AWM: PUBG - Chap 56
In the second round, Knight had managed to play especially well and managed to get first place in that match.
TGC was second place, Wolves was ranked third place, and HOG was ranked fifth place.
In the third round, TGC managed to get first place again. Wolves was second and HOG was seventh place.
Qi Zui stopped teasing people. Besides HOG, he was paying close attention to TGC.
After three games, TGC had completely entered their ideal state. They chose good landing spots, their cooperation was perfect, every single detail was paid attention to. They were not weaker than anyone when it came to directly exchanging gunfire. Every time the safe zone was refreshed, they were the first to move. They rarely lost any members in the first three safe zones and would kill off every team they met. The fastest round was ending the encounter with the Freedom team within thirteen seconds, and they were able to finish looting and leave within a minute.
Qi Zui narrowed his eyes, suddenly understanding why TGC would participate in this offline competition with a pitiful amount of prize money.
After they signed new players, TGC had managed to form their complete team, and they came out to participate in all kinds of competitions to train their players. They were also there to serve as a deterrent to HOG.
TGC did have the ability to snatch HOG’s sponsors.
In the fourth round, TGC managed to get first place again by crushing the competition.
This time, the winner of the competition was decided by playing for five rounds. For TGC, the competition had already ended.
They had a scary six hundred points difference with the second place currently, and it did not matter how they did in the last round, they would win no matter what.
Qi Zui was mentally calculating HOG’s points. In the fourth round, HOG was ranked sixth and was fifth in overall rankings.
Qi Zui checked the points of the third and fourth place teams… to HOG, this competition had already ended. Even if they landed in the Airport and did very well in the fifth round, they would be unable to get top three.
Qi Zui was watching from the overhead view, and he knew very well where the problem was.
The weakest in the team was Xin Ba, and while he was good compared to the normal high-level players, but he was very lacking when he played in such a team. He could not keep up with the fast pace of Yu Yang and Bu Nana and did not have the experience or the excellent prediction ability that Lao Kai had. When they were caught in direct gunfights, he would often break away from the team. It was one thing for him to be unable to deal sufficient damage, he would even occasionally drag the team down and expose their location, affecting his teammates.
Another thing was that they were not used to playing together yet, and Xin Ba took over Qi Zui’s sniper position. The balance of the whole team was seriously tilted. Yu Yang and Bu Nana were already used to head-on fights with people, where they competed in terms of speed. However, Xin Ba was not able to shoot in time, or would be eliminated early, and Lao Kai had to take over, causing the entire team’s pacing to change, and they would be unable to get used to it quickly.
Therefore, it was normal to be completely crushed by the complete TGC team. Having a large point difference with Knight was not surprising either.
Qi Zui pursed his lips, this was Yu Yang’s first time leading the team.
Qi Zui knew very well that Yu Yang had not made a single mistake in the first four matches, and a lot of his moves even impressed Qi Zui. However, a team competition was not based on someone’s personal results, everyone would only look at the team ranking. If Yu Yang got such an embarrassing result as the Captain of the team, he would be blamed.
After all, this result was too different from the first place that HOG got at Busan.
During the four matches, Qi Zui kept an eye on Yu Yang’s condition. Yu Yang seemed to be okay on the surface. He had the same cold expression on his face that he normally had when competing from the first match to the fourth match. He did not look happy, but he was not angry either.
However, Xin Ba’s expression was slowly getting worse from the second match. When the ranking of the fourth match came out, his expression was one of defeat, and he seemed to be out of it.
There was still half an hour till the last match. The livestream platform was playing the various advertisements from the sponsor, and Qi Zui did not need to do much. Qi Zui was still worried about Yu Yang. He thought for a moment, then removed his microphone and went to the lounge backstage.
Qi Zui walked through the long corridor and politely rejected the media interviews, avoiding all the cameras following him and found HOG’s lounge.
The door of the lounge was closed, and Lai Hua, Bu Nana, and Lao Kai were standing outside, discussing their strategy.
“Where’s Yu Yang and Xin Ba?” Qi Zui was quite surprised, “What are you few doing outside?”
