Chapter 160 Blue Rain's Crushing Defeat!

Blue Rain suffered a crushing defeat!

The headline of the next day's Esports Weekly playoffs special edition blazed with this very title.

Happy had won, but the news focused on Blue Rain, their home game loss clearly being the more compelling topic.

There are always winners and losers in any competition; neither outcome should come as a surprise. However, Blue Rain, playing on the road, had actually won the team competition, losing to Happy by a single point based on total kills. Yet, playing at home, they hadn't even made it to the point of calculating kill points.

They lost the individual competition, and then lost the team competition.

Especially in the team competition, on Blue Rain's familiar map, they failed to seize any significant initiative.

Of course, everyone has more or less figured out Happy's tactical approach by now. But matches are always a contest of wits. Each team brings their own unique abilities to the table.

But in this team competition, it felt like as soon as Happy unleashed their special powers, Blue Rain was immediately outclassed, gradually collapsing as they struggled.

The atmosphere at the venue on the day of the match was decent, but after the game, the criticism was overwhelming.

Once the final result was out, everyone became a Glory expert. Any slight flaw in the match was taken as evidence of Blue Rain's poor performance, used as a basis for loud criticism.

As the losing side, Blue Rain certainly had issues to address, but the avalanche of criticism at this point was mostly just parroting.

To condemn someone, one can always find a reason.

Every loser seems destined to endure a round of profound slander, as if that's the only way to truly highlight their status as a failure.

This kind of condemnation had already started at the post-match press conference. It felt less like an interview and more like a public shaming. The reporters weren't writing down questions for Blue Rain; they were writing eloquent speeches about Blue Rain's defeat.

Strategy, tactics, judgment, performance, awareness...

Blue Rain was stripped bare, sitting on the stage, being stabbed by the crowd.

One stab after another, everyone getting a piece of the action.

Huang Shaotian had been itching to speak out for a while, wanting to interrupt several times, but their captain, Yu Wenzhou, stopped him with a look each time. Yu Wenzhou knew him as well off the field as on it. He could always accurately predict which of the reporters' comments would set him off and prevent it in advance.

Besides restraining Huang Shaotian, he simply listened quietly, a faint smile always on his face.

The people ranting and raving in front of him all looked like they were disappointed in Blue Rain. Yu Wenzhou recognized many of them. A good number had always supported Blue Rain, writing many praising words and arguing on Blue Rain's behalf.

They liked Blue Rain, so they had high expectations. The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

But...

He just listened quietly until the voices died down, as if they had said everything they could. Suddenly, no one stood up to speak anymore.

The reporters looked at each other, realizing after the torrent of criticism that this was a press conference. Shouldn't the players be asking questions and they be listening?

For a moment, no one knew how to proceed, but Blue Rain's captain, Yu Wenzhou, spoke up.

"Thank you everyone, thank you for your concern and love for Blue Rain," Yu Wenzhou said.

Everyone listened quietly. For Blue Rain's captain to say such words, it made them feel that their efforts hadn't been in vain. Even if they didn't get any scoops from the players, it would be worth it if it made Blue Rain wake up, right?

"Everyone is worried about Blue Rain, and it's all for Blue Rain's good. I understand that," Yu Wenzhou continued.

"But..." Yu Wenzhou paused slightly at the turning point, "Even if it's for our own good, we can't accept such nonsense, I'm afraid."

"Hahahaha!" Huang Shaotian laughed wildly.

Having lost a year's worth of effort, at what should have been the most difficult time, Huang Shaotian was laughing. He was just laughing for the sake of laughing. Behind the laughter was anger and bitterness.

He had wanted to say it for a long time: What do you guys even know? What right do you have to spout nonsense here?

Huang Shaotian laughed, but all the reporters were stunned. They never expected that Yu Wenzhou, after such sincere thanks, would so mercilessly call them out for talking nonsense.

Some were already about to stand up and rebuke him, but Yu Wenzhou's voice rang out.

Starting with the first critical voice at the press conference, Yu Wenzhou began to respond.

One after another.

Fifteen people.

There were fifteen reporters who had stood up to express their opinions and viewpoints. Yu Wenzhou didn't miss a single one, not even mixing up the order. One by one, clearly and methodically, he refuted their opinions and viewpoints.

And so, one after another.

Fifteen people.

Fifteen reporters flushed red.

Yu Wenzhou's rebuttals were so reasonable, that after he finished speaking, they all felt enlightened. And then, they all had only one feeling: that they really didn't understand anything, that they were really talking nonsense.

This was a high-level game far more complex than they realized. The questions they had raised seemed so shallow after listening to Yu Wenzhou's analysis.

It felt like they were a bunch of noobs shouting at a pro, "Why didn't you use ten Phantom Shadow Swords, a hundred-hit combo, to instantly kill your opponent?"

