Chapter 62

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Because the round three match would begin the following afternoon, Titans needed to make the most of the next morning to review their match against Odin.

On the internet, the former pro player straightforwardly compared the many details of NL and Titans matches over the years. The former’s players’ positions were a carbon copy of Titans’s. Their captain, Cheng Rui, stood out in particular—his similarities to Yao Sen were so striking that they could hardly be considered coincidental.

Some fans in the circle believed that imitating another team’s style to win was a disgusting deed; others claimed that even though the teams were more-or-less similar, they were only being utilitarian and there was nothing wrong with that; while some considered that imitation was just another strategy, and the fact that NL could make it this far demonstrated that they had strength.

Cheng Rui, however, had been subjected to a barrage of accusations. After all, imitating an entire team’s playstyle was not the same as imitating individual players’ tendencies. Many of Yao Sen’s fans commented on Cheng Rui’s weibo posts, and the phrase “The legendary Sen-style can’t be copied” had already begun to climb the trending topics list.

Despite the fact that this incident sparked widespread outrage, NL Club remained unusually calm. Neither the official account nor the players had issued a single statement, as if all of the outside noise was unrelated to them.

Only now did Yao Sen realise why Cheng Rui had given him such a strange feeling when he played against him—their playstyles were too similar.

As for the matter of NL copying Titans, Coach Gou told them all to ignore it and refrain from casually joining in the fray; they didn’t need to concern themselves with NL’s actions and should focus on doing their best in the following matches.

Wang Yuxi had been fuming all morning. He’d long regarded NL as an eyesore, and it turned out that his dislike was due to the fact that they’d been copying them all along. It felt as if the techniques he had trained for so many years had been outright plagiarised.

“C’mon, they’re not worth your anger,” Bai Yue consoled him.

“Aren’t they just a bunch of freaks? Do they usually use our plays to train their players? Why not just straight up call themselves Titans’s affiliated club?” Wang Yuxi seethed. “Fuck this! I’m so damn mad! You know how I get when I don’t have milk tea when I’m mad, don’t you?!”

“Where the hell am I gonna find you some milk tea!”

“Lao Wang, calm down. Let’s review,” Yao Sen said. “This isn’t that big a deal.”

“How can this not be a big deal!” Wang Yuxi grumbled. “That kid surnamed Cheng might as well change his surname to Yao!”

“I have no problem with him wanting to be my son,” Yao Sen said dismissively. “Don’t get too worked up. NL is nothing. Since they’re capable of copying, then let’s see if they can keep it up.”

Thankfully, Jiang Yang wasn’t present. Otherwise, if that straightforward little firecracker of a kid got together with the enraged Wang Yuxi, it would probably take more than three Song Mingzhes to keep them from kicking NL’s door down.

While reviewing their match against Odin, Coach Gou carefully analysed the existing flaws in Titans’s tactics. Odin had always been known for their brilliant strategies and high adaptability. No one could have predicted the surprise attack with the motorcycle prior to the first wave of airdrops, but there were some oversights in other areas that could have been avoided.

On top of that, Team Odin only had three active players throughout the game, including their strongest player Ethan, but they had such a good command of the battlefield anyway, indicating that there was a member of the team who took on the role of the most perceptive and stealthy observer.

When most people thought of Odin, they would automatically think of Ethan because he was so overpoweringly strong that the other members simply paled in comparison, which was an unavoidable conclusion when it came to teams with a captain as their core.

But, at many crucial points during a match, the most important member of the team isn’t the attacker, but the observer.

Odin’s ability to comfortably sit on their throne at the top of the world rankings for so long was not achieved solely through Ethan’s firepower and win percentage.

Yao Sen fixed his eyes on the computer screen, immersed in thought.

After the review session ended, Yao Sen felt like spending some time at the hotel gym, wanting to unwind by way of exercise in preparation for this afternoon’s match.

The moment he stepped outside, a door to another room on the other side of the corridor was also opened at the same time. The accomodation for the Asian teams had all been allocated to the same floor, and that particular room happened to be NL’s.

Cheng Rui, who was standing in the doorway, gave Yao Sen a simple greeting before continuing on his way. His face was devoid of any awkwardness or evasion, and it radiated its usual indifference.

“Captain Cheng Rui,” Yao Sen said abruptly.

Cheng Rui’s footsteps came to a halt; he turned his head to look at Yao Sen.

Yao Sen: “Sorry, some of my fans got a little emotional. I hope you don’t mind.”

Yao Sen smiled at him, a polite and impeccable smile with a cold undertone. He then turned around and walked away without waiting for Cheng Rui to respond.

As the gym was free and open to the team members staying at the hotel, Yao Sen walked right in, but he was surprised to see a familiar back on the treadmill.

Shao Han was dressed casually in a loose tee and knee-length shorts. He had his headphones in as he jogged, his pale, slender calves moving at a steady pace.

Yao Sen quietly walked up to him and lightly tapped Shao Han’s shoulder. Shao Han made a start and looked behind him to see Yao Sen. With a surprised expression on his face, he stopped the treadmill and stepped off.

Yao Sen: “Baby, why did you go to the gym without telling me?”

“I thought you were still reviewing, so I didn’t want to interrupt.” Shao Han gazed at him, seemingly thinking about something. His eyes flashed with worry. “What are you guys going to do about NL?”

