Full-time: The Strongest Sniper

Hearing Wei Chen's utterly shameless words, the crowd that had been mocking Xiao Nai for leading the children astray instantly lost their temper and began to shift their focus.

Happy was chatting happily and didn't pay any attention to what was going on between Blue Rain and Zhongcaotang. After all, the battle was over and Xiao Nai's team and Tyranny's team had all dispersed. Everyone had their own things to do, so why would they stay here?
Before the next wild boss spawned, Xiao Nai and Ye Xiu, along with other top players, had a relatively leisurely time. They spent the rest of the time leading everyone through dungeons. After completing the necessary dungeons, Ye Xiu and Zhang Jiale would teach the others how to train, while Xiao Nai continued to research equipment.

As for Zhang Xinjie and Lin Jingyan, unless the Wild Map Doctoral student refreshes the game, they will not stay in the online game. Right now, the two of them are in the training room talking about Lu Hanwen, the newcomer of Blue Rain.

"This newcomer is indeed quite strong. Even in a championship team like Blue Rain, he could definitely be a key player," Lin Jingyan commented on Lu Hanwen.

“Indeed, but the problem is that Blue Rain already has a swordsman named Huang Shaotian, so what is their purpose in recruiting another swordsman?” Zhang Xinjie said.

“That’s right. With this level of ability, it would be a waste to just call him up as Huang Shaotian’s substitute. I don’t think Yu Wenzhou would make such a decision,” Lin Jingyan said.

“That’s right.” Zhang Xinjie nodded in agreement.

While esports doesn't demand as much physical exertion as traditional sports, and with only one match per week, the schedule isn't too packed. Therefore, teams don't specifically create a substitute player just because of a player's stamina. It's important to understand that a substitute player's playing time is nowhere near that of a starter, let alone replacing a star player like Huang Shaotian who plays in almost every match.

It's fair to say that if Huang Shaotian really can't play for any reason, then his position can't be filled by a substitute.

"But from another perspective, there's nothing wrong with him being Huang Shaotian's substitute, after all, he's still young." Lin Jingyan then expressed another point of view.

“Yes.” Zhang Xinjie nodded in agreement.

Finding a substitute for a star player is naturally difficult. After all, a team's star player is the tactical core of that team; everyone else can falter, but the tactical core absolutely cannot. Even if a substitute player is unavoidable, everyone would prefer someone with similar skill to the star player. However, the appearance rate of star player substitutes is a given, and if someone already possesses skill comparable to a star player, why would they willingly spend an entire season on the bench?

This is why Lin Jingyan said there was no problem, instead of using a definitive tone.

While Lu Hanwen is indeed very strong, he is also a very young player. To protect rookies, some clubs will reduce their playing time in the first season. Therefore, it is quite normal to have young players as substitutes. Thinking about it this way, Blue Rain might actually have the ace substitute that everyone dreams of.

“If the opponent is just an ace substitute, then it’s actually a good thing for us,” Zhang Xinjie said. “Yeah, but Blue Rain will probably still give the opponent a chance to play in some singles and arena matches. An ace substitute is basically the seventh player, so it’s not particularly surprising,” Lin Jingyan added, suggesting another possibility.

These are all common development methods used by teams across the league to cultivate rookies.

In team battles, six players participate, and these six players are usually the main force of the team. Since individual battles and arena battles also involve six players, and players can overlap with team players, the main six players usually play both individual arena battles and team battles.

However, since one of the six players in a team match must be a healer like a priest or guardian angel, and such a class is ultimately at a disadvantage in PvP and therefore won't participate in solo matches, a seventh player is needed. This seventh player can always participate in either the individual match or the arena match.

If this opportunity were given to Lu Hanwen, then everything would make sense.

After all, the ace substitute is usually the strongest among the substitutes, and some are even capable of being starters. If such players aren't given playing time, how can the club retain them? Therefore, clubs typically reserve a fixed position for them in individual and team matches, based on their expected presence. In team matches, they are given a chance to play based on tactics. Over time, this has led to the concept of the "seventh ace."

However, this was the situation in the early days of the league. Now, with more and more excellent players, the gap between players is getting smaller and smaller. In some teams, the skill difference between the starters and substitutes is no longer noticeable. Therefore, teams now pursue tactical versatility, resulting in larger and larger teams, with more than ten players per team being a common phenomenon. Sometimes, substitutes perform well and make better plays than the starters, and there are even cases where substitutes eventually become starters.

Of course, this situation only occurs with the team's main players. There is still a certain gap between the ace core players and these players. After all, if even the team's core ace can be replaced so easily, then he is not an ace player.

This is why the concept of a seventh ace has gradually faded from public view in recent years. Ace substitutes get fewer opportunities, sometimes even facing a more precarious position than regular substitutes. Of course, many teams are now researching how to solve this problem, but so far no team has provided a satisfactory solution.

Zhang Xinjie and Lin Jingyan discussed Lu Hanwen's potential role in Blue Rain next season at length, since they would be facing him head-on next season, and naturally they were more concerned than Xiao Nai and Ye Xiu.

It's important to understand that their ultimate goal has always been the championship, and with that goal in mind, Blue Rain is an unavoidable rival. Now, this already formidable opponent has gained another powerful newcomer, who is only fourteen years old. Blue Rain will undoubtedly be a significant obstacle for their Tyranny team for the next ten years.

However, their discussion so far has been mostly theoretical and speculative; the actual situation will only be known when the ninth season of the professional league begins. For professional players like them, more preparation is always a good thing. After all, Lu Hanwen truly possesses the ability to make them take things so seriously! (End of Chapter)