Chapter 29 – The Battle Begins

Do you know what it feels like to be so ashamed you want to die? It’s when, even after switching YY back to F2 push-to-talk, even with countless computers separating you, even when your teammates show the utmost understanding and sympathy, you still want to dig a hole and hide in it—and it better be a big one!

[System] Your friend Mad Lad has entered the game.

Dammit, did you really have to come back from Huaxia Summit just to gossip?!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Is that thing on your neck a head or a sweet potato?

Huh? He’s not here to gossip but to comfort me?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: [Crying]

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Alright, you’re just dumb as hell. *pats head*

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: [Pitiful]

[Whisper] Mad Lad: But seriously, what does that Gou Xiaonian guy look like? Hot? Got any pics?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Go die—

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Tch, don’t act all high and mighty. Don’t tell me you don’t care about looks.

Well, it’s not like I don’t care at all >_<

[Whisper] Mad Lad: By the way, what do you look like? Send me a pic.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Don’t have one.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Are you a ghost or something? Cameras can’t capture you?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: ……

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Then why don’t you send me one?

Not even half a minute after sending that message, Fang Zheng heard the familiar “dudu” of QQ. A bad premonition crept into his heart =_=

Switching out of the game, sure enough, Mad Lad had sent a screenshot, with the little hourglass icon flipping back and forth.

Fang Zheng unconsciously tensed up, though he didn’t know why, until the image loaded.

A man wearing a hard hat and sunglasses stood there with an incredibly bold posture, his gleaming white teeth forming a stark contrast with what appeared to be a pile of coal or dirt beside him. Behind the man were workers laboring, and in the distance, an excavator was at work.

An open-pit coal mine.

Fang Zheng’s father had worked in places like this his whole life, so he knew them all too well.

He vaguely remembered Mad Lad mentioning something about working in a mine, but he hadn’t thought much of it. Now, seeing the actual scene, he was a bit surprised. His dad had mentioned how many state-owned mines were now contracted to private owners—of course, you needed connections and influence for that, and it wasn’t all of them, just small portions. But even those small portions were enough to make a fortune. So Fang Zheng could roughly guess the origins of Mad Lad’s wealth.

Switching back to the game, the Assassin’s message was already waiting in the private chat—

[Whisper] Mad Lad: How’s that for handsome=_=?

Fang Zheng instinctively switched back out to glance at the picture again before returning to type.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Your teeth are pretty straight.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: What about yours? Send me one. If it’s good-looking, I’ll send you one with my full face.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t tempted, but compared to the idea of sending his own photo… If Mad Lad was willing to show both the top and bottom, he might consider it =_=

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Keep your precious face to yourself.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: I’ll just imagine it.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Fuck, that’s not fair. I sent you mine.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: I didn’t ask for it ╮(╯_╰)╭

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Tch, I’m serious. We’re pretty close now, how about we meet up sometime?

Fang Zheng facepalmed. He swore that if today’s events were posted on Tianya, it’d be a hot thread. He’d already thought of the title—”What Do I Do? My Guildmate Just Asked Me Out…”

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Hey, say something.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Say my ass! Get back to Huaxia Summit and play! Laozi doesn’t have time for your nonsense!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: You’re a bottom, aren’t you? [Evil grin]

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: You’re the bottom! Your whole family are bottoms!!!!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: I actually kinda like your little voice though~~

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: PISS OFF!!!!!!!!!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Haha

[System] Mad Lad has left the game.

Fang Zheng felt like he’d just survived the Anti-Japanese War. Dammit, his back was drenched in sweat!

Why was playing a game this heart-pounding? He must’ve been cursed by Your Uncle!

In the YY channel, everyone had already moved on to discussing gear. In PvP battles, skill was important, but equipment couldn’t be ignored either. Fang Zheng listened for a bit, confirming that his little scandal had passed, and felt deeply grateful—teammates really were the best people in the world T_T

Just as he was feeling relieved, Polly sent a party invite. Fang Zheng accepted and saw that the party already included 438 and Your Uncle in his Crossplayer skin.

Birdy’s voice was concise in YY: “Healer, come to Heavenly Lake.”

Fang Zheng immediately understood—they were going to practice team coordination with those two. He hurried over to Changbai Mountain.

