Chapter 275: Divide and Conquer
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the 20th slowly approached, many more players had started to flock the hotel. On the 14th, Lost Dream, Galileo, Fantasy Sweetheart had arrived and exchanged greetings with Zhang Yang and the rest. Naturally, everyone was excited. Lost Dream was an ordinary looking youth of average build. Not too shabby, nor too bulky. Galileo was just a high school student. Zhang Yang wondered about how he managed to get his parents approval to come all the way to Shanghai all by himself.
The best way to describe Fantasy Sweetheart was: big-boobed baby face. She was 20 years old, however, her cute appearance totally went against her age that everyone had to agree that she was just too "kawaii". Her big juggling breasts were firm and large, on par to Han Ying Xue’s perfect genes! Lost Dream and Fatty Han were openly drooling at her. Galileo was the only innocent young boy, he had to hide somewhere else to hide his blushing red face.
The rest of the team members had also arrived, however, due to the fact that they had altered their appearance in the game, some of them had a hard time recognizing the real person based on their characters, while other were simply beyond recognition altogether.
Zhang Yang had received a private message in the game from Snow Seeker, saying that she had arrived along with the other team members of Crimson Rage. Both side had set an appointment and agreed to have dinner together later at night. Around 6.30pm, nine members from Lone Desert Smoke and five members from Crimson Rage had gathered at the hotel’s restaurant and sat down together in a large dining table.
The players from Crimson Rage were as such: Snow Seeker, Perfumed Water, Thorny Rose, Mellow Venom, and Prima Ballerina. All of them were absolutely stunning. The one that stood of the most was Snow Seeker and Prima Ballerina. One was the epitome of gentleness and elegance, while the other was a stunning beauty with glasses that brought the ultimate lust in men. With both of them joining forces, many men around were stopped in their tracks at such beauty.
There was a total of 14 of them, and nine of them were female. Each of them had their own charm and specialty, but their variations were so contrast that it was like an art gallery! Both Fatty Han and Lost Dream were restless the entire time. Neither of them could stop making indecent jokes that indirectly made the atmosphere a little livelier.
Poor innocent little Galileo was the center of attention among all the girls. Some of them even asked questions like whether or not he had a girlfriend, whether he had his first kiss, first love, first this and that. Poor little Galileo could not answer the older sisters those embarrassing question and cowered quietly in one corner, with his face all flushed in red. On the other hand, Fatty Han and Lost Dream were itching to have such treatment as well. They were dying to swap places with Galileo to help him take over the role.
On the 19th of December, all 32 teams of 160 players had arrived. Sun Xin Yu was the last one to join the fray. Fatty Han and a few others were dying to see how does the person behind the mask would look like. Their wish was granted when Sun Xin Yu arrived. Everyone was left flabbergasted when they could finally see the absolute beauty behind the mask of that stone-cold Assassin.
On the night of the 20th, the organizers had sent all the players to the hall of the hotel that could easily fit in more than 10,000 people and started the launching ceremony live while also streaming the event into the game at the same time. The ceremony was so huge and grand that the organizer had also invited a few popular celebrities to host the event. The emcee of the event was none other than the famous, super sexy, local super star Liu Wan Fei. Her 36D sized bust was tightly held in her black low cut dress that only covered two thirds of her almost bursting meat sacks. That being said, this rare specimen of a female loved to jump around ever so energetically. Her dress was already too low to begin with; perhaps she had the utmost confidence that her assets would never "jump" out of her dress. Still, each time she jumped, her bouncing front was so alluring that 99.99% of all the men around could not stop their auto-focus feature from activating.
"Nice right?" said Han Ying Xue as she followed Zhang Yang’s gaze.
"Yeah. It’s good." said Zhang Yang unconsciously.
"Pervert!" Several girls that sat at the table cried out playfully.
Zhang Yang reacted quickly to save his own skin. He laughed. "Don’t get me wrong. The entire performance was great. The choreography, the lighting, the music."
