Chapter 151

Playing practice matches is a daily part of a professional team’s life. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many professional teams play one or two practice matches almost every day unless there are special circumstances or the opponent cancels unexpectedly.

DSG’s training intensity ranks among the top in the league. Practice matches are routine for them, and they often arrange matches with top teams from other regions. Each region has different patch update times, but they generally only play against strong teams.

REAL has indeed grown rapidly and has become a dark horse not to be ignored in the Spring Split.

Playing practice matches with REAL is quite normal.

However, DSG’s players feel somewhat uneasy about it.

It’s not about the practice matches themselves, but rather about Mo Yin’s livestream that day.

Although they are teammates with Mo Yin, their communication with him is very limited in normal circumstances. Simply put, it’s limited to in-game communication and post-game analysis. Mo Yin is also quiet; their coaches are competent and have a strong understanding of operations and lane control. They don’t need Mo Yin to say much, so they rarely hear him speak in the base. In-game interactions are similar; even as teammates, Mo Yin doesn’t interact much with others.

In the training room, players occasionally glance at the person sitting in the corner.

Mo Yin is dressed in a loose black T-shirt and black sport pants, looking very relaxed.

In terms of clothing, Mo Yin doesn’t have the demeanor of a rich young man; he usually just wears team uniforms or sports clothes provided by sponsors, which makes him very approachable.

Why does he seem so unapproachable, making people dare not “act rashly”?

The day Tang Qi went out with Chen Dong and asked him for half a day, asking what happened that day.

Chen Dong helplessly said, “What else could it be? He’s a bit odd.”

Chen Dong unabashedly criticized his captain in front of others. Tang Qi, like him, is also a senior fan of Mo Yin and immediately agreed, “He does seem a bit eccentric. I just don’t understand why MY would bother with him.”

Chen Dong: “I don’t understand either.”

No one understands, and no one dares to ask.

Tang Qi quietly sized up Mo Yin. Mo Yin looked no different from usual, with headphones around his neck and an expressionless face.

It’s REAL’s first time playing practice matches with DSG, so they are both nervous and excited.

After all, they were just recently severely beaten.

The players are particularly focused and serious about tonight’s practice matches.

Opportunities like this are rare; if they want to meet DSG again, it’ll have to be in the playoffs.

To meet DSG in the playoffs, they need the strength to contend for the championship.

Given their current momentum, it’s not just a fantasy.

“How about today’s draft?”

Since it’s not an official match, communication is relatively relaxed. Chen Dong, who is responsible for lightening the atmosphere within the team, took the initiative: “Madman, it mainly depends on you. We don’t have as much pressure as you do.”

Ye Chi smiled, “Then let’s focus on protecting mid lane with a 4-protect-1 strategy today.”

“Damn you.”

The players laughed; practice matches are indeed less stressful than actual matches.

“Let’s be serious. Opportunities like this are rare,” the coach grabbed Ye Chi’s chair with one hand and Chen Dong’s with the other. “Do you know how difficult it is to arrange a practice match with DSG?”

“Coach, rest assured, we will definitely play seriously. Brothers, right?” Chen Dong said.

“Of course.”

“When have we not taken practice matches seriously?”

“Don’t worry, Coach. By the way, Coach, how did you arrange this practice match? Are you very familiar with the opposing coach and team leader?”

“How did I arrange it? It’s all about my reputation,” the coach patted his face. “You just need a thick skin.”

The group burst into laughter again.

Chen Dong was tired of laughing, took a sip of milk tea, and said, “Coach, seriously, I’m curious. Tell us the specific process.”

“What process could there be? Did I submit an application to the United Nations? It’s just contacting their coach to arrange a practice match. But DSG’s coach is quite amusing; at first, he replied that he needed to hear their players’ opinions first.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Chi turned his head and looked at the coach.

The coach continued with a triumphant expression, “I’ve heard that MY has a lot of say in DSG, but I didn’t expect him to have a say in practice matches too. At first, I was a bit worried that Ye Chi’s previous incident in the rankings might offend them…”

Ye Chi raised his hand, “Wait, I offended them?”

“Don’t interrupt.”

The coach pressed his hand down and continued, “Later, their coach replied that it was okay, what does that mean? It means they’re magnanimous and didn’t take that incident to heart.”

Ye Chi: “Can I speak now?”

“Go ahead, say whatever,” the coach said. “You were trending on social media for talking nonsense in ranked matches.”

Ye Chi: “…”

He still felt quite wrong.

The coach patted the chairs of both players, “Five minutes, prepare for the practice match.”

The coach walked away first, and Chen Dong pulled Ye Chi’s chair, “Hey, Madman, does the coach mean that Mai Bao personally approved our practice match?”

“Mai Bao again?” Ye Chi sat back down. “You guys fans have really gotten me into trouble.”

Chen Dong retorted, “It’s a blessing in disguise for you. Don’t play innocent after benefiting from it.”

Sun Yuanyang chimed in, “Exactly.”

Ye Chi shook his head, looking helpless, but there was a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth and eyes.

Was Mo Yin willing to play practice matches with them a form of recognition?

The practice match officially began.

Compared to a month ago, REAL had grown significantly as a team, not just in gaming skills but also in mentality.

To say they weren’t nervous facing DSG for the first time would be bragging. It’s normal to feel afraid of losing against such a dominant team. Fortunately, they had experienced it once already, and the fear had diminished now that it was grounded in reality.

The coach discussed with them whether to test early-game compositions against DSG or focus on late-game strategies to enhance their operational capabilities. They had been outperformed by DSG in both aspects during their last match.

In the end, the players unanimously chose the latter.

