Chapter 140 – Sky Arena (Part 1)

Although they belonged to the same legion and had fought side by side more times than they could count on two hands, the truth was that Jiang Yang and 2B’s relationship was, to put it politely, as indifferent as water between gentlemen—or to put it bluntly, they just didn’t like each other =_=

Jiang Yang couldn’t stand 2B’s manic personality and his ostentatious style that was completely disproportionate to his actual skill. If he were as skilled as Thousand Mountains, a little showing off would be understandable, but the problem was that this guy’s skills were just average. As for 2B, he looked down on Jiang Yang’s crude and simplistic approach—the point of playing games was in the word “play.” What was the point of just throwing money at gear upgrades? If that were the case, no one would need to practice PvP—just grab a sack of cash and start throwing it at each other.

Yet despite their mutual dislike, the two of them were surprisingly in sync when choosing their sections.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Which room number?

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: 364. You?

[Whisper] Mad Lad: 188.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Are you sure you didn’t pick that number yourself? =_=

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Born lucky—can’t help it.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: …

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Let me be clear—if I run into you, I won’t hold back.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: I’m so glad you’re mentally prepared for that.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: I swear, talking to you is just…

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Like oil and water.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Right. We’re just not compatible—let’s not force it.

Suppressing the urge to add the other to their blocklists, 2B and Jiang Yang stood in their respective rooms, waiting for the PvP Blitz to begin.

The Sky Arena was structured like an onion, with layers upon layers. The outermost layer was called the “PvP Blitz.” Here, players needed to accumulate 150 points before advancing to the second layer, the “2v2 Arena.” After gaining another 200 points in the 2v2 Arena—totaling 350—they could finally enter the innermost layer, the “Team Arena.”

As the name suggested, the PvP Blitz was all about lightning-fast battles. Each player who entered was assigned a small 10M x 10M room with a number. After a five-minute preparation period, the Blitz mode officially began. One wall of the room would disappear, merging Player A’s room with Player B’s into a single 10M x 20M space—this empty, wall-less room became their PvP battleground. The fight ended when one player’s HP dropped to zero or one conceded defeat. The loser would vanish from the 10M x 20M room and return to a new numbered 10M x 10M room, waiting another five minutes for the next round of PvP Blitz. Meanwhile, the victor would remain in the expanded room, waiting for another wall to drop and another opponent to arrive. If the new opponent was a newcomer, merging their rooms would create a 10M x 30M space. If the opponent had already defeated someone and brought their own 10M x 20M room, the merged battleground would become 10M x 40M, and so on.

For the victor, the loser’s disappearance and the next wall’s fall happened in an instant, leaving them at most five seconds to gulp potions or use other consumables before facing the next opponent. Thus, continuous victories meant no breaks—a true war of attrition.

Anyone who loved PvP knew that the more stripped-down the battleground, the more intense the mental and physical demands. A single round might last only two minutes, requiring constant tactical adjustments in response to the opponent’s moves—sometimes even mid-skill. Keeping up with such rapid changes demanded maximum APM. One round was manageable, but an hour-long chain of battles would leave fingers swollen. To mitigate this, the PvP Blitz had a rule: even if a player kept winning, they could only defeat six opponents in a row before being sent back to their original 10M x 10M room for a ten-minute break before continuing.

To summarize, the PvP Blitz rules were as follows:

1. Win a PvP match: +5 points. Lose: -2.5 points. Minimum score: 0.

2. During PvP, inventory slots are locked—no consumables (potions, food, etc.) can be used.

3. After a win, the victor has five seconds (before the next opponent arrives) to use consumables.

4. After six consecutive wins, the player is returned to their 10M x 10M room to await the next round.

5. While waiting in the room (whether upon first entry, after a loss, or after six wins), players can access the in-game store to purchase consumables.

2B spent five minutes in his cramped little square, imagining eight hundred different faces for his first opponent. Then the wall dropped—and he froze. The other guy, wielding a massive blade, dashed toward him in a flash, only to freeze as well when he got close.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Hey.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Fuck.

