– Opening of the Seventh Season
On the fourth day of the new year, Li Cangyu came to the training room with the team members and turned on the computer as the four teenagers lined up for their test.
As discussed yesterday with Bai Xuan, the four youngsters made rapid progress and successfully completed the basic training tasks of the first phase of consolidation and speed. They finally became entry level e-sports players.
The next step was the focus of the training: their ability in a match.
It was no good being strong if they couldn’t cooperate with their teammates.
Li Cangyu decided to take the four teenagers to the team battles in the arena to train them to cooperate with teammates and to follow the team’s commands.
Since they had to fight a team battle, everyone had to understand the rules of a team battle.
Li Cangyu first opened the human-machine training mode, taking the four teenagers to a simple city square team battle map. He placed marks on the map and explained carefully.
“The new system is actually playing a boss. Our ultimate goal is to destroy the white crystal in the centre of the map. Whoever destroys the crystal first will win. The white crystal is the boss. In order to get close to it, we must first destroy the surrounding defense towers, as well as the ice and fire phoenixes protecting it.”
“Once the game starts, we will be wearing the most basic equipment. It will be difficult to rush to destroy the crystal. Therefore, everyone needs to go to the east, south, west or north wild areas. Fight the mobs, gain money and buy more powerful equipment.”
“There are three types of wild monsters. One is an ordinary mob that will only drop money. The second is the blue mobs, which will restore your blue for a certain amount of time after killing them. The third one is the red mob, which will restore your blood for a certain amount of time after killing. It is equivalent to bringing your own milk dad.”
“Five minutes after the battle starts, an ice dragon will appear on the field. Killing the ice dragon will increase the team’s economy by 10,000 coins and we can freely purchase equipment. 10 minutes after the start, the fire dragon will appear. Killing it will increase the entire team’s attack by 20%. The ice and fire dragons can’t be beaten alone. A group fight is needed. They are important resources that the two sides must compete for. At that time, you must obey the commander’s orders.”
A few teenagers were dazed.
In the old system, there were no such things like blue mobs, red mobs, ice dragons and fire dragons. Once the two teams met, it would be a wave of fighting and then it was simple to win the crystals.
This new competition system was obviously much more complicated but it was also more interesting.
Zhuo Hang opened his mouth. “This is similar to the competitive game LOL and Dota that used to be popular in the world and it is the most balanced group battle system. It fact, it is easy to understand that we must prepare before facing the boss white crystal. Kill mobs and the ice dragon to make money. Once there is enough money to buy good equipment, rush to the towers and destroy the crystal. If there isn’t enough confidence in the team’s attack power, you can kill the fire dragon and increase the whole team’s attack by 20%, making it easier to win the boss. The ice dragon gives money, the fire dragon gives attack. They are important resources that the two sides will compete over in the early stages, right?”
Li Cangyu heard this and couldn’t help asking, “Xiao Zhuo, is there anyone in your family who plays in competitions?”
“Yes.” Zhuo Hang confirmed with a smile. “My family has several e-sports players.”
He obviously didn’t want to elaborate. Li Cangyu didn’t ask again and looked at him with appreciation. “Xiao Zhuo summed it up well. The new system is actually a process of laying the groundwork to kill the boss. We must have enough patience, especially when killing the mobs in the early stages. Don’t worry, today we will practice the method to kill mobs while consuming the least amount of resources.”
Fortunately, the major teams were also new to this system. They were standing on the same starting line and it was relatively fairer.
Li Cangyu was also in a state of learning while playing.
This new system meant more tactical ideas. If he couldn’t keep up with the rhythm of the league’s update, he would certainly be eliminated. Thus, he couldn’t relax for a moment.
***
That afternoon, Li Cangyu and his teammates familiarized themselves with the maps of the new competition and found some important rules.
The ice dragon that gave money and the fire dragon that increased attack refreshed in fixed positions. There was usually a big pit around them as if to say, ‘I have dug a pit for you. If you aren’t afraid to die then kill me.’
If the whole team jumped down such a big pit, it was very easy to be hit by the other side!
Therefore, the captain must consider the current situation before deciding to kill the dragons or not.
It was obviously that if they were too heated up and hit the dragon, the result would be destruction by the other team. This was once a popular phrase in the past: hitting a dragon will ruin your life!
Another example was that no matter what type of map, the blue mobs would only appear in the east and west wild areas, while the red mobs only appeared in the south and north. This would produce a series of butterfly effects.
Classes like magicians and healers, who were prone to consuming blue, would make sure to kill the blue mobs. Melee classes like swordsmen and berserkers might be inclined to kill the red mobs to add more blood to themselves.
In the stealing of the wild mobs, the two sides were likely to meet alone or in teams of two or three. This would inevitably cause some small-scale fights.
