AWM Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

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Edited by Tin

 

In the fourth round, HOG was ranked first, and the team had a total of 22 kills. Their points from the fourth match was 710 points, and they quickly jumped up to eleventh place in the overall ranking.

 

In the fifth round, Qi Zui’s hand slipped at the start of the match, and accidentally gifted Yu Qianxi with three continuous shots from the shotgun. In the end, HOG’s final rank was number two, and the team had a total of 13 kills. The points from that round was 485 points, and their overall ranking continued to rise and they reached ninth place.

 

In the sixth round, after Qi Zui landed, his hand continued to slip, and he tried to use a mini to shoot at birds from the top of the garage, but he accidentally shot at Yu Qianxi, who was still parachuting down, and killed him. HOG managed to get their chicken dinner again, and the team’s total kills was 9 kills. Their points for this round was 580, and their total points completely surpassed the Wolves. With a strong counter attack, they advanced into the Top Six.

 

“Nice! Nice! Nice!” He Xiaoxu felt extremely satisfied, hitting the table with a lot of force. “Come! Let me see what sort of crap those keyboard warriors in the forum are saying now!”

 

[What exactly is HOG doing now? Is God-Qi doing some sort of ancient and mysterious ritual? If there’s a blood sacrifice at the start of the match, then they can get their chicken dinner once?]

 

[I’m sorry, any one of our HOG members can win a three-on-one fight, winning with only three people is nothing!]

 

[This… Is this really a slip of hand? God-Qi’s hand slips? I thought he never made mistakes.]

 

[What kind of fucking hand slip is that, in the sixth match, Yu Qianxi was about to float away on his parachute already, but he was killed in mid-air by your God-Qi!]

 

[What’s with Drunk? This showing of his God-like skill has caused my scalp to go numb. I feel that there’s something going on, like there’s a breakdown on the relationships in the team. Is the full-scale drama at the start of the year beginning now?]

 

[Heh heh, ignoring all the drama, didn’t those three matches feel so freaking good? Your God-Qi is still your God-Qi.]

 

[I find the weirdest one is Yu Qianxi alright? Let’s ignore these three rounds, what about the first three rounds? That shitty player didn’t even get a single kill! What’s going on Yu-Ge? Did you secretly become a Buddhist? Is it that you can no longer do any killing?!]

 

[It’s one thing to not get any kills, Yu Qianxi’s shot of death in the second match is the best part. He wanted to cause trouble for the Knights’ team, and God-Hua gave him a lesson full of fatherly love. If it wasn’t for Qi Zui managing to survive, they might not even be in the top six right now.]

 

[It wasn’t just the second round. When you think carefully about it, there were problems in all of the first three rounds. After the screen recording comes out, I want to look through the games again carefully.]

 

All the related forums and the livestream platform were practically flooded with messages about HOG. Quite a lot of people had already seen through Yu Qianxi’s act, but there were also people expressing their doubts towards Qi Zui for killing his teammates. It was wave after wave of people and they had been arguing for a while.

 

He Xiaoxu wanted to buy a smaller account to argue with them, however, the seventh round had already begun and He Xiaoxu kept his phone to focus on the livestream.

 

The seventh match began.

 

The director’s camera did not even hesitate to directly jump to Qi Zui’s viewpoint.

 

The commentators, the audience present at the venue, the fans in the livestream room… Everyone was looking forward to it. They wanted to see how Qi Zui would kill Yu Qianxi this round.

 

Even the competitors that were playing in the competition were looking at the kill feed, waiting to see a notification about Yu Qianxi’s death.

 

However, it was a pity, as Qi Zui seemed to be done playing around. He did not make a move this time, and acted like nothing had happened and everything was as per normal, continuing to properly take the role of the leader.

 

On the other hand, Yu Qianxi had totally lost it, he was just muddling along, not sure what he should do at the moment.

 

Yu Qianxi’s face was extremely white, and he kept hiding and ducking, trying his best to avoid standing near Qi Zui. He was extremely scared that Qi Zui might suddenly feel the urge to raise his gun and shoot him.

 

Yu Qianxi totally did not expect that Qi Zui would find out about the fact that he had contacted other eSports teams. He had also not expected for Qi Zui to see through his act in the first two rounds so easily. Even more unexpected was the fact that Qi Zui was totally not scared of him leaving the team, and had fallen out with him so openly during the competition.

 

“What do you think?” Bu Nana only found out about the horrible things Yu Qianxi had done just now, and he felt so disgusted he wanted to puke. Even the nicest person in the team was finally angry, and he said coldly, “In 2016, TGC had a player who showed the middle finger to Lao Kai’s poster before a competition, and on that day, Qi Zui only focused on him all the way. It can be said that he was basically torturing him. Even if a tiger doesn’t get angry, do you really believe that he doesn’t have a temper¹?”

 

After finally making it into the top six, Bu Nana’s mood was quite good, and he whistled, then asked Lao Kai. “Eh? What’s that person doing now?”

 

“I don’t know…” Lao Kai seriously thought about it then said, “There’s really no news about him, he probably retired right? He had probably been scarred from the horrible lesson Captain imparted on him, it’s all because of Captain…Qi-Career destroyer-Zui.”

