After the match started, the Prisoner immediately ran up to the second floor of the main building.
Aurora:
"Here we can see the Prisoner making a very smart decision by going straight to the big house. Even if the Opera Singer comes, she can use the large distance to kite."
However, the Opera Singer did not choose to chase her. Instead, she quickly rushed to the middle area to chase the Antiquarian.
Zuiying thought for a moment.
"Actually, chasing the Antiquarian is also a pretty good choice. Now it depends on how well the Antiquarian can kite. If she kites well, it might end up as a 1-6-9-5 situation, but if she gets hit early, she might get taken out with a Blink."
The Antiquarian was pressured and couldn't rotate to another area, so she first used Thrust, then followed with Sweep. During the time when the Opera Singer couldn't use her skill, she rotated to the shack.
Aurora:
"Now we can see the Antiquarian entering the shack. From this position, will SUN still commit to the chase? The ciphers have only just started, and a full-health Antiquarian with a stick isn't easy to deal with. Should he go look for the Gardener instead?"
But clearly, the Opera Singer chose to continue chasing the Antiquarian.
Aurora said:
"Looks like SUN is very confident in his chasing ability."
After looping around the shack once more, Blink came off cooldown. Without hesitation, the Opera Singer used Blink and landed the first hit.
After getting injured, the Antiquarian rotated toward the Moon Gate. At the start of the match, the Gardener had already dismantled the chair there.
Zuiying:
"The Opera Singer's movement speed is very fast. If the Antiquarian wants to go to the triple-pallet area, she must use her skills properly—wait… what?"
The Antiquarian used Thrust again, but the Opera Singer stepped back and dodged it. She then used Sweep to the left, which was also avoided.
When she used Smash the third time, there was no structure nearby, so the Opera Singer wasn't stunned. Instead, she directly knocked her down and placed her on the rocket chair outside the shack.
At this moment, the cipher progress on the field was only two and a half machines.
The chat exploded.
[??? What is the Antiquarian doing?]
[Did she get stupid during the off-season?]
[Go home already, please.]
[There aren't enough ciphers now.]
[Look carefully. This is an Opera Singer game. It's about time. Don't be too harsh, okay?]
[Is no one praising the Opera Singer? SUN's movement is insane. He tricked the Antiquarian so badly she had nothing left.]
[Oh no, is he really going to get a multi-down?]
[Still better than LAN. Even when he uses Opera Singer he can only get a draw at best.]
[Am I the only one who noticed SUN's heart rate shot up to 240?]
[I saw it too. Baby, don't be nervous!]
The situation excited even the commentators, because their expectations for this rookie hunter weren't that high in the beginning.
But Lu Xiangyang's gameplay clearly demonstrated his strength.
Aurora's tone grew heavier.
"SUN has a huge chance of getting multiple eliminations this game! Not only has he chaired someone, he's also interfering with the Wildling's cipher. Should the Gardener come for a coordinated rescue?"
ZOE decided to let the Wildling perform the rescue, but this position was very hard to observe. The Opera Singer's pressure was overwhelming, forcing him to rescue.
After the Antiquarian was saved, she immediately struck the Opera Singer twice with her stick and tried to rotate toward the shack.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time. She was knocked down again.
After placing the Antiquarian back on the same chair, the Gardener stopped repairing her cipher, planning to first heal with the Wildling and then coordinate.
But unexpectedly, the Opera Singer came out to check tinnitus, and as if she had wall-hacks, she accurately found their location!
The Wildling had no choice but to stop healing. After mounting the boar, he ran toward the Antiquarian's chair.
The Gardener took a hit but used the Veteran speed boost to run to the chair and rescue the Antiquarian.
However, the Opera Singer's movement speed was too fast. The three survivors moved together trying to escort the Antiquarian to the pallet-and-window area.
Aurora couldn't help raising her voice.
"Can she hit the Antiquarian? If she can hit her, this reduced-survivor situation will be much easier! What? she actually hit her!!!"
Among the three survivors, the Opera Singer precisely knocked down the Antiquarian and placed her back on the chair.
Seeing that the chaired survivor couldn't be saved anymore, the Gardener and Wildling quickly retreated out of the Opera Singer's sight and secretly started healing.
But Lu Xiangyang's Opera Singer had an extremely sharp 'sense of smell', charging straight toward them.
However, the Gardener managed to finish healing the Wildling at the last moment.
The Wildling immediately mounted his boar to body-block for the Gardener, but Lu Xiangyang's movement was too flexible. The Wildling missed many opportunities.
The Gardener also only kited briefly at the triple-pallet area before being knocked down.
Aurora said:
"There's still one cipher left. The Wildling is right next to her. Does the Opera Singer dare to chair her? But if the Gardener kites again, a three-person gate standoff later will be hard to deal with."
Facing the Wildling watching nearby, the Opera Singer first chased him away. Only after forcing him off did she return to chair the Gardener.
However, that chair had already been dismantled by the Gardener earlier, so she could only place her on the chair beside the oil barrel.
After chairing her, she immediately chased the Wildling again. The Wildling took a hit and successfully rescued.
After forcing the rescue, the Gardener tried to rotate to the double-pallet window area, but at the last second she was knocked down by a charged attack.
At this point, the cipher was still 40% away from completion.
After chairing the Gardener again, the Opera Singer started searching outside and soon found the Wildling.
"Can she eliminate the Wildling before the cipher is primed?"
Aurora's voice carried excitement.
The half-health Wildling was clearly no match for the Opera Singer. With the cipher at 5%, he was knocked down.
