An offer impossible to decline entangles the fate of young European artist and Chinese boss of gaming team. Can the two of them reach happiness or will they go their separate ways? Will the cultural differences and sudden tragedy destroy the possibility of falling in love?

An offer impossible to decline entangles the fate of young European artist and Chinese boss of gaming team. Can the two of them reach happiness or will they go their separate ways? Will the cultural differences and sudden tragedy destroy the possibility of falling in love?

Update every day, chapter length is around 1K words :)

"Tu, tu, tu-!"
Shroud took a firm stance, and fired shots from shoulder height!
The next instant, the player who was exchanging blows with him was knocked out.
Not to mention, his teammates were also putting in their utmost effort.
As bullets swooshed out of the players' guns, gunshots filled the air in Mylta Power, and players were knocked out as a result of getting hit.
30 seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
With that, system notifications appeared one after another on the screen and it seemed like C9 was always ahead of ACE.
In such a battle, the position of the players determined if they were going to kill or get killed.
"What a nice quick battle! C9 was decisive throughout the fight."
"That's right, their attack route and the chemistry between them were on point. Now, three ACE players are down. Is their whole squad going to get eliminated just like that?"
"Oh! C9 is moving forward for their last attack! Can the last ACE player perform a miracle now that he's at a dead-end?"
Accompanied by the elevated tone of the commentators on the commentary platform, the spectators became excited too.
Almost everyone widened their eyes, and they were staring at the screen attentively.
Then, the crowd was so shocked that their eyeballs almost popped out!
On the screen, the last player from ACE, Optic, was seen holding onto his AK.
The instant he heard the approaching footsteps, instead of fighting bravely in such a critical moment since the hope of his team had been entrusted on him, he instantly laid prone behind a metal shelf near the wall of the warehouse.
!
…
It created such an awkward atmosphere in the arena!
On the spur of the moment, the western hosts who had been commenting on the situation in such an intense manner were unable to get a word out.
Even after attempting, they were still at a loss for words…
'Director, there's something wrong with the script!'
The western spectators were dumbfounded too.
Perhaps being people who advocated individualistic heroism, they expected the player to do his utmost to turn the tide since it was the perfect timing to do so.
Even if he were to fail, he deserved praise!
'How the f*ck are we supposed to react now that you suddenly lay prone?'
At that time, in the game, the four C9 players were cautious even though there was only one player left in the opposing team.
With Shroud, "South America's Number One Rifler" leading them, they began searching the area cautiously.
After two rounds…
'Nobody's here?'
Moody, the sniper of C9 was confused. "Did they split up earlier and did one of them disconnect from their squad?"
"I don't think they needed to do that."
Shroud shook his head. "Mylta Power is not a rural area, it can easily allow 4 players to loot the area. They didn't need to split."
"I think so too, the last player should still be here." Frolicer who looked like the oldest in C9 nodded.
"So…" Moody shrugged. "Do we continue to look for him?"
Chappie who had been quiet all along suddenly suggested, "Perhaps we can try to threaten him?"
Upon hearing Chappie, Shroud started thinking.
"I think we can try that."
Therefore, gunshots were heard in Mylta Power once again.
Two shots later…
"C9-Shroud killed Ace-Clan with P92!"
When the spectators in the live streaming channel witnessed the cruel scene, it really got their danders up.
"F*ck! Is this the final form of Shroud, the devil king?"
"That was too cruel! I can't watch anymore!"
"Shroud: I'm a heartless killer."
"Being helpless when your teammate's killed in front of you, 2333, I think the last player from ACE must be mentally crushed now…"
"Do you think he'll take the opportunity to sneak an attack now?"
"I don't think so! Tsk, tsk, that player really has the heart to tolerate this. Is he even from Korea? He's probably from Japan, isn't he?"
While the spectators in the live streaming channels flooded the bullet screens, the three ACE players had been knocked out earlier were eventually killed by Shroud.
From the beginning till the end, the last player who laid prone remained still. He looked like… he was a bot.
'F*ck…
The three Hua Xia commentators looked at each other too. Then, Lord Rong sighed. "Looks like the Korean supporters are very strict, the ACE player is still hiding even though he has to put his ego down."
"Hehe, that's true."
Ruo Feng added, "Back then in tournaments, usually when a Korean team lost, their supporters would ask them to swim back home."
"Now let's look if C9 is going to spare the Korean player's life." Su Changming crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stared at the screen.
In the game, after the C9 players settled the ACE players, they stayed in Mylta Power.
Shroud took a look at their surroundings and then said to his teammates softly, "I think… he probably needs a chance."
"What?"
The other three C9 players could not understand what he meant.
Shroud shook his head without further explaining and instructed, "Stay here, I'll go in for a while."
Upon hearing him, the other C9 players were startled.
Then, Shroud changed his SCAR-L to a Vector and entered the dark power plant building.
…
'Again?
'What a bully!'
When Optic heard the footsteps, he was instantly maddened!
At that moment, he quickly realized that something was off.
'The footsteps… there's only one person!
'They split up!'
Right away, Optic was delighted and his eyes sparkled as if he had seen hope!
'Do you want to be a coward forever or be a man for five seconds?'
As Optic heard the footsteps, he gritted his teeth.
'This time, I want to be a man!'
Then and there, he stood up from behind the metal shelf and then fired multiple shots with his AK!
"Tu, tu, tu-!"
Obviously, Shroud did not notice someone lying prone behind such a low metal shelf. Hence, he was facing sideways.
One thing to note was that the world tournament was in FPP mode, thus Shroud did not have vision of his general surroundings.
Before Shroud knew it, he lost a substantial amount of health!
Despite that, at the moment of life or death, Shroud reacted in time and held up his Vector at the speed of light.
"Xiu, xiu, xiu-!"
Instantly, it was as if 13 .45 bullets had formed a line in the air!
A deadly bullet line!
In just 0.7 seconds, his magazine was emptied!
Then, Optic who had become unrecognizable collapsed to the ground.
Throughout the process… he was unable to hold on for even two seconds, let alone five seconds!
Right then, the caster shifted the camera to the Asian division. In less than five minutes into the opening game, all four ACE players of Korea had been eliminated.
Just like that, a section if the Asian division became empty.
The supporters on the live streaming channel who were still immersed in Shroud's amazing reaction suddenly felt their sinking hearts as they began to feel worried.
...


Liu Zilang had a well-kept secret — he was a prodigy in competitive FPS eSports. His specialty? CSGO. He even entered the finals in the prestigious world tournament.

Alas, his team fell short due to Liu Zilang's inexperience. Shattered by the fact, Liu Zilang vanished from the eSports scene. That was until his friends got him to play a new game known as PUBG.

Liu Zilang's life turned around and he began to make his comeback. Follow Liu Zilang as he encounters difficult situations, all while learning to open up as a person, but more importantly as a brother.

