Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 787 - 785: Playing Truant
The time for the preliminary round flew by. Over these 16 days, the Sky Fighting Arena recorded many classic matches, providing abundant topics for discussion.
Since ancient times, onlookers have had a mysterious fascination with comparing combat power. On social platforms, casual questions like "Rankings of Three Kingdoms generals," "Rankings of strategists," "Who would win between a lion and a Tiger," "Who would win between Tyson and a Tiger," "Who would win between LeBron James and a gorilla," or "Who would win between Bruce Lee and LeBron James," would trigger a flood of replies.
These discussions often spawned even more absurd hypotheticals:
[Can an ordinary strong man armed with a spear defeat a Tiger?]
[Can Zhang Sanfeng defeat Tyson armed with a machine gun?]
[Can Ultraman defeat a gigantified Tyson?]
[Who would win: one hundred well-armored YouTubers or ten Tysons?]
Such scenarios were impossible in the real world, but in the battle royale game, onlookers could witness Medieval Knights fighting Mechanical Cops, and Eastern Sword Immortals battling American Mutants. The sheer variety and spectacle completely surpassed any real-world competitive event.
Furthermore, outside the arena, third-party organizations offered extremely detailed betting odds. These ranged from specific qualifying slots to the exact points at the end of a particular duel; one could bet on almost anything. This phenomenon gave rise to popular sayings like, "Bet against the arena, end up with a villa by the sea," and "Before betting, I belonged to Yin City; after betting, Yin City belonged to me," further fueling the excitement surrounding the preliminaries.
Of course, this fervent atmosphere primarily captivated those who weren't competing or had no chance of advancing. Players who hoped to advance were racing against time to climb the tower. In the final 24 hours before the preliminaries ended, the frenzy reached a fever pitch. Some players, sparing no expense, even consumed numerous Magic Potions with detrimental side effects to suppress their injuries. They pushed themselves to continue dueling, desperate to climb even one more floor and improve their odds.
Finally, as the countdown clock above the Game Square hit zero, all players received the System notification that the first stage of the competition had officially ended. The 500 advancing competitors were selected. Their names were displayed in the sky above the Game Square, similar to the individual power ranking leaderboard (though competitors could choose to remain anonymous).
Ranked first was, naturally, [Saint Michael]. His final record was the 67th floor, with 67 matches, 67 wins, and 0 losses. Second was [Lose Control] from the Syndicate, reaching the 63rd floor with 63 wins in 63 matches and 0 losses. He deliberately maintained a four-floor gap with Michael to avoid a direct encounter. Further down the rankings, the differences in records were minimal. The 500th qualifier, for example, had fought over a hundred duels to secure a place on the 40th floor. Many others also reached the 40th floor, but his overall combat record was superior.
As for Li Ang, his record was the 50th floor, with 50 wins in 50 matches and 0 losses. He began his point surge around the seventh or eighth day of the preliminaries, climbing to the 50th floor. Once he was statistically certain of advancing, he didn't push further. During this climb, he didn't face any top-ten players. Because he only ever used the [Abyssal Magic Mirror]'s Flash, Alchemy, and the Tyrant Halberd, never revealing other skills, opponents perceived Li Rising as someone hiding profound abilities. Even those confident in their strength often chose to surrender to conserve their own, allowing him a smooth ascent to the 50th floor.
The System had mentioned that climbing the tower offered a chance to earn rewards like Experience Points and Game Coins. After reaching the 50th floor, Li Ang gained 1,551 Experience Points, advancing to Lv21 with his experience bar at 1,004/2,100. Meanwhile, the insect swarm in his pet box was working at full capacity producing Magic Potions. This earned Li Ang a substantial amount of Game Coins, allowing him to purchase more equipment and items. With the preliminary stage over, the previously inflated equipment market had cooled significantly, and auction house prices returned to normal.
Instead, major factions grew more enthusiastic about investing in talent. They were willing to offer low-interest or even interest-free loans to the 500 qualifiers. Some even offered to rent or gift Perfect Level items, provided the player signed a contract agreeing to transfer or sell their 'door' if they placed in the top-twenty.
As a Lone Wolf Player whose strength remained unknown despite securing advancement, Li Ang naturally received even more fervent invitations than before. Xing Hechou personally visited to ask if Li Ang would accept an offer from the Special Affairs Bureau, but Li Ang politely declined. There's no such thing as a free lunch. At his level, major factions had few incentives of truly equivalent value to offer, and any such offers would undoubtedly come with strings attached. He was extremely curious about the 'door' and had no intention of relinquishing it.
Among the list of 500 names, Li Ang recognized several: Yuyi Xinzhong, Ω, Stonemason, Witch... Near the bottom of the list were the names of the Golden Armored Warriors quartet; they had likely received significant support from the Whale Song Organization. Liu Wu Dai had also advanced. Her equipment was quite impressive, and it seemed she had struck a secret deal with 'Mule,' who had supplied her with some items.
An hour after the list was published, the System's notification sounded, announcing the schedule for the next stage of the competition, set to begin in 24 hours. Over ten days, the 500 players would be randomly matched for ten matches each. Afterward, 300 players would advance to the next round based on their win counts, individual performance, and head-to-head results.
The competition venue was a newly opened area in the Sky Fighting Arena called the 'Mirror Realm Corridor.' The 'Mirror Realm Corridor' would automatically generate semi-enclosed arenas of various sizes and elemental themes, ranging from modern city office buildings to ancient tombs filled with traps. Participants needed to inflict maximum damage on their opponents within a time limit, with rules consistent with the previous round.
...
On the living room sofa, Li Ang stared at the rules for the second stage floating before him, his brow furrowed in a grave expression, reminiscent of when he'd accidentally stumbled upon Chaichai's internet browsing history.
Miss Chai drifted down from mid-air. "What's wrong?" she asked cautiously. "What do the rules say?"
Li Ang took a deep breath, briefly summarized the rules, and said solemnly, "The second stage's 'Mirror Realm Corridor' isn't fundamentally different from the ordinary arena matches of the first stage. If it's about narrowing the field from 500 to 300, I'm confident I can advance."
Miss Chai blinked, puzzled. "Then what are you worried about?"
Li Ang scratched his head, looking somewhat helpless, and spread his hands. "It's the match timing.
"According to the rules, players will be notified of their individual matches every 24 hours. The match times are random, and the time flow during matches is consistent with the real world.
"I can't attend classes as usual, nor can I take a ten-day leave all at once. That would definitely make the Special Affairs Bureau suspicious."
Chaichai paused, then asked, "So what will you do?"
Li Ang narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Hmm... He slowly shifted his gaze to meet Chaichai's innocent stare. "Ah Chai... are you interested in being a high school student for a while?"
