Chapter 35 – A Victory Without Honor

At eight in the morning Beijing time, under the bright sunlight, Lu Yue parked his car behind the internet café and stepped into his recently expanded battlefield of life as usual. The girl at the counter, looking miserable with her chin propped in her hand, brightened up instantly upon seeing him, as if witnessing a deity descending from heaven. She leaned in and whispered, “Boss, I think the second boss is going crazy.”

Following her gaze, Lu Yue saw his business partner sitting at a corner computer, grinning—eyes crinkling, radiating happiness. The corner was dimly lit, making his smile appear particularly eerie under the cold glow of the LCD screen.

“How long has he been like this?”

“From 7:20 when he turned on the computer until now.”

“He got up that early and came down?”

“I was surprised too. He even had me buy him a jianbing guozi, which he happily munched on while grinning.”

Meng Chudong had clearly encountered something joyous—something significant. As childhood friends, Lu Yue could easily tell. But that didn’t stop him from updating his Weibo account, registered under the name “My Business Partner is a Weirdo.”

After spending so much time with Meng Chudong, any living creature would inevitably become a complain-or-die alien!

Quietly sneaking up behind Meng Chudong, Lu Yue wasn’t surprised to see the game Huaxia Online on the screen. Thanks to his eccentric partner, he had picked up some knowledge about the game. On the screen, a character named Crossplayer’s Blessing was being frantically chased by one called Love Fiercely, with the former clearly fleeing in disarray.

“I thought you were happy about something, but it’s just killing someone,” Lu Yue said, somewhat disappointed. “The number of people who’ve died under your claws could fill a moat.”

“That’s not me,” Meng Chudong replied without turning around.

“Then who is it?” Lu Yue asked casually.

“My teammate,” Meng Chudong said, a hint of lightness in his voice that he didn’t even notice.

Lu Yue was taken aback.

He didn’t understand the grudges and entanglements in the game. All he knew was that Meng Chudong hadn’t been happy in the game for the past few months. Even when facing the computer, he had seemed half-dead, and at one point, he had even considered quitting. Although Lu Yue had always hoped his partner would return to the right path, if this was how he was going to come back, he’d rather have him go wild and show off in the game.

With that thought, Lu Yue’s mood inexplicably brightened. A gloomy, expressionless partner versus a carefree, happy second boss—he preferred the latter. “Your teammate is brutal, going all out to exterminate them.”

“This is a replay from the PvP tournament,” Meng Chudong finally turned around, a smirk on his lips. “And the one being chased is actually my teammate.”

Lu Yue was speechless. Just as he was about to complain, the screen flashed, and the chased character jumped off a snowy mountain, followed by the pursuer. When the dust settled, Lu Yue was awestruck. “God-tier moves…”

Meng Chudong was already curled up in his chair, laughing uncontrollably.

The character’s status bar still showed Level 55. Lu Yue frowned slightly. “Your game version still hasn’t updated? It’s been stuck at 55 forever, hasn’t it?”

Finally calming down from his laughter, Meng Chudong replied, “Might be upgrading soon.”

Lu Yue sighed. “Then you’ll have plenty to play with.”

Meng Chudong didn’t respond because he suddenly realized that even without an upgrade, things seemed… very Chips Ahoy¹The brand’s original Chinese name translates to “Lots and lots of fun” …

The PvP tournament was held simultaneously in both the telecom and netcom server regions. On the same night that Fang Zheng’s team advanced, the other region’s arena also held its first round. However, while Fang Zheng’s region had fourteen teams competing in seven matches on the first night, the other region had ten teams playing five matches in two rounds. The next day, the organizers uploaded videos of these five major matches—over thirty minor battles—to the official website and forums.

Live spectators were still a minority, but videos were a different story. In no time, the Huaxia Forum was abuzz, with classic technical battles being re-uploaded by players with detailed commentary. The only exception was the Ghost Server Legion’s matches—no commentary, just bullet comments… glorified as “Supreme-Level Tutorials on Speedrunning with Dirty Tactics.”

