Seeing the two players before his eyes both dissolve into white light, Yan Gui’ren’s expression shifted slightly. Suddenly, he turned around to look into the horizon, which was supposed to be empty.
There he was, a human shadow standing a few meters away.
The man was wearing a dark suit. He had brown hair, a handsome face, and sharp features. His body radiated an arrogance that could barely be suppressed.
“The God of War from Hell, we met again,” Yan Gui’ren said.
“You should not have appeared before them to begin with,” Simon replied.
“It was you who sent them away?” Yan Gui’ren asked.
Simon did not answer his question but continued to explain his point. “Whether you did this on purpose or otherwise, if I discover once more that you intend to reveal things that they shouldn’t know… they might not be the only ones who have to leave.”
“Your real body is in a dimension higher than heaven, right?” Yan Gui’ren turned his head to avoid meeting the man’s gaze. “Like them, you are just a projection of yourself. In your current state, you wish to threaten me?”
“A stupid question.” Simon also spoke like he was looking down on others. “My shadow will not be weaker than the shadow of the one who needed the Nascent Soul of the Holy Ghost to reincarnate.”
“Is that so?” Yan Gui’ren turned back with a fearless face, armed with his signature halberd. The clash was imminent, between the God of War from Hell and the Warlord of the plighted world.
“He he… Please, there is no need for a fight when words are perfectly fine.” A salacious laugh broke up the tension, and a man in a black suit appeared between the two. Woody pushed on his glasses, which were glowing, and said with a smile, “Master Yan, you have to understand that, he he he… we have an official job to do.”
As Woody appeared, Yan Gui’ren stopped talking. He turned around and walked away like he refused to continue this conversation.
After he left, Woody smiled. “Simon, you are the judge. You can’t show up anywhere you want simply because you wish to have a fight with the powerful…”
“Was it you who sent Feng Bujue to this world at his low level?” Simon interrupted him. “Or… has the ’system’ that you single-handedly built gotten out of your control?”
“Oi oi… Ha ha, you’re making it sound like it’s my fault either way.” Woody’s answer was a non-answer.
“You wish for your choice to obtain his Sorcery weapon earlier than Vincent’s choice?” Simon did not need Woody’s answer. He huffed coldly. “Humph… as sneaky as ever.”
“Since you’ve already seen through my ploy, what else is there for me to say?” Woody shrugged. “Sorry for making you waste your time traveling here.”
“If I discover you’re up to little tricks like that again, I’ll deal with you like I dealt with the rest.” Simon was a man of his word; he never joked about such things.
“He he he… Thank you for your kindness.” Woody smiled. “By the way, the kid that you have interest in… Sky-swallowing Phantom Dawn, he’s fighting a few experts in the Killing Game. Even though you’re barred from placing a bet since you’re the judge… he he he… would you like to go take a look?”
“Not necessary.” Simon gave Woody a side-eye and answered without looking at the man. “A battle at their level is less interesting than a cockfight.”
…
At the same time, in the scenario of another Killing Game. In the ruins of a city, a fight had already begun. Both parties were the best fighters in Thriller Paradise.
It was a 3v3 game. The three from Brahman—Vishnu, Yama, and Brahma—were respectively the third to fifth players on the combat ranking.
The three of the other party all came from Regulation. They were Fearless Champion, Zen Dream, and Sky-swallowing Phantom Dawn—eighth, ninth, and first on the ranking respectively.
The three from Brahman were all level twenty-six, and they wore a standard uniform. The style was militaristic, with the main palette being dark gray and deep blue. The badge for Brahman was shown on the outside of their left shoulder, and the symbol looked like a half eclipse, with the word ’Brahman’ written in gold floating above the symbol.
Vishnu had the appearance of a male in his twenties with black short hair, medium height, and average muscle build. He could be called handsome and had the title ’Illusory Shield of Nine Avatars’.
Brahma looked older than Vishnu. He allowed his long hair to fall and had some stubble on his chin. He was as large as Long Aomin, and his title was ’Keeper of Sun and Moon’.
Yama was a female player. She looked as old as her teammate. Her hair reached her shoulders, and she had blue bangs that covered her forehead and half of her face. The half that was exposed was as lustrous as pearl, and her title was ’Executioner of Braids’.
