In fact, Tom was wrong. There were more than six people playing games in Ferne's room. Randy also joined them on FaceTime.
Randy slept for two days after the preliminary. Then he went back with team members and assigned the next task. He didn't share the good news with his brothers until then.
"We got the third place in the preliminary and reached the national."
He felt exhausted after saying that. The recent days were so tiring.
They won on the first day despite difficulties, since everyone was nervous. Though, Lord Top performed the best. With a determined look during the game, she seemed to have made full preparation. Although she was temporarily wrong-footed in the latter part, great efforts were made to turn the tide.
Admittedly, she was gifted in games. Even though she was less experienced than Randy. Once she held the mouse, her aura changed, looking like a determined soldier ready for the fight, which made her handsome face more charming.
Randy didn't perform very well on the first day. Maybe, that was because Carl was watching the game, or he worried that Carl wouldn't live long, or he met several known teams, or he recalled the undesirable result of the last preliminary. Anyway, he was under huge pressure. He had to help ease his members' tension while thinking about how to comfort them once they lost.
After winning the first game as expected, Randy went to find Carl. But Carl was no longer in his seat. Randy ran out and saw Carl around the window of a washroom. Carl couldn't get his breath among the crowd, so Rex took him out for a break.
Randy didn't enter the washroom. Standing outside, he heard Carl said, with pride, "This is the first time that I have watched Randy's game. I don't find any difference between him and those table tennis or basketball players. They are all national athletes, all for the honors of our country, aren't they? Did you see that? My Randy is the best ... It's so amazing that I can watch his game in my lifetime. I am always proud of him. I don't care about the result."
Hearing that, Randy's eyes turned red.
He turned around and was about to leave. Then he saw Lord Top was standing in front of him.
Stopping tears, he forced a smile. "Well done, Lord Top. Keep going." He patted her head gently.
Lord Top saw his eyes were red but she didn't realize what happened, which triggered her concern. "Randy, did you ... cry?"
"Yes." Randy didn't explain. He pinched his nose and wiped tears away.
"What can I help?" Lord Top looked at him with concern.
"What about giving me a kiss?" Randy smiled.
He was just kidding. But Lord Top's face turned red. Then she stood on tiptoe as if was about to kiss him.
"I don't wanna stop you. But since you act in this way, maybe I will ask for more next time." Randy stared at her. After a while, he touched her face. "Focus on the games. I'll ask for a real kiss after reaching the national."
When the national games ended, she had to leave.
He clearly knew about that. He wanna tell Lord Top that he wouldn't stop her from leaving.
Lord Top frowned. She wanna say something but hesitated.
On the next day, Randy did a good job in the second game. Tough, he was obviously in a mood. After finishing the game yesterday, he went back to the hotel and watched videos of the winner with other members, analyzing their techniques of jungle and support, and teamwork in the mid and bot. He went back to sleep at 11 p.m. and got up before 6 a.m. to discuss the latest strategy, without making a joke.
It seemed strange. To ease others' pressure during a contest, he usually promised to buy shoes for everybody or go traveling abroad, or make fun to light up the mood. He seldom behaved in this way, like a serious coach, just focusing on proposing strategies for his team members.
His eagerness to victory was apparent.
However, he was not so ambitious about the nation before. When Lord Top mentioned it to him, he didn't care a lot.
It seemed that his confidence and power were aroused after she met him in front of the washroom yesterday.
From then on, they won again and again. On the sixth day, there were 100 teams left. Everyone was exhausted since they had to be fully concentrated on each game. But Randy didn't dare to substitute others for Lord Top, even Wink or Urchin.. Wink and Urchin were competent and good at teamwork, while Lord Top had also been experienced in cooperating with them in the past few months.