Having the opportunity to schedule a practice match with DSG was rare. While it was fun to brawl like brutes, they needed to explore the possibility of winning for their ultimate goal.

After deciding on the draft, the players logged into the game.

Despite being a routine practice match, everyone involuntarily held their breath.

Nervous, yet unafraid—this was the urgency born of seriousness and focus.

Since their last collision, for reasons unknown, perhaps simply due to bad luck, Ye Chi hadn’t encountered Mo Yin again in ranked matches.

When their IDs appeared in the same room, Ye Chi felt his heart beat slightly faster.

Finally, they were laning against each other again.

In the mid lane, two mages with similar styles faced off.

Ye Chi was fully focused, extremely concentrated.

He responded wholeheartedly to every move and skill Mo Yin made.

Compared to their last matchup in the mid lane, Ye Chi felt less suffocated this time.

Mo Yin was still as strong, his laning ability terrifying. It was Ye Chi who had improved—his reactions were faster, his thinking more strategic, and managing health and farming were no longer as challenging.

Feeling his own improvement, Ye Chi felt a rush of heat, unusually excited. This excitement boosted his performance even further.

Mo Yin also noticed that Ye Chi had improved since their last match.

The system commented from the sidelines, “Every battle with you helps the protagonist learn and improve, making them stronger.”

Mo Yin smirked slightly, “That’s good. I like killing strong opponents.”

With this thought in mind, the mage focused on farming suddenly launched an aggressive attack, diving under the tower to catch the opponent off guard and secure a solo kill. With just a sliver of health left, he elegantly retreated into the brush and recalled.

System: “…”

Ye Chi, staring at the black screen, was stunned.

Teammates asked him what was wrong.

Ye Chi said, “Nothing, just got a kill. The minion wave is good.”

He smiled and added, “But there’s still room for improvement in my mechanics.”

“Don’t rush, it’s okay. We’re doing fine now. Hold on, just get through the next thirty minutes.”

Ye Chi gave it his all in this match. He felt he had improved, but whether Mo Yin was genuinely annoyed because of their last ranked match encounter, Ye Chi only felt immense pressure during their last encounter. In today’s practice match, Mo Yin seemed eager to dive on him at every opportunity, making the match intense and bloody.

The two of them caused quite a lot of casualties in the lane, all of them Ye Chi’s.

Later, their teammates also got involved, coming to mid lane to turn the tide, causing chaos with both top and bottom lanes converging into a huge skirmish in mid lane. The situation completely spun out of control, and they couldn’t hold out for thirty minutes in the end.

After the practice match ended, everyone couldn’t help but laugh.

“Madman, 6-13-21, this performance, you don’t usually see that.”

“MY must have killed you at least seven times. I get it now, DSG agreed to the practice match just to vent, right?”

“Pah, pah, pah, McPet wouldn’t hold onto that incident for so long. How thick-skinned do you think he is?”

“Don’t say that seriously don’t say that. This practice match was quite exhilarating. We managed our early game and had a blast in the fights later on. I just wonder if we’ll have a chance for a second round.”

“A second round?”

The coach burst in and started scolding them.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to manage properly and seek the possibility of winning? Huh? Are you kidding me? You can’t just go wild like that in mid lane skirmishes. I think you guys have lost your minds.”

Ye Chi raised both hands in surrender, “My bad, it’s all my fault.”

The coach pointed at him, “What’s wrong with you? You died so many times in mid lane. Are you practicing reincarnation there?”

Teammates laughed, and Ye Chi smiled wryly, “Coach, I’m not kidding. Every time I died, it was really frustrating.”

“Mo Bao’s out for blood,” Chen Dong chuckled. “With Madman’s current level, he still can’t escape brutal massacres.”

The coach said, “With you guys playing like this, how can I face them for a second match?”

“It’s not our fault. Didn’t they also get all hyped up?”

“I’ll ‘hype’ you up—”

DSG’s base was unusually quiet.

Quiet to the point of being eerie.

During the frequent kills in mid lane, the players were somewhat surprised.

Mo Yin wasn’t the type to have a particularly strong killer instinct in games. He aimed to win and didn’t obsess over kills. It was rare to see him soak up so much damage in mid lane skirmishes, caring little about minion kills—this was the same MY who would frown at missing even one minion!

What surprised them even more was the chaotic mid lane skirmish that followed.

They had played dozens of practice matches, none of which had ended like this.

Though it was quite thrilling… it got them all hyped up. It was rare for the training room to be filled with such lively cheers. However, after the practice match ended, it felt a bit awkward.

Such scenes were rare in the training room.

Mo Yin took off his headphones, glanced at the defeat screen where a certain negative record was displayed, grabbed his water bottle, and stood up.

“Good job.”

The teammates stared at the training room door in unison, puzzled.

Did they hear correctly?

Was Mo Yin just talking to them?!

Members of the REAL team cleaned up after the practice match and dispersed. Ye Chi went to the balcony to make a phone call.

“When gaming, talk business if there’s any, otherwise, hang up,” the person on the other end impatiently said.

Ye Chi didn’t waste words either. “Is your base close to DSG’s base?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you think if I came to your base to find you and accidentally went to DSG’s base instead, is that a possibility?”

“…”

The person on the phone was ADT’s jungler, nicknamed Dreaming, also known as Junming, the jungler who informed Ye Chi to come back quickly last time when he was making noodles during their collision with Mo Yin.

Dreaming was silent for half a minute. “Unless you’re an idiot.”

“I can be.”

“…”

“Okay, it’s settled then,” Ye Chi said with a faint smile as he looked at the sunset on the horizon. “I’ll come find you tomorrow night. If I get lost, I’ll call you.”