22

“They won, they won again!”

“Who won?”

“Tiny Herb, of course it’s Tiny Herb!”

On the television, on the computer, in the Glory game, game forums, Weibo, QQ groups…

Anywhere where people gathered, anywhere where there were Glory players, the news of Tiny Herb’s victory spread like an explosion.

Glory Professional Alliance Season 3. In the final round of the regular season, the highly eye-catching Tiny Herb didn’t disappoint. Even when they had already secured their spot in the playoffs, they still played seriously to earn the last victory in the regular season, entering the playoffs at third place.

Tiny Herb wasn’t new to the playoffs, but this Tiny Herb, in their eyes, was an entirely new Tiny Herb.

And in reality, they had only switched one person.

Tiny Herb’s captain, the controller of core character Vaccaria, was now changed to a new person. And this new player’s name, along with his title, had been echoing through the entirety of Glory.

The Magician, Wang Jiexi.

This was a title that belonged to him, entirely unrelated to the character he controlled. His brilliant, incredible play was like magic. Let alone the ordinary gamers who wished to imitate it, even among the pros there was no one who could fathom the mystery. The experience of the seniors unraveled in front of this never-before-seen playstyle, and one expert after another fell to Wang Jiexi’s Vaccaria.

He was a rookie. In the beginning, they called him a challenger.

But now, at the end of the season, the challenger had quietly become the conqueror.

True, Wang Jiexi didn’t win every single battle. But such a thing was impossible on the competitive battlefield – even someone as strong as Ye Qiu hadn’t managed that.

In the Glory professional circle, people witnessed too many pro players rendered helpless in front of Wang Jiexi.

In the Glory in-game circle, the Witch accounts that sprung up trying to emulate his style were abandoned soon enough. They had no way of replicating Wang Jiexi’s Magician playstyle, and this kind of Witch naturally had no way of displaying the radiance they had hoped to see.

And now, the unique Magician was about to begin a new journey.

“Season 3 Playoffs, the Magician Arrives!” Huang Shaotian read aloud the headline of Esports Weekly. They were the greatest authority of esports media in the country; putting Wang Jiexi as the star of the final report of the regular season was proof of the anticipation toward this player. But after Huang Shaotian saw this title, he only spared a casual glance at the contents of the article before studying the player’s photograph in the article, and he revealed an unusual expression of melancholy.

“That guy, he’s already gotten to that level.” Huang Shaotian tossed the newspaper back onto the table. He tucked his arms behind his head, and grumbled at the ceiling.

To the side, Yu Wenzhou was carefully studying a Glory battle and occasionally making notes in his notebook on the table. After hearing Huang Shaotian’s mutter, he paused the match and turned his head, his eyes sweeping across the large headline on the front page of the newspaper.

“The Magician. An accurate name.” This was his reaction after looking at the article.

“You…” Huang Shaotian was somewhat disappointed by Yu Wenzhou’s lackluster response, and he straightened up in his chair. “Got any good analysis on him?”

“He-”

“Shaotian!”

Just when Yu Wenzhou opened his mouth, another young new Blue Rain trainee crashed into the training room, loudly hollering Huang Shaotian’s name.

“R&D just completed a silver weapon for Troubling Rain! Captain wants you to go look!” As soon as the youth caught his breath, he was already yelling these next words.

“What?” Haung Shaotian’s eyes instantly widened, and he leapt from his chair.

“Let’s go let’s go!” he yelled, already forgetting about the question he’d asked Yu Wenzhou as he flew out of the room.

Yu Wenzhou, who had just gotten out a “he,” could only smile and shake his head. He turned back to the computer, and was just about to unpause his video when the trainee that had called Huang Shaotian spoke again.

“Wenzhou, aren’t you going too? They’re saying that they only managed to complete this Silver weapon because a mysterious player sent a whole lot of rare materials to Blue Brook Guild!” the youth said.

Hearing that, Yu Wenzhou froze. “A mysterious player?”

