When Ma Yang heard he had a chance to play, he was instantly overjoyed: “Great, I’ll start warming up right away!”

He usually played games with the standard mechanical keyboard at Slackin’ Internet Café, so he could start immediately.

Huang Wang didn’t think it mattered. After playing a match with H4 Club, he had figured out the opponent’s level. Even if Mr. Ma fed, it wouldn’t matter—it would just be a 4v5 situation, which was still playable.

However, Zhang Yuan very seriously called all ten team members together and began to arrange tactics.

“Let me tell you, nobody should think about sacrificing Mr. Ma!”

“After a game where you all had fun while Mr. Ma went 0-28, would he want to continue playing?”

“If he stops playing, who will balance the teams? Coach Yaling doesn’t play this game at all, and as for me… what if I join and the opponents still can’t put up a fight? That’s not impossible!”

“Let me tell you, let Mr. Ma go bottom lane, and the support should find ways to protect him. Mr. Ma’s score must be positive, and if you can get him more kills, that would be even better, understand?”

Huang Wang was stunned.

“Isn’t… isn’t that requirement too high?”

Originally, Mr. Ma could pick a tanky support to just hang around, farming under the tower in the bottom lane, while mid and jungle destroyed the enemy mid and jungle, and then ganked bottom. This would be an easy win.

But now they want Mr. Ma to play a carry position?

Missing last hits in the early game was one thing, but in the late game, wouldn’t they be missing a leg?

And with Mr. Ma playing a fragile champion, he could be instantly killed if not careful. Requiring him to have a positive score was too difficult!

If Mr. Ma didn’t die much, that would be fine, but if he died a lot, they’d have to find ways to get him killed.

For a player like Mr. Ma, even if you hand him kills on a silver platter, he might not be able to take them!

Zhang Yuan’s face darkened: “What do you mean by balancing strength? You should feel like you might lose—that’s what balancing strength means!”

“Otherwise, how can we get training effects? We didn’t come out here for sightseeing! If there’s no challenge, create one for yourselves!”

“Stop haggling with me. None of you ten are getting away. You’ll take turns playing, and whoever fails to complete the mission… Coach Yaling, note it down, extra training when we get back!”

All the team members instantly wiped the smiles off their faces, as if facing a grave enemy.

Just a moment ago, they were laughing and talking, thinking they could win a 4v5 easily. Now they realized they had been too optimistic!

Huang Wang immediately gathered the other three team members: “Let’s quickly discuss strategy…”

On the other side, Team Leader Su watched this series of events unfold and was completely bewildered.

What? Instructor Ma was warming up?

Seeing how professional Instructor Ma was, even providing tactical guidance for such a strong team, his real skill level must be at least Grandmaster, right?

Looking at the opposing team’s stance, they were still going all out?

What happened to balancing the strength?

However, Team Leader Su didn’t want to ask too many questions. Since the other side had already said they would balance the strength, they might as well play another match and see!

The doors to both private rooms closed again.

The six team members outside all couldn’t focus on practice, feeling very uneasy inside.

Because soon, it would be their turn!

Zhang Yuan still waited outside, his expression slightly anxious, fearing that the players would get too caught up in the game and neglect Mr. Ma.

After ten minutes, Zhang Yuan curiously put his ear to the door and vaguely heard voices from inside the private room.

“Retreat first, retreat first, it’s not safe, don’t fight, don’t fight!”

“Play it safe!”

“There’s a chance, I solo killed him!”

“Teleport down quickly, they’re making a move on bot lane!”

“Quick, quick, quick, quick…”

The battle was even more intense than imagined. Even during regular practice matches, Zhang Yuan had never heard Huang Wang shout like this.

The entire match lasted about forty minutes before the voices in the private room gradually subsided.

This time, the door of H4 Club’s private room opened first.

Although Team Leader Su’s expression still carried a hint of regret, he was smiling: “Ah, what a pity, we almost won!”

Huang Wang also opened the private room door and walked out, silently coming over to pat Jiang Huan’s shoulder, meaning, “You’re next, take care.”

After the previous match, Huang Wang had a rosy complexion and was full of energy, completely in play mode without feeling any pressure.

But now, Huang Wang was truly tired. The usually talkative player hardly spoke, opening a bottle of mineral water and starting to drink.

Zhang Yuan let out a long breath. Good, the effect of weighted training had been achieved!

Originally, the difference in strength between the two sides was too great. Even with Ma Yang, it was just a 4v5 situation. In the early game, with a small strategy, if top, mid, and jungle got ahead, they could still undoubtedly end the game.

But Zhang Yuan added a restriction, requiring Mr. Ma’s score to be positive. This instantly made the difficulty skyrocket, successfully erasing the huge gap between the two sides.

Because when the four players on this side considered fighting, they first had to consider whether Mr. Ma would survive and whether he could get kills.

If they won a team fight but Mr. Ma died, they would still face extra training when they got back.

So, all four had to play around Mr. Ma, greatly compressing their tactical space, forcing everyone to use various extreme operations to forcibly make up for the difference.

Of course, there was another important reason: although H4 Club also had ideas about targeting Instructor Ma, DGE’s mid and jungle were always paying attention to the bottom lane, plus they had support protection, so H4 didn’t have that obsession to kill Instructor Ma at all costs.

Therefore, after a fierce battle throughout the entire game, DGE Esports Club barely won, and Instructor Ma’s final score was 2-2-3, considered a positive score.

Ma Yang came out of the private room with a face full of smiles.

It was truly exhilarating!

He felt like he had become the center of the world, with participation levels through the roof.

Team Leader Su immediately rushed over and grabbed Ma Yang’s hand: “Instructor Ma! Thank you, thank you very much!”