They had to perpetually deal with a network of people as they were. They had received many challenges and had transactions with many people, but had never met anyone who sent demands in a foreign language. Even in an email six months ago from the Japanese Nakagawa Technology Group, it was still written in French.
"To the French government, there is a good thing here! When I was diving in the Atlantic was diving by chance..." Sonnenfeldt frowned and read softly.
Since both parties used translated versions, there were a lot of mistakes in the grammar, which made it difficult to read. The good news was that the content was straightforward and understandable.
"After you confirm the authenticity of the voicemail, please take out $500 million. And please use the top 20 languages in the world." When he had finished, he kept pinching his chin.
His first reaction was that the man was completely bullsh*tting and taking his cell phone to record the sound of the submarine when he was diving. Then why didn't he smash it with his fist? If the submarine sound was so easy to obtain, then the world's sonar anti-submarine network would be a joke?
"This must be some boring hacker using bad psychological tactics!" Sonnenfeldt smiled. "Isn't that just want you want? To arouse my curiosity, let me download this attachment, then let your virus play a role?"
As a 17-year-old, he successfully hacked into an online gaming server and changed his equipment to the highest level. At the age of 21, he was hired as a special technician expert for six Internet companies. Of course, he was good! He was outstanding! And he was certainly confident.
So he went to the computer to test the virus. He would download the attachment and see what the other person was trying to do.
More than 20 MB. It would take only a few seconds to download. Sonnenfeldt first cut off the network connection, then used a security tool to carefully examine it.
"Huh... the technique used to hide it is advanced!" He was like a woman seeing a flash of jewelry. The more advanced it was, the more excited he was.
Clicking on the audio file called "123123", Sonnenfeldt squinted his excited little eyes, ready to see what the person was up to.
Anyway, his testing computer would send all the unknown files which were tested to hardware technology to a empty hard disk, and by connecting to the Internet only at the moment the file downloaded, he simply didn't have to worry about any destruction.
Unexpected processor frequency increased. Memory was unaccounted for. Some files were just background noise.
It was difficult to describe the sound of the sound, and through the two stereo speakers, Sonnenfeldt felt as if he was suddenly plunged into the sea, surrounded by an endless ocean.
As time passed, the furrows on his forehead grew tighter. He had never been a submarine soldier. He didn't know if this was a submarine mechanical noise, but his intuition told him that this round was not coordinated buzz that was synthesized in a technical way.
"Hello, is this the secretary's office of the Élysée Palace? I received a copy of the audio file on the presidential official website, and it was found that there was no virus," he said. "The other party claims that this is the sound of our ruby attack submarine, and I'm sending this to you."
Sonnenfeldt didn't dare say that the other person was extorting $500 million. He was afraid of being asked by the higher ups, "Stupid! You do believe this?"
"Okay!" The voice on the phone was as cold as ever!
At the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées, the Élysée Palace was as famous as the White House in the United States, Buckingham Palace in Britain, and the Kremlin in Russia. It was the presidential palace in France and the symbol of the highest power in the country.
After the email arrived, a few of the palace staff heard it and felt that it was worth paying attention to. So, after some communications, the news eventually got transferred to the naval command.
"Ridiculous!" Anniston, who was assigned to the voiceprint, had serious doubts and was angry. A bunch of staff that just sits in an office, and if a guy says there's an Ultraman, do you have to go and verify it?
Absurdly absurd! But Anniston was only able to sit sullenly on the black sound analysis machine and work with the black headphones. What could he do since it was a command from the Élysée Palace?
They tested the sound of the submarine, not just the crew, but with two stereo systems. It was going to be determined in terms of Hertz, band, frequency, and so on.
In the dim and secluded environment, Anniston, with a bitter face, pressed the transmission button.
Buzz, buzz, buzz. The sound of the condenser was heard, and Anniston's cheeks turned pale. Then he looked at the waveband on the detector, Hertz...
"Ah!" His eyes widened bigger than a dog's head, popped out, and almost broke through his titanium glasses.
"This... This is... This is... This..." Anniston was shocked. Stumbling out of the room, he banged open the door of the chief's office.
"Sir, we're done for... "
.........
Half an hour later, at the east end of the Champs-Élysées, the presidential office of the Élysée Palace…
"Mr. President, what do you say we do?" Admiral Bailiffe, the commander of the navy, sat down on the red nan-wood chair, and his white brows were almost forced into a line.
The sound of a nuclear-powered submarine was stolen and was the one stationed at the naval base in Djibouti. The investigators had boarded the plane 10 minutes before to fly there, but he knew that there was probably little possibility of it being their own people. Because, from the sound pattern analysis, this was basically from an external device that had snuck up on the submarine and recorded it.
"Did you find out which country did it?" President Kosaki looked at the information in his hands. Who was trying to extort France?
"Not yet!" The one who spoke was the French Network Information Security Chief Earls. He was sitting on the left side of the president and whispered, "The email was sent by an ordinary Google mailbox registered to a server in Japan. We have invaded the server and stolen his registration information, but didn't get any useful information."
"The United States, Japan, Russia, China, these countries are the most suspect! Our ruby submarines are not the most technologically advanced, but at least they have to be at the same level to get access to them," said Admiral Bailiffe.
"But if you want to get this close and record the sound..."
Here he shook his head. "Even the American Ohio and the Russian North Wind have absolutely no way to do that."
"That's right!" The navy commander Chief Bailiffe suddenly thought of something. "Mr. President, last time when we were in the Gulf of Djibouti, we happened to intercept an unknown submarine, but all the sonar was destroyed by an unknown weapon, and then the torpedo used to block it suddenly exploded. The next day, when the deep-sea robot went down, it didn't find the wreckage of submarine nearby, so I have every reason to believe that this incident is related."
"I'm asking what country it belongs to!" President Kosaki thumped the table, sulking. "It's not clear who the enemy is. What is the point for you say this to me?"
"And you!" President Kosaki said in a different tone. "Did the other person say to reply to the message? I believe you will not let me down!"
"Mr. President, please rest assured!" Information Security Chief Earls gave a slight smile with a confident tone, as if he were solving a primary school math problem. "Our security team is prepared. As long as they send an email, we will definitely find out their real address!"
"That is best. They have such advanced submarine technology, so they would also have the best network technology personnel. All you have to do is to trace their true identity," President Kosaki waved and looked tired. "The secretariat will give you the email content to reply back in a minute. Go!"
Half an hour later, 15th and Andornen Street, French Network Information Security…
In the 10-meter-deep underground PXT mainframe room, Sonnenfeldt, who was the first to find the email, looked like the other 21 members of the team. All of had a face prepared for a war. The email was sent out 10 seconds ago, and what they needed to do now was to take advantage of the technology and break down the barriers and finally get the real address.
"The other person is likely to be the at the top of the network world and will have a super large tandem processor computer that is faster than our computing speed," said the Chief of Information Security, Earls.
"But I only ask you one thing: Do you have the confidence to win this war?!"
"Yes!" No one hesitated.
"Ok, starting from now on, monitor the mailbox all day long. Try to get the real terminal address in one minute!"
..........
Zhongyun City, Bolan Garden, at 7:00 p.m. local time…
Chen Fan, with two large plastic bags full of drinks and snacks, was ready to drive to the dock at the seaside. After such a long time, the other side should have confirmed that his email was true or false. He had to go and see if there were any reply.
As usual, he took the capsule to the stone tower inside the cave. He opened the nuts with force and tossed a handful into his mouth. Chen Fan connected the optic cable and then opened his laptop.
"There it is!" In the PXT mainframe room, Sonnenfeldt suddenly jumped three feet high and dropped a bombshell in the silent machine room.
"GO, GO, GO!" Not knowing who shouted it, and then the whole machine room was filled with typing sounds on keyboards.
The speed of the hands was very outstanding and could have broken the world record.
The backdoor to the Japanese website server had been found by them, and they were constantly monitoring. The only thing to do now was to find the real terminal address of the other party.
"Pa!" After a dazzling array of operations, Sonnenfeldt hit the return key, and a series of ASP source code popped up on the screen, all of which was about the connection information of Chen Fan's mailbox.
"Lock the first springboard IP!" In only seven seconds, Sonnenfeldt reported the IP of the Japanese Google website.
"Ah!" Five seconds later, Sonnenfeldt's eyes popped out, the... the other side did not use the springboard, they were using real I... The I... IP for Internet...
At this point, a member of the team with glasses, shouted, "IP has been identified. The other side is using the maritime satellite network. Right now the North Pacific Communications Satellite is in charge of access."
"F**k you!" Chief Earls smashed the table. Using satellites to surf the Internet, making it difficult to find locations.
Of course, that was just a little difficult!
"Immediately switch our network to a satellite network mode and then use the SPX satellite's Doppler waveband for signal detection."
As time passed, the keyboard tapping sound continued to fill the room. As France's national network information security, they not only had multiple high-speed optical fiber network connection modes, they had 3G wireless network and even national satellite network connection sharing.
Fifty-three seconds later, Sonnenfeldt banged the table and said, "The signal range is locked. The other party's network terminal is 50 nautical miles northwest of the Japanese oil valley, and it is 50 miles ahead of South Korea."
"Concrete coordinates!"
"North latitude 34.49.26, east longitude 129.53.12, signal error not exceeding one nautical mile... "
"Then the other party must be on board!" He took two deep breaths, and this time the President gave him the highest authority to mobilize any needed tools.
"Eames, you immediately inform the defense department that we have locked in the enemy's position, let them calculate the orbit, and find the military reconnaissance satellite that will fly to that area as soon as possible."
Half a minute later, the ministry of defense heard that there was a reconnaissance satellite that was about to arrive in the vicinity of the area after seven minutes and 39 seconds. And one hour and 21 minutes later and eleven hours later, two reconnaissance satellites passed by.
"Let them take digital pictures of them for two miles!" Then he walked up to Sonnenfeldt, stared at the screen, prayed to god, hoping that the other side would not move, so that the satellite would be better able to take pictures.
Maybe God really heard his prayer, and the source of the other party remained fixed and did not move.
After what felt like half a century, the machine room was suddenly filled with a loud bang. "The ministry of defense has transferred photos!"
"Immediately open the pictures with the big central screen!" Earls ran to the huge liquid crystal display wall two meters high on the east side... waiting!


