Then Li Shu was forced to sit in his chair and watch the two people in front of him act all lovey-dovey. The more he watched, the more miserable it felt.
Even the viewers in his livestream were laughing at him.
[BOOK: Never have I experienced such a painful way to die.]
[Hahaha, can't blame you, the opponent is SUN.]
[That baby who was so fierce just now suddenly became so obedient hahaha.]
[Oh my god, too cute. A cool guy like WILD actually does things like blowing kisses.]
[I've lurked in his stream before, there were several times when the hunter tried to go easy on him, and even when he noticed, he would just surrender.]
[Sorry, but now I want to ship them again.]
After Li Shu was sent flying, the Acrobat followed the Night Watch to find the dungeon. When they reached the entrance, Shen Kuangye's Acrobat blew several kisses at the Night Watch again and even stuck a bunch of cute stickers.
The chat in his stream was filled with:
[Stranger.]
[Where did the cool guy go?]
[Just came back from SUN's stream, his smile hasn't dropped once.]
[Wuwuwu, there's no way they're not dating yet. I refuse to believe it.]
Videos of EAR getting crushed when they randomly matched with SUN at the start of the season, along with clips of the cold-blooded hunter sparing three people for love after killing one, were all edited and uploaded.
The number of fans in Xiangye's CP super topic surged once again.
EAR's four-man team queue also started drawing attention from other teams.
They carefully studied EAR's playstyle and discovered that their coordination in four-man queues was extremely clear and well-structured. Their team cohesion was strong, and their synergy had improved significantly compared to before.
All the teams quietly decided to increase their training intensity and thoroughly analyze EAR's commonly used tactics and strategies.
But they soon realized this wasn't easy—SUN's hunter character pool was incredibly deep and diverse, while WILD, as a survivor, was almost an all-rounder. He could quickly master any character. Their talents were exceptionally rare.
Over the past two weeks of team queues, fans also noticed that Shen Kuangye wasn't as cold and indifferent as he usually appeared.
When the four of them were on the verge of reaching Tier 7 and went on several losing streaks, everyone else became a bit frustrated. Yet Shen Kuangye remained very stable emotionally. He could quickly adjust his mindset and even take on weaker characters to shoulder the heavy responsibility of kiting.
When Pei Xunan made mistakes during rescues and apologized, Shen Kuangye would always calmly say, "It's fine. We can still win." He never blamed anyone or put pressure on his teammates.
When Li Shu and Cheng Rang coordinated as Prospectors but accidentally triggered a magnet and got reverse-observed, Shen Kuangye would secretly laugh.
When they managed extreme four-man escapes, his voice would carry a hint of excitement. After matches, he would quietly save the replays and review his kiting data, savoring every detail.
Many fans clipped these moments and uploaded them online. Numerous casual viewers were charmed by him, bringing in even more fans for Shen Kuangye.
When they finally reached Tier 7 and had to disband their four-man queue, many fans wailed in despair.
[Nooo, I still want to watch!!! wuwu.]
[My source of happiness is gone!]
[When's the new season? I still want to see four-man queues QAQ]
[All four of them are so cute, why can't Tier 7 have four-man queues?!]
[Is WILD going back to solo queue? Back to cool guy mode again?]
[Honestly, just quietly watching WILD play is great too. I learned his kiting style and climbed from Tier 4 to peak Tier 7.]
[Same!! Every time I watch WILD play ranked, my skills improve like crazy.]
[Same here, I hit peak Tier 7 for the first time by watching WILD.]
Some people even asked Shen Kuangye to release—
To prepare for the Abyss tournament, EAR's training became even more intense. Every day, the moment they opened their eyes, they were training. Whenever they discovered new positions or strategies, they would immediately discuss them.
Meanwhile, teams from other regions had already begun their Abyss qualifiers, and EAR was analyzing their playstyles.
So far, teams from Southeast Asia posed no real threat to EAR. The only variable was Aurora from the Japanese region.
They had been playing aggressively since the qualifiers began.
At the same time, the Abyss qualifiers for the Chinese mainland region also started.
As the Autumn Tournament champions, EAR was directly seeded into the Abyss and didn't need to participate in the mainland qualifiers. However, watching the qualifiers was the most direct way to observe other teams' strategies and conditions.
Lu Xiangyang sat in his chair, staring intently at the mainland qualifiers without blinking.
Shen Kuangye lightly tapped his hand with a cup. "Drink some water."
Only then did Lu Xiangyang realize his throat felt dry. He took the cup and obediently drank a few sips.
Recently, aside from ranked matches, he spent all his time studying other teams' strategies or practicing one-on-one with Shen Kuangye. Only before sleep and in the morning did they get the chance to whisper face-to-face.
One of the teams currently playing was an amateur team composed of retired players and skilled streamers.
