Archive of Our Own

"Any ideas for the next match?" asked Ye Xiu as he looked at the council of tacticians.

Each of them had their own set of notes and the honorary tactician Wang Jiexi was the first to raise his hand.

"What? You need to use the restroom already?" asked Ye Xiu.

Wang Jiexi rolled his eyes.

"I think it is worth watching the video of the match against Japan again. I believe their strategy of getting all the points in the group arena was the most effective. They lost in the team match but had they defeated one more player they would have been tied with France."

"But it is cutting it rather close" said Yu Wenzhou "We must remember Japan has a very strong team for the group arena. While the double Battlemage - double Striker composition is a waste when looking at the overall scheme, in the group arena it is very difficult to fight that line-up back to back."

"Moreover we shouldn't forget that though France's excellence lies in the team match, their group arena team is fairly varied enough to combat ours." added Zhang Xinjie referring to his own notes.

"And this is why you are only the fifth tactician" said Ye Xiu with a cheeky grin at Wang Jiexi.

Wang Jiexi sighed and threw a crumpled ball of paper at Ye Xiu which he grabbed immediately.

"But in all seriousness..." continued Ye Xiu " We should form a better plan than risk it all in the group arena. I don't want to put too much pressure on Fang Rui as anchor again.

Sun Xiang will be quite decent and I think Wang Jiexi and one more person, perhaps Su Mucheng will be able to score us a few points provided the map is not too much against us."

"The maps could be a problem, right?" mused Yu Wenzhou.

Though China had been lucky so far, they had seen a few other teams get maps ranging from weird to nightmarish levels of difficulty, sometimes with rather bizzare mechanisms associated with them.

It was rather anti-climatic how one such arena round between Italy and Canada had ended with both the players falling down into a trap zone which was supposed to take out 15% of a players health and create some extra tension.

But with both having less than 10% left, it created a rather awkward atmosphere instead.

Ye Xiu nodded thoughtfully.

"Maps can work both ways of course. But what we really need is a plan to deal with this player!" Ye Xiu opened a video on his laptop and it started playing on the projection screen.

It was focussing on a single character, a rather harmless looking Summoner.

But the intense expression on the faces of the tacticians scrutinizing the video meant there was certainly more to him.

Nicholas Réaux, Vice-Captain of Team France, their primary strategist, a shrewd and extremely talented player - and a Summoner.

Summoners were one of the most difficult classes to play and even on the professional stage there were very few who played the class. In the Chinese Alliance, there were less than 10 pro players using this class and some other countries had even as less as two or three.

But the Summoner of France was currently considered the best at his class and was equivalent to an All-Star in his own country.

Many teams had already paid the price for underestimating him and even Ye Xiu after a few matches had confirmed as careful as his style was, Nicholas Réaux was a brilliant shot-caller.

Though at first glance their team looked average, with their teamwork and an extremely energetic style of playing, the French team performed excellently especially in the team matches.

Though Team China had got enough opportunity to observe him unlike some other teams, even they were not completely sure what was the best counter.

The stupid solution was to take out Nicholas Réux himself.

Stupid because taking him down did not really guarantee anything and the Canadian team had had failed miserably with that strategy as the Summoner had used himself as bait while the rest of his team ran around killing the enemy team.

"Flexible and a team to support him to the fullest" murmured Yu Wenzhou.

"Isolating him might work..." said Zhang Xinjie "But it is not so easy with such a watchful team and he is more than willing to fight directly if it makes an opportunity for the others."

"We can't afford to focus too much on him either." said Wang Jiexi "We can brute force it maybe but the success of that working depends on the rest of the roster they come out with."

"It's interesting how they always win the team match even if they have lost a few overall games." said Yu Wenzhou with a smile looking at his notes "Regardless of however small the margin is, it is still a win. It shows they understand their strength quite well too."

"So any ideas or observations anyone?" asked Ye Xiu waving at the screen "I'm only here as a substitute so it will do you youngsters well to come up with something on your own than wait for me."

"If you've got something just say it." said Wang Jiexi.

Ye Xiu just laughed and was about to say he frankly had nothing inspiring when he heard someone clearing their throat.

"Did you find something, Little Xiao?"said Ye Xiu immediately, looking at the actual fourth tactician on their team who had been silent all along.

Xiao Shiqin had been looking through some notes and videos on his own for a while. He had seemed so intensely focussed on it that Ye Xiu had felt he was onto something and gave him time to work on it.

"I'm not sure..." said Xiao Shiqin hesitantly "But I think the team that was on the right track against France was South Korea."

"Oh.." Yu Wenzhou selected the video Xiao Shiqin was referring to and the group watched it for few minutes.

"France won the battle but lost the war that time too." said Ye Xiu.

"Yes..." said Xiao Shiqin "Did you notice Korea's Sharpshooter? I don't think they had planned it beforehand but notice how his positioning and range restricted the French team at some points. He didn't capitalise on the opportunity though. I think if he had switched to a more offensive stance at this point.."

Xiao Shiqin fast forwarded the video and indicated a particular altercation between the two teams "I think with a bit more work we can replicate this. I believe Zhou Zekai could execute this much better especially since I did not see the Korean sharpshooter use Gung Fu for close combat at any stage.

If we split the French team in such a way that Zhou Zhekai can cover both fights, but at the same time prevent them from interfering with each other... I have some ideas that might help us to bait their Summoner into a position where we could restrict him better...

But I need to study the whole aspect of positioning a lot more as we might need to dynamically keep adjusting throughout the game.... A modified Box-1, sort of splitting and boxing of subsets of their team... But with one of our players capable of switching between the boxes if required..."

Xiao Shiqin stopped speaking because he suddenly wondered if he had explained it properly but he felt relieved seeing the understanding nods from the others.