Then the pro smiled, patted them on the head, and said kindly, "Phantom Shadow Sword has a cooldown, you can only use it once, you can't combine ten of them into a hundred-hit combo."

The reporters who were directly refuted by Yu Wenzhou didn't even get angry, because Yu Wenzhou's rebuttals were so clear that they couldn't find any ground to stand on.

When Yu Wenzhou had finished speaking, the scene returned to silence again.

"Then..." Yu Wenzhou finally looked around at the people below the stage, "Thank you everyone, we'll see you next season."

The Blue Rain team then left the stage.

And not a single reporter was willing to write about what happened at the post-match press conference. In the end, the coverage of this match was just objective descriptions, with no content about the Blue Rain players' emotions or statements.

These reporters had shut their mouths, but that couldn't stop even more people from speaking.

And the reporters who had experienced this rebuttal, when they saw the comments of those people, immediately felt sorry for them, just like they had been before.

Those criticisms and discussions, just like their eloquent speeches at the press conference, didn't hit the mark at all.

Because their level wasn't high enough, and what these comments would look like in the eyes of professional players, these reporters now knew.

It was nonsense.

There had always been too much of this kind of nonsense.

Because this was a new field, the truly solid and high-level experts were still playing as professional players, and not many had been properly absorbed by the other industries in the circle after retiring. These media workers were almost all just ordinary enthusiasts, or even people who had been forced to learn about Glory because of their jobs.

Their so-called professional vision was really not up to professional standards, especially in the playoffs, where there were too many matchups that they couldn't understand.

And their self-righteous remarks were naturally ridiculous in the eyes of professional players. But they didn't realize it, like the emperor with no clothes, running around naked, happily running around naked, until yesterday, Yu Wenzhou gently poked some of them and gently told them: You're not wearing any clothes, don't run around, be careful of catching a cold.

They really were catching a cold!

And quite a few of them!

The mountain of criticism, in the eyes of these people, was completely off-base. But they couldn't point it out, because they only understood some principles from Yu Wenzhou's words. That didn't mean they had put on clothes; they just wouldn't run around naked in the street anymore.

And the Blue Rain team, because of their captain's bold performance at the press conference, completely ignored these criticisms.

They understood the real problems far better than these people. Did they need to listen to their guidance?

"Vacation starts today."

The first thing the Blue Rain team heard their captain say after the match was this sentence.

"We'll talk about other things next season," Yu Wenzhou said.

"Yes!" Everyone nodded.

They had lost before, this wasn't the first time, although this time it was a bit ugly. As for where the problem lay...

The Blue Rain team weren't fools. Did they really think their captain was just arguing with the reporters at the press conference yesterday?

He had just found the best time to say those words. Compared to watching the replay of the loss and holding a review meeting with a depressed mood, this approach was much more effective.

Seizing opportunities had always been Blue Rain's specialty. They never said they would only seize opportunities on the playing field.

"See you next season!" After saying goodbye, the Blue Rain players started their respective vacations.

But there were also those who stayed behind.

"Aren't you leaving?" Yu Wenzhou asked, looking at Huang Shaotian.

"I want to keep following him to see if I can find a chance to rush up and mock that guy!" Huang Shaotian said resentfully.

"What if you don't get a chance?" Yu Wenzhou asked with a smile.

"If I don't get a chance, then I'll just have to let him keep being smug," Huang Shaotian said.

Everyone wants to keep being smug.

Blue Rain no longer had such an opportunity. That night, another team lost such an opportunity.

Thunder, challenging Tiny Herb on the road, ultimately lost this round of the match, and ultimately lost both rounds, announcing their elimination in the first round.

Xiao Shiqin and his teammates had a regular season that made people look at them in a new light, but in the playoffs, they still failed to achieve Thunder's long-standing goal of breaking through the first round.

Thunder's individual combat strength was insufficient!

That's what the outside world was saying. Compared to their team competition strength, which was not inferior to any of the top teams, Thunder's performance in individual competitions was indeed not very reassuring, and this situation was even more obvious in the two rounds of the playoffs.

Once, in order to get more powerful help, Xiao Shiqin left Thunder. But this time, amidst such voices...

"Did you hear that? They're all saying our individual combat strength is insufficient! Everyone should practice hard this summer, and next season, we'll give them a surprise in the individual competitions!" This was Captain Xiao Shiqin's speech before the vacation. This time, he wouldn't feel that his teammates were lacking. He would work with his teammates to improve, to fight for their victory.

"Break the 37-match winning streak!" Dai Yanqi jumped up and shouted.

Xiao Shiqin's legs trembled.

"Pay attention to your manners!" He glared at Dai Yanqi. Encouraging morale shouldn't be done so recklessly! Was that something that humans could do?