Generally speaking, the chances of an amateur team defeating a professional team were extremely slim—but this team exceeded everyone's expectations.
Lu Xiangyang was particularly good at absorbing new strategies from matches. Coincidentally, the hunter on that amateur team was also a Joseph specialist.
At first, the professional team didn't take his Joseph seriously—they didn't even ban it.
But in the second round, that hunter picked Joseph—and got a triple kill.
Lu Xiangyang hadn't used Joseph in a long time, at least not often in his streams or ranked matches.
But seeing his focused expression, Shen Kuangye knew exactly what he was thinking.
Sometimes, a former specialty could become their final trump card.
"Gege."
Lu Xiangyang suddenly spoke.
"If it comes down to the most critical moment and I pick Joseph… will you stop me?"
Joseph was no longer suited to the current meta. Without Blink, and with survivors carrying Flywheel, the chances of winning were almost nonexistent.
It was fine for solo queue in ranked matches, but against a well-trained professional four-man team, the difficulty of winning was extremely high. One small mistake could even lead to a full escape.
However, as one of the "Three Phantom Gods," Joseph still had a strong comeback potential—it was just a high-risk gamble.
Shen Kuangye watched the intense match on screen and said calmly, "I'll trust you."
More than a month later, the results of all regional qualifiers were finally announced.
Next came the most nerve-wracking part—the group stage draw.
The rules for the Abyss Global Finals draw were:
20 teams from six major regions would be placed into one pool and randomly divided into four groups (A, B, C, D). Based on the draw order, they would fill positions and compete in a single round-robin group stage.
The first-place team in each group would advance directly to the second round of playoffs (Top 8 → Top 4);
Second and third place would enter the first round of playoffs (Top 12 → Top 8);
Fourth and fifth place would be eliminated, finishing in the Top 20.
At times like this, luck played a big role.
If you ended up in a group full of weaker teams, your chances of reaching the finals increased significantly.
But if all the strong teams were grouped together… then everyone would have to fight tooth and nail.
That day, all teams gathered at the venue to watch the head referee conduct the draw.
Before heading there, Xing Xing and Yishui even went to pray for good luck.
Xing Xing muttered, "Please let the Abyss kids have better luck this time."
He still vividly remembered the lag issues during the Autumn Finals.
He hoped nothing like that would happen again.
And hopefully, they'd get a better group.
Silently, he added, "Best if they're all Southeast Asian teams."
When EAR arrived at the venue, it was already crowded.
All the players were seated, chatting and laughing. When they saw EAR, they greeted them warmly.
Ella sat in the corner with arms crossed, looking disdainful.
Only when the camera turned to them did their expressions soften slightly.
They still couldn't accept losing to a team like EAR.
EAR, on the other hand, had great relationships in the pro scene and quickly blended in.
As soon as Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang sat down, the camera zoomed in on them.
The livestream chat exploded once again.
[Just came back to the game—who's that cold-looking guy? So handsome.]
[That's WILD from EAR. 18 years old, ranked No.1, an all-rounder. Looks cold but actually super cute.]
[Finally seeing WILD again! last time was the Autumn Finals.]
[Being a WILD fan sounds like suffering.]
[Disagree. He's appeared in SUN's stream three times—you could even see his wrist.]
[That sounds even more painful.]
[Honestly, WILD's stream has no flaws except you can't see his face.]
…
Sitting in his seat, Lu Xiangyang quietly asked, "Gege, do you remember how the draw went back then?"
"..."
That question brought back some unpleasant memories for Shen Kuangye.
During his competitive years, Chinese teams were often grouped together.
While Southeast Asian teams advanced easily, they felt like they were playing a "hard mode IVL."
"Things will change," Shen Kuangye said, shifting the topic. "Let's watch the draw."
He also noticed a few players from Circe occasionally glancing their way, smiling in a way he didn't quite understand.
He refocused on the draw.
He wasn't afraid of being grouped with strong teams—but easier was always better.
The head referee stepped onto the stage and, under the host's commentary, picked up the first ball from a transparent box and opened it.
EAR, Chinese mainland region, Group A.
Li Shu whispered excitedly, "We're first! Does that mean we'll get first place too?"
Superstitious Xing Xing strongly agreed.
Only Shen Kuangye slowly frowned.
If he remembered correctly…
Next, Group B's first team was from Southeast Asia, Group C's from Japan, and Group D's from Korea.
When it came time to draw the second team for Group A, the referee slowly revealed the slip—
Ella.
Shen Kuangye closed his eyes.
It was exactly the same as that year.
As the draw continued, the Chinese teams' smiles gradually disappeared. Even Li Shu's eyes lost their light.
Because Group A consisted of: EAR, Ella, Circe, LEAH, HS.
All strong teams.