Truth be told, when Shao Han saw the news, it was the confirmation he needed to understand why he had always seen a hint of Yao Sen in NL’s captain.

Although Shao Han was aware that such behaviour was not strictly forbidden, it was unquestionably a disgraceful act, and everything else aside, Shao Han had his own selfishness. There was probably no one in the world who hoped to see Yao Sen’s invincible, dazzling figure on the arena more than he did, and the fact that something of Yao Sen would now appear in another person—Shao Han was both offended and disgusted, but as he didn’t want to bring these emotions into the match, he came to the gym to vent through exercise.

“It’s fine, let them be.” Yao Sen sounded like someone who was temporarily indulging a small antelope that had strayed into his territory. “I actually wanna know what it’d be like to play against someone who’s a lot like me though,” said Yao Sen half-jokingly.

The knot in Shao Han’s heart loosened slightly, and he nodded.

Yao Sen drew Shao Han to sit next to him and made a show of earnestness as he said, “Baby, you need to relax your calves after you run. C’mere, I’ll massage them for you.”

Shao Han’s calves were lifted onto Yao Sen’s lap, who then kneaded Shao Han’s calf with one hand and held his knee with the other, and began massaging him.

Shao Han had turned a faint pink. “I’ll do it myself.”

Yao Sen: “You should leave small stuff like this to your boyfriend.”

Yao Sen’s fingers were long, and Shao Han’s ankle was quite slender, with warm, smooth skin that felt amazing to the touch. Yao Se’s intentions had been pure at first, but as he rubbed and rubbed, it reminded him of how he loved catching Shao Han’s ankle like this whenever things got a little heated between them, allowing him to do Shao Han as he pleased—

Yao Sen noticed Shao Han’s somewhat shy and shifty expression and guessed he was thinking the same things.

“That should do,” Yao Sen said with a chuckle. “Stand up babe, because if you don’t then I will.”

Shao Han initially missed the suggestive meaning behind Yao Sen’s words, but when he realised what Yao Sen had said, his face flushed and he immediately retracted his legs.

Yao Sen propped his face on his hand, the corners of his lips quirking up as he gazed at Shao Han. He reached out to pinch Shao Han’s cheek, only for Shao Han to resist with pursed lips. Yet Yao Sen continued to persist, and after a brief hesitation, Shao Han stopped avoiding him and let Yao Sen squeeze his cheeks to his heart’s content, albeit with a somewhat hard-pressed expression on his face.

“Baby, you’re too cute,” Yao Sen bent over and rested his chin on Shao Han’s shoulder, letting out a contented but distressed low sigh as he pressed close to him. “If we go up against Noah, how could I bear to bully you?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but you have to go all out,” said Shao Han. “Even if I am eliminated, I’d rather be eliminated by you.”

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Shao Han angled Shao Han’s chin for a lengthy kiss. Restraining the stirrings of desire, Yao Sen took a deep breath, and faintly panted in Shao Han’s ear, “Shao Xiao Zuo, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to get out of bed after the competition is over.”

Shao Han pushed Yao Sen away from him. The tips of his ears were flushed pink, but he didn’t utter a word of rejection. It was clear to Yao Sen that Shao Han’s silence before him could only mean three things: consent, bashfulness, and a combination of the two.

Yao Sen felt he’d gravely miscalculated. If he had been this clingy to his family’s Xiao Zuo before playing against Odin, the outcome might have been different.

The round three matchups were newly announced that afternoon; Titans managed to avoid Noah, while Odin met Lincoln again in the winners bracket.

Yao Sen charged into the arena, reasonably confident in his ability to defeat their next opponent and brimming with energy from his time with Shao Han.

Titans’s match predictably went without a hitch, successfully taking the win in three straight games. After they exited the arena, Wang Yuxi asked Yao Sen in confusion, “Bro, did you by chance take some Viagra?”

Yao Sen: “Do I need to?”

Wang Yuxi: “That’s something we’d need to ask Shao ge…”

Only a few teams had completed their matches in three straight games, so there weren’t many teams in the players’ lounge when the Titans arrived. Everyone in the lounge was seated and watching the matches and livescores on the big screen.

Noah was currently leading 2-1 after three games; victory shouldn’t be a problem. NL was in a similar situation. Meanwhile, over at the winners bracket, Odin and Lincoln had just finished their second game. The score was 1-1, in what was turning out to be a close match.

Yao Sen remained seated in the lounge throughout the round three matches. Noah and NL rose through the rankings, while Lincoln eventually lost to Odin 2-3, relegating the team to the losers’ bracket.

At this point in the competition, half the teams participating have been eliminated, cut off right before the quarterfinals. There were currently six teams in the losers’ bracket and only two teams in the winners’ bracket, one of which was Odin.

Now, the winner’s bracket crown was virtually in Odin’s bag, and the overwhelming majority of the industry also predicted that Lincoln would come out on top in the losers’ bracket, making the final showdown an Odin-Lincoln battle.

Soon after, the round four matches were announced, with NL, who had been in the spotlight since yesterday, finally facing Titans, whereas Lincoln’s first opponent in the losers’ bracket was Noah’s Ark.

☆ ☆ ☆

Chapter 61 | TOC | Chapter 63

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