"Good...good...." said Ye Xiu as he replayed the part from the video again "And you are right. Little Zhou will be able to handle this much better too. When it comes to reaction speed the Korean team is very impressive, but I feel their Sharpshooter made a significant trade-off on his accuracy. Good work Xiao Shiqin!"

Xiao Shiqin smiled at the unexpected praise but the next sentence from Ye Xiu made him freeze.

"So next match I'll put you in for the team fight so you can work with Zhou Zekai."

"What- wait! I didn't mean it like that!" said Xiao Shiqin quickly.

"Oh? Why not? I don't see any reason why you can't be in the team fight!" said Ye Xiu with a wide grin.

Xiao Shiqin looked around at the others awkwardly.

If he told them bluntly that he was not confident, they would only get more insistent that he had to be on the roster.

Yu Wenzhou tapped Xiao Shiqin gently.

"Don't worry... It might be better, because having you directly convey the strategy would be better than transferring the knowledge to someone else."

"Well...yes..." Xiao Shiqin looked around nervously "But I still need to work on it....I am not even sure...."

"There's plenty of time." said Wang Jiexi "We have a free day in between too. I agree with Yu Wenzhou. Since you seem to have an idea it will be more efficient to put you into the match."

"It's settled. You will command the team match against France. You are one of the master tacticians after all. " said Ye Xiu.

Master Tacticians

Right now there was no other phrase that distressed Xiao Shiqin more than this one.

Hearing Ye Xiu say it just made him feel more nervous.

"I'm...not sure I can command the team... I just have an idea for one part-" Xiao Shiqin did not want to act whiny but there was no shame in dropping a hint about his lack of self-confidence.

After all this was such an important stage and if he messed up it would reflect badly on the whole team.

He didn't hate the responsibility but right now he didn't think he was the right person for this.

"Don't worry. You won't be alone."

Xiao Shiqin looked at Zhang Xinjie who had been rather quiet for some time.

Zhang Xinjie knew Xiao Shiqin and he could see there was something troubling his colleague which the others didn't see or were choosing to overlook on purpose.

"There's always one Master Tactician on field every match." said Yu Wenzhou with a smile and gestured towards Zhang Xinjie.

"Exactly." said Zhang Xinjie "You can focus on your part of the strategy, for their Summoner. I can shot-call for the rest of the team, if needed. Dual shot-calling is not as smooth but with the boxing strategy you suggested it will be easier for the team and we can communicate faster."

"Good! So it's settled!" said Ye Xiu closing his laptop "We can meet later to come up with the rest of the team! We already have 3 people in place for the team match. I'll be sitting this one out. As team mentor I want to see how all of you children perform, so please try not to embarrass me too much!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at these words but they didn't say anything.

They knew that it was not possible to rely on Ye Xiu every time either. Even though he only played in the team matches now they understood how stressful it was and they knew it was best for him to save his strength for any unexpected circumstances.

As the team dispersed, chatting about their plans for the off-day, Xiao Shiqin trailed behind, deep in thought.

"I'll let Zhou Zekai know too!" said Yu Wenzhou looking back at him "It would be best if you discuss with him in the early stage so that it would give you both enough time to work things out."

"Ok"

The others finally disappeared around the corner and Xiao Shiqin sighed.

He had really put his foot into it this time.

So far he hadn't participated in a single team match.

The Worlds were completely structured in the style of the playoffs and Xiao Shiqin had only played in the group arena so far.

In the team round, when Ye Xiu played, he generally took on the role of shot-caller. Otherwise it was Yu Wenzhou or Zhang Xinjie. Xiao Shiqin didn't particularly mind because he felt this was the best approach and he himself had done very well in the arena.

But with Ye Xiu's sudden decision that Xiao Shiqin was to play in the team match, he felt some of his worries surfacing again.

The doubts that cast a shadow over his thoughts every time he saw the other tacticians play and those worries which he possibly couldn't tell them.

Xiao Shiqin sometimes wondered if he was added as the fourth tactician only because four was a nice number.

Compared to the other three he felt he had miles to go.

It was not just the fact that others had a championship under their belts. When Xiao Shiqin saw them work, the way they handled the team as well as played their own parts - he began to think that perhaps he was not as capable as them.

Every team at the World's championships consisted of possibly the best players of the respective countries and this came with its unique advantages and disadvantages.

For many players it proved to be a blessing as they were no longer held back by the limitations of inexperienced juniors. They were now free to play with greater freedom as their teammates were equally capable of coordinating with them.

A classic example of this within the Chinese team was Wang Jiexi who was extremely comfortable at displaying his old style again without worrying too much about the team.

But then there were a few players whose excellence rose not from their individual skill alone, but at having worked with their teams. Their skill was to work with a specific set of people in certain ways and their achievements came from their experience and familiarity of working with their team.

On such a stage they could continue to play as an individual but they did not shine as bright for this was not their strength.

Xiao Shiqin felt like he belonged to this second group.

His memorable achievements had all been when he was leading Thunderclap. His strategies, techniques everything was centred around Thunderclap and compared to the other tacticians he felt his mind was stagnant.

Was he truly a tactician at Glory or was he just a strategist for Thunderclap?

"I've already explained the gist of it to him!" said Yu Wenzhou gesturing at Zhou Zekai "Hopefully you can discuss the rest!"

Xiao Shiqin looked at Zhou Zekai who just stared back expressionlessly.

Xiao Shiqin had almost forgotten that talking to Zhou Zekai was a task in itself. Yu Wenzhou seems to sense Xiao Shiqin's awkwardness and quickly added "Make sure you discuss freely, Zhou Zekai!"

Zhou Zekai nodded silently and Xiao Shiqin could only wonder if this was some magic command that would get him to turn chatty.

