FOG [e-sports]

Chapter 50

Old Qiao was eager to record all the problems that had just been exposed. He didn’t have time to talk much, and he urged them, “Quick, you guys talk about your problems first.”

Puppy rotated his wrist a bit. “I can see the most clearly in the back so let me go first. I was completely suppressed by the opponent’s sniper just now. We’re both snipers and we’re both shooting from covert positions. But the other player’s obviously wilier than I am. He can always find my position, but I always lose his. I also keep losing the other opponents’ positions. That’s my problem.”

Chen Huo was the most annoyed by these introspection exercises. He said, a bit irritably, “I still haven’t shaken off the rhythm of playing against Bison. My play was too unrestrained. I was prone to making mistakes. In this extreme kind of game, a mistake in the early stage becomes a hidden danger. There’s too many hidden dangers in this game and I wasn’t able to handle them in the later stages...”

Old Qiao noted it down quickly. “Next person.”

Yu Sui tidied up the wire of his mouse. “I made no mistakes.”

Old Qiao nodded, “Indeed.”

Chen Huo gave Yu Sui a jealous look, and Puppy said sourly, “Damn, so angry.”

Old Qiao looked up at Shi Luo. “Evil? Did you make any mistakes?”

“Yes.” Shi Luo said with a cold expression on his face, “I didn’t click ‘surrender’ fast enough.”

Chen Huo and Puppy chuckled. Old Qiao said helplessly, “Okay, you guys calm down, adjust your emotions and prepare for the next game. I’ll look at the record of your game just now.”

Old Qiao flipped through the notes he had made during practice match and shook his head. He lowered his voice and said to Zhou Huo, “It couldn’t be helped. The other team is too familiar with the way we play.”

“They have two years worth of practice videos on three of our four players. Not to mention, those coaches in Sacred Sword. There is no one more familiar with their situation than those coaches. Our opponents definitely came here prepared. Our player’s moves, the way they think, even their minute positioning and maneuvering habits, they know it like that back of their hands.” Old Qiao immersed himself in taking down notes quickly. “The other team also understands that our players, including Shi Luo, are basically full frontal attackers, used to crushing the enemy team. If you can quickly resolve a game by steamrolling your opponents, that’s fine. But if you can’t?”

Zhou Huo seldom plays FOG and even when he does, he’s a low-level player who often gets abused. Right now, he could do nothing to help the other out. He could only help Old Qiao take down notes. With a slight frown, Zhou Huo asked, “So, what do you normally do to get out of this?”

“It’s fine to play like this when they enemy’s weaker. But once they meet someone strong, things can easily turn difficult. That’s because they can’t push forward quickly enough.” Old Qiao said, “The more you advance, the more economy you consume. Buying shields consumes economy. Buying bullets consumes economy. Buying injections, bandages...everything consumes economy. For one game, the entire team only has 10,000 worth of economy in total. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. They played too fiercely during the early stages. They kept fighting, fighting, fighting and buying, buying, buying. At the same time, the opposing team kept avoiding and running away. They would rather lose a head or lose a bit more of their map than too spend their economy. To put it simply...”

Old Qiao looked up at Zhou Huo. “In the early stages, they were hoarding money while playing guerilla tactics, lying low and taking a beating. They were waiting until we used up our money. Once our economy was drained, we couldn’t buy any bullets and all our firearms turned into lumps of useless metal and we became nothing but meat targets.”

Zhou Huo understood a bit better. “By the time we got to the later stages...even the cleverest housewife can’t cook a meal without rice.”

Old Qiao pulled over and put on the headset. He opened the mic and spoke into the team chat, “You wouldn’t be able to see it unless you’re looking at it from the bird’s eye point of view, during that match just now, Sacred Sword’s remaining economy was always more than yours. A lot more than yours. It’s clearly intentional. They were targeting Chen Huo and Shi Luo’s tendency to hotly pursue and fiercely attack. The other team was always carefully calculating and budgeting their economy. You must find a way to respond. Either you play fiercer and finish up this match as soon as possible or you slow down your rhythm and economize as well. I suggest the latter.”