Small accounts continued to flock to watch the next day.

But this didn’t affect the Ghost Server comrades. As a legion hastily formed before the tournament, this PvP tournament was essentially just for fun—like running a dungeon. They weren’t playing for houses or land, and they might still end up failing, so the focus was on stirring the pot.

At 7 PM, the PvP tournament continued. The remaining seven teams from Fang Zheng’s region competed, vying for four tickets to advance to the next round. Fang Zheng and his team watched as contestants, and in the end, Huaxia Dominion, Sin Abyss, and Silent Hand emerged victorious, while Five Peaks Pavilion got a bye and advanced directly.

Among the three matches, Huaxia Dominion won the most effortlessly, with a clean 6-0 sweep. The other two matches were also well-fought, featuring battles of speed, skill, and even dirty tactics. One assassin from Sin Abyss, with his last drop of HP, played dead and successfully ambushed his opponent. The audience erupted, flooding the chat with complaints. Your Uncle, itching to join in, typed, “That’s just shameless!”—only to be spotted by sharp-eyed spectators and immediately drowned in the ocean of public outrage…

As soon as the matches ended that night, the next round’s lineup was announced:

Day 3: Ghost Server Legion vs. Meteor Blitz; Eternal God Domain vs. Anti-Romance Alliance

Day 4: Huaxia Dominion vs. Sin Abyss; Silent Hand vs. Five Peaks Pavilion

Although they had mentally prepared themselves, running into Meteor Blitz was still disheartening. Compared to the Ghost Server’s bizarre 6-0 sweep, Meteor Blitz’s flawless victory over their opponents was solid, making the skill gap obvious. Though the legion’s overall style was flashy—often acting as if they were about to dominate Huaxia Summit—they undeniably had the strength to back it up.

On the day of the match, the Ghost Server comrades logged in early without prior agreement. Even Jiang Yang rescheduled his evening dinner to noon, then took a taxi home after drinking. The entire afternoon was spent watching Meteor Blitz’s match videos. Though they had seen them live, reviewing the footage with analysis and discussion gave a completely different perspective.

By 5 PM, pre-match preparations were complete.

By 6 PM, Your Uncle, who had been absent all afternoon, still hadn’t logged in.

The Ghost Server Legion wasn’t exactly in panic, but murmurs spread—

Jiang Yang: “Did he fall into a ditch while walking?”

Fang Zheng: “Or maybe he got a fish bone stuck in his throat at lunch.”

2B Fighter Jet: “Then just go to the ENT department to get it removed. I’ve done it—takes two or three seconds.”

Sister Blood Bull: “Maybe he encountered another accident at the hospital.”

438: “Fighter Jet, you’ve actually gone to the hospital to remove fish bones before?”

2B Fighter Jet: “Not to brag, but I’ve been to the hospital three times just for fish bones growing up…”

“I’ll log in with two accounts,” Polly interjected right away, lest his comrades miss the match entry time while happily discussing fish bones =_=

Fang Zheng, however, seemed struck by inspiration and quickly cut in, “I want to do it, I want to do it! Damn it, watching you guys play so many matches has been torture!”

[Whisper] Mad Lad: You can always rub one out to relieve the tension first. I’ll help you out later.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Screw your damn balls!

Fang Zheng felt this guy deserved a name change—Mad Lad? More like Opportunistic Prick!

Switching to another computer to log into Crossplayer’s Blessing, Fang Zheng felt an endless surge of energy coursing through him, his entire body buzzing with excitement…

[System] Host: After much anticipation, the Ghost Server Legion has finally checked in!

[System] Host: With this, all six teams for tonight’s matches have completed check-in.

[System] Host: Now, the floor is yours, Brother Feifan.

