Chapter 504 Red Card

Fang Rui left the stage, waving to the audience as he made his way back to the Happy player area. Fang Rui's performance was actually most brilliant with that final strike against Yu Feng, but the technical complexity was high, and there were no TV replays with commentary for the audience to rely on. Not many could see it in the moment, and most would need to reflect on it later.

But regardless, taking down one of Hundred Blossom's players and dealing a fifth of the opposing captain and core player's health, Fang Rui's performance was definitely commendable. As the home crowd, they naturally responded with applause.

Over at Happy's player area, Mo Fan silently rose, heading towards the competition stage without greeting anyone. The audience's attention was still focused on Fang Rui, who was actively interacting with them, so few noticed. Fang Rui also seemed unaware, only casually saying, "Fight well," as Mo Fan brushed past him.

Mo Fan paused instinctively, turning his head to look. But Fang Rui didn't stop or look at him, busy striking poses for the spectators who wanted to take photos!

So Mo Fan continued to walk silently onto the stage and into the player booth.

The third match of the individual competition was Happy's Mo Fan, Deception, against Hundred Blossom's Yu Feng, Flowing Blossom.

One was a rookie player, the other an All-Star-level god. On paper, this match was clearly very, very lopsided.

This match was a bit like the first match of the individual competition, but in reverse. This time, it was Happy's player who was standing on the professional stage for the first time, directly facing a first-tier god of the professional circle. Mo Fan didn't participate in the first round of matches.

Having seen the precedent set in the first individual match, the referee was somewhat concerned and made a special trip to check on the condition of Happy's rookie. But he found the rookie's face as still as water.

'How pitiful, so nervous that his expression is frozen,' the referee sighed inwardly.

"Don't be nervous, just treat it like a normal game," the referee said particularly gently, feeling considerable sympathy for the rookie.

But the rookie just glanced at him, said nothing, and entered the competition booth with a blank expression.

'Didn't he hear me? No, wait, then why did he look at me? Did he hear me? What kind of reaction is that?' The referee was momentarily bewildered. But this wasn't really his job, he was just being kind. Having gone this far was enough, so he stopped paying attention and returned to his referee's seat, checking the confirmation status of both sides. He wondered if this player had also entered the booth and then just sat there without moving.

But when he returned to his position, he saw that both sides were already decisively prepared. This rookie was remarkably quick and efficient!

The referee checked the time, saw that it was almost time, and confirmed the start of the new round.

The map remained unchanged.

But Mo Fan was a professional rookie. Even if he often frequented the arena in the online game, it would be difficult for him to have the same professional understanding of the map as professional players. And Yu Feng had already shown in the previous match that he was familiar with this map. From any angle, the outcome of this match seemed to be determined.

Even the applause from the audience seemed particularly subdued, as if they were deliberately holding back to avoid putting too much pressure on the rookie. There were no shouts of encouragement like "Victory is assured."

Both characters entered the map. Yu Feng's Flowing Blossom rushed straight to the center, while Mo Fan's Deception chose a roundabout route.

Among the four classes of the dark night series, few engage in direct confrontations. Yu Feng rushed to the center and didn't see Deception, but he wasn't surprised at all.

He was indeed familiar with this map. Without needing to observe the surroundings, he could already anticipate the possible locations from which the opponent might launch a sneak attack.

Yu Feng stared intently at several locations. Mo Fan's Deception had already arrived and was lying in ambush in one of those locations, also staring intently at Yu Feng's Flowing Blossom.

Neither side moved, and the match suddenly became dull.

Whether or not to introduce timers into Glory matches had always been a controversial topic.

Timers could lead to many utilitarian tactics, making the matches extremely boring and unsightly. But without timers, the patient stalemates that sometimes occurred could also make the matches particularly tedious. Especially for broadcasters, these time-consuming and uneventful confrontations were particularly frustrating.

For example, right now...

Yu Feng and Mo Fan had neither taken the initiative to attack, both waiting for the other to reveal an opening.

This atmosphere of building momentum might sound exciting, but looking at it, it was simply a still image.

The players were challenging each other's patience, and also the audience's patience. If everyone had enough patience, wouldn't they just continue to wait?

This situation was related to Glory's map design. Glory's match maps were quite vast, which greatly enriched the content of the matches, and also enriched the possibility of hiding and testing patience.

How to solve it? People of insight had been thinking about it for many seasons, but there was still no satisfactory solution. But this problem had to be solved; you couldn't really have two players staring at each other for an hour without making a move, right?

