158. We Are the Champions!
Bronya's love for Homu was common knowledge within the club.
Homu dolls she'd collected since childhood could fill an entire room.
Even now, her love for Homu remained undiminished, though it might seem a little childish for her age.
But this was Yun Ling's first competition reward, holding great significance for him...
Bronya glanced at the Homu doll; it was exactly the one missing from her collection.
This made her even more eager, even sparking a fleeting thought of using her authority to confiscate Yun Ling's reward.
Of course, this thought only flashed through her mind; she wouldn't go against her principles for a Homu doll.
"Captain, this is for you." Yun Ling held out the Homu doll and handed it to Bronya.
"?" Bronya was slightly puzzled.
She glanced around at the others, but they all shook their heads at Bronya, indicating they hadn't told Yun Ling about Bronya's liking for Homu.
"I've noticed the captain's phone wallpaper and keychain are both Homu, so the captain must really like Homu, right? Uh... am I wrong?"
Yun Ling scratched his head, a faint blush rising to his face, looking a little embarrassed.
Bronya was somewhat tempted, but still sighed.
"This is proof of your first MVP award; it's very meaningful to you. You should keep it for yourself."
"I... compared to the wise and brave Homu, I probably prefer the daring and adventurous Houla... so I'll give this to the captain." Yunling shook his head.
"Hmm? You're also interested in Homu's Great Adventure?" Bronya seemed to have found a kindred spirit, a strange light shining in her eyes.
"Un! I used to read the *Homu Adventure* comic a lot when I was little, but I haven't had much of a chance since."
Yun Ling's eyes lowered, seemingly recalling some unpleasant memories of the past.
"Ahem... I have a complete *Homu Adventure* set here. In exchange, I'll give it to you." Bronya coughed lightly, steering the conversation back on track.
"Really? Thank you, Captain Bronya!" Yun Ling's face lit up with joy.
Bronya took the limited-edition Homu from Yun Ling's hand, gently stroking it with her fingers.
Hmm, another complete set!
Yun Ling saw a hint of a smile on Bronya's face, then, as if realizing something was amiss, she reverted to her strong, independent demeanor.
"Alright, the competition's over for today. Get some rest." Bronya, clutching the Homu plush toy, returned to her room.
After placing the Homu doll in a precious display case, Bronya looked at the overflowing display, hands on her hips, a sense of pride rising within her.
She then took out a brand-new, unopened copy of *The Great Homu Adventure* from a cabinet below.
She had three copies of *The Great Homu Adventure*: one for herself, one for her collection, and one for spreading the word.
In the past, at St. Freya Academy, only Headmistress Theresa shared her love for Homu with her.
However, due to her status, Theresa couldn't reveal her love for Homu; otherwise, it would affect her authority as headmistress.
Although she had absolutely no authority...
So, the copy for spreading the word had never found a suitable recipient, but unexpectedly, it came in handy today.
"Houla..."
Bronya looked at the red Homu standing next to Homu on the cover; his name was Houla.
Houla was a straightforward Homu, strong and brave, willing to go through fire and water for his friends.
Although straightforward, he's actually quite meticulous beneath his rough exterior, dislikes following rules, and is the strongest Homu in the main group.
Considering Yun Ling's past experiences, perhaps it's his own cowardice that makes him admire Houla and want to become like him.
Bronya handed Yun Ling the comic book. Seeing the joy on his face, Bronya felt her own mood improve considerably.
It was a feeling of finding a kindred spirit.
Besides games, Yun Ling developed a new hobby: reading *Homu Adventure*.
During breaks, he would often pick up *Houmu Adventure* and enjoy it immensely.
During morning exercises, Bronya would occasionally chat with him about the plot of *Homu Adventure*, and when they reached an exciting part, they would unconsciously share their thoughts.
In offline competitions, Yun Ling was generally able to overcome offline distractions and perfectly perform to his full potential.
Until the arrival of the Seventh League.
Having experienced several offline tournaments, Yun Ling was no longer intimidated by this environment, especially considering BRN's already large fan base.