[System] Commentator: Hello again, it’s me, Brother Feifan. Without further ado, the first match—Ghost Server Legion vs. Meteor Blitz! The contestants have entered the arena!

[System] Commentator: Meteor Blitz is a legion that has been gaining momentum on the Huaxia Summit server. Their first match was a clean 6-0 sweep. Let’s see what kind of exhilarating performance they’ll deliver tonight!

[System] Commentator: As for the Ghost Server Legion…

[System] Commentator: Let’s wait and see!

[Spectator] Flower Not Flower: Did my computer swallow some text? Why can’t I see anything after Ghost Server Legion?

[Spectator] Flowing Water: Mine too.

[Spectator] I Love Pineapple: +10086

[Spectator] All the Rage: The commentator just didn’t say anything =_=

[Spectator] Flower Not Flower: Actually, everyone knows—this is just giving Brother Feifan an out~~

[Spectator] Born in 1994: Like Wu Zetian’s blank stele²Wu Zetian was the only female emperor in Chinese history. A massive blank stone tablet was erected at her tomb after her death. Historians speculate it was her own wish not to have inscriptions praising her achievements, leaving her legacy to be judged by later generations., this suits the Ghost Server Legion perfectly~\(≧▽≦)/~

[Spectator] Flat Chest Pride: Why are you so excited?

[Spectator] Born in 1994: I watched their videos again yesterday. I’ve gone from neutral to a fan~\(≧▽≦)/~

The Ghost Server comrades were unaware they had inadvertently attracted a group of small fans. While Born in 1994 was spamming the chat, their screens were displaying the system loading bar as they waited to enter the specially designed match room.

Polly: “Meteor Blitz and The Gods aren’t on the same level. As you saw this afternoon, their skills and gear are top-tier. So win or lose, just have fun.”

2B: “Why hasn’t it started yet? I can’t hold back anymore. Hurry up, pick me, pick me!”

The system seemed to sense Fighter Jet’s urgency, and as his words trailed off, Crossplayer’s Blessing slowly disappeared.

Fang Zheng hadn’t expected to be the first to fight. Excited, his APM skyrocketed. As soon as his character spawned, he quickly cast two buffs on himself, boosting attack and defense, before surveying his surroundings.

The map was a slightly eerie open-world area, not part of the game’s usual scenes—likely custom-made for the match. At first glance, it seemed plain: bushes, shrubs, grass, and a sky shrouded in dark clouds. But after moving Crossplayer a few steps, he suddenly plummeted downward as if stepping into a trap. By the time he regained his bearings, his character was in Underwater Status.

Fang Zheng struggled to swim upward, and soon Crossplayer’s head broke the surface…

Squinting for half a second, Fang Zheng realized—it was a swamp!

[System] Commentator: The two contestants haven’t met yet, but they’re already exploring the map. Who will seize the initiative?

[System] Commentator: In the last match, Meteor Blitz’s guild leader, Greatsword, left a deep impression. His unrestrained PvP style fully showcased the Blood Warrior’s strengths. As for Crossplayer’s Blessing, even if friends who watched that match wanted to forget him, they couldn’t! This player’s gliding skills are remarkable, and his combat awareness is sharp!

[System] Commentator: Technical playstyle vs. tactical playstyle—who will prevail?

[Contestant] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: Damn, only saying the nice stuff.

[Contestant] Harry Porret: What else? Say ‘this player’s face-planting technique is very proficient’?

[Contestant] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: Broomstick, after knowing you for so long, I just realized your true nature—a venomous tongue.

[Contestant] Harry Porret: We’re not in the same legion. Don’t act so familiar =_=

[Contestant] Vivian: Hubby, can your mouth stay quiet for a bit?

[Contestant] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: TAT

Time passed minute by minute. Fang Zheng still hadn’t left the bushes or seen his opponent—he’d just fallen into the swamp four or five times. By now, Crossplayer’s Blessing could be renamed Sculpture of Mud—even his own mother might not recognize him.