Sadly nothing like that happened and the two were left alone in awkward silence.

"Um... I'll go over some observations... So you can understand the outline. Ok?" Xiao Shiqin tried to put on his best smile.

"Ok"

Xiao Shiqin quickly pulled out his notebook and started explaining his findings.

The previous night he couldn't sleep because the thought of having to make a perfect plan preyed on his mind and in the end he had just sat up all night analysing videos.

It was just groundwork but it involved a lot of calculations to find the optimum positioning distances and formations.

Usually Xiao Shiqin would have estimated these values but this time he had done the whole math out of sheer nervousness. Logically it all looked good but Xiao Shiqin was not convinced.

Especially after having researched deeper on Nicholas Réux.

As Xiao Shiqin had watched the gameplay videos of the Summoner in his home team, he has found a striking resemblance between them and Thunderclap.

Mid-tier teams with many energetic youngsters and heavy focus on communication using precise commands and tactics. On the outside it would appear the team relied too much on these commands but in reality the entire team was responsible for the flexible strategy and this was something Xiao Shiqin could see immediately, for Thunderclap was perceived the same way.

Nicholas Réux played a Spirit Style Summoner and watching his gameplay confirmed why he was considered the best.

The difficulty of this style was in the complicated planning involved for maintaining a consistent group of spirits. Xiao Shiqin was not sure if the guy was actually calculating the timings in his head or it came naturally to him because it was very rare to find him make mistakes in his spirit formation.

His character also had silver equipment, which meant there was a good chance he had many range, cast time or mana boosts offered from various sets.

Xiao Shiqin was rather impressed by how regardless of his class, Nicholas Réux had made a solid name for himself.

It reminded him of when he had debuted; at a time when Mechanics were the least popular Gunner class. Spitfires were already famous because of the Blossoms Duo and most players liked Sharpshooters and Launchers for the damage and firepower.

Xiao Shiqin himself had wanted to choose another class initially but he had been intrigued by the Mechanics skill set. His Mechanic hadn't gained much attention initially but his performance after integrating with the team had quickly earned him respect.

He knew very well the struggles and the mentality of a player in a mid-tier team. This was the key point he was planning to exploit in the game against France. If he had understood Nichols Réux correctly, he would always choose the team over himself, prefer guaranteed results over risky routes.

Xiao Shiqin had found it easier to plan by imagining that he was fighting himself. Yet they were not exactly the same and his heart wavered thinking of how all this wouldn't matter on the field if the enemy saw through it first.

Plans could always fail.

Strategies could always be broken.

But Xiao Shiqin did not think he had the confidence to keep up his shot-calling in such a dynamic situation.

His style required active communication and being familiar with his teammates and looking at Zhou Zekai he only felt despair.

"Do you have any questions?" he asked politely.

He had explained in as simple and detailed a manner as possible; the same way he did to the team at Thunderclap but seeing Zhou Zekai's expression as he continued to stare at the diagrams, Xiao Shiqin wondered if it had all gone over his head.

I'm doomed... How can I ever make sense of him in an actual battle? I understand how Sun Xiang does it but the others... Or is it really just everyone doing whatever they want....

Finally Zhou Zekai pointed to a particular note on the paper.

"Too idealistic" he said shaking his head and then pointing to another part "Maybe check again?"

Xiao Shiqin blinked rapidly before picking up the notebook and going through the two details.

He could immediately see what Zhou Zekai had meant.

The first one was an assumption he had made in a calculation of the range Cloud Piercer could cover but he could see now that it wasn't practical.

The second one was a drawing where he had tried to simulate positions of all the players and Xiao Shiqin remembered this was the part where he had fallen asleep.

"Haha.... I forgot to count one member right?" Xiao Shiqin looked up and Zhou Zekai nodded in confirmation.

Xiao Shiqin was pleasantly surprised that Zhou Zekai had caught the mistakes.

It wasn't that he looked down on Zhou Zekai, but he wasn't sure how his style of discussing strategies would appear to others.

"We should go through all their possible team compositions." said Xiao Shiqin "Their general strategy is to split up at the beginning of a match to study the map faster. If they do so we only need to focus on locking them down. I have backup plans as well.... but it would be better not to overload you with everything now, right?"

Zhou Zekai didn't want to disappoint Xiao Shiqin by saying he was rather overloaded already.

"Let me know after you finish" he said, hoping that Xiao Shiqin would get the hint.

"Mm... I'll let you know." Xiao Shiqin smiled and left after that, his mind whirling with billions of strategies as well as all the ways in which they could flop.

Xiao Shiqin paused the video and scribbled down his observations. The training room was quiet as it was an off-day and almost everyone had gone out for the evening.

Xiao Shiqin had taken the morning off to calm himself. Zurich was an amazing place and though the fresh air cleared his mind all he could think was how his friends from Thunderclap would enjoy the place.

The full roster for the match had been decided the previous day and during the training Xiao Shiqin had used that opportunity to work with Zhou Zekai. He was still not sure if things would work out but he wanted to do his best to understand Zhou Zekai and be prepared to adjust his plans.

Armed with more data and ideas he was now reworking his plans. His brain always worked faster after sundown and without anybody interrupting him, Xiao Shiqin didn't realise how much time had passed until he felt something soft brush his arm.

He looked up startled and saw Zhou Zekai hold out a cup of noodles.

"Eat" he said.

Xiao Shiqin looked at the time and was shocked to see it was almost 10:00.

"Ah... Thank you. " he replied with a grateful smile and took the noodles. Zhou Zekai placed a small bottle of water on the table and sat next to him.

Xiao Shiqin started eating the hot noodles quickly.

"Hungry or in a hurry?" asked Zhou Zekai.

