“Oh? John Carter’s famous saying?” Edward Harris said. John Carter, the previous champion of the Glory League—because these words came from him, many people believed in them. But Edward Harris clearly didn’t take it too seriously.

“It’s not a famous saying,” Thomas Reed still replied calmly. “It’s a fact.”

“So, are you saying that if you were on the field, things would be different?” Edward Harris sneered.

“No, the one who should be on the field is you,” Thomas Reed said.

Edward Harris was stunned. Usually, if someone said one sentence, he would at least say three in response, but now he was uncharacteristically silent. He couldn’t help but imagine: if he were on the field, if his swordsman Night Rain Troubling was by Soksar’s side, what could he do?

“Well, about that question…” In the end, he still had to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized that Thomas Reed was no longer in his seat. The door was half open—he had already left.

Had he just been schooled by this so-called deadweight? Edward Harris stood there in a daze once again.

Nearly halfway through the second season of the Glory Pro League, the newly formed and joined Hundred Blossoms team had attracted much attention. They were unstoppable, leading the scoreboard all the way. Their dual-core strategy, built around the Berserker Falling Flower in Chaos and the Ammunition Expert Hundred Blossoms in Bloom, was a breath of fresh air. Some commentators boldly asserted that the Glory League was entering a dual-core era.

“Dual-core era, huh…” Henry Clark looked at the bold headline on the latest issue of the eSports Weekly on his desk and lit a cigarette.

Dual-core, not bad. He had long wanted to build such a team himself, but it just wasn’t mature yet!

Henry Clark looked through the window at the Blue Rain training room across the corridor. A group of energetic youths were playing Glory with all their might. Among them, there was one who, besides his hands constantly operating, never stopped moving his lips, spouting endless streams of words.

Edward Harris.

This youth, whom he had met while fighting for a boss in the Glory online game, was someone Henry Clark had high hopes for, and he worked hard to recruit him to the Blue Rain team.

He would definitely become the core of Blue Rain—Henry Clark had told countless people this.

Swordsman Night Rain Troubling, Warlock Soksar.

This was the Blue Rain dual-core he envisioned. He had imagined more than once the scene of these two characters fighting side by side on the field. But… could he really wait for that day?

The thought of this made Henry Clark instantly irritable. Edward Harris was still far from mature enough; it was too soon for him to step onto the pro stage. And as for himself? After the early years of the Glory Pro League, he quickly felt his form declining. To maintain his condition, he had quit staying up late, and only took a few puffs of each cigarette before putting it out, but it was still no use.

A year, or maybe two?

Henry Clark didn’t dare to think about it. He was afraid he couldn’t even guarantee one or two more years of good performance.

He… was still so young!

Looking at himself in the dressing mirror, though a bit unkempt, at 23 years old, he still radiated youth wherever he went. But he had chosen this path—Glory eSports. At this age, it was already considered the twilight years. That talkative brat called him “old man, old man” all day long, didn’t he?

How could there be a 23-year-old old man?

Henry Clark thought bitterly, but reality was just that cruel. At 23, he found himself often thinking about things as if they were his last wishes. This kind of life experience made Henry Clark feel both pathetic and ridiculous.

The era had only just begun, and he was already about to leave.

But where was Blue Rain’s future dual-core? Would it appear here? Henry Clark looked at the figures in the training room, at all those faces, but missed the one sitting in the far right corner, quietly reading the match report from the previous round—Thomas Reed.

As for this youth, Henry Clark had never had any expectations. From the very beginning, he had tried to persuade him to quit, but the boy’s persistence made him unable to be too harsh. Thomas Reed stayed, again and again, successfully staying. But so what? That hand speed, which showed no sign of improvement, simply couldn’t survive in this APM-driven world. Everyone was just waiting for him to give up.

What Henry Clark looked forward to most was still for Edward Harris to grow up faster. That way, maybe he’d still have a chance to help this noisy kid on the field, maybe he could personally experience the Blue Rain dual-core he had imagined.

Of course, the sensation brought by Hundred Blossoms affected not only Blue Rain. Tyranny, Royal Wind—none of these strong teams were ignoring the impact of Hundred Blossoms. And of course, that included the champion of the inaugural season: Excellent Era.

“Prosperous Blood Scene, the name the media gave them. What do you think?”

Excellent Era, the team that lifted the championship trophy last season with John Carter, and the Qi Master David Wright, who had met John Carter in the Glory online game and had been friends for years. At this moment, he was sitting in front of his computer watching Hundred Blossoms’ last match, when he suddenly sensed someone behind him. Without turning his head, he asked:

“They’re impressive. Good newcomers,” John Carter said.

“When do we face them…” David Wright said, flipping through the calendar on the desk marked with the match schedule.