 

Yu Qianxi’s face turned gray and he found it hard to breathe.

 

Qi Zui frowned. “He doesn’t want to play eSports anymore, what does that have to do with me? Are you guys done looting? If you’re done looting, let’s leave now.”

 

“Alright-y” After playing well for the past few games, Bu Nana’s state of mind was totally fine. He looked at Yu Qianxi who was a distance away, then said coldly, “Behave yourself, if you try to backstab us again, I’ll kill you off!”

 

Qi Zui opened the map to look at the safe zone and planned out the route into the safe zone. He did not say a single word to Yu Qianxi the whole time.

 

Backstage, He Xiaoxu could not sit still, he was extremely anxious. “What’s Qi Zui waiting for? Shoot him! Shoot him! Aiya, what’s he waiting for? Why isn’t he killing Yu Qianxi yet?”

 

Lai Hua: “…”

 

“They landed in the factory ²…” Lai Hua guessed. “The area around the factory… it’s hard to find loot. Qi Zui is probably using him to help to loot around, and when he’s done looting, he’ll finish him off and pick up his loot.”

 

Yu Yang looked on quietly, then shook his head. “Captain won’t kill him anymore.”

 

After the two of them heard his words, they turned to Yu Yang. Yu Yang was stunned, then said, feeling uneasy. “I’m just randomly saying things…”

 

“Nope,” He Xiaoxu said sincerely, “I feel that whatever you say is quite accurate.”

 

Yu Yang pursed his lips, and said in a low voice. “Yu Qianxi… he acted in front of Captain for three matches.”

 

Lai Hua was stunned, then came to a realization.

 

Yu Qianxi had acted in front of Qi Zui for three rounds, and Qi Zui killed him for three rounds.

 

When the sixth match of the competition ended, to Qi Zui, his short feud with Yu Qianxi had already ended.

 

In Qi Zui’s heart, Yu Qianxi no longer belonged to HOG, and was no longer his team member, and naturally, he would not do anything to him.

 

Qi Zui was not someone who was ruled by emotions. He was more against embarrassing and disgusting memories. Therefore, he could not be bothered to tell Yu Qianxi that he had once truly believed him, believing that the young Yu Qianxi would be able to bring to everyone a different HOG. 

 

They had been on the same team for half a year now, but they were not fated to remain on the same team. 

 

From now on, with the sky above them, they would walk a different path from him.

 

Qi Zui would not do what Bu Nana hinted, and use his eSports connections to harm anyone, however, naturally, he would not congratulate anyone either.

 

Yu Qianxi was not worthy of Qi Zui’s disdain.

 

“He’s still the same…” No one knew what Lai Hua was thinking about, but he lowered his head for a moment and laughed, muttering to himself, “On the surface, he seems like a hooligan, but the truth is, he’s actually a rare gentleman in the eSports community.”

 

Having been in the eSports world for eight years, the reason he was called God-Qi by numerous professional eSports players wasn’t only because of his Right Hand of God. Qi Zui as a person, had the soul of eSports carved deep in his blood and bones.

 

Yu Yang stared at the screen, eyes unmoving. When the camera swept across to show Qi Zui, Yu Yang’s heart rate sped up.

 

This was Qi Zui.

 

Even though he could look down on everyone, he insisted on treating everyone the same.

 

“Go and contact our club, tell the law department to make preparations…” Lai Hua stayed silent for a while, before he sighed. “Prepare to terminate the contract.”

 

He Xiaoxu felt relieved and nodded, “Alright, we’ll terminate the contract.”

 

When the eighth round of the competition ended, HOG’s overall ranking had already increased to fourth place.

 

When He Xiaoxu looked at the points of the fifth, sixth and seventh teams, he let out a breath of relief. “Alright alright, we’ve finally increased the difference in points between us and the next team. It’ll be alright now.”

 

Lai Hua’s eyebrows were still tightly knitted together. He Xiaoxu smiled, “It’s fine! In the worst-case scenario, they get last place again, but they’ll still be able to stay safely in the top six. Look at the seventh place, NON. Their points are so low, it’s impossible for them to overtake us.

 

Lai Hua shook his head. “I’m not worried about that.”

 

He Xiaoxu was stunned, but instantly knew that Lai Hua was referring to Qi Zui, and his expression became bad as well.

 

Yu Yang did not understand. “Captain has already killed him in three matches, it should be fine now. Should I substitute for him?”

 

He Xiaoxu was a little confused, and he blurted out. “Who are you substituting for?”

 

Yu Yang frowned. “Yu Qianxi.”

 

“Ah, right, yes.” He Xiaoxu coughed. “Damn it… the competitors can’t bring their phones in. I don’t know if they need you to substitute in or not. I’ll go with Lai Hua to ask them about it. Help us stay here to look after our things. Don’t move about randomly.”

 

He Xiaoxu said as he stood up, then pushed Lai Hua out of the lounge.

