Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 786 - 784: Hunting Gods

Who is "Saint Michael"?

The supreme fighter at the top of the ranking list, a walking strategic-level weapon, the ultimate martial force of the Global Occult Coalition... The strong will always be adored, and those extraordinary beings standing at the apex of the planet are no exception.

Any player on the ranking list will be accorded special treatment and pursued by fans. Their past will be dug up, their every word and deed constantly monitored, and their arrival at any location will attract the keen attention of the local powers. Even members of the Syndicate, despite their excellent secrecy measures, sometimes have their traces uncovered by organizations like the Special Affairs Bureau, which will then track and investigate them.

But strangely, for a supreme fighter who is the center of attention, little news about Michael ever gets out. Apart from being one of the earliest players, people know nothing of His hometown, His language, His skin color; even His gender remains unclear.

No one has seen Him in script missions. In the real world, He resides in a room inside the Global Occult Coalition's headquarters building. Only when an extremely dangerous anomaly occurs somewhere do people see Him donning armor, an Angel Halo above His head, riding a high-speed flight vehicle to the target location to resolve the anomaly.

He doesn't need assistance; the helpers provided by the Global Occult Coalition merely need to cordon off the area surrounding the target site to prevent outsiders from entering. His attack method is just as He demonstrated previously in the Sky Fighting Arena: He draws a sword burning with intense flames, and after one slash, the flames rage and all monsters are exterminated.

In past Sky Fighting Arena tower climbing tournaments, only a very few players could barely withstand His first sword slash, thus avoiding being knocked off the platform unconscious and immediately losing. These individuals all earned places on the personal power ranking list when it was later published.

"Still not enough?"

Ju Que, a burly man and one of the vice presidents of the Sword King Court guild, smiled bitterly. He swiped the flames off his body and muttered to himself, "I thought that by borrowing the president's bracer, I could last a bit longer, forcing Michael to reveal more of His cards, at least making Him draw a third or fourth sword... I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

With a sigh, Ju Que sheathed his massive sword, as large as a door panel, back into the scabbard on his back and turned to look at the spectator stands. There sat Zhan Lu, the president of the Sword King Court guild, and the three vice presidents: Cheng Yin, Yu Chang, and Chi Xiao. In addition to them, many high-ranking members of other large guilds had also received the news and came in droves to watch Michael's first duel.

"As strong as ever..."

In a corner of the audience seats, Tai Hao, squinting and leaning against the wall, sighed and turned to Lose Control with a smile. "What do you think? If the two of us team up, could we beat her?"

The dark-haired youth gave him a sharp look and said indifferently, "If you were serious, you could at least fight her to a draw."

"I think getting beaten to death is more like it." Tai Hao waved his hand with a bitter smile. "With such a good opportunity, why don't you take a shot and challenge her?"

Lose Control replied coldly, "Fight it out and let others see my full hand? Although I don't care, the Master wants us to win the final competition if at all possible. Before that, I won't engage in fruitless endeavors."

"Tch." Tai Hao clicked his tongue. "How can you be so obedient? What if the Master told you to go gallivanting in Amsterdam with him, would you comply?"

Lose Control glanced at him and responded flatly, "Firstly, the Master doesn't do such boring things. Secondly, aren't you afraid he might hear you disparaging him like that?"

"He's not around, what do I have to fear?" Although Tai Hao said this, lacking the air of an Elder Senior Brother, he straightened up from the wall and looked around nervously, as if worried the Professor might pop out from a corner.

Thankfully, he didn't.

As the two Syndicate disciples were chit-chatting, Michael had already descended from the platform. Shielded by members of the Global Occult Coalition, He headed towards the stairs to ascend to the second floor. Most of the spectators were drawn by His movement, following Him up to the second floor to witness Michael's every action.

The second floor, third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor... Michael kept signing up for duels, encountering various enemies along the way and sending each of them flying with one or two sword slashes. In the beginning, members from various powers still wanted to try and force out more of Michael's maneuvers, but eventually, everyone gave up on that strategy, conceding defeat and watching as Michael ascended all the way to the fifteenth floor.

