In a thoughtless moment Tang Hao kicked the trash can with all his mighty. Luckily it was empty. There was no reason for his anger. Well, it was a petty reason. It was a good thing that he was alone in the hall at the moment. The finals of the tenth season had just ended with Team Happy winning. He was angry. Although he should be over the fact that his team didn't make it into the Playoffs and therefore had no chance to take part in the finals, he was still angry to see who won.

All of Team Happy's player had done their best and their victory was deserved, but most of them were rookies. Most of them were weaker than him – should be weaker than him. He had worked so hard to get to his current position. He had worked so hard to get the recognition he deserved and yet, in the end it was not enough.
He had no specific dislike towards Team Happy. They all worked hard like everyone else – some of them even more than others. To some extent he could sympathize with them. With all those great teams and players out there, it was hard to get seen and to prove oneself. Tang Hao also had to learn that.

A sudden loud noise behind him startled him and let him turn around. There was a vending machine in the hall. Someone had come to get a drink from there. The other one turned around as well and looked a bit surprised.
"Hi there, did I interrupt something?"
An Wenyi, Team Happy's "useless" healer.
"No."
During those three matches that Team Happy had to fight against Team Samsara, Tang Hao felt a weird connection with An Wenyi. In the league were many players that worked hard and tried to prove themselves. Some may even have great talent, but would never be able to fully display it. Yet, Tang Hao had barely cared from any of them. What made An Wenyi different, was the other one's personality and ability.

To speak honestly, An Wenyi had no real talent. Yes, he was good at providing the right heal at the right timing, but ultimately this was nothing too special. From the very beginning, everyone knew that he was the weak link in the team, which turned him even more into the target of the opposing teams. Quite a hard position for rookie, but An Wenyi had accepted it and simply did his best no matter what.

No matter what! No matter how harsh the critic of the fans or the media was towards him, An Wenyi walked with his head held high. Such an attitude was indeed admirable and Tang Hao respected that.
Under the hatful words of fans, haters and the media An Wenyi improved himself and in the end surprised everyone. He had caused a fight between two clerics and even dared to go one-on-one with the great gunner. Now, probably no one would longer dare to look down on him.

"Congratulations", Tang Hao said after staring at An Wenyi for some time.
"Thanks."
"Next year, you guys won't be so lucky. Next year it will be me, who gets the championship", Tang Hao hastily adds.
"Good luck with that."
An Wenyi opened the can in his hand, not really caring much about Tang Hao. He was just here to get some alone time. The fact that he now was a champion hasn't really settled in – it still seemed like a dream; a dream he had dreamt so often in the past.
A part of him knew he deserved the title; another part of him told him he had just been a bit too lucky. He needed a few minutes to himself.

"Don't be so full of yourself."
Tang Hao didn't like An Wenyi's tone. So what? Then that guy got the championship. There was no reason to be so arrogant all of a sudden.
"Without your team, you wouldn't be here!"
"Yeah, so what? A championship is always won as a team. You cannot win one on your own."
Before Tang Hao could give a sharp reply, An Wenyi continued.
"I am aware that you are way better than me. And I am sure, you know this too. So what do you want from me? I am a part of Team Happy. I helped them to win today. I deserved the championship victory just as much as everyone else. You want to win the championship? Well, then good luck next year. New year, new chance. However, before dreaming of a championship, you should take care of your team. I won today, because I had a team to fight with against our opponents. A loser like me could take the trophy, because they were in a team. A god like you could not take the trophy, because you do not have team."
An Wenyi didn't sound judgmental; just tired and factual. It made Tang Hao even angrier.
"Well, I should go back to my team now. See you next year."
With that An Wenyi left Tang Hao in hall.

Glory is not a single player game.
The catch phrase of Glory's eternal number one came into Tang Hao's mind.
Instantly he understood the confidence he had seen in An Wenyi's eyes and heard in his voice, which he had mistaken for arrogance.
An Wenyi hat reached his goal: recognition and acceptance.
Someone Tang Hao still had to truly gain.
During one season An Wenyi had made clear that he was the healer of Team Happy. He wasn't just somebody that was simply lucky. Although he may be one of the worst healers in the alliance, he was the only one that could adjust to the unspecialized, to a player like Bao Rongxing, to a team like Happy. It was questionable how far Team Happy would have come, if they had a different healer or changed their healer in the middle of the season. What An Wenyi had won, was not only a championship, but his place in the team, his position as healer.

And what did Tang Hao have? Yes, he had become the captain of Team Wind Howl. Yes, he was considered a god by now. Yes, he had gain the best Brawler account of the alliance. He had dared to break an unspoken rule of the Rookie Challenge. Yet, in the end, Tang Hao was not satisfied. Yet, in the end, Tang Hao still had not found his place in the team.
Could Team Wind Howl even be called a team? Weren't they all fighting for themselves? Trying to take the spotlight and the championship for themselves?
Although their ranking wasn't bad and they only missed the eighth place by one point, how far would they come next year with their current strategy? How long would it take them to become a real team? As the captain wasn't it his duty to make them into one?

When a team could bring a "weakling" like An Wenyi to the championship, then what could a team do with a god?
An Wenyi had struggled and tried to proof himself, because his team believed so much in him. Without this team, he would have come the person he was now. So, what if Tang Hao could be part of a team? How far could he go? And how far could his team go?

Determined Tang Hao turned around and made his way out of the hall. He had a team to train. Next year he would beat An Wenyi! Not as an individual, because it would be not much of an honorable dead, but as a team.
Next year Tang Hao would finally get what he wanted!