Did The Captain Catch Up With The Coach Today [Esports] Chapter 40
byChapter 40
Glorious Knight’s first skill, “Holy Light Vow,” enhances the damage and attack speed of basic attacks for a period of time.
The second skill, “Holy Flash,” is a displacement skill that deals bonus damage to low-health targets and instantly resets upon killing a target.
The third skill, “Glorious Shield,” grants 0.9 seconds of invincibility. Any damage taken during this time is reflected and controls the target.
The ultimate, “Holy Feather Punishment,” makes the Glorious Knight spread its wings and fly high, entering an untargetable state, then raining down a certain number of feather blades that deal multiple instances of damage.
—If this hero weren’t a melee fighter, this mechanism would definitely belong to a Marksman.
The term “Melee Marksman” in the game Hero League, if not specifying a hero, refers exclusively to the Glorious Knight.
Wen Shi Yu’s current personal profile displays the Glorious Knight’s Divine Realm skin. It’s not that he loves the hero, but purely because he thinks the skin looks good.
But this indeed became one of Wei Xiao’s reasons for asking him to coach him on the Glorious Knight.
—If he sets it as his display hero, even if it’s not his absolute main, it must be a hero he particularly likes or excels at, right?
In this match, Wen Shi Yu wore the Divine Realm skin: golden long hair, snow-white wings, sacred white gauze, and golden armor—gorgeous and beautiful.
Wei Xiao wore the Purgatory skin: red high ponytail, black broken wings, a black battle robe with a vivid red lining, and high heels—dangerous and sexy.
After entering the map, both players first leveled up “Holy Flash,” using the displacement to secure minions while looking for opportunities to harass the opponent.
After a long, intertwined skirmish, both reached Level 2.
Before leveling up, Wei Xiao had a slight health advantage, but this advantage vanished after the level-up.
Both players had Lifesteal in their preparations and bought the small Lifesteal item first to ensure their sustain during the lane phase.
So, after reaching Level 2, their health bars increased, and after clearing a few more minions, both were back to full health.
“An even match,” Wei Xiao said happily, enjoying the back-and-forth struggle with Wen Shi Yu while his heart pounded with tension.
His filter for Wen Shi Yu was as thick as the distance from the Sun to the Earth. Unless he was playing Overlord Blade, he fundamentally didn’t believe he could beat Wen Shi Yu.
But he didn’t want to lose either.
It wasn’t that he truly cared about the outcome of this duel, but he didn’t want Wen Shi Yu to be disappointed in him.
As Wen Shi Yu said, he was the Starter and Wen Shi Yu was the coach. How could a Starter lose to the coach? If that were the case, the coach might as well play the matches himself.
Both were wearing headphones. Wen Shi Yu sensed Wei Xiao said something, but couldn’t hear it.
Wen Shi Yu said out loud that it would be normal for him to lose this match, but he also didn’t want to lose.
He knew how thick Wei Xiao’s filter was for him, so he didn’t want to disappoint Wei Xiao.
Thus, despite being a duel intended for coaching, both players gave 100% effort.
At Level 2, both chose to level up “Holy Light Vow” to speed up minion clearing and rush to Level 3.
It was another round of evenly matched combat until Wei Xiao used “Holy Flash” first to finish off the last minion, reaching Level 3 and leveling up “Glorious Shield.”
Then, just as Wen Shi Yu also used “Holy Flash” to kill a minion, Wei Xiao used “Holy Flash” again—straight into Wen Shi Yu’s sword range.
Everything happened in a flash of lightning.
The red-haired enchantress from Purgatory appeared under the Divine Realm angel’s sword, and immediately activated a blood-red shield!
The shield took damage and transformed into countless black chains carrying blood light, wrapping around the angel like snakes, binding him in place, unable to move!
An opportunity!
Wei Xiao activated “Holy Light Vow” with the fastest hand speed and unleashed a flurry of enhanced basic attacks!
Three consecutive hits triggered the prepared Lifesteal effect, adding a severe wound.
As soon as Wen Shi Yu recovered from the control, he immediately activated “Glorious Shield.” However, Wei Xiao had anticipated his reaction and timely held his attack.
Wen Shi Yu realized the shield hadn’t controlled him and decisively used Flash. Wei Xiao Flashed to chase and applied Ignite.
Wen Shi Yu chuckled softly. Instead of continuing to use “Holy Flash” to create distance, he flashed an emote just before falling: GG
The last sliver of health was consumed by the flame.
The Divine Realm angel fell, his golden long hair spreading out behind him as he collapsed, snow-white feathers scattering everywhere, creating a desolate beauty.
The black-winged Purgatory enchantress stood beside him, seemingly stunned.
Wen Shi Yu took off his headphones.
Wei Xiao followed suit, looking bewildered: “…Are we not continuing?”
“You played quite well, didn’t you?” Wen Shi Yu’s tone was calm. “Glorious Knight relies on the second and third skills to make plays. You managed to link those two skills into a sequence I couldn’t even comprehend… Everyone else waits for the target to attack before using the shield, but you, you just dashed right into my face and activated it.”
Wei Xiao fell silent, feeling flustered, as if he had done something wrong…
Wen Shi Yu noticed his unusual reaction and added, “I’m complimenting you.”
Wei Xiao still remained silent, looking foolish.
Wen Shi Yu sighed, “Did I disappoint you?”