Because of an accident, Chen Fan obtained the power to possess an electric eel!
Of course, being an ambitious guy, Chen Fan just HAD to explore his Electric Eel Avatar thoroughly!
Captains, are the Somali pirates still giving you a headache? Come and hire me online, and I will guarantee that your ship will be even safer than protected by an American aircraft carrier!

"Young master, are you ready?" said an old man in a butler uniform. This was Gerard. The person who raised Miles from the moment he was born.
Miles' family was rich. Actually, that might be an understatement. They were CRAZY rich! Miles' parents were the Co-CEO of the world's third-biggest company Greysteed. They had started out as a tech company years ago but thanks to the genius of his parents now the company had shares in almost every business venture. The family was very happy to get an heir like William, Miles' father, who made them one of the richest families on earth instead of just an ordinary rich family. They were even happier when he had married another rising star of the business world, Ailsa. She was a little foul-mouthed thanks to the Scottish blood running through her veins but as long as she could make money they could tolerate it. So when the two of them came together the Greysteed Conglomerate was born.
That didn't come without a cost, however. Even though they made so much money, they didn't have enough time to spend with their son. That didn't mean, they didn't love him or ignored him. Actually, to them, Miles was the most important thing in the world. That was why they had worked so hard to earn this much money. It was all for him!
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Miles asked as he tightened his arm around Gerard's. He didn't want to get his hopes up over nothing. He didn't want to end up disappointed like all the other times.
"Don't worry young master. This old servant can assure you that it will work. According to old master, it has already been tested before and it worked. They are actually waiting for you on the other side" said Gerard as he laid Miles into the capsule.
This was a new product one of the Subsidiaries of Greysteed Conglomerate created. It was a new gaming device. After the fail of Oculus Rift or the VR in general, people had lost hope that it was just a dream. People would not be able to actually feel like they were inside the game. However, they had actually done it. They had even gone beyond just VR. They were able to create a capsule that was able to transfer the consciousness of its user to the game itself. Basically, they would be able to feel everything their character felt, even smell it!
This was way beyond of their time, at least by a century. Even the world's medical science was not that advanced and there were so many ways they could utilize it!
When William and Aisla saw the fund application for this project they didn't even hesitate before sinking in hundreds of billions of dollars into it. Nothing came out of it for five long years and the board of directors were doubting the decision of this married couple. They had already invested close to half a trillion and they wanted to shut down the project. They just weren't able to see the bigger picture. Of course, if the research had shown some results they wouldn't be this sceptic but there was nothing on the horizon at all! Most importantly the researchers kept on asking for more funds and the married couple just gave it to them without any questions. 
Finally, in the sixth year after funding them they had come out with this technology. They weren't even any complications with the tech. There were so many ways they could use this. So many ways to make money out of it. However, the decision of the couple baffled them once more. Instead, they had learnt that they already had an idea about what they were going to use this piece of magnificent technology and it was a game! A game! Were they crazy? Who knows? But the board of directors certainly didn't have the guts to object them. They were already wrong once. So how could they claim that their decision was wrong? To their bafflement, they had learnt that the game was already completed. They just needed to release it immediately. Without any advertisement or anything. 
When asked why they just answered the tech itself was already good attractive enough and currently it was the only game of its sort. Even if they didn't advertise it themselves, others would do it for them. So they had decided to release both the 'gaming capsule' and the game tomorrow.Yes, this discussion was going on the same day Miles was getting ready to get into the game. Because his parents were the founders of this project Miles and his family was given an Early Access. They could have started even earlier if they wanted but their purpose was not to get all the good stuff and dominate the game. It was just to spend a single day together without any disturbance from the outside world. They were going to have a whole world to themselves just for today. 
Gerard closed the capsule and the machine started to give out light indicating that it started to work.
"Welcome to the World of Rappelz!"
A gentle female sound announced to his arrivial into this new world. There were bright lights everywhere and Miles' eyes hurt. Miles' furiously blinked his eyes to get used to the light. He was in a library-like room. But Miles did not pay any attention to any of them. He was actually crying. No, he was not sad. These were his tears of joy.
"I can see!" shouted Miles towards the sky.
He was born blind. His parents took him to all sort of doctors around the world but none of them was able to cure him. They had even tried to give him an eye transplant but there was no such thing. Basically, you could not transplant the optic nerves connecting to the brain. So he was destined to be blind his whole life. This was the reason his parents had funded this project upon lying their eyes onto it. They had seen a hope for their son to see. Since it was sending their consciousness directly into the game they had bet onto the possibility that it would work and it did. Not just for blindness, this technology could actually temporarily cure other disabilities like being deaf or mute. Of course, they would still be disabled outside the game but those people at least had a place where they could feel normal now.

Miles Greysteed, the favoured son of heaven. Born to one of the richest families in the world, never in his life he had to ask for anything. There was always someone to solve his problems.

However, heavens must have been too jealous of him that they have taken something very important away from him.

Now, Miles journeying in the world of Rappelz. Can he find what he lost in there?

The ambush set date has come and they all gathered in front of the wooden house at 1800 hrs. Meanwhile, George never knew that she followed him down to the tunnel till to their former bedroom. Upon reaching she was leaning her face beside the cabinet, posing her back and both palms stamping on the cabinet's wall; standing, till she slowly dropped her body down on her feet and was teary eyed. Then she has heard him spoke outside.

