#blue rain s12 champions pls

[syncogon]

[QZGS TL ch 1478-9] The Emperor’s New Clothes

(image from what is quite possibly my new fav qzgs fanvid and which will probably get its own post in the future. watch here)

I read through this chapter by accident, and it was SO GOOD that I just had to translate this bit. Please read and enjoy (and leave a comment so I know)!

(SPOILERS!! obviously) (featuring: s10 playoffs and blue rain feels and ywz being awesome)

(ch 1478)

Normally, when Wei Chen won at an away game, he loved to applaud and thank the crowd, the majority of which would be fans of the opposing team. Other players that did this might have been genuine in their thanks, but for him, it was a way for him to gloat. But this time, he was quiet as he walked onto the stage with his team. 

To him, Blue Rain wasn’t just any team. Even though he was now standing with Happy, he would never be able to mock them. Winning was enough. On this brutal playoff stage, in front of this team for which he still had many feelings, he restrained himself.

“Congratulations.” Blue Rain’s Captain Yu Wenzhou shook hands with Ye Xiu.

“Thank you.” Ye Xiu smiled and dipped his head, but didn’t say more.

Huang Shaotian came up to him next and shook his hand. “You better get the championship!” he said in a serious tone. 

“What did you think I was planning to do?” said Ye Xiu, amused.

“Good. If you’d beaten us and then lost to someone else, I’d despise you!” said Huang Shaotian.

Congratulate the opponents, thank the audience. Blue Rain may have lost the battle, but they didn’t lose their demeanor; only, in everyone’s expression, there was a hint of disappointment.

They would have to taste this bitter fruit for the rest of the summer. But that didn’t mean this was the end. There was the new season to come; they would have a new beginning. Day after day, year after year, everyone chased after the goal.

There is only one championship – this is cruelty. But, there is a championship every year – this is never-ending hope. 

(ch 1479)

Blue Rain’s Big Defeat! This was the front-page headline of the latest edition of E-Sports Weekly. 

Happy won the battle, but the reports all focused on Blue Rain, as their loss on their home stage was a more interesting topic.

In any battle there is always a victor and a loser; who won and who lost was never something to be too surprised at. But when Blue Rain faced Happy in the first round on Happy’s stage, they only lost by a tiny bit. To lose so drastically on their home stage was very unexpected.

Group round, lost. Team round, lost again. The team loss was particularly surprising – it was on a map with which Blue Rain was very familiar, yet they still hadn’t been able to take the initiative. 

It was true that people now had a pretty good understanding of Happy’s playstyle, but battles were never certain. As the saying went, “eight immortals crossing the sea, each with their own unique superpowers” – everyone was striving to do their absolute best, in their own ways. 

But the feeling that people got from this battle was that as soon as Happy pulled out their superpowers, Blue Rain was abruptly forced down, gradually falling over in the midst of the struggle.

The atmosphere on the day of wasn’t too bad, but afterward, the criticism was overwhelming.

After the final results came out, everyone suddenly became a Glory expert. Any tiny flaw in their playing became a subject of loud criticism, proof of Blue Rain’s failure to perform.

As the losing side, Blue Rain of course knew the problems they had to fix. But too much of this deluge of criticism was simply people parroting each other.

If you’re determined to condemn someone, you don’t need a good reason.

It seemed that everyone who failed had to undergo an intense round of shaming, as though this were necessary to properly reflect their status as the losers. 

And this process of denouncement began right after the battle, during the press conference. It was less of an interview session and more of an attack session. What the reporters wrote down in their notebooks wasn’t questions for Blue Rain; they wrote down speeches to express their vehement opinions regarding the reasons for Blue Rain’s defeat.

Strategy, tactics, judgment, performance, awareness…

It was as if Team Blue Rain were stripped bare. They sat on the stage and were stabbed with the verbal knives hurled by the audience.

Knife after knife. Everyone was hit. 

Huang Shaotian couldn’t restrain himself for long. Several times, he wanted to butt in, but each time he was stopped by a look from Captain Yu Wenzhou. Yu Wenzhou understood him very well, both on and offstage. He knew exactly which comments from the reporters would set him off, and with his excellent prediction and judgment, cut him off every time.