Bu Nana laughed bitterly, “Xin Ba broke down. Captain-Yu is counseling him.”
“What?” Qi Zui laughed, “He’s counseling Xin Ba?”
Lai Hua sighed, “When they finished the match just now… Xin Ba said he wanted to quit the team and go back to the Second Team or accompany the rookies in the youth training program.”
Qi Zui laughed.
“I was worried about Yu Yang… I didn’t expect Xin Ba to be the one to break down first,” Qi Zui looked at the HOG team logo on the lounge door, “How long has it been?”
“Ten minutes?” Bu Nana was very worried, “Xin Ba wouldn’t actually quit the team right? This child…”
Qi Zui said mildly, “He’s not young anymore.”
Bu Nana thought about Yu Yang’s age and shut up.
Qi Zui wanted to knock on the door, but he remembered… Yu Yang was the captain now.
Yu Yang wanted to talk to his teammate alone and did not want others to enter the room, so no one should enter the room.
Qi Zui leaned against the door of the lounge and sighed.
The person who should be comforted at this moment shouldn’t be Xin Ba, right?
Qi Zui raised his hand to look at the time, he could only spend ten more minutes here.
“Captain…”
Xin Ba frowned and turned his head slightly…
The soundproofing of the door to the lounge was not good. When Qi Zui leaned against the door, he could hear the sounds from inside the lounge.
In the lounge, Xin Ba sat on the chair and buried his face in the team uniform he had removed, his shoulders trembling.
“Captain…” Xin Ba’s voice was hoarse and he choked, “Tell Captain-Qi and Manager He, as well as the rest of the team to choose someone else. Anyone would be better than me.”
Xin Ba sobbed, “Let me return to Team Two, or I can help out in training by being someone to spar against. I’m willing to do anything, it’s fine even if you don’t give me money, I’m too ashamed to take the salary of a Team One member…”
Yu Yang was silent for a moment and said, “No one asked you to leave.”
“I want to leave…” Xin Ba’s two hands grasped his phone, his fingertips trembling slightly, “In the forums, they, they are scolding me… they said I’m…”
“I told you, don’t look at the forums…” The truth was, Yu Yang had also taken a look himself. He paused, then said, “Anyway, they’re also scolding me.”
“It’s all because I dragged you down,” Xin Ba raised his head, his eyes red, “It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, if I’m not such a trash player, we won’t be in such a state, unable to even get top three. Everyone trusted me and had me join Team One. The first time I competed as an official member, I…”
Yu Yang raised his hand and looked at his watch. There were twenty minutes to the start of the last match.
Yu Yang looked at Xin Ba and asked, “So what do you want?”
Xin Ba wiped his tears away, feeling ashamed and very unwilling. He said in a small voice, “I want to return to Team Two…”
“Okay,” Yu Yang nodded his head, “I’ll approve it.”
Xin Ba was stunned.
Yu Yang said, “I’ll help you inform Captain-Qi and Manager He. I’ll be able to explain to the club as well. If you want to go, I’ll agree.”
HOG was different from other teams. The captain of Team One had the decision-making power for everything, including major matters like this. When Yu Yang said that he would let Xin Ba return to Team Two, Xin Ba would be able to return to the first floor on the very day they returned to the base.
Yu Yang raised his hand to look at the time again, “So are you playing in the next match?”
Xin Ba was stunned and he stammered, “I, I…”
“I’m asking you,” Yu Yang was not angry, and there was not a trace of impatience in his tone, he was just asking, “Will you play in the next round?”
Xin Ba sniffled, “For the next round…no matter how well we play, there won’t be any chance of doing well overall, right? Let’s…”
Yu Yang asked, “So you won’t play in the next round?”
Yu Yang lowered his gaze, looking down at his phone and muttering to himself, “Sometimes, I really don’t understand what all of you are thinking…”
Yu Yang, who had experienced all kinds of warmth and coldness in the world was a little numb towards these sorts of weak and sensitive feelings. It was like how a warrior who licked the blood off knife wounds every day would never be able to understand why someone would cry because of a small cut on their finger. He was unable to understand, let alone empathize.
