At this point, for all the teams outside the boundary, the distance to safety was not too great, though it would not be a smooth journey. It could even be said that there was danger in every step.

When the final rounds were at a hilly terrain, the first to move often became a moving target for the rest of the teams.

Even though the play area was very near, none of the five teams, Liu Zilang included, dared to make the first move.

“Hmm, there’s no natural cover provided in this circle. Do you think eventually… everyone will be fighting in a big patch of smoke, where no one can see each other’s positions?”

“That’s possible. However, the specifics will still come down to each team’s individual choices. The match might just end while everyone is escaping into the play area.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad for Vic. If the other four teams start fighting among themselves, then as long as he can survive, it’s even possible that he’ll get the chicken dinner.”

The commentary platform was pretty optimistic.

With about fifteen seconds left before the play area was restricted, Underhood, who was at Liu Zilang’s northeast direction, laid down a smokescreen to enter the play area, instantly drawing heavy fire. The five-pointed star formation was immediately disrupted.

Immediately after, the four players of Underhood abruptly changed direction and all headed toward Liu Zilang!

On the shady patch of grass under a tree, Liu Zilang did not throw smoke grenades so as not to attract attention. He had been contemplating whether to move forward using the “prostate movement” method.1

In the next moment, seeing four people dashing straight toward him, Liu Zilang thought that the jig was up.

The live Western audience was staring intently at the screen, wondering how Liu Zilang would die.

However, the reality was…

The four players of Underhood had their attention on their opponents on the other side. Under the first person’s perspective, they did not notice the “grassy monster” lying prone next to the tree, even though their feet landed right in front of Liu Zilang’s face.

Facts have been proven once again, vision is not required in competitive esports!2

On the caster’s camera broadcast on the tournament’s big screen, the players of Underhood were seen milling about the tree, their bodies in constant motion.

They were diligent in their duties: Setting up a smokescreen, taking aim at the opponent, observing any strange movements, all the while feeling a sense of security only brought about by having their backs against the edge of the play area. None of them realized that Liu Zilang was right behind them.

Phineas, Underhood’s sniper, took a few steps backward while scoping to the front. His heel had almost stepped on Liu Zilang’s hand, and he never thought of turning around to take a look.

The audience was speechless.

The viewers in the live-stream channels too were dumbfounded!

“F*ck me… did they not see the person behind them?”

“Hahaha, I’m dying here. If Guru Fei knew that someone was close enough to poke his butt with a gun, he’d be spewing blood.”

“I guess that’s dogsh*t luck for Vic. He ain’t going anywhere.”

“LOLOL we’ll just have to see Underhood’s performance. If they’re good enough, they might even escort Vic into the final circle.”

In the tournament, Liu Zilang stared at the butt that was heaving and shaking right in front of his face. He felt a strong urge to fire a shot with his AWM.

Just like the viewers in the live-stream channels had said, all his hopes depended on the skills of this South American team.

When the countdown ended, gunfire erupted from all sides without any warning!

The patch of ground in front of Liu Zilang was suddenly littered with bullet holes.

‘Oh sh*t!’

‘Have I been discovered?’

Just when he was about to get up and retaliate, a body fell in front of him.

“SKK-Satan knocked out Underhood-Phineas with Kar98K!”

Phineas was critically injured by the opponent. Even if he did not suffer a headshot, the damage dealt was fatal.

In the final circle, it was not realistic to be reviving teammates.

Even with the cover of smoke, a high-throw grenade could easily dispatch whoever was within.

If someone was reviving that person, it might be a “buy one, free one” for the opponent.

At this time, the other three players of Underhood had to abandon their teammate. They returned fire while entering the play area under the cover of smoke, to at least establish a foothold.

At this time, C9 had taken down a player from Savage, inhibiting their path into the safe zone, while joining forces with SKK to fight against Underhood.

With these changes on the battlefield, the situation was drastically different.

Even when Underhood had laid down a thick smokescreen, their opponents’ bullets and throwables were not lacking in quantity.

Under the incessant roar of gunfire, Liu Zilang was cowering on the ground and had yet to make his move when a shadow appeared in front of him.

Slam!

“C9-Chappie knocked out Underhood-KAI with frag grenade!”

‘Too f*cking bad!’ Liu Zilang thought.

Unexpectedly, KAI pushed himself off the ground. He was originally facing sideways from Liu Zilang, but to ensure maximum chance of survival, he turned around to crawl toward the boundary of the play area.

As the saying went, he had the higher ground.

He had just turned his head when he noticed the “grassy monster” that was wearing a ghillie suit, wielding an AWM, and lying prone next to the tree behind him.

What the f*ck?!

What the hell was this?

Upon seeing Liu Zilang, alarm bells rang in KAI’s head.

Liu Zilang’s heart went cold. He reflexively fired a shot with his AWM onto KAI’s shoulder.

Splat!

KAI, who had discovered his secret, was forced to bring it to his grave.

The secret could be preserved in the game, but not in real life.

“Warning! There’s someone behind us!” KAI yelled out in their team’s voice chat.

‘Behind us?’

Alva and Evan, being showered with bullets in the smoke, were stunned when they heard their teammate’s warning!

However, as professional esports players, they did not need to request for further elaboration to know what had happened.

There could only be one answer.

They did not ensure that their foothold was clear when they moved into it.

At this time, Alva and Evan decided to abandon their forward push. There was still trouble behind them, so even when they entered the play area, they would not have been safe.

It was easy for Alva and Eva to enter the smoke, but it was very difficult for them to exit it.

With SKK and C9 concentrating fire on them on both sides, the two remaining players of Underhood could not even poke their heads out of the smoke, much less locate Liu Zilang behind them.

At the same time, Liu Zilang rose from his prone position.

On one hand, his position was exposed to Underhood. SKK and C9 had their vision obscured by the smokescreen. There was no point in remaining prone.

On the other, more crucial, hand, the blue circle had already started to close in.

The second last circle could dish out a lot of damage. Liu Zilang was not prepared to challenge the circle with his health points.

As he passed by the first player of Underhood that had been knocked out, he suddenly skulked and turned toward him.

He smiled wickedly while Phineas could only stare in horror.

Liu Zilang lifted his claypot-sized fist, and went to town on Phineas’s face!

The South American “Guru Fei” was left sprawled on the ground.

What… the… f*ck!

…

1 This refers to a scene in the Japanese animation Gintama where several characters used people dressed only in their underwear as snowboards. To maneuver their way down the hill, they tugged on the underwear of their human-snowboards. This was referred to in the animation as “prostate movement”.

2 This meme first appeared in the competitive Starcraft scene, when a player did not detect his opponent’s cloaked Protoss Observer even though he was actively searching for it for about five minutes.