"Hm? Oh... hungry. Lunch seems so distant... Have you eaten?"

"Yes"

Xiao Shiqin felt slightly uncomfortable with the silence that followed. Though he was not an extremely chatty person, he did enjoy a talkative atmosphere and liked hearing others make noise.

"So... " Xiao Shiqin tried to think of something casual to talk about "Didn't you take the day off?"

"Yes. Morning." Zhou Zekai hesitated for a second wondering if he should elaborate. Normally he was happy giving one-word answers and ending conversations quickly but he wanted to give Xiao Shiqin a substantial break from his research.

"Animal Park" added Zhou Zekai "With Sun Xiang."

"Oh... nice." Xiao Shiqin had forgotten that Zhou Zekai had the opportunity to explore the city with his teammate. "Was it fun?"

"Mostly deer... It was fun... You?"

"Window shopping... My team begged me for souvenirs and pictures so... "

"Haha yes... Me too."

For a second Xiao Shiqin wondered what that meant but Zhou Zekai was a captain too and Xiao Shiqin felt a bit embarrassed on remembering this.

"Ah... I am being very absent-minded!" he laughed ruefully "Did you buy stuff for them?"

"Yes. Du Ming wanted chocolate from a specific place and it was hard to find... " Zhou Zekai paused wondering if this was boring to Xiao Shiqin but finally he looked like he was relaxing.

It was not in Zhou Zekai's nature to talk for too long, but he managed to keep up the random conversation on Du Ming's chocolate expectations until Xiao Shiqin finished eating.

"Thanks for the noodles! And the company!" Xiao Shiqin knew that Zhou Zekai had probably put in superhuman effort to keep him entertained and he sincerely appreciated it.

"It's ok. You... looked like you needed cheering up."

Xiao Shiqin smiled awkwardly.

"Well.... yeah... maybe... I guess I should get back to work." he looked at the pile of notes again.

"Or you can sleep" said Zhou Zekai.

"I - I should finish this though. I knew we have two more days but.... " Xiao Shiqin was never the sort to express his personal feelings and he trailed off with a smile.

It was a habit acquired by most players in the captaincy role that their inner thoughts were only privy to their closest friends. But Zhou Zekai had been noticing Xiao Shiqin's discomfort ever since that day and though he knew he was helpless with words, as always he felt a desire to help with his actions.

"Do you trust me?" asked Zhou Zekai suddenly.

Xiao Shiqin had taken off his glasses and was rubbing his eyes when he heard this unexpected question.

There was a minute of silence as he asked himself that question again.

Half the nervous thoughts wrecking his brain stemmed from his lack of confidence in understanding Zhou Zekai.

They were just not suitable to work with each other.

The faint shadow of doubts in his heart had only grown as he began to think how they did not have the kind of trust and experience of working with each other as he had with his own team - things which Xiao Shiqin valued more than individual talent.

He kept convincing himself that it was results that mattered but what if they lost because of a mistake he made? And he knew the mistake would only be because of his own limitations.

Nobody else found it difficult to work with Zhou Zekai.

Xiao Shiqin was struggling because he was not good enough to get out of his comfort zone. He was among that minority whose achievements had always happened in the pond he was so familiar with and when dropped in the middle of the ocean he was insignificant.

If only he had even half of the flexibility the other tacticians had.

Zhou Zekai nudged his arm gently.

"It's not too deep." he said with a confused expression.

"Ah... um... yes.. I mean... yes I trust you." Xiao Shiqin didn't realise he had spaced out for so long.

What am I doing?? Atleast for the sake of morale I should respond positively

"Good." Zhou Zekai swivelled Xiao Shiqin's chair to face the door and smiled "Then rest tonight and work tomorrow. You are doing your best. There is enough time."

Xiao Shiqin couldn't help but smile at how he truly had overcomplicated things with his thinking.

"I suppose you are right. I'll just read through some stuff before I go to sleep then." Xiao Shiqin grabbed a few notes and the two left the training room.

As they walked down the corridor they saw Zhang Jiale and Tang Hao.

"Hi! Wanna try a macaron??" shouted Zhang Jiale seeing them.

Tang Hao immediately opened a box he was carrying and offered it to them.

"It's a real special one!" continued Zhang Jiale "What was the name again.... "

"Luxemburgerli" said Tang Hao immediately.

"Yeah! Go ahead! Take as many as you want! We've got another box too!"

Xiao Shiqin smiled and took one and Zhou Zekai did the same.

He had wondered how Zhang Jiale and Tang Hao would have spent a day together but he could see their culinary journey had been most successful and even Tang Hao looked more relaxed than ever before.

"We also got muesli!" said Zhang Jiale "We are in Zurich for goodness sake!! We should get rid of the soggy cornflakes and eat the real thing!"

Tang Hao laughed and looked at Xiao Shiqin "He drank a bit too much.... "

"I can see that. Looks like you had fun."

"Ah yes..." Tang Hao shot a quick look at Zhang Jiale "I should probably make sure he gets to his room. Good night. "

The two went off and Xiao Shiqin turned to see Zhou Zekai licking the butter cream from his fingers.

"Wow... were you hungry?" asked Xiao Shiqin with a laugh.

"Um... no. I like sweet things."

Xiao Shiqin finished his own macaron and after saying goodnight to Zhou Zekai he went to his room.

He still could not fall asleep and heard the loud laughs and chatter as the others returned back.

After about an hour of disturbed sleep, he got up and began pacing about his room, reading the few notes he had brought with him. When he had been talking to Zhou Zekai he had actually felt at ease, but when left to his own thoughts he was getting moody again.

