[FLOTG] Chapter 28: Entrance Test

Inside the office of the captain of Primo Wolf, a skinny boy stared intently at the screen. When he saw an unfamiliar assassin suddenly appear, he turned to look blankly at his captain standing behind him.

Guan He's expression was stern. "Concentrate."

Shi Yi's eyes were a little red. He had joined Primo Wolf at 16 years old, and Guan He had always watched out for him. On his very first year in the team, Guan He had already taken him to the professional leagues and had given him the best resources in the team, but he had continued to disappoint Guan He.

Flickering Heaven's Wrath to smite the martial god; Sacrificing the holy priest to Arena's random draw.

It was like an endless joke constantly mocking his incompetence.

When his teammate's fists had slammed into him, he hadn't even had the will to resist. He had made too many mistakes that a pro player shouldn't have, so there was nothing he could say even if he were to be fired from the team. Still, despite all of this, Guan He had still believed in him and had even given him the chance to go to another pro team. If the top management of the team found out about this, Guan He would not be able to escape censure.

Shi Yi did not dare to pursue the thought any further. He took a deep breath and clenched and unclenched his fists.

He knew an opportunity like this wasn't easy to come by — there was no room for the slightest mistake.

On the Arena stage, both sides were ready. The moment the match began, the assassin activated Sprint and charged towards the opponent's spawn point. He moved and attacked so swiftly that Shi Yi was struck twice as soon as he left the safe zone.

Everyone was taken aback. They all knew that Shen Huai always played very casually at the start while he was still at full health, sometimes even purposefully making errors in his positioning so that his HP would drop faster, but this time, he didn't bother waiting till he was HP-Critical, deciding to go all out at full health?

Shi Yi was taken aback by this aggressive attack as well. He even thought at one point that it wasn't an assassin charging at him but a tanky berserker instead.

However, Shen Huai's assassin had very low attack while at full HP and was also unable to trigger the control effect of Soul Steal. Once Shi Yi realised that, he quickly unleashed "Power of Nature". Two vines burst out from the ground beneath Shen Huai's feet, and Shi Yi fired off a "Thunderbolt".

This skill would deal additional damage if its target was trapped in an array, but Shen Huai wasn't tangled up by the vines at all. With a nimble sidestep, he dodged both skills, and in a flash he caught up with the elementalist and began throwing skill after skill at the other.

After being chased around and hacked at for a good long while, Shi Yi finally realised that he was up against a master and begun casting his skills with even greater care. Meanwhile, Shen Huai also realised that his damage at full health was just too low, and so he quickly calculated the damage required and let Shi Yi hit him so that his HP would drop below 10%.

When Shen Huai's screen began flashing red in warning, he immediately activated Stealth and made his way behind Shi Yi. The dagger in Shen Huai's hand stabbed down, but as if he had eyes at the back of his head, Shi Yi quickly used Arcane Flicker to move 10 metres away.

Shen Huai's heart clenched, but he reacted very swiftly. He activated an instant movement skill as well to appear right beside Shi Yi, just barely managing to land his Soul Steal attack.

After that, the stage was entirely Shen Huai's. Once he managed to trigger the first Stealth-led combo, he was pretty much unstoppable.

What surprised him though was that even under these circumstances, Shi Yi still managed to force out Shen Huai's "Salvation" talent to block a potentially fatal blow. If this were a true Arena fight, even if Shen Huai had won this round, he would be swiftly dispatched in the following round without the protection of Salvation. In that sense, it could be said that Shi Yi would not have caused his team any disadvantage with his performance.

Shi Yi looked at the black and white screen before him, and his eyes slowly turned red.

He had lost. He had lost to a random, unknown assassin. Maple Moon definitely wouldn't want him now. He had even lost this final chance he had been given.

"Captain, I..." His voice was a little choked as he stood up, slight tremors shaking his thin frame.

Guan He did not say anything, but then his phone rang and he picked up the call. "Hn, okay...that's fine."

After that simple exchange, Guan He put his phone away. "You should terminate your contract with Primo Wolf."

Shi Yi's tears welled up, and then Guan He said, "Song Xue-Yang has agreed to sign you on."

The youth's irises contracted in shock, and it took a while for him to register what Guan He had said. His tears could no longer be held back. "Captain, thank you."

