted it, and he took the MK147.” Yu Yang said coldly, “And all he did with it was use it as a fire starting stick8.”
Lai Hua was truly angered by Yu Yang. “It’s not like MK14 is the best air drop gun9, so what if he took it? So what you mean is that if someone takes a good gun and doesn’t manage to get any kills, it’s being used as a fire starting stick? Who taught you to be so crazy?!”
Yu Yang looked up. “It’s fine that he took the MK14, but he only equipped it with a cheek pad10, but not a compensator11. Isn’t this mistake a mark of a shitty player?”
In the current version of the game, if the MK14 had the compensator and an extended quickdraw12, in the final zone, if the player switched to full auto and engaged in close-ranged fights, while it cannot be said to be unparalleled, but it was definitely a very large advantage.
But Yu Qianxi basically treated this gun as a fire starting stick, rendering it useless.
Lai Hua was extremely angry, but he just smiled. “How do you know that he has a compensator?! If he really does, why would he…”
“He does.” Yu Yang interrupted Lai Hua and said quietly, “When the director cut to the Captain’s camera, Yu Qianxi was on camera once, and in that second, I saw the compensator on his SKS13.”
Lai Hua was stunned. As for that one second that Yu Yang was talking about, he… totally could not remember a thing about it.
He Xiaoxu was completely in a daze. He looked at the two of them in confusion, “What are you two talking about? What compensator?”
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask them in a moment.” Yu Yang did not want to speak anymore, his thin lips pressed into a line. “He knows what he did.”
While they were speaking, Qi Zui and the rest entered the lounge.
Bu Nana and Lao Kai were both listless and lacking in energy, whilst He Xiaoxu’s face was white, their expressions were all quite horrible.
“I want to spend some time on my own, can the few of you leave for a moment?” Compared to the other people, Qi Zui’s expression was still alright. He opened a bottle of water and drank two sips, calmly saying, “Yu Qianxi, you stay.”
Yu Qianxi’s expression turned ghastly white in an instant.
After everyone stood there stunned for two second, they all started to walk out. Lai Hua frowned, hesitating for a moment, but he was still dragged out by He Xiaoxu.
Yu Yang was the last to leave, helping Qi Zui close the door. He also took off his jacket to cover the camera in the room.
Bu Nana turned his head back to look at Yu Yang, confused. “What are you covering the camera for?”
Yu Yang shook his head and did not say anything, thinking in his heart, are physical fights not considered as part of your team’s no-tolerance acts?
Yu Yang had underestimated Qi Zui, he had let his shitty teammates act for three rounds straight, but Qi Zui’s emotions were still in check, and he did not even think of getting physical. He even helped Yu Qianxi take a bottle of water.
Yu Qianxi nervously swallowed, his voice hoarse. “Captain…”
“The money that Yu Yang promised to give you, has he transferred it to you?”
Yu Qianxi’s legs grew weak, and he almost fell onto the ground.
“Looks like he hasn’t.” Qi Zui smiled lightly. “The money earned from one year of the signed contract, Yu Yang probably hasn’t managed to earn that yet.”
Yu Qianxi’s voice trembled. “What are you… talking about? I don’t know…”
“It’s fine, it’s alright even if you don’t want to admit it, I was just casually asking.” Qi Zui sat down, his heart calm. “Have you found a new eSports team?”
Yu Qianxi completely broke down, weakly holding onto the chair and sitting down.
Qi Zui sneered. Useless thing.
Yu Qianxi’s chest felt like a drum was beating in it, and he took a moment to calm down, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but were rejected one by one by him. Qi Zui and Lai Hua were both the kind of people that could not tolerate any small mistake, since he was found out, there was nothing left to say. Even if it was Bu Nana, if he dared to contact other eSports teams and try to manipulate results in the game, Qi Zui and the rest would kick him out of the team without hesitation, not to mention Yu Qianxi, who was the one to do such a thing.
Yu Qianxi wiped his face, a thought flashing through his mind. He raised his gaze and questioned. “Do you all know? Ha… You all know about it! But you didn’t ask me, and you pretended that everything was fine, to let me continue working myself to the bone for you and competing in this competition?”
“Oh, you’re biting back.”
Qi Zui smiled mockingly. He looked at Yu Qianxi, a complicated look in his eyes. He thought about how half a year ago, when Yu Qianxi first entered the team, he had arrogantly told Qi Zui that he wanted to let everyone see a HOG with Yu Qianxi.
It had been just half a year…
In half a year, Yu Qianxi had managed to get a contract fee that had been multiplied by ten times, accepted a livestream contract that had many benefits, he got a few endorsements, he bought a race car, he bought branded watches, and slowly… he started to feel envious of Bu Nana’s large house on Huaihai Road, he started to feel envious of Qi Zui’s garage full of sports cars, he started to feel envious of the pay and the savings of those celebrity eSports players that had been famous for quite a while.