Yun Ling's outstanding performance naturally attracted a lot of attention.
He entered the competition like a dark horse, leaving everyone he faced sweating profusely.
His script-like positioning even prompted the referees to repeatedly check if Yun Ling was using a USB drive.
Led by Bronya, BRN entered the finals with a terrifying 100% win rate and perfect score.
Last year's champions had already been defeated, and standing before BRN was a dominant team from a rival country.
They had previously looked down on this tournament, but this year they unusually participated.
Even a top player like Bronya felt slight pressure.
And the opponent's strongest mid-laner faced BRN's vice-captain, Kiana.
That one-second delay difference became apparent.
Even though Kiana is considered the strongest mid-lane gatekeeper, she was completely outmatched by the opposing mid-laner and could only cower under her tower.
In top-tier competitions like this, even a second can be fatal...
Bronya relentlessly searched for a way to break the deadlock.
But the opposing team seemed to have thoroughly figured out BRN's strategy. Their mid-laner and jungler relentlessly pressured BRN's bot lane, never letting up for a moment.
While Yun Ling was able to consistently pressure his opponent in the top lane, the opponent was duo-queuing with the tower, stubbornly consuming two and a half pounds of mandarin oranges without daring to even peek at the minion wave.
His task was simply to stall Yun Ling's development and prevent him from being solo-killed.
As time ticked away, the gold difference between the two sides in the bot lane widened, and Bronya gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.
"I can dive top lane now."
Using her level advantage, Yun Ling executed a smooth maneuver to take down the enemy top laner.
Two waves of minions pushed into the tower, and the top lane tower was destroyed.
However, the enemy controlled almost all neutral objectives, and their disadvantage remained significant.
Therefore, BRN changed their strategy, allocating most resources to Bronya and Yun Ling, who were their only hope for a comeback.
Time reached a crucial point; the enemy wanted to take Baron Nashor and force a team fight.
"Our minions were in a bad position, but if the enemy secured Baron Nashor, there would be no hope for the game."
So they had to engage in this team fight.
Kiana flashed forward, attempting to use her abilities to control the enemy mid laner, but a small movement evaded her, exposing Kiana to the enemy's encirclement.
The team fight was imminent. Little Rabbit held her position, giving Bronya excellent space to deal damage.
However, the disadvantages of insufficient resources were quickly exposed. The opposing marksman was fearless and confronted Bronya head-on.
Even though Bronya dodged the support's fatal crowd control, she was still easily killed by the opposing marksman.
Cheers erupted on the field because Bronya's fall, coupled with Kiana's failed flash-initiation, practically guaranteed them a 10% victory.
"Find the enemy top laner's position!" The opposing mid laner showed no joy, as Yun Ling's location was still nowhere to be seen.
But the next second, Yun Ling burst into the battlefield.
Although the opposing mid laner was prepared, he was still startled by Yun Ling's sudden appearance, never expecting him to rush out from this angle.
He unhesitatingly used his Flash, but Yun Ling followed with an almost instantaneous Flash, igniting the atmosphere on the field once again.
But he didn't panic. Instead, he activated his ultimate, which had a wide-area control effect.
He had been wary of Yun Ling's appearance and had been holding onto his ultimate. But to his disbelief, Yun Ling actually pressed the S key to interrupt his basic attack under those circumstances, then forcefully turned around to dodge the crowd control!
One slash, two slashes, three slashes!
As the enemy mid laner's screen turned black, he sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, this team fight had become his personal showcase.
The underfarmed top laner was killed in two slashes, and with the movement speed boost from his ultimate, he charged straight at the ADC, tanking their damage.
In the end, only the support was left, fleeing in panic.
Yun Ling had secured a quadra kill!
This sudden reversal caught everyone off guard. BRN team fans cheered, and the commentators exclaimed in disbelief.
With Yun Ling and Ai taking down the enemy's high ground and securing both the Baron and Dragon, achieving a perfect comeback, the battle came to an end.
In the second game, they changed their tactics, focusing their attacks on Yun Ling.
But Yun Ling's positioning, almost scripted, left the opposing team reeling.
