On the first day that the World Battle Network went live, the American Heroic Creation Headquarters was bustling like the New York Stock Market, with a large team of staff intensely monitoring the competitions happening worldwide in each region. At the same time, esports media around the globe sprang into action to celebrate this long-anticipated event.
However! Just three minutes! It had barely been three minutes before there was another issue in the China Region!
Yes, it was the venue where Da Fei was located, site number 67 in the China Region! There was an unusual disturbance in this venue, which was somewhat manifest across all venues in the China Region, but was nothing like the hundreds of people teaming up to target one individual here at site 67!
When the monitor responsible for the China Region reported the anomaly to superiors immediately, all the planners felt their hearts drop to the floor! This completely went against the original intentions of the competition!
Although Chinese players generally had amateur skill levels, they were undeniably world-class in one aspectâfinding bugs and loopholes! No matter what the game, as long as Chinese players were involved, it wouldnât be long before they invented god-level strategies that surpassed the gameâs rules. This posed a great challenge to the prowess of game designers and programmers. Thatâs why a veteran gamer once sighed, saying that if Chinese players focused their brilliance and creativity on improving their competitive skills, it wouldnât be a dream for Chinese esports to defeat South Korea.
And now, Chinese players were exploiting the publicly available venue numbers to collude offline and cheat!
Initially, venue numbers were for the convenience of monitors in recording events and media reporting during interviews. Now, the Hero Headquarters had no choice but to patch the global system online to prevent players from seeing the numbers.
The game management team was feeling terribly troubled, but it was nothing compared to Da Feiâs predicament! Da Fei realized he was in very dire straits.
Da Fei almost wanted to shout back in the World Channel, "My coordinates are (2311,1812,1), if you get it, come; if not, forget it." Letâs see which ordinary players were willing to follow whom?
For Da Fei, with a bank balance of two million, shouting on the World Channel was a no-brainer, but the problem was that his account didnât have any funds. The last time Da Fei spent money was a thousand dollars on a Skill Reset Potion, swearing it would be the last time. Now, to top up just for a shoutout would take minutes, spending a few precious minutes, and by then, others would have formed a team and he would be obliterated!
Besides, as the number one player in the China Region, shouting to recruit followers against some nobodies on the World Channel wasnât about boosting othersâ morale while dampening his own spirits. Wouldnât that show he feared them? Clearly, it was those weaklings who feared him!
The best solution was a swift and decisive victory!
Given that this Royal Star Sky player could afford to shout on the World Channel, he must be a tycoon player. Even so, faced with his little strength, why should Da Fei even care about other ordinary players? No need for Phantom March; he could insta-kill any he encountered before they could regroup for ten kills. Thus, Da Fei rapidly headed for the coordinates of Royal Blade.
Soon, a new red dot appeared on Da Feiâs radar, another target emerged! Alright, the second kill was lined up for you!
Da Fei hurriedly moved to intercept. It couldnât be denied, this was the strategic advantage of a God-level Reconnaissance Technique!
By the time the opponent became alert to the rustling sounds in the forest, it was too late. A barrage of javelins whistled through the gaps in the trees! Before the Elf player named Ice Point Nebula could even draw their bow, his ranks of 3rd-level Jungle Hunter Unit were wiped out!
But it wasnât over! At least, there was one thing he could still do, and that was escape!
"Da Fei, kill me!" he screamed, fleeing desperately!
Damn it! How could a kill slip away? Da Fei quickly gave chase. And then, the opponent just vanished into the foliage, leaving no trace.
What the hell! The kill got away! Da Fei finally saw the issue. His maximum move speed in the jungle was only 9! Damn it! With his Speed Cloak, it should clearly be 11! Usually, the army was a drag on the hero; now, he was the drag on the troops. Was his dual-class Ranger a fake?
There was nothing that could be done. Differences in racial and class abilities varied depending on the terrain. Not to mention he was slowed down; even if he werenât, he couldnât catch up to that elf player. He had to find players of other races.
âWorld Channel [Ice Point Nebula]: I was crippled by Da Fei, Da Feiâs coordinates are (2211,974,1), Da Feiâs target, you all know what to do!
Aw man! Da Fei spat out! Seriously? Both encounters were against players who could afford to spam on the World Channel? What was this? Was he trying to win the world championship to bring glory to the nation, and they didnât want him to? They must be traitors!
Da Fei steeled his heart, "For national glory, Iâm going on a killing spree!"
As Da Fei forged ahead, closer to the target spot, suddenly, a red dot flashed and disappeared from Da Feiâs radar!
âSystem Prompt: Reconnaissance Skill warning! Thereâs an ambush in your vicinity!
Oh wow! Met a fellow professional, eh? This guyâs scouting level wasnât low either, seemed like Grandmaster? Damn, the China Region was indeed full of hidden talents! Alright, let you be the second kill!