“Yeah,” the trainee confirmed.

Yu Wenzhou’s gaze drifted across the training room, landing upon that one computer that hadn’t been touched in almost a year.

After their former captain had made that simple announcement of “I’m leaving,” the seat he had used was left empty, his computer left idle. The Blue Rain members reached a tacit agreement that no one would touch his spot, as though hoping that one day, as suddenly as he had left, that man would return and take his place once more.

“But… you haven’t really left, have you,” Yu Wenzhou mused to himself. His mood was like Huang Shaotian’s earlier, somewhat melancholy.

“Wenzhou, are you coming or not?” The other boy’s impatient voice cut into his thoughts.

“I’m coming,” Yu Wenzhou answered, gathering his notebook and pen and quickly walking toward the door. The trainee was holding the door open as he waited, and Yu Wenzhou noticed that the fingers of his right hand were moving restlessly on the doorknob, as though controlling a mouse or tapping a keyboard.

“Your hand speed’s pretty high,” Yu Wenzhou smiled, seeing that restless hand.

“I’d rather discuss that topic with Shaotian…” the boy said.

Yu Wenzhou laughed a little; he was well known within Blue Rain for his inescapably slow hand speed, no matter how hard he trained. Of course, by now, no one would think to mock him for it. Despite this handicap, he still won many matches in their circle with this kind of APM. He demonstrated remarkable talent that was more than enough to make up for his weakness.

As for this trainee, he wasn’t really insulting Yu Wenzhou with that comment; he was simply the mischievous type. Captain Fang Shijing had mentioned that, in this regard, this trainee’s style was quite similar to that of their former captain. Yu Wenzhou suspected that this was a major reason for his recruiting this youth from the Challenger League into the Blue Rain training camp.

However, even just considering raw skill and potential, there was nothing to criticize about Captain Fang Shijing’s choice.

“If we only consider right hand APM, his hand speed is even higher than Shaotian’s.” This was one of Fang Shijing’s important evaluations of him, and indeed it was the case.

“Let’s go, Fang Rui.” Yu Wenzhou didn’t otherwise respond to the trainee’s teasing, and only called to him after walking out the door.

Blue Rain, R&D department.

For any professional team, the technical department was the most heavily guarded secret area. Information on how the team’s Silver equipment was developed, or the specifics of their stats, could not under any circumstances be allowed to leak to the public.

After Wei Chen pulled the prodigy Huang Shaotian into Blue Rain’s training camp, Blue Rain’s technical team gained a new top priority – developing the Silver equipment for Huang Shaotian’s Blade Master, Troubling Rain.

And today, they completed the most important piece of this most important work.

The weapon!

A self-made weapon belonging to Troubling Rain alone, a Silver weapon, was finally created.

This wasn’t something that an ordinary Glory player could have made by just throwing together rare materials in the editor. Most Silver weapons made by ordinary players weren’t any different from normal weapons, aside from the silver-colored name. But this was a true Silver weapon, one that elevated its user’s stats far beyond what any normal weapon could hope to accomplish.

When Yu Wenzhou and Fang Rui entered, they found the room completely silent. Everyone was crowded around one computer, and most didn’t even bother to look up at the sound of their entrance. Those that did only glanced over before quickly turning back.

With effort, the two of them maneuvered through the crowd to a vantage point from which they could see the screen.

Huang Shaotian sat in front of the computer, displaying a rare quiet.

The screen displayed this precious weapon – a light saber, slowly rotating. The blade looked like a crystal raindrop, elongated and sharpened; it glowed with threads of pale blue light and wisps of icy mist.

The silence in the room lasted for an indeterminable amount of time before it was finally broken by Huang Shaotian, who, despite his talkative mouth, had only one word to say.

“Amazing.”

Standing right beside him, Captain Fang Shijing said to him, “Try it out.”

Huang Shaotian nodded sharply. In a flurry of movement, he equipped the weapon on his character and entered a match in the Arena.