"Okay, on your way!" George instructed. She never knew that it was meant for team two and three's departure since their destination  were the farthest. After a while, George slowly stepped inside their old room and noticed someone's voice, sobbing. He moved closer, turned on the flashlight and turned it off again when he found her covered with hair like an eerie ghost.

" My...Mag?" Then he sat down combing her hair with his fingers, smiling and wiped her tears.

"Hey! haha! why you're lamenting like that? shh, I'll get back alive." Then he put her face on his shoulder while he caressed her hair.  Albrecht called him outside so he slowly detached himself away from her but she was twirling her fingers on his uniform till on his belt as he unlocked his hand down to her cold fingers.

George walked outside with a heavy heart and in a minute, Baldur came in and forced her to return to the granite house.

" Mag, listen, we'll survive. We're not even spending too much weapons there, so calm down. Go back there and take care of yourself, be suspicious and do not let anyone get in. Here, bring this - your sword and another dagger, take them all, okay? Calm down." But she wasn't moving. Albrecht came in after waiting a little longer.

" Shh...no one knew you're here so just wait for us to get back, go up there silently, Magee." Albrecht, knelt snd summoned her. But she's not moving.

" Mag, Mag-Mag, Mag-Mag." Albrecht repetitively and crazily mentioned her nickname that made her smile while pinching a little of his ear and without her knowing,  George was just at the back of the door, listening. So it was enough to move her feet to get down and she's gone.

"Hmm...Baldur, I need to carefully lock this secret hole, help me. Just don't turn on the light." The brothers carefully locked it so that she could not get out from there. After securing the location of the secret hole, they went out and finally joined with George and company. 

George wanted to get back and comfort her but he knows the granite house is the safest haven within the warzone and enemy lines. He was very silent while passing through the secret cave facing east and then the three guards (civilians) left on post, including Fr. Matias. They waved a hand and the priest even prayed to bless their way.

Alone and the saddest so she climbed overhead to one of the daylight optic holes. She emerged on top seeing a bit of cottony fogs. The moon lighted the treetops of Tikaban as she forcibly inhaled and exhaled, paving the worries inside her system. Out of coping her worrisome thoughts so she looked below the mountain and back to the moonlighted horizon. Then she put her back to rest on the stony surface and started to stargaze, surfing her eyes to the different stars shining like diamonds in the sky.

" Wow! its still a wonderful world despite war, everything's fine, I am fine. George is fine, and so with my brothers - God loves us." Then while doing positive self-talk, she had heard some noise outside the mountain. So she crawled a little on the edge and looked down. There  were almost 20 Japs rushing towards the direction of George and company. So she slowly returned inside and brought one Mk 2 grenades and got out to the daylight optic hole again. In order to distract the Japs from following to her family's direction so she threw it  toward northeast, it has its hissing sound before the cranking shards and splinters - heavily blasted in the groovy horizon northeast.

Boom!

Then she saw them running to the site where they have heard it blasted, sadly its in another cliff so they backed off and at least their travel was a little delayed. In a while, she was settled looking up to the fogs communing to form a mountain cap, so she slid inside the daylight optic hole and properly closed it. Still lonely, then she locked the granite door going to the tunnel and washed up. Thinking how things went well so she grabbed her sewing kit made of 'romlon,' (romlon was locally called to a look-a-like pandan plant, but its tall, around 15-20 feet high from the ground and usually used in making a mat or 'banig' by stripping it into pieces, sometimes dyed. Some said its 'buri' but the Tikaban locals called it 'romlon' ). She immediately opened it and found out the cute baby clothes she had been sewing and knitting. 

" Hmm...where did I place the baby shirt. As far as I remember, its next to the pajama, ah, it will just pop up when I will not look for it anymore." Then she smiled.

" Wow! so cute. I can't imagine holding a baby as small as this. He musn't find this here." Then she returned the sewing kit beside the  bed and started to close her eyes. Still worried but she was praying for the safety of them all.

After three hours of sleep, she was awakened by several blasts from a distant place. She hurriedly stood up and prayed hard, teary eyed.

" Lord God, please put an end to this war. People defending our country are now chilling, hungry, in pain and are terribly suffering but are fighting hard on the bushes and wilderness. Please. Please protect my family and everyone from the lost command and the guerillas of Gabok. Make them all survive." Then she went back to bed and grabbed her blanket.

Reluctant of her roots, a 20 year old Magee and a Captain's daughter - was sent by Lolo Sibal to UST in 1938 to study Philosophy. Way back then, Lolo Sibal was a survivor of the 1918-1920 Spanish flu plague who was accidentally trapped , along with the Captain for twenty years in the legendary cave of Kabang. Interestingly, the Captain left to him the wealth for Magee's education and returned to the United States. In September, 1941 Magee has heard from a UP friend that the Japanese are coming in December of the same year so she returned home empty-handed and stayed with her family. Without them knowing, her father, the Captain who survived has returned to the Philippines for another military mission on the same month of September, 1941 and assigned the 25 year old 1Lt. George of the infantry and the in-charge of the platoons in combat to take care of his daughter in whatever means. One day, during the early weeks of the Japanese occupation, one of its officials named Hakanori proposed to Magee through her mother and agreed for the wedding. Magee was against to it despite her multiple attempts to escape. Accidentally, the night before her wedding, she fell into the abyss nearby their house and found herself the next day that she was with the Filipino guerillas together with the American and German soldiers. She noticed the Captain personally but only in a short encounter and there - he was gone. In the fight for freedom under the Japanese occupation, 1Lt. George used a different tactic and studied very well the terrains and natural habitat of the place. He led the disarming of any Japanese patrolling and collected all their weapons and uniforms, worn by Filipino Guerillas in disguising. He also applied sharpened bagacays in holes, pulleys, and ropes in all sorts, throwing rocks, powdered some poisonous plants and made antidotes, used herbs and root crops for their survival and even dug some exit points and tunnels all over just to reach the cave of Kabang. Alongside with Magee at war where he only started as his guardian through the Captain's request had smoothly twisted and subtly turned out that he became madly in love with her. One day...

