The King's Avatar
chapter-998

Excellent Era's boss Tao Xuan personally accepted an interview, this was definitely giving them enough face. However, after compiling the draft, Cao Guangcheng had experienced the cunning and intelligence of a boss level figure. In the interview, Tao Xuan fully expressed his and Excellent Era's tolerance and understanding of Ye Qiu's actions, but it was this move that was a needle hidden in silk.

Excellent Era was so understanding and generous to Ye Qiu, but Ye Qiu had led a team against them into the Challenger League, ready to fight to the death with them. With this, their images in the eyes of the public were clear. The only words, apart from traitorous, that could be used to describe Ye Qiu's actions was biting the hand that fed him.

Spectacular!

Cao Guangcheng couldn't help but exclaim to himself as he compiled the draft. So, how would Happy deal with this?

Though Excellent Era and Happy weren't sitting face to face together, one couldn't forget that the reporters interviewing the teams were all from Esports Home.They could easily guide the interview in any way they wanted to, and they could make the two interviews match each other. Cao Guangcheng was responsible for Excellent Era's side. He was only disappointed at not being able to interview Happy himself, getting Chang Xian to go for him.

Yet when Chang Xan came back and compiled his draft for Cao Guangcheng to see, Cao Guangcheng was furious.

In Chang Xian's draft, he saw that the other had written: when the past was brought up, Captain Ye Xiu smiled and then lit a cigarette, before eagerly beginning to chat with the journalist.

As expected, a famous teacher trains a fine student! This saying was extremely similar to the situation where he wrote about Tao Xuan "asking the journalist for a cigarette". However, under the same situation, Tao Xuan had made a needle in the cotton move, while Ye Xiu kicked his legs up and said: no comment.

Cao Guangcheng wanted to slam the desk and scold Chang Xian for this, then he'd be able to finally get everything he was holding in regarding Chang Xian off his chest. However, Cao Guangcheng knew very clearly, this wasn't that Chang Xian didn't put effort in, but that his interviewee wouldn't cooperate, avoiding the topic. If it was so simple to get what you wanted to know, then a journalist career would be far to easy. This draft gave Cao Guangcheng sufficient reason to doubt Chang Xian's ability for a while.

Despite being doubtful, he still had to use the draft. Even though it hadn't captured the point, this was still an exclusive interview. Currently, only Chang Xian could successfully interview Team Happy. The two reporters that were sent specifically to report on the Challenger League had become especially awkward once the tournament had reached the finals. That was because the two finalist teams didn't accept interviews from just anyone, forcing them to join the other reporters and media, lying in wait to ambush the teams' players for just a few questions here and there like paparazzi.

Compared to the amalgamation of what scraps they could pick up, god knows how much better Chang Xian's draft was. However, Cao Guangcheng was already prepared for the harsh scolding he was bound to get when turning these drafts in to the editor in chief.

As expected, not even an hour after the drafts were given in, the editor-in-chief called Cao Guangcheng's mobile, and unleashed a torrent of curses at him. Although the draft that wasn't up to standard was Chang Xian's, the editor-in-chief's first sentence was, "Little Chang is a newbie so it's natural that he might not be able to do well, but are you a newbie, too?"

Like how Cao Guangcheng ignored how hard it would be for Chang Xian to talk Ye Xiu into giving up information, the editor-in-chief also ignored how Cao Guangcheng didn't have any control whatsoever over the interview Chang Xian did with Happy, and slammed the big black pan onto his head*.

However, the end result was the same as Cao Guangcheng scolding Chang Xian. Though he had gotten shit for it, the draft still had to be used. They had hoped that they could get some tension and drama between the two sides, but in the end, one talked about the weather while the other focused on the food.

In the end, Chang Xian's interview of Team Happy deepened everyone's understanding of Team Happy as a team, while Tao Xuan's personal interview once again stirred up a wave of hatred for Ye Qiu among Excellent Era fans.

The continuous implications, resulted many uncertain Excellent Era fans, who thought that there might be more to the story, resolutely standing to the side of their team.

In the next few days, Chen Guo didn't dare look at the discussions going on online regarding this topic. Se was afraid that if she did, she'd die of anger. It was a good thing that the atmosphere in the team was stable, and Ye Xiu was as calm as always. This time, Chen Guo didn't get mad at Ye Xiu for being so calm. The finals were approaching and she was grateful for Ye Xiu's attitude, otherwise if he was easy to anger as she was, he'd have his mind in chaos and wouldn't be able to compete properly.

Yes, compete.

The current Ye Xiu was completely focused on the finals. These days, he was often discussing things with Wei Chen, with Sun Zheping, with all the members of the team.

