1730 Side Story: The Expectations of the Mediocre (1)

In S City.

Winter had just begun, but the temperature had already plummeted. In the past, snow would only fall around January, but now that winter had just arrived, it began to fall in S City. The citizens welcomed this rare early snow with excitement, but Team Samsara, who had made S City their home ground, felt the chill of this season along with their supporters.

In the Fourth Glory Alliance Competition Season, the sixth round of the competition had just ended yesterday. Team Samsara’s poor performance continued in this round. Since they obtained too few points, the ESports Weekly even used humiliating words like “consecutive defeats” to report their performance. However, even if it was humiliating, Samsara wasn’t able to get many pages in the reports. After a great deal of exciting and detailed content filled up most of the pages, Samsara’s captain, Zhang Yiwei, who was eating breakfast, finally found Samsara’s name in the thin “other competition news” section. Then, he saw the phrase “consecutive defeats” and was so angry that he immediately threw the newspaper to the side.

Fang Minghua, who was sitting next to him and also eating breakfast, could not help but glance at the newspaper. The headlines on the front page quickly attracted his attention.

“With 57 points in six matches, Tyranny has ushered in the best start in history. Zhang Xinjie, the rookie who seems the least like a rookie, is still playing steadily and efficiently. In the match, he demonstrated effective healing that was double that of his opponent… Double! Oh my god!” Fang Minghua read the headlines of this season and was quickly amazed by the tiny bit of information that was revealed. When he looked at his captain Zhang Yiwei, he saw that the other party didn’t react. Thinking that Zhang Yiwei hadn’t heard him clearly, he immediately emphasized again, “It’s an effective healing!”

The so-called “effective healing” referred to the healing effect that could truly replenish one’s health. After all, even if a character was at full health, all sorts of healing skills could still be used on the character and produce effects. However, the amount of healing that could be generated or the amount of extra healing that was generated under such circumstances would not be counted in the “effective healing” statistic. Furthermore, this technical statistic was an important criterion to measure a healer’s strength. Fang Minghua cared so much because he was also a healer.

“What are you screaming for!” Zhang Yiwei rolled up the newspaper and lightly knocked Fang Minghua’s head.

“That’s our opponent. The two of you are in the same batch and are in the same position. You…do your best!” Zhang Yiwei originally wanted to compare Fang Minghua and Zhang Xinjie to teach Fang Minghua a lesson, but when the words reached his mouth, he couldn’t find any words. In the end, the lesson turned into an encouragement. Although Fang Minghua wasn’t that eye-catching, Zhang Yiwei couldn’t find any fault with him.

The rookie that seemed the least like a rookie? Zhang Yiwei felt that Fang Minghua was suitable for the comment that the media gave Zhang Xinjie. Rookies were often nervous. They weren’t used to the intensity of matches, didn’t know how to adjust their pace, or were too excited. He had never seen Fang Minghua acting like a rookie before. Fang Minghua had become Samsara’s main healer as soon as he arrived. Even though he didn’t have the same overwhelming healing stats as Zhang Xinjie, he wasn’t a burden either. He was completely qualified to be Team Samsara’s healer.

As for not being so outstanding and not so flashy, Zhang Yiwei couldn’t use these as excuses to criticize his teammate. After all, even Zhang Yiwei himself was just a mediocre player compared to those outstanding players who often appeared on the front pages. The most eye-catching and gorgeous Sharpshooter character in the hearts of the Glory players had turned dull because of him. This was because among the players who had debuted at the same time as him, there was a player whose shooting playstyle was too gorgeous and dazzling. Even his character, Spitfire, was now more popular among players than the Sharpshooter in the game.

Was this… the fate of Samsara’s players?

At the thought of this, Zhang Yiwei looked at Fang Minghua and felt a little sympathetic.

If they were thrown into the vast Glory Continent, they would definitely be peerless experts. However, in the Professional Alliance, they were reduced to mediocre people. Their performance was mediocre, their battle results were mediocre, and their team’s results were naturally mediocre.

However, this season, it seemed like they couldn’t even be mediocre anymore. This year, it was as if the Alliance had made arrangements in advance. A large number of outstanding young players suddenly appeared. After they joined, the strength of the other teams improved by leaps and bounds. What about Samsara? Zhang Yiwei looked at Fang Minghua in front of him. He couldn’t find anything wrong with this rookie. At first, he and the team were very satisfied. However, after these six rounds of competition, compared to the students from the same batch killing their way into the headlines of the ESports Weekly, their satisfaction seemed to be a bit sloppy.

“Captain.” Fang Minghua’s attitude was extremely upright. When he heard that his captain was about to lecture him, he immediately sat up straight.

“We have to work harder this competition season.” Zhang Yiwei included himself in this statement. After all, the two of them shared the same fate. They were both mediocre players in the Professional Alliance.