Qi Zui felt that he was getting old and was unable to recall the past in detail. He waved his hand. “Whatever, there’s nothing much to talk about anymore.”
“Were you guys playing with me?” Yu Qianxi saw Qi Zui’s indifferent expression and felt extremely angry for some reason. Since he had already offended him, he might as well not hold back. “Great, you guys are really so great, all of you have always been like this. You guys are one team, and know everything, but keep it all a secret from me, never telling me anything! Even now, you still want to trick me? You know that I asked Yu Yang for money, you know that I contacted other eSports teams, but you didn’t say a word! Haha…”
Yu Qianxi’s heart was racing and he said hatefully, “Is it very fun to play around for me? To have me play in the competition for nothing, then wait till I get the tickets to the main competition, then kick me and have Yu Yang replace me?!”
“You must have disliked me for a long time right? That’s why you asked Yu Yang to join Team One, you’re just waiting for a suitable moment to kick me right?” Yu Qianxi’s chest was rising and falling and he said angrily. “You want me to help pave the path for him? Dream on!”
Qi Zui pursed his lips, smiling helplessly. “Do you really think that our team can’t do without you?”
“No matter how lacking I am, I’m still a first-class player, even if you don’t want to admit it, you have to.” Yu Qianxi looked Qi Zui up and down, then smiled coldly. “Besides for having more experience, in what way are you guys stronger than me? Bu Nana… Ha, he’s just a boorish fellow. Lao Kai, he’s just a pug that you’re rearing! You? Hahahaha…”
Yu Qianxi looked Qi Zui up and down and said in a low voice. “The Right Hand of God, how many more years can you play for? Half a year? One year? By next year, it’s probably about time for you to keep your belongings and prepare to retire right?!”
Qi Zui quietly looked at Yu Qianxi for a few seconds before he quickly stood up. Yu Qianxi was so scared that he backed away, but Qi Zui ignored him and left the lounge.
Yu Yang and the others were standing in the corner of the hallway not too far away. Bu Nana had already told everyone about the details of the first three matches, and Lai Hua was extremely angry, He Xiaoxu was so angry he felt like his lungs were going to burst. However, because he was scared that others would see them and there would be a scandal, he was doing his best to placate everyone there.
The moment Yu Yang saw Qi Zui come out, he walked over. Yu Yang took a glance at the lounge, confirming that there had not been a physical fight before he raised his head to look at Qi Zui, saying in a small voice, “Should I substitute for him?”
They were already lagging behind in points by so much, whoever substituted in now would be taking the fall for nothing.
Qi Zui’s heart softened and he shook his head. “There’s no need, you can go and warm-up first.”
Lai Hua could not stand it anymore, facing the lounge and cursing and scolding for half a minute. He panted as he looked towards Qi Zui, frowning. “Don’t play around anymore, just let Yu Yang take his place…”
“I already said,” Qi Zui interrupted Lai Hua, before calmly repeating. “There’s no need.”
Everyone became quiet in an instant, not a single person daring to speak.
The half an hour break time quickly passed by, and the fourth match of the competition began.
HOG landed in the airport for the first match.
Qi Zui picked up a UMP9 as soon as he landed, reloading it properly and changing it to auto. In one round, he killed off Yu Qianxi.
The commentators were stunned and a few seconds later, the livestream room exploded.
Yu Qianxi’s expression was blank, in that moment, he could not even say a single sentence.
“I’ll take over the empty position, and the rest can stay the same.” Qi Zui’s tone was as per normal. “Lao Kai, keep an eye on the observation station, there’ll be someone reporting there soon.”
Lao Kai was stunned for three whole seconds before he quickly said, “Okay!”
“Nana, keep reporting the number of health supplies you have. If you can’t pick up anymore, you can pass it to Lao Kai. I suspect that this is another Heaven’s Wrath Circle.” Qi Zui changed his gun. He then lowered his head to look at the Yu Qianxi, whose dead body was on the ground and had yet to leave the game, then, as if he had just remembered something, he said, “Oh, my hand slipped.”
Yu Qianxi gritted his teeth. He looked up, and saw the camera right in front of his seat. He wanted to stand up, but controlled himself and sat back down.
“Great, you can see more clearly now that you’re lying on the ground.” Qi Zui put on a level three helmet, then equipped a level two vest. “Watch how the boorish fellow, the pug, and the Right Hand of God that’s about to retire, play.”
In the fourth round, HOG got first place and successfully ate their chicken dinner14. Captain Drunk killed a total of 12 people, including a team member.
