The Battle for the Captain!

"Let's begin," Tang Rou said calmly.

After winning four consecutive matches against Chen Guo, Tang Rou was highly confident in her abilities. Even though her opponent was a professional player, she believed she could win.

The Battle Mage class indeed relied heavily on speed, and Tang Rou saw her speed as her most significant advantage.

As the match began, Liu Hao used Chen Guo's character, "Chasing Haze." Although he didn't usually play as a Spitfire, he had learned from Su Mucheng's Spitfire techniques and had a deep understanding of the class. While he wasn't at Su Mucheng's level, he was far superior to Chen Guo.

As the battle started, Tang Rou immediately rushed toward Chasing Haze with explosive speed.

Tang Rou wasn't particularly fond of long-range classes. After playing so many matches as a Battle Mage, she felt that the class suited her perfectly. With her recent experience, she knew that close combat was the key advantage for a Battle Mage against a Spitfire.

Instead of charging straight ahead, Tang Rou opted for a curved approach, circling Chasing Haze to make it harder for the character's projectiles to hit her.

Tang Rou had developed this tactic in her solo matches against Chen Guo. However, to Liu Hao, it was completely ineffective and only prolonged the time needed to get close. Liu Hao, being proficient in predictive moves, saw this manoeuvre as a waste of effort.

Chasing Haze's gun barrel adjusted and fired.

A dark cannonball shot toward Tang Rou's position, and she widened her eyes in surprise. The cannonball hadn't been aimed directly at her, yet her Battle Mage was headed straight for it.

Realising this, Tang Rou quickly pulled back on her mouse, but it was too late.

Not only had Liu Hao predicted Tang Rou's movement direction, but he had also anticipated her reaction time. The cannonball exploded on the Battle Mage, knocking her back several steps.

As the smoke cleared, Tang Rou resumed her curved charge.

Liu Hao fired again, and another precise cannonball sent the Battle Mage back several steps.

Again, she was blown away. Again, she was knocked back. This cycle continued, and soon, Tang Rou's Battle Mage had lost 30% of her health without even getting close to Chasing Haze.

Tang Rou's brow furrowed with growing concern. The pressure Liu Hao exerted was far greater than anything Chen Guo had ever managed. Facing Chen Guo, Tang Rou felt only a slight challenge, like trying to unscrew a tight jar lid. But against Liu Hao, she felt as if she were being crushed by a boulder, unable to move.

Three minutes later, the Battle Mage was defeated, while Chasing Haze remained unscathed.

The onlookers were stunned. They had just seen Tang Rou and Chen Guo's solo matches, where Chen Guo, a high-level player in the God Domain (equivalent to a Diamond rank in a MOBA game), had been evenly matched with Tang Rou, also around the Diamond rank.

But this masked guy—who seemed to be the boyfriend of the owner of the internet café—had defeated Tang Rou without losing a single point of health. His skill level had to be at least at the level of the highest rank, King of Glory. No, the King of Glory rank was the limit of the game, not his limit!

"Isn't his playstyle similar to Mucheng's screen control technique?" one of the customers, a loyal fan of Excellent Era and Su Mucheng, recognised Liu Hao's technique.

Liu Hao nodded and smiled. "Yes, it's the screen control technique. I learned it from watching videos of Mucheng."

"Screen control technique?" Tang Rou murmured, repeating the term.

"It's a style in Glory, a specific playstyle for each class. For example, the Hundred Blossoms style for Ammunition Experts, the Dark Body Technique for Demon Swordsmen, the Ice Control style for Elementalists, and the Array Ghost and Sword Ghost styles for Ghostblades…"

As Liu Hao explained the terms, Tang Rou struggled to understand. These unfamiliar terms were like complex symbols in university physics, a bit overwhelming. However, she began to realise that Glory was far more complicated than she had initially thought.

"What styles do Battle Mages have?" Tang Rou suddenly asked.

Liu Hao paused, thinking that this girl was really getting interested in Glory. "There are two main styles for Battle Mages: the Spear style and the Staff style. In terms of techniques, most people choose the Chaotic Pattern style, which was developed by Ye Qiu and is considered the most effective playstyle for Battle Mages."

Tang Rou didn't quite understand what the Chaotic Pattern style was or what the Staff style entailed.

"Let's go again," Tang Rou suddenly said.

"There's no need," Liu Hao wanted to refuse. He knew about Tang Rou's competitive spirit, and if they played another match, she might not stop until she won. But there was no way a newbie like her could beat a professional player.

"Are you scared?"

"That's a weak provocation. The last match was enough to show the gap in our skill levels. You have no chance of winning," Liu Hao said.

"If you think I can't win, then why are you afraid of another match?"

"I'm not afraid; I just don't see the point."

Tang Rou stared at the side of Liu Hao's face, her eyes full of determination as if to say she wouldn't stop staring until he agreed.

