Chapter 17: You’re Helping Me? A Loud Ow
In the conference room specifically used for match reviews, besides a projector and a large screen, there was also a whiteboard.
Zuo Chi signaled for Land and Wu Yang to sit down. He taped a printed, enlarged version of the game map to the whiteboard and picked up a marker from the tray.
If he weren’t wearing a casual denim jacket and a soft hairstyle, he would truly look like a success-theory lecturer teaching “How to Earn a Million a Year.”
“Next, the content I’m going to discuss is: how to earn 300 more gold than your opponent in one minute…”
The equipment for heroes in Arena needed to be purchased with gold. The sources of gold were mainly lane minions, jungle monsters, and kills. Among them, minions and monsters refreshed at fixed times, while kills depended on the players’ skills.
Basic things didn’t need to be mentioned; not just professional players, even passersby who didn’t play the game knew them. Zuo Chi skipped those.
“Land, if I asked you to be 300 gold higher than your opponent within a minute without getting any kills, what would you do?”
Ning Luzhao barely hesitated: “Invade the enemy jungle and interfere with their last-hitting.”
Zuo Chi nodded.
Invading the enemy jungle was equivalent to robbing the enemy’s economy. If I take one small jungle monster, I gain 50 gold, and you lose 50. If the entire jungle can be cleared out, a KPI of 300 can be easily completed.
Interfering with last-hitting was about suppressing the enemy’s economy. In the game, when a hero solo-clears a lane, the gold earned from last-hitting a minion is 30 gold higher. A wave of five minions adds up to a huge sum over time.
He added another condition: “What if it’s within the first minute of the first jungle spawn?”
Ning Luzhao’s brow furrowed slightly, and he said in a low voice, “On a professional stage, that’s very difficult to achieve.”
When the first round of jungle spawns, all heroes are Level 1. Even with an early-game dominant lineup, you might steal one buff, but that’s only a hundred-gold lead. The neutral objectives on the three lanes don’t refresh until the three-minute mark.
Last-hitting was a basic skill for professional players; it was rare for there to be a large gap from missing minions.
Wu Yang lowered his head, seemingly thinking of something: “I r-r-emember the t-t-est p-p-aper Coach Zuo g-g-ave us b-b-efore. There was a q-q-uestion sayin’ if t-t-wo h-h-eroes share a wave, it g-g-ives 50 m-m-ore gold than one h-h-ero eatin’ it a-a-lone.”
“Not just minions; it’s the same for jungle monsters.” Zuo Chi said with a smile, “For example, if a jungler takes the Red or Blue buff alone, they get 100 gold. But if the mid-laner and the jungler take it together, the jungler gets 80 and the mid-laner gets 60. If three people group up to take it, the yield is even higher.”
Wu Yang’s eyes immediately lit up: “Coach Zuo, y-y-ou mean I c-c-an eat the j-j-ungle w-w-ith Brother Ning?!”
“Not exactly. In this current version, if the jungler’s economy isn’t high, they can’t threaten the enemy’s dual carries in teamfights at all.”
The gluttonous light in Wu Yang’s eyes dimmed: “Oh…”
“My meaning is, when you’re playing a utility hero, the mid lane wave can be shared with Land. As for the jungle, let Beyond and Land eat it together.”
It sounded like the sound of a breaking heart echoed in the conference room.
“Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t go into the jungle.” Zuo Chi guiltily met Wu Yang’s rekindled gaze of hope and whispered, “After you and Land finish clearing the mid lane, you can go into the jungle together. You use your skills to help Land clear the camp quickly, but you must leave the gold-sharing range before the monster dies.”
The fragments on the ground turned into dust.
Wu Yang muttered a few words to himself like “Gold in the game isn’t real money anyway, as long as we win and get prize money it’s fine.” After comforting himself, he expressed that he would try this out during training in a bit.
Zuo Chi looked at Ning Luzhao again: “In the early game, your jungle is shared with the marksman. The missing money will be made up from Wu Yang and Fugui…”
When the whiteboard was densely covered with writing, erased, and covered again—this repeated four or five times—Zuo Chi calculated that everything he needed to tell the mid-jungle duo today should be finished.
He looked up at the clock: He wondered why, toward the end, his words were frequently interrupted by a sense of hunger and he kept forgetting his lines. It turned out nearly four hours had passed.
He beckoned Ning Luzhao and Wu Yang to head to the cafeteria: “I don’t know what the cafeteria auntie cooked today. I hope Fugui left us a bit of meat by this time…”
The moment the door opened, a figure flashed before his eyes. He was hit solidly and stumbled. Before he could regain his balance, another force of impact came. A sharp pain shot through his lower back; it seemed he had hit the corner of the conference table.
Zuo Chi sucked in a breath of cold air, and a layer of cold sweat immediately covered his forehead.
Fugui, who had bumped into him, was stunned: “Sorry, Coach Zuo! Are you, are you okay…”
Beyond, who had bumped into the back of Fugui, also poked his head out: “Coach Zuo, are you alright? How about we send you to the hospital right now?”
Zuo Chi slowed down for a moment. After the initial crushing pain faded slightly, he tried to move a few steps: “It’s nothing major, no need for the hospital. I’ll just go to the dorm to rub on some Red Flower Oil and put on a patch—what were you two doing at the door?”
