Chapter 353: Pre-Tournament Dynamics
Chapter 353: Pre-Tournament Dynamics
After three days of effort, Feng Bu Jue finally finalized the June storyline. The outline, details, and foreshadowing had all been confirmed. What remained was the routine writing process and some improvisation, which could be completed steadily over the next twenty days.
During these days, Xiao Tan contacted him several times, updating him on the team members. Si Yu had recovered from her illness two days prior and logged in yesterday, but she had no interest in participating in the tournament. Bei Ling, meanwhile, presented a surprisingly "plausible" probabilistic theory. After calculations, she concluded she could at best reach the Top 100. Since the Top 100 prizes could be purchased with Rmb and she had no ambitions for fame, she saw no point in joining.
Xiao Tan himself was enthusiastic about the competition, though his strength was likely the weakest among the Hell Front members. While Bei Ling hadn’t discouraged him, she privately doubted his chances.
Let’s outline Xiao Tan’s current status:
Wang Tan Zhi, ID: Wang Tan Zhi, level 30, title 【Gale Phantom】
Proficiency: Universal D, Mechanics E, Scouting C, Martial Arts C, Shooting E, Medicine E, Spirit Arts E, Summoning N/A
Skills: 【Demon Bat Phantom】, 【No Root, No Worry】, 【Wind Stops, Dust Scent Fades】, 【Reverse Blade Whirlwind】, 【Nightmare Trail】 (title ability)
Though these skills sounded intimidating, their effects were underwhelming.
First:
【Name: No Root, No Worry】
【Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered】
【Skill Category: Scouting】
【Effect: Gain the Stealth trait in crowds (no cooldown)】
【Consumption: 3 stamina value per second】
【Learning Condition: Reconnaissance Proficiency D】
【Background: "What if there’s no crowd?"】
This was akin to Assassin’s Creed’s crowd-hiding mechanic, with the background text dripping sarcasm.
Next:
【Name: Wind Stops, Dust Scent Fades】
【Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered】*
【Skill Category: Martial Arts】
【Effect: Leave a residual afterimage for three seconds at your location (1-second cooldown)】
【Consumption: 50 stamina value】
【Learning Condition: Martial Arts Proficiency D, or level 27】
【Background: "All things remain, yet all affairs cease."】
Right—another jab, this time at Li Qingzhao, following Lu You.
This skill, a weaker version of the "Afterimage Fist", bore a poetic name that matched its background.
The next two skills included one purchased.
After the 【Cangling Debate of Swords】, Xiao Tan sold the 【Vending Machine Thumper】 he’d acquired in the scenario and bought 【Reverse Blade Whirlwind】 from the auction house for similar price—his main offensive skill.
Skills listed on auction houses were naturally underwhelming:
【Name: Reverse Blade Whirlwind】
【Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered】
【Skill Category: Martial Arts】
【Effect: Unleash a high-speed spinning slash (1-minute cooldown; requires blade-type cold weapon in hand and standing on a flat surface)】
【Consumption: 300 stamina value】
【Learning Condition: Martial Arts Proficiency D】
【Background: "Legend says Guan Ping invented this technique, swinging the blade backward to sweep enemies in a wide arc while crouching."】
The final skill was Xiao Tan’s title ability. With his title change from 【Bee Sting】 to:
【Name: Nightmare Trail】
【Special Ability Type: Passive】
【Effect: When movement speed exceeds 10 km/h, walk on walls (surfaces with angles ≥90° to the ground), leaving black flame footprints】
【Background: "Illidan often tells me Ma Wei. Shadow Song is the best tracker he’s ever seen… Honestly, does this blind man not know what he leaves behind when walking?"】
Beyond this, Xiao Tan’s newly acquired skills were covered.
As for his 【Heaven-Earth Reversal Mantra】, you’ve probably forgotten its requirements. No need to check the skill database—it requires: 【Learning Condition: Martial Arts Proficiency B, Spirit Arts Proficiency C, level 30+, skill card non-tradable after pickup】
Needless to say, he still didn’t qualify.
Thus, despite having five skills, Xiao Tan could only rely on 【Reverse Blade Whirlwind】, basic attacks, or modern weaponry. Without significant upgrades to equipment or skills, elimination within 3-4 matches was likely.
Back to Feng Bu Jue.
On April 23rd afternoon, after saving his documents, Feng Bu Jue relaxed for the first time. Instead of logging in immediately, he visited the game forum to scout updates.
"Ah… As expected, all discussions are tournament-related", he muttered, scrolling through posts.
The forum, already bustling, had become a wildfire of topics like 【Summit Confrontation Complete Strategy】 or 【How to Reach Level 30 in Ten Days】.
The funniest post was by a user ID "Seven Luminaries", titled 【Prediction for Top 100 Formation in the Summit Confrontation & My Analysis of Studio Strengths】. Clicking in, the poster wasn’t even in a guild, studio, or level 30—like a student explaining yakuza operations… Trusting him was worse than figuring it out alone.
Feng Bu Jue had already briefly studied the tournament rules three days prior. They weren’t perfectly balanced, but random factors were necessary—without randomness, they could just award the top spots based the combat power leaderboard. The key was ensuring randomness gave the weak a fair chance without making the strong feel cheated.
The current preliminary round rules set by Dream Corporation were as follows:
Starting midnight on May 1st, players could queue for the 【Summit Confrontation Preliminary Round】.
Each player must complete 50 preliminary matches. These didn’t need to be consecutive—just completed within the first half of May, averaging about three matches daily. The 1v1 matches used dedicated maps for quick results.
Once all 50 matches were finished, players could no longer enter the preliminary queue. After the phase ended, the system would rank players based on their 50-match win rate.
Two special rules applied:
1. Any player losing four consecutive matches at any stage would be directly eliminated.
2. Any player remaining undefeated for 15 consecutive matches at any stage would advance directly.
These rules filtered out the overly strong or weak players, preventing average players from facing either pushovers or powerhouses repeatedly. This reduced randomness in advancement, as the queue system was purely random, unlike balanced matchmaking in kill modes. Someone could theoretically face 50 weak opponents back-to-back.
Feng Bu Jue, however, was unaware he didn’t need to study these rules—because he wouldn’t participate in the preliminary rounds. Or even the semifinals.
On April 30th, Dream Corporation would announce another update alongside the semifinal rules, sparking outrage among players. But Dream Corporation, of course, wouldn’t care…
The update: Ten spots in the Top 100 finals were already reserved.
These ten were 【Invited Players】, exempt from all qualifiers. Feng Bu Jue was one of them.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