Other than keeping Huang Shaotian under control, Yu Wenzhou simply sat there and listened silently, still wearing a faint smile.

These endlessly chattering people in front of them, they were all upset at Blue Rain’s failure to live up to expectations, hating iron for not becoming steel. Yu Wenzhou recognized many of them. Indeed, many of them had greatly anticipated Blue Rain’s performance, had penned beautiful words for them, had fought written wars for them.

They liked Blue Rain, so they had held high hopes for Blue Rain. The greater the hope, the greater the despair.

However…

Yu Wenzhou simply listened, until the crowd finally fell silent. What there was to criticize had all been criticized, and, suddenly, no one stood up to say any more.

The reporters glanced at each other uneasily, in this calm after the raging attack. They were suddenly keenly aware – this was a press conference, they were supposed to ask questions and spend more time listening to what the players had to say, rather than use the time all the time to talk themselves.

Suddenly, no one knew how to continue. But at this moment, Blue Rain’s Captain Yu Wenzhou finally opened his mouth.

“Thank you, everyone, for the concern and kindness you have shown Blue Rain.”

Everyone listened in silence. The fact that Blue Rain’s captain could say this made them feel that their bitter words hadn’t entirely been in vain. Even if they didn’t manage to get new information out of the players during this press conference, as long as they were able to get Blue Rain to wake up, then wouldn’t it be worth it?

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are all anxious for Blue Rain, and you only wish the best for Blue Rain. This, I understand very well,” Yu Wenzhou continued.

“However…” He paused, and his tone turned icy. “Even if it is for our benefit, forgive us for being unable to accept this sort of nonsense.”

At that, Huang Shaotian cackled. 

A year’s worth of effort, all for nothing. And in this time of intense unhappiness, Huang Shaotian was actually laughing. But he was only laughing for the sake of it; the sound masked his acute feelings of bitterness and resentment. 

He’d thought to himself early on: You guys understand nothing. You have no right to spout this nonsense at us.

While Huang Shaotian was laughing, the reporters were stunned. They never would have thought after giving such sincere thanks, Yu Wenzhou would directly and mercilessly call their words nonsense. 

Some of them stood up, prepared to leave, but Yu Wenzhou’s voice stopped them.

Beginning from the very first critic in this press conference, Yu Wenzhou began his replies.

One after another.

Fifteen.

In total, there had been fifteen reporters who had stood up and expressed vehemently their personal, disparaging views on Blue Rain’s performance. Yu Wenzhou didn’t miss a single one, and even followed the correct order in which they had spoken. One by one, he clearly, logically, systematically refuted their observations and opinions.

And thus, one after another.

Fifteen.

Fifteen reporters felt their ears go scarlet.

Yu Wenzhou’s rebuttals were so sensible that the reporters were surprised when he suddenly finished. And then, they all had only one feeling: that they truly understood nothing, that they truly were only speaking nonsense.

This was far more complex and high-end than they had imagined. And after listening to Yu Wenzhou’s analysis, the problems that they had brought up felt unbelievably shallow. 

It was as though they were a crowd of noobs, charging toward someone and yelling “Why didn’t you use ten Formless Phantom Blades to make a hundred-combo to kill the opponent?” And that person would laugh, and pat their heads, and kindly reply that Formless Phantom Blade has a cooldown, you can only use it once, you can’t chain together ten.

Even after having their arguments torn apart, not a single one of the reporters reacted angrily to being shamed like this. Because Yu Wenzhou’s counters were truly too accurate, they simply couldn’t find a foothold to reply.

When Yu Wenzhou finished speaking, the scene once again returned to silence.

“Then…” Yu Wenzhou surveyed the crowd one last time. “Thank you, everyone. We will meet next season.”

And with that, Team Blue Rain departed.

[translator’s notes: There were a number of proverbs here, which I did struggle with understanding/explaining/incorporating. Overall, I tried to keep this a close translation to the original. The “icy” phrase was the only completely inserted comment - if ppl don’t like it I’ll take it out]