Nirvana Top Laner, Reborn Tokyo Girl

Chapter 271, Chapter 268: Want to Win
For the members of the WBG team, this was a completely unexpected and smooth development.

To be honest, whether it's Xiaotian, Xiaohu, or Liu Qingsong, these guys have all made it to the World Championship quite a few times.

However, no matter which World Championship they entered, or even the World Championship that Liu Qingsong and Xiao Tian won together, their journey was not smooth.

In S9, although Xiaotian and Liu Qingsong eventually won the championship with FPX, it was a very close call and they almost didn't make it to the quarterfinals.

As for Xiaohu, let's not talk about him.

Basically, every World Championship journey has not been very smooth.

Light, in particular, was the most unsuccessful among them.

The other old guys have achieved some success, more or less.

He's just a bottom edge, nothing more.

Even on paper, their strength is not considered promising.

Too many failures and setbacks led the team members to have a negative expectation of the outcome.

They think they'll lose the World Championship after winning against LPL.

Winning the first round of the Swiss round makes the feeling of the second round uncertain.

By the third round, I felt that BLG might have come up with some amazing new strategy.

In short, these people subconsciously refuse to believe that "things will go so smoothly".

So, on the day he advanced, after returning to the training room, Xiao Hu was somewhat incredulous, saying as if it were unreal, "Is it real or fake? How could it be so easy? We haven't lost a single game."

"It would be ridiculous if we made it to the quarterfinals now, did nothing in the quarterfinals, and then just died."

Xiao Tian also joked, "Damn, is it another classic quarterfinals?"

Liu Qingsong chimed in, "You know what, the Swiss system actually has a margin for error, and it's two rounds of it. If we get knocked out in the Swiss system, and then find the problems and make it to the top 8, it actually feels better."

"If we don't find any problems and directly advance to the top 8, only to find out that the other team has our countermeasures and we lose and are eliminated, that would be terrifying."

That's right.

These people, who have experienced many world championships and lost many times, firmly believe in one point of view.

That is.
Winning in the group stage means nothing.

Only those who win in the end are the true winners.

Rather, their group stage victories would make them uneasy.

I feel like I'll end up being the one who doesn't find any problems and gets foolishly eliminated.

In fact, such concerns are not without reason.

Since the inception of this competition format, similar situations have indeed occurred quite frequently.

Many teams that performed brilliantly in the Swiss rounds and advanced with a 3-0 victory ultimately failed to make it to the finals.

Conversely, those teams that seemed to struggle in the Swiss round actually achieved better results in the end.

Objectively speaking, failure is the mother of success.

Early failures and trial and error allow people to reflect on their problems more quickly.

What's more terrifying than making a mistake is not knowing where you went wrong.

Moreover, another issue is that the intensity of WBG's entire Swiss round schedule is very low.

The winning teams were T1, TES, and BLG.

Along the way, apart from T1, the fourth seed from LCK, the other two teams climbed up by stepping over the corpses of their LPL brothers.

You can't say that your two brothers are inferior to LCK.

However, it can only be said that, compared to LCK teams, there is no information gap between their own teams and those in the LCK.

WBG is very familiar with these two teams.

We'll fight the same way we did before.

A team that has already won will naturally win again.

In other words, WBG gained almost no new experience throughout the entire Swiss round.

They entered the Swiss round exactly as they were, while the other teams made adjustments and evolved during the Swiss round.

Will WBG still be able to beat these evolved teams then?
This feeling is indeed unsettling.

The team members' concerns are entirely reasonable.

but
Shimamura Yuna, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much about it.

She chuckled softly and then said to everyone, "Everyone, don't always think the worst."

"There's a possibility of losing. The possibility that we might lose because our tactics aren't as refined as theirs is quite significant."

"But on another level, is it possible that it's not that we haven't found our problems, but rather that we are indeed invincible to other teams right now?"

Hearing this, Xiao Hu couldn't help but laugh: "Maybe, but I feel like it's unlikely."

Yuna Shimamura nodded: "It is indeed unlikely. However, if we think we will lose now, if we think we can't win now, then we will inevitably be affected by this mentality in the future."

"I think the best mindset is to be prepared that our tactics will be studied and figured out, but still believe that we can win in the end."

"Don't be afraid, don't worry. After all, we've always gotten here this way, haven't we?"

Yuna Shimamura's words are really just some meaningless platitudes.

In summary, it means "We will indeed be studied, but being studied doesn't mean we can't win, so there's no need to rush."

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that such a statement is utter nonsense.

But
Even if it's nonsense, the effect will be different depending on who says it.

If a delivery coach with no understanding of the game, who only knows how to flatter and climb the ladder through connections, were to spout these motivational platitudes to you every day, you might get annoyed after hearing them so many times.

They think, "What else can you do besides give motivational speeches? You're not the one playing this competition."

However, because it came from Shimamura Yuna's mouth, the same nonsense took on a different meaning at this moment.

It doesn't feel like nonsense or useless talk.

Rather, it is the strongest leader in the team who provides emotional support and a sense of security to the other team members.

Even the eldest brother doesn't think he'll lose, so what reason do the others have to sigh and complain?
Even the eldest brother didn't say he was afraid, so what do you have to be afraid of?
It does not provide confidence from a rational perspective.

This simply provides psychological energy to people on an emotional level.

At this moment, Xiaohu also sensed it.
Although in terms of tactical and promotional roles within the team, Shimamura Yuna is very similar to UZI of RNG back in the day.

Whether it's the gameplay that requires teammates to revolve around her, or the internet celebrity vibe that everyone is praising her for.

so similar.

