Chapter 65: Ma Chao Worth 5,000 Points

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"Normally, Ma Chao relies mainly on front and back feints, which is a common tactic at higher levels. For heroes like Orange, as long as you manage your distance well, the first skill is actually quite easy to land."

"But just now, I didn't just use front and back feints; I actually added a vertical movement as well, creating the illusion for Orange that I was about to move downward. This misdirection made him focus on maintaining distance rather than paying attention to my vertical pathing."

"When he angled his first skill downward, he had already fallen for my feint, which caused him to miss completely."

"Of course, after that, I also used a few direction changes to dodge Orange's second skill. But as long as you can master what I just explained, your understanding of movement will already surpass the vast majority of players."

The audience erupted into a lively discussion.

"What was that term Haozi just mentioned? Wasn't it an English word?"

"Misdirection? Isn't that a technical term from magic?"

"As expected from the master of footwork—he can even tie in magic terminology!"

"This movement, damn… From now on, I'm officially a Hao fan!"

After Lin Hao finished boasting, his hands never stopped. He continued farming and clearing waves.

Now, on the Rift, besides Liu Chan who just teleported back, Lin Hao's Ma Chao was the only one alive on his side.

In other words, Lin Hao had at least twenty seconds where everyone in the game would be watching only his moves.

Naturally, Lin Hao wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by. While clearing waves, he repeatedly recalled back to base—mocking his opponents at every turn.

He enjoyed the system's persistent notification sounds.

A string of rage points rolled in.

This wave of rage collection was purely because the opponents had watched Lin Hao, barely clinging to life, strut around and taunt them with no means of retaliation—a pure case of helpless fury.

"Alright, alright, Haoran, stop recalling already. Can you show a bit of pro composure? Everyone's watching you right now," Xinran said, watching Lin Hao taunt non-stop and delay his wave-clear.

She felt it didn't match the expert who’d just executed a triple kill.

"Precisely because they're watching, I have to taunt as much as possible," Haoran replied calmly. "If you want to play steadily and perform normally, you have to stay calm. But with my persistent taunting, their mentality will definitely crack, which will impact their performance."

"So this is just my way of trying to win the match. This technique is called psychological warfare!"

"Fine, fine. All for the show—I get it," Xinran replied, rolling her eyes. After a pause, curiosity got the better of her. "By the way, Haoran, your Ma Chao is really impressive. Just your feints and movement in that last fight are on par with many top-ranked Ma Chaos I know... So, how many points do you have on Ma Chao? Are you a national server Ma Chao?"

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Xinran had also noticed the barrage of messages in the stream chat. Thanks to some mischief-makers stirring the pot, rumors were running rampant.

At first, some claimed that Haoran had once been the top Ma Chao on the Android server.

Then others followed, saying Haoran had previously been on a KPL youth team, but because his Ma Chao was too overpowered, he was forced to sign an agreement to suppress his abilities, compensated, and expelled from the league.

The stories grew even more absurd: someone claimed to be Haoran’s college roommate, insisting the current top Ma Chao was actually Haoran, who always played on a hidden main account with a historic power score of 23,000.

Some viewers, influenced by Lin Hao's earlier boasting, began to fan the flames, and soon enough, rumors were so wild that someone claimed Haoran was the reincarnation of Buddha.

But Xinran herself believed that Haoran’s Ma Chao was at least at national server level.

Lin Hao shook his head. "You're overthinking it. My Ma Chao is just a little over 5,000 points."

He would never brag to Xinran about something that wasn’t true.

"Five thousand?"

Xinran’s jaw dropped, utterly incredulous.

A 5,000-point Ma Chao could pull off moves like that?

Ma Chao is a hero that relies heavily on mechanical skill. Judging by his performance, Xinran had assumed he was definitely national server level.

...

Meanwhile, in Shang Jie’s stream.

"Orange used his first skill too early that time," Shang Jie sighed, a rare moment of self-reflection. "This Ma Chao is pretty skilled. I’ll have to bring out my real power!"

"It’s a shame, though—if that pull just now hadn’t been dodged by Xi Shi, I’d have had my skills up and could’ve outplayed Ma Chao, maybe even killed him with Orange’s help."

"But remember, our Yuan Ge might not be able to beat Ma Chao right now, but he can bully his teammates. Whether it’s Marco Polo or Xi Shi, they’re easy targets!"

However, the chat was mercilessly mocking Shang Jie.

"My rating for that play: low!"

"How did your pull get dodged by Xi Shi? Jie, maybe you should go back to the factory and turn some screws instead?"

"Come on, Jie, how many times have you said you’re going to show your real power?"

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...

The game continued.

After that massive play, the opposing team was forced into a defensive rhythm.

Their support, Zhuang Zhou, had been picked specifically to counter Liu Chan and Xi Shi, making it difficult for them to initiate team fights.

Lin Hao’s side handled things more cautiously.

First, Lin Hao split-pushed the top lane. With Ma Chao’s economy surging ahead, he’d already opened a huge gold gap over the other nine players.

This gave Lin Hao priority to clear waves.

Yuan Ge, lurking near the inner turret, released his puppet to try to poke Lin Hao from a distance.

Lin Hao simply charged straight at the puppet, not even bothering to keep his distance—making it clear he intended to kill the puppet.

Given the current gold difference, even if Yuan Ge swapped positions to go for a combo, Lin Hao could immediately pop Sprint and his ultimate, chasing him down and diving the tower if needed.

This is what’s called a counter by game mechanics.

If Ma Chao kills the puppet, he earns a tidy bit of gold, leaving Yuan Ge no choice but to recall it in frustration.

However, Yuan Ge still posed a threat elsewhere. Since Lin Hao prioritized the lanes, there came a mid-game moment when Yuan Ge, with Orange’s help, managed to catch and kill Xi Shi.

"Xinran, you might need to buy some tank items. Yuan Ge just finished Broken Army, and once he gets Starbreaker, his puppet combo plus Cross Slash can one-shot you," Lin Hao advised over voice chat.

As a former national server Yuan Ge, he was intimately familiar with the hero’s kill thresholds at every stage.

"Alright, alright. I was just thinking that since we have Zhuang Zhou, I wouldn’t bother with crowd control—just build full damage," Xinran replied, having just been caught and killed by Yuan Ge once again. She finally stopped being stubborn and started building Frozen Heart.

It’s a cost-effective piece of gear, providing armor and a hefty cooldown reduction.