But Fang Zheng sensed something odd. Swamps weren’t strange, but there were too many on this map—every step was a trap. When the two contestants finally fought, would it just be a contest of who fell into fewer pits?

[System] Commentator: Both contestants have stopped moving, as if they’ve noticed something!

[System] Commentator: This is the first time Brother Feifan has seen this map too. What secrets does it hold?

[System] Commentator: Greatsword and Crossplayer’s Blessing have both voluntarily jumped into the swamp! Let’s see what they do next!

[System] Commentator: They’ve started chatting…

[System] Commentator: Very amiably…

——

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Greatsword?

[Arena] Greatsword: Hm?

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Where are you?

[Arena] Greatsword: ……

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Fine, let me rephrase—have you fallen into a pit?

[Arena] Greatsword: Yeah.

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Which pit?

[Arena] Greatsword: ……

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Don’t be so stingy~~

[Arena] Greatsword: You weren’t this talkative in the last match.

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: I didn’t like that Pig God guy last time╮(╯_╰)╭

[Arena] Greatsword: Are you a girl?

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: How could you tell (⊙o⊙)!

[Arena] Greatsword: Tsundere vibes.

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Knowing I’m a girl, will you still fight me?

[Arena] Greatsword: Yeah.

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Screw you, I’m a real man!

[Arena] Greatsword: ……

“2B,” Polly suddenly spoke up in YY, teasing, “Is this how you got fooled back then?”

“Exactly! See now? Lying through his teeth—with those big eyes too!” 2B Fighter Jet wanted to embrace Greatsword and swear brotherhood T_T

Jiang Yang chuckled silently, itching to dive into the computer and drag this healer out to see what kind of treasure he really was.

438 was heartbroken: “The commander has no bottom line…”

Sister Blood Bull summarized succinctly: “Adapting to circumstances, going with the flow, leveraging strengths—utterly unprincipled. Commander, you must win.”

Unaware that he had already established the legion commander’s towering image, Fang Zheng wasn’t chatting with Greatsword just for fun. He wanted to confirm whether other areas were as swampy as his.

The map’s visibility was decent, but he couldn’t find his opponent anywhere. The only explanation was that the opponent’s spawn point was far away. And if that distant location also had swamps, he had reason to believe the swamps weren’t concentrated in one area but spread across the entire map. With so many swamps, they couldn’t just be there to make players step into pits…

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer’s Blessing has suddenly jumped into the swamp! What’s going on?

[System] Commentator: Ten seconds have passed, and Crossplayer’s Blessing still hasn’t resurfaced!

As the commentator typed, the audience saw the match map split into two distinct sections—one above ground, where Greatsword stood motionless by a swamp pit, seemingly deep in thought, and one below, where Crossplayer’s Blessing was already swimming deeper into the swamp. The audience finally realized—the swamp pits weren’t isolated but interconnected. Beneath the map lay an intricate network of waterways!

[Contestant] Carved in Bone: Crossplayer’s awareness is impressive. Seems last match’s gliding wasn’t a fluke.

[Contestant] Five-Star Red Flag: Look at his underwater movements—his technique is definitely top-notch.

[Contestant] Hu Yifei 12138: Graceful swimming, agile figure.

[Contestant] Five-Star Red Flag: Commander, can you focus on something less… suggestive?

[Contestant] Hu Yifei 12138: I just love meat (¯﹃¯)

While contestants and audience members were heatedly discussing, Greatsword seemed to have figured it out too and jumped into the swamp.

Moving across a pit-filled map was slow, but navigating the underground waterways was much faster. Each swamp pit became an airhole. With a two-minute Breath Timer, Fang Zheng surfaced every minute to reset the countdown before diving back down. He always kept one minute in reserve, afraid of encountering Greatsword mid-fight and suffocating before the battle even began—that would be too tragic.

