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In Round 35, Thunderclap would be playing Happy in their home game. These two teams would be fighting for the number five spot between themselves, so being direct competitors was not key. What was more important were the teams hot on their tails. The loser of this round might fall several spots and be a step closer to the danger zone.

For this round, of the three teams in pursuit, Wind Howl would play Heavenly Swords in an away match; Hundred Blossoms would play Royal Style in an away match, and 301 again faced a powerhouse as they did last round: they would be playing against Tiny Herb.

301 was perched precariously on the edge of the playoffs zone. They were currently out of the standings for the playoffs, and the schedule gave them an even larger obstacle. After this round, they had to face Blue Rain and finally Happy…

The television broadcast for Round 35 faced yet another dilemma: should they show Thunderclap versus Happy, or 301 versus Tiny Herb?

Finally, the broadcasting team decided on 301 versus Tiny Herb. Even though Thunderclap versus Happy was a key match, the two teams had already met and was broadcast once in Round 16. Also, Happy still had plenty of key matches coming: both their Round 37 clash against Wind Howl and Round 38 against 301 were candidates for broadcast.

The broadcasters could only choose one match, but the media focused equally on both. 301 became the primary team to stir things up following the winter transfer window and into the second half of the season. If it weren’t for their sudden surge up the leaderboard, the top 8 would have been pretty much set in stone, after seeing the performances of teams just out of reach such as Void or Misty Rain.

Since 301 could stir things up, they became well received by the many enthusiastic Glory fans. Because of this, they managed to attract many otherwise-neutral fans. Their current style that used Life-Risking Strike liberally was very interesting to watch!

The Glory Alliance’s Round 35 commenced on May 15th. 301 welcomed Tiny Herb to their home stadium.

“301’s stadium is jam-packed today!” Pan Lin exclaimed in the broadcast.

“Well of course. For 301 to have reached this stage, their fans should also come out and do their best to support their team, ” Li Yibo said.

“No one would have expected 301 to create such a hectic scene before us at the start of this season. Actually no, even after the half-way mark of the season, no one expected it,” Pan Lin said.

“Who would have guessed that 301 would go to Europe and come back with an expert suitable for their Knight character?” Li Yibo replied with a smile.

“If 301 manages to slaughter their way into the playoffs, I reckon their winter transfer will go down as one of the most brilliant moves in Glory history,” Pan Lin said.

“I think the other teams would also broaden their horizons for next year’s summer transfer window. Glory’s player exchange market might gradually globalize from here on out,” Li Yibo said.

“But the rules and formats being different around the world is a show-stopper!” Pan Lin exclaimed.

“The formats are indeed different, but not vastly so. In the end, the different game versions are the biggest barriers to establishing a conversation. But, the Glory game company has taken strong steps towards unifying game versions over the past two years. The large-scale level 75 patch last season has finally mostly synchronized the game on a global scale,” Li Yibo said.

“The rumor going around right now is that the game company is planning far ahead. Their sole intention of leaving the level 70 patch for so long was to synchronize the game globally. The game company had long been scheming for players from across the world to be able to play together,” Pan Lin said.

“I don’t think this is a complete rumor,” Li Yibo nodded. “The game company’s actions must indeed be taking this into account. Looks like Glory’s competitive scene will have an even richer future!”

“Haha, having said all that, let’s first focus on how our own Glory League’s current season will play out! The first round of the individual competition is starting soon. The big screen hasn’t shown the players yet, but we can already see the players on both sides rising from their respective benches. It looks like they are getting ready to get on stage. On 301’s side, we’ve got a game changer for 301’s season, the former English Glory league pro, Bai Shu! How about Tiny Herb’s side? This is… ah! It’s Xu Bin! It seems the first player to go up for Tiny Herb is Xu Bin. Oh my, what a coincidence,” Pan Lin became more animated.

Xu Bin happened to be a former player of 301. He had been the previous owner of the Knight character, Tide. When Bai Shu arrived, he was given the Knight Tide, whom 301 was previously unable to find a replacement for when Xu Bin left. Two players who controlled Tide, old and new, who would come out on top? This really was an engaging match to watch. The audience didn’t seem to have noticed the little movements at the player benches. However, the clamoring immediately grew in the stadium when the big screen confirmed that it would be Bai Shu playing against Xu Bin.

Xu Bin was traded for Tiny Herb’s All-Star Grappler Li Yihui. However, after Li Yihui’s arrival at 301, the title of All-Star Grappler was very quickly snatched away by Samsara’s Lu Boyuan. Li Yihui didn’t seem to have as much value to 301 as Xu Bin used to. When 301 failed to reach the playoffs last season, the exchange was viewed as a loss in the eyes of the fans. The character Tide was benched because no player was found for him; it really was incomprehensible for them.

But now, 301 has acquired Bai Shu. Even though they were perched on the edge of the play-off zone, Bai Shu only became a member of 301 in the second half of their journey this season. Compared to the first half, Bai Shu had really improved their performance by leaps and bounds.

