You’re Causing Chaos Again

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The viewers currently watching the livestream:

– Are they crazy? What kind of organizers are these? This is just messed up.

– Let me count how many players have left the scene every year due to not adapting to the new versions…

– Even though it’s meant to be entertainment, doing this… This is the first public match after the regular season, right? They’re making players use strong characters from the previous version against weak characters in this version. What if they lose? How messed up will their mentality be???

– And there’s Kong on the opposing side. Everyone knows you can’t survive without Kong’s support. They’re just messing with Luanzi ge’s mentality.

– They’re really devious. Do they know we have the championship in our sights? Did they do this on purpose?

…

In this major update, White Wolf’s first few skills haven’t changed much. The only major change was to the ultimate ability, which shifted from dealing direct instant damage to dealing damage three seconds after hitting an enemy unit. At the same time, the damage cap was increased.

While the damage cap increase implies that if the damage is dealt, the benefits gained by the team are more substantial than before, the skill itself has undeniably become more troublesome.

To put it into perspective, in the past, when encountering a low-health opponent, using the ultimate skill would eliminate them instantly. Now, if it hits, the opponent still has three seconds to heal or take other countermeasures.

If the enemy restores health during those three seconds, your skill effectively becomes wasted.

Hence, for most players, this change is undoubtedly a nerf.

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In the competitive arena, after these changes, White Wolf would likely be categorized as a less popular character type. After all, the difficulty of operation has increased. Even if there’s a high potential reward, it comes with high risk.

However, Shen Yanming is someone who has experienced a rebirth and has a deep understanding of this version’s White Wolf. He spent a lot of time practicing after the version changes, stabilizing his feel for the character.

Therefore, he isn’t too worried. Rather than worrying about not playing well due to version changes, he’s more concerned about the communication and cooperation within the temporary team.

After all, in team games, and considering that the individual skills of the players were all good, strategy and teamwork were more important than personal performance at this point.

Even the host and commentators had been repeatedly queuing him and He Changkong, which was just to create attention-grabbing points and incite audience enthusiasm before the match, but who doesn’t know that team battles aren’t 1v1? Whether these two can beat each other greatly depends on their teammates.

The host chatted with the other players for a while and then asked them to take their seats.

Shen Yanming’s teammates include someone from Southeast Asia, one from Korea, and another compatriot, Xiao6, a healer from XXL. Before the match started, they engaged in some challenging communication. However, Shen Yanming’s innate talent shines. Despite the mix of nationalities and his average English skills, he managed to make the others nod frequently. It was as if they had known each other for years.

The game began.

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With the changes in skills, Shen Yanming’s perspective on the character had also evolved. Previously, White Wolf was considered a reaper type, growing stronger as the match progressed. It was suitable for both solo fights and team battles. Now, it’s more suitable for targeting isolated opponents, suppressing them before the healer arrives for support, or dealing more damage with the help of teammates during team fights.

In short, Shen Yanming controlled Little White Wolf to roam the map freely.

Currently, it’s uncertain what strategy the opponents will employ. If He Changkong can seize the initiative, he should be clear about his approach. They might try to gang up on him with a few players.

As Shen Yanming observed his teammates a moment ago, he roughly guessed that He Changkong’s teammates consisted of two from North America and one from the European region. Moreover, these three already had a good relationship…

In teams comprising players from various regions, there is a phenomenon: the one who speaks the minority language tends to receive more information and speaks less. Even though communication wasn’t a problem for He Changkong, it’s still challenging to become the one in control.

Moreover, the other three players already have a relationship, and their guard against Shen Yanming, who was relatively new to the scene, might not be particularly high.

Shen Yanming was guessing all this, which is why he dared to go out and search for isolated opponents.

Even though this sort of strategizing against his boyfriend felt a bit odd, there weren’t any boyfriends on the battlefield anymore. That’s how Shen Yanming saw it.

At the start of the game, it’s usually a two-player combination, but sometimes, in order to gain some map resources and other buffs, these partnered duos aren’t necessarily fixed. Shen Yanming leaped onto a tree and started seeking random event spawn points from above, collecting small items for self-defense.

However, luck wasn’t on his side. Shen Yanming didn’t encounter any isolated opponents but instead bumped into He Changkong with his new dog right from the start, creating an awkward situation.