 

Qi Zui’s state was actually alright. In the last match, when he went to the washroom before the last round and had wrapped an intramuscular patch around his right arm. There were only two rounds left, he could still persevere through it.

 

“Don’t talk about whether you can persevere or not. I’m just asking you, is it painful or not?” Lai Hua did not want to listen to Qi Zui’s words. “Anyway, the team is in a very stable position now. You can stop playing and let Youth take your place. He can play however he wants to.”

 

“Yep, yep.” He Xiaoxu nodded, graciously saying to the two of them. “Just take it like we’re training him! Youth has never participated in any sort of big-scale real-life competition. Let him try it out, alright? He’s about to become part of the main team, we need to properly nurture him.”

 

There was no one in the hallway, Qi Zui leaned against the wall, lightly rubbing on his wrist. He smiled. “You don’t want to be in the top three anymore?”

 

“Aiya, what top three.” He Xiaoxu, who nagged about getting the first place everyday, instantly changed his tune, saying nonchalantly, “I’ve said it early on. We’re just here to get a place in the Asian Invitational Cup. I’m not like the rest, so low-class. Trying to snatch the championship title in a national competition³, we’re about to die alright? Our team doesn’t even have any more space to put trophies already!”

 

Qi Zui smiled.

 

A few minutes later, Yu Yang, who had received He Xiaoxu’s phone call, arrived with his bag full of computer accessories.

 

Qi Zui took off his jacket and smiled at Yu Yang. “Cutie⁴, it’s your turn now.”

 

Yu Yang took the HOG jacket that had Drunk printed on it and draped it over his own shoulders. He fistbumped Qi Zui, then walked towards the stage.

 

Ten minutes later.

 

Yu Yang’s face was expressionless as he wore a team uniform that was bigger by one size and sat on Captain Qi Zui’s seat.

 

Everyone watching the competition was quiet for a few moments, before they went crazy again.

 

Yu Yang changed the accessories to his keyboard and mouse, quickly adjusting the DPI. Then, he put on the headphones and signalled to the referee that he was OK.

 

The referee checked Yu Yang’s accessories before he picked up his walkie-talkie to inform the backstage. After everyone had confirmed that Yu Yang had no other problems, the ninth match began. 

 

Yu Yang temporarily took Qi Zui’s place as the leader and the sniper. He had been guided by Qi Zui a few days ago, and his location picking for where to land was very similar to what Qi Zui would have chosen. Bu Nana and Lao Kai were still quite accustomed to it. Of course, that was not the only thing Yu Yang learnt from Qi Zui.

 

In the ninth match, when he landed, Yu Yang used a SCAR-L to shoot Yu Qianxi till even his parents would be unable to recognize him.

 

In the tenth match, Yu Yang directly shot Yu Qianxi twice with a shotgun, and sent him back to the West⁵

 

Yu Qianxi was extremely angry, and directly started scolding in the team channel. “Yu Yang is there something wrong with you? Are you a fucking idiot?”

 

“Captain is a gentleman, but I’m not.” Yu Yang said coldly. “I’m a low-class person, haven’t you known that from the start?”

 

Yu Qianxi’s lips moved, wanting to continue his scolding, but he held himself back.

 

God-Qi was a god, he did not care about the horrible accusations and curses of the anti-fans, but Yu Yang could not bring himself to ignore them.

　

Yu Yang was not cultured and had no self-restraint. He held a grudge against Yu Qianxi for making Qi Zui the scapegoat, plus he did not want to let Yu Qianxi being in the team ruin his chances of getting a higher rank, so he wanted to end him instantly.

 

Yu Yang looked at Yu Qianxi’s dead crate and said, “I’m here to substitute Captain. If I caused the team to lose the points he had gained up till now because of you, can you pay the price?”

　

Yu Qianxi was attacked till all he could do was pant and not say a single word.

　

The tenth round ended and HOG got first place for the match, and in the overall ranking they were second.

 

The three commentators stood up at the same time, after they congratulated the first place TGC for a short time, they loudly and enthusiastically introduced HOG and their new team member. In the venue, the HOG fans yelled out Yu Yang’s game ID in a frenzy: “Youth! Youth! Youth! Youth! Youth! Youth!”

　

Backstage, when Qi Zui heard the fans coordinated cheers, the corner of his lips curved upwards slightly.

　

His little youth, his Youth⁶.

 

The director panned the camera to Yu Yang. Qi Zui stared at Yu Yang, his pupils moving suddenly.

 

In the livestream screen, Yu Yang’s breathing seemed to be faster than normal, and he calmed down, then faced the camera and removed his team’s jacket.

　

Yu Yang used his two hands to raise up his team uniform, and showed the back of the uniform to the camera.

　

The camera instantly zoomed in: Drunk.

 

Backstage, He Xiaoxu was stunned for a moment, and his eyes instantly turned red.

 

Drunk.

 

Qi Zui was in a daze, feeling a gush of warmth rush to his chest.

　

At the competition venue, the fans were quiet for two seconds before they thoroughly went crazy, screaming before they started to shout out Qi Zui’s name.

　

“Drunk! Drunk! Drunk! Drunk! Drunk! Drunk!”

 

 

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