My starting summon is a small skeleton

Chapter 170: 168 Lin Jianying and the Goblin (Please Subscribe)

The top eight tournament began swiftly.

The first match was between Beijing's Team 044 and Team 018.

The two teams were simply not on the same level.

If Team 001 had made it through the additional matches, perhaps they could have put up a struggle, but with Team 018, they had absolutely no power to resist against Team 044.

Beating them felt just like Team 044 was fighting the chaff teams during the preliminaries, with only Li Kui's "Iron Armor Black Bull" needed to take care of everything.

Even Team 018's bird got taken out in a single wide-range attack by the Iron Armor Black Bull.

The match lasted less than half an hour from start to finish.

That time also included some miscellaneous minor delays, so the actual combat probably lasted less than ten minutes.

This complete domination was frustrating for the audience to watch.

After all, the team getting crushed hailed from Jiangnan.

Although they had signed with Jiangbei, they were still considered part of Jiangnan. How could the audience not feel frustrated by such a crushing defeat?

Fortunately, it was soon time for Team 042's second match.

Even though Team 042 wasn't facing an outside team, the audience was happy to see them in action as the hope of Jiangnan.

And while the audience looked forward to Team 042's shining moment,

there was a bit of trouble for Team 042. Right before the match, Lin Jianying suddenly turned extremely pale.

Lu Wu asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"I... I need to go to the bathroom!"

Lu Wu knew he was nervous and didn't say much. He just patted his shoulder and said, "Go ahead!"

With Lu Wu's approval, Lin Jianying hurried off with the goblin in tow and rushed to the restroom.

Seeing that he had taken the goblin with him, Lu Wu knew it wasn't just a simple bathroom break.

Sure enough, Lin Jianying returned before the match started ten minutes later, his temples damp, and his cheeks slightly flushed with uneven breathing, looking somewhat embarrassed. However, the anxiety and nervousness had subsided considerably.

He even discussed with Lu Wu upon returning, "If possible, could I take the lead?"

Lu Wu looked at Lin Jianying and the goblin's state, and then nodded his head.

"Alright!"

It was just a formality match anyway; it didn't matter who took the lead.

Plus, Lu Wu had a vague guess as to what Lin Jianying had just done and understood his current state of mind.

So he didn't mind giving him this opportunity.

After getting Lu Wu's approval, Lin Jianying's face became noticeably redder. He turned and solemnly patted his somewhat dazed goblin's shoulder: "It's all on you now!"

Soon after, the second match began.

On Lu Wu's side, the goblin was the first to enter the battle, facing off against Team 054's first-pick, Cave People.

To be fair, the match was quite good.

The power of both sides was that of Elite 1 Star, so they were evenly matched.

After almost ten minutes of back-and-forth, the goblin ultimately won the battle with a Thrust attack.

Lu Wu was quite satisfied with this outcome; given that the goblin hadn't even unleashed its full potential, it was a good result. But the audience was clearly not pleased.

After all, this goblin was not just any goblin from a chaff team; it was from Team 042.

It was the goblin from the team that Jiangnan people had placed great hopes on.

Such a performance seemed poor in the eyes of the audience and didn't meet the standards of an ace team, leading to a barrage of boos.

They felt that this goblin didn't deserve to be on Team 042, which deeply affected Lin Jianying, who had just managed to muster some spirit. His complexion turned even paler and directly impacted his performance in the second match.

As a result, he made obvious errors in directing the goblin during the second match, causing it to be defeated when it could have won, which intensified the jeers from the audience.

They had pinned all their hopes on Team 042, but while Team 044 had shown such dominance, and cruised through a triple victory, what about Team 042?

Even against chaff, their first-pick goblin faltered in the second round.

This disparity made the criticism against Team 042 grow louder given the audience's prior support.

Audiences are fickle, especially when they place all their expectations on you; you can't expect them to be tolerant or rational.

The cheers and praise you receive in victory are equal in measure to the blame you must bear in defeat.

At that moment, Lin Jianying's face was deathly pale.

He hadn't expected that the opportunity he had mustered the courage for would end up in such a fiasco.

The audience's criticism and the guilt from not only failing to help Lu Wu but significantly hindering him plunged Lin Jianying into the abyss.

He could only strive with all his might to control himself and not burst into tears.

"Lu Wu, I'd like to take a break."

After saying this to Lu Wu, Lin Jianying didn't even wait for a response before taking the goblin back to the rest area.

After a few steps, he finally heard Lu Wu say, "Go ahead, I've got it here!"

These words quickened Lin Jianying's steps, hurrying the goblin back to the rest area.

After Lin Jianying withdrew, Lu Wu sent Little Skeleton into the fray.

Little Skeleton entered the battle, and with a "Thunder Strike," decisively ended the fight. When Team 054's third Summoned Beast appeared, Little Skeleton launched another "Thunder Strike," and amid the rising BGM, easily crushed the third creature, securing the victory effortlessly and dominantly.

Little Skeleton's formidable display subdued some of the scorn from the audience.

Yet criticism remained, directed at Lin Jianying.

The audience felt that Lin Jianying contributed nothing to Team 042 and was simply a drag on the team.

The discussions at the venue were restrained compared to the online commentators, who were extremely vitriolic.