Two minutes later…

Liu Hao finally couldn't take it anymore. Being stared at by a girl was strange enough, but a stunning beauty? The onlookers were also urging Liu Hao to agree, as they wanted to see more of Mucheng's screen control technique.

"Alright, alright, we'll go one more round. But let me be clear—this is the last one. No matter the outcome, I won't play again after this!" Liu Hao said, cutting off any further requests.

Tang Rou thought for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright, let's start."

The match began again, and this time, Tang Rou changed her strategy. Instead of using a curved approach, she opted for a straight-line charge, aiming to close the distance to Chasing Haze as quickly as possible.

In her mind, she lost the first match because she couldn't get close enough. If she could just close the gap, Tang Rou was confident that her speed would overwhelm Liu Hao. In her previous matches against Chen Guo, once she got close, Chen Guo was at a significant disadvantage.

Liu Hao saw through Tang Rou's strategy that she was seeking the fastest way to close in. Most likely, she would use "Dragon Breaks the Ranks" to charge straight in, followed by close-combat pressure.

Liu Hao had countermeasures in place. While he had demonstrated the screen control technique in the last match, he could easily switch to the flying cannon technique to maintain distance. Tang Rou would still struggle to get close. However, to completely crush Tang Rou's spirit and avoid more challenges, he decided to let her close in.

"While Spitfire classes struggle with close combat, that doesn't mean they can't fight up close. Class mechanics are static, but the player is dynamic," Liu Hao said softly.

Tang Rou activated "Dragon Breaks the Ranks," thrusting her spear towards Chasing Haze's chest.

Liu Hao calmly adjusted his cannon downward and fired, using the recoil to launch Chasing Haze into the air, avoiding the attack.

The flying cannon technique to dodge "Dragon Breaks the Ranks" was risky, but with Tang Rou being a novice, it was easy for Liu Hao to dodge her attacks.

Chasing Haze fired from mid-air, and Tang Rou quickly tried to adjust her view, but her mouse wasn't correctly aligned, causing her to fail to block the shot with her spear. She was blasted to the ground.

Tang Rou was momentarily stunned and tried to get her Battle Mage back on her feet, only to see Chasing Haze land and swing her cannon, blasting her away again.

The Battle Mage got up again and charged at Chasing Haze. This time, Liu Hao didn't shoot but waited until she got close, then dodged her spear attack and quickly aimed his cannon at her midsection, blasting her away again.

Again, she got up and charged, and again, she was blasted away by a heavy cannon shot.

Again!

A heavy cannon shot to the face. Boom! The Battle Mage was knocked back again.

Again!

A cannon shot to the chest. Boom! The Battle Mage was knocked back again.

Again!

…

The spectators could no longer bear to watch. This wasn't a solo match; it was a one-sided beatdown. Anyone could see that Tang Rou had no chance of winning. Even if she closed the distance, one cannon shot was all it took to blast her away.

Tang Rou's expression darkened, but she continued her futile attempts, charging forward only to be blasted back again and again.

Tang Rou had become numb to it. Liu Hao decided to end the match, not wanting to humiliate her further. He fired a shot, using the problematic "pressing gun" technique, and after three consecutive shots, sent Tang Rou's Battle Mage flying over ten steps. He then unleashed a barrage of cannon fire, finishing her off.

The match was over, but Tang Rou continued to tap away at the mouse, seemingly out of muscle memory.

"Hey, it's over!" Liu Hao called out to Tang Rou.

"Oh," Tang Rou snapped out of it and took her hands off the keyboard and mouse. She stared blankly at the screen, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Oh no, did I make her cry? Liu Hao panicked. If Chen Guo found out

"Um… I'm sorry; I just… wanted you to know how big the gap in our strength is." Liu Hao said softly, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Wasn't this just humiliation and mockery?

But Tang Rou didn't seem to take Liu Hao's words to heart. She lightly nodded and said, "You're powerful. I can't beat you."

"Well, actually, you're quite impressive, too," Liu Hao said, trying to be polite.

However, Tang Rou seemed to take it seriously. She turned her head and asked, "In what way am I impressive?"

The question stumped Liu Hao. Where was she impressive? Her perspective was all over the place; she had no clue about defensive moves, her skill combinations were highly stiff, she didn't know how to recover, and her tactics were chaotic and unstructured…

"Actually, your hand speed and reaction are quite fast. With just that, you can beat most players in Glory. But when it comes to those with slightly better game sense, you're completely outmatched," Liu Hao analysed.

Tang Rou nodded, appearing to take the advice to heart.

"Are you done? How did it go?" Chen Guo came over with a smile, holding two glasses of iced orange juice.

Liu Hao was about to take the orange juice, but Chen Guo directly ignored him and handed the juice to Tang Rou while she bit into the straw of the other glass.

"Thank you, Guo Guo," Tang Rou said softly. She picked up the orange juice and sipped it, her expression not looking too good.

Chen Guo noticed this and understood. Liu Hao must have really given Tang Rou a hard time. The gap between a professional player and an ordinary player was already huge, and Tang Rou wasn't even a Glory player.