“Yes.” Fang Minghua accepted the order.

“Let’s have a meeting in the afternoon to discuss this season together.” Zhang Yiwei didn’t want to just make empty promises. Even if they worked hard, they had to have a direction. As the captain, he was the one who should lead everyone to find the direction.

“Do you want me to inform everyone now?” Fang Minghua asked immediately.

“That won’t be necessary. Just do it after lunch,” said Zhang Yiwei.

“Yes.” Fang Minghua continued to receive his orders.

“You’re up pretty early.” Zhang Yiwei looked at Fang Minghua with some satisfaction. The day after a match was usually a rest day. Samsara’s players would most likely sleep in on that day. This was also the reason why Zhang Yiwei didn’t let Fang Minghua immediately inform everyone. However, seeing Fang Minghua’s excited expression early in the morning, he felt very gratified. Ordinary people like them should be more strict with themselves. They probably shouldn’t have such a luxury item like a rest day.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yiwei felt that there were already some themes to cover for the afternoon meeting. Meanwhile, Fang Minghua also got up after eating.

“Captain, I’m done eating.” Fang Minghua said goodbye to Zhang Yiwei.

“Go.” Fang Minghua watched Zhang Yiwei walk towards the training room, feeling his blood boil. He finished his breakfast in a few bites, stood up, and also walked towards the training room. He was prepared to be like this rookie and give himself a morning training session.

In the afternoon, why not use Xiao Fang as an example and call for everyone to learn? After all, it wasn’t easy to forcefully occupy a rest day. It still depended on everyone’s self-awareness! Zhang Yiwei was thinking about specific plans to guide his teammates. When he arrived at the training room, he saw that Fang Minghua had already turned on the computer impatiently, his expression focused and excited.

Perhaps I should wake everyone up now and let them personally witness this scene.

Fang Minghua’s expression moved Zhang Yiwei. He even felt a bit regretful that he hadn’t discovered that this guy had a good habit of doing extra training on his day off. Otherwise, this kind of atmosphere would have already spread to the entire Team Samsara. When he thought of this, Zhang Yiwei felt ashamed again. Why hadn’t he noticed? This was because he had always been one of them when he slept in on his day off! Today was just an accident because he had played too badly in yesterday’s match, so he didn’t sleep well and woke up early.

“Eh, Captain, why are you up so early?”

Zhang Yiwei was looking at Fang Minghua as if he was admiring a world-famous painting when another person suddenly passed by. When this person saw Zhang Yiwei, he greeted him in surprise.

Zhang Yiwei turned his head to look. It was Tong Lin, Samsara’s only player from the first season. He was a veteran of the team who was even more experienced than Zhang Yiwei. The two of them had fought side by side for two seasons, creating Samsara’s mediocre performance and their six consecutive defeats at the beginning of this season.

“We should make some changes,” said Zhang Yiwei to the veteran team member.

“Oh?” This sudden question caught Tong Lin off guard.

“This rookie is so hardworking. How can we waste our time?” Zhang Yiwei spoke excitedly.

“Waste our time? A hardworking rookie?” Tong Lin continued to look confused, repeating Zhang Yiwei’s words in the opposite order. Finally, following Zhang Yiwei’s emotional gaze, he noticed Fang Minghua sitting in front of the computer in the training room.

It was also at this moment that Fang Minghua noticed the two people standing at the door of the training room from the corner of his eye. He quickly wanted to stand up, but he forgot about the earphones on his head. He bent over as if he was tied to the table.

Taking advantage of this bow, Fang Minghua quickly whispered into his earpiece, “Wait for me.” Then, he took off his earpiece, but he vaguely heard a sentence from the other side. “What did you say? Me?”

“I said, wait for me!” Fang Minghua shouted in his heart, but when he saw his captain Zhang Yiwei and the team senior Tong Linqi walking towards him, he couldn’t pick up his headphones to explain. He could only watch the Heavenly Domain of the Glory Continent helplessly on the screen. During the latest update, a Level-60 wild boss, the Night Returner on the Sea, had been added. No team had successfully killed it so far. And now, a team with 10 people, whose healer was no longer moving, confidently charged towards the Night Returner on the Sea.

This time… Fang Minghua could only use his inner monologue to express his apologies to his teammates. The two people at the door had already arrived in front of him. Zhang Yiwei, who was walking in front, was especially energetic as he walked with vigorous strides. Along the way, he stared at Fang Minghua with bright eyes. His expression was like a completely different person from when he was eating breakfast just now. As for Tong Lin, who was following behind him, he had a faint smile on his face, as if he was waiting to watch a good show.

This… He would take the initiative! Fang Minghua gritted his teeth and took a step forward to meet Zhang Yiwei.

“Captain, I’m sorry!” Fang Minghua said as he lowered his head.