Chapter 1 Aftermath

After Team Tyranny, naturally, it was Team Samsara's turn to be interviewed. As only the second team in history to win consecutive championships, this was undoubtedly a remarkable achievement. As soon as the Samsara players took the stage, the audience erupted in congratulations, their excitement quite fervent. However, thinking that this fervor was fueled by the disappointment and sadness of Tyranny's veterans, some people felt a pang of sorrow, especially some veteran reporters who had followed Glory for many years. Han Wenqing, Lin Jingyan, Zhang Jiale – their work always revolved around these people, so how could they not have some emotional attachment?

The clash between old and new was always inevitable. The crowd around Samsara, cheering them on, seemed to represent the new era, even in the reporters' circle. And what about them? Were they also destined to gradually decline like the veterans in the professional arena?

Of course not! They had to continue as always.

At that moment, the veteran reporters suddenly felt a sense of empathy. Immediately afterward, sharp questions came.

"First, congratulations to Samsara on winning consecutive championships. I would like to ask, was the attrition warfare strategy used by Samsara in the third match because you foresaw that Tyranny's players would decline in condition due to physical exhaustion and mental fatigue?"

"Yes," Zhou Zekai said.

"In the second match, we noticed that Team Tyranny did not seem to be good at fighting protracted battles. This is why we decided to use this strategy in the third match," Jiang Botao quickly added from the side. Some of the more difficult questions were best answered by Zhou Zekai in a concise manner, otherwise, who knew what kind of stories the reporters would write.

Not good at fighting protracted battles… Jiang Botao had indeed summarized a seemingly tactical explanation, but the problem of Tyranny's physical exhaustion was so obvious that the reporters would not let him off the hook so easily.

"Then what do you think is the reason why Tyranny is not good at fighting protracted battles?" a reporter immediately asked, knowing full well the answer. He had already decided that if Samsara dared to play dumb on this question, he would tear these hypocritical guys apart.

"Well, Tyranny played nine intense matches in a row during the playoffs in one month. This was a huge drain, and their physical strength became a problem in the later stages. This was the key to our victory in the end."

As a result, Samsara answered this question clearly and directly.

"Oh, so if Tyranny had only played four matches before the final, with good rest and recovery, what kind of impact do you think this would have on the result?"

"The match would definitely become more difficult," Jiang Botao replied.

"Then do you think Samsara could still win the championship smoothly?" This reporter's question was becoming increasingly harsh, basically implying that Samsara's championship was not won fairly.

"The competition is full of countless accidental things, which is why we need to stand on the field repeatedly. If assumptions could lead to an accurate result, then what is the point of the competition? From an objective point of view, I cannot answer your question. But from the perspective of a Samsara player, I always believe that Samsara can win, no matter who the opponent is!"

Jiang Botao's answer was resounding, and the reporter clearly could not parry it. Because he himself knew very well that there was no such thing as an unfair victory in a competition. Any factor was part of the competition. Otherwise, if a wealthy team with top-notch players and characters defeated an ordinary team whose players and characters were not top-notch, would it also be said that it was an unfair victory?

"Does Captain Zhou see it that way as well?" This person, unable to parry, immediately switched targets. He knew that as long as he switched to Zhou Zekai, it would basically be over.

"Yes," Zhou Zekai's answer did not disappoint this person.

"I have no more questions," this person said quickly.

After that, there were no more malicious questions. After asking some uninspired questions about winning feelings, the reporters shifted the topic again and asked similar questions to those asked during the Tyranny interview: "Next season, Ye Xiu and his team, Team Happy, will appear on the professional scene. I wonder what the Samsara players think. Do you think Happy can succeed?"

When the Happy players heard this sentence, they almost went to watch Ye Xiu again, but in the end, they were asked about their views on the entire Happy team. This was different from asking Tyranny. The reporters obviously considered that the Samsara players were not from the same era as Ye Xiu, and did not have as long a history as the Tyranny players, so the question was not focused on Ye Xiu.

"That depends on what their definition of success is," Jiang Botao said.

"It seems to be the championship," a reporter said in a tone that he was not very sure of himself.

Pfft!!!

At that moment, countless people spat out loud. The Samsara players sat on the stage, knowing that they were facing the camera, and managed to maintain a relatively dignified demeanor, but their surprised expressions were obvious. The reporters were not like them. After spitting, no one waited for Samsara to answer. They surrounded the poor little reporter, "Where did you hear that from?" The live broadcast of the press conference was in chaos.

