Chapter 124 131

In the arena competition, two members of Happy were eliminated, and the second character on the field from Team Magical had less than a third of their health remaining. This was a common situation in arena competitions. This roughly 30% health lead couldn't give Team Magical a solid sense of victory. They couldn't help but look towards Happy, observing their movements.

Happy's third player, Tang Rou, had already stood up. She lightly placed *The Esports Times*, which the players from Team Magical had desperately given them, back on her seat.

From Wei Chen, who was the first to enter the arena, to Mo Fan, who had just come down, Happy had already sent out five players. The mental attacks brought by *The Esports Times*? To be honest, if it weren't for Tang Rou putting the book down, Team Magical would have almost forgotten about it. They couldn't see that any of the five players were affected...

Could it be that Fang Rui and Mo Fan's unusual performances were because they were stimulated by *The Esports Times*? If that were the case, Team Magical would want to slap themselves twice.

But no matter what, the next person to take the stage was the main character, the center of the incident, Tang Rou. Surely she wouldn't be completely unaffected, right? Ruan Cheng's article in *The Esports Times* was quite aggressive.

"A rookie can't possibly withstand this kind of pressure," He Ming said.

"But... she seems quite calm," Shen Jian said.

"She can't possibly be so flustered that she can't even walk, right?" He Ming said, watching Tang Rou walk onto the stage and enter the player's booth.

The arena competition continued, with the same map and characters refreshing.

"Don't wander around inside, let's meet outside directly, we're in a hurry," Tang Rou actually sent a message in the channel first.

"What's going on? What's with the hurry? Tang Rou doesn't usually chat during matches, does she?" He Ming said in surprise, but then he heard a "clang" from Happy's player area. Everyone quickly looked over and saw Fang Rui had fallen to the ground, covered in dirt.

"This this... this is too bad..." Fang Rui said. Team Magical couldn't hear what he was saying, but everyone on Happy was laughing. Tang Rou's "in a hurry" remark was obviously intentional. No one expected her to tease Fang Rui like this. Fang Rui now felt immense pressure. These guys were all "in a hurry," deliberately pushing the responsibility of losing onto him!

Happy was filled with laughter, and Team Magical was even more confused.

What was going on?

A 30% health lead wasn't much, but it couldn't be ignored, right? Happy was clearly at a disadvantage, but they were actually happy. Did they have some trump card? In a hurry? In a hurry for what?

The members of Team Magical looked at each other, none of them understanding what was happening. The two Battle Mages on the field were already approaching the center of the map.

Tang Rou issued a direct challenge, but her opponent, Jia Xing, ignored it. When at a health disadvantage, most players wouldn't directly confront their opponent. They would try to come up with some tricks. Jia Xing's thinking was normal.

Tang Rou's Chasing Haze circled around the outside of the tavern, just like Deception in the previous round, but she didn't find Blazing Light. Helpless, she had to enter the tavern.

In the large courtyard with three entrances and three exits, Jia Xing was still relatively active, not crouching in some corner. The two of them didn't wander around for too long before finally meeting. Tang Rou's Chasing Haze charged forward without hesitation, while Jia Xing's Blazing Light retreated decisively, quickly finding a dark spot he had just passed and lying in ambush.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Jia Xing silently counted Chasing Haze's rhythm, staring unblinkingly at the turn where Chasing Haze was about to appear.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the courtyard walls of the tavern weren't very sturdy. A Qi Master's Qi flow could shatter them. How could the valiant Battle Mage's magic aura be stopped?

Chasing Haze directly blasted a large hole in the high wall and went through it. It was clear she wanted to take a shortcut to intercept the retreating Blazing Light. However, she accidentally came out on the other side and saw Blazing Light holding a battle lance, staring warily at the corner.

Happy had so many sneaky players, experts in ambushes, stalking, surprise attacks, and other tricks. Tang Rou trained in this environment, so it was impossible for her not to understand these tactics. When she saw Blazing Light's posture, she immediately saw through his intentions.

But Tang Rou didn't care about that. If she encountered him, then she would fight!

Chasing Haze, Dragon Breaks the Ranks, charged rapidly towards Blazing Light.

Jia Xing had already seen Chasing Haze. He broke through the wall, turned around, and charged forward without any hesitation. Jia Xing quickly controlled Blazing Light to dodge. The dark corner nearly collapsed from the impact of Dragon Breaks the Ranks.

Tang Rou's rhythm was naturally fast. Chasing Haze turned her battle lance and continued to strike at Blazing Light. Jia Xing wanted to avoid the brunt of the attack, but he couldn't find any space. He had to grit his teeth and fight head-on.