"You can make up all sorts of excuses, but we all know where you were staring at…" Han Ying Xue grinned evilly. Zhang Yang turned around and saw Fatty Han and Lost Dream, lost in their own world. Zhang Yang pointed at them and said, "Why don’t you ask them?"
"Them? I don’t know those guys?"
After jumping around and pitching tents in 99.99% of all the men, Liu Wan Fei moved on to the next agenda of the event, that is, the selection of all 32 battle teams. All 32 teams will go through eight elimination rounds to determine the 16 teams that will proceed to the next round. The battle system will be the same as before. The teams will have to win two out of three matches. To prevent any method of cheating, all four teams who were from the same city would not be facing each other, in the event of match fixing.
At the center of the stage, there were four draw boxes with four holes, allowing four team representatives to draw their lots at the same time. Each team’s captain will be sent out as the representative and will draw the lots in a linear order. The representative will then have to pick out the lotto number. The first box had team A and B numbers, the second box have the C and D team numbers, the third box have the E and F and the last box will have the G and H team numbers.
The elimination rounds ground rules were as follows: A1 will fight A2, A3 will fight A4. The victorious team will join the victory side while the losing team will join the losing side.
The victorious team will have another match and the losing team of the victory side will fight with the winning team from the losing side’s own match. The winning team from the first match will automatically be the first while the winning team from the second match will be the second.
Since the battle will be decided with a two out of three match, the battle style was called the "Double Lost Elimination". Compared to the regular fight and win style, this method was fair and will not have any scenarios of two teams ending up in a draw. The disadvantage of this method was the fact that one team would be given ample time to counter another team’s class composition. There will be cases where a team might face consecutive losses and will be eliminated from the battle.
The battles between Team A,B,C, and D will be conducted in the first half of the event and team E,F,G and H will be conducted in the second half of the event. Any team that wishes to fight till the end will have to survive the elimination rounds until the final battle.
The top 16 teams that survive the elimination rounds will be rewarded with a single level up.
The top eight teams that survive the subsequent battles will be rewarded as follows: Level +1, one Lucky draw chance where the lowest reward will be a Green-Copper tier equipment, and a 10% chance of drawing a Gray-Silver equipment.
The top four teams will be rewarded as follows: Level +2 and one Lucky draw chance where the lowest reward possible will be a Gray-Silver tier equipment along with a 10% chance to draw a Yellow-Gold equipment.
All members from the third-place team will be rewarded with: Level +2 and one Lucky draw chance where the lowest reward will be a Green-Copper tier equipment, and a 10% chance to draw a Gray-Silver equipment.
All members from the second-place team will be rewarded with: Level +3 and one Lucky draw chance where the lowest reward will be a Yellow-Gold tier equipment, and a 10% chance to draw a Platinum-Gold equipment.
All members from the champion team will be rewarded with: Level +3, Skill Point +1, and one Lucky draw chance where the lowest reward will be a Yellow-Gold tier equipment, and a 30% chance to draw a Platinum-Gold equipment.
On the side note, there will be a selected MVP of the day chosen from one of the member of the winning teams. The MVP will be rewarded with Level +1, a second Lucky draw chance with Yellow-Gold equipment as the lowest tier and a 50% chance to draw a Platinum-Gold equipment!
That aside, all participants here today will be receiving a cash reward ranging from 20,000 dollars to 1,000,000 dollars. Even though the reward was already stated in the official site, everyone’s desire was peaked when Liu Wan Fei was the one announcing it.
After giving an opening speech of encouragement and fervor, Liu Wan Fei started to cried out in enthusiasm. "Ladies and gentleman! We have now arrived to the main event of the day! At the center of the stage, lies a box that will determine the outline of the 32 teams! May the odds ever be in your favor! Now, put your hands together for the Team Captain of Radiance, from Black Dragon City! A round of applause for Sword of Light!"
