Mental Tactics, Biding Time.

"Okay," Liu Hao agreed.

The group moved to the training room, taking their respective positions and inserting their Glory account cards, logging into the game, and entering the arena room.

Ye Qiu projected the match between the two onto the electronic screen in the training room, making it convenient for everyone to watch.

"Go for it, Hao Ge," Wang Ze, Shen Jian, and He Ming cheered for Liu Hao.

Though they supported Liu Hao, deep down, they didn't really have much confidence in him. How could Liu Hao possibly be a match for Su Mucheng? He had never won in a solo game against her, and the gap in strength was significant.

Liu Hao stared at them with dead-fish eyes and jokingly scolded, "You three, can't you cheer me on with a bit more enthusiasm? Looking all gloomy won't boost morale. It feels like you guys are attending a funeral."

"Yes, yes, yes! Go, Brother Hao!" Wang Ze, Shen Jian, and He Ming nodded like little chickens pecking at grains.

"Liu Hao, you better watch out next!" Su Mucheng giggled. She was a staunch supporter of Ye Qiu and always sided with him. Whoever went against Ye Qiu, she would go against them.

Feeling Su Mucheng's hostility, Liu Hao humbly replied, "Please go easy on me, Miss."

"No way, in a solo match, you have to give it your all to make it interesting," Su Mucheng said, brimming with fighting spirit.

Before everyone could recover from their surprise, the solo match had already begun.

The map for the match was random. If they had used a classic solo map like the Arena, Liu Hao would have had a better chance. But as luck would have it, Su Mucheng seemed to have seduced even the goddess of fortune. The randomly chosen map was extremely suitable for Gunners — Taiping Ridge.

Taiping Ridge was a map of moderate size with a wide field of view and many giant rocks serving as obstacles. Gunners could jump onto these rocks for elevated shooting positions, increasing their shooting accuracy.

Both in terms of profession and map, Su Mucheng held an absolute advantage, which was particularly disadvantageous for Liu Hao.

"Poor Brother Hao…, he's going to be crushed by Su Mucheng again..."

"If he loses this match, I bet Brother Hao will drag us out for drinks again tonight."

"We'd better start thinking about how to comfort Brother Hao if he loses. I'm not afraid of drinking, I'm just worried about him spending too much."

...

After the match began, Liu Hao didn't immediately take action. Instead, he had kept "Total Darkness" at a static place. Although he had inherited the original owner's memories and Glory skills, he was playing Glory for the first time and was inevitably a bit uncomfortable.

Playing at the level of the original owner, he definitely couldn't win against Su Mucheng. Among the numerous professional Glory players, Su Mucheng was the chief Gunner and an all-star player. While her skill level might not be top-tier, she was still among the elite of the T1 tier. As for himself? He could only rank in the T2 tier.

His profession was still a Spellblade, a melee class primarily focused on magical damage. Most of his skills were mid-range wave attacks and formations, with decent damage but requiring a lot of preparation and chanting. He didn't have much advantage against Gunners who specialised in long-range attacks.

To have a chance at winning, it seemed that close-quarters combat was the only option...

On the other side, Su Mucheng was confident, from the start she rushed towards the centre of the map.

Once she reached the centre of the map, Dancing Rain aimed the cannon downward, leaped lightly, and then slammed it to the ground, using the huge recoil of the cannon to propel herself onto a tall rock.

Gunner's skill — Flying Cannon. Su Mucheng truly deserved her title as the chief Gunner of Glory, using the skill with extreme proficiency.

Su Mucheng rotated her viewpoint in all directions, searching for Total Darkness's figure. But after looking around for a long time, she hadn't seen a single trace.

Su Mucheng thought that Liu Hao must be hiding nearby, preparing to ambush her. In her opinion, Liu Hao only had a chance of winning if he ambushed her first.

But in reality, Total Darkness hadn't moved at all, still standing foolishly at the respawn point.

"What is Liu Hao doing?" Ye Qiu couldn't figure it out. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly had a thought — maybe Liu Hao was using a psychological tactic, what military strategists call 'waiting at ease for the tired enemy'!

By making Su Mucheng unable to find him, gradually inducing impatience and anxiety, then exploiting the resulting openings and mistakes.

Ye Qiu's mind raced, interpreting Liu Hao's motionlessness as a tactical manoeuvre, feeling somewhat impressed. Though shameless, it was effective. According to the rules, as long as he acted before the referee issued a yellow card warning, it was fine.

Liu Hao was unaware of what Ye Qiu was thinking. The reason he didn't move at all was simply to completely integrate Liu Hao's memories, combining Liu Hao's Glory skills with his own understanding of the game, forming a completely new gaming consciousness.

It was like merging two martial arts techniques in martial arts novels to create a complete new one!

Once the integration was complete, Liu Hao opened his eyes, a gleam of light shining in them. He lightly tapped the keyboard, and Total Darkness finally sprang into action.

...

Dancing Rain kept on spamming the skill to get the vision of the whole map, the rapid swaying of the camera gradually fatiguing her eyes. But she still couldn't find Total Darkness's figure, and she grew increasingly restless.

"Where on earth is Liu Hao? Is he sleeping again?" Su Mucheng muttered quietly. She felt that this solo match was too boring and monotonous.

(End of Chapter)