Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
“Dear viewers, thank you for your support and waiting in the game with us. I am your commentator, Hwa Xiong.”
“And I am Pan Feng.”
Tonight, these two showed their faces for the first time.
At 12:58 am, the two GMs showed their faces on the market’s main screen. They stood behind a large table like newscasters. Even in sleeping mode gaming time, there were still twenty minutes left before the start of the competition. They looked different from how Feng Bujue had perceived them when he met them in the scenario. They had put on serious-looking suits. If they had shown up in their ancient Chinese general costumes, no one would probably take them seriously.
“Half a month went by just like that,” Hwa Xiong said.
“Yes, I have just gotten used to this job, but it is going to be over soon,” Pan Feng added. They laughed. Hwa Xiong continued, “Back to the issue at hand. For the finals, it will be conducted in the format of a battle royale, so the livestreaming format will be a bit different.”
Pan Feng said in a mysterious tone, “Today, the job will be easy for the both of us. After the game starts, you won’t hear our voices anymore. With regard to why…that’s a secret for now, but you’ll find out soon enough.”
Hwa Xiong added, “To prevent everyone from missing the content that you would want, we will now briefly explain the broadcast method.”
When he spoke, the main screen had split into PPT-type slides.
“The broadcast format would be focus on the main battles. In other words, when the players aren’t battling, we will not be able to see what the players are doing. Therefore, after the final starts, the main screen will broadcast casual situations at various spots of the scenario, and subtitles will be shown to aid in the explanation of the worldview. When the players get into a fight, the broadcast will cut to them.”
Pan Feng picked up the explanation. “But the main point is this—the rules of broadcasting when many fights happen simultaneously.”
He paused, and one of the slides turned over. “As everyone knows, the market is a culmination of many similar servers. Today, from 1 AM, we will make some adjustments to many of the servers. When you return to your log-in lobby and open the option to select the market server, you probably won’t see choices like ‘Server 1’ or ‘Server 2,’ but it will be options like ‘Contestant A Broadcast Server 1,’ ‘Contestant A Broadcast Server 2,’ or ‘Contestant B Broadcast Server 1.’”
Hwa Xiong followed up. “Depending on which contestant you wish to follow, please enter his or her specific market server. If you wish to enter the server with your friends, please group up before entering the server.”
Pan Feng explained further. “Every contestant will enjoy a ‘privileged broadcasting right’ in his own broadcast server. When he or she is not in battle, the main screen in that server will focus on other battles, but once he or she gets into a battle, the image will instantly cut to his or her battle.”
“If you do not have a specific contestant to follow, you can select the option ‘random broadcast server 1, 2, 3, and so on’ in the log-in lobby. The main screen will be arranged according to time, and it will show more complete battles. In other words, once a battle is completed, it will randomly cut to another fight and rinse and repeat.”
Pan Feng concluded the announcement. “Of course you can choose to observe the match in the log-in lobby or the conference room. In your private space, you can switch between the different privileges freely, just like changing stations on a TV. And the commentary will not be affected by these factors, because they will be aligned with the image on the screen. Therefore, if you watch it outside the market, the difference will only be that the screen will be smaller and the place relatively quieter.”
Before the two finished their introduction, the players in the markets already rushed toward the elevators. Some of them wanted to move to the broadcast servers while the others wanted to return to the conference room or their log-in lobby. Actually, the players did not need to rush because the map for the finals was huge. No battle would start so soon. If they entered earlier than everyone else, they would only be greeted by sceneries before the screen.
At 1 AM, the Top 50 players in Thriller Paradise stopped in their log-in lobby and readied to go. At that moment, no one could say they were not worried. Even Brother Jue couldn’t help pacing in his elevator, humming a song under his breath, his steps pacing along with the rhythm to loosen up.
The excitement running through the players was hard to describe.
———
“Important notification: The final for the Tournament for the Best will initiate soon. Your data will be input in thirty seconds. Please do not leave the log-in lobby. Ten seconds countdown before logging in. Ten, nine, eight, seven… two, one.”
