The King's Avatar

Under Xiao Shiqin's careful commands, Thunderclap's players didn't leave a trace. Xiao Shiqin and two of his teammates, Fang Xuecai and Zhang Qi, were left behind.

Fang Xuecai was an Assassin. He had joined Thunderclap a year after Xiao Shiqin and was a good friend of his, who had played alongside Xiao Shiqin for many years. Zhang Qi was a rookie that had become a pro player only last year. Xiao Shiqin had already left by the time he joined. This rookie hadn't been very accepting of Xiao Shiqin's choice to leave, but all he felt from the other team members was their heartfelt respect for Xiao Shiqin. Once, he inadvertently said something a bit disrespectful and had been admonished by Dai Yanqi, who had acted as if she were his senior, despite only joining the team one year earlier than him. The expression of the other team members were very unfriendly as well.

Zhang Qi felt gloomy. He was just a rookie though. How could he complain? He could only silently endure it. When he heard the news of Team Excellent Era losing, Zhang Qi rejoiced at his misfortune. But then, Xiao Shiqin unexpectedly returned to Team Thunderclap. This made Zhang Qi somewhat spiteful of him. The other team members cheerfully accepted Xiao Shiqin's return though, making Zhang Qi feel even more disappointed in his team.

No backbone.

The players and the team didn't have any backbone.

This was the feeling in Zhang Qi's heart, but he didn't dare criticize anyone. When he saw how Xiao Shiqin's return was treated so well, his heart only became more unbalanced.

Soon afterwards, Xiao Shiqin immediately assumed the position of captain. Then, he called for everyone to go into the game and fight bosses for materials.

Is this something a pro player should be doing?

Zhang Qi looked around. No one in the team seemed to object. He didn't dare break away from the entire team, so he could only go into the game with the team. Now, he was following behind this no-backbone Xiao Shiqin. They were hiding in a bush for who knew what reason.

"They're here!" Fang Xuecai suddenly whispered.

"Got it." Xiao Shiqin replied.

Zhang Qi shifted his camera and saw a bunch of Guild Happy characters majestically enter the woodlands on this hillside.

Zhang Qi turned his head and looked at Xiao Shiqin, who wasn't sitting far away from him. Not only did he look vigilant, he even seemed nervous.

Really? We're just playing in the game. Zhang Qi thought rather disdainfully.

"Zhang Qi, when you turn your camera, be gentler." At this moment, Xiao Shiqin's voice suddenly came in from his headphones.

"Ah?" Zhang Qi stared blankly.

"They'll notice the rustling of the bush." Xiao Shiqin said.

"Oh." Zhang Qi replied. As for his real thoughts: hmph, coward.

Zhang Qi didn't treat Xiao Shiqin's warning seriously. He didn't think that this caution was necessary. After Happy's people arrived, they rapidly dispersed.

"Take note of each team's whereabouts." Xiao Shiqin assigned this role to three players. Zhang Qi checked the direction that he was responsible for.

"Gently, gently!" Xiao Shiqin reminded again.

Annoying!!

Zhang Qi nearly blurted it out, but he was able to stop himself. But under this urge, not only did he not turn gently, he turned even more roughly. Since he had already finished turning, it was too late for Xiao Shiqin to say anything more. Xiao Shiqin furrowed his brow, but didn't say anything in the end.　

Zhang Qi was bored to death as he watched that direction attentively. Guild Happy had two teams coming this way. After coming to a certain distance from them, the two teams split up. One team continued straight at them, while the other team moved diagonally to the left.　

What's there to look at?　

Zhang Qi was distracted. Suddenly, he heard Xiao Shiqin shout: "Not good! Run!"

Then, he saw Xiao Shiqin and Fang Xuecai run out from the bushes at the same time. Their movements were extremely fast.

Zhang Qi hadn't been very focused. He didn't respect Xiao Shiqin's orders either. Whenever an order came out, he would always complain in his mind first before doing anything. That was practically a habit now. Now that an order required his immediate action, how could he not be slower than the others?

A Satellite Beam descended from the skies, directly hitting this bush. Xiao Shiqin and Fang Xuecai had promptly escaped to dodge it, but Zhang Qi was hit because of that slight hesitation.

"F*ck!" Zhang Qi cursed as his character started wobbling away. But then the Satellite Beam split into eight smaller pillars. He had taken the Satellite Beam straight to the face and now he was about to be hit twice.

Where's the attack coming from?　　

Zhang Qi was too busy to figure out the answer to that question. Escaping was more urgent. He saw a gap between two pillars and rushed towards it.

"Slow down!" Xiao Shiqin shouted.

Only you would slow down!

At a critical moment, Zhang Qi complained even faster. He completely ignored Xiao Shiqin's warning to slow down. His character continued to sprint. Suddenly, he saw that gap flash and one of the pillars split into two, filling up the gap. His character just happened to be caught by it.

Zhang Qi turned pale with fright, but his character was already in a stunned state from this attack. Light pillar after light pillar smashed into his character. Eight? No, there were clearly twelve of them. The Satellite Beam pillars that initially hit him weren't two, but three! Two of them had been overlapping, making it difficult for Zhang Qi to distinguish between the two.

But Xiao Shiqin had warned him to slow down. Could he have seen through it?　　

Zhang Qi felt somewhat ashamed. Let alone anything else, just being hit by every single light pillar from Satellite Beam was shameful enough.