When the battle began, no one paid attention to his poor opponent or his class; they only saw the flashes of blue light from the sword in Troubling Rain’s hand. They watched it dance, jump, kill. Blood droplets scattered across the ground as his opponent fell.

“This is fantastic!” This time, Huang Shaotian said three words, and he jumped up onto his chair. “With him, next season I’ll give them a show! What Battle God, King of Fighting, Blood and Blossoms, Magician… Just you all wait!”

“Alright!” No one moved to stop Huang Shaotian’s excitement. All of the Blue Rain members, staff and players alike, had been awaiting this day for a long time.

This season, Wei Chen had retired, Fang Shijing had stepped up, Blue Rain hadn’t even made it to the playoffs. To outsiders, it seemed as though this team’s days of being a powerhouse were over, that they were now fading from the spotlight.

But no one at Blue Rain believed this.

Even if their record this season was poor, even if they were forgotten this summer. No matter what, they had faith that Blue Rain would have an era that belonged to them. And this era, with the birth of this Silver weapon, was about to begin.

“It’s up to you, Shaotian!” one of the technical workers said, and others immediately voiced their agreement.

“Do you even need to say that? Of course!” said Huang Shaotian. But just that one battle wasn’t enough for him to fully try out this new weapon. He quickly sat back in his chair and entered a new battle, this time chattering away at the tech workers sitting near him as he experimented with his new capabilities.

By this time, Captain Fang Shijing had quietly made his way through the crowd to stand by Yu Wenzhou.

“Are you ready?” he asked, abruptly.

Yu Wenzhou turned to look at him. But Fang Shijing was staring out the window, gazing at that brilliant blue sky beyond.

“Yes,” answered Yu Wenzhou.

“Then it’s time to entrust this to you.” As he spoke, Fang Shijing’s gaze shifted down to his hand, and the account card it held. Without fanfare, this card was passed to its new owner.

“From today on, you are the captain of Team Blue Rain, user of the Warlock Swoksaar.”

“They won, they won again!”

“Who won?”

“Tiny Herb, of course it’s Tiny Herb!”

On the television, on the computer, in the Glory game, game forums, Weibo, QQ groups…

Anywhere where people gathered, anywhere where there were Glory players, the news of Tiny Herb’s victory spread like an explosion.

Glory Professional Alliance Season 3. In the final round of the regular season, the highly eye-catching Tiny Herb didn’t disappoint. Even when they had already secured their spot in the playoffs, they still played seriously to earn the last victory in the regular season, entering the playoffs at third place.

Tiny Herb wasn’t new to the playoffs, but this Tiny Herb, in their eyes, was an entirely new Tiny Herb.

And in reality, they had only switched one person.

Tiny Herb’s captain, the controller of core character Vaccaria, was now changed to a new person. And this new player’s name, along with his title, had been echoing through the entirety of Glory.

The Magician, Wang Jiexi.

This was a title that belonged to him, entirely unrelated to the character he controlled. His brilliant, incredible play was like magic. Let alone the ordinary gamers who wished to imitate it, even among the pros there was no one who could fathom the mystery. The experience of the seniors unraveled in front of this never-before-seen playstyle, and one expert after another fell to Wang Jiexi’s Vaccaria.

He was a rookie. In the beginning, they called him a challenger.

But now, at the end of the season, the challenger had quietly become the conqueror.

True, Wang Jiexi didn’t win every single battle. But such a thing was impossible on the competitive battlefield – even someone as strong as Ye Qiu hadn’t managed that.

In the Glory professional circle, people witnessed too many pro players rendered helpless in front of Wang Jiexi.

In the Glory in-game circle, the Witch accounts that sprung up trying to emulate his style were abandoned soon enough. They had no way of replicating Wang Jiexi’s Magician playstyle, and this kind of Witch naturally had no way of displaying the radiance they had hoped to see.

And now, the unique Magician was about to begin a new journey.