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He Changkong lifted his hand to use a control skill on Shen Yanming. But at times like this, having an understanding between them was useful. They had soloed countless times privately, so Shen Yanming knew He Changkong’s playstyle inside out. As soon as He Changkong moved, Shen Yanming roughly predicted his trajectory and quickly dodged to the side.

He Changkong must have anticipated that Shen Yanming would dodge like this, so he adjusted his skill’s direction on the fly.

The two of them seemed to be playing a guessing game, akin to Russian nesting dolls. Finally, Shen Yanming simply rolled forward and dashed down, successfully evading the control skill while closing the distance to He Changkong.

Shen Yanming now also possessed a control skill. He picked up an anesthesia.

Furthermore, while rushing forward, he secretly applied the anesthesia to his weapon, concealing the action with the movement’s special effects.

He Changkong seemingly hadn’t realized there was an issue with Shen Yanming’s weapon. He probably thought that taking only a bit of skill damage wasn’t a big deal. But when Shen Yanming’s weapon grazed him, although it didn’t take much health away, it froze him in place.

The anesthesia effect was brief, but Shen Yanming’s reflexes were lightning-fast. He quickly scraped the opposing assassin, who had realized too late and failed to dodge, before immobilizing them.

Before immobilizing the opponent, Shen Yanming had already marked a spot on the map and immediately requested his other teammates to come over—indeed, the other teammates weren’t far away. They had planned to create the illusion that Shen Yanming was wandering alone, while in reality, everyone was nearby, prepared to initiate a team fight at any moment.

As his teammates headed over, there was a slight time delay. While he couldn’t eliminate He Changkong with a single combo, Shen Yanming managed to severely damage the relatively fragile assassin. He deployed his ultimate ability during the effect of the anesthesia, dealing a heavy blow while the opponent was immobilized and unable to heal. Then, he followed up with other skills to maximize his damage output.

Once his teammates arrived, he cheerfully claimed a kill and accumulated some fighting spirit.

When the anesthesia effect wore off, Shen Yanming instructed his three teammates to continue keeping He Changkong occupied. He then waved his hand, not carrying away a cloud in the sky, and headed to the other side to find an isolated target.

In fact, he guessed that the other members of the opposing team were probably on their way over now. He found a path they would likely take and squatted there ahead of time. When he saw them approach, he swiftly cast a skill to lure them in. As they were drawn over, he rolled quickly into another patch of grass – a classic diversion tactic.

Hiding in the bush, Shen Yanming observed the movement paths of the two opponents. Once he had his target locked, he immediately flicked the dart in his hand.

He tagged two opponents at once.

However although He Changkong was still being harassed by Shen Yanming’s other teammates, he reacted swiftly, immediately activating his group healing skill. As a result, though both of the opponents were grazed by the attack, the damage inflicted wasn’t substantial.

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Through the in-game voice chat, Shen Yanming used his less-than-fluent English to communicate with their Southeast Asian teammate, “You go bait out Kong’s remaining control skill.” It was quite straightforward—letting the opponent think they’ve successfully controlled him, without making it too obvious, as that might backfire.

In short, he baited out one control skill and confirmed that He Changkong had used his group healing skill. Shen Yanming had the mage come over to him, and then he used his ultimate skill again. Since he had already scored a kill and now had an even higher damage bonus, he grazed them once more, combining it with the mage’s damage to eliminate the opposing player directly.

On the other side, within the opposing team’s voice chat:

“WTF! Didn’t Chaos use his ultimate? How does he have it again?”

He Changkong also just realized he had been played: “He didn’t use his ultimate just now.”

At this moment, the commentators stepped in to explain to the confused audience, “Chaos intentionally created an illusion here, it appeared as if he threw a dart and hit two opponents simultaneously, but in reality, Chaos didn’t use his ultimate ability at all!! He actually consecutively threw two separate darts with increased skill speed, creating the illusion of one dart due to his rapid hand movements, leading people to think he used his ultimate again immediately after cooldown.”

“Mainly, achieving this level of hand speed is genuinely difficult for most people. It’s truly amazing,” Xu Yin added. “Plus, now White Wolf’s ultimate has delayed damage calculation. When hit, the health doesn’t drop instantly. Therefore, those hit can’t judge that it’s an ultimate from the health loss… While we thought the delayed damage was a nerf, but he can actually exploit this aspect to feint in front of his opponent. The A team already has a preconceived notion about it, and when they get scraped, Kong quickly heals them. Instead, it’s a bait for Chaos’s strategy; they’ve just given up their skills, and the next time Chaos uses the ultimate, they won’t have healing. It’s truly brilliant!”