Right when that pillar of light finished sweeping the area, he saw a Battle Mage with a Guild Happy tag charge towards him.

Do these guys think I'm that easy to bully?

I'm not an ordinary player!

Zhang Qi angrily welcomed his opponent, swinging his sword with a Destruction Slash. He was planning on giving this Battle Mage, who didn't know how high the heavens were, a lesson. But when his sword flashed, that Battle Mage didn't slow down and nimbly dodged it. The Battle Mage's spear thrust towards him at the same time. Zhang Qi's Destruction Slash wasn't completed yet. However, that Battle Mage's Dragon Tooth had already arrived.

Zhang Qi was once again alarmed. It was too late to cancel his skill. Dragon Tooth hit, and he was put into a stunned state. The other side used a Sky Strike to knock him into the air and then went behind him, sending him flying away with a Falling Flower Palm.　

Bang!

Zhang Qi's Berserker tumbled in the air. At the very last moment before he was sent flying away from his original location, he saw Xiao Shiqin and Fang Xuecai rush over to try save him. That Battle Mage welcomed them fearlessly.　

Zhang Qi's Berserker fell to the ground. He didn't forget to Quick Recover at least as his character got up. However, he soon discovered that he was trapped. A whole bunch of characters surrounded him.

"I..."

Zhang Qi was only able to utter a single word when the enemy weapons fell, unleashing all sorts of skills. The wave of focused attacks instantly killed him.

I'm a pro player!

Zhang Qi had wanted to yell that out, but he was instantly killed before he could say anything.　

What just happened?

Zhang Qi had trouble regaining his composure. Everything had happened too quickly. A few seconds ago, he had been waiting in a bush, throwing insults at Xiao Shiqin in his head. A few seconds later, he was a corpse lying on the streets.

Are you joking? He had never died so quickly even on the pro stage!

Zhang Qi was stunned.

The ghost world was deathly silent. Everything on the battlefield had nothing to do with him. But Zhang Qi could hear sound --- Xiao Shiqin's voice.

He was giving orders.

He and Fang Xuecai were crossing swords with the other side.　　

Zhang Qi turned his head to look over. Xiao Shiqin looked focused and also nervous.

What's there to be nervous about? Those were his thoughts a few seconds ago. Now, the not-nervous him was already dead.

Zhang Qi prepared to revive. Suddenly, a notification flashed: Cleric Haruir has cast Resurrection on you. Do you want to revive or not?

Zhang Qi immediately clicked yes. His character stood up and then pounced forward.

"What are you doing!!" Zhang Jiaxing's voice came from the practice room.

Zhang Qi was at a complete loss. He discovered that all of his teammates were looking at him as if he were an idiot.

"Wait until the right opportunity to revive..." Zhang Jiaxing mumbled to himself. He was a newcomer, after all. For Thunderclap, he was even newer than Zhang Qi. If this were Excellent Era, he wouldn't let this matter go with just a word or two. A healer's status in the team was quite high.

Zhang Qi finally woke up. He actually chose to revive while trapped in the enemy ranks. This decision was extremely stupid. Trying to deny it would be stupid.

"Sorry, my bad." Zhang Qi said.

"Zhang Qi, pay attention to orders." Fang Xuecai followed up.　　

"Okay….." Zhang Qi replied dumbly.

If he had had listened to orders, would things have turned out differently? Zhang Qi couldn't help but glance at Xiao Shiqin. He was the same as ever, focused but also nervous.

"Team one, don't advance. Retreat five coordinates."　　

"Team four, take the place of team three."

"Team five, hold on. Support will be arriving soon. Team six's healers, support team five."

Thunderclap's support hurried over, clashing with Happy. Xiao Shiqin didn't plan on deciding the winner here though. He noted their goal: to kill the boss, not to win versus any other guild. Fighting Happy was out of helplessness. However, he soon realized that Happy's offensive wasn't that fierce. It seemed like they were also clear-headed. They also knew that this battle was pointless.

The leaders of the two sides had a mutual understanding. With neither side suffering too heavy casualties, the troops on both sides started to retreat. Not long afterwards, the battle stopped.

Amidst Happy's troops, a Battle Mage walked out with a spear on his shoulders: "You're working hard!"

Xiao Shiqin saw that it was the Battle Mage that sent Zhang Qi's Berserker flying.　　

"So it was you." Xiao Shiqin said.

"Who'd you think it was?" Ye Xiu said.

"Who else could it have been?" Xiao Shiqin said. Apart from Ye Xiu, there was only Tang Rou.

"If it were her, she wouldn't have been so low-profile." Ye Xiu smiled.

Xiao Shiqin suddenly thought of Tang Rou's Dragon Breaks the Ranks. For her Battle Mage, the image of that skill gave the deepest impression. Where was she hiding now though? The previous battle hadn't been too intense. Xiao Shiqin hadn't found Happy's other players yet. As a result, he could only instruct his troops: "When we fight again in a bit, pay attention to that Battle Mage. Kill him in one wave!"

At the same time, in Happy's troops: "When we fight again in a bit, pay attention to that Mechanic. Kill him in one wave!"

"The boss is here!" At this time, the two sides received the news.

"FIGHT!!" The two leaders gave the order.

Thunderclap immediately focused on that Battle Mage!

Happy immediately focused on that Mechanic!