“Season 3 Playoffs, the Magician Arrives!” Huang Shaotian read aloud the headline of Esports Weekly. They were the greatest authority of esports media in the country; putting Wang Jiexi as the star of the final report of the regular season was proof of the anticipation toward this player. But after Huang Shaotian saw this title, he only spared a casual glance at the contents of the article before studying the player’s photograph in the article, and he revealed an unusual expression of melancholy.

“That guy, he’s already gotten to that level.” Huang Shaotian tossed the newspaper back onto the table. He tucked his arms behind his head, and grumbled at the ceiling.

To the side, Yu Wenzhou was carefully studying a Glory battle and occasionally making notes in his notebook on the table. After hearing Huang Shaotian’s mutter, he paused the match and turned his head, his eyes sweeping across the large headline on the front page of the newspaper.

“The Magician. An accurate name.” This was his reaction after looking at the article.

“You…” Huang Shaotian was somewhat disappointed by Yu Wenzhou’s lackluster response, and he straightened up in his chair. “Got any good analysis on him?”

“He-”

“Shaotian!”

Just when Yu Wenzhou opened his mouth, another young new Blue Rain trainee crashed into the training room, loudly hollering Huang Shaotian’s name.

“R&D just completed a silver weapon for Troubling Rain! Captain wants you to go look!” As soon as the youth caught his breath, he was already yelling these next words.

“What?” Haung Shaotian’s eyes instantly widened, and he leapt from his chair.

“Let’s go let’s go!” he yelled, already forgetting about the question he’d asked Yu Wenzhou as he flew out of the room.

Yu Wenzhou, who had just gotten out a “he,” could only smile and shake his head. He turned back to the computer, and was just about to unpause his video when the trainee that had called Huang Shaotian spoke again.

“Wenzhou, aren’t you going too? They’re saying that they only managed to complete this Silver weapon because a mysterious player sent a whole lot of rare materials to Blue Brook Guild!” the youth said.

Hearing that, Yu Wenzhou froze. “A mysterious player?”

“Yeah,” the trainee confirmed.

Yu Wenzhou’s gaze drifted across the training room, landing upon that one computer that hadn’t been touched in almost a year.

After their former captain had made that simple announcement of “I’m leaving,” the seat he had used was left empty, his computer left idle. The Blue Rain members reached a tacit agreement that no one would touch his spot, as though hoping that one day, as suddenly as he had left, that man would return and take his place once more.

“But… you haven’t really left, have you,” Yu Wenzhou mused to himself. His mood was like Huang Shaotian’s earlier, somewhat melancholy.

“Wenzhou, are you coming or not?” The other boy’s impatient voice cut into his thoughts.

“I’m coming,” Yu Wenzhou answered, gathering his notebook and pen and quickly walking toward the door. The trainee was holding the door open as he waited, and Yu Wenzhou noticed that the fingers of his right hand were moving restlessly on the doorknob, as though controlling a mouse or tapping a keyboard.

“Your hand speed’s pretty high,” Yu Wenzhou smiled, seeing that restless hand.

“I’d rather discuss that topic with Shaotian…” the boy said.

Yu Wenzhou laughed a little; he was well known within Blue Rain for his inescapably slow hand speed, no matter how hard he trained. Of course, by now, no one would think to mock him for it. Despite this handicap, he still won many matches in their circle with this kind of APM. He demonstrated remarkable talent that was more than enough to make up for his weakness.

As for this trainee, he wasn’t really insulting Yu Wenzhou with that comment; he was simply the mischievous type. Captain Fang Shijing had mentioned that, in this regard, this trainee’s style was quite similar to that of their former captain. Yu Wenzhou suspected that this was a major reason for his recruiting this youth from the Challenger League into the Blue Rain training camp.

However, even just considering raw skill and potential, there was nothing to criticize about Captain Fang Shijing’s choice.

“If we only consider right hand APM, his hand speed is even higher than Shaotian’s.” This was one of Fang Shijing’s important evaluations of him, and indeed it was the case.