He must have struck the jackpot to have met such a good captain. If at all possible, he really didn't want to leave Primo Wolf or Guan He. But he understood that Guan He had did all this so he would have a better path, so that he could stand on the professional stage again one day.

Guan He saw how hard he was crying, and could only pat him on the shoulder to comfort him, saying, "Maple Moon's line-up is very strong this year, and with Song Xue-Yang's tactical command, as long as you can overcome your own mental block, getting into the world finals will be no problem."

Only the top teams of the participating countries got to play in the world finals. It was the dream of every professional player to show off their skills on the world stage.

Shi Yi's two major blunders both occurred in domestic tournaments, so Primo Wolf naturally had not included him in the roster for the world finals. Shi Yi had long given up hope on competing in the world competitions.

But now, he had another chance. Shi Yi made a solemn promise to himself. This time, he would definitely conquer himself and live up to Guan He's expectations of him.

The youth's chest was raised up high, but then his head drooped as he thought of something. "H-how much do I have to pay for the breach of contract?"

Guan He had calculated it in advance. "Ten million."

Ten million...QAQ

Even though he had been mentally prepared for this, Shi Yi was still shocked by the number.

Ten million...wasn't that about the amount a regular player on the first string would pay to break their contract? He was a player on the second team and he wasn't even a substitute, so why did he have to pay that much for his contract termination?

Guan He noticed his confusion. "You may not be an official first team member, but you're very popular."

Shi Yi: "..."

That's right, Flickering Heaven's Wrath to smite the martial god... Who could be more "popular" than him? Half of his income on live-streams even came from rotten eggs thrown by the netizens...

Seeing how Shi Yi wilted, Guan He told him, "Song Xue-Yang will pay the penalty for you."

Shi Yi could hardly believe his ears.

"But he told me to tell you that you will be responsible for the live-streams, endorsements, and publicity work for two people, and the income from all this will go to the team."

Shi Yi: "..."

Yeah, that sounds more like the style of the old fox of the league.

The training room of Maple Moon was absolutely silent. Hai Xing felt his face burning — he hadn't even lasted for two minutes while Shen Huai had taken care of the elementalist in mere minutes.

Zhou Ning also felt a little sheepish. Hai Xing could at least blame part of his defeat on class disadvantage, but for his swordsman to be kited was really rather shameful. Still, seeing Hai Xing so ashamed, he suddenly didn't feel so bad.

Those who did not know better would think that Song Xue-Yang was a harsh taskmaster, since he was the type to have needles hidden beneath his kindly soft exterior{绵里藏针: An idiomatic expression was used here which literally translates to "hiding needles within a sponge". Basically, someone/something which looks deceptively soft and harmless but is actually quite prickly and dangerous.}. But, in truth, Song Xue-Yang never blames his teammates, and even the team's post-match review sessions were not as tense as those in other teams.

"It's ok to lose to a teammate, just don't make the same mistake again on the field."

Hai Xing nodded solemnly, while Fan Jing-Ming instantly latched onto the key point. "Teammate? So this Arena spar was to test a new team member?"

Before Song Xue-Yang could say anything, a flurry of footsteps suddenly rang out from the corridor. The footsteps sounded very flustered, as if the runner had zombies chasing after him, and then it seemed like they kicked something, for there was a loud collision.

The door to the training room was flung open, and the team manager charged in, eyes wide and round. His gaze scanned the room rapidly and then he zoomed like an arrow straight for Shen Huai. "You're really Ash Wing?!"

The group: "..."

So he had been so snarky all this time because he really hadn't believed it...

Shen Huai was composed, nodding calmly in response.

The manager took a deep breath. "I'm a fan of yours! Please give me an autograph! Pen, pen, pen, pen! Boys, give me a pen!"

He was zipping around like a fly which had been swatted.

Hai Xing muttered, "There are only mice or keyboards around. We don't use pens here."

The manager was overwhelmed with excitement. As a faithful assassin player, the name Ash Wing was equivalent to God in a believer's eyes! How many nearly-sleepless nights had he had fanboy-ing over Ash Wing's razor sharp operations? Even when he finally slept, his dreams were of meeting Ash Wing.

Who-would-have-thought?!

Like a dream come true{真是瞌睡来了送枕头: The original here is a very cute saying — "Sending a pillow when one starts feeling sleepy" — but it was a little awkward in context, hence the change.}, Song Xue-Yang had actually pulled Ash Wing into the team!