The game was about to start and Old Qiao rushed to say into the mic. “Don’t be too wasteful. Chen Huo, how many bullets did you use from your cartridge when you exchanged fire in the shrubbery just then? One bullet is 10 gold. Didn’t you use the economy to buy that?”

Chen Huo knew that he had wasted too much just now. He nodded, “My bad.”

“Don’t go up, don’t go crazy when you fight one-on-one. Shi Luo also has this problem. When they fight carefully, you have to fight even more carefully. You have to be careful of any useless consumption. Of course, this shouldn’t scare you off from taking action either.” The second training match has already begun, and Old Qiao could no longer say anything. He rushed out to urge them, “Keep a level head and do your best.”

The second practice match began.

“I won’t focus on taking any shots for now. I’ll keep an eye on their positions for you. Let’s slow down our play.” Puppy said, “We’ll have to skimp and save for now. The two strikers, don’t feel too pressured.”

Yu Sui started the game by mending their condition. He said, “There’s no need to feel pressured. I won’t be consuming anything from the public economy for this match.”

Shi Luo was startled and couldn’t help but raise his head to look in the direction where Yu Sui was.

“F*ck.” Chen Huo had on a dull expression. “What the hell? You’re going to have us take you along, huh? You’re not gonna use the public economy? You think your own one thousand economy is enough?! You’re a medic. If you don’t use the public economy to buy yourself a three sided shield, then what? You’re going to rely on your shitty defense to kill the enemy?”

“Don’t worry, just focus on your own play.” Yu Sui sounded the same as usual, “This time I will leave the entire public economy to the two strikers. You two can play as you normally do. I want to give this a try.”

Puppy was dumbfounded: “...Whisper, you’re really playing to the limit.”

Yu Sui didn’t say a word. After patching up everyone’s condition, he didn’t even spend to buy an initial shield for himself. At the start of the game, he only spent a little of his personal economy for his teammates. The only thing he spent for himself was the dagger worth 50 points of the economy.

Yu Sui said, “It’s started.”

The same opening. Their opponents performed the same routine.

Sacred sword did the same things; avoiding them and refusing to come out during the start. Whenever they fought, as soon as they had one casualty, they would still run, abandoning their teammates. They still hoarded their economy like an old housewife defending her property to the death.

But in this game, Yu Sui didn’t use even a single point from the public economy. By the twenty-fifth minute of the game, Free’s remaining overall economy was only a little over a hundred less than Sacred Sword’s.

However, this specific value was not displayed in the game. Free and Sacred Sword were unaware of their opponent’s remaining economy. Only Old Qiao and Zhou Huo who are watching the OB interface could see it.

“We can do it! We can do it this time!” Zhou Huo lowered his voice and said excitedly, pushing Old Qiao, “We’ve spent only a hundred or so more than the other team. It’s almost level! We might win this one.”

Old Qiao shook his head slowly: “It’s hard to say. It’s not more than the other teams’. When your skill level’s about the same and your economy is level, it’s hard to say who’ll win and who’ll lose...”

Zhou Huo looked at both teams’ remaining economy. “Isn’t this an advantage? We’ve cleared out more of their map!”

“It’s no use clearing out the enemy territory fog. As long as their reincarnation stone isn’t broken and their players are still alive, the team with more economy will have better chances of winning later on.” Old Qiao frowned tightly. “And Whisper still hasn’t taken any from the public economy. In the later stages, the economy might be further reduced. It’s hard to say.”

Zhou Huo couldn’t understand the direction the game was going. He could only look at the remaining economy of the two teams, he hesitated, “Let’s see...how they’ll play next.”

Thirty minutes into the game, the two sides became more and more gridlocked. Each confrontation was a battle of precision, exact to two-decimal places. Both sides have made up their minds to simply make the other consume their way to death. No one dared to relax. Even Chen Huo, this violent striker, has changed his play to become even more meticulous. He would never fire two shots if he could just fire one. If the bullet landed on the ground and could still be used, he would pick it back up. He would even charge to an opponent’s corpse and dig out the bullets.