“Didn’t you guys stay in the conference room without coming out? I pulled Beyond along, wanting to come hear what was being taught…” Fugui said guiltily, “I was just leaning against the door listening for a few minutes when the door suddenly opened. I didn’t stand firm and fell forward—Ning-god, don’t look so scary, I really know I was wrong!”
Zuo Chi rubbed his lower back, feeling that the area was probably a bit swollen and might have some bruising. Fortunately, the corner of the conference table was rounded; if it were sharp… hiss, it would hurt even more.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Everyone go eat, go train. I’ll just go back to the dorm and handle it.”
Fugui and Beyond wanted to accompany him to the hospital, but he refused.
Slowly returning to his dorm, he rummaged through his drawer for the medical kit.
The VEX base was well-stocked with medicines: things for bruises, colds, diarrhea, heatstroke… they had it all.
He sat on the edge of the bed, took off his jacket, and lifted the right side of his T-shirt.
The place where he hit the table was a bit toward his back. He tried his best to turn his head to look, but he could only see half of it. There was a patch of purple bruising, swollen, with a bit of skin broken in the middle and some stray spots of dried blood.
He had to apply some iodine to disinfect it.
Zuo Chi held his shirt up with one hand and unscrewed the iodine cap with the other. Suddenly, he heard a rush of footsteps in the corridor. Before he could ask who it was, the dorm door had already opened.
Ning Luzhao’s expression was very cold, reminding Zuo Chi of the boy’s expression during the interview after losing to ZAP. However, it was still a bit different; for example, at this moment, the corners of the young man’s dark gray phoenix eyes were pressed down even more frostily.
No wonder Fugui said Ning Luzhao’s expression was terrifying just now.
Although the boy was usually cool and aloof, once you were familiar with him, he didn’t give off an unapproachable feeling. But when he was in a bad mood, the lines of his brows seemed to become even more sharp and intimidating.
“Land, you didn’t get into a fight with Fugui, did you?” Zuo Chi unscrewed the iodine cap. He tilted his face to see the area needing medicine, his posture awkward and strenuous, making his voice shake slightly, “He and Beyond didn’t do it on purpose. This was purely an accident.”
Ning Luzhao didn’t say a word. He walked over and sat down beside him. Only then did Zuo Chi see that the other was carrying a lunch box, which was filled with steaming food and three braised chicken drumsticks.
He had been up here for less than five minutes. Obviously, it was impossible for Ning Luzhao to have eaten before coming back.
“Brought it for me?”
“Mm.” Ning Luzhao took the cotton swab from his hand. “Coach, isn’t your neck sore like that?”
It was sore.
Seeing that the other looked like he wanted to help apply the medicine, Zuo Chi didn’t act coy and simply handed everything over.
“You must have packed up all the good food left in the cafeteria for me—let’s eat together in a bit, anyway, I can’t eat this many dishes.”
The lunch box was packed to the brim, the lid couldn’t even close. It was completely enough for two people.
As Zuo Chi was speaking, a bit of cold suddenly brushed against the wound. He couldn’t help but stiffen his spine, knowing Ning Luzhao was helping him apply the iodine.
Perhaps because his reaction seemed too large, Ning Luzhao glanced up at him and didn’t continue applying the medicine for several seconds.
Zuo Chi let out a breath: “I wasn’t in pain just now, it’s just that the iodine is too cold. The dorm has the heater on, I just haven’t adapted—don’t look at that bruise, it looks scary, but it’s actually just a flesh wound. It didn’t hit the bone. It’ll be fine in a week after applying medicine.”
Because his skin was fair, the bruise looked particularly red and swollen, as if it were horrific.
“Coach, don’t worry, I didn’t get into a conflict with Fugui and the others.” Ning Luzhao carefully applied the iodine with very light movements, then picked up the Red Flower Oil. “I haven’t used this much. Do I just smear it on?”
“Pour it in your hand first.” Zuo Chi gave a verbal demonstration, “Spread it across both hands, then rub it on…”
He didn’t forget to give the boy a warning: “Don’t mind if I grimace or howl in a bit, just keep rubbing. The bruise needs to be rubbed out to heal quickly—my—my elder taught me that.”
“Mm.”
Zuo Chi glanced at Ning Luzhao’s face. The coldness in the boy’s eyes had subsided, but his brow was still locked tight.
The scent of the Red Flower Oil spread through the dorm, followed by Zuo Chi’s heart-piercing “Awoooo.”
Halfway through the “Awooo,” the dorm door opened again.
Fugui and Beyond walked in, each carrying a shopping bag.
With so many people, Zuo Chi felt embarrassed to “Awooo” anymore and tightly shut his mouth.
“Coach Zuo, Beyond and I bought some snacks for you. They say you are what you eat, so there’s chicken, pork, duck, beef jerky… and a lot of fruit.”
Zuo Chi nodded, indicating he liked to eat.
“Then, Coach Zuo, you rest well. Beyond and I will go train first?”
“Okay…” Zuo Chi said weakly, “Before you go, how about bringing that lunch box over to me? I’ll have a few bites first.”
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