Time flew by, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
It was March 5th, Year 533 of the New Era.
On the world forum, night owl players were engaged in an excited discussion about the second league match set to begin tomorrow.
": Speaking of which, isn't the next league match starting tomorrow? Time really flies; it feels like the qualifiers were just yesterday. Dark Gold Rose's maneuvers left a deep impression on me."
": Yeah, yeah, it really wasn't easy to turn the tables in that kind of situation. No one around me was rooting for her at the time."
": This time the 5v5 team battle is also centered around the large map of Skyline City. Who are you guys rooting for the most?"
": Do you even need to ask? Light-Chaser Garden and Queen's Arms, obviously. Those two are the favorites to win right now!"
": Forget about Queen's Arms, their ace needs no introduction, but Light-Chaser Garden only has an average equipment grade of 3. Who exactly is rooting for them? They got lucky once or twice; are they going to keep being lucky forever?"
": I'm telling you, once they're matched against a truly strong team in the 5v5 team battle, they'll be lucky if they don't get steamrolled immediately~"
": You guys are all talk. Their faces haven't been slapped hard enough after two consecutive wins. Heh, I've even thought of excuses for you."
": The first time in Pangard was because the old established guilds were restricted to grade 3, and the second time in Kowloon Street was because Dark Gold Rose used underhanded tactics to ambush Golden Navigator. Don't tell me that when Dark Gold Rose wins a third time, you'll just say the enemies didn't perform well."
Two factions soon began to argue, but they quieted down after a while.
No matter how they argued, they had to admit that the miracles Light-Chaser Garden created the first two times were indisputable facts.
At that moment, someone suddenly thought of something.
": Hey, I don't know if you guys have heard, but there have been many disappearances of participants lately."
": I heard they weren't teleported back to their guilds after finishing the qualifiers. Their last location before going offline was a set of coordinates, and no one can reach them in reality either. No one has seen them again; they've just vanished into thin air mysteriously."
": Several guilds have already reported this. I heard the league officials are taking it seriously. Rumor has it this is related to the 'Graffiti Killer.'"
": Graffiti Killer?"
": This starts with a player named 'Amber Man.' This guy is quite famous; he usually likes to delve into amber-style themes and often posts related videos on his social platforms, with many loyal fans."
": On the day the qualifiers ended, around seven in the evening, this guy posted a status with a photo attached. It was likely in a dark alley, showing the gruesome deaths of several people. Their facial features were filled in with various colors of graffiti... anyway, it was quite terrifying."
": According to him, that person was his amber-collecting partner, and this was the last image sent before the partner disappeared. Since then, there has been no word."
": The officials haven't made any statement, but they've tacitly allowed the term 'Graffiti Killer' to circulate. It's hard not to suspect a connection between the two."
": I've seen that photo too. It scared the life out of me; I even had nightmares that night."
": It's the middle of the night, talking about this is so scary. My closet just moved; I'm going to stop chatting with you guys now."
": Me too, I'm out of here."
...................
Unknown coordinates, Cloudtop Apartment.
Inside the private study, Xu Xiaoyou sat at an oak desk, the soft light of the small desk lamp contouring her face. The pages of the book floating beside her turned automatically as knowledge arranged itself into various sentences in the air. In such an environment, her concentration was heightened, and her life skills within the knowledge system would slowly improve over time.
Xu Xiaoyou stared intently at the curtain in front of her, the deep blue screen playing combat footage of Queen's Arms.
In these qualifiers, Wu Shen Lu and his teammates had adopted the same strategy as them: a one-versus-five sweep. Clearly, the opponent had also judged the nature of the qualifiers from the very beginning.
However, Queen's Arms' sweep was different; most of those five were professional players from top-tier guilds. Furthermore, the entire process was executed by 'Killing God Changqing,' while the other four simply watched silently from the side, never once making a move.
Though Xu Xiaoyou didn't want to admit it, the truth was that while Light-Chaser Garden searched for soft targets everywhere, Queen's Arms seemed to let things happen naturally. Whoever they ran into, they would launch a Visiting Battle by Overstepping Authority against that guild—an expression of absolute confidence in their own strength.
That Killing God Changqing was terrifyingly strong. Despite being only grade 5, he could fight three grade 5 opponents simultaneously without being disadvantaged, even slightly gaining the upper hand. His robust physique seemed born for battle, and his various combat techniques were executed with fluid precision; Xu Xiaoyou had to slow down some parts several times just to see them clearly.
This guy didn't feel like an insurmountable mountain to her, but rather like a machine tuned to the extreme. Swinging his engine heavy sword might look broad and sweeping, but every movement was as precise as surgery. She even wondered if what lay beneath his skin was flesh and blood, or countless intricate gears.
The latter was obviously more despair-inducing than the former. What was even more lethal was that his engine heavy sword was swung so fast it left afterimages—this guy was actually a shadow striker?
She really wanted to see what kind of expression Akabane would make if she knew the truth, but thinking that it might crush the girl's young heart, Xu Xiaoyou sighed softly and silently closed the curtain.
Clearly, with Light-Chaser Garden's current strength, they were absolutely no match for this person.
Over the past half month, they had spent their time either leveling up or playing training matches with other guilds, often troubling the cats of the King's Clan.
As most of the skeptical netizens predicted, they won few matches and lost many. In front of top-tier players who had liberated their divine endowment, they were essentially routed upon contact in direct confrontations.
Currently, the one in their team closest to grade 4 was Akabane, followed by Bai Youyou, then Anya. Tang Xin was also just one step away from grade 3.
Due to the hyperdimensional projector, her level progression was exceptionally slow, but she could vaguely sense that she was touching the threshold. Perhaps after a few more league matches, she would officially enter grade 4.
Grade 4 was an unreachable dream for countless people; many could never cross that threshold or liberate their divine endowment in their entire lives.
For them, the reason this step was so difficult to take wasn't because of physical indicators in any sense, but rather the need to 'face the self, transcend the self, and achieve self-liberation.'
It sounded mystical, and most people even developed inner demons because of it, falling into madness. Yet, Xu Xiaoyou didn't feel any of the 'sluggishness' the older generation of fixers at the association spoke of. It was as if as long as her physical attributes met the standard, everything would fall into place naturally.
"Could it be..." Xu Xiaoyou rubbed her chin.
"Is it because my self-awareness is just too clear?"
Rate on N.U.