*claps*
Other than the 32 teams of 160 chosen players, the organizers had also invited a few lucky players to spectate the event. Many more players that had voluntarily come to Shanghai on their own accord, at their own expenses. The large hall was completely filled, with many spectators standing behind the seats, carrying flags of the team that they were cheering for. The atmosphere was very hyped up and feverish.
Just as Sword of Light moved up the stage , thunderous applause filled the hall. The guild Radiance was the nation’s old dog in the gaming community with an extremely large group of supporters and fans. Sword of Light was a young man, slightly older than Zhang Yang. As he walked to the center of the stage, he carried himself with nobility and elegance, and many women in the hall could not help but scream in excitement.
Sword of Light came up to the box labeled "1" and drew out a red cue ball, with B2 written on it. He then raised it high up and displayed it to everyone before passing the ball to one of the stage helpers.
On the far side of the hall was a huge LED signboard. On the B2 slot of the now still empty battle outline, the stage helper then moved behind somewhere and keyed in Radiance.
Sword of Light descended down the stage and Greensleeves Prince, the captain of Sunset Amber guild, walked up to the stage and drew C4 from the box labeled "2". This continued on for a while. Hundred Shots was the captain of Lone Desert Smoke team 2. He was the sixth person who went up the stage and drew a D2.
There were plenty of female players among the team, however, Snow Seeker was the only female captain. When she ascended the stage, claps roared and cheers filled the hall. With two absolute beauties on the stage, many men felt extremely blessed, ready to drop dead right there and then. Some even jizzed in their pants.
"Alright now! Let’s welcome the captain of Lone Desert Smoke’s other team, Zhan Yu! Lone Desert Smoke was the only guild among all 32 selected participants to send in two teams! Their achievement is second to none! Please give him a round of applause!" Liu Wan Fei announced as she clapped her hands as well.
Lone Desert Smoke was by far, China’s unofficial number one guild. Zhang Yang himself was currently sitting on the throne that stood up above all else. His presence on the stage caused a huge uproar. The moment his right foot stepped on the stage, the crowd roared and cheer louder and ever before. Flowers, handkerchief, and even scarves were thrown on to the stage! The most bizarre item among the tributes laid on the stage was a black-laced bra…and it was still warm!
Zhang Yang remained stoic and walked towards the box and drew a ball reading F2. Zhang Yang passed the ball to one of the stage helpers and returned to his seat swiftly. The name Lone Desert Smoke appeared on the board, in the F2 slot.
The drawing event lasted for only half an hour until all 32 teams were properly placed. There was nothing to really be excited about, as the real battle would be starting tomorrow, and will continue to do so every day. If all battles continued on as planned, 25th and 26th of December will be the two days that will have the top eight battles. The top four battles will be held on 27, and 28th will host the semifinals. The final round will be held on the 29th, as well as the closing ceremony and the Lucky draw session.
The four teams from White Jade Castle were arranged in such a way: Crimson Rage will be in A, Sky High will be in H, the second Lone Desert Smoke team, led by Hundred Shots will be in D. Zhang Yang and his own team will be in F. Technically, if Hundred Shots remained undefeated, both Lone Desert Smoke team will have a final showdown.
However, Zhang Yang highly doubted that will happen. The first-half of the competition had several "in-the-future" strong S-class Professional League battle teams, such as Crimson Rage, Radiance, Imperial Sky, and Blue Sea. These guilds are all super strong, even as of now! It would be extremely difficult for Hundred Shots to remain in the competition.
That being said, the second-half of the competition had a few worthy opponents as well. Guilds like Brilliant Star and Breaking Dawn were as strong as Crimson Rage as well. It will take some effort for Zhang Yang to win the battle.