“No!” Wei Xiao answered instantly. “An Assassin’s victory is decided in an instant; even blinking can affect the outcome. One win or loss doesn’t mean anything. If Fei Yu came, surviving one second against me would be impressive!”
“Fei Yu isn’t that bad,” Wen Shi Yu insisted on being factual.
Fei Yu was not as good as him, but he wouldn’t be instantly killed by a Level 1 Glorious Knight.
Wei Xiao secretly glanced at Wen Shi Yu.
In truth, he didn’t know why he was nervous, awkward, or regretful, but he just… felt like he had done something wrong.
…Was it pity?
He didn’t want to lose, but he also didn’t want Wen Shi Yu to lose.
That’s why he didn’t want to duel Wen Shi Yu…
It would be much better to team up and crush others.
“Um…” Wei Xiao raised a hand to rub his eyes. “That bet was a joke. How about I be your servant instead? Consider it repayment for that meal.”
“That meal? Last night’s barbecue?” Wen Shi Yu looked confused. “That was a celebration dinner. I treated everyone. It’s the owner’s duty to treat the team when they win a match. Why are you repaying me?”
Wei Xiao also felt the reason was a bit weak and didn’t know how to respond.
“Being a servant is fine, then. Just tell me what you want me to do. It’s not like I can’t handle losing.”
As Wen Shi Yu spoke, he clicked surrender to exit the duel, and then quit the game.
He stood up and walked toward the sofa, returning to his laptop, and refreshed the page.
The bracket for the quarterfinals was displayed.
Wei Xiao turned to look at him, feeling that Wen Shi Yu hadn’t taken the result of the duel to heart, but he wasn’t sure if he genuinely didn’t care or was just pretending to be calm.
When dueling, one can sense if the opponent is holding back.
Especially between E-sports Players, everyone is essentially frame-checking, not missing any small movement from the other.
Wen Shi Yu’s positioning and mechanics showed no signs of holding back, and there were no mistakes.
He was serious.
Wei Xiao could feel that he wanted to win.
In fact, Wen Shi Yu’s skill hadn’t deteriorated much. The pressure Wei Xiao felt in this duel was something no match or player had ever given him.
He won purely because he seized a time difference and pulled off a move that was completely unconventional.
Wei Xiao stared at Wen Shi Yu for a while longer, unsure how to comfort him, or even if he should.
Since he had already said that the result of one duel proved nothing, comforting him might be counterproductive, making it seem like he genuinely thought he had won.
When in doubt, he chose—to act spoiled.
“Then… Wen Ge, can you rub my hands for me?” Wei Xiao said, lowering his head and sitting down next to Wen Shi Yu, extending his hands to him and shaking them exaggeratedly. “Dueling you requires too much precision. It felt like fighting all eight quarterfinalists at once. My hands are almost crippled.”
Wen Shi Yu looked amusedly at his wildly shaking hands: “Is it really that exaggerated?”
Despite saying that, he still reached out, took Wei Xiao’s hands, and gently massaged them.
Wei Xiao’s hands were slightly larger than Wen Shi Yu’s, with long, distinct knuckles, beautiful like works of art.
In comparison, Wen Shi Yu’s hands were paler, with thinner fingers, giving an impression of precious, fragile white jade.
Wei Xiao felt Wen Shi Yu’s strength and the touch of his fingertips, looking at those beautiful hands. He instinctively wanted to hold them in his palms, and then… he actually did it.
Wen Shi Yu froze, his mind crashing, unable to react for a long time.
When Wei Xiao realized what he had done, he quickly let go.
He already felt a subtle sense of guilt, and now he was incredibly nervous.
“Sorry.”
This apology made things even stranger.
Wen Shi Yu glanced at him, catching the undeniable blush on his face. After a brief moment of surprise, he couldn’t help but laugh: “What are you doing? It’s like we’re dating.”
“Sorry, I just… thought your hands were smaller than I imagined. I was curious, so I…”
Wei Xiao gave a nonsensical reply. After saying it, his mind cleared slightly.
He thought this was a good opportunity to ask Wen Shi Yu about his sexual orientation, but asking that question right after beating him in a duel felt like taking advantage of the situation…
Wen Shi Yu stared at him for a while longer, probably guessing what he was being awkward about, and proactively asked, “Do you think I’d be sad about losing to you?”
Wei Xiao didn’t expect him to be so direct and hesitated to speak.
His reaction was equivalent to an affirmation, so Wen Shi Yu continued: “I really am not. If I were that fragile, I would have broken ties with EN long before my contract ended. Looking back now, I really couldn’t tolerate it at all. Also, I’m actually quite happy.”
Wei Xiao turned his head to look at him.
“You know what? Before forming this team, I repeatedly reminded myself not to be too harsh on this team’s Jungler.”
“Because I am a Jungler myself, my standards for the Jungler position are very high. Just like when I was younger, I used to wonder why others couldn’t do what I could do?”
“But one must be realistic. There are very few people in this world whose skill can reach my level. What I want is a championship, not another me.”
“EN has already proven that I alone cannot win the championship.”
“I am very happy that I found you, that I have you. Your skill is no worse than mine, and you can lead the team to victory. Your future will be more glorious than mine.”
Wen Shi Yu finished speaking, his tone calm throughout.
But Wei Xiao felt his heart swell, even feeling like crying.
He didn’t dare to hold his hand again, so he could only emphasize, word by word: “It’s our future—our future will definitely be glorious. I will never disappoint you.”