By the time he reached Heavenly Lake, the other three were already standing by the shore. Your Uncle spotted him from afar and called out, “You’re finally here~~”

Fang Zheng had a vague feeling that these three had been waiting for a while, but it had only been a couple of minutes since Birdy told him to come. Unless they’d arrived early and were waiting… for him to finish chatting with Mad Lad?

Surveillance Bird TAT

Birdy-kun showed no regard for Fang Zheng’s feelings. As soon as he saw him arrive, he dove straight into the water. 438 yelped in surprise and quickly followed with a splash, nervously adding, “Slow down, I can’t swim…”

Fang Zheng facepalmed and followed suit with Your Uncle.

“Later, Healer, don’t attack the mobs. Just heal whoever’s in trouble, but don’t overdo it.”

“No problem.”

See, these were proper teammates. The one who wasn’t here right now only knew how to tease, mock, and take advantage. But Birdy-kun didn’t even mention that incident—he was the very embodiment of seriousness, kindness, and integrity.

The tranquil blue of the lake seemed to have a calming effect. As Fang Zheng guided Milk is Mom forward, he felt his mind and body settling into peace. It was as if all the chaos from earlier had been enveloped by this deep blue, slowly dissipating until it disappeared…

[Whisper] Polly: Don’t switch back to F2. Free talk was just fine.

You bunch of assholes!!!!!!!!!!

……

In the days that followed, the Ghost Server Legion focused on training, with dungeon runs as a secondary activity. Fang Zheng also found time to craft accessories for 438 and Your Uncle. As for gear, everyone except Polly was decked out in Orange-tier gear. It was obvious—what else could a player who hadn’t updated or leveled up in ages do besides run dungeons? So whether they wanted to or not, they’d naturally accumulate a full set of Orange-tier gear, and probably had a few duplicates lying around in storage. Though these scattered pieces might not be top-tier, they weren’t too far off. Polly, however, was still wearing a mixed set. But Fang Zheng had gathered materials to craft him a Darkflame Claw, a level 55 Yellow-tier weapon. It wasn’t top-tier, but Polly had socketed it with all +5 Attack stones and maxed out its Enhancement, giving it a distinctly wealthy flair and boosting its lethality to a respectable level.

The Cross-server PvP Tournament arrived as scheduled.

The Ghost Server Legion’s attitude toward the tournament was more about participation than winning. To put it bluntly, they were just happy to have people to play with. After all, kids who’d been lonely for too long had simple needs.

May 20th, 7: 00 PM.

Fang Zheng led the team to the designated NPC to select Cross-server PvP. In an instant, all seven members were teleported to the tournament’s dedicated Arena. This was a virtual Arena specially created by the game’s publisher for the event. The stands were divided into two sections—a smaller one for contestants and a larger one for spectators. Contestants and spectators had different Teleport Masters, so no selection was needed; they were automatically sent to their respective areas. At the moment, both sections were packed, and while the game’s settings prevented players from jumping into the Arena itself, it couldn’t stop them from moving around in the stands. So expecting players to sit quietly like they were watching the Olympics opening ceremony was impossible—it’d be a miracle if they didn’t start brawling.

[System] Host: Players in the southeast corner of the spectator stands, please remain calm, or you will be removed from the Arena.

See? Some spectators were already kicking off the opening battle for their teams =_=

Big guilds were such a hassle. Their Legion only had seven people—they didn’t even have extras to sit in the spectator stands ╮(╯_╰)╭

The Arena’s chat box took up the entire left side of the screen but was divided into two sections. The top was for the host and commentator, while the bottom was for player chat. The speed at which these two sections scrolled was worlds apart. Often, the host’s message from five minutes ago was still visible, while a player’s message from half a second ago had already been buried.

As for why there was no voice commentary, the publisher likely figured that both contestants and spectators would gather in their own YY channels to discuss the matches, making voice commentary redundant. Besides, PvP battles were fast-paced, with victory or defeat decided in an instant. Commentary would be challenging—by the time you figured out what skill that flashy effect was, the next one had already been cast.

[Spectator] Covering the Sky: Meteor Blitz for the win! Aiming for the championship!

[Spectator] Flower Not Flower: So excited! So hyped! So thrilled!!

[Spectator] Flowing Water: Is your husband competing?

