Kar98K Upon Touchdown!

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

The two C9 players had just eliminated Gate and the lone wolf from TS at the Three Warehouses when the victory screen flashed in their faces. They were dumbfounded!

What happened?

How did we suddenly win?

What about SKK? What happened to the climactic showdown?

This did not feel like the script of a typical tournament!

The international tournament had formidable foes like SKK, TSM, Liquid and Faze. These teams were the top picks to be the champions in this PUBG tournament. In comparison, C9 felt like a group of little boys.

They had a clear advantage: North America’s Number One Rifler, the “Demon King” of the FPS world, Shroud!

On the other hand, they had an equally clear disadvantage: One strong player had to carry three stragglers. With an uneven distribution of skill levels among team members, it was easy to create a “short board effect”.

No matter how big or tall a wooden barrel may be, the amount of water it can hold is ultimately determined by the shortest board.

That was why before today’s first squad battle, C9’s coach did not even devise any team strategies, but instead gave the players free rein to play however they wanted, just to get a feel of the tournament.

At this moment, Reapered, the coach of C9, stood flabbergasted below the stage, gawking at the screen displaying C9’s victory.

He neither knew nor cared whether his players had gotten acclimatized to the tournament.

All that was in his mind were two words:

“That’s sweet!”

…

At the same time, on the live commentary platform.

“Oh! That was unbelievable!”

“Congratulations to C9!”

“Congratulations to C9 for eating the destiny chicken in the first match of the tournament!”

Accompanied by a barrage of emotionally-charged music, the lights on the stage lit up at once.

The last person in the Asian region competitors’ seats, Liu Zilang, yawned and stretched before he rose and walked toward the opposite side where C9 was.

Shroud had just recovered from the earlier shock. He saw Liu Zilang walking toward him, and his face could not help but to break into a smile. He stood up and extended an arm.

Pa!

With the computers between them, the two players shook hands.

“Good job, dude!” Shroud winked and gave a thumbs-up.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zilang retracted his smile and spoke in a serious voice. “I’ve gifted you a chicken dinner this time. If something happens to me in the next match, you’ll have to cover for me. Understood?”

Shroud was speechless.

Chappie, who was standing beside him, grimaced and did not know what to say.

In the meantime, not too far away, the three players of SKK wordlessly rose from their seats with their heads down.

The word “failure” had evaded SKK for so long.

Satan heard a “Pa!” next to him and reflexively lifted his head toward the sound. Looking into the lights on the stage, he saw the two players’ hands clasped together.

At this instant, he felt the stage lights were a little too dazzling.

He stoically turned his head and, without another word, walked off the competitors’ stage. His footsteps were slightly sluggish.

He should have been able to stay up there.

Vivian, on the other hand, was blowing at the fringe of her deep blue hair on her forehead while glaring violently at Liu Zilang.

Karl sighed gently. He thought it was a pity that they had lost, though he had a newfound understanding of Liu Zilang utter shamelessness.

Just as the three players of SKK were leaving the stage, someone chased up to them.

Satan’s heart beat faster when he heard the person approaching and he hastened his steps.

“Hey, hey! Wait for me! Let’s walk together!”

It was none other than Liu Zilang, speaking cheerfully to them in English.

“We’re going down together anyway, don’t be a stranger.”

The three SKK players’ faces darkened.

Is that why you wanted us to die together?

Vivian’s two petite fists were clenched tight as she blew air into her fringe. It seemed like at any moment she could transform into a “Berserk Loli” and deliver an Ultimate Death God Flying Punch into Liu Zilang’s face!

Liu Zilang was well aware of her impetuous nature and delicately avoided the danger, chasing up to Satan who was walking in the forefront.

“I say, dude, what do you think of my no-scope earlier?” He smiled as he put his arm over Satan’s shoulder.

Satan nonchalantly turned to look at him and scoffed audibly. “No-scope?’ With Wolves here, do you think you’re qualified to say that?”

That sentence somehow sounded familiar. He might have heard it somewhere before.

However, Liu Zilang was not angry.

He knew that this Satan was fond of psychological games. If only he had known about it in the tournament half a year earlier, he would not have fallen into his trap.

“Heh heh, if I’m not mistaken, you were covering for Vivian, hoping that she could escape the blue circle?”

“Well, she got knocked out.”

“That was my plan. I only wanted to knock her out, and I did it.” Liu Zilang gave a toothy grin. “You wanted to protect her, but could you?”

Satan choked slightly as he heard Liu Zilang’s question. However, he replied matter-of-factly, with a sinister gleam in his eyes. “So what? Didn’t I kill you all the same?”

“I do hope that in the next game…” he turned and looked deeply into Liu Zilang’s eyes, “you can retain that optimism.”

With that, he lifted his stride and walked toward the players’ corridor. There was no victory to be celebrated, and he had no reason to linger at the venue for even a second longer.

This was his pride and dignity!

Watching Satan’s back, Liu Zilang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly called out, “Have you ever heard of… the Optimistic Clan¹?”

Optimistic Clan?

Satan’s body jerked as he stopped walking.

He suddenly realized that he was walking in the wrong direction!

That was not the players’ corridor that led backstage, but the emergency exit of the venue.

Having made a faux pas, Satan turned around and silently walked in the other direction, his face darker than ever.

…

After all the eliminated players had left, only C9 remained on the stage.

The two eliminated C9 players and the coach went up on stage together. The five people raised their arms high, taking in the cheers of all those present!

On the Hua Xia commentary platform, the streamers were discussing the victory.

“Destiny chicken! C9 gave the perfect definition of “destiny chicken” in this game.”

“That’s right. Not only they had received the destiny circle, more importantly, they also avoided the crucial showdown with SKK!”

“Hmm, our 4AM came in third place, being the sole team of the Asian region in the top three! That’s not bad at all, in fact, they have greatly surpassed our expectations.”

“Indeed. Especially that last wave when he single-handedly stalled the three strong players of SKK, that was too OP! If SKK had chicken-dinnered their way into the finals, the point gap between them and the other teams would be too large.”

“Alright, and the statistics have been tabulated! Let’s take a look at each team’s score so far.”

Just as they had finished speaking, the stage lights dimmed!

In the next moment, all the lights shone toward the four gigantic LCD screens on the stage.