"Don't be discouraged," Chen Guo whispered in Tang Rou's ear. "Liu Hao is a professional player, one of the top players in this game!"

"Top players?"

"Exactly, very impressive. The only one who might be able to beat him is the大神叶秋 (Ye Qiu)!" Chen Guo said, giving Liu Hao a thumbs-up.

"Really?" Tang Rou was doubtful, but she had already decided in her heart. One day, she would defeat Liu Hao.

---

The night wind blew as Liu Hao finally returned to the Excellent Era Club.

When they entered the training room, all the team members were playing Glory at their respective stations. When Su Mucheng saw Liu Hao come back, she smiled and asked, "Finally decided to come back?"

"Why? Did you miss me?" Liu Hao replied playfully.

Su Mucheng rolled her eyes, initially reluctant to talk to this annoying guy, but couldn't help but ask about Ye Qiu. "Liu Hao, how is Ye Qiu?"

"Oh, he's working as a network administrator under my girlfriend at Xing Xin, with a monthly salary of 2300, free food and accommodation, and he can play on the computer as much as he wants. He's living a comfortable life," Liu Hao said with a grin.

"A network administrator, huh…" Su Mucheng reminisced, recalling when her brother was still around, and they both worked as network administrators at Excellent Era's internet café.

Sun Xiang had been eavesdropping on Liu Hao and Su Mucheng's conversation. Upon learning that Ye Qiu was now working as a network administrator at Xing Xin, he sneered, "Ye Qiu really has fallen so low. A top-tier player willing to be just a small network administrator?"

Su Mucheng ignored Sun Xiang, and Liu Hao didn't pay him any attention either.

Sun Xiang's attempt to mock Ye Qiu was clearly to assert his presence. He hoped Liu Hao and Su Mucheng would engage with him, but neither of them acknowledged him, treating him like a childish, rebellious fool…

Nobody can stand being ignored. Over the past few days of training at Excellent Era, none of the team members spoke to him, and even when he tried to engage with others, they deliberately kept their distance.

Sun Xiang felt wronged and on the verge of tears. Coming to Excellent Era as the captain and being disrespected by the team was one thing, but not even having everyday communication was unacceptable.

"Liu Hao!" Sun Xiang shouted, deciding to challenge Liu Hao to highlight his presence.

"What?" Liu Hao rubbed his ears and glanced at Sun Xiang with disdain. "Do you know this is the training room? It's prohibited to make loud noises here."

Sun Xiang was taken aback, and his face reddened. "Liu Hao, why haven't you been coming back for Excellent Era's training these past few days?"

"I took sick leave!" Liu Hao said matter-of-factly.

Sun Xiang was again caught off guard. Initially, Liu Hao's evasion of training could be punished according to Excellent Era's team regulations, but with Liu Hao claiming sick leave, he couldn't find a reason.

Wait a minute! Sun Xiang suddenly realised something. "Liu Hao, I'm the Excellent Era captain. Why wasn't I informed about your sick leave?"

Liu Hao rolled his eyes again and said bluntly, "Who do you think you are? Why should I inform you about my sick leave?"

Sun Xiang's face turned even redder. How could Liu Hao be so rude?

"You… How dare you say that to me? Do you know I'm your captain?"

"Ha, you really think being a captain means anything? Ask them if they followed Ye Qiu's orders when he was captain," Liu Hao sneered. "If I didn't respect Ye Qiu, what makes you think I'd respect you?"

"Liu Hao! I'm the captain appointed by the boss, so you must listen to me!"

"Is that so? But the boss doesn't play matches. Ask the other team members if they follow you or follow me," Liu Hao smiled.

Sun Xiang looked at the other team members. The ones who had been watching the drama quickly averted their gazes. Their silence spoke volumes—they were all Liu Hao's people!

Sun Xiang turned his gaze to the most beautiful woman in Excellent Era. He knew some rumours that Liu Hao and Su Mucheng's relationship wasn't good, so maybe Su Mucheng would support him!

Noticing Sun Xiang's gaze, Su Mucheng smiled slightly and said, "I don't support Liu Hao, but I don't support you either."

"Oh, let me translate that," Liu Hao interjected. "What Chief Su means is that, compared to you, Chief Su prefers me more!"

Liu Hao's comment immediately angered Su Mucheng. Wasn't this taking advantage of her?

"I don't like either of you!" Su Mucheng growled.

Sun Xiang's face alternated between white and red, grinding his teeth in frustration but unable to come up with a retort. He wasn't good at verbal duels.

Liu Hao chuckled and suggested, "How about this? Since you want people to obey you, how about we have a solo match? If you win, I'll obey you, and so will they. But if you lose, you have to propose to Tao Xuan to give up the captain position and let me take over!"

"Okay!" Sun Xiang agreed immediately, thinking he couldn't possibly lose to Liu Hao.

(End of chapter)