Shi Luo was able to skimp even more. He was originally an assassin-type medic who studied under Yu Sui. The little Whisper of before was also a master of daggers. When confronted with the other team, he would chose not to use his gun so as not to use a single bullet. He directly used the dagger to take down the enemy.

The game continued to the forty-five minute mark.

From the OB interface, Free’s remaining economy was 738. Sacred Sword’s remaining economy was 890.

“There’s not a lot of difference. Not a lot.” Zhou Huo comforted Old Qiao in a low voice, “It’s less than two hundred. It’ll be fine if we just save a bit more.”

Old Qiao shook his head: “It’s useless. The longer this goes on, the more they’ll use.”

“But there’s no need to be depressed.” Old Qiao’s expression didn’t look too good, but he could still bring up his spirits to comfort Zhou Huo. “Yu Sui is obviously doing an experiment, wanting to see if he can break this match without consuming any of the public economy at all. We’ll soon have the results of the experiment. Just a little bit more. We only need to get the conclusion of this match. That is very valuable.”

Disappointment flashed in Zhou Huo’s eyes. The match was about to end. Zhou Huo didn’t dare let his mood affect the players. He smiled and said, “That’s right. Right, right. Our original purpose was just to have a try at this. Know yourself, know your enemy and all that. We’ve already achieved our purpose. This is already fine. There’s nothing we need to mind about.”

Zhou Huo inwardly sighed. Was it possible not to mind?

If Free were to be shut out by Sacred Sword as well, given Sacred Sword’s base personality, was it truly possible that they wouldn’t make this matter public?

Sacred Sword’s official Twitter was usually very active and lively. They loved to post taunts. But when they beat both Saint and NSN before, they hadn’t posted any ridicule on their Twitter. Zhou Huo was afraid they were only waiting for today’s practice match before doing so.

He was afraid that they would immediately publicize it in a while, that they had successively laid low the three teams the fans were most hopeful about in the domestic region. If this information was disseminated, all the fans would probably spray their three teams to death.

Zhou Huo secretly wiped away his cold sweat. He picked up his mobile phone, ready to contact Free’s staff to have them prepare in advance; prepare to be blasted by these player.

“They......”

Old Qiao stared at the OB interface and slowly said, “What are they doing?”

Zhou Huo put down his phone and looked blankly at the display. “How far have they gotten? Are they about to cycle our players already? Hey? They’re not surrendering? Why are they all holding their daggers? Are they planning on fighting the other team with those daggers? How could they possible play like that?”

Zhou Huo laughed. “Why are these people suddenly so firm and unyielding? Go ahead, surrender already. Don’t let Sacred Sword throw their weight around.”

“No.” Old Qiao called his attention, “Look at the remaining economy on both sides.”

Zhou Huo took a closer look and was stunned.

Free’s remaining economy: 527.

Sacred Sword’s remaining economy: 684.

Zhou Huo was rendered speechless from surprise. “They still have money left? Why don’t they buy bullets and shields?”

Old Qiao’s eyes brightened a little bit. “This game isn’t done yet...”

Zhou Huo chocked. “Oh yes, Sacred Sword can’t see our remaining economy! These idiots think we have no money left again!!!”

In the game interface, the four Free players didn’t fire a single shot and began to fight hand-to-hand with the other team. As one can well imagine, no matter how sharp their play, with just cold steel, it was impossible to win against their enemies. A breach was quickly opened on Free’s map. Free’s players looked as though they were putting up a desperate struggle. They’d be killed and resurrected. After being resurrected, they would strive their best to stem Sacred Sword’s advance. When facing off against Sacred Sword, they would then fall once again.

However, these game values that were invisible in the game but visible on the OB interface began to pulse frantically. Zhou Huo was practically lying on top of the monitor, watching intently as Sacred Sword’s remaining economy sharply declined.

Sacred Sword’s remaining economy: 534.

Sacred Sword’s remaining economy: 364.

Sacred Sword’s remaining economy: 204.

When Sacred Sword’s remaining economy reached 100, they slowed down a bit. They no longer slaughtered like crazy, wasting their bullets. They began to gather together to clear out what remained of the poisonous fog near Free’s resurrection stone.