Outside he heard two loud voices and after hearing closely he realised it was Wang Jiexi and Chu Yunxiu. Wang Jiexi especially sounded quite drunk and Xiao Shiqin sighed thinking how everyone was so relaxed in the team, and only he himself was consistently on edge.

He rolled back onto the bed and closed his eyes tightly.

Stop working stupid brain.... Sleep... Just sleep....

The next two days passed in a flurry and all Xiao Shiqin focussed on was the training. Tactics were discussed and refined, numerous practice  and analysis sessions - Xiao Shiqin barely registered whatever else was going on around him.

When the big day dawned and Xiao Shiqin sat on the bench, he couldn't help but tap his fingers against the seat in nervousness.

Things were not going well at all.

The group arena was most tense and the map was favorable to France. In the end China could only secure two points contributed by Wang Jiexi and Su Mucheng.

The crowd was very supportive though and many youngsters seemed particularly enthusiastic about Wang Jiexi that day as they whistled and cheered for him.

Xiao Shiqin's panic meter was rising fast as he did the calculations. They had to win the team match. And they could not afford to lose too many players either.

The team did not seem too stressed as they knew the map had played a huge role in the arena, but seeing them chatting about easily made Xiao Shiqin feel more pressured.

"Relax"

Xiao Shiqin felt a gentle but firm pat on his back.

Zhou Zekai had been mesmerised for quite a while by Xiao Shiqin rapidly tapping his fingers. But on seeing his rather drained expression, Zhou Zekai felt if he did not say something now Xiao Shiqin would probably faint on the spot.

"I'm good." said Xiao Shiqin softly. He took a deep breath and steadied his heart "We just need to win."

"Why are you so nervous?" Zhou Zekai knew that this was probably not the best time to have this conversation but there was no point in discussing this after the match either.

"... I - I don't know." Xiao Shiqin was silent for a while before speaking again "First time I'm going up for the team round. And as a shot-caller on top of that. I know I have done it a million times back home. But this is different...

I... I am not like them - Ye Xiu and the others. I don't think my strategies are good enough for such a high stage. It works for me and Thunderclap. I can't.... I don't think it will work here. If I fail to communicate with the rest of you guys and this goes wrong...... 

I am scared I'll let everyone down. The more I saw the French team's teamwork the more I feel unsure about myself. "

Zhou Zekai had been listening patiently so far but at the last line his eyebrow shot up.

"You do know the French team is no different than you right?" he said.

Xiao Shiqin was about to argue but then he thought again.

The French team was composed of players from different clubs too and Nicholas Réux was the only player from his own club... It wasn't different from Xiao Shiqin at all.

"Let's go." said Zhou Zekai as he got up.

Xiao Shiqin did not have the time for his random worries anymore. The team match was about to begin.

As they were about to enter the booth Zhou Zekai turned to him and mouthed softly "You are not alone"

Xiao Shiqin sat in the silence of the booth, as Life Extinguisher loaded on to the map.

He took another sharp breath and grabbed the mouse.

Victory was what mattered and this was not the place for his worries and fears.

The first step to success is to believe in yourself

The map loaded and a quick description message popped up. This was a feature to give a hint about special mechanisms, if any. Two spots were marked on the map with the text 'Vision Zones'.

A quick conversation in chat settled that they should acquire these zones regardless of what they did, because the last thing they wanted was to get surprised by the map.

The team split up with Zhang Xinjie and Sun Xiang heading to the zone on the right, Xiao Shiqin and Zhou Zekai heading to the zone on the left and Fang Rui taking a middle path.

The map was a jungle and Xiao Shiqin quickly noted that the two vision zones were not too far from each other.

If the French team had split up too, this was the best way to box them. Zhou Zekai could easily switch between the two sides once he figured out the quickest route through the forest. As per this plan, Zhou Zekai split away from Xiao Shiqin to get a read of the map.

The audience on the other hand were watching with bated breath as they could see how the French team had almost mirrored the same formation.

But suddenly their Assassin who had started along the middle road had swerved towards the path taken by their Berserker and Elementalist, who were heading to the same zone as Zhang Xinjie and Sun Xiang.

If the three of them ganged up on the duo they were sure that even Sun Xiang would have a hard time fighting them. But luckily Team China were on slightly higher ground and Zhang Xinjie quickly informed Fang Rui about the approaching group.

The audience started to grow excited thinking of the direct fight that was to follow.

Meanwhile Life Extinguisher was creeping along the forest carefully as Xiao Shiqin was on the lookout for scouting spirits. He was thankful that the French team were a silent team as he was not in the mood for trash-talk too.

Though a global voice channel had been introduced, very few teams used it and it was generally assumed that some like France never spoke because of the language barrier.

Suddenly Xiao Shiqin saw a small fire spirit emerge from a bush. But before he could react it merely continued along its path and walked off.

He heaved a sigh of relief and quickly made Life Extinguisher continue forward.

Nicholas Réux's Summoner, Feu Bleu was probably in the area. Xiao Shiqin felt that it could only be luck how he had been outside the spirit's detection range.

Finally he saw Feu Bleu standing alone in a clearing. Xiao Shiqin decided to take the risk as the whole plan revolved around locking him down.

Without hesitating he stepped forward and immediately two spirits launched themselves at him.

Xiao Shiqin had been expecting a trap though and he quickly used rotor wings to move up. But the next second he saw a Young Wyvern flying right at him and he quickly cancelled rotor wings to drop to the ground; only to be attacked by a Dark Spirit.

Dark Spirits had a chance of inflicting debuffs on the enemy but they were notorious for never working. But the spirit was lucky today as Life Extinguisher immediately had his attack and defense reduced.

Xiao Shiqin now realised he had been too hasty.

The auto-attack feature had probably been turned off on purpose for the first scout spirit, to lure players into a sense of false security. Also inspite of being a Spirit style summoner, a few points had been thrown into the beast style Wyvern for a moment like this.