Zhang Yuan silently sighed in his heart. Alas, the fact that Mr. Ma couldn’t play GOG at all had been exposed.

There was no way around it. To give the team members weighted practice, they had to do it this way. Even if the other side was a fool, they could see that Mr. Ma was basically at a Bronze level.

However, Team Leader Su was sincere, with gratitude overflowing: “Instructor Ma, you’re so thoughtful! Knowing that the skill gap between the two teams was too huge, you deliberately used tactical guidance to bring both sides to the same level!”

Zhang Yuan: “?”

Team Leader Su’s understanding had a major deviation.

Team Leader Su heard that Ma Yang was a special tactical instructor, so he had preconceived the notion that, regardless of how Ma Yang played, he must be a tactical master.

Before Instructor Ma entered the game, the people’s acting was poor. Though it seemed even on the surface, H4 had no way to fight back. No matter how hard they struggled, it was useless, which was quite malicious.

After Instructor Ma entered the game, the other side’s acting suddenly improved, becoming incredibly realistic. Each player deserved an Oscar. This time, the two sides were truly even!

The change in between couldn’t have been so simple!

Instructor Ma was indeed weak, with very clumsy operations, but if it was just that, the two sides still couldn’t have a fair match.

Think about it: if DGE only put in someone who dragged them down, and the other four players just let him feed while they killed as usual, it definitely wouldn’t have been such a close fight.

But this Instructor Ma somehow lowered the whole team’s technical and tactical level, allowing both sides to have an evenly matched, thrilling contest!

From poor acting to Oscar-worthy performances, this was the effect of Instructor Ma’s guidance!

Using tactics and commands to improve a tactically weak team’s tactical level is difficult.

Using tactics and commands to lower a tactically strong team’s tactical level is equally difficult!

By observing these details, Instructor Ma had a unique understanding of the game, which is why he could precisely command and bring the two teams to the same level, allowing both sides to gain something from the practice match!

Therefore, Team Leader Su was extremely grateful to Ma Yang, feeling that this Instructor Ma, though very bad at playing, was profound in tactics.

Zhang Yuan was dumbfounded, never expecting that his casual comment about a “special tactical instructor” would actually fool Team Leader Su…

But explaining now didn’t seem appropriate either, so he could only continue with the mistake…

Team Leader Su smiled slightly: “Instructor Ma, we’ve met our match! Let’s have another round!”

Ma Yang smiled slightly: “Sure!”

Zhang Yuan looked at Jiang Huan and the second wave of players: “Go ahead.”

After everyone entered the private room, Huang Wang said somewhat dejectedly: “Brother Zhang, the next few clubs we’re going to visit, they won’t be like this too, will they? If they’re all at this level, we might as well go back to Jingzhou early.”

“Even with Mr. Ma, we could only manage a tie. These teams are too weak, aren’t they?”

Zhang Yuan sighed: “We can’t do that. If we don’t use up the budget, Mr. Pei won’t let us go back.”

“Everyone bear with it a little longer. According to the current schedule, we’ll change clubs every three days and visit five of the more famous clubs first.”

“If the level of these clubs isn’t good enough, we’ll skip the smaller clubs in the latter part of the itinerary and go back after staying for the full two weeks.”

…

…

July 7, Thursday.

Chen Kangtuo walked out of the third project at the Shudder Inn, his expression both tragic and excited.

He had finally completed Mr. Pei’s requirements!

The experiences of these past few days were truly beyond words.

He had originally wanted to trick Hao Qiong into experiencing it with him, so at least they’d have each other for company.

However, Hao Qiong didn’t fall for it at all, insisting that “Mr. Pei only made this request of you and didn’t include me, and I have a pile of work to deal with.” In short, no matter how Chen Kangtuo tried to trick her, she wouldn’t budge.

Left with no choice, Chen Kangtuo had to enter the third project of the Shudder Inn by himself and experience it repeatedly.

Although Chen Kangtuo had been to the Fog Mountain State Mental Hospital haunted house in America, that didn’t mean the Shudder Inn wasn’t scary.

Of course, in terms of pure horror, the Fog Mountain State Mental Hospital was scarier.

The third project of the Shudder Inn wasn’t designed to scare away visitors from the start. Instead, it used game thinking, first luring visitors in, then gradually increasing the horror level, getting scarier as it progressed.

This was designed by Chen Kangtuo himself, so in a sense, he was reaping what he had sown…

When he first went in, he was frightened and suffered tremendously.

But after going in many times and becoming extremely familiar with the environment inside, he was no longer afraid.

This was normal, just like how many haunted house staff work in haunted houses every day and quickly get used to it.

Chen Kangtuo proudly dialed Mr. Pei’s number.

“Mr. Pei! As you said, I have completely mastered all the details of the entire Shudder Inn project! Please come and inspect!”

On the other end of the phone, Pei Qian fell silent.

Inspect?

How to inspect?

Should I go with you into the haunted house and watch how smoothly you leave?

Who would be more scared, you or me?

Dream on!

Pei Qian chuckled: “No need, this is not important.”

After saying that, he hung up the phone at lightning speed.

Chen Kangtuo looked at the phone that had already been hung up, feeling somewhat confused.

“Mr. Pei said… not important?”

“Then why did Mr. Pei want me to master every detail of the Shudder Inn?”

Chen Kangtuo pondered for a long time, then suddenly realized: “Could it be… when Mr. Pei said it’s not important, he didn’t mean the thing itself isn’t important, but that whether he inspects it isn’t important?”

“The thing itself is very important…”

“In other words… Mr. Pei wanted me to understand these details because he hopes I can experience it from a visitor’s perspective, find various unreasonable aspects, and further optimize and enhance the visitor experience.”