C4 Part3

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Ch 4: Players Underestimated by the Public (Part 3)

Qiu Ying was depressed for a full week. Finally, on a sunny day, she regained her vitality.

Rather than complaining to other people, it would be better to take the initiative to attack. If there were no opportunities, then she would go and create some! If she continued to work hard to enter the commentary circle, it would absolutely be possible to cross paths with Ji Xiangkong again!

According to Lu Yiyi, the gaming TV station STV was planning to train up new female commentators for Conquer; Qiu Ying was determined to try it. As a person, once she earnestly worked, she would thoroughly research even the tiniest details to create a complete picture. In just one month, not counting the most basic character data, she had already loaded the Conquer heroes’ check-and-balance relationships, common lineups, additional skills, equipment gameplay, and so on into her mind. When she opened her mouth, she was like Wang Yuyan in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils,1 who could recite all types of martial arts like a cheat.

An outstanding commentator also needed thorough knowledge of the background data of various teams and various players at their fingertips. After scanning online news portals, Qiu Ying forced herself to muster up her courage and go to Tieba,2 where gossip sprayed all across the sky, and the forums, where crazy posts abounded.

She discovered that although Ji Xiangkong was very blackened, his teammates’ assessments of him in interviews were all extremely positive.

“The overall situation is strong, and his judgement of the battle situation is quite accurate.”

“He thinks about the game more than anyone else, arranging the battlefield lineup and tactics. If the Conquer was a board game, we are his chess pieces and he is the player. He knows how to lead us to victory.”

Even Legend’s captain, Cris, had also said, “Ji Xiangkong is Legend’s brain. Chinese Conquer has no shortage of talents, but leaders are hard to find.”

Below the news post of that interview, many people replied—

“The captain is implying that Ji Xiangkong is winging it when he competes.”

“Fountain Commander, hahaha!”

(Fountain: After heroes are killed, they end up at the base’s fountain to wait to respawn.)

“Skill in esports is operating and hand speed. You ignore the basic skills and grab resources to trick us!”

Qiu Ying’s hand, gripping the mouse, shook slightly.

No matter how many people straightened Ji Xiangkong’s name, the antifans would always find a way to interpret their words as: “Ji Xiangkong is the esports social flower, his popularity is high.”

Or they would say: “He uses the unspoken rules, he has people in high places and his teammates can’t offend him.”

Qiu Ying couldn’t help but lament, they all said that women’s intuition was unreasonable, antifans’ constant hate was also unreasonable. All in all, I won’t look at you properly, your explanations are also useless.

In order to further understand esports, Qiu Ying gritted her teeth and took out a portion of the savings she’d accumulated from not eating or buying anything. Each week, she squeezed out some time to go to Dream Traveler to watch competition broadcasts and listen to the players there discuss the game.

Dream Traveler was a chain of high-end Internet cafes founded by the first retired Conquer World Champion. The inside was comfortable and well-equipped, which gathered many high-level players. It was rumored that from time to time, there would also be professional players who haunted it.

On a Saturday afternoon, Qiu Ying was in the screening room together with a group of players, watching the replays of the Seattle Global Finals. The boy next to her saw that she was a beautiful woman with bright eyes and volunteered to explain the situation for her.

To show off his understanding of the game, he spouted off a string of unintelligible jargon. But after her period of intensive learning, Qiu Ying had already practiced her ability to translate them into the human language.

To briefly summarize, Conquer’s rules had two teams, five people to a team, that attacked each other. Whoever destroyed the other base’s crystal first was the winner.

“The game is split into the three lanes of top, middle, and bottom. Each hero starts from Level 1 and can gain experience and gold in different ways. They use them to learn new skills and buy even more powerful equipment.”

After each person landed, they could begin to develop robustly by feeding, training, learning, and so on with other methods, to grow taller and increase their knowledge.

“In Conquer, you can gain gold and experience through things called ‘resources,’ which come from four main types: killing the enemy heroes, killing creeps, killing monsters, and also destroying the enemy defense towers. Because the resources across the whole map are limited, the players need to get a smart distribution of resources.”

Suppose that on your way to destroy the base, you feed more and get stronger, you get stronger and more powerful, and when you’re more powerful you can beat down even more enemies. But the resources that the entire team can get is limited, so you need to think well first; some people eat more, and some people eat less.