Speaking of Everything Breaks, 2B actually had some history with him during their Huaxia Dominion days. Back then, Everything Breaks was just a mid-tier officer, part of the second-tier hierarchy in the rigidly structured legion. 2B wasn’t an officer, but since he got along well with Xuanyuan and Birdy, his reputation and influence hovered somewhere between first- and second-tier. Back then, Huaxia Dominion had a huge roster, so 2B and Everything Breaks weren’t initially familiar. That changed during a dungeon run where they ended up carrying three noobs from the legion. The suffering was nearly unbearable, but after finally clearing it, both came away respecting the other’s skill, patience, and sense of responsibility. From then on, whenever either needed an extra hand for dungeons or guild wars, they’d call the other. 2B was a chatterbox; Everything Breaks was a stone-faced statue. After a few attempts at friendly banter were met with silence, 2B gave up and settled for telepathic butt-to-butt communication.

2B’s impression of Everything Breaks: solid skills, low-key, rigidly disciplined, emotionally detached. But he wasn’t looking to bond with a burly dude anyway, so overall rating: B+.

Everything Breaks’ impression of 2B: flashy skills, even flashier personality, decent sense of responsibility, ridiculously loyal. But since they only ever fought together and never shared a heart-to-heart, 2B’s loyalty never applied to him. Overall rating: B.

2B’s departure from the legion had zero impact on Everything Breaks. After leaving, 2B never spared a thought for this dry, taciturn acquaintance—until Everything Breaks reappeared as Huaxia Dominion’s Legion Commander. Even then, 2B just went “Huh,” with no intention of rekindling their “friendship” or reminiscing in whispers.

And yet, here they were, face-to-face after all this time.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Why didn’t you just swing at me?

[Local] Everything Breaks: You didn’t move.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Kid, I told you back then—being this rigid won’t get you far in life ╮(╯_╰)╭

The moment his smug emote popped up, a blinding red light streaked through the air and slashed into him!

2B watched as a quarter of his HP vanished in an instant—and the other guy showed no signs of stopping. He frantically hammered his keyboard—

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: I WAS JOKING!!!!!

Everything Breaks paused, then sheathed his weapon.

2B wanted to slap himself. Why do I have to run my mouth?! TAT

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: I was kidding! You actually hit me?! And with One Cut Kill, no less! [sobbing]

[Local] Everything Breaks: No filter.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Huh?

[Local] Everything Breaks: Your mouth.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Ugh =_=

2B finally understood—a stubborn rock polished for a hundred years was still just a rock. It would never become jade.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: We finally meet again, and you’re in such a hurry? Let’s chat.

[Local] Everything Breaks: This is a PvP arena.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Exactly! That’s why running into each other here is fate.

[Local] Everything Breaks: .

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Either use six dots or at least three periods—what’s with the single dot?!!!

After two minutes of awkward silence, 2B realized he wouldn’t even get punctuation anymore.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: A person with no sense of humor is terrifying >_<

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: But you’ve been like this for years—guess you’re set in your ways.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: How the hell did someone like you become Legion Commander? Spill the tea.

[Local] Everything Breaks: No one else wanted it.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: So you took it?

[Local] Everything Breaks: Yeah.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: And you didn’t mind inheriting that mess?

[Local] Everything Breaks: It’s fine. Better than Deadleaf.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: You… are roasting her, right?

[Local] Everything Breaks: .

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: HAHAHAHA, I should drag Deadleaf here to witness this—look what the Legion Commander’s been reduced to!

[Local] Everything Breaks: ……

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: If you can’t take it anymore, don’t. If I were you, I’d just kick her out.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Did.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: [shocked]

[Local] Everything Breaks: Too annoying.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Brother, you’re a real man. Real.

Everything Breaks remained unmoved by the praise, and 2B had pretty much exhausted his nostalgia trip. Just as he thought the fight was about to start, Everything Breaks unexpectedly initiated another exchange—

[Local] Everything Breaks: Is the new legion fun?

In 2B’s mind, Everything Breaks was practically a monk—no desires, no attachments. Even the Tang Monk from Journey to the West had his quest for scriptures, but Everything Breaks had never shown any particular interest in anything in-game. If Xuanyuan gave orders, he followed them. If not, he’d just go grind mobs or run dungeons—expressionless whether things went well or poorly, as if everything was just routine. Even when he was publicly humiliated by Thousand Mountains recently, he’d just walked away without so much as a generic “You’ll pay for this” threat.

And now, he was asking if the new legion was fun?

Even if the new legion was fun, it couldn’t compare to the sheer novelty of this conversation!

So 2B decided to answer thoroughly, meticulously, with the most vivid language possible—

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: It’s great. Not many members, but every single one’s a character—especially the Legion Leader. You know Birdy, the Deputy, so no need to elaborate.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Different from Huaxia Dominion?