In the game, Yu Sui’s character had died 15 times. The medic’s white doctor’s uniform was completely soaked in blood. Yu Sui swept his eyes over Free’s remaining economy. He said lightly, “It’s our turn.”

Yu Sui immediately bought four luxurious three-sided shields for everyone on the team. Shi Luo and Chen Huo bought two cartridges of bullets each. Puppy then cleaned out the remaining economy and gave himself an ultra-upgraded gun.

Sacred Sword, who proceeded boldly and with absolutely confidence, lay down the purification dishes and waited for the fog to clear. When the fog dispersed, Free’s four players were already locked and loaded.

The four members of Sacred Sword were momentarily stunned.

Shi Luo said coldly, “Go f*ck yourselves.”

The four attacked at the same time.

The Sacred Sword’s economy was officially exhausted and they could only use daggers to resist. Player’s who’ve known nothing but to rely on guns simply can’t match up to how Yu Sui used his dagger. Yu Sui said nothing. It was like he was chopping melons and cutting vegetables.

It was like Shi Luo was bearing a grudge from the last round when they surrendered but didn’t take him along with them. He locked on to Sacred Sword’s striker who killed during that last second during the previous game. While killing him, he muttered, “Is it fun to take the head of someone who’s already surrendered? Is it fun? Is it fun?...”

Chen Huo had no idea whether that unlucky striker of Sacred Sword’s was having fun or not, but he himself was very happy. Living frugally for an entire game, now that he was finally able to wantonly open fire, he couldn’t be any happier. Chen Huo was like a human tank. Without rhyme or reason, he directly infiltrated Sacred Sword’s map and opened fire with his eyes closed.

Old Qiao, who was staring at the OB interface, wished he could go up and fire a couple of shots himself. He couldn’t help but make an exception, opening the mic during the practice match and egging them on, “Cycle! Send them cycling through the resurrection stone for me!”

Free didn’t cycle them though. After realizing that they’d been tricked by Free, not even five minutes after, Sacred Sword realized that they had no hope of turning things around and directly surrendered.

Zhou Huo happily slapped the table. “So cool!!!”

1-1, it was a draw. They took off their headphones. Chen Huo snorted, “Acting all cocky. Who do you think you’re scaring?!”

They clicked to continue on, waiting for the third match.

The third round didn’t start. On Sacred Sword’s side, they hadn’t clicked to continue.

“Oh.” Zhou Huo glanced at his phone after waiting for a while. He rolled his eyes, “Sacred Sword’s manager sent me a message saying that there’s a power outage at their base. What a coincidence.”

Team Free was taken aback and then couldn’t help but laugh.

Old Qiao cursed and then felt a bit regretful. “I wanted to do a 1-to-2 comeback and then post it on Weibo.”

“You can still post about them not letting us get a 1-to-2 comeback.” Zhou Huo was completely disgusted by their opponent. He said mystifyingly, “You’d be a saint if you didn’t try to get revenge. I’ll use the official Weibo to make a post, “During our practice match with European Division’s Sacred Sword Team, they suddenly had a very timely power outage after we won the match and made a comeback. We sympathize with Sacred Sword and light a candle for them. May Sacred Sword never again suffer a power outage when they’re at a disadvantage!!!”

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Translator’s note:

I just wanted to share something I learned recently. Remember in Chapter 27, when Yu Sui was getting ‘straight-guy’ vibes from shi Luo because Shi Luo kept giving him hot water? Well, now I understand that reference!

Offering someone a hot drink, specifically hot water, is seem as a straight guy thing in China following a post enumerating the top things girlfriends hate hearing from their boyfriends. “Drink some hot water (and you’ll feel better).” was one of them.

Consider the following scenario:

Girlfriend: Oooohhh, I have my period today. My stomach is cramping up. It hurts so bad.

Boyfriend: Have some hot water and you’ll feel better.

It basically became a sort of standard reply and it began to sound super insincere, something just to get their girlfriends to stop complaining so it got linked to being a very ‘straight-guy’ thing to say.

Sorry, I only found out about it now. orz