...
One Sword Eastward lay motionless in the forest, calculating based on the coordinates provided on the World Channel that Da Fei must pass through here. He wanted to kill Da Fei solo, wash away his disgrace, and make a name for himself; he was ready with his video equipment.
Who was One Sword Eastward? It was One Sword Westward from before! After the incident with Elorin, One Sword Westward bore tremendous infamy and humiliation, deleting his account in a moment of madness.
Then, after taking a day off, he recovered his senses and regretted his decision. What was the point of deleting his account? His gesture of rectifying his name by deleting it wasnât even of interest to the forum. Everyoneâs attention was still focused on Da Fei, Da Fei, and still Da Fei! His gallant act of proving his innocence was ignored. Who would care about a minor character?
So, he wasnât reconciled. He wanted a redo. One Sword Westward was an inexperienced account, aimless. Even so, he encountered unexpected opportunities. His newly formed account, One Sword Eastward, clearly needed a defined goal, and that was revenge. A strong PK-capable Elf Ranger was still the top choice!
Then came Arrow Skill, a compulsory skill for Rangers. Then Reconnaissance Skill, both to discover enemies and hide oneself, was a must. Next was Luck Skill; his previous account had discovered a hidden quest from this skill, gaining a hidden professional skill, so he wanted to replicate this success. With his rebirth, he outlined his development plan up to level 30 and diligently worked daily to achieve it.
However, this time during the professional transition task, something different occurred; he didnât replicate previous successes but unexpectedly triggered information about a Master-level Reconnaissance Skill!
He was ecstatic! A Master-level skill was much better than that hidden skill and more versatile! So through his relentless study and repeated reflection, he finally succeeded in advancing to Grandmaster Reconnaissance Skill!
The moment he advanced, One Sword Eastward exhaled deeply, as if all his humiliation had been washed away! The sky was so blue, the air so fresh! His whole body was invigorated!
Not long after, with the help of Master-level Reconnaissance Skill, he completed an exceedingly difficult rogue task for the Druid Guild, obtaining 10 very special units, Dark Night Druids! A notch higher than normal Druids, almost reaching level 6 troop standards; more incredibly, these Druids had Stealth ability! They were tailor-made elite troops! With such formidable troops, what high-level task couldnât he complete? An endless future beckoned!
But Da Fei kept progressing. Da Fei became famous worldwide during the National War. Da Fei had recruited a beautiful Vice Hero. Da Fei was scoring instant kills in the arena. Da Fei slew a Demigod!
Some matters are just this way, comparing oneself to others was infuriating. No matter his reluctance or dissatisfaction, he had to face reality and acknowledge the gap. One Sword Eastward knew this mindset was wrong, only being detrimental. A lot of time was spent adjusting his mindset.
But today, when Da Fei happened to be in the same venue, One Sword Eastwardâs dormant heart of vengeance ignited again! He was not the same anymore!
Now, One Sword Eastward waited quietly, though his heart was overwhelmed with waves of excitement! As soon as Da Fei appeared, heâd be spotted. When the time came, his well-prepared 10 Dark Night Druids would suddenly strike, a concentrated assault enough to behead any player, no exception for Da Fei! Then he could shoot to fame, renowned across the world!
Suddenly, One Sword Eastwardâs sight flickered red!
âSystem Prompt: Reconnaissance Skill warning! An enemy has appeared nearby!
One Sword Eastward rejoiced suddenly. Here?! Where?
âSystem Prompt: You are being attacked by "Da Fei"!
âSystem Prompt: Your Dark Night Druid Unit is under attack by Da Fei and has been wiped out!
In that instant, One Sword Eastward was dumbfounded! He didnât even have time to detect Da Feiâs direction before darkness enveloped his eyes!
âSystem Prompt: You were killed by Da Fei, combat ended, you are eliminated from the preliminaries, you earned 1 Battle Network Point, thank you for your participation, better luck next time.
The scene changed, and One Sword Eastward was back in Elorin City. He still hadnât regained his senses! He was counter-killed by Da Fei? How had he been discovered? He had Grandmaster Reconnaissance Skill! Could it be God-level Reconnaissance Technique? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Achieving Grandmaster was already a big deal, how could someone have mastered the God-level! Those who hadnât achieved Grandmaster would never understand the difficulty!
It must be a Divine Artifact! It had to be a Divine Artifact! Having slain a Demigod, he must have acquired one, and used it to defeat him!
Thinking about his revenge target being someone who had slain a Demigod, One Sword Eastward finally came to his senses. What was he doing? Haha, hahahaha! One Sword Eastward shook his head with a long sigh: "Off to do some tasks..." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to recommend it and vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)