Chapter 14 Post-Match Reports

Reports and commentary from all sides quickly emerged in the day or two following the conclusion of the fourteenth round of matches. Although incidents like Tang Hao kicking over a mineral water bottle after the match were captured by some, they weren't enough to become headline news.

Losing wasn't enough to make him the protagonist; Tang Hao didn't have that kind of status yet. The headlines were undoubtedly paeans to the victors.

Happy's fifth 10-0 victory, Thunderclap's team competition record, and, of course, Samsara's equally impressive 10-0 win would not be forgotten. Overall, with 123 points after 14 rounds, leading the second-place team by 24 points, it was an absolutely monstrous performance. This dominance meant they were the true protagonists of this season. Although there were some stealing the spotlight for now, in the most conspicuous position on the front page of *Esports Weekly*, it was Samsara's 10-0 victory. Happy had to stand aside. Even Thunderclap's team competition record paled slightly in comparison to Samsara's.

The Samsara team had a perfect record in team competitions after 14 rounds, while Thunderclap had lost to Wind Howl in the ninth round, a defeat that was regrettable.

The front page gave the leaders enough respect, but within the detailed reports and commentary inside, Happy and Thunderclap still occupied more content. After all, Samsara's opponents in this round were just Yizhan, which everyone considered an easy task. The match was uneventful, so what was there to say? But Happy and Thunderclap were different. One had completely defeated Void, and the other had reversed the situation against Howling Heights. How high-level was that match content?

After discussing the performance of both teams in this round, everyone invariably focused on how long their dominance would last.

Eyes turned to the next round: Happy was challenging Team Lightly in an away game, while Thunderclap was hosting Misty Rain in a home match.

No one would question Happy's strength anymore. Facing Team Lightly, currently ranked 16th with 46 points, victory was considered a certainty. People were focused on whether Happy could achieve another 10-0 victory. As for Thunderclap's home game against Misty Rain, the Misty Rain team's recent performances had been fluctuating, and their innovative tactics were being questioned. Now, facing Thunderclap, whose team competition was extremely strong, expectations for Misty Rain had been lowered.

In fact, more people's eyes had already skipped past the fifteenth round because, in the sixteenth round, Happy and Thunderclap, the two most surprising teams of the season, would have a direct confrontation at Happy's home stadium.

"Let the fifteenth round of matches pass quickly!"

Many people had this thought in mind.

But life had to be lived one day at a time, and the matches were naturally played one round at a time. It was impossible to skip over the fifteenth round in the blink of an eye. On the evening of December 13th, the fifteenth round of matches began on schedule. The TV station chose to broadcast the match between Hundred Blossoms and Void at Hundred Blossoms' home stadium.

In the end, the Hundred Blossoms team narrowly defeated the Void team with a score of 6-4. There were no changes in the rankings of the two teams on the leaderboard. Eighth and ninth place might be neighbors, but they were worlds apart.

In the matches played in the same round, the most surprising result was Blue Rain's narrow 4-6 loss to Radiant in an away game. Despite a great advantage in the individual competition, they unexpectedly failed in the team competition. This failure caused Blue Rain, originally ranked 2nd on the leaderboard, to slip to fifth place. Below Blue Rain was the Happy team, which had moved up one place after this round.

Happy ultimately won a 9-1 victory against Lightly in an away game, and people were especially disappointed that they didn't get another 10-0. Coincidentally, Samsara's score in this round was also finalized at 9-1, and their opponents were Team 301.

Tyranny and Tiny Herb, both elite teams, defeated their weaker opponents with scores of 8-2. Another surprising match was Howling Heights' game. After being reversed by Thunderclap in the previous round, they suffered another embarrassment in this round, as they were defeated by Wind Howl at home with a score of 7-3.

This time, Tang Hao didn't kick any mineral water bottles. As the captain, he simply didn't appear at the post-match press conference, which showed how dissatisfied he was with Howling Heights' recent performances.

Howling Heights had experienced a three-game losing streak, and their ranking had been declining all the way. They were now in 7th place and had even been overtaken by Happy by 5 points.

But objectively speaking, Howling Heights faced Hundred Blossoms, Thunderclap, and Wind Howl in these three rounds, all of which were teams with considerable strength and could even be called strong teams. With the team competition able to decide 5 points in one go, Howling Heights obtained 3 points, 4 points, and 3 points in these three rounds, respectively. Scores like 8-2 and 7-3 might seem like a large point difference, but since the team competition could decide 5 points, these two kinds of point differences were actually the most likely to occur in matches.

In an 8-2 match, if the team competition leaned towards the other side, it would become 3-7; similarly, in a 7-3 match, if the team competition leaned in the opposite direction, it would become 2-8.

The large score difference was actually determined by the format of Glory matches and was not the same concept as a 7-3 or 8-2 score in soccer.

Howling Heights' three consecutive losses had such scores, which meant their strength still had a foundation. However, three consecutive losses still generated some doubts, but compared to that, the Howling Heights team's own reaction was already significant enough. Captain Tang Hao couldn't accept it after two consecutive losses, and after three consecutive losses, he didn't even have the mood to deal with the press conference.

"I think, losing three rounds in a row should end here..." said Howling Heights' vice-captain, Liu Hao, at the press conference in the absence of the captain.

Yes, Liu Hao.

Once the vice-captain of Excellent Era, he served as the captain of Thunderclap after being transferred there. He transferred to Howling Heights as a free agent in the summer, and after gradually establishing his position, he was appointed as the vice-captain of Howling Heights after the original vice-captain, Fang Rui, left.

After all, Liu Hao had strength, a certain amount of experience, and had served as a vice-captain and captain before, so he had experience in this regard. In the eyes of the Howling Heights team, he could become a good helper to Tang Hao.

For example, right now, Tang Hao was angry and didn't come to the press conference, and Liu Hao seemed very accustomed to the situation, talking eloquently at the table, as if the captain had never existed.

Everyone began to be a little surprised by his composure, but then they thought about it again: Oh, right, Liu Hao was especially used to this kind of thing. Because back in Excellent Era, Excellent Era's captain, Ye Xiu, never attended press conferences. It was always this vice-captain of his who dealt with the media in the captain's absence. Liu Hao had been through a hundred battles when the captain skipped the press conference. How could he not be calm?

Skillfully dealing with the media and firmly expressing that Howling Heights would definitely win in the next round, the reporters flipped through the schedule. In the next round, Howling Heights would be playing against Yizhan at home. The scores of these three rounds might not necessarily show how weak Howling Heights was. In the next round, as long as their mentality wasn't a problem, taking down Yizhan shouldn't be a problem for Howling Heights. But now, Howling Heights' captain, Howling Heights' core, the underdog Tang Hao, seemed a little unable to handle the current setbacks!

"I'm not worried at all," Liu Hao continued to say calmly. "The captain desires victory more than anyone else, so he feels more ashamed of failure than anyone else. When it comes to the match, he will still be the person who pursues victory without fear of anything. I firmly believe in this."

What a good answer!

The Howling Heights press officer next to him was truly gratified and especially moved by this appointment of the team's vice-captain. Thinking about Howling Heights' vice-captains for so many years before, Fang Rui... he was really a mess! He often made wild remarks at press conferences and didn't have any of the propriety of a vice-captain. The press officer himself often wanted to rush up and hit him.

As a press officer, from the perspective of the tasks he needed to undertake, this Howling Heights staff member really felt that there was a million light-year gap between Fang Rui and Liu Hao. As for whether someone was an All-Star or not, did that help with this kind of thing? Not at all!

Under Liu Hao's proper handling, Howling Heights' captain Tang Hao's loss of composure after consecutive defeats finally didn't produce any special impact. When he left after the press conference, the Howling Heights press officer gave Liu Hao a thumbs up and went up to chat with this new vice-captain of Howling Heights.

This was the state of the defeated Howling Heights, but what about the Blue Rain team, who had unexpectedly failed?

The Blue Rain team's performance at the beginning of the season was quite strong. Except for a 7-3 defeat to Samsara in an away game, they were able to laugh last whether they faced Tiny Herb, Tyranny, or Howling Heights.

But after the probing stage had passed, Blue Rain was one of the teams that clearly ended their honeymoon period. In the eleventh round, they lost 3-7 to the Hundred Blossoms team in an away game. In the twelfth round, after the individual competition at home was completed, they were up 5-0, but the Thunderclap team tied the score 5-5. In the thirteenth round, they were defeated 4-6 by Wind Howl in an away game. And in this round, Blue Rain actually lost to the Radiant team.

This was their performance in these few rounds. Blue Rain was originally in second place on the leaderboard, which showed that at the beginning of the season, Blue Rain was biting at the heels of Samsara, the leader. But in an instant, there was a 24-point difference. By the end of the fifteenth round, Blue Rain had simply fallen from second place to fifth place, only 5 points ahead of Happy, who were in sixth place. Five points could often be decided in just one round in the Glory League.

Blue Rain's unfavorable situation wasn't just in this match, but in this stage. But the Blue Rain team didn't show Tang Hao's behavior of kicking bottles and disappearing. At the post-match press conference, their captain, their core, was still calmly answering reporters' questions.

What exactly was the problem with Blue Rain?

This was what everyone wanted to know.

"I think it's just bad luck," said Blue Rain's captain, Yu Wenzhou, with a smile.

"If this can accumulate good karma and give us good luck in the playoffs, then I think it's a good thing!" Yu Wenzhou continued.

Accumulate karma...

The reporters were dumbfounded. This was really an unscientific explanation! However, Yu Wenzhou had just mentioned the playoffs. Speaking of which, Blue Rain's recent rhythm had made some people worry about their playoff spot. However, he didn't deliberately emphasize anything about certainty. He simply brought up the playoffs casually, as easily as if he were talking about eating a meal.

This was also a very strong confidence!