The fans couldn’t not support Bai Shu. Additionally, this successor has accelerated the weakening of their reminiscent feelings towards Xu Bin. In the minds of 301’s fans, the so-called Grind King Xu Bin would always be tangled up with an opponent, trying to wear them down slowly. Bai Shu was not like this; his individual fights were straightforward and he would balance attacking and defending in team fights. He was good at both providing protection and sudden aggression. This Knight player from the European Alliance had a different playstyle to those who were brought up in the Chinese pro circle. He almost seemed to be more in touch with the Knight character. The so-called Knight’s Spirit was not just a class awakening skill for him. His awareness, his playstyle, his habits; they all seemed to carry the true spirit of a knight. Under his control, the class seemed to symbolize some kind of glory.

This was a difference in playstyle influenced by a difference in culture.

There have already been articles focused on Bai Shu that tried to explain how his Knight style is different from those who grew up in the Chinese Glory circle from a cultural perspective.

Then, was this visitor from afar the real deal, or was the Knight of this land the better warrior? No one would have guessed that the Bai Shu’s first match with Tiny Herb as a member of 301 would lead to the confrontation between these two top Knight players.

Enter the stage. Load the characters.

Bai Shu’s chosen map, Training Field, was reasonably simple. It was an unbiased, symmetric, and small map. The two opponents could see each other as soon as the match begun. Bai Shu did not hesitate to have Tide move forward. Xu Bin seemed to hesitate for a moment before he controlled Angelica to go forth and meet his opponent.

The two knights faced each other and walked faster and faster, eventually breaking into a sprint. Both characters raised their swords and shields into place, and locked their gaze on their opponent’s every move, but neither launched an attack.

Ten units away.

Eight units.

Six units.

Four units!

When there was just one step left before they could wipe each other’s faces with their shields… Charge!

Xu Bin’s Angelica acted first and unexpectedly unleashed the knight’s Charge skill at four units’ distance. Angelica’s left hand gripped his shield, and the sword in his right was thrust forth. The four units gap vanished in an instant!

Dong!

A resounding gong instantly rang out.

Bai Shu actually managed to accurately block Angelica’s sudden Charge. Angelica’s Charge ended up colliding with Tide’s shield.

Silver of Life!

This is the Silver shield held by Tide. Xu Bin has used it for three entire years and knew its attributes like the back of his hand. Even though it was raised to level 75 by 301 since and he didn’t know if there were any adjustments, Xu Bin was confident that the health regeneration attribute on Silver of Life would not be abandoned by 301.

Not counting Silver of Life, if Tide’s other equipment hasn’t changed too much, they all held health regeneration attribute . Fighting Tide in a long match would be very unfavorable!

This was Xu Bin’s judgement. But he was called the Grind King; famous for slowing the pace down. And Tide’s equipment was painstakingly created to suit this playstyle.

A character specialized in drawn-out battles and a Grind King who slowed the pace of battle down. There wasn’t a better combination of player and character. But now, Tide is Xu Bin’s enemy. He found himself having to overcome his previously most valued attribute. In addition, he had to change his playstyle…

If the Grind King could not grind, then what would he do?

After Angelica’s Charge was blocked, he immediately began to attack. A ferociously fast and violent attack.

The whole stadium was stunned. They were familiar with Xu Bin! That guy up on stage initiating attacks with an unmatched pace and ferocity, was that really Xu Bin? Did he change that much after going to Tiny Herb? No one has seen otherwise so far!

In the live broadcast, Pan Lin also froze. He stared for a full three seconds before saying: “Xu Bin is proactively attacking,”. As soon as he spoke, he felt he said something super awkward. Xu Bin proactively attacking? This is a sentence with a syntax or semantic error, right? The individual words didn’t string together properly to form a sentence, right?

“Haha, looks like Xu Bin is pretty clear on Tide’s attributes. He knows that grinding away at Tide would only be walking away from victory. So he had to force himself to change his style!” Li Yibo said.

“This change, isn’t it a bit too much?!” Pan Lin exclaimed.

“It doesn’t suit him. His play looks uncomfortable. Bai Shu is defending well, Xu Bin’s attack doesn’t pose much of a threat!” Li Yibo said.

“Then this match…”

Li Yibo stayed silent. As it was, he wouldn’t be as bold as to predict the outcome!

But once again he regretted not doing so. The match played out exactly as he had analyzed. Xu Bin really wasn’t suited for this playstyle, and the playstyle he was comfortable with could not deal with Tide. Finally, he was miserably dealt with by Bai Shu.

“How do I say this… Bai Shu really did slow down his pace for this match. He was also well aware of the implication of Tide’s attributes and took advantage of it. This game, it feels like 301’s Xu Bin defeated Tiny Herb’s Xu Bin…” Li Yibo said.

Nomyummi The chapter numbers have been finally fixed. Hooray!!!