After the opening ceremony ended, the hall was cleared and everyone went back to their own room. Zhang yang could not find anything else to do, so he chose to log into the game. When he connected, he saw the in-game notice board was streaming the Soaring Swords competition live, with more than 50,000,000 viewers watching. The system announcement was constantly flashing red colored text messages in the comm channel.
24 hours was rather short when it comes to waiting. The competition started at 7pm, the 21th of December. Group A battle started and ended within expectations. After five intense matches, Crimson Rage emerged victorious at the first place, with Rolling Rocks at the second place. Group B battle started at 8.30pm, and Radiance won the first place, followed by Storm Riders. The battle competition continued on 22th December, 7pm, the night after. Group C’s battle was won by Imperial Sky and Sunset Amber. Group D’s battle started at 8.30pm with Lone Desert Smoke fighting against Ocean’s Moon.
"Hey dummy, can they win?" Han Ying Xue gently nudged Zhang Yang. They were standing among the other spectators. The screening of the game was broadcast live on the big notice board. There were even commentators explaining the situation going on both sides. There were talks about the team’s strongest players, the possible strategies that they could use, the formation of their battle plan, and even who was likely to be killed first. The battle teams were ready, assembled on the two far ends of the battle arena.
Zhang Yang could not immediately answer Han Ying Xue’s question. He pondered for a bit and finally opened his mouth. "It’s…hard. I can’t say really. Only Lost Dream is considered to be a pro in the team. Galileo and Hundred Shots could still make some effort, and Fatty Han’s DPS is still only above average. Fatty Han…if anyone gangs up on him, he will panic and forget to activate any escaping skills. Which makes him a sitting fat duck! I don’t know much about the other team so, I can’t predict anything for now. We can only rely on luck this time."
The battle started and unfortunately, Fatty Han’s dumbstruck face made him the first target to be focused fire upon. Even though Lost Dream had managed to activate {Ambush} at the last minute and controlled two of the opposing attackers, he could only hold them back for a brief period before a volley of attacks ended Fatty Han life. The opponent won the match with two surviving members.
Team 2 of Lone Desert Smoke had fallen into the losing division.
In the other match of the same group, Blue Sea had easily defeated Rebirth Flames and also defeated Ocean’s Moon in the victory division. Blue Sea was Group A’s champion.
In the losing division match, Lost Dream went all out and managed to summon all his skills to display a wild performance like no one had ever seen before, bring a ray of hope to the team.
The final battle was Lone Desert Smoke’s Team 2 vs Ocean’s Moon.
After tasting the sweet taste of victory, Ocean’s Moon repeated their previous strategy again. They laid down the pressure on Fatty Han. Knowing that they had lost the same way before, Hundred Shorts had revised their battle plan. Fool me once, shame on me. They had used Fatty Han as a bait to tear apart Ocean’s Moon’s battle formation. In the midst of the chaos, Fatty Han had even managed to kill one of them as he went down.
After another rough tussle, both sides lost another member. At such a critical stage, only the strong would stand out. Lost Dream performed as how Zhang Yang had expected him to. He moved around, fast and agile, coupled with Lost Dream’s trash talk, forcing the opponent to make a mistake, costing them their healer.
With no healer and only two members left to face three of them, Lone Desert Smoke emerged victorious. Team 2 of Lone Desert Smoke had managed to survive the match and earn their revenge on Ocean’s Moon and entered the Top 16 teams.
On the third night, group E’s battle started. Genesis and The Glory emerged victorious.
8.30pm, group F battle started. Lone Desert Smoke main team vs Youthful Era.
The opponent’s team lineup were as followed:
Divinity's Son, Level 62, Male Dwarf, Sacred Knight, 15,230 HP
Cloud Dancer, Level 61, Female Human, Berserker, 13,980 HP
Frozen Starburst, Level 62, Male Beastman, Berserker, 14,260 HP
Prosperity Puppet, Level 62, Male Elf, Beastmaster, 13,650 HP
Gentle Flare, Level 61, Male Human, Assassin, 14,520 HP.