Nicholas Réux had lived true to his name of an innovative Summoner.

But Xiao Shiqin kept his cool as he quickly attacked the spirits and at the same time started firing at Feu Bleu.

On the other side, the match was already quite heated.

Sun Xiang and Fang Rui had immediately controlled their characters to fight the Berserker and Elementalist. But out of nowhere the Assassin had jumped into the fray disrupting their attacks. But contrary to what they expected, the Assassin played without a care in the world and took their attacks directly.

Zhang Xinjie could immediately see what was happening.

This Assassin had very rarely appeared for the team round but like any player true to this class he liked to play dangerously. Right now he was planning to take as much damage as possible to risk a one shot kill.

At that moment there was a clear gunshot as Cloud Piercer emerged to join them. This quickly helped One Autumn Leaf to focus completely on suppressing the Elementalist while Boundless Sea teamed up with Cloud Piercer to fight the other two.

Xiao Shiqin on the other hand was in a fix now.

He could see from the chat that Zhou Zekai had probably figured out a good path to move between the areas but Life Extinguisher was not able to put too much pressure on Feu Bleu because finally the enemy Paladin had made his entrance.

France's choice of healer was heavily criticised but they had no choice, for surprisingly, pro Clerics were not so popular in their country and the few who existed were not good enough for an international stage.

But Xiao Shiqin knew not to underestimate the tanky class and under the Paladin's protection it was difficult to attack Feu Bleu. He just had to hang on till Zhou Zekai decided to switch to his side.

The other battle was going rather well and Zhang Xinjie asked them to finish off the troublesome Assassin as quick as possible. But their Elementalist managed to get an opening and sent a few quick skills into their midst.

In the confusion the Assassin escaped but Zhang Xinjie was pleased to see Cloud Piercer immediately give chase.

Letting an Assassin run around in this thick jungle was a huge mistake. He quickly updated the chat for Xiao Shiqin's benefit before turning to support Boundless Sea and One Autumn Leaf.

Xiao Shiqin continued to attack steadily seeing that Cloud Piercer was on the move again. But a few minutes later there was still no sign of him and he shot a quick message in chat asking for his update.

The response that came was a simple "Coming"

Xiao Shiqin felt a bout of despair again.

This was what he had been afraid of.

He had no idea what Zhou Zekai was thinking or why Cloud Piercer wasn't here yet. He wouldn't be stupid enough to let the Assassin lead him too far away.

Xiao Shiqin tried to see if he could retreat but Feu Bleu and the Paladin naturally pressed forward.

Life Extinguisher had taken a bit of damage already and Xiao Shiqin knew if the opponents chose to get more aggressive he would be in a fix. He had tried to plant as many mines as possible but the presence of the summons rendered them almost ineffective as they set off the traps.

Xiao Shiqin was considering if he should request help from someone else, even though it was certainly a bad idea to upset their battle equilibrium when there was the sharp sound of gunfire and Cloud Piercing entered the clearing from the left side.

For a second Xiao Shiqin was confused by the strange position he had entered from.

Why would he have circled all around to get to that side?

But it had been quite unexpected for the other team too and Xiao Shiqin immediately made Life Extinguisher rush in to fight.

Xiao Shiqin was surprised to see Cloud Piercer had lost some health but now was not the time to figure out what he had been doing.

Life Extinguisher attacked the Paladin while Cloud Piercer fought Feu Bleu.

Xiao Shiqin finally got to use his mechanical traps again as the field was mostly clear of summons. But suddenly he saw Cloud Piercer pointing his guns right at Life Extinguisher.

It was a Barrett Snipe and the powerful bullet flew past Life Extinguisher and into the bushes.

Xiao Shiqin had no idea what was happening when he heard the sound of the bullet making contact.

What... just happened....

Outside the audience were going wild, for in the team match Zhou Zekai had drawn first blood as France's Assassin had been killed with a precise headshot.

The players on the field would have been confused but the viewers had been watching Cloud Piercer's chase from the start. The Assassin had attacked back at every opportunity and Cloud Piercer had also taken quite a bit of damage.

When Cloud Piercer had switched to join Life Extinguisher, the viewers were disappointed that he let the Assassin escape but he had finished their game in the end with quite a flashy final shot.

But Cloud Piercer looking away to make this shot had made an opening in his attacks on Feu Bleu.

The next second a Demon World Flowers exploded right in the middle and immediately threw out roots to bind them.

Life Extinguisher used a few skills in the hope of destroying the plant while Cloud Piercer continued to fire at the opponents. They had to do as much damage as possible before the sixth player came in.

Both sides did not seem to care about their health at all as they fought directly. In the middle of all the fighting, Xiao Shiqin remembered that they had still not captured the second vision zone and wondered if it had any purpose at all. As if the game had read his mind the screen suddenly turned dim.

For a second Xiao Shiqin wondered if it was something on his glasses, but he immediately realised that the entire map was slowly being consumed by darkness.

In short it was now nighttime.

The screen didn't turn completely black like how it was for a Blind skill, but as the light faded it was getting more difficult to see. Realising that this was the perfect opportunity for their opponents to retreat into the jungle if they chose to, Xiao Shiqin immediately asked Zhou Zekai to close in on Feu Bleu and attack him.

But at that moment the Paladin used a Taunt skill. Paladins had a skill similar to Provoke with a taunt time of 5 seconds but with the downside that they were only able to aggro the target and not attack back.

Cloud Piercer immediately locked onto the Paladin because of the Taunt. The next second, Cloud Piercer was dragged off into the forest as the Paladin turned tail and ran away.

Xiao Shiqin was too surprised by this sudden event, that he almost missed Feu Bleu retreating into the forest.

Life Extinguisher chased after the Summoner but slowed down as the darkness enveloped him completely.

This was the perfect place for a Summoner to set up a trap and Xiao Shiqin was careful enough this time. Life Extinguisher used Mechanical Seeker and as always the power of the AI could not be stopped even by the darkness and Feu Bleu was immediately found.

Life Extinguisher did not hesitate and used Air Compressor followed by Air Drops. Feu Bleu was blown away and his health plummeted under the vicious bombing.

At the same time there was a gunshot from close as Cloud Piercer and the Paladin tumbled into the area too.

Life Extinguisher immediately joined Cloud Piercer and the two began to attack the Paladin with everything they had.

The audience were surprised by this sudden switch in target. Everyone had expected Feu Bleu was their main target especially when he was the one with lesser health, but suddenly they wondered if China's plan had been the oldest one in the book all along - Take out the healer.

Looking at the other battle, it became clearer that getting the Paladin out would be very favorable.

As the other party were in the vicinity of the Vision Zone their fight had continued unhindered by the night mechanism.

Under Immovable Rock's protection, though Boundless Sea and One Autumn Leaf had taken substantial damage, they were still able to recover each time.

While the Berserker was happy to lose more health in the hope of activating his Berserk status, the Elementalist was not very comfortable with the situation. No healer at all would be a crucial blow for the French team.

All eyes were on the Paladin now who was being showered with a variety of bullets and skills.

Feu Bleu had been completely ignored but he started summoning and combining his spirits swiftly. To the audience's shock his entire spirit army did not go to the Paladin's rescue and only a Goblin was sent in to hurl rocks.

Was the French vice-captain going to let his teammate die though there was still a chance for escape?

The map was slowly becoming bright again as the night period had ended and China's gunners continued their unrelenting attack on the Paladin while ignoring the random attacks from the Goblin.

Suddenly Xiao Shiqin saw a text flash in the world chat from Nicholas Réux.

Well played

Life Extinguisher swung his camera around to face Feu Bleu and saw his wand glow as he activated a skill.

Spirit Sacrifice

Right now in the span of time he had been ignored, Feu Bleu had summoned an entire spirit army with every single spirit at maximum health.

As the damage blasted across the area, the health bar of both Life Extinguisher and Cloud Piercer dropped like crazy. The Paladin didn't send even a single attack as he disappeared into the forest.

Spirit Sacrifice from one of Glory's top summoners and that too at near optimum conditions - the damage did not disappoint at all as both the Gunner's health turned abysmal.

Though the audience were still in shock, the players were still clear-headed as Cloud Piercer used a Barrett Snipe which immediately took off a chunk of Feu Bleu's health. But it was immediately followed by Dual Load and a second Barret Snipe was fired even as Life Extinguisher fired a series of bullets.

Feu Bleu was almost dead too and everyone murmured this was rather overkill but then they fell silent as the first attack did not finish him off and the slightly delayed bullets from Life Extinguisher made contact to wipe off the last percentage of health.

Neither of China's gunners were aware of the applause being showered on them. Xiao Shiqin sent a message in chat informing about the low-heath Paladin who had escaped.

He then began to evaluate his options.

Spirit Sacrifice had nearly completed a one hit KO. They could reconvene with the other group and get healed. To circle around safely would be time consuming but to run across would be suicidal.

Suddenly he saw Cloud Piercer was already moving.

Xiao Shiqin immediately sent a text:

Where are you going?

The prompt reply surprised him

Sixth player. Launcher. Should block.

As Cloud Piercer disappeared, Xiao Shiqin stared at the screen numbly for a second before he followed him too.

It was not over till they were dead.

They were in no shape to actually put up a direct fight but there was no point in cowering back.

The point was not just to win but to play well.

Respect their opponents the same way they had respected them.

And so the two Gunner daredevils with their little health rushed towards the other match.

France's sixth player, a Launcher was finally approaching the main fight.

The night mechanism had troubled him as the terrain on their side was incredibly difficult to navigate in the poor light. As the light returned he had started sprinting forward decisively when out of the corner of his view, he saw a near dead Cloud Piercer running towards him.

The Launcher immediately started firing at him but Cloud Piercer rolled around in an ugly way before activating Random Firing. The attacks would have seemed pointless with his low health but only the Launcher could understand how annoying the situation was.

Meanwhile the Paladin had joined the team and Boundless Sea immediately locked onto him to take him out. But the Elementalist teleported to the Paladin's side to receive a heal from him and the two started to attack Boundless Sea.

The Paladin was almost dead though and played like a true tank as he used Halo Smash to defend the mage and then a direct Holy Light Strike at Boundless Sea. The healed Elementalist played with more vigour too but in the end Boundless Sea killed the Paladin at the cost of taking on a few attacks.

But it was clear Fang Rui's directness came only from the confidence that Immovable Rock was watching out for him.

The Berserker though was dealing a great deal of damage, and Zhang Xinjie quickly messaged them not to be stupid as he was not sure how quickly he could recover their health compared to the damage taken.

But at that moment a figure shot forward into the battle - Life Extinguisher, another near-dead character using Drill Attack to break through.

Zhang Xinjie hadn't expected this at all and was considering if he should provide a heal when he saw a simple message from Xiao Shiqin.

Ignore us

Zhang Xinjie had no confusion on who the "us" referred to.

Life Extinguisher activated Rocket Propeller and Amplifier and ran around throwing gadgets randomly - in short being a really annoying fly.

The enemy team was now focussed on Boundless Sea but Fang Rui had finally grown tired of his straight-forward ways and was back to his sneaky Thief like movements. One Autumn Leaf engaged the Berserker to his best to give Boundless Sea the opportunity to attack.