The manager was so happy he was almost incoherent. He raised his hand and was about to bite down on his finger. "You can just sign with my hand!"

Luckily, Song Xue-Yang stepped in in time to stop this bloody development. He grabbed hold of the manager's wrist. "Kun, you're acting like a crazy fan right now."

This calmed the manager down a little, enough for him to slap Song Xue-Yang on the back. "Song Xue-Yang did a good job with recruitment this time. Ash Wing, no, no, Shen Huai, come to the office tomorrow to sign the contract."

"So soon?" Even in the entertainment industry, things didn't move this fast.

"Of course, of course," said the manager, face glowing, "We are always very efficient here in Maple Moon."

Hai Xing scoffed internally. I think you're all just afraid that Ash Wing will change his mind!

"And that elementalist just now. Able to fight like that against Ash Wing, he also qualifies."

Song Xue-Yang grinned and nodded, never once mentioning that the elementalist was Shi Yi.

The manager just couldn't stop smiling. "Good, good, now we're only one member short. Xue-Yang, have you thought about it?"

"I plan to pick someone from the training camp."

"Okay, okay." The manager was even happier when he heard this. "If you didn't choose anyone at all from the training camp, I would have had a difficult time explaining things to the higher ups."

Song Xue-Yang gave him a look which said "don't worry".

The manager was delighted, and he looked at Shen Huai as if Shen Huai were the God of Wealth who had only been successfully invited in after multiple pleas and prayers. "Oh, Shen Huai, there's an entry test for our team, used to classify players. Don't worry, it isn't difficult. With your skills, you'll definitely pass it with flying colours."

Shen Huai nodded. He was already halfway through joining the team, but rules were rules.

However, the test wasn't at all as simple as the manager had implied!

The game used for the test was not "City of Despair", but was obviously a customised minigame specially commissioned by the club. In spite of the almost unbearably simplistic background and special effects, the difficulty of the game was nothing to scoff at.

There were dangerous traps everywhere and Boss skills which challenged the player's movement and positioning skills. Even more annoyingly, in contrast with the Boss and its magnificent full-screen attacks, the character the player controlled only had one skill ― Water Gun Spray.

Hmph, you could tell it was useless just from its name.

Shen Huai passed the first level with great effort, and then the second level was completely different from the first. A frog squatted on a large expanse of blue ocean, amidst a sea of lotus leaves which were rapidly receding with the turbulent waves.

The gameplay was similar to the minigames used in primary school computer classes to teach typing. Only by pressing on the correct key as designated on a lotus leaf would the frog leap onto that leaf. Meanwhile, the water was flowing very quickly, and the indicators on the lotus leaves were in light red font, looking like tiny red dots on a light green background. As he played, Shen Huai wondered if this level was testing his hand speed or testing whether he was colour blind.

By the time he reached the third level, Shen Huai felt like he could still see specks of red and green floating before his eyes.

In this level, the character controlled by the player stood on a swing and had to jump to the next swing by accumulating power on the swing. The way the level was designed was insane — just the slightest error would result in the character falling off the swing, and most importantly, the character would have to start over from the very first swing no matter where they fell off.

Since there was no limit on the number of times the character could be resurrected, the criterion for assessment in this level was clearly time.

Although Shen Huai wasn't very articulate, he had a good temper and was very patient. He was able to quickly regain his mental balance every time he fell off the swing, gaining experience from each failure to figure out how to clear the level.

The manager who was observing from another room was dumbfounded. This assessment game could be said to be the culmination of the efforts of all the club's predecessors and was used in the testing for all the various project teams within the club. He had seen many people break out cursing out of sheer frustration at the test, especially at the third level, where there were even those who had completely lost patience and smashed their keyboard.

However, Shen Huai played steadily from start to finish without displaying any signs of impatience. After failing, he could swiftly stand up again to take stock of his experience, and he never let down his guard even after clearing a level. This composed demeanour reminded the manager of the first man who had come out of the novice training camp with a score of 3S.

He looked at Song Xue-Yang, who was smiling brightly where he stood beside him, and then turned to glance at the screen at Shen Huai, who was expressionlessly waiting for his test results.

They were both monsters.

Shen Huai's results were out soon, and it was without any surprise that the second 3S scorer in Maple Moon club history was born.

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Previous: Chapter 27: Returning to the Team
Next: Chapter 29: Contract

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