Taking the Opposite Approach

As a stage for college students to showcase themselves, the CUAA league has received considerable coverage in local newspapers. Of course, local newspapers mainly focus on the matches of teams from their own regions, and have also made some predictions based on this.

For example, the newspapers in the Jianghai Division only reported the competition results of Jinghai University and Jiangnan University.

Jiangnan University has also advanced. After all, they are a veteran top-four team. In this BO3 Format knockout tournament, it is basically based on strength, with very little element of luck, so the possibility of them being eliminated in an upset is not high.

However, compared to Jiangnan University, Jinghai University has garnered more attention.

[Overwhelming Crush! Jinghai University easily defeats Wannan University 2-0]

[Breakthrough: Jinghai University advances to the top 16 again after four years]

[Exceptional Teamwork! Prodigy Bai Xiaowen Sheds the "Orphan" Label of Summoner-Style Teamfights]

[An Interview with Bai Xiaowen: The Most Dominant Rising Star in CUAA]

Various media outlets sang praises, showering Bai Xiaowen with compliments without spending a penny.

The high level of attention garnered was mainly due to the contrast between expectations and results. Jinghai University, ranked 30+, achieving a decisive victory over the formidable Wannan University was indeed surprising. In contrast, Jiangnan University's advancement to the top 16 was seen as expected by the media; only their elimination would have attracted attention.

Of course, Bai Xiaowen's answer about his championship goal was also a factor. Almost every report described Bai Xiaowen's championship goal and made a lot of analysis.

The newspapers in Jinghai Base City were relatively optimistic, holding a cautiously optimistic view. However, newspapers in other Jiangnan Base City and Nanjing Base City were less optimistic, expressing various pessimistic opinions. Nevertheless, most people didn't completely rule things out; it's always good to leave room for maneuver, so that things can be discussed in the future...

Of course, there are exceptions.

[Arrogance or Confidence? The Bottom-Ranked University Team's Championship Declaration]

Below this highly offensive headline, there is a subheading:

[Wannan University Team: We've been ambushed!]

The article's content and angle are quite unique. The entire piece consists of interviews with the defeated Wannan University Team, while the victorious Jinghai University Team is only given a short "champion's declaration." If you ignore this short paragraph, it's practically an exclusive interview with the Wannan University Team.

"In the first round of the CUAA knockout stage, Jinghai University, ranked 31st in the standings, upset Wannan University, ranked 12th. Immediately afterward, in the post-match interview, Bai Xiaowen, the rookie captain of Jinghai University, declared his intention to win the championship..."

"As a media professional from Jinghai Base City, I am deeply concerned. This team, which has just begun to show some promise, has set such an outrageous and unrealistic goal!"

"Looking at the big picture, the Jinghai University Team doesn't have any exceptional strength, and the captain Bai Xiaowen, who is on whom high hopes are placed, has also performed only moderately well—of course, moderately well in terms of his individual combat ability."

"Jinghai University Team's upset victory relied on surprise tactics and a group strategy of outnumbering their opponents. Throughout the game, we saw them repeatedly create 4-on-2 or 5-on-3 situations. This Jinghai University Team deliberately created numerical superiority because they lacked confidence in their own abilities! Such tricks might work once or twice, but against truly strong teams, their true colors will be revealed."

"But this little trick that won them an upset made the Jinghai University Team lose their heads."

"If the Jinghai University Team thinks they can advance in every round of the knockout stage using this kind of trick, they are sorely mistaken."

"As a local media professional, I hope that the five young players on the Jinghai University Team, especially captain Bai Xiaowen, can calm down, reflect, and approach the upcoming matches with a learning and improvement attitude... You may not have many matches left, so cherish this opportunity to gain experience."

After a short introduction, the following section consists of "exclusive interviews" with Duanmucheng and others.

The interview was in question-and-answer format, and the resentment of the Anhui University team could be felt between the lines; their sense of defiance almost leaped off the page. It's unclear whether the reporter embellished the story.

Following the Q&A, the article also praised the Anhui University team and commended Duanmu Cheng's abilities. Duanmu Cheng will graduate this year and join the professional league; the author expressed optimism about his future, and so on...

Bai Xiaowen took a look and found that the author of the report was named Yu Yiguang, who worked for the Jinghai Youth Daily.

"A local newspaper from Jinghai?" Bai Xiaowen was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "That's quite unexpected."

"This guy's crazy!" Li Shuyi exploded upon seeing him. "Why do you say you didn't perform well? You dominated the entire game, got MVP twice, isn't that good enough? This isn't just nitpicking, it's like finding an egg in a bone!"

