Luo Ji lost.
He couldn't say he was too surprised by the result, but in the early stages of the match, he really felt like he was doing well. His confidence was building bit by bit, but who knew his opponent would destroy it so thoroughly.
And this opponent wasn't exactly a strong player. Like Luo Ji, he was a rookie on a new team this season. The only difference was that he had 27 rounds of match experience.
Luo Ji took a deep breath and walked out of the player booth, but he didn't expect the entire arena to erupt in applause.
What was this?
Luo Ji was puzzled. He suspected that this was the home crowd showing respect to the excellent performance of the Miracle player, applauding for the opponent. But as he walked off the stage and through the arena, hearing the cries of "Luo Ji, keep it up!" and seeing the gazes fixed on him, he knew that the applause was for him, an encouragement.
Although he had never played on stage, the Xingxin fans all knew that Xingxin had such a member. This wasn't just a conclusion drawn from observing the Xingxin players' seats during matches, but because Xingxin's boss, Chen Guo, would never leave out Luo Ji whenever she talked about Xingxin's players. In fact, to highlight Luo Ji's presence, she would often be more willing to talk about him. Although Luo Ji had never played in a match, Chen Guo would tell everyone, without the slightest concealment, about his contributions and help to the Xingxin team.
This was Chen Guo's attention to detail. She was afraid that this long-term benchwarmer on the team might feel uncomfortable, so she tried her best to show that he was an important part of the team.
Chen Guo's approach finally had an effect at this time. Not only did Xingxin fans know about Luo Ji, but they also had a good impression of this player who didn't have many opportunities to play but could still carefully and conscientiously contribute to the team. They even looked forward to the day when Luo Ji would have a chance to play.
So when Luo Ji really had the opportunity to play, he received not pressure, but encouragement.
Applause, cheers, accompanied Luo Ji step by step back to the player seats.
Miracle's Jia Xing was a bit dazed.
When he first came out of the player booth, he really thought that the applause was for him, because he felt that he had played wonderfully in this round, with the demeanor of a true expert.
Even the away fans are conquered by me, Jia Xing thought smugly. It wasn't easy to achieve this. He waved his hand, continuing to show his grace, waving to these "applauding for him" adorable Xingxin fans.
Until he stepped off the stage and came to the sidelines, when he clearly heard the shouts within the applause, Jia Xing instantly petrified. He wished he could chop off that right hand he had been waving so frequently.
This Luo Ji, he's actually so popular in Xingxin? He can get such care and love from everyone even after losing? Jia Xing looked at Luo Ji, who had returned to the player seats on the other side, his heart filled with jealousy.
Luo Ji consciously and proactively sat down in the empty seat next to Ye Xiu.
Even if Ye Xiu didn't ask him, he would take the initiative to ask Ye Xiu for guidance on this match. Discouraged by losing the match? When it had just ended, he had been a little bit! But Luo Ji had long been mentally prepared for losing, so he quickly dispersed that emotion. Then, when the whole arena cheered and encouraged him after he came off stage, Luo Ji felt that he had to work even harder to live up to the team's and the fans' expectations.
Luo Ji had seen all the things that Chen Guo had been doing to prevent him from overthinking.
"You started off pretty well," Ye Xiu said bluntly, without any unnecessary politeness.
"Yeah, yeah," Luo Ji nodded.
"Your control is very precise. That's your strength," Ye Xiu said.
"Yeah, yeah," Luo Ji continued to nod. His calculations were accurate, so his operations were precise. Luo Ji had a clear understanding of himself.
"But the result was a loss because of that," Ye Xiu said.
Luo Ji thought.
"Your opponent is a person, not a machine. A person's operation, a person's performance, can never reach theoretical precision. He might be in poor condition, or he might explode with potential. Your play style needs to be tolerant, it needs to keep up with the rhythm of the opponent's changes," Ye Xiu said.
"Remember all those idiot's guides you used to make?" Ye Xiu said.
"I remember," Luo Ji nodded.
"The flaw in your current control technique is the same as the flaw in the idiot's guides you made: the error tolerance is too low," Ye Xiu said.
"Oh..." Luo Ji immediately understood.
He thought of the moment when his opponent's *hao long po jun* (Dragon Breaks the Army) broke through the encirclement of his summoned beasts. In his calculations, the gap was one that his opponent shouldn't have been able to capture.
But the opponent burst out, the opponent made a hand speed and operation that he probably couldn't normally do. As a result, something that Luo Ji thought wouldn't happen happened. And his play style had no way to hinder it.
His calculation of his opponent's abilities wasn't thorough enough! But as Ye Xiu said, a person's state inevitably had ups and downs, and even the person himself couldn't always easily control it. It was even more impossible for others to completely calculate every detail.
"What should I do then?" Luo Ji simply asked.
"The best way, of course, is to be even more precise," Ye Xiu said.
Luo Ji was distressed. He understood this principle, of course. An even more precise attack, an impeccable attack, would directly blow up the opponent. But the problem was that his ability was limited, and he could only make the precision within his ability. He couldn't choose this best solution. If he could, he would have done it long ago.
"If you can't achieve complete precision for the time being, then what about partial precision?" Ye Xiu said again.
"Partial precision?"
"Think about Mo Fan," Ye Xiu said.
Luo Ji was stunned. Why was he talking about Mo Fan again?
Mo Fan had already gone on stage to play the third individual match. The holographic projection on the stage and the electronic screen in the arena were showing the situation of his fight with his opponent.
Shua shua shua shua!
With an extremely fast five-stage combo, Deception made his opponent flustered.
I probably won't be able to do this in my entire life. Luo Ji thought to himself, but Deception on the field immediately retreated after a few strong combos.
Luo Ji knew why Mo Fan's play style was like that, so he immediately understood why Ye Xiu wanted him to think about Mo Fan.
Ye Xiu meant that there might be some controls that he couldn't do with absolute precision, but there were always some simple operations that he could absolutely master with his current abilities.
Fully utilize these controllable operations to rebuild the attack system?
Luo Ji understood a little.
He had always been referring to guides, learning various Summoner knowledge. He already knew everything that he should learn and master. So now, he needed to find the ones that were most suitable for him, the ones he could do best. Just like deciding to use the Four Beasts style, he had to choose the one that suited him best.
It was time for him to write an idiot's guide for himself.
"I understand!" Luo Ji nodded repeatedly.
Ye Xiu smiled. It was easier to talk to smart people! Look at Luo Ji, think about Mo Fan on the field. Okay, Mo Fan could still be told some things, but Baozi's brain circuit was often not on the same wavelength. It was extremely difficult to get him to understand anything!
After the individual competition, the team arena quickly ended as well.
Mo Fan won the third match of the individual competition, and Xingxin's team arena had a strong lineup of Tang Rou, Su Mucheng, and Fang Rui. In the end, they also smoothly defeated Miracle, entering the team competition with a 4-1 lead.
In the team competition, Xingxin surprised everyone by sending out the combination of Fang Rui, Su Mucheng, Tang Rou, Qiao Yifan, An Wenyi, and Baozi, actually letting Ye Xiu rest for a round.
"What the heck!"
Before anyone else could say anything, the Miracle team, which had sent out its main force, was the first to become unhappy.
Miracle had three old Excellent Era players! They believed that they knew Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, and their combination very well. Last time, they lost 0-10 to Xingxin. So this time, they came more prepared. They had carefully and painstakingly trained tactics to restrain Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng, full of ambition to win back the points they had lost at Xingxin's home court last time. But… in this round, Ye Xiu actually didn't play in the team competition.
Was this contempt?
The Miracle guys were a little indignant, but then they thought about it. In the years they had followed Ye Xiu in Excellent Era, when had they ever seen him look down on anyone? He wouldn't look down on even the weakest opponent. He would only despise! He could despise even the strongest opponent.
So, is this despising us?
The three thought again.
But not playing didn't seem to be Ye Xiu's way of despising people.
The three were very distressed.
The fact that the opponent's strongest player wasn't playing should have been something to secretly laugh about, but Miracle was so bitter and resentful. There was nothing more painful than rehearsing and practicing carefully, only to be told a second before going on stage that it wasn't needed, that they were changing the program.
It's too despicable and shameless!
The Miracle trio were burning with anger.
"Even so, we can't lose!" He Ming said to the players who were about to go on stage. Then he saw Guo Shao blinking.
He Ming immediately realized that what he said was a bit off.
Even so, even so what? Did he sound like Ye Xiu not playing made them stronger?
That was obviously wrong. Ye Xiu was definitely the center of gravity for Xingxin. His absence could only decrease Xingxin's strength, not increase it.
"Cough…" He Ming coughed, wondering how to explain it.
"If Senior Ye Xiu isn't playing, doesn't that mean the tactics we practiced are useless?" Guo Shao was the one to bring up the sore subject.
"Yes. But Ye Xiu not playing will definitely affect their strength. This is our opportunity," He Ming took the opportunity to steer the conversation back on track.
"How do we fight?" Guo Shao asked.
He Ming was stuck.
Because the current situation was really a bit fatal. Their pre-match training had been too targeted, and they had completely ignored the possibility of this situation. Who would have thought that after 27 rounds, Ye Xiu would pull such a trick on them in the 28th round? Miracle's pre-match preparations were in vain. They definitely couldn't make detailed arrangements for how to fight now.
"Focus on… focus on…" He Ming looked at Xingxin's list.
"Qiao Yifan!" The name suddenly popped out of his mouth. "Yes, Qiao Yifan!" He Ming nodded affirmatively.