At this moment, the audience watching the live broadcast erupted:

– Aaaaaah, zai zai1Zai zai: 崽崽(zǎi zǎi) It’s a cute and affectionate way of addressing a young child or someone in a tender manner. is so outstanding! Mom’s finally relieved! Ordering takeout to reward myself!

– Luanzi ge is still reliable.

– Damn it, we thought it was a nerf, but they turned our perceived weak point into a strength!

– Why don’t other people say anything? Is Kong throwing the match?

– Why the hell would he do that? You go use that first skill of his and see if you can achieve the same effect? Plus, Kong was in a blind spot at that time. His teammate said he got hit by the ultimate. If it were you, wouldn’t you heal?

– Is it that hard to admit someone’s strong? What a bunch of BS.

– To be honest, Kong’s side didn’t really make any glaring mistakes in terms of details. The problem is mainly their strategy. But I never expected Luanzi ge to be so cunning, hhh.

– Those worrying about him being a one-hit wonder can relax.

– The organizers failed at creating issues [comical.jpg]. Awesome, Luanzi ge.

…

Of course, the players were still in the heat of battle on the arena. Team B, where Shen Yanming was, gained a significant advantage due to the consecutive kills.

On He Changkong’s side, the English-speaking players were still chattering away. He Changkong listened for a while. He had been about to say, “I told you guys to stick together and fight as a group,” but he changed his mind. After all, this was just an entertainment match, and saying too much wouldn’t change things.

However, the performance of the young players did pleasantly surprise him. Technically speaking, there was little to say as their skills were already polished. The key factors were the tactics and leadership. Based on their performance just now, Shen Yanming was undoubtedly the driving force behind this match. An untested team with a language barrier managed to pull off such impressive coordination under his guidance.

Shen Yanming did have some inherent advantages in this aspect.

For example, He Changkong found it challenging to take the lead with unfamiliar teammates.

…

In the end, Team A was defeated in this match. After the game, the commentators, as usual, had a few questions: “Chaos, your performance just now was indeed remarkable. How did it feel to defeat your good partner?”

Shen Yanming wasn’t standing with his temporary teammates anymore; he stood next to Kong ge. Hearing Xu Yin’s question, he looked up at He Changkong with a pitiful expression, “I’m quite worried. Will he stop giving me milk in the future?”

He Changkong patted Shen Yanming’s head, “I’ll give it all to you.”

Xu Yin looked puzzled, “Why do I feel like I should’ve known better than to ask?”

After these questions, the players left the stage. He Changkong was about to praise Shen Yanming and discuss the feelings from the last game when suddenly a person with a watermelon-shaped haircut flew over from nearby and landed directly on Shen Yanming’s back.

“Teach me, teach me, teach me!”

The watermelon-headed Zhang Xixi was pulled away from Shen Yanming’s back, but his eyes still sparkled. He grabbed Shen Yanming’s hand, “I’ve also studied this new White Wolf, but I can never seem to get good results when actually playing… And that skill you just used, how did you do it, Teach me, Luan Luanzi!”

Shen Yanming hadn’t had a chance to say anything when Zhang Xixi continued, “I asked around just now, players who have already played and don’t want to watch the match here can go to the training room in the back…”

As he spoke, Zhang Xixi was actually trying to drag Shen Yanming away!

Shen Yanming was still bewildered, “???”

He Changkong pulled Shen Yanming close, saying, “…Let go of him. Don’t drag him like that.”

Zhang Xixi’s mind was filled with the heroic image of Shen Yanming playing White Wolf just now. Realizing there was also He Changkong beside him, he awkwardly greeted, “Ah, Kong ge! I just need to borrow your Luan Luanzi for a bit.”

He Changkong furrowed his brows, “No.”

Author’s Message:

Kong held the watermelon head and flung it away, a shooting star crossed the sky, which was the trajectory of Zhang Xixi being thrown out

Thank you for reading! 

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1Zai zai: 崽崽(zǎi zǎi) It’s a cute and affectionate way of addressing a young child or someone in a tender manner.