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Oh man, it’s not just different—they’re not even comparable. If your legion is the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, ours is a high school sports day parade—no uniforms, just chaos.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Freedom.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Your concise summaries make me feel like I’m rambling =_=

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: But yeah, that’s the gist. Relaxed, comfortable—isn’t that the point of gaming?

[Local] Everything Breaks: Your legion’s reputation isn’t great.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Uh… are you being polite?

[Local] Everything Breaks: It’s terrible.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: No need to be that blunt TAT

[Local] Everything Breaks: But you’re strong.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Wow, never thought I’d hear you praise someone.

[Local] Everything Breaks: You cleared the endgame dungeon first.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Didn’t defeat the final boss. And Five Peaks Pavilion and Meteor Blitz were right behind us.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Yeah.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: But let’s just ignore them.

[Local] Everything Breaks: ……

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Enough about me—are you having fun these days?

[Local] Everything Breaks: It’s okay.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: How many people are left in Huaxia Dominion?

[Local] Everything Breaks: 62.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: So precise =_=

[Local] Everything Breaks: Should be 60 soon.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Why? More people leaving?

[Local] Everything Breaks: I want a round number.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: ……

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: That’s also pretty bizarre, you know!!!

[Local] Everything Breaks: How’s Parrot?

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Good? He’s fantastic! Deputy Leader position, chubby girlfriend—living the dream.

[Local] Everything Breaks: ?

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Our Legion Leader. They’re together IRL.

[Local] Everything Breaks: I know. Just didn’t expect Milk is Mom to be a girl.

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Dude, I was joking…

[Local] Everything Breaks: So it’s not true?

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: Of course not! He’s a guy! Both he and Parrot are gay!!!

[Local] Everything Breaks: Oh.

Such a bland reaction was so anticlimactic—2B almost wished he’d just let him believe the Legion Leader was a chubby girl =_=

[Local] Everything Breaks: Ready to fight?

[Local] 2B Fighter Jet: One minute, then we start.

[Local] Everything Breaks: Okay.

With that, Everything Breaks retreated to a corner and sat down to meditate. Before encountering 2B, he’d won three matches in a row, each ending in under thirty seconds, so his HP and MP potions were still on cooldown. Since 2B wanted a minute, he might as well recover some HP and MP.

2B watched Everything Breaks sit in the corner, then walked over—but instead of sitting, he loomed over him.

Everything Breaks, accustomed to his antics, ignored him.

2B used an emote, making his Blood Warrior reach out and pat the Berserker’s head—then, in the next second, before his hand even retracted, he instantly switched to combat mode and unleashed a combo on the seated Everything Breaks—

Wind-Splitting Slash + Lone Wolf Howl + Holy Armor!

The first two skills were aimed at Everything Breaks—in the blink of an eye, his HP, which had just recovered to three-quarters, dropped back to one-third!

The third skill, Holy Armor, was self-cast. For 30 seconds, he couldn’t attack, but he’d resist all physical damage and 50% of magic damage.

The moment his HP dropped, Everything Breaks realized he’d been tricked. He swung his blade at 2B—Blood Warrior vs. Berserker, no tactics needed, just a brawl!

But after two strikes, he noticed something was off—all his attacks were being resisted, dealing zero damage!

By the time he realized 2B had used Holy Armor, the situation was already dire. Once the 30 seconds ended, he’d be facing 2B’s full HP with only a third of his own. Even if he were the god of war, turning this around would be nearly impossible—unless One Cut Kill triggered.

But Lady Luck smiled upon the shameless, unscrupulous Blood Warrior.

One Cut Kill failed. Another Wind-Splitting Slash landed, and Everything Breaks vanished instantly. 2B, with no time to dwell on it, used his five-second window to chug a potion—then rode this wave of shamelessness to four consecutive victories over the next three minutes before finally losing to the fifth opponent and returning to his 10M x 10M room with 17.5 points.

During his five-minute break, 2B spent three minutes restocking HP and MP potions and buff food, a minute and a half strategizing, and thirty seconds trolling—

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Waaaaah, my cat jumped on my keyboard and hit my skill keys by accident >_<

His provocation seemed to vanish into the void.

Just as he was about to enter the next round with regret, a reply finally came—

[Whisper] Everything Breaks: Your cat’s skilled. Knows combos.