"He used to play Starcraft?" Zhou Yan had heard what Luocheng had said and asked.
Luocheng nodded his head. "Yeah, the Championship for the China Starcraft community had him as one of the competitors. I won in the end but he was still very strong. Now that he has come to LOL, his skills as a professional gamer can finally be shown to the world, it's just too bad that Team Beijing's teamwork is not that good yet. They could not grasp the flow of the game that easily. They were like us during last year's competition. Winning and becoming the top four team is definitely possible, but if they want to triumph over Team Daemons and Blood Eagle's Team Sky as well as Team 71, it might not be possible.
Zhou Yan nodded. "Then he must be very gifted as a professional player and also an old competitor. At that time, our country's potential for Starcraft was very low. The teams that were formed to face the Koreans were beaten black and blue, the only two who could possibly win would be the two of you, I guess."
After both teams had gone back down the stage, the next team in line was Team Dusk and Team Meteor. These two teams could be called veterans and their battle power was not something to be gawked at.
Even so, after their match was over, everyone needed to take a break, so Luocheng and his team did not stay to watch. They were planning to watch the replays and look into it later.
They were sent back to the hotel by a bus that had been specially prepared by the competition organizers. This feeling was really the best.
Once they were on the bus, Team Beijing were also onboard as they too wanted to go back to the hotel.
Everyone sat down and made some small talk. Luocheng could see that Number One was making his way toward him.
"Fighting Hawk, do you want to join the Asian Indoor games that badly?" Number One, Xie Lianda asked.
Luocheng was stunned for a second and nodded.
This Indoor Games meant a lot to Luocheng and he really wanted to participate in it.
"We know that your team is very strong and we know that you have not brought out your trump card before meeting Team Sky or Team Daemons." Lianda had a feeling that even if they had already shown their prowess, this was still not the best from Team Skycrown!
"I could give the right of participating in the Asian Indoor Games to you…" Number One said as he looked at Luocheng seriously.
"What did you say?" Luocheng was astonished.
"I know that you really want to participate in the world championships and you clearly have better skills than me. I could give this spot to you."
This sentence from Number One instantly made the two teams in the bus go dead silent.
Ping Feng was the first to react, pulling Number One over to him, "Number One, how could you give up your spot so easily!?"
Ping Feng had been shocked by Number One's words.
Number One had only become famous in LOL this year. In the past, he had set aside the competitive gaming scene.
This was not because he was not skilled, but because he had only played LOL for such a short time.
Prior to this, he had been engrossed in Starcraft and Warcraft 3. Even if he did not get an impressive prize in the competitions, he was already recognized as the player in the top 3 in both games.
LOL was currently famous in the gaming community and had taken up most of the gaming scene, but strictly speaking, from his skills and former achievements, a player like Number One was definitely a genius in competitive gaming. No one was more worthy than him to participate in the Asian Indoor Games!
Ping Feng knew that the Fighting Hawk, Luocheng, was very strong and also a God in competitive gaming. If he had not retired and still brought the flag of his country to the competitive gaming scene, he would have been undeniably chosen by the higher ups to be in the Asian Indoor Games.
But clearly, he had retired for more than two years, and in these two years, Number One had given so much effort in helping their country show off their competitive gaming skills. Who said that just because Luocheng had come back they would have to give him the spot? Even the higher ups would choose Number One over him!
"Yeah, captain, the spot was not easy to get." Pi Ka, who was the Support, suddenly stood up.
Was Number One crazy? This spot in the Asian Indoor games was immensely valuable. If a player was lucky, he could turn from a nobody into someone who was looked up to and paid attention to by the media in an instant, how could he let go of it so easily!?
Luocheng was still trying to gather his thoughts, staring at Lianda.
The Asian Indoor games. Luocheng really wanted to participate in it. He wanted to show his parents, his friends, and his loved ones, that he could do it, and to give up on the past and accept the future. 
He also wanted to do something for the gaming community and the Asian Indoor Games this time was the best chance for him as he would definitely be on media such as the sports channel and even newspapers!
After knowing who had been selected to participate, Luocheng did not have much hope for himself anymore. At the very least, people from the competitive gaming scene had finally gotten into the Asian Indoor Games. The professional gaming profession had finally come into the light and eyes of people around the world, slowly changing their perspective about video games.
The point was, Number One suddenly saying these words stunned him.
As Number One's teammate had said, it was very hard to get the spot to be in the Asian Indoor games. Those who were chosen were definitely those who were outstanding, there was no way that anyone would let this chance go!
"Do you really mean it?" Luocheng looked at Number One almost dumbfounded.
Number One nodded his head.
The members of Team Beijing all stood up, and Ping Feng was extremely agitated, "Captain, how could you give the spot to someone else! You've waited for this chance for three whole years! Even if he is strong, the things that you have done for the gaming community, the absurd amount of competitions that you have participated in, the desperation you went through while trying to find a sponsor… With the meager amount of prize money, our team could only barely stay together! The only thing that he did was get champion in something no one else could have and then leave. Who would believe in him! I don't agree!"
The Asian Indoor Games did not just include LOL, it also had other games in it. Starcraft, Warcraft 3, CS, DOTA, everyone knew that. You, Fighting Hawk, had only won the world champion in the past, but in these two years, when those Koreans, Swedish people, and Americans had put up a challenge against our country, who was there to intercept them?
Was it the Fighting Hawk?
Of course not! It had always been Number One fighting them. Even when he could not win against them, he was trying his best, training to win!
It was so hard… so hard for the sports ministry to acknowledge esports as a real sport. With Number One's two years of hard work, the sports ministry had finally given in.
What does Fighting Hawk have that even after he retired, Number One had to give him the spot?
After retiring, even if his skills in LOL were strong, was he great in Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and even CS?
The bus was suddenly quiet, Ping Feng's words were clearly directed at Luocheng.
Yes, as an old competitive player, he did harbor some hate for Luocheng.
You would never understand this feeling. Especially when enemies from the other countries were laughing and trampling over you and you could not talk back, when they had no one to rely on, they wanted to find someone and say his name, but where had this person gone? In the end, it was Number One and Lu Jian that were left holding the line!
After getting scolded by Ping Feng, Luocheng had nothing to say.
It was true that after he had left the competitive gaming scene, there was no one who could bring up the country's name like he did. The people like Number One who had fought really hard for the country earned his utmost respect. 
Luocheng did not ask about why the sports ministry had given Number One the spot. It was probably because he had put in a lot of effort, and if that was the case, he would be nothing close to them, and so he did not argue with him about it.
"Number One, if you give out your spot, I will not participate in the Warcraft 3 competition either." Ping Feng said gravely.
"Ping Feng…" Number One shook his head at Ping Feng, letting him know that there was no need to continue.
Strength was strength, Number One did indeed put in a lot of effort for the gaming community, but he clearly had never stood on top of the world before, unlike this person in front of him.
Ping Feng looked like he was about to say something else, but Number One cut him off, "Have you forgotten what the Korean player, Lee Jinhe said?"
Ping Feng grit his teeth. How could he have ever forgotten what that Korean had said? He had laughed that the strongest Starcraft player in the country could not even reach their country's professional level, going as far as to ridicule them saying that there were no real professional players in their country, only a bunch of people who wanted to win the prize money!
The Asian Indoor Competition would take place in Korea, and without a doubt, Lee Jinhe would be there.
"I can't win against him, but if you really want the words that he said to become a reality, then you can continue to be stubborn." Number One admonished Ping Feng.
"Lee Jinhe? That guy who was rather well-versed in every competitive game in Korea?" Luocheng started to get suspicious.
Number One nodded.
"Last year, our country's competitive team had to go up against the team from Korea and Lee Jinhe was able to defeat many of us at our best games on his own. It was then that he said something in Korean to his teammates that got us really mad. He thought that we could not understand Korean but Ping Feng had actually lived in Korea for a few years."
"That guy was always an *sshole. The past few years, he's always been wanting to challenge our boss." Lin Dong suddenly remembered about this person and continued, "At that time though, it seemed like he had not gained world recognition yet and did not have the qualifications to challenge our boss, right?"
"He is extremely strong now. He was the champion of the World Cyber Games two years ago." Ping Feng said.
"That strong?" Da Luo asked with a hint of disbelief.
After everyone had retired, they had bothered less with the competitive gaming scene.
"It has been a long time since I've played. Even if you let me play, I don't have the confidence that I can definitely win against my opponents." Luocheng said.
"The games are not set but LOL is definitely in there." Number One replied.
"Number One, are you absolutely sure that you want to give him your spot?" Ping Feng asked.
Luocheng was also paying close attention to Number One, he still could not believe that Number One would really let him have the spot.
Number One nodded his head., "The spot is yours."
Number One stopped for a moment purposefully, and before Luocheng could celebrate, he continued on to say, "But only if you can prove to me that you and your team are the country's best LOL team!"
"The sports ministry will definitely not turn down someone who can guide their team to become the champions to represent the country in participating in the world Esports championship. If you can become the strongest in the country, my spot will definitely be yours!"


