Chapter 180.1: Wasn’t the end of an era also the start of a new era?
The FTW training room was quiet. It wasn’t just them; all the clubs that had received the news were silent.
3U, RR, TPT.
So many excellent teams had risen up in the China competition zone this year, but opportunities wouldn’t wait.
Three years ago, FTW, as the only team from the China competition zone, had won the global championship with a huge 3:0 advantage.
There had been 16 teams in the elimination round, going from 16 to 8, from 8 to 4, then there were the semi-finals and the finals.
FTW won all the way to the top and hadn’t lost even a single small game. They then won the world championship with a huge 3:0 advantage.
That year, the China competition zone performed brilliantly. The five players from FTW held up the golden championship cup beneath a shower of golden light, having shocked the world.
Yan Jiang, Xie He, Yuan Ze, Kim Sung-hyun, Close.
Five young people with unfamiliar faces welcomed the cheers of players from around the world!
FTW was honored in the Temple of Glory, and the China competition zone’s seed team quota changed from one to three as they became a Class A competition zone.
Three years later, FTW had split apart, and the China competition zone had fallen into a slump.
If it weren’t for Close obtaining the singles championship, they might have been relegated last year.
However, a singles championship title couldn’t stop the decline of the competition zone. This year, a new competition system had been launched, and the reduction of their quota meant that the situation was more tense.
Boring games couldn’t mobilize the audience’s enthusiasm, and the global competition needed more exciting competitions.
Weak teams were eliminated, and strong teams would fight against each other.
Ensuring every game full of excitement and fun was exactly what the competition committee wanted!
China wasn’t the only competition zone that had been downgraded. Japan, South Korea, and North America had also been downgraded, and only the European competition zone that had won the world championship last year had two spots in their quota.
The competition system was cruel, but it also aroused an infinite desire to fight.
E-sports had always been cruel, and leaving room for unnecessary fights would instead lead to decadence.
Letting go of all concerns and fighting hard, taking each step on the tip of a blade, was the real way to fight!
Wei Xiao was the one to break the silence. “F*ck!”
As soon as he opened his mouth, the gaze of everyone in the training room turned towards him.
Wei Xiao’s eyes were black and bright, the scattered light reflecting inside like a cluster of flames. “It should’ve been like this a long time ago. If we don’t play well in the domestic competition, why should we go play in the globals?”
Chen Feng: “……”
Wei Xiao: “Especially teams like TPT who hide their ability. This time, I think they won’t dare to hide anything!”
One sentence was enough to wake up the dreamers!
Little Lunatic Wei’s thought process was always different from that of ordinary people.
But once they accepted his ideas, they became very open-minded.
Indeed, the new competition system had really wronged the China competition zone.
Going from three spots to one was like getting a direct hit over the head.
But this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Was the only reason why the China competition zone had been in a slump for three years because the Team of Gods had split apart? Was it only because excellent players had gone elsewhere that they weren’t able to pick up again?
No.
Perhaps it was the three global competition spots that had really shackled the China competition zone.
The top three from their competition zone could go and play in the globals, so why did they have to try their best when they competed in domestic competitions?
A domestic champion team couldn’t even compare with the top four in the world.
Instead of wasting time at home, it was better to focus on the globals and fight for a bigger competition stage.
Following this train of thought, if they didn’t even fight properly in the domestic games, then what would they use to fight against the strong teams abroad?
It was just like how the regular season was the training period for the playoffs.
How was the domestic competition not the training period for the globals?
If they messed around during the training period, then what would they use when they went to play in the global competition?
Perhaps the competition committee had also noticed this point, which was why they’d directly cancelled the cumbersome qualifying rounds, making the fighting more intense and the global competition more exciting.
The seed team cuts weren’t limited to the China competition zone, so other than the championship zone from last year, the remaining competition zones were also nervous.
The domestic championship was no longer just a domestic competition.
It was the key to higher Glory; it was the gatekeeper, the breakthrough point, a precursor to the highest level of Glory!
Wei Xiao’s heart stirred, and he blurted out the words that were suppressed in his chest, “Isn’t it good? Three years ago, FTW went out of the country and lit up the whole world. Three years later, let’s tell everyone that the China competition zone’s champion is the world champion!”
The youth’s bright voice held burning passion, scalding everyone’s heart with a wave of raging heat.
Fear, tension, uneasiness.
To hell with it all!
Having no way back was actually the royal road to victory!