“Like football’s forwards, centers, defenders, and goalkeepers, Conquer’s professional teams, according to the division of resources, are split into: ADC, which is the main core of the team, a late-stage hero. Also known as the big brother, but in the early stage they’re weak and they need to give priority to their development when spending money. They’re the focus of protection, but after they put together their equipment, they have the ability to turn the tide.”

They were extremely vulnerable early on and needed protection, but the more they fed, the faster they grew. After fattening up, he became a strong man who gave two punches upon sight.

“Mid, who is for sure offensive and does well in the late stage, and the main force of the team before the big brother has left the mountain.”

They matured relatively early and at the beginning were quite capable in fighting. When big brother hadn’t left the mountain yet, they picked up the slack, but their stamina wasn’t as good.

“Solo offlaner, the team’s resisting position. They often face more than one enemy and need to have a tough body and the flexible ability to escape.”

Their feeding environment was relatively bad and if they were inattentive, they would be slaughtered by the enemies. They called to start team fights, forming an assault trap, had a thick body that could withstand a beating, and created opportunities for their allies to harvest.

“Jungler, who develops in the wild zone, goes between multiple lanes, and is in charge of starting raids.”

They needed to search for food, harass the enemy, and protect the food of their teammates in all three lanes.

“Support, who protects the big brother, arranges the scouts for defense, and provides the team with all the goods they need.”

They were like a servant who was basically unable to get anything to eat. They stood guard, intercepted attacks, and sacrificed themselves to support each lanes’ baby.

A few minutes after the game began, the “master” entered his spraying mode. After Qiu Ying had listened to a few sentences, she then realized that he was Ji Xiangkong’s antifan.

Seeing Legend defeated in a team battle, the “master” slapped his leg in agitation and said, heartbroken, “I really don’t understand, why do they want to use someone like Ji Xiangkong as their offlaner? It hasn’t been that long since the round started and he’s died multiple times!”

“It’s because he’s containing those three people in the top lane, so his teammates in the other two lanes face almost no stress and can develop as soon as possible.” A cold voice came from diagonally behind them. “Legend’s strategy this round is to play four protect one, protecting their big brother Cris so he can grow up quickly. Ji Xiangkong’s constant harassment in the top lane is carrying out his strategy.”

Qiu Ying turned her had and saw a tall boy wearing a white pullover and a hat with the brim pressed low, practically hiding most of his face.

The “master” also glanced at him but pretended like he hadn’t heard anything. Not long after, he flew into a rage again. “What’s this Ji Xiangkong doing in entering the enemy’s wild area for no reason? Giving them his head?!”

Qiu Ying turned to the boy with the hat and saw that his lips were tight and he was silent for a long time. In the end, he still couldn’t help but open his mouth. “Legend can’t see what’s in that place. He went to be the pathfinder, otherwise, they would all die in there.”

So it was like this, Qiu Ying gave a praise to this brother within her heart.

The “master” froze for a moment. He glanced to look at the smile on Qiu Ying’s mouth and his face immediately turned black.

The battle situation was worrying. The on-screen camera cut to the bottom lane, where four of the opponents were advancing as a group. Ji Xiangkong, who only had half of his HP left, was still moving around all over the danger area, like he was unprepared for crisis that was about to occur.

The “master” sneered. “Hmph, a professional player, but he doesn’t have a single bit of awareness.”

Probably because he had been embarrassed twice before, this time the volume of his voice dropped by a lot.

The boy with the hat said lightly, “He’s seducing them to make the opponents think they can kill him, and then pull them in so his teammates can surround them.”

As soon as he dropped the words, several people from Legend suddenly appeared from the shadows and massacred the opponents in an instant.

Then Qiu Ying remembered that Ji Xiangkong was also known as the “battlefield fraudster.” Not only because his choices of equipment were unconventional and his playing style was changeable and strange, but also, he was an expert in acting…

The “master” was embarrassed three times and angrily got up and left. Qiu Ying happily went to sit next to the boy with the hat, hoping that she could get even more information out of him.

When she reached a place where she didn’t understand what was going on, Qiu Ying lightly took hold of the hem of the boy’s clothes and politely asked, “Excuse me, why did Ji Xiangkong seem to want to use his ultimate just now, but then cancelled it?”

“That’s because…” The boy suddenly didn’t speak, dropping his eyes to silently look at Qiu Ying’s hand holding the hem of his clothes.