“Let’s go, Fang Rui.” Yu Wenzhou didn’t otherwise respond to the trainee’s teasing, and only called to him after walking out the door.

Blue Rain, R&D department.

For any professional team, the technical department was the most heavily guarded secret area. Information on how the team’s Silver equipment was developed, or the specifics of their stats, could not under any circumstances be allowed to leak to the public.

After Wei Chen pulled the prodigy Huang Shaotian into Blue Rain’s training camp, Blue Rain’s technical team gained a new top priority – developing the Silver equipment for Huang Shaotian’s Blade Master, Troubling Rain.

And today, they completed the most important piece of this most important work.

The weapon!

A self-made weapon belonging to Troubling Rain alone, a Silver weapon, was finally created.

This wasn’t something that an ordinary Glory player could have made by just throwing together rare materials in the editor. Most Silver weapons made by ordinary players weren’t any different from normal weapons, aside from the silver-colored name. But this was a true Silver weapon, one that elevated its user’s stats far beyond what any normal weapon could hope to accomplish.

When Yu Wenzhou and Fang Rui entered, they found the room completely silent. Everyone was crowded around one computer, and most didn’t even bother to look up at the sound of their entrance. Those that did only glanced over before quickly turning back.

With effort, the two of them maneuvered through the crowd to a vantage point from which they could see the screen.

Huang Shaotian sat in front of the computer, displaying a rare quiet.

The screen displayed this precious weapon – a light saber, slowly rotating. The blade looked like a crystal raindrop, elongated and sharpened; it glowed with threads of pale blue light and wisps of icy mist.

The silence in the room lasted for an indeterminable amount of time before it was finally broken by Huang Shaotian, who, despite his talkative mouth, had only one word to say.

“Amazing.”

Standing right beside him, Captain Fang Shijing said to him, “Try it out.”

Huang Shaotian nodded sharply. In a flurry of movement, he equipped the weapon on his character and entered a match in the Arena.

When the battle began, no one paid attention to his poor opponent or his class; they only saw the flashes of blue light from the sword in Troubling Rain’s hand. They watched it dance, jump, kill. Blood droplets scattered across the ground as his opponent fell.

“This is fantastic!” This time, Huang Shaotian said three words, and he jumped up onto his chair. “With him, next season I’ll give them a show! What Battle God, King of Fighting, Blood and Blossoms, Magician… Just you all wait!”

“Alright!” No one moved to stop Huang Shaotian’s excitement. All of the Blue Rain members, staff and players alike, had been awaiting this day for a long time.

This season, Wei Chen had retired, Fang Shijing had stepped up, Blue Rain hadn’t even made it to the playoffs. To outsiders, it seemed as though this team’s days of being a powerhouse were over, that they were now fading from the spotlight.

But no one at Blue Rain believed this.

Even if their record this season was poor, even if they were forgotten this summer. No matter what, they had faith that Blue Rain would have an era that belonged to them. And this era, with the birth of this Silver weapon, was about to begin.

“It’s up to you, Shaotian!” one of the technical workers said, and others immediately voiced their agreement.

“Do you even need to say that? Of course!” said Huang Shaotian. But just that one battle wasn’t enough for him to fully try out this new weapon. He quickly sat back in his chair and entered a new battle, this time chattering away at the tech workers sitting near him as he experimented with his new capabilities.

By this time, Captain Fang Shijing had quietly made his way through the crowd to stand by Yu Wenzhou.

“Are you ready?” he asked, abruptly.

Yu Wenzhou turned to look at him. But Fang Shijing was staring out the window, gazing at that brilliant blue sky beyond.

“Yes,” answered Yu Wenzhou.

“Then it’s time to entrust this to you.” As he spoke, Fang Shijing’s gaze shifted down to his hand, and the account card it held. Without fanfare, this card was passed to its new owner.

“From today on, you are the captain of Team Blue Rain, user of the Warlock Swoksaar.”