Ning Zhehan abruptly stood up as well and said loudly, “Brother Xiao’s right! The China competition zone champion is the world champion!”
Yue Wenle and Bai Cai followed suit and started shouting, too.
The gloomy atmosphere in the training room was wiped out and replaced by vigorous fighting spirit.
The domestic games.
The global elimination matches.
They couldn’t lose a single game!
Looking at these two children who were acting like they were still in middle school, Chen Feng’s eyes started burning and his competitive heart, which had been ground down over time, started to fire up again.
Three years.
It had been a full three years.
Could FTW build up its brilliance again?
Chen Feng couldn’t help glancing at Lu Feng.
Lu Feng’s gaze fell on Wei Xiao.
He still had the same calm and unperturbed look, and he was still steady and self-contained, but the black eyes revealed beneath his eyelids showed a touch of arrogance.
Chen Feng’s heart felt a shock. He breathed lightly. “Be mentally prepared, next up, we’re in for a hard battle.”
The four little ones: “We’re not afraid!”
Chen Feng: “You can’t lose a single game.”
The four little ones: “Yeah!”
Wasn’t the end of an era also the start of a new era?
The glory from the Team of Gods had faded, but a new sun was rising up.
Preparing for the playoffs wasn’t all talk.
They had double the training, added longer and more detailed game replay reviews as well as more targeted, individualized training plans.
Training time for professional players had always been long. In the days that came, they grew to wish that they could just live in the training room.
Lu Feng also handed over most of his work and focused on training.
He and Wei Xiao had a bigger burden. Not only did they have to break in formations for the 5v5, they also had to train for the singles and doubles.
This year’s competition system had changed greatly, and it was not just in the overall framework. They also needed time to analyze and adapt to the new double and singles competition mode.
Fortunately, FTW had already planned to go the path of the top-jungler linkage in the doubles and 5v5, so Close and Quiet could use the 5v5 games to practice too.
As for the singles, there was no need to worry about Close’s personal operations. As long as he played normally, nobody in the domestic competition zone could stop him.
After a day of training, Wei Xiao heard Ning Zhehan and Yue Wenle cheering each other on.
Little Ning: “Tomorrow, I”m going to go dye my hair black. If we don’t win the championship, then I won’t dye my hair anymore!!”
Little Ning’s greatest joy in life was his granny gray, granny blue, granny purple hair. He didn’t feel comfortable if he didn’t have his hair dyed in various colors. These harsh words of his were really filled with fighting spirit.
Yue Wenle fell silent for a moment, then dropped his own words, “If we don’t win the championship, then I won’t eat chips anymore!”
This was even more ruthless. The God Le who would rather break his head open and bleed everywhere than lose his chips had actually put down the root of his life for the sake of the championship!
Wei Xiao was really entertained listening to them. He caught a glimpse of the Vegetable Salted Fish and asked him, “What about you?”
Brother Vegetable: “???”
Wei Xiao repeated Little Ning and Yue Lele’s words to him. Brother Cai’s reaction: “!”
Wei Xiao: “These little brothers are all trying so hard. Brother Cai, you should make a statement too.”
The corners of Bai Cai’s mouth twitched.
Wei Xiao raised his eyebrows.
After being forced by Little Lunatic Wei, Brother Cai also had to be harsh on himself. “If we can’t get the championship, I’ll… I’ll…”
Wei Xiao looked at him slowly.
Brother Cai gritted his teeth, “I’ll hand over all the small fees that the captain gave me!” Holy shit, his heart hurt so much that it felt like it was splitting apart just from saying it!
Wei Xiao thought it over.
Bai Cai thought that he felt that it wasn’t enough, so he added, “And I won’t take any small fees in the future. I’ll walk Brother Soy, squeeze watermelon juice, and feed Beast Wei for free!”
Wei Xiao laughed and scolded him, “You’re a f*cking beast.” Not bad, not bad, Brother Cai had also committed himself.
After Bai Cai spoke these fierce words, his heart hurt so much it was clenching. He looked at him. “What about you!”
Wei Xiao: “As for me…”
Bai Cai stared at him.
Wei Xiao suddenly leaned in close and whispered a sentence.
Bai Cai: “!”
Wei Xiao: “That’s enough, right.”
Bai Cai: “Get lost! Get the hell out!”
Ning Zhehan and Yue Wenle, looked over when they heard the commotion.
Bai Cai: “……” This shameless Little Lunatic Wei was really too much!