Qiu Ying was slightly stunned and looked reflexively at his face. They were in a corner, with not many people around, and even though the light was dim, she still recognized him.

He was… VPG’s Pei Xi.

In an instant, several words crossed along her mind like a chat barrage.

Qiao Xin’s boyfriend, frivolous mutt with bad eyesight, rude and fake…

Qiu Ying’s smile became stiff on her face, and she awkwardly took back her hand. She tactfully moved her chair to the side a bit.

Pei Xi finally went on to say, “When his ultimate is in his hand, it acts as a greater deterrent to the opponents.”

Qiu Ying was planning to ignore him, but after thinking about it changed her mind— fine, it’s already too late. In the end, he’s a professional player and his understanding of the game would be even more accurate.

She was worrying about what to say next when Pei Xi began talking first.

“Ji Xiangkong’s disposition is too good, so the commentators aren’t afraid of offending him. During team fights, they only mention his mistakes, which attracts the people who don’t understand the game to follow the bad trends.” He paused a little. “Like just now, when Legend was fighting two v. three in the bottom lane. The commentators only mentioned Cris killed three people in spite of his low HP, but didn’t mention that it was Ji Xiangkong’s essential calmness that gave him the space to take them out.”

This person spoke so little, but when you mentioned Ji Xiangkong, he wouldn’t stop talking.

When he saw Qiu Ying nodding fiercely, Pei Xi pressed his lips together, seeming to be in a good mood, and unexpectedly explained the next game to her too.

According to Pei Xi, Ji Xiangkong’s position was set as solo offlaner, which needed strong pressure resistance and the courage to lick blood off a blade’s edge. It was originally a position where if you played well, it was difficult to notice, but if you played poorly it was extremely obvious. During a game, when the two teams confronted each other, there would inevitably be some mistakes, the people who were prejudiced against Ji Xiangkong naturally took his mistakes and magnified them continuously.

In addition to this, Ji Xiangkong constantly liked to use never-before-seen tactics and equipment, which the commentators often left unexplained to the audience, simply joking about them as unorthodox. After losing the game and looking at the data, he was the worst in terms of data; it was inevitable that the audience would think that he obviously was the weak point.

“Ji Xiangkong’s operating isn’t as excellent as those of other professional players and there are even flaws. But his intelligence is superior. That Legend has won so many rounds is all due to crushing their opponents with IQ.”

From the distance of half a chair away, Qiu Ying curiously asked, “How do you have so much understanding?”

Pei Xi contemplated it. “I have never won against him in a team fight.”

In the semifinals of the Seattle Global Finals, VPG had lost to Legend due to their new “global flow” playing style developed by Ji Xiangkong.

Global flow— combining the heroes to create support capabilities across the entire map, taking advantage of their mobility to concentrate their superior forces together, which could instantly create a situation where they outnumbered their opponents. For VPG, who had always been good at constantly launching small-scale team fights, they were left in the dust.

Qiu Ying used her translation to understand it, so it was like: You bring your brothers to drop a sneak attack on the lonely old king next door, but as soon as you move, you discover that the old king’s father, mother, uncle, aunt aggressively fall from the sky and the situation has immediately gone from two vs one to five vs two. The sneak attack is counterproductive, as they’ve been grabbed by their hair and beaten up.

Pei Xi looked at the large screen, where Legend was surging forward into the enemy’s high ground. He said slowly and sincerely, “He is a player who is underestimated by the public. I have always hoped to be his teammate.”

When she heard these words, Qiu Ying’s chest violently jolted, a surge of blood filling it.

She had to work hard to become the Conquer commentator with the highest number of viewers. She had to tell everyone as soon as possible, Ji Xiangkong was not some esports social flower. His ability to repeatedly enter the giants and achieve outstanding results in games was derived from his own strength.

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Footnotes:

1 A wuxia novel by Jin Yong, originally serialized from 1963-1966. The main characters are based on the eight races of demi-gods and semi-devils in Buddhist cosmology, who are different from the human race but still bound by their desires. The Wang Yuyan mentioned here is a maiden who memorizes martial arts manuals and is able to identify various types of martial arts upon observation (even though she doesn’t practice them herself). Wait a minute…

2 Baidu Tieba, basically a forums platform hosted by the Chinese search engine Baidu.

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