This wasn't a last minute effort.

They had started preparing to defeat Excellent Era from summer last year, when Excellent Era was relegated.

Glory had an online game as its foundations, and this made it so that it wasn't just the tens of minutes on stage of one's performance that would influence the final result.

A minute on stage hid ten years of work. This saying was more or less appropriate for Glory as well. In this year, after putting everything they had into these behind-the-scenes work, the tens of minutes on stage was about arrive.

When it came down to it, everything depended on these tens of minutes. No matter how well you prepared, how much effort you put, if you didn't perform to your best in these few minutes, everything would be for nothing.

How would Team Happy face this final battle? Chen Guo didn't even know. All she knew was that this was what Ye Xiu had been talking to the others about recently. Some, she heard, some she didn't, but she never went and asked. She hoped that Ye Xiu could focus his time and effort completely on the competition. There was no need for him to explain anything to her.

At this time, Chen Guo seemed like the person in Team Happy with the least to do. Though she was usually passionate and energetic, she didn't seem to have any intentions on joining in any time soon. What she could do now, was make sure to not bother anyone. With this, she felt content and not at all left out or lonely. Seeing everyone so busy, she only felt security and warmth.

At times like these, Chen Guo was reminded of another person, a person who was currently in enemy territory.

Su Mucheng.

What was she feeling now? Was she like the members of Happy, doing her best in preparation for the match? Though Chen Guo hated Excellent Era now, she wouldn't find any wrong in it. This was the professionalism a pro player should show. They should put their best efforts into any match. Though a lot of uninvolved people tried to place many unneeded expectations and implications onto this match, Chen Guo could clearly see from Ye Xiu, everyday, that Ye Xiu didn't care at all about anything outside of the match itself.

Taking revenge because he had been forced to retire? He wasn't doing that. Having conflicted emotions because he couldn't bring himself to fully cut ties with Excellent Era? He didn't have that either.

Yes, that's how it was. There was no good or bad, it seemed cold and cruel, but he faced Glory, and competition with this honest attitude. This was the oldest God of Glory in her eyes and with just this, Chen Guo felt that her years of being his fan hadn't gone to waste. This was someone worth respecting with all your heart because he could do what no one else could. For example, Chen Guo understood this logic and approved of this attitude, but she just wasn't able to to accomplish it herself.

She was unable to face Excellent Era with a calm heart. Thinking of what Excellent Era had done to Ye Qiu, she would just love to see Happy rip them apart a hundred times, and them tearfully kneeling in regret beside them.

Time went on, day by day, and the match day was getting closer and closer. Chen Guo made sure to take over anything that could disturb the others, while doing a good job on staring into space. Even if Chang Xian came over during this time, he would only be able to interact with Chen Guo, and when he saw Chen Guo's seriousness, Chang Xian didn't dare to bother the other members of Happy.

Friday. Match day. Esports Home released an issue. Team Happy and Team Excellent Era's face off in the Challenger League finally made the headlines on Esports Home's weekly issue, the topic bigger than any of the pro matches that were due to happen the following day.

On those headlines, the two words "Ye Qiu" were even larger than Happy. This was originally a fight between two teams, but for the media, who liked this sort of drama, focused on Ye Qiu versus Excellent Era. If Happy didn't have Ye Qiu, then no matter how talented they were, the fact that they were in the Challenger League meant that even at a time like this, they probably wouldn't be seen anywhere near the headlines.

In this issue, the reporters at the frontlines hadn't managed to get any firsthand information. Chang Xian didn't want to disturb them and Excellent Era had also closed themselves off to train, so Cao Guangcheng couldn't approach them either. However, in this situation, it gave them room to express their own opinions, describing what they had seen and thought. Thus, that tension of a storm about to come was fanned and fueled to its highest by the two. The two reporters took note on what they had seen and heard, describing the two teams they had interacted with in the past few days and placed that on the section left for the Challenger League. A costly section like the headlines obviously wouldn't have anything with actual, realistic content. It was usually just for the title to attract readers.

Esports Home's Friday weekly issue was sent to the newstands all across the city in the early morning and it was at that time that Happy boarded the Alliance-arranged coach to the stadium.

Although the match was in the evening, they had switched stadiums, so the teams had to warm up and familiarize themselves with the environment. After contacting Happy for their opinion, they sent someone over in the early morning to get Happy to the stadium for warm up. Excellent Era also got the same call for their opinion and were currently also on their way over to the place where the final match was taking place: Liulisong Sports Arena.

And then that's when the two teams met at the entrance to the stadium.