Above the fifteenth floor, there were no players yet, so Michael faced system-generated random enemies, continuing to climb at lightning speed, defeating each with two slashes. He reached the 40th floor before starting to slow down. Eventually, Michael settled on the 49th floor, not continuing to challenge further, but instead logged off and left.

"It took less than an hour to climb to the 49th floor..." a handsome youth dressed in ancient-style cyan attire muttered to himself in the spectator seats of the Sky Fighting Arena.

His name was Ju Tianfu, a Lv20 player, a Heterodox Academy disciple, a Special Affairs Bureau operative stationed at the Global Occult Coalition, and also a regular guest on the recently very popular "Wind Chaser" show. With his handsome appearance, high strength, excellent image and temperament, bravery and wisdom in battle, and his fearless commitment to his mission, the sixteen-year-old Ju Tianfu had garnered a host of fans worldwide following the broadcast of the show—including many older sisters, brothers, mothers, and fathers.

He became an internet sensation overnight. Fans swiftly formed support groups, media indexes skyrocketed, and his every word and action dominated trending searches. However, this also brought him certain troubles. His parents' breakfast shop had now become a trendy spot, necessitating daily order maintenance by Special Affairs Bureau colleagues. Furthermore, the elementary school he had attended tried on several occasions to invite him back for a speech.

"What are you thinking about so seriously?"

The voice came from behind him. Ju Tianfu turned around and said with surprise, "Elder Senior Brother? What brings you here?"

The 'Elder Senior Brother' he referred to was Scholar Zhu, a Heterodox Academy disciple who was a bit older than him.

"Isn't this to see the big star?" Scholar Zhu laughed and clapped his junior brother on the shoulder. "I heard your recent days have been pretty carefree, having several close female friends from different age groups in your team, all vying for your attention and making the onlookers enthusiastic, leading to the creation of various fan art, huh?"

"Don't make fun of me, Elder Senior Brother." Ju Tianfu's face turned red as he waved his hand. "My relationship with them is purely one of comrades-in-arms belonging to different camps. All that nonsense circulating outside is just hype."

"Hehe, I'll take your word for it." Scholar Zhu grinned and didn't dwell on this matter—he actually knew the truth.

"Oh, this is for you." Scholar Zhu flipped his palm, took out a wooden Magic Artifact, and tossed it to Ju Tianfu. "You are the Heterodox Academy's representative in the struggle for the gate, so the Master of the frontline scientific expedition team asked me to give this to you. The transfer procedure has already been approved by the bureau; you can use it directly."

"Oh!" Ju Tianfu caught the Magic Artifact. His eyes lit up as he examined its special effects, and he immediately accepted it. "The sect is the best! I will not disappoint the organization's expectations!"

"Alright, alright." Scholar Zhu waved his hand and casually asked, "How's the collection of the Power of Faith going?"

"It's full, 1,000/1,000." Ju Tianfu's expression turned serious. "The research results of the Masters and Uncles are correct: becoming an idol on a global scale and receiving worship indeed enables rapid collection of the Power of Faith. After purification through Magic Artifacts left by the sages, this Power of Faith can be transformed into Divine Power with extremely high efficiency. This Divine Fragment was obtained from the Demon Prison. It belongs to the Winter God Xuanming and is incredibly noble. However, like the other Divinity we obtained from script missions, it is still subject to certain restrictions. Even if I amass enough Divine Power, I cannot ignite the Divine Fire on my own—this might have to do with the special nature of this session's slaughter game."

"Hmm." Scholar Zhu slowly nodded. The Heterodox Academy had sent Ju Tianfu to the Global Occult Coalition because he possessed a Divine Fragment of Xuanming, which could be used to strengthen his powers by collecting the faith of fans (that is, believers). The ambiguous hype with girls from different countries and regions within the Global Occult Coalition was also part of the act, a task assigned by the organization.

"I think, at this stage of Earth's slaughter game, players who want to advance from divine beings to demigods need more than just Divinity, believers, and land—they must make some bolder attempts." Ju Tianfu's face revealed a solemnity completely at odds with his age. "For instance, integrating more Divinity of the same attribute. If quality isn't enough, quantity must compensate. To that end, it might even be necessary to hunt demigods."