1605 An Undeserving Pay

"Du Ming's in really good condition today. Be careful," Ye Xiu said to Fang Rui.

"In better condition than me?" Fang Rui scoffed.

"Haha," Ye Xiu laughed.

"What's 'haha' supposed to mean!" Fang Rui could feel the disdain from Ye Xiu's laugh.

"You're getting paid the most out of all of us. Please," Ye Xiu said.

"Peh!" Fang Rui wasn't going to fall for Ye Xiu's trap. He turned around and headed towards the stage.

However, his actions didn't match his thoughts. Ye Xiu wasn't wrong. He was the highest-paid player on Happy, and it wasn't even close. But ever since the playoffs began, what had he been able to accomplish?

He hadn't been completely useless, of course, but not being completely useless wasn't really deserving of having the highest pay on the team. 

The core player on the team was usually the highest paid player. Fang Rui knew that he wasn't the core. Even so, he should at least be a deciding factor in the matches to correspond with that pay.

But what had he been able to do thus far?　

He had only been a bit of use in the playoffs. Wei Chen, who was practically a dying grandpa in the pro scene, had more highlights than him. There was also Luo Ji, a college student who barely even played in the regular season. All of them had made plays that had won the team the game.

As for him?

He couldn't compare with Ye Xiu, fine. But not being able to compare with a young rookie and an elderly grandpa? What's going on?

Fang Rui asked himself. In particular, in their third and final game against Tyranny, he had been carried by his teammates to victory. He had been extremely unhappy with his performance. He had been hoping to redeem himself against Samsara. In their first game against Samsara, he had been Happy's third player in the group arena. In the end, he had lost to Sun Xiang, who had been Samsara's third player as well. In the team competition, he continued to perform like he was just a placeholder in the team. The deepest impression that people got from him that match was when he was killed.

What am I doing?

He had repeatedly underperformed during the playoffs. Fang Rui felt like he should have already lost his position. However, Fang Rui continued to send him up. The team's trust in him only made him feel more pressured.

I have to change! What do I need to do?

Fang Rui said to himself as he came across Su Mucheng.

"Be careful. He's in really good condition today," Su Mucheng said to him.

"Fuck, are you two colluding?" Fang Rui replied.

"What?" Su Mucheng was a bit confused, but quickly realized that someone must have said something similar to Fang Rui, and she knew who that someone was.

"As if there was any need to collude," Su Mucheng chuckled.

Fang Rui was speechless.

True. It was pretty obvious that Du Ming was playing really well today. How could Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng not be able to tell? The two were just reminding him and also worrying for him.

"Relax," Fang Rui smiled at Su Mucheng, "I, Fang Rui, am worthy of my name!"

"Haha," Su Mucheng laughed.

"Haha, what haha. You're becoming more and more like him, you know that?" Fang Rui cursed.

"Good luck!" Su Mucheng didn't bother bickering with Fang Rui.

"Do you mind grabbing me some hot water? I'm going to need a drink after I beat him," Fang Rui waved his arms. Then, he turned around and continued to walk towards the stage.

He entered the player booth, sucked in a deep breath, swiped his account card, and loaded into the game.

The seventh round of the group arena. Happy's fourth player, Fang Rui, versus Samsara's fourth player, Du Ming.　

"Don't block my way!!" As soon as the match began, Fang Rui immediately yelled out into the chat.

"Don't block my way!" Du Ming wasn't going to be outdone. Moon Luring Frost rushed out.

"Come!" Fang Rui shouted. Boundless Sea ran around in a circle twice and then crouched down, hiding behind the closest stalagmite.

The crowd went into an uproar.

That was the Fang Rui that everyone knew. Saying such bravado and doing something else wasn't a feat that just anyone could accomplish.

Du Ming's Moon Luring Frost didn't use the terrain to hide himself as he moved this time. He went straight for the center of the map. As for Fang Rui's Boundless Sea, he just crouched down behind a stalagmite as if he were bored to death. From time to time, he would type into the chat: "Are you here yet?"

"Why are you so slow?"

It had been such an intense match so far, but now that the lazy Fang Rui had come, it was like an eggplant wilting from the frost. The Samsara fans felt like their energy was being sapped. Fang Rui had completely ruined the tense atmosphere in the stadium. The peak-level match had suddenly turned into an in-game 1v1 in the Glory Arena.

"I'm here. Where are you?" After Du Ming's Moon Luring Frost reached the center of the map, he replied in the chat. It looked like he was quite familiar with Fang Rui's personality. You could never believe Fang Rui's words. Moon Luring Frost looked around and then continued forward towards Happy's spawn point.

"I'm too tired to move. I'm waiting at the spawn point!" Fang Rui replied.

"Just wait there, so I can hurry up and finish this," Du Ming said. Moon Luring Frost continued to push forward. However, this time, he didn't move in a straight line. Instead, he did the same as when he played against Su Mucheng. He chose to use the terrain to move around covertly.

"If you're in such a hurry, why not just GG?" Fang Rui asked.

The crowd went in an uproar again. Enough of this bullshit. Can't you be more serious? A lot of people didn't like how unprofessional Fang Rui was. Samsara started mass booing for the first time, all towards Fang Rui.

Fang Rui couldn't hear them. He continued to talk nonsense. On the other hand, Du Ming's Moon Luring Frost was getting closer and closer. But because Fang Rui hadn't done anything since the start of the fight, Du Ming had no way of knowing where Fang Rui was. Was Boundless Sea hiding behind one of these stalagmites?

Du Ming didn't move rashly. The home team players knew better than the away team players on how to use the map. Moon Lure Frost quietly moved towards a stalagmite. He didn't overlook the possibility that Boundless Sea would happen to be hiding behind it. As a result, he put up his guard as he charged towards it.

There was no one there.

His lightsaber, Lingering Ice, hit nothing but air. Du Ming wasn't concerned. He went towards this stalagmite and suddenly jumped.

One jump, two jumps, three jumps, four jumps.

He went up and down four times before finally reaching the top of the stalagmite.

But it wasn't like the stalagmite was that tall. If he couldn't see anyone before, he still wouldn't be able to see anyone.

Du Ming's Moon Luring Frost didn't even look around. He stared straight at another stalagmite that was closeby.

Jump!

Moon Luring Frost jumped towards that stalagmite.