Greatsword was also guarding against this, so whether by coincidence or telepathy, he surfaced every minute too.

Thus, the audience watched as the two contestants failed to meet for ages, only surfacing occasionally to gasp for air.

Are these two seals meeting by fate across a thousand miles?!

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Mermaid~~=_= where are you~~=_= come out now~~=_= I’m thinking of you~~=_=

[Arena] Greatsword: Just give me your coords. I’ll come to you.

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: XX, XX

[Arena] Greatsword: Wait there.

[Arena] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Okay!

Their exchange was pleasant, but the audience could see that Crossplayer’s Blessing wasn’t actually at those coordinates. After giving them, he swam toward that direction. Greatsword, not foolish enough to charge straight there, instead emerged from a swamp pit near the location and waited on the shore for Crossplayer to surface for air.

[Spectator] I Love Pineapple: Damn, tunnel warfare plus psychological warfare.

[Spectator] Colorful Clouds: Worthy adversaries.

[Spectator] Bring Your Own Food: Both totally shameless…

Greatsword was lying in ambush on the shore, but Fang Zheng wasn’t about to wait for death. He climbed out of the swamp far from the coordinates and began moving on land, even though he fell back in several times, stubbornly climbing out each time.

Soon, the two appeared in each other’s line of sight.

[System] Commentator: The thrilling moment has finally arrived!

[System] Commentator: Greatsword moves first! He’s charging at Crossplayer at full speed!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer buffs himself with Rally and Ironclad, then charges straight at Greatsword!

[System] Commentator: Who will gain the upper hand in this first clash?

[System] Commentator: Greatsword’s attack misses because Crossplayer fell into the swamp again!

[System] Commentator: Greatsword waits by the swamp, seemingly planning to conserve energy!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer isn’t surfacing! No, he’s scheming—he’s circling around to a swamp pit behind Greatsword!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer attacks!

[System] Commentator: Greatsword takes damage, but his counterattack, Wind-Splitting Slash, lands on Crossplayer!

[System] Commentator: The two are finally fighting head-on!

[System] Commentator: Now it’s Greatsword falling into the swamp! The swamps are really giving the contestants trouble!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer looks like he’s about to jump in too…

[System] Commentator: Wait, he heals himself first…

[System] Commentator: Greatsword appears behind him, most likely trying to replicate Crossplayer’s earlier ambush!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer dodges! He was already on guard while healing himself! Well done!

[System] Commentator: No, Greatsword has a two-hit combo—his second strike lands on Crossplayer!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer still doesn’t move—he’s channeling³Another word for casting. Some skills have a timer to prepare, during which the caster can’t do anything else. They would just stand there and channel their skill until the timer runs out, only then is the skill released. More often than not, this is a way to balance very strong skills to prevent indiscriminate spamming of stronger skills.! The Blesscaller’s ultimate, Golden Age!

[System] Commentator: Greatsword tries to dodge but it’s too late—this is a ranged attack!

[System] Commentator: Greatsword is hit, his HP bar now at two-thirds!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer doesn’t heal himself again—he’s clearly managing his MP carefully!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer suddenly sprints away, trying to kite on this swamp-filled map!

[System] Commentator: Greatsword jumps into the swamp—he’s not giving Crossplayer a chance to kite! Well done! Don’t let him get away!

[System] Commentator: Crossplayer doesn’t hesitate—he jumps into the swamp too! They’re fighting underwater now!

[System] Commentator: Underwater combat often significantly affects players’ movement and skill-casting speeds, so to us, it often looks like slow-motion land combat.

[System] Commentator: But these two players seem completely unaffected, fighting beautifully underwater! This requires extremely high technical skill and mastery of skill chaining!

[System] Commentator: As everyone knows, Huaxia’s only underwater dungeon is Heavenly Lake, and even there, combat isn’t truly underwater. Will future updates add more underwater dungeons? Because skill effects look especially stunning underwater!