The French Launcher was in great distress though as Cloud Piercer was turning out to be that mosquito which just refused to die.

Finally giving up all hope of saving his skills he used Mounted Cannon to fire at Cloud Piercer until his icon turned grey.

Finally China had lost a player, and the Launcher didn't pause as he swiftly got to his team. But before he could launch a single attack, there was a small buzz as Life Extinguisher flew by on Rotor Wings and dropped in front of him.

The Launcher didn't know whether to laugh or cry as Life Extinguisher began to fight him.

But luckily this time he wasn't alone and the French Elementalist was much more decisive as she cast Lightning Hell.

It certainly was overkill this time as Life Extinguisher died on the first lighting bolt but the overjoyed Launcher immediately sent a Satellite Beam into the middle of the group.

The fight was now completely chaotic with all skills being thrown in for maximum damage.

By this time China's sixth player, Chu Yunxiu had already reached the area. Windy Rain's explosive attacks were just what China needed to turn the tables.

As Windy Rain's magic tore across the team, Sun Xiang's patience finally came through as he used a very well-timed Rising Dragon Soars the Sky to take out the Berserker in one hit.

Though One Autumn Leaf was at low health and he was now stuck in the ending animation, Windy Rain's quick crowd control moves prevented the remaining two players from attacking.

The Launcher and Elementalist fought valiantly till the end. But the presence of a healer made all their attempts worthless and with a Blizzard, Windy Rain killed them off.

Victory

As Xiao Shiqin left the booth he felt slightly dazed by the vibrant noise from the audience. He immediately looked to the right and flashed a smile at Zhou Zekai who grinned back.

In the end the they were the only characters who had died, but it did seem oddly satisfying.

The French team were a rather good-humoured lot though and were more than happy to shake hands and express their appreciation.

In a mixture of broken English and French, Nicholas Réux expressed his praise for Xiao Shiqin.

Xiao Shiqin smiled and praised him back quite sincerely. In the end there had been a lot of luck involved and Xiao Shiqin was humble enough to admit that he had never felt that the battle was fully within his control.

"You and Cloud Piercer, never on same team, right?" asked Nicholas Réux suddenly.

"Um, what? Oh... No. Different home team. Why?" Xiao Shiqin was surprised when Nicholas Réux smiled.

"Watch match" he said in a low voice before moving down the line to shake hands.

After that Xiao Shiqin immediately dragged Zhou Zekai with him to the training room and began to watch the match video.

Xiao Shiqin's expression changed as he realised how there had been so much more going on than he had realised.

Watching the match from the overall view confirmed that China was not the only one implementing the Modified Box strategy.

France had planned the same move but in their case with the Assassin as the player to switch between boxes.

Whether Zhou Zekai had figured this out or not was impossible to discern, but it made his initial one on one with the Assassin all the more significant.

Cloud Piercer had taken damage not just from the Assassin but also from a Demon World Flower, and Xiao Shiqin finally understood why Feu Bleu was not able to use that skill in his early fight with Life Extinguisher.

The Assassin's pathing suggested a plan of circling behind Life Extinguisher to use Life Risking Strike on him. But Cloud Piercer refused to be shaken off until Xiao Shiqin had called out for him.

It would have appeared to many that Cloud Piercer had made a mistake of not continuing to chase the low health Assassin and instead running to assist Life Extinguisher, but Xiao Shiqin could see it was the other way around as the health that remained was exactly what could be taken out by a powerful Sharpshooter skill.

"You could have just told me he was coming instead of chasing him like that.... " said Xiao Shiqin with a chuckle.

"You were busy with two players already... " said Zhou Zekai and after hesitating for a bit he added "Would be distracting. Also you were nervous."

Xiao Shiqin didn't argue because he knew this was true. Hearing that an Assassin was on the loose right behind him would have definitely diverted his attention.

Xiao Shiqin then watched each of the fights after that and began to see how Cloud Piercer had covered up for Life Extinguisher.

They hadn't communicated much, as Xiao Shiqin thought it would only increase his nervousness if he did not get any response, but Zhou Zekai had coordinated perfectly through his actions.

There were no openings at all in their unified attack on the Paladin and Xiao Shiqin realised that it was probably helplessness that had made Nicholas Réux use Spirit Sacrifice as a last resort to save their healer.

As the video came to an end Xiao Shiqin sat back and smiled.

"Thanks.... " he said and looked at Zhou Zekai unsure of how he would explain the feeling of gratitude if he was asked to.

"Welcome" said Zhou Zekai amicably with a smile "We can coordinate with you too."

In that moment Xiao Shiqin felt a huge burden disappear.

He had forgotten the most important thing in his goal to make a perfect plan and manage the team.

The responsibility of coordinating was not his alone but that of each player in the team.

Anxiousness and nervousness had made him think the entire thing was on his head, but he suddenly realised that there had never been a need to compare himself with the other tacticians.

It didn't matter how different their strategies were. While it was their duty to convey it to the team, it was still down to each player to adapt to their style.

In today's match Zhou Zekai had proved exactly that by adapting to Xiao Shiqin.

"Hey... you want to get something to eat?" said Xiao Shiqin with a hesitant smile "It's ok if you have plans with ...."

"No. I don't." said Zhou Zekai immediately.

"Oh... then great. Zhang Jiale mentioned there are some other must try sweets -" Xiao Shiqin started laughing as he saw Zhou Zekai's face light up.

"Your treat?" asked Zhou Zekai.

"Weren't you the MVP though?" asked Xiao Shiqin with a sly smile.

"Yes. But I died first." came the straight-faced reply "I need cheering up now."

Xiao Shiqin laughed and he nodded his head.

"Yeah... My treat! Let's go!"