Then the probability is...

Before Henry Clark could write out a formula, his game finally queued up.

At the top tier, you always run into people you know. In this match, the other assault teammate Henry Clark was paired with was the NSN captain, Edward Grant.

Henry Clark had briefly stayed with NSN for two months. Back then, he was well taken care of by Edward Grant. Unfortunately, NSN produced too many assault players—so many that the team couldn’t fit them all. After Henry Clark switched to the assault role, he couldn’t stay with NSN. It was also Edward Grant who helped him get in touch with his current club and did his best to secure a suitable transfer contract for Henry Clark.

Because of this past kindness, Henry Clark had always respected Edward Grant.

As soon as Henry Clark entered the map and saw Edward Grant’s ID, he greeted him right away.

[IAC-Evil]: [Captain Grant.]

Edward Grant either didn’t see it or for some reason didn’t reply. Henry Clark didn’t mind, marked the map, and started moving forward. After half a minute, Edward Grant still hadn’t caught up. The team chat notification dinged, and Henry Clark glanced over.

[NSN-GU]: [William Harris is back in our division, did you know?]

Henry Clark stared at the screen, then typed after a moment: [Just found out.]

Henry Clark glanced at the chat overlay, just about to type and remind Edward Grant that he was streaming, when another team message dinged.

[NSN-GU]: [He’s joined my team.]

NSN, the team in the league with the least shortage of assault players.

Henry Clark stared at Edward Grant’s team chat message in silence for quite a while.

Thinking of all those detailed analyses in the chat just now, Henry Clark couldn’t help but laugh, then leaned on his keyboard, unable to stop himself from laughing.

William Harris had gone to NSN, so there was no longer any chance of being on the same team as him.

The fans could finally relax.

Chapter 3

Edward Grant kept sending messages.

[NSN-GU]: [He’ll be coming to your team’s preseason match next Monday. Whether he’ll play or not is undecided.]

[NSN-GU]: [Don’t cause any trouble when you see him.]

[NSN-GU]: [You’re not a kid anymore.]

[NSN-GU]: [I shouldn’t have said anything, but I was worried you’d find out suddenly and it would affect your performance.]

[NSN-GU]: [Even though the preseason match result doesn’t affect the team’s annual points, I don’t want to win unfairly. Get your mindset right in advance.]

Henry Clark finished laughing and stared at the screen in a daze.

He wondered if, at this very moment in the NSN base, William Harris was sitting right next to Edward Grant’s computer.

Maybe he was watching Edward Grant give him this heads-up.

Henry Clark rubbed the back of his neck and typed back: [Adjust what?]

[NSN-GU]: [?]

[IAC-Evil]: [Do you think I’d get into a fight with him at the venue?]

[IAC-Evil]: [Old news, I’ve long forgotten it.]

[IAC-Evil]: [By the way, just so you know, Captain Gu, you just dropped a huge bomb for your team—I’m streaming right now.]

[NSN-GU]: [......]

[NSN-GU]: [......You.]

Henry Clark smiled and typed: [Captain Gu, your hands are too fast, I couldn’t stop you.]

After learning that Henry Clark was streaming, Edward Grant didn’t say anything else. Henry Clark also fell silent. The two of them steamrolled the other team in silence, and after the game ended, they both left the map without even saying goodbye.

Naturally, the various esports forums at that moment were anything but calm. Edward Grant had just dropped such a huge piece of news, and the forums exploded instantly.

There were too many points for players to discuss: some fantasized about NSN winning the world championship next season, some regretted that NSN still lacked a top-tier sniper, some were just there for the drama and lamented that William Harris and Henry Clark couldn’t be on the same team, and some still held old grudges, cursing William Harris as a traitor who didn’t deserve to come back. Rational discussion and personal attacks flew side by side, with countless people taking the opportunity to spread rumors and slander players. The forum admins were banning threads so fast their hands were about to break. It wasn’t until four or five in the morning, when the night owls finally couldn’t stay up any longer, that things gradually calmed down.

After all the arguing and cursing, those who remained suddenly realized one thing: today was already Saturday.

Saturday!

Which meant, in just one more day, it would be Monday!

Every year, after the FOG World Championship ends and before the new season begins, there’s a three-month break. During these three months, other teams openly or secretly reshuffle their rosters, the teams that failed to stay in the pro league last year have to play in the qualifiers, and newly transferred players and coaches need to get used to their new teams and teammates... In this chaotic three months, to keep players’ attention and engagement, the league inserted a month-long preseason tournament—the “preseason match” Edward Grant mentioned.

The outcome of the preseason matches doesn’t affect team points; it’s purely for profit, keeping up the buzz, and giving transferred players a chance to practice and prepare for the new season.

The preseason is a single round-robin BO1 format—one game decides the winner. Except for the two teams that failed to stay in the league last year, the remaining ten teams all participate, each playing every other team once. And the opening match of next week’s preseason is exactly Henry Clark’s IAC team versus Edward Grant’s NSN team.