Yu Yang took a deep breath and looked at Xin Ba. He suddenly asked, “Do you think that we haven’t embarrassed ourselves enough?”
Xin Ba explained, dumbfounded, “I… I don’t want to embarrass you guys, so…”
Yu Yang said coldly, “It’s not embarrassing to lose, what’s embarrassing is not daring to win.”
Xin Ba was stunned and burst into tears.
“To me, not fighting and simply accepting one’s fate is the most embarrassing.”
“You think that there’s no need to compete anymore because there is no chance to end up in the top three, but I feel that it’s also very important to go from fifth place to fourth place.”
“If we play the last round, there’s also a chance to drop to sixth place or seventh place.”
Yu Yang looked at Xin Ba, “I was the latest to join the team, and I don’t know the situation as well as you… Has HOG gotten sixth or seventh place before?”
Xin Ba forcefully wiped away his tears and used all his strength to shake his head.
“If you want to play, wear your uniform properly and go wash your face. Get ready to compete with me,” Yu Yang grabbed his team uniform and put it over his own shoulders, “If you don’t want to play, don’t come.”
Yu Yang walked towards the door. At the moment his hand touched the door handle, Xin Ba suddenly said, his voice nasally, “I’m sorry…”
“I’ll play,” Xin Ba sobbed, “I really want to compete, I really want to continue playing with you guys. Captain, I don’t want to go to Team Two… You haven’t found someone suitable yet.”
Yu Yang lowered his gaze.
He turned his head around and looked at Xin Ba.
Xin Ba was crying as he put on his team uniform, “I’ll compete first… even if I’m scolded, I’ll compete… Until you guys find someone better than me, then I’ll give up my position to him…”
Yu Yang said in a low voice, “What I want is for you to train as hard as you can so that you can defend yourself when they find someone better than you.”
Xin Ba cried out and used all his strength to nod his head.
Xin Ba sobbed, “The matter of quitting the team…”
Yu Yang adjusted his uniform so he was wearing it properly, “I didn’t hear a thing, and I didn’t say a thing.”
Yu Yang opened the door to the lounge and had everyone enter the room to drink water, to make use of the limited time they had left to discuss tactics and prepare for the last match.
In the distance, Qi Zui’s figure disappeared from the end of the corridor.
He had underestimated Yu Yang.
Captain-Yu did not need anyone to comfort him.
The fifth match started.
The mocking comments towards HOG on the forum online, the haters’ comments were so vicious that it was unimaginable. However, at the competition venue, Yu Yang was barely affected. His eyes were glued to the screen, and he spoke quickly as he gave instructions to his team members
Qi Zui had never known before that an eSports player could be so charismatic when playing the last match in a competition that they were bound to lose.
Qi Zui looked at Yu Yang from afar, practically unable to turn away.
His talent was not inferior to that of Qi Zui’s talent in the past, and he was even tougher than Qi Zui had been in the past.
What Qi Zui had been able to do in the past, Yu Yang would do even better now.
So HOG would only fall silent, but not wither.
In the fifth match, the lights in the competition venue extinguished as time went by, every extinguished light meant someone was out of the competition. The teams that were left alive became fewer and fewer, fewer and fewer. Half an hour later, only Youth and TGC’s Hai Xiao’s lights were still lit up.
One vs one.
Yu Yang’s luck was not good. When the next zone showed, it was another Heaven’s Wrath Circle1.
Qi Zui commentated quickly, his palms sweating slightly, a minute later…
[HOG-Youth killed TGC-Haixiao with SKS]
The lights in the whole venue extinguished, and all the spotlights turned to Yu Yang.
Yu Yang removed his headphones and looked at Qi Zui, who was sitting on the commentator’s seat.
Qi Zui was stunned for a short moment, then, he applauded, and the audience followed, applauding loudly.
Qi Zui’s eyes shone, “Congratulations HOG on successfully getting first place in the last match.”
HOG’s overall ranking instantly increased by one, and they were in fourth place.