In the end, the league gave this power to the referees, to be decided by the on-site referee based on the situation.

Of course, Yu Feng was familiar with all the match rules. He didn't move.

Mo Fan was a professional player, so of course he understood the rules, but he had never experienced the rules. He also didn't move.

Soon, the system issued a message in the match channel.

The system was the referee. After the two sides had been facing each other for a long time, the referee issued a yellow card warning to Mo Fan for passive play.

Although Yu Feng hadn't moved either, he was in plain sight, while Mo Fan's intention to hide was obvious. In this situation, Mo Fan would be warned. Yu Feng knew this, so he wasn't worried. He patiently waited for Mo Fan to be forced to attack, forced by the referee.

One yellow card was a warning. Two yellow cards would result in a red card. In soccer, a red card meant that the player was sent off. In the Glory arena, in a one-on-one confrontation, a red card meant that the match was immediately judged as a loss.

Mo Fan had read the match rules, and now he was finally experiencing them.

After the yellow card, if he continued to maintain this posture, the second yellow card wouldn't be as patient as the first. He would soon receive a red card.

So Yu Feng knew that Mo Fan would definitely move next. He focused all his attention, watching his surroundings.

Mo Fan indeed moved.

Deception left his previous hiding spot, quietly moved, changed locations, and then hid again.

He continued to not attack.

The referee was furious!

Originally, he was quite caring towards the rookie, but this rookie actually tried to play a trick on him, changing locations and hiding. Did he think that this would count as being proactive?

Seeing that Deception showed no intention of attacking, the referee decisively issued another system announcement.

Second yellow card, turned into a red card. Deception, eliminated!

The audience erupted in an uproar.

Mo Fan was bewildered.

'What? Isn't this allowed?'

The system directly announced Yu Feng's victory, leaving Yu Feng also bewildered.

'What's wrong with Happy's rookie? He didn't move after getting a yellow card. Isn't he just asking for a red card?' Little did he know that Mo Fan had actually moved. But that movement made the referee feel like he was being mocked. Was he going to let him exploit the loopholes in the match rules so easily?

Red card. Mo Fan was directly judged to have lost. Moreover, a player who received a red card was not allowed to participate in the next round of matches, and depending on the specific circumstances, there might be additional suspensions.

The audience was speechless. They didn't know how to express their emotions at this time. After all, he was a rookie making his debut on the stage. They didn't have the heart to boo him! But being directly eliminated with a red card, which meant giving the opponent a complete victory... this... this... it was just too upsetting.

Under the gaze of various complex eyes, Mo Fan left the stage and walked back.

The members of Happy's player area were in tears. This was all due to a lack of communication! But the problem was that it was too difficult to communicate with Mo Fan. Letting him figure things out on his own had led to this consequence.

Mo Fan returned to the player area, to his seat. The eyes of the crowd were complex, but they just looked at each other, and no one went up to say anything.

Mo Fan? His expression was finally no longer eternally unchanging. He revealed a very hesitant look, as if he had gone through some internal struggle. Finally, after a moment, he hesitantly opened his mouth and said, "What... should I do?"

He just said this, without even clearly specifying the target of his words.

"Let me teach you," Su Mucheng said with a smile, moving from the front row to sit next to Mo Fan in the corner.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But Chen Guo's expression was still full of gloom. The individual competition had started off well, but Mo Fan's red card had suddenly made things very bad.

Happy's third player in the individual competition was Tang Rou, who was quite excited to face such a difficult situation. But now she had a clear understanding of her own level.

"I'll give it a try!" These were the words Tang Rou left behind as she left her seat and went on stage.

It seemed to lack her usual confidence, but for a rookie player facing the All-Star god Yu Feng with four-fifths of his health remaining, and a defending player in full health, saying "I'll give it a try" was already a remarkable display of boldness.

Tang Rou appeared on stage to enthusiastic applause. She was very popular now, not just among Happy's fans. Throughout the Glory circle, there were many people who followed this beautiful player. Judging people by their appearance was certainly wrong, but it was undeniable that appearance was the first impression people had. Beauty could always give someone a head start of one or two steps, or even many steps.

Another rookie player. But the referee had just been teased by Mo Fan, and his concern for rookies had been greatly reduced. He didn't have any extra communication with Tang Rou. After confirming that she had entered the competition booth, he quickly confirmed the start of another match.

In the previous match, one static image was replaced by another static image, and the winner was decided by a red card.

In this match, 23 seconds after the start, the two characters met in the center of the map and instantly started fighting.