He's practically UZI 2.0, or rather, he's practically top lane UZI.

Even the feeling of being the center of attention online and having fans dominate the online discourse is very similar.

But
After spending time with her, Xiaohu felt that this girl was actually very different from UZI.

It sounds a bit strange to say it that way.
However, she is clearly a girl who is only about 18 years old.

However, she is more mature than UZI was in his twenties back in 2018.

It's not the kind of thing where people just say things like, "I'm more mature now," or "I'm different from before."

Yuna Shimamura never said those words.

She rarely says things out loud. However, she gives off a sense of maturity that needs no words.

She seemed to know exactly what she wanted.

She also understands very well what she needs to do to get what she wants.

What emotions are a burden in this process?

And what kind of emotions will help achieve the goal in this process?

She was a girl who seemed sensitive, always smiling, appeared shy, and even had a history of depression.

But deep down, he's an extremely rational person.

Or rather, she is actually very emotional.

But
Her rationality even surpasses her own instinctive emotions.

So, at this moment, Xiao Hu felt...
This year might really be different.

Unlike any other year before.

That goal is no longer unattainable.

The highest champion is no longer someone you can only admire from afar.

'As long as I don't hold anyone back'

'As long as I burn myself'

With a hopeful expectation for the future, Xiao Hu made a certain decision.

That evening, Shimamura Yuna lay alone in her hotel room, staring wearily at the ceiling, feeling somewhat exhausted.

She muttered to herself as she looked at the ceiling.

"Oh, the elimination rounds? If you lose, you're eliminated immediately?"

Thinking about this, she felt her feelings were somewhat complicated.

Xiao Hu guessed correctly.

She wasn't as calm as she appeared in the training room, nor was she as confident as she seemed.

Her calmness and confidence were merely a performance, a result of rationality overriding her emotions.

I did it simply because I knew "I need to do it".

Including his previous life, he has been in the professional league for so many years, but he has never even entered the S-series once.

This was her first time entering the S-series, and she made it all the way to the quarterfinals so smoothly. How could she not be nervous? How could she not feel any unease?

If someone could truly have this kind of mindset, they probably wouldn't be human anymore.

No one is unafraid of having their expectations dashed and their dreams shattered.

At least, Shimamura Yuna admits that she couldn't do it.

But she couldn't let this unease and tension show.

Aside from themselves, the rest of the WBG players are all veterans, but their professional careers have probably not been very smooth in the last 5 years.

Such unsuccessful career experiences can sometimes cause them to unconsciously shrink back and avoid challenges.

They seemed very confident, a bunch of seasoned veterans, who seemed to be able to keep their composure no matter what.

But precisely because they are seasoned veterans, they suffer more defeats at crucial moments and become even more fearful.

At times like these, they need someone to lead them.

As the strongest member of the team, I absolutely cannot show any weakness.

You need to project an image of someone who can hold off ten thousand men.

Even if.
Even if it's a little bit of a stretch.

Only when she returned to the hotel did she have the opportunity to chat with Akari Kujo on Line and express her emotions.

The reason we use Line instead of phone is...
The reason is that Shimamura Yuna felt that it was easy to chat for a long time on the phone, and the topics would expand without limit.

Then, without realizing it, I missed my sleep time, which made me feel unwell the next day.

However, with Line, it's more effective to interrupt the conversation when it should end, rather than letting it continue indefinitely.

Over time, Shimamura Yuna got used to chatting with Kujo Akari on Line every night before going to bed.

Same today.

She sent her anxieties about losing unexpectedly in the subsequent elimination rounds and her fears of having high expectations only to be disappointed in the end, all in writing to Akari Kujo.

It's very long and extensive.

It's very trivial.

Sometimes she feels that she might be a bit too self-conscious, always talking to people about so many random things.

However, when she saw her sent messages immediately marked as "read" on Line, she felt an inexplicable sense of security welling up inside her.

So, we'll stick to doing it this way.

The same is true today.

After quickly showing that her message had been read, Akari Kujo, as always, began to reply to her very seriously.

Nine: [Setting excessively high expectations for oneself, only to have them dashed in the end, will inevitably lead to sadness and heartbreak.]

[I recently saw an old interview with a League of Legends player. He seemed to have said something like, "I have to think about whether this is the only chance I'll ever have." As a veteran League of Legends player, you must have seen this interview as well.]

I think he's absolutely right. We've already come all this way, so it's definitely not good to be too relaxed. After all, similar opportunities may not come again, so we can't afford not to try our best to seize them.

However, I think it's not good to care too much.

If you become too fixated on something, it will most likely backfire, and you may even become completely devastated after losing it.

Although it may sound like common sense, I believe the best attitude is to give it your all with 100% focus, recognizing it as the best opportunity of your life. But at the same time, be prepared to lose.

Yeah, that does sound like nonsense.

Shimamura Yuna herself had thought about similar things.

Being too concerned about it is also not good.

However, being too indifferent is also not good.

So, doesn't that mean we can only adjust our mindset to a certain extent?

However, even though it's the same thing, the feeling of thinking about it in your heart and then saying it out loud with someone you care about are completely different.

It's as if my ideas have been recognized.

It makes me even more certain that "what I thought was right."

When you're confiding in someone, the key isn't what answer you want to get afterward.

Because often, the person confiding in someone already has an answer in mind.

The key to confiding in someone is to gain a sense of security from someone you care about and to reaffirm your own beliefs.

Moreover, for Shimamura Yuna...
All the long string of words that Akari Kujo had said to him earlier paled in comparison to this final farewell.

Although objectively speaking, losing is possible, you will definitely win. I believe in you.

(End of this chapter)