Hao Jian and the rest may seem carefree at times, but when faced with such a situation, they were all extremely nervous. However, as they thought about their chance game with their idols, it gave them all complicated feelings.

No matter how it was, they could not afford to lose too badly. They had to last at least 10 minutes. That was the goal they silently agreed upon.

The crowd tacitly cleared a path for them. Countless curious stares fell on them, lingering especially long as they reached Ye Lingchen.

Not just them, but even the hosts could not help but give Ye Lingchen a few extra glances.

His aura was something unexplainable. Although it was intangible, its presence was undeniable.

Ye Lingchen gave them an impression that he was not to be trifled with. From his actions and gaze, one could tell that he was no ordinary person. Furthermore, his mask gave him an added mysteriousness.

"Wah, that person feels so cultured!" One of the girls exclaimed, unable to help herself.

With that, Ye Lingchen's group walked up the stage. After some simple greetings, they were guided to their seats by the emcees.

There were already 10 computers stationed there, placed on both sides. Furthermore, the big screen behind the stage was used to stream the battle for all to see.

Although the result was inevitable, everyone still loved to watch. After all, that part of the program was for the hosts to interact with their fans. Seeing other fans being crushed would somehow bring them a mysterious sense of joy.

However, the situation this time was seemingly different.

"All the best Miss Five-Finger's BF Squad! We support you!"

"That's right! We're all Miss Five-Finger's boyfriends. We're one big family. We'll cheer for you!"

"Sob sob sob. All the best, masked brother. I will support you!"

…

"Ye'zi, what should we do?" Potato asked with a gloomy look over his face.

Out of the five, Ye Lingchen's skills were the best. The four of them could only manage some random fights. Strictly speaking, they were only trash with combat power of five. They would most likely be of no help.

"Let's do it this way. You guys just keep a low profile and try to avoid dying. If you really can't escape, don't care about dealing damage and just use up all your skills before dying," Ye Lingchen instructed.

Under the mask, the corner of his lips curled upwards. It was a long time since he had fought with Coold and the rest. He wondered if they lost their edge.

"Alright!"

Potato and the rest nodded, then added, "We'll try to last a few more minutes so that we won't lose too badly."

All ten participants took their seats. The computer was already set up beforehand. They only needed to start straight away. Both teams proceeded to hero selection.

Even against average players, Coold and her team would not let their guards down. They picked a good team combination. Slayer, Zeus, Spectre, Slardar, and Tidehunter.

"Ye'zi, what should we pick?"

"Good survivability, AOE (area of effect damage) heroes," Ye Lingchen replied casually.

Instead, he picked Carl, the Invoker.

In the entire DOTA game, the heroes were either beastmen or elves. As for humans, there was only one!1

As the one and only human in the entire game, Carl was undoubtedly favored for unlike other heroes with only four skills, Carl had access to 10!

Stealth, burst, crowd control, he had it all!

However, with the extra skills, it inevitably increased the difficulty to play that hero. The 10 skills needed to be swapped around for each use. If the skill swap happened at the wrong time or took too long, it would be a fatal mistake for the user.

Even within the ranks of hosts, those that could play Carl properly could be counted on one hand.

Therefore, when Ye Lingchen picked Carl, it immediately caused quite a stir.

"OMG, against the five top hosts, someone dared to use Carl?"

"Oh my mother, he must be crazy. I bet he would die before he could even use one skill."

"Masked brother is so confident. All the best!"

"Carl eh? Is that a provocation to the hosts?"

…

Seeing the opposing team picking Carl, Love Letter's brows twitched. "It seems that we have an expert."

"This Carl must be the core of their formation. I wonder how good the player is?"

"There are hidden experts even within ordinary players. Don't let your guard down," 09 reminded them.

Ye Lingchen ignored the reaction from the crowd. The reason he chose Carl was simple. Bringing along four dead weights, only a hero with many skills like Carl could carry them. For others, Carl's skills may be too difficult to pull off. However, he had no such issues. In his hands, the 10 skills would be as simple as ABC.

On the other hand, Potato and the others picked Earthshaker, Bristleback, Warlock, and Treant Protector.

It was obvious that they had no intention to fight back. These heroes were either hard to kill, or had extreme range and used for crowd control. It was a super safe choice.

However, that met the requirement of Ye Lingchen's strategy. The four of them had the best defensive heroes, saving him the trouble.

The match began.

Ye Lingchen's Carl took the middle lane, meeting up with Coold's Slayer.

Ye Lingchen recalled that when he first played Dota, it was his Shadow Fiend against Coold's Slayer. For a moment, he had a feeling of deja vu.

The match in its early stage was very peaceful, but it also showed their level of play.

Potato and the others did not even bother with last hits, but instead hid behind the lines and leeched experience.

Ye Lingchen's Carl was steady. In fact, it was so steady that it made Coold feel nervous. Her brows started to form a frown.

The audience similarly grew restless as they watched Carl in astonishment.

"Oh my, this Carl is amazing. He's matching Coold's Slayer with last hits just based on normal attacks!"

"This play is on such a high level. The positioning is shrewd, allowing him to evade Slayer's skills multiple times."

"How can Carl be so agile in his hands. Coold can't even get any advantage?"

Slayer would occasionally use some skills to get the last hits, but Carl remained steady, not using any skills. Instead, he only depended on normal attacks. Each time, the hit points are controlled superbly. He had even managed to evade Slayer's skills on positioning alone.

That exchange left Coold speechless. Although she was unwilling to admit it, it was obvious that she was being suppressed!

Coold took a deep breath, then reminded her team, "This Carl is an expert."

"It's fine. The other four are obviously dead weights." Little Guai smiled smugly. He controlled Slardar and used his sprinting skill, rushing directly to the front line. "Kill Earthshaker!"

Behind him, Zeus followed up immediately, starting with a series of lightning skills!

"F*ck. Ye'zi, I'm going down!" Hao Jian exclaimed.

"Unleash all your skills on Zeus. Ignore the rest. It's fine if you die!" Ye Lingchen said casually after taking a quick look as he switched his camera angle.

…

—

We are aware that DOTA has a lot more human heroes, but that's what the author wrote. Please don't shoot the translator :)