The ability to act alone or in a team, both would be tested in the new system.
Only a team with a comprehensive strength would achieve the final victory.
This new system was complicated but the more Li Cangyu studied, the more excited he felt. He was looking forward to making a big impact in the seventh season!
***
Time passed quickly. The 30 days of high-intensity training allowed the players of the Canglan team to become familiar with the new system. Now Li Cangyu could casually ask about the refresh times of various mobs and they would answer without making mistakes.
The teenagers also worked hard to memorize the special equipment in the arena.
In particular, the equipment they usually used were on the first few pages. The attack power, the crit rate, the hidden skill effects that could be triggered… all four teenagers remembered them clearly!
The small cats were so powerful that the old players like Zhang Jueming, Bai Xuan and Xie Shurong were embarrassed to lag behind. Li Cangyu didn’t make them remember the equipment but the three people consciously memorized all types of equipment.
Everyone was excited and nervous as the opening of the seventh season got closer and closer.
Li Cangyu was calm was he trained during the day and watched new videos recorded by netizens at night. He researched tactics and chatted with Ling Xuefeng, seemingly very relaxed.
In fact, he was also nervous. After all, he hadn’t been in the Miracle League for a long time!
At the end of February, Li Cangyu received a call from the official Miracle committee. They asked him to take all players to the competition area to register their data and complete the registration of players.
There were many teams in the Miracle second division since any teams who passed through the league’s online assessment could join.
The regular season of the second division didn’t adopt the method of home and away match rotations. The organizing committee designated a main stadium and all matches would be conducted there.
For the seventh season, the main venue selected was in Guangzhou, which was very close to Changsha.
***
On the 27th of February, Li Cangyu said goodbye to Liu Chuan and took the high-speed rail to Guangzhou with his team members.
After checking in at the official hotel, Li Cangyu went to find the person in charge of the tournament committee. Then the person took everyone to the venue to register the data and confirm their identities.
In addition to the Canglan team, there were many new teams registering, making the room very lively.
The staff at the front desk responsible for reception spoke politely, “Hello, please enter your professional player ID, your real name, the ID number you want to register with. Confirm the information is correct and then submit it.”
Li Cangyu quickly entered it on the computer next to him.
The female worker saw that the ID submitted was ‘Old Cat’ and couldn’t help exclaiming with surprise, “Hey, you are Cat God!”
The remark drew the attention of the team next to them and a group of people immediately surrounded him. “Cat God, can I have a signature?” “Cat God, you came to play the second division. It feels like we will cry after being abused by you!” “The level of Cat God is enough to be a strategist for the World Competition. To actually fight in the second division…”
Li Cangyu said with a smile, “There is no need to be so polite. I haven’t played for several years and am starting from scratch.”
The players in the second division weren’t as good as the eight giants but they were still young people working hard for their dreams. Li Cangyu didn’t look down on them for being weak.
He readily signed a lot of signatures before returning to look at the registration of his teammates.
Uncle Zhang’s ID was Juemingzi, which was the ID he used in the first season. Many people might have no impression of this ID but he reactivated the name to prove himself.
Bai Xuan used the English version of his name like Li Cangyu. This time, he changed to the Chinese ID ‘White Fox.’
Xie Shurong didn’t need to use ‘Tree’ like he did in the United States. He changed it to the Chinese characters ‘Ashu.’
For the four teenagers, Xiao Han registered the name ‘Frost Descends’. Gu Siming still used the ID of ‘As the Name Suggests’, Li Xiaojiang registered ‘Snail Crawling Slowly’ and Zhuo Hang was ‘Great Navigator’.
Once their IDs were registered, the teenagers showed obvious excitement.
The IDs were the symbol of a professional player and couldn’t be repeated. It was bound to the ID card and MIracle data. Even if they transferred, it couldn’t be changed. Once registered, it would usually accompany them for their entire career.
With the formal registration of their IDs, they finally became real professional players!
Li Cangyu used the name Old Cat (English) in the first season because the name of the team, FTD was also in English. Three years ago, the FTD team was disbanded and the information on Old Cat was completely erased from Miracle. Today, he led the Canglan team to return and changed back to the Chinese characters for ‘Old Cat’, opening a new journey.
Looking back, he saw Bai Xuan’s moist eyes and knew what he was thinking. Li Cangyu patted him on the shoulder and whispered, “We are back.”
Bai Xuan smiled and spoke emotionally, “Yes… the name has changed, the team has changed and the teammates have changed… We are back.”
Li Cangyu declared calmly, “This time I will change the ending.”
He was no longer the person who would lead his team away or helplessly watch the team disband.
This time, he would absolutely change the ending. Li Cangyu firmly believed it.