Just as the Opera Singer finished wiping her blade, the cipher popped!
Borrowed Time restored half a health bar, and the Wildling sprinted toward the Gardener.
The Opera Singer's recovery was also fast and she chased immediately. The Wildling tried to fake a rescue to bait her into hitting the chair, but in such a tense moment, the Opera Singer remained extremely calm.
She stepped back, baited the Wildling, and when he attempted the rescue again—
Terror Shock!
The entire arena erupted.
"Oh my god! The Trump Card hasn't even been switched yet!!!! This is going to be a FOUR-ELIMINATION!!!"
Zuiying was so excited he nearly slammed the desk.
For other teams, an Opera Singer multi-elimination might only be pleasing, but for EAR, it meant something completely different.
This team had been crushed by others throughout the first half of the season.
There might still be debate about who ranked first in the league.
But when it came to last place, everyone had the same answer.
And yet this very team, fielding a rookie hunter—produced such a result.
It was shocking.
The Opera Singer placed the Wildling on the middle-area chair, then switched her Trump Card to Teleport and teleported to the Christmas Tree Gate.
Because of Detention, the Prisoner couldn't rescue and was eventually knocked down.
Four eliminations.
In the audience, several girls holding "EAR Must Win" signs quietly wiped their eyes.
For other teams, a four-elimination might not mean much.
But for EAR, it was enormous progress.
They came to watch every regular season match, always bringing their support signs.
They had been questioned countless times and mocked:
"If EAR can climb to second-to-last place, that would already be a miracle."
But today, their team—
Their rookie hunter—
Used his strength to win the first game and secure an advantage for the group.
The chat filled with question marks and shocked reactions.
[He really got a four-kill???]
[SUN's Opera Singer is insanely entertaining to watch. It's like he has wall-hacks.]
[Watch him play Joseph and you'll think the same thing.]
[Feels like EAR might actually rise.]
[But a good hunter isn't enough. You also need good survivors. Their survivors are famous for chaotic strategies. Besides, if the Antiquarian didn't make that mistake, it wouldn't have become a multi-kill.]
[If the Antiquarian is human, I'll eat my keyboard.]
---
Lu Xiangyang removed his headset and returned to the viewing room.
The moment he entered, Li Shu and the others surrounded him and praised him nonstop for three whole minutes.
Lu Xiangyang awkwardly scratched his cheek with his finger.
He felt like Li Shu was even happier than he himself was.
His gaze shifted and he saw Shen Kuangye standing not far away, smiling as he looked at him.
He was just wearing a simple team uniform, yet in Lu Xiangyang's eyes he looked incredibly dazzling… and still very attractive.
Just one glance made his heart start pounding uncontrollably.
Why is it still like this?
Lu Xiangyang felt a little depressed.
Did that method not work?
When he searched online, the post had countless people agreeing.
[I'm also gay. After taking Chinese medicine I got cured.]
[It really works. I drank it for over a year. I stopped two years ago and now I'm a mother.]
[I also feel like my symptoms have improved. I used to be a lesbian but now I've adjusted into being straight.]
[Yes, I'm a straight man now.]
Seeing so many "successful cases," Lu Xiangyang dismissed his doubts about the medicine.
Could it be because he always secretly ate candy while drinking the medicine, so the effect didn't work?
While he was thinking hard about it, Shen Kuangye walked up to him and asked softly:
"What are you thinking about? Your brows are all furrowed."
Lu Xiangyang's face immediately flushed red.
Looking at Shen Kuangye's cold yet handsome face, he couldn't say a word. He felt extremely ashamed.
How could he think like that?
When Shen Kuangye was caring about him, he was thinking about how to drink Chinese medicine to become straight again.
Was that right?
"Nothing," Lu Xiangyang said.
Shen Kuangye suddenly laughed.
"I just realized something about your catchphrase."
"Hm? What is it?"
Shen Kuangye's smile widened.
"The thing you just said—'nothing.'"
As he spoke, he deliberately imitated Lu Xiangyang's tone.
"Aren't you the one who calls me 'brother'? What kind of things are there that you can't tell your brother?"
Shen Kuangye didn't know that his casual words caused a huge storm in Lu Xiangyang's heart.
If Shen Kuangye knew he liked him, he probably wouldn't want him as a younger brother anymore.
What kind of younger brother likes his own brother?
Lu Xiangyang's mind went blank and he blurted out:
"Then… then I won't call you brother anymore."
That single sentence instantly froze the smile on Shen Kuangye's face.
He stayed silent for a few seconds and was about to speak when the female host outside announced:
"Now let's invite EAR's survivors to the stage!"
"Let's go! Relax, don't be nervous!"
Yi Shui said to everyone.
After discussion within the team, they decided to let Shen Kuangye replace Jiang Chixin for the match so he could gain some experience first.
Jiang Chixin had no objections.
For him, the best result was simply the team winning.
He also needed to overcome his tendency to get nervous.
---
Outside the arena, everyone stared at the screen.
[Is he coming out? Is he coming out?]
[WILD, please come out already.]
[Ahhh he's finally here!!! Sorry, I'm defecting. WILD, I'll follow you forever.]
[Feels like he's not in a good mood.]
[Cool guys are always like that. His official photo has the same expression.]
[These two EAR rookies—prprpr]
[Control yourself upstairs.]
Shen Kuangye sat down with an indifferent expression and skillfully adjusted his phone equipment.
Thinking about Lu Xiangyang's words earlier, he couldn't help clenching his teeth.
That little ingrate.