———
This time after the countdown, there were no opening words and no teleportation, but the elevator moved.
“Download complete. You are currently playing Tournament for the Best.”
“This mode does not have a scenario introduction, no side/hidden quests, or unique world views.”
“Reward for winning the scenario: ???”
“Introductory cinematic will be shown, and the game will start after it is over.”
The elevator was still moving, but the cinematic cut into it like that.
“Nine Phantoms rode on the spirit clouds, blood rain showers announcing the advent of the King of Demon.
“Time and space turn in the palm of one’s hand. Who shall decide what is sin and good in many worlds?”
What the… Why is this such a mysterious opening? The standard aside, these words remind me of some very bad things, Feng Bujue thought.
“This is a bustling modern city. Like all the modern cities in the world, it was filled with skyscrapers, horrible traffic, overpopulation, and it had less than satisfactory air quality.” Everything was normal until one night when the sun set and never rose again. The floating dark clouds covered up the moon, which tried to cast its lonely light on this silent city.”
Hey! Wait a minute! I have heard this before!
“A betrayer called Sam Montier took over the city and slaughtered the people in the city. He took this place out of the River of Time and turned it into a dimension that existed outside of space and time. The Ruler of Time discovered Sam Montier and captured him.
“But this land could no longer be recovered. The twisted time released a great amount of energy, the lost souls wandered the city, and the cursed land cultivated many sinful creatures. They feed, kill, and are reborn. The cycle of sin is never-ending.
“Many years later…the leader of this chaotic land eclipsed this untouched land through the gap of a demonic door. The King of the Nether Abyss discovered his people here.
“But as the ruler of the River of Time, Sam Montier’s former master, The Ruler of Time, saw this place as his territory.
“At the same time, as the body of justice that rules over all dimension, the Court of Truth had been reaching its influence into this place as well, observing in the dark.”
The introductory cinematic ended there. The next second, the elevator stopped. Whether Feng Bujue asked for it or not, the door opened.
Brother Jue should be inside a large building. Many ages ago, the décor of this place was quite high class, but the place had lost its luster. The walls and ground were dirty, and the grime caked over the original expensive material. Everything was covered with a layer of dust and stained brown.
Small cracks gathered on the tiles and walls. If closely examined, one could see materials like blood capillaries flowing behind the gap, and they were alive.
Black piles of bones could be seen gathered at the corners. Most of them were charred bones, and only a few flesh-looking organs remained. They did not look like human bones. The number of bones and the structure were not that of a homo sapien. The skulls looked very human-like, but some of them had horns. Others had no nose while some had fangs.
This map gave off a horror-movie vibe. Of course, Feng Bujue did not feel fearful. In fact, he felt disgusted. Speaking of disgust, one thing had to be mentioned. Once the elevator door opened, a vomit-inducing smell drifted into the elevator. Brother Jue covered his mouth and nose with his hands, but he was too late. “What the…what is this smell? Is this the decaying smell of a skunk who grew up on durian and ate sh*t to commit suicide?”
He walked out of the elevator, and the moment he did, the system announcement came.
“Main quest triggered.”
Feng Bujue opened the menu. He thought he would see “become the last survivor,” because the rules of the game were the same as Battle for the Cowl, except that the number turned from 6 to 50.
To his surprise, the mission was different. “Kill other players to gain points.”
The word “points” was highlighted. When he hovered his attention over it, another explanatory window popped up with the details of the quest.
“Whenever you kill another player, you will gain two points. Killing seed players will nab you three points. Cooperate with other players to complete more than one kills, and the points will be split depending on the contribution you have made to the kills. You will gain one point if you borrow the forces within the world to complete a kill. When only the last two players remain in the scenario, no matter how you kill the other player, you will gain five points.”
Under this long explanation, there was another simple rule.
“When there is only one player left in the scenario, the Tournament for the Best will be over. The system will reveal the points earned by all the players and come out with the ranking.”
