NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9 (1)
On the other side.
Outside the arena.
Tong Yao ended the call and walked back towards the arena. She heard the two commentators talking about today’s matches-- --
Commentator A: [It’s 2 to 1 now. ZGDX leading by one -- --If CK still underperforms on the next one, they will probably lose the Spring season championship and the chance to go to the MSI mid-season tournament!]
Commentator B: [This match is equally important to ZGDX as well. It’s not just the ticket to the mid-season tournament, it’s also the finale of Ming god’s professional career. I think, no matter what, he would like to have perfect ending……]
“......”
Tong Yao checked the time and found that three hours had passed since the first round. The prolonged games were a test on each player’s ability to handle mental stress, it was especially disadvantageous to ZGDX’s mid, Ming god, considering his current condition-- --
Tong Yao had learned from the manager, Rui Ge, that the reason why Ming god abruptly decided to retire was because of an injury he suffered on his wrist which had a sudden turn for the worse half way through the Spring season-- --It happened suddenly, without any warning signs. He woke up one morning to find that he could no longer last through high intensity training. He couldn’t even hold a cup of water without shaking after a long and intense game……
Fortunately, most regular competitions were a best of three rounds. So his injury didn’t affect the team performance too much. ZGDX was able to go into the semifinals directly after they came in first in their division. Every match from the semifinals onwards was a best of three, but they were strong enough to quickly beat their opponent 3 to 0 in the semifinals. The whole game finished in less than an hour-- --
However, CK was a tough enemy.
Three hours had passed, she wondered whether Ming god could keep going with his injury.
Tong Yao returned to her seat somewhat worried. The fourth round was about to begin. All the players came out of the rest area to sit back at their seats-- --Tong Yao checked on Ming god first and found him looking somewhat tired with a brace on his wrist.
He held a cup of water with his left hand.
Tong Yao’s heart skipped a bit, she had a bad premonition……
Then she turned to check on CK. Jian Yang quietly sat on his seat with his head lowered, staring at his computer screen-- --She had seen him like this two years ago when Jian Yang just started his professional career. Though he had gotten the first jungler position on the team, he wasn’t stable yet. There was one time when he lost a match and there was a flood of criticism on the internet about his performance. He looked exactly like this when he video chatted with Tong Yao after he had gone back to their base…….
At the time, Tong Yao went to sleep after talking with him for a while.
The next morning, she woke up to find that he had maintained the same posture before she went to sleep, only he was now playing games. Tong Yao checked his record. He hadn’t lost a single round the whole night and he had carried his teammates every round. He had promoted from Diamond 1 all the way to the Challenger on the Korean servers, with a hundred extra points to spare.
Tong Yao, “......”
It seemed like he was about to explode?
Tong Yao thought about it and frowned. She bit her fist-- --
Could it be that because what she said to him about making Ming god look bad with his lousy play had fired him up?
……………………………..it couldn’t be?
Ahhhhhh, why was she so talkative just now! “Thanks for giving us the Spring championship, we’re counting on you!” Why didn’t she just say that?!
The fourth round began as Tong Yao began to regret her words.
It was just as she had suspected, Jian Yang had returned to his normal self this round. It was a close game between the two teams. The first 35 minutes consisted of the two teams chasing after each other, unable to gain an economic lead…...Until the 38th minute, with the help of their top, Come Good Luck, and ADC, Butterfly, to tie down the enemy, Jian Yang together with their support and mid quickly took Elder Dragon. After they got the buff from dragon, they quickly pushed their opponent, rapidly leaving ZGDX behind in the dust.
Meanwhile, one could tell from Ming god’s face that he was feeling the strain of the game and his movements were slowing down-- --
Tong Yao and all the fangirls sitting near the stage could clearly see Ming god lowering his head to check his wrist after moments of intense action. It was an unconscious move, but it was obvious that he couldn’t hang in there for much longer……
Tong Yao was anxious, the fangirl next to her, Ah Lu, had tears streaming down her face as she held the fan placard. She cried quietly…...Tong Yao took out a second pack of tissues from her bag and handed it over. Then she texted the manager: [Ming god’s hand won’t last. Do you have a substitute?]
After a while, a notification beep sounded on her phone-- --
[We do. It was expected. The next round we’ll have the substitute on. We can’t let Ming god’s hand get worse even if we lose the championship.]
Tong Yao breathed a sigh of relief-- --Because each team had to hand over a list of players and substitutes before the season started, though Tong Yao had officially signed on with ZGDX, she couldn’t just jump on the stage to play for ZGDX…...The next round would have to be played by the official substitute-- --
Though, right now, she very much liked to jump on stage and shove Ming god aside so she could finish the round for him.
Finally, the fourth round ended at the fiftieth minute in victory for CK.
This round was torture for both the players and the audience. Tong Yao could see that when he took off his earphones, Ming god’s hair was soaking wet, his uniform was sticking to his back-- --When he stood up, he used his left hand to hold his right wrist and the team doctor instantly came to his side on the stage.
At that moment, the audience realized what had happened-- --
When Ming god was about to turn away, the audience stood up on their own and began chanting his name. They were saying goodbye to this player……
Ming god suddenly turned around before he was about to leave the stage. He used his left hand to wave at the audience, then he bowed deeply, saying goodbye.