On Regulation’s side, their badge showcased a white scale on top of a blue background. Their uniform was a white coat that hung over their shoulders. The rest of their apparel was left to the members to accessorize. This white coat was a more specific apparel. When it was purchased, it had the word ’Justice’ written on the back. After purchase, the player could edit the character on the back once, and there was a character limit to the word. Since this apparel did not take up the space of the upper body and was counted as an accessory, it could only be hung over the shoulders and not worn.
Of course, one could imagine how expensive such an outfit would be. Each one cost 500,000 Game Coins, and that was about as expensive as a full set of apparel. But they sold very well. The biggest buyer was naturally Regulation, since every member required one. The Justice on the back was changed to Regulation for uniformity. There were also other players who admired Regulations, mostly males, who were willing to stick with the newbie apparel to buy such a coat. They would change the Justice to something like Number One Player on the Server, and it would be funny if it was not so pitiable.
Fearless Champion had a three-piece suit under the white coat; it made him look honorable. He had short hair, and his title was Master of the Spear. Even though he had been the first player to reach level twenty during the closed beta, but during the open beta, the work that he was assigned was not to rush his level, so his current level was similar to the three of his enemies, twenty-six. It was worth mentioning that… after one day of the open beta, his placement on combat ranking had slipped down from sixth to eighth.
Zen Dream was twenty-five, not too large, not too skinny. He had an honest appearance, and his fluffy hair parted slightly to the left. His level was twenty-one, and his title was Cold-faced Killer. He was one of the celebrity players from Regulation who joined after the open beta. Jiang Hu had Dao (Flashes of Sword) Jian (Bladeless Swordsman) Xiao (World’s Enigma), and Regulation had something similar. They were known as Zui Sheng Meng (Zen Dream) Si, and Zen Dream was one of them.
His level was a sign of how powerful Regulation’s system was. With the support of equipment, wealth, and information, the top players from Regulation only needed twenty-four hours in real life to catch up to the others.
However, other than the coat from the guild, Zen Dream was wearing the beginner’s outfit, and the impression he gave off was… that the man was poor. But at the same time, he was toying with unneeded consumables in his hands—like the chips that Xiao Tan had bought, things merely for players to waste their Game Coins on. He had a cigarette in his right hand and a bottle of beer in his left.
Zen Dream had three hobbies in life: smoking, drinking, and perming his hair.
There was even a song that went with it—to be a divine, taking the crane to the sky, the secrets are none other than to perm, to drink, and to smoke…
Lastly, Sky-swallowing Phantom Dawn. He was the youngest celebrity player that the studio had accepted since its inception. He was a genius at combat.
Everyone had something that they had a natural affinity toward, but not everyone had the chance to showcase their talent. This was a matter of luck. For example, if Feng Bujue was born in the era of the Republic of China, he might have found an easy way into the education department or, at the very least, become the editor of a paper. He would have spent his day writing critical articles and expressing shocking declarations at public gatherings. He would have no worry for his life and would even receive respect from the literary crowd. He could have married above his current station, probably one from a respected family and another would be his young student, one at least ten years younger than he was. Of course… that was mere speculation. Unfortunately, Feng Bujue was born in a lawful, peaceful society, so he could only earn his living by writing little-known manuscripts.
A similar thing could be used to describe Phantom Dawn. If he had been born in a world where fantasy and magic were real life, he would have been renowned as the best fighter. Unfortunately, he was born on Earth, a place that was relatively peaceful.
Therefore, he could only limit his murderous antics to a virtual game.
Currently, Phantom Dawn was level twenty-two. Even though he had been banned by his team leader from entering the game on the second night of the closed beta, since the server closed the next morning, he did not lose much gaming time.
When the open beta began, he had been level fifteen, and now that almost twenty hours of real time had passed, it was natural for him to have reached his current level. Actually, as a professional gamer, a star player from Regulation, his progress could be considered slow. Even Zen Dream, who had been level one when the open beta started, was already level twenty-one, and he was only level twenty-two.
Even though his level was lower than the enemy’s, Phantom Dawn sat at the top of combat ranking firmly, and this explained many things.
In-game, he had a halo of red hair flowing down his shoulders. Under the white coat, he had a dark military outfit. He was on the slim side and not too tall. From his looks, he was no different from a normal youth.
But the system categorized him as the strongest player in terms of combat capability and had given him a memorable title—The Walking Terror.