Some were already pinning the blame on Lin Jianying should Team 042 fail to win the championship.

Even those with a darker side of mind came up with such a thought.

"If only Lin Jianying would suddenly drop dead right now, Team 042 could get a new member, and their hope of taking the championship would greatly increase!"

Unfortunately, Lin Jianying saw that comment.

Even though it was quickly deleted, Lin Jianying still caught sight of it.

Lin Jianying was stunned at the moment...

In fact, since Lin Jianying joined Lu Wu's team, his feelings were exceptionally complex.

On one hand, he felt gratitude and joy, but on the other, the feeling of guilt was growing heavier by the day.

After all, he was the one who initially refused to team up with Lu Wu because he didn't like Little Skeleton, even though he had his reasons and difficulties, they were never convincing enough to himself.

So, the nicer Lu Wu was to him, the less at ease he felt, and the more guilty he became.

This guilt fermented in his heart continuously, bringing tremendous pressure to his inner self.

He had always tried to think of something to help Lu Wu, to alleviate this guilt.

But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't find a way to be truly of assistance to Lu Wu.

The high school league information he worked hard to collect turned out to be useless; his gathered intel was not even close to what Lu Wu saw at a glance.

He wanted to take care of Lu Wu's daily life, to clean and cook for him, but that was Dudu's job.

In the end, he found the only thing he could do was perhaps to play well in the matches and fulfill his responsibility as a teammate, providing the greatest support to Lu Wu during the battles.

For that reason, over the past few months, Lin Jianying had been training like mad, preparing with all his might.

But it was during the battle that he realized, his diligent training hadn't really helped Lu Wu at all.

In the battle against Team 001, he was just cannon fodder, his contribution nowhere near Dudu's.

Although he defeated an opponent in today's battle, it still wasn't of much help to Lu Wu.

In other people's eyes, the greatest help he could offer to Lu Wu seemed to be to drop dead.

What terrified him more was that, at that moment, he actually found himself somewhat agreeing with that comment; then the emotions he had been trying to control completely collapsed, and he began to sob uncontrollably in the waiting room, hugging the confused goblin.

The goblin didn't know what was wrong with its master.

Nor could it empathize with its master's current state of mind.

It just felt that its master seemed very unhappy and distressed, so it grew sad too.

Eventually, the goblin's lips pursed, and it started crying along with Lin Jianying...

...

In the waiting room, Lin Jianying and the goblin wept together.

Outside, the competition continued.

After Team 042's match ended, it was the turn of Teams 002 and 073, that is, the Hengheng Monster and her team.

Another battle between aces and seeds, another battle that almost revealed the outcome from looking at the combatants.

The battle began, and without a doubt, it was another crushing situation.

Team 002's leading Elite 3 Star Summoned Beast, Little Demon, exhibited its mighty power effortlessly, defeating two of Hengheng Monster's teammates.

Just when everyone thought Jiangnan side was about to face a one-against-three defeat, Hengheng Monster's Summoned Beast took to the stage.

Her Summoned Beast was a cat with two tails.

Its Elite 2 Star power and combat prowess were quite good, and after about ten minutes of struggle, it surprisingly managed to defeat Team 002's lead Summoned Beast, Little Demon.

The result was unexpected!

The first cries of cheer came from the spectator stands. For a moment, it was as if Team 073 had won.

The cheering was even louder than when Team 042 had won their match.

This was primarily an issue of psychological expectations.

The audience had too high expectations for Team 042; anything less than a crushing victory felt like a failure, while for Team 073, just avoiding a one-against-three defeat was considered a victory.

However, this cheering wasn't good news for Lu Wu.

After Hengheng Monster's hard-won victory over Little Demon, she felt embarrassed and didn't dare to look up, thinking she had lost face.

But the cheers encouraged her, and the foolish woman became smug. She raised her head high, looking for Lu Wu in the spectator seats.

On spotting Lu Wu, Hengheng Monster couldn't help but tilt her head proudly.

This smug look made Lu Wu's teeth itch with annoyance.

The moment Hengheng Monster saw Lu Wu's grim expression, she was even more elated; originally planning to concede after one match, she now decided to fight another.

However, Hengheng Monster quickly learned a simple, unadorned truth through her actual experience.

Don't show off or you'll invite lightning strikes.

Though Hengheng Monster didn't get struck by lightning, her Summoned Beast was nearly beheaded by Wind Blade.

The one acting was the Little Griffin, which had been blasted away by a mouthful of salted soda from little goldfish.

The one commanding was Fang Bai, captain of Team 002.

This guy, after losing his first Summoned Beast, immediately took matters into his own hands, attacking with full force right off the bat, not giving Hengheng Monster the chance to concede and seriously injuring her Summoned Beast.

He was so ruthless mainly because Hengheng Monster's victory prevented them from achieving a one-against-three, putting them at a disadvantage in terms of momentum against Team 044.

But that wasn't the most important reason. What was unbearable for him was that after winning, Hengheng Monster actually flirted with Lu Wu right in front of him.

He just couldn't stand it.

He immediately seriously wounded Hengheng Monster's Summoned Beast, and then defiantly smiled at Lu Wu on the spectator stands.

Dare to show affection in front of him?

He'd twist your Summoned Beast's head sideways!

...

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