The two Battle Mages instantly became entangled in a fierce battle. A battle between the same classes was usually boring and dangerous, but this time, Jia Xing didn't have time to feel the boredom or the danger that came from needing to calculate more due to familiarity. He didn't even have time to think about too many problems. Chasing Haze attacked too fast and too fiercely. He didn't have time to calculate anything and could only keep operating almost subconsciously, until his Blazing Light fell.

Lost?

Jia Xing's mind finally returned to him at this moment. The previous battle seemed to be a blank, his brain as if it had stopped working, only his hands working non-stop.

And now, he had been defeated. The words "Glory" wouldn't appear on his screen.

Jia Xing walked out of the player's booth. How long did this match last? He was clueless. He only had one feeling: fast, very fast, extremely fast.

How could this be? She shouldn't be...

Only now did Jia Xing remember that Tang Rou should have been under pressure and her performance should have been somewhat unsatisfactory. But he couldn't feel it at all. Tang Rou's attacks seemed so resolute to him.

Jia Xing couldn't feel it, and neither could the others from Team Magical off the field.

The unlucky trio looked at each other. If even Tang Rou, the person involved, wasn't affected by this pressure, then there was no need to mention the others from Happy. Wouldn't that mean the reliance they had on winning against Happy in this round was non-existent?

"No matter what, let's take these 2 points first!" He Ming said.

Shen Jian nodded. He was the last player in Magical's arena competition, the defending general.

"Be careful," He Ming said, feeling uneasy and couldn't help but remind him.

"Yeah..." Shen Jian nodded again. He was also uneasy, so he didn't have the confidence to say anything heroic to stabilize the team's morale. After seeing the dazed look on Jia Xing's face as he left the stage, Shen Jian felt even more apprehensive.

"How was it?" Shen Jian told himself that his opponent was just a rookie and not to panic, while also trying to get some information from Jia Xing.

Unfortunately, Jia Xing's brain was blank during the match. How could he give any feedback? He was just dazed, causing Shen Jian to enter the stage with all sorts of suspicious emotions.

The match began.

Even though his brain was blank, Jia Xing still made a contribution. He took away ten percent of Chasing Haze's health. Like the direct confrontation before, it was basically impossible for either side to win without taking any damage.

Thus, Magical's advantage in the arena competition went from the fifty-something percent He Ming initially had to only ten percent.

Ten percent...

Staring at this small advantage, Shen Jian didn't feel much confidence. His Striker was moving forward, but his heart was pounding. He wasn't a rookie. He had professional competition experience, but when the outcome of the arena competition was entirely on his shoulders, Shen Jian realized that he wasn't as strong as he thought.

The opponent was a rookie, the opponent had already lost ten percent of their health, and the opponent was currently under a lot of public pressure. None of these reasons could give Shen Jian confidence.

A core player was a position, but also a responsibility. Every professional player looked forward to having such a position, but not everyone could shoulder such a responsibility. Sometimes, it was because their ability wasn't enough. For example, back in Excellent Era, no matter what, Shen Jian wasn't good enough to become a core player. But now, in Magical, as an experienced player from Excellent Era, Shen Jian, He Ming, and Wang Ze had become the core members of the team. But now, with the outcome of the arena competition on his shoulders, Shen Jian found that he couldn't calm down. What he thought about most wasn't how to win, but... what if he lost?

Although his mood was chaotic, it at least didn't affect simple operations like movement. Shen Jian's Striker, Forgotten River, quickly reached the tavern in the center of the map. He didn't directly challenge Tang Rou. After Forgotten River entered the tavern's outer courtyard, he found a place to crouch down.

"What's he doing?" He Ming frowned off the field.

Playing dirty? This wasn't something Shen Jian was good at at all! He had never said he would use this tactic before the match.

He Ming was clueless, and Wang Ze didn't understand either. They couldn't understand Shen Jian's nervous mood on the field. The two could only look at each other.

In the match, Shen Jian sent a message in the channel: "Where are you? Come out and let's decide the winner!"

Confuse the opponent, hide his true intentions. That was what Shen Jian thought, but in the eyes of experts, this dirty play was really neither fish nor fowl, right?

"124, 131," Tang Rou sent Chasing Haze's location in the channel, straightforward and not sneaky at all.

So, what would Shen Jian do?

The audience looked over and saw Shen Jian's Striker, Forgotten River, sneakily coming out of the corner, seemingly heading towards the coordinates Tang Rou had given.

So... what was the point of crouching down in the beginning?

People who knew what they were doing were confused by Shen Jian.

"What's this guy playing?" Fang Rui asked Ye Xiu in amazement. How should he say it, this could be considered Ye Xiu's old subordinate!

"Probably... dirty play?" Ye Xiu said.

"Are you insulting me?" Fang Rui was unhappy. Was there such a low-level dirty play? He resolutely refused to admit that this was dirty play.