When a national athlete of China laughs at the concept of being able to win a gold medal in video gaming, what a pro-gamer like yourself ought to do is take your size-42 shoe and measure it against his pretty face!
When parents, relatives, friends, and all the rest of society scoff at pro-gaming and say it’s not a real job… what else can you do but hold true to your passion for the competitive multiplayer scene, and resolutely turn away from their doubts!
Have you ever thought that it could actually become an official event during the Olympics, perhaps within the next four years—a game of split-second reactions and seamless teamwork between five-man squads, the ultimate test of reflexes and finesse, in an arena where players compete with all their heart and soul… 
This is e-sports!
Let the champions roar ‘Demacia!’ and rock the world to its foundations!

The downpour lasted for an entire afternoon. The ground was soaked wet with rainwater that not a single patch within the sidewalks was dry. Henry, a 37-year-old working man, carefully walked through the 21st street of Talbreia City. 

"Ah, there are some advantages to wearing fake leathered shoes, I guess…" With a faint smile, Henry dismissively neglected the feeling of wetness inside his shoes. He could not really be bothered to care about what would happen to his cheap footwear. All he was thinking right now was to return home from his 8-hour shift and just relax.

As a single man working a boring day job; there was no pleasure in the world that could satisfy him more than the enjoyment he gets from just relaxing on his cold, soft bed, sipping a cup of tea or coffee, and just enjoying his late night TV shows. Although he was the type to become adventurous here and there, he has not been able to do anything outside his comfort zone. "Wonder if those games my coworkers were talking about are any fun? Could be a great break from my usual routine..."

He then suddenly paused, abruptly halting his steps that the water puddle beneath his feet splashed forward. "Hmm, If I were to buy it right now, I could save time from going out in the future." His current location, 21st street, wasn't far off from the nearest gaming store. Across 3 blocks from the left, he would immediately reach "Belzian Store". 

Although the name sounded like a bakery shop, it was a well-versed store for all gaming needs, or so what Henry remembers. He had bought a few games back when he was a teenager, which meant that the store was old already. The shop owner was obviously named Belzian, a person Henry was quite fond off back then. The old man would always give something extra to Henry every time he buys something, although most of those were immediately thrown into the trash by Henry's strict parents.

"Is that shop still open?" He pondered for a bit before proceeding to the direction of the store. Surely, it would still be open. The trend of games might have shifted in favor of virtual reality ones, but a versatile gaming shop would easily survive such change. Henry kept the positive thought as he paced towards the Belzian Shop.

---

Indeed, Henry was right. The shop was still open for business. Albeit the business was different from the one he had expected; "A fighting ring?" Henry would've never guessed that the willy diddly gaming shop from his childhood memories would become something as barbaric as a fighting ring. 

Although the distance between him and the shop was still far, he could clearly hear loud clanging followed by deafening cheers. If those weren't noises coming from a fighting ring, then Henry could not think of anything else that was happening. 

Curious as to what it really was, Henry hastened his pace; eyes gleaming with wonder.

---

A wild sucker punch from a bipedal lizard-like creature immediately knocked the opposing monster. It looked like a tough fight at first, but the lizard-like creature's movements were way too agile that the enemy wasn't able to react on time to gain any sort of footing to actually fight back.  

"2nd round goes to Travis The Zilla! A clear victory for Team Reptoids!"

The caster proudly announced the victor through a cheap microphone. Although it sounded a bit muffled, the sound coming from the stereo was clear enough for the surrounding people to hear; the place wasn't too big for them not to hear it anyway.

Inside the Belzian Fighting Arena; which was the gaming shop back then, had rows of seat neatly aligned at the four corners of the room. Although it was dubbed as an "arena"; In actuality, it was no more than a spacious room. The maximum seating capacity was around 150 people in total. It really wasn't that much if one really considers this place a legitimate fighting ring.

At the centermost part of the "arena" was a giant cube that measures around 3 meters on all sides. A 4-dimensional projection of the fights was being projected from the cube for the audience of the ring to see. However, the players of said fights were nowhere to be seen. If one were to keenly inspect, the entirety of the spacious room isn't all of the spans of what the previous gaming shop was. Adjacent rooms that were at the back most parts of the audience's seats were where the players reside. 

Gaming Quarters are secluded areas of a Fighting Arena. They are vital to isolate different teams from each other while playing the game, ensuring fairness. Each room is then regulated by cameras for the panel to observe and a game moderator is then assigned inside to keep track of everything that is happening within each team. 

"Wasn't the game way to easy? Who are these "Team Reptoids" anyway?" One of the panelists inquired a man seating beside him. The man glanced back at the panelist, sighed, and went back to leaning on his chair; arms crossed and everything. On his nameplate was a familiar name everyone within the room should've known by now. 

"How should I know? Not like I do the screening for these teams anyway?" Mr. Belzian dismissively replied, disinterest apparent on his expression. "If you want to know more about them, go ask my son." Mr. Belzian added before he stood up and left the arena. 

Following his exit was the creaking of the Gaming Quarters' doors. Exiting on the left was a saddened gaming team that had their pride utterly crushed, and on the right was the Team Reptoid; gleaming with smugness as they proudly strutted amongst the half-heartedly cheering crowd. 

This game was no practice match, it was a mini-tournament held by the Belzian's, or more accurately, old Belzian's son; which the arena sponsored a hundred thousand for the grand prize. "... And now to award the victors their prize" The boring closing ceremony then proceeded with the crowd of a hundred slowly dispersing by the second. 

The place soon became quiet, with nothing but the panelists and Team Reptoid remaining. Not even the losing team could be seen anywhere. 

"Eh… Not like we expected anything from a scrub town. This place can't even make us sweat in the finals." Soon enough, the team captain of Team Reptoid— Ivan, voiced out his "complaints". With a mocking tone and zero disregards to the panelists who could clearly hear him, he added. "If it weren't for the stupidly big prize for such a trashy competition, we wouldn't even be here." 

Although dejected by what they just heard, the panel, including the son of Belzian— Craig Belzian, could not retort and could only give the prize money the Team Reptoid legitimately earned. The awarding ceremony was meek. Craig handing over the money which almost felt like was robbed from the arena; from his father's "sponsorship".

Creak…
Abruptly disrupting the awarding was the sound of the shop's main door creaking open. Although the rain had stopped for quite a while, the splashing of water puddles outside made enough noise to attract the attention of everyone inside, including the smug Team Reptoid, already holding on to the cash prize.

"Is this the Belzian Gaming Shop? I am here to buy a new game…" Henry voiced out his query, not minding the odd looks from the people inside. Although it seemed like some of the shop's space was converted into a fighting ring, a few other things have not changed from what Henry could remember.

Surely, they do still sell games… right?

Avatars are commonly neglected as "cosmetics", only for the sake of beautifying one's appearance in a game. 

Not for Henry though.

After discovering the art of the virtual game's complex ways to customize things on a very personal level; his enthusiasm and passion for creating aesthetic things burn stronger than ever...

Accidentally creating the feared "Ultimate Avatar"!