"I heard it unintentionally from someone from Team Yizhan!!" The reporter saw that he was about to be devoured by everyone, and quickly confessed.

"How would the people from Yizhan know?" Someone asked.

"Happy stayed in City B after the game. They have a good relationship with the Yizhan players, and they were communicating together," the reporter said quickly.

"Is it reliable? Is it just a casual joke?" Someone heard that it was a private exchange and was already dismissing it.

"I don't know!" The reporter looked bitter. He had only heard it indirectly and could not verify it, so he could not tell whether it was sincere or a joke.

"It should be a joke, it must be." The reporters gradually calmed down.

"I wonder what the Samsara players think?" A reporter suddenly remembered who the protagonists were and quickly threw the question over.

Jiang Botao was stunned. To be honest, he thought it might be a joke that Happy mentioned casually. Although they defeated Excellent Era, such a miraculous explosion could not happen every time, right? Happy's strength was still quite limited. Saying they wanted to win the championship was too exaggerated. But if he really said that, it would inevitably make people think that he was belittling them. But if he really said he believed it was true, it seemed… it would also be considered hypocritical!

This question was so hard to answer!

Jiang Botao, who had always answered questions fluently, was stunned this time. After a long time, he said, "No matter what Happy's goal is, Samsara will do our best to defeat our opponents."

The question was glossed over, but the reporters were just joking about this question based on a joke, so they would not take it too seriously. The Samsara press conference ended soon after. However, many of the reporters who left the venue were revitalized and began to flip through their address books to confirm how this sentence came about.

The broadcast of the finals had completely ended, but the Happy players were still stunned by the chaos caused by their question. Not long after, the phone rang. Chen Guo took out her phone and saw that it was Lou Guanning calling. After answering, Chen Guo deeply realized how terrible the reporters were. The press conference had just ended, right? The reporters who were interested in this question had already used their connections to inquire about it from Team Yizhan. Someone's connection was so amazing that it directly reached the ears of Team Yizhan's boss, Lou Guanning, so Lou Guanning quickly called Chen Guo to ask how to answer this question.

"How should I answer?" Chen Guo asked Ye Xiu.

"Of course I said it seriously," Ye Xiu said.

"He's serious," Chen Guo replied to Lou Guanning.

"Haha, it's really lively!" Lou Guanning seemed to be looking forward to it being exposed and hung up the phone happily.

"They're really not low-key at all!" Chen Guo held her phone and sighed. They had been very high-profile since the Challenger League. They shouted that they wanted to defeat Excellent Era as soon as they came up, and they were ridiculed and mocked a lot. Now that they had done it, those who ridiculed and mocked them suddenly disappeared. But now Chen Guo knew that once the report that Happy's goal was the championship came out, these people would probably come out immediately, and they would launch mockery with even greater confidence, right?

"It doesn't matter," Ye Xiu said nonchalantly, "Anyway, we have to try our best to win, no matter what."

"Everyone must work harder to achieve this goal!!" Chen Guo encouraged the whole team.

"Definitely!" Bao Rongxing responded actively, and Tang Rou smiled, full of determination. The only one who was relatively calm in the team was Qiao Yifan, who was usually the most calm and cautious.

The championship? Thinking about what they were going to strive for next, which was directly this supreme glory, Qiao Yifan felt a little dizzy. But looking at his teammates, he knew that they were not joking. Happy was going to launch an attack on the championship? This rhythm was really fast to the extreme!

"Alright, it's almost time. Get ready to rest!" Chen Guo called out after looking at the time. Happy now had a fairly strict schedule, and no one was allowed to live upside down anymore. Chen Guo still remembered the situation where Ye Xiu was so tired after the finals that he slept for a long time. To face the professional league next, Happy's players had to maintain a consistently good condition. A regular schedule was the most basic thing.

The day after the finals, the news headlines of major sports media were reporting on this result.

Samsara's consecutive championships, Tyranny's tragic defeat, and between the situations of these two teams, there was another team that was associated with the championship.

Happy, aiming for the championship???

The news headline directly had three question marks, and the entire description was basically in an incredible tone. If they didn't understand the situation, Happy had Ye Xiu. How could he not recognize the team's strength? If this was serious… After defeating Excellent Era, were Happy and Ye Xiu so happy that they lost their way?

The mainstream media's reports were already considered polite. But when they began to reprint them, modifiers such as "the biggest joke of the century" quickly appeared, ridiculing them to the extreme. The major teams soon received various media calls asking for their views on this matter, which made the major teams annoyed. How many times had they answered questions about Happy during this time? Why did this team have so many things going on!