"Hmm, I can roughly understand this reporter's thinking. He probably thinks that other colleagues will all praise me... In order to attract attention, he deliberately does the opposite."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and shook her head, "These kinds of people may seem to be arguing unreasonably, but they actually have their own motives. Don't get angry."

"I need to find out who this Yu Yiguang is. He's infuriating. From now on, you should just turn down all interviews from the Jinghai Youth Daily! It's a local Jinghai newspaper, yet you're siding with outsiders..." Li Shuyi muttered.

"Why bother... we're not from the same world."

Bai Xiaowen quickly finished his breakfast. After telling Li Shuyi, he went to the garage, drove off, and left.

Yesterday afternoon, after being notified, several of Bai Xiaowen's assistants came to Jinghai University to help Bai Xiaowen pack his belongings and fill up the gas tank of his SUV.

On the balcony, Li Shuyi watched as the SUV drove away and disappeared around the corner behind the teaching building.

At Shandong University, in the University Team training base, in the Psionic Training Ground.

"As expected, Boss Bao was right. Our next opponent is Jinghai," a boy dressed in a cloth monk's robe said with a smile while practicing his skills.

Bao Yiming, a burly man somewhat resembling Bai Xiaowen's Butcher, was shirtless, squatting while holding a massive, dark vat. This vat was an item specially created in the Psionic Training Ground to aid his training, and it was exceptionally heavy.

Sweating profusely, Bao Yiming finished two sets of squats, then threw the giant vat down with a loud bang. "That's normal. Jinghai's captain... he's a bit eccentric. I saw him once at the Dead Spirit Lake; he seemed unfathomable. Old Mi, we'd better be careful in the next round of the competition."

A male warrior who was hacking at a dummy turned his head upon hearing this. "You mean Boss Bai Xiaowen? He's really strong. To be honest, I'm not confident facing him..."

This boy was Shi Haiyan, a member of the Shandong University Team who, along with Han Xu, Chen Guowei, and others, was led by Bai Xiaowen into the inner Snakefolk space in the Dead Spirit Lake. Because of this favor, Shi Haiyan held Bai Xiaowen in high regard.

A slightly fair-skinned boy frowned. "Shi Haiyan, are you chickening out? I've seen Bai Xiaowen before; he has two shoulders and a head, he's not much different from you!"

This fair-skinned young man is Zhang Yubin, an Awakened One who left the team during the Dead Spirit Lake arc due to dissatisfaction with Bai Xiaowen's domineering attitude. He is holding a bow and practicing shooting.

"Zhang Yubin, what do you mean? I just said that Boss Bai Xiaowen is indeed very strong, but in next week's match, I will fight tooth and nail without hesitation! Is there a contradiction between these two things?" Shi Haiyan frowned. "He is, after all, Hero Class like Boss Bao, you should show him the necessary respect."

"Hmph, stop joking. Your next opponent keeps calling you 'boss,' and you still say you're not afraid?" Zhang Yubin suddenly released the bowstring, and an arrow shot through the bullseye like a shooting star.

"I've been annoyed with Bai Xiaowen for a long time, this is the perfect opportunity. I'm going to blow his head off!"

"With your abilities..." Shi Haiyan retorted sarcastically.

"Alright, everyone, stop arguing!"

Bao Yiming had a high level of prestige, and his words immediately stopped the argument.

"Bai Xiaowen is indeed very strong. In the Dead Spirit Lake, Duanmucheng and I couldn't withstand the BOSS's ultimate move and had to escape in time, but he was able to kill the BOSS. We lost to him."

"However, if Bai Xiaowen thinks that I'm the same kind of person as Duanmucheng and so easy to deal with, then he's sorely mistaken... Hehehe!"

Bao Yiming's last few lewd laughs instantly turned his originally impassioned speech into something sleazy.

Zhang Yubin chimed in, "That's right, against those so-called Hero Class who are weak in their physical form and rely solely on the number of summoned creatures, Boss Bao's throwing techniques are the perfect counter! Besides, Senior Sister Yu is a genuine mage with detection skills, much stronger than Bai Xiaowen's half-baked Psychic Sensing..."

That's not entirely unreasonable. When dealing with Summoner Class, going straight for the enemy's core is always the most effective method, and wrestlers excel at single-target combat, combining control and damage output.

"Yes, professional counters are true, but it also depends on what game mode we get," Bao Yiming thought for a moment. "Let's get the match recordings of Jinghai and Southern Anhui later and study them carefully, so we don't get confused by their special tactics."

"That's easy. The video was updated on Bai Xiaowen's fan website on the night of the match..."