[Spectator] Flower Not Flower: Yep! I’m planning to pick one from them!

[Contestant] Fire Cloud Evil God: Which server are you from, girl? I’m from Five Peaks Pavilion on Huaxia Summit! Pick me, pick me, pick me!

[Contestant] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: Someone get this embarrassment off the stage [Facepalm]

[Contestant] Drink Till You Drop: Shoe God, go home.

All fourteen teams in the bracket had arrived in the stands. Though the crowd was chaotic and unordered, the guild names above their heads made them easy to identify.

Fang Zheng rotated his view, instinctively searching, and soon, My Blood for Xuanyuan came into sight.

The DPS Healer was facing this direction, though Fang Zheng couldn’t be sure if he was looking at their team. Standing beside him were familiar faces—Deadleaf, Carved in Bone, Harry Porret…

Fang Zheng turned back to glance at Polly. Birdy-kun was still facing the center of the Arena. If this were real life, Birdy wouldn’t be able to see Xuanyuan, but as a player, he didn’t necessarily need to turn to see someone… Ugh, enough. Now wasn’t the time for gossip =_=

The fourteen teams were divided into two brackets. Today’s matches were for the upper bracket’s seven teams—White Dew as Frost vs. Meteor Blitz, Ghost Server Legion vs. The Gods, Eternal Divine Realm vs. Rainflower Pool, and Anti-Romance Alliance with a bye.

A bye meant automatic advancement, but this was decided by random draw, so no one could complain.

The matches were divided into Solo Battles and Team Battles. In Solo Battles, everyone except healers had to compete, with one round deciding the winner. Of course, if a team had two or even three healers, tough luck—they’d have to participate too. Each Solo Battle win earned one point, while the Team Battle was also a single round but worth four points. Clearly, the Team Battle carried more weight. If a team could secure victory there, they’d only need two wins in the six Solo Battles to claim overall victory.

But to keep things suspenseful and to hype up the competition, the Solo Battles came first, with the Team Battle as the grand finale.

[System] Host: I now announce that the first match of the PvP Tournament, White Dew as Frost vs. Meteor Blitz, begins now!

[System] Host: Contestants from both teams, please enter the Arena.

After the team leaders spoke with the NPC, both teams vanished from the stands.

About ten seconds later, the Arena in front of the spectators slowly transformed into a lush forest. Random map generation! From a bird’s-eye view, it was easy to spot two figures spawning at distant points. But the players inside the match probably didn’t have such a godlike perspective, as they were cautiously observing their surroundings, likely trying to pinpoint their opponent’s location.

[System] Commentator: Hello, everyone! I’m Brother Feifan, your commentator for this match!

[System] Commentator: Without further ado, the first Solo Battle is Snow Angel from White Dew as Frost vs. Big H from Meteor Blitz!

[System] Commentator: Both contestants have begun scouting! Who will seize the initiative? The suspense is killing me!

In the YY channel, 438 gulped audibly: “Uh, why am I getting nervous too?”

Sister Blood Bull’s voice was the best sedative at the moment: “You’re too immersed…”

2B Fighter Jet: “Awooo! Hurry up and fight! Why so slow!!!”

And here’s someone even more immersed =_=

Your Uncle: “Huh? Where’d the rest of the teams go? They’re not in the stands either? Did the system hide them?”

While the Ghost Server Legion was chatting nonsense, Snow Angel and Big H had already clashed. Blesscaller vs. Spirit Master—both were ranged classes, one with low damage but self-healing, the other with high DPS but squishy. They kited each other fiercely, but in the end, the Spirit Master’s skill prevailed, and Snow Angel fell.

Meteor Blitz, one point!

A good start was half the battle. From there, Meteor Blitz swept through like a storm, crushing their opponents 6-0, advancing without even needing the Team Battle.

Meteor Blitz’s supporters erupted, spamming the chat as if trying to smash their keyboards into confetti.

The contestants who’d watched the entire match, however, fell silent. It was clear to everyone that this was a formidable opponent.

2B Fighter Jet: “I’ve only been away from Huaxia Summit for a few days. Where’d this wild team come from? They’re on fire… Hey hey, why’s my screen black?! Help! HELP… Oh, it’s our turn.”

[System] Host: Second match of the PvP Tournament, Ghost Server Legion vs. The Gods!