[System] Commentator: This is a match of incredibly high technical skill! How exhilarating! Both HP bars are dropping alternately, with Crossplayer healing himself once more mid-fight! The two are now evenly matched!

[System] Commentator: The Breath Timer has run out, but neither is surfacing! Are they planning to finish the fight here? But both still have a quarter of their HP left!

[System] Commentator: Let’s guess with Brother Feifan—who will win?

[System] Commentator: Audience, who do you think will win?

[Spectator] Born in 1994: Brother Feifan, you might not see this, but I’d like to remind you—my idol has disappeared…

Brother Feifan didn’t see the audience’s messages, but he did see the skill effects dissipate underwater. Then Greatsword, with a quarter HP left, surfaced. Crossplayer? Gone =_=

In PvP tournaments, the player whose HP depletes first loses, but their character doesn’t vanish—it stays on the map until both contestants are ejected after the match. But now, the spectator-mode map clearly showed only Greatsword, floating alone in the swamp with half his head above water, looking completely bewildered.

The audience was equally baffled. Damn it, the fight was just getting intense! Crossplayer definitely still had a quarter HP! Vanishing into thin air like this will leave the spectators blue-balled!!!

But the system didn’t care. Within seconds, the match was declared over, and Greatsword was teleported out.

[System] Commentator: Uh, due to unknown reasons, Crossplayer’s Blessing has suddenly left the battlefield. Meteor Blitz, victory!

Fang Zheng stared at the “You have been forcibly logged out” prompt on his screen, stunned for two seconds before a lightning bolt of realization struck him like Conan. He quickly switched to another computer and put on his headphones just as an innocent, clueless voice floated in like a rainbow cloud—

“Whew, barely made it. The traffic was insane. Huh, why am I in the match room? Has it started? What’s the score?”

Fang Zheng felt the heavens and earth tremble, his heart bleeding: “YOUR! FUCKING! UNCLE!!!”

Greatsword was equally frustrated—

[Contestant] Greatsword: Crossplayer’s Blessing!!!

[Contestant] Greatsword: Get out here!!!

[Contestant] Greatsword: Crossplayer’s Blessing!!!

Your Uncle, puzzled as to why he had instantly drawn the commander’s aggro when he logged in, noticed someone spamming Crossplayer’s name and reflexively replied politely—

[Contestant] Crossplayer’s Blessing: ?

[Contestant] Greatsword: Where the hell did you go?!

[Contestant] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Uh, I was stuck in traffic on the way home. Sorry.

[Contestant] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Wait, who are you?

[Contestant] Greatsword: You were fighting me while stuck in traffic?!

[Contestant] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Huh?

[Contestant] Greatsword: What the hell is even happening?!

[Contestant] Polly: He was stuck in traffic and missed the match. Another teammate played for him.

[Contestant] Greatsword: Huh?

[Contestant] Polly: Right when the match was about to end, he logged in and kicked the teammate off.

[Contestant] Greatsword: ……

[Contestant] Polly: So the account was ejected from the arena. You won.

[Contestant] Polly: Hello?

[Contestant] Leaves Fall on Chang’an: The commander said he’s going somewhere quiet to lick his wounds.

[Contestant] Polly: Why? You won.

[Contestant] Leaves Fall on Chang’an: The victory was too humiliating…

• 1
  The brand’s original Chinese name translates to “Lots and lots of fun”
• 2
  Wu Zetian was the only female emperor in Chinese history. A massive blank stone tablet was erected at her tomb after her death. Historians speculate it was her own wish not to have inscriptions praising her achievements, leaving her legacy to be judged by later generations.
• 3
  Another word for casting. Some skills have a timer to prepare, during which the caster can’t do anything else. They would just stand there and channel their skill until the timer runs out, only then is the skill released. More often than not, this is a way to balance very strong skills to prevent indiscriminate spamming of stronger skills.