His terrifying awareness, as if he had a god's-eye view, meant that the moment the enemy jungler considered ganking, Yun Ling was already back under his tower.
This left their bottom lane defense airborne, with Ai, Bronya, and Little Rabbit turning the enemy into easy targets.
In the third game, they used the same tactics as the first game, but sent their jungler to restrict Yun Ling.
Still, it was ineffective. Three players ganking him only resulted in a one-for-one trade, and two ganks... Yun Ling seized the opportunity and secured a double kill.
Thus, the strongest team to steal the nation was eliminated by Yun Ling with a score of 0-3.
And Yun Ling, unsurprisingly, became the MVP of this tournament.
"You're strong. I look forward to you stealing the nation again. Let's have another match."
The opposing mid-laner said to Yun Ling in an awkward tone as they shook hands.
"Uh...you should say that to our captain," Yun Ling said with a smile, shaking his head.
"You're not the captain?" A hint of surprise flashed in the other person's eyes.
"Ahem, I accept your challenge," Bronya coughed lightly, glancing at him sideways.
The other person didn't seem to care, simply patting Yun Ling on the shoulder before walking to the runner-up's podium.
After this battle, Yun Ling was adorned with numerous accolades.
'The Great Demon King,' 'Top Lane Overlord,' 'Eternal God'...
After the match, some analysts noted that Yun Ling's success rate in dodging non-targeted skills reached an astonishing 95%, almost equivalent to...no, even surpassing scripts!
Countless clubs and advertisers sent Yun Ling invitations, and he received an exceptionally generous advertising fee after accepting only a few.
Actually, the advertising fee wasn't much to him; he mainly wanted to save some money and have the clubs take a cut.
Bronya had casually mentioned wanting to develop a surreal game that required substantial funding.
As someone with a strong interest in games, Yun Ling naturally agreed wholeheartedly and was willing to invest.
At the celebration banquet, Yun Ling asked a question that had been nagging at him for a long time.
"Little Rabbit, how did you become that fair-skinned, beautiful older sister?"
"And the vice-captain, how come you always appear and disappear so mysteriously? I never saw you see her off."
The group exchanged glances, then burst into laughter.
"It's a materialized projection, one of the research achievements of our Schicksal Company."
Little Rabbit took out a button and pressed it.
Shortly afterward, her body was covered by a stream of data, transforming her into a beautiful older sister.
"Although she has a near-human appearance, she still can't have children! So, little Yun Ling, even though you're going through puberty, don't have any inappropriate fantasies about me, your senior."
The humanoid rabbit winked at Yun Ling, teasingly.
"I...no, I was just curious," Yun Ling explained, blushing.
"Hahaha, just kidding." The rabbit reverted to its original form, bursting into laughter at Yun Ling's embarrassment.
"As for Kiana...she's a bit more complicated. She uses special equipment to connect to a materialized projection."
"But special equipment has a certain delay when the distance is too far, which is why she's always using defensive tactics."
"She's in a very far place, so..." Ai explained.
Yun Ling nodded, seemingly understanding.
"Let's congratulate ourselves on winning the championship!" Bronya raised her glass.
"Cheers!"
Just as everyone drank their fill, preparing to continue the celebration, Yun Ling gracefully collapsed.
"?"
"Drunk?"
"Can anyone really get drunk by drinking that little?"
They helped Yun Ling to a sofa to rest.
"By the way, why isn't Soldier here?" Bronya remembered they had a substitute member.
"He said he had to spend time with his girlfriend," Ai explained.
"Oh, he actually secretly found a girlfriend?" Little Rabbit's face was full of gossip.
"Yeah, he said it's the nurse who took care of Yun Ling before. They exchanged contact information, and somehow they got together," Ai explained.
"He's almost at the age where he should retire," Bronya nodded.
Ultimately, it's up to Soldier's own choice. If he wants to stay, fine; if not, let him go.
Just then, Yun Ling, lying on the sofa, suddenly appeared and disappeared, vanishing mysteriously without anyone noticing!
...