Fang Zhao couldn't tell anyone except Nanfeng and the other two about him participating in the Fiery Bird All-star Match as a special guest.
Nanfeng was especially delighted upon receiving this news. If it hadn't been confidential, he would have bragged about it to his friends. Only those god level players could snag a special guest invite to participate in the All-star Match. He had thought that Fang Zhao would only show himself in public after officially graduating, but there was a chance now!
"There are still a few days before the date set by Fiery Bird. I will still be staying in school before that. Venerable Mo has left me some tasks," Fang Zhao said.
"Don't worry boss, I will arrange everything," Nanfeng pledged repeatedly. "We definitely won't leak this news!"
Beside him, Zuo Yu and Yan Biao also expressed that they would absolutely keep it a secret.
Fang Zhao believed them in this aspect. Thus, after the travel arrangements were done, Fang Zhao continued with his preparation for his graduation concert. Fang Zhao had completed his dissertation, so the next task would be the concert.
Fang Zhao's movements after his dissertation defense had been photographed by a number of paparazzi that were camping at HuangArt. Sometimes, Fang Zhao would also be photographed outside Mo Lang's residence. Thus, it seemed very unlikely to many that Fang Zhao would appear at the All-star Match.
In the entertainment circle, if a celebrity didn't make the news for half a year, they would gradually become the content of stories and myths. 
Fang Zhao was one of these people. However, unlike the majority of retired gaming gods, Fang Zhao was still rather active outside the gaming circles. People still frequently saw news concerning him, even if it was in a different industry. An esports reviewer had once said that Fang Zhao was "a shooting star that passed by and left to pursue the musical arts."
Point-sweeping demon? That was something a long time ago and had now become folklore. Now, people could only watch and worship past videos.
Fiery Bird All-star Match competition grounds.
Minor games were essentially treated as warm-up on days one and two. As more "Battle of the Century" gaming gods arrived, attention on the All-star Match rose. Many film and entertainment celebrities also showed up to take advantage of the hype.
Now, the most-discussed subject was who the special guests invited by Fiery Bird would be this time. On Fiery Bird's official All-star Match web page, there were twelve grayed out silhouettes of the special guests.
Jinro had also discussed this with his teammates.
"Somebody said they saw Rex show up in person at Fiery Bird HQ, but they didn't have enough time to snap a photo," Schwarzer said while browsing through news online.
When a certain older coach heard this, he said with a reminiscing smile, "Rex was my idol! Back then, he lit up the entire scene during my secondary school days. By the time I entered the professional circles, R-god had already retired from competitive gaming."
"Forget about R-god. Someone managed to snap a photo of Bin-god! Didn't Bin-god retire from the gaming circles to become a stay-at-home dad and look after his kid?" Schwarzer was slightly unfamiliar with the names of these old-time gaming gods. When these gamer gods had been prominent, Schwarzer had yet to be born.
Jinro knew a little more about this person. "Dabin becoming a stay-home dad was over ten years ago. Now, he is more like a stay-home coach and supporter. His son is an exceptionally talented kid and is not at all inferior to Dabin. Wait another five years! He will enter the professional circles and shoot straight up."
"15 years ago he was beating his son, now 15 years later he is getting beat by his son." Schwarzer couldn't help but chuckle. 
Regardless of what sort of lifestyle these people had after retiring professionally, they still were representatives of their generation. People associated them with various melancholic sentiments.
Fiery Bird was quite successful in capitalizing on the fans' nostalgia. 
As they continued chatting, a few of them received a new notification.
"Let's go, time to draw lots."
Jinro and the other Silverlight members went to the designated venue to draw lots. The various gaming gods from all twelve continents would be scheduled according to the number they drew.
"Nine?" Jinro was beaming. "Good number! It's my lucky number!"
Beside him, Schwarzer moaned. "One! How am I so unlucky!"
Number one was the first to compete in the special guest match.
Schwarzer wasn't happy. The first match was too close to the start. He wouldn't have time to get used to Fiery Bird's modes for the All-star Match. Perhaps he wouldn't even be able to display half of his talent and genius.
Jinro and the others were all in team 3 or higher. Schwarzer was the only one who had drawn a 1. Schwarzer felt that the opening match wasn't favorable and became gloomy. However, the outcome couldn't be changed. All he could do right now was to think about how to deal with the first match.
There would be two special guests matches in the late morning and two in the late afternoon. Although each special guest match would last half an hour on average, the scheduling was tight, and there were other activities before and after the matches.
According to the number card drawn, Schwarzer would be in the first match on the first day. Jinro's match would be two days later, and he would have ample time to practice.
Jinro held his own new team card and went to great his new teammates who had also drawn the "9" card.
"Bruce? You are also in team 9?" Jinro saw Phoenix E-sports Club captain Bruce from Huangzhou. 
They had both been captains of their respective teams, but Jinro's Silverlight team hadn't ranked as high as Phoenix in the overall rankings. On the individual leaderboards, Jinro was also one spot beneath Bruce. However, Jinro wasn't willing to lower his head when they met.
"A team can only have one captain. What now? Should we draw lots? Or have a match?" Jinro said.
"Draw lots, I guess. It's simple and quick." Bruce also had the same intention. A team could only have one captain. Who would be willing to be vice-captain after being captain for so long? 
Jinro ended up drawing a higher lot than Bruce. 
Jinro felt that his good fortune was bursting at this iteration of the All-star match. He had a feeling that he would surely break out at this All-star match!
Furthermore, he was delighted from seeing entertainment news regarding Fang Zhao's dissertation defense. Many fans expressed doubt that Fang Zhao could attend due to his school commitments!
He still remembered the previous time when Old Master Mo had said, "Strike a balance between work and rest. With tension there must be relaxation". Back then, Fang Zhao had just finished a lot of practice questions in preparation for his entrance exams and hadn't vented his stress yet. Thus, he had thoroughly decimated the whole group of pros. Fortunately, Jinro had been wise at that time and avoided it smoothly by putting the blame on his son.
It was just so fortunate that this All-star Match coincided with Fang Zhao's dissertation. Fang Zhao can't come~~~
Jinro was in high spirits. When it came time for the first special guest match, Jinro watched team 1's miserable performance from the viewing terrace. "Hahahahaha!"
"Such a ferocious operation and only 5% damage to the boss. That coordination won't do. With such high defense and damage, the only way is to outsmart the boss," the unfortunate vice-captain Bruce said. 
Another gaming god in team 9 chimed in. "We have to understand that some special guests have never played 'Battle of the Century' before. The officials have to give them special treatment."
"Team 1's special guest has chosen to appear in the form of a monster. I wonder what sort our team will face."
"I'd rather face a boss in the form of a monster. That would mean that the special guest hasn't played that before. However, if the boss is human, that would be slightly more troublesome."
Jinro expressed his agreement.
On the day before the ninth special guest match, Jinro represented their team to draw lots.
"Leave the drawing to me. My luck is especially great."
The others in team 9 believed Jinro. If Jinro didn't have such good fortune, how could he have become the captain over Bruce?
They were all gaming gods. What right did one have to be captain? Everyone had similar ability, so why would they have to listen?
Thus, the other members of team 9 had another round of lot drawing. Jinro's results were still the highest.
They had no choice but to accept this luck.
"Alright, Captain Jin, draw it. We believe in you!"
Thus, Jinro drew the lot under the watchful gazes of all the gaming gods in team 9.
"Survival Mode?"


"Every time background music plays in my head, I feel like there is nothing to be afraid of." —Fang Zhao
Toward the end of the apocalyptic period, Fang Zhao lost his life. However, instead of dying, he found himself 500 years later in the body of a young and aspiring composer who shared the same name. Having received a second chance at life, Fang Zhao sets out to achieve the previous owner's dreams.
Armed with the experience of living through an apocalyptic age and his profession as a composer before that period, Fang Zhao uses his talent, wits, and knowledge to make his mark in the entertainment industry of the future.

"Hitman"?
Never heard of the game. Is it a mini-game made by foreign developers?
Ren Suo glanced at the clock. It was near noon. He ordered food to be delivered, then peed and washed his face. When he was done, he settled on the couch in the living room and started playing the Mini Worlds Gaming Console.
The apartment his uncle rented out to him was well-designed, furnished with a sound system, a 4K TV, couch and other furniture. It was a haven for a single inhabitant. And even more so with a girlfriend.
So Ren Suo bought his dream girlfriend – the fourth princess, a.k.a. Hell4PRO.
Having washed his face, Ren Suo felt fully awake. Only then did he recall that he had bought his games separately from his gaming console.
The order confirmation in his mobile phone showed that his "Unparalled Hero 8" and "Curse of the Evil Spirit 2" was still on the way. It would probably take a couple more days to reach him. So, even though he had the console, it was useless.
"Unparalled Hero 8" was the latest arcade game, while "Curse of the Evil Spirit 2" was a hardcore action RPG. Ren Suo had taken a long time to decide on these two games. He was ready to throw a few months into them till he became a platinum player and till he started work.
Because buying these two masterpieces had nearly emptied Ren Suo's gaming fund, he wasn't intending to buy digital copies of games on the Hell online game store. Digital copies were typically more expensive than physical copies. Unless there was a discount, Ren Suo would not consider them, not to mention the collectible nature and resale potential of physical copies.
If he were to become rich in the future, Ren Suo would collect game discs as trophies of his glorious days;
If he were poor, then he would sell them away to recoup his losses. After all, these games cost him quite a fortune.
Because of these two reasons, Ren Suo chose to buy physical copies despite their long delivery time.
Without the games, Ren Suo had no choice but to leave the Hell4PRO in the garage and play "Hitman" on Mini Worlds.
He clicked on [Free Game of the Month]. The game description of "Hitman" introduced the game was an action RPG – an immersive assassination game. The gamer played the role of a modern hitman who had the skill "Bullet Time" and was a master of all weaponry and combat styles. He could even pick other assassin characters. It looked pretty impressive.
After selecting to download the game, a message popped out:
[Player has chosen a free chapter. The free chapter of this month is Hitman's "Bloodied Banquet". Difficulty of game: 1 star.]
[This free chapter has a difficulty rating of 1 star, hence the exclusive reward is canceled (exclusive rewards are awarded only to 2 stars or above).]
[The time left in this free chapter is 14 hours 23 minutes 51 seconds. This game will be deleted when the time is up.]
"What? I can only play one chapter in the free game, and I'm left with less than 15 hours?" Ren Suo complained. But having seen the likes of too many freebies in Xuan Nation, he wasn't too surprised.
Yet, the download speed of this game was crazy quick. In less than five seconds, Ren Suo received the message that the download was complete. That took away any hopes Ren Suo had about the game. Although the apartment boasted Xuan Telecom's 200M fibre optic cables, a game that could be downloaded via WIFI in less than 5 seconds couldn't have been more than 100M in size.
Even if it was just a single chapter, the music, software, images…etc. had to be downloaded still. Such a small game was either cut to its bare bones or tiny in scale to begin with. Although size didn't equate to a game's quality, it limited how impressive a game could be.
"Looks like it's just a mini game… Wait?"
Ren Suo suddenly realized that he had not connected the Mini Worlds Gaming Console to the apartment WIFI.
But this Mini Worlds Gaming Console was omnipotent the moment it appeared. It could connect to Hell4PRO's game controller and the DaMi TV. It wasn't too much of a stretch for it to be able to connect to the apartment's WIFI automatically.
However, the moment he entered the game, Ren Suo's slain expectations revived immediately!
On the screen, rain drops fell off the roofs of the buildings on either side. Pitter patter, they hit the murky alley floor. In the distance, the lights on the skyscrapers and the streetlamp outside the alley became the only source of light in the alley.
And in that dark abysmal alley, a figure shrouded under a black umbrella stepped leisurely through puddles of water till he occupied the center of the screen. He was dressed in a suit, his bearing straight, like an aristocrat in the rainy night.
Just then, the camera zoomed in under the umbrella, giving the player a clear view of this man's face-
[Please configure the hitman's appearance.]
"What the-? This isn't CG, it's the actual graphics in the game?" Ren Suo was stunned. Even now, the rain-soaked alley was visible behind the character. The play of light, the rain drops, the buildings, the details, the ambience, the character… they were unmatched even by that so-called highest-performance game "Log Horizon"!
"No way this is a mini game. This is definitely a triple-A heavy-hitter!" Ren Suo's interest was piqued. He noticed that the character in the game was automatically set as a fearsome looking bald man. After he selected to change his appearance, a series of face-changing options popped out, intimidating Ren Suo.
Although he liked to control cool-looking characters, Ren Suo was really not that interested in changing their appearance, especially when appearance attributes are so finely calibrated now that a single facial adjustment involved changing a dozen of digits. As a terminal patient of laziness, Ren Suo wasn't going to waste his time on this.
Typically, one who liked good-looking characters but didn't want to waste time like Ren Suo would simply search for other players' records, copy their facial attributes and paste it into his game to make a character he liked. At most he'd adjust the pupil colour, hair style and hair colour. And voila – that'd be Ren Suo's character!
But when Ren Suo searched "Hitman" online, while he did find other games with the same theme and title, none of them had graphics like Ren Suo's version. And none of them allowed the player to change the character's face. So Ren Suo's lazy tactic couldn't work.
Thankfully, in the menu there were options like [Recommend a face] and [Recommend a character].
In [Recommend a character], apart from the initial 'Bald Hitman', 'Clown Hitman', 'Demon-Hunter Hitman', there was also [For more characters, please purchase Characters DLC].
Ren Suo looked and realized that apart from the looks and voice, the choice of characters would affect their skill and abilities. For instance, the Bald Hitman's skill was [Bullet Time], which affected the speed of time;
Clown Hitman, who sported make-up on his face, had the skill [Shapeshifting], which needed 30 merit points to unlock;
the white-haired wrinkly-faced Demon-Hunter Hitman's skill was [Abyssal Wolf Sword Art], which needed 30 merit points to unlock.
Not only that, even their starting expertise were different. Bald Hitman's was [Combat Master] and [Weapon Master]. Clown Hitman's was [Weapon Novice] and [Throwing Expert]. Demon-Hunter Hitman's just [Grandmaster of Sword]. 
Among the three [Recommended Characters], only Bald Hitman was recommended for first-time players and free to use.
Till now, Ren Suo had not figured out how he could top-up credit in the game. Regardless, he was not going to burn cash on a game that would be deleted in 14 hours. So he picked Bald Hitman.
But of course, he wasn't going to use the default face settings. In the [Recommend a face] option, he picked a sharp-looking Xuannese face and added a teardrop shaped red mark on his forehead to make him look even more sick.
[Please name the hitman.] The message popped up after he confirmed the character.
Ren Suo just named him "Hitman". In the next instant, the image on the screen moved as his controller vibrated. The hitman smiled at him under the umbrella; he could now control this character.
Just then, a homeless drunkard appeared in front of the hitman. Stepping through murky puddles of water, he lifted his bottle like he was looking for a fight.
Through the process of subduing this drunkard and walking out of the alley, Ren Suo learnt the basics of the game. After knocking out the drunkard with his combat skills, the message popped out: [Find a way to enter the Lamperouge banquet on the 8thfloor of the Blackthorn Tower using a legitimate identity by 2000HRS.]
The camera moved upwards. In the screen, a bright majestic tower right in front of the alley rose up into the sky. A green inverted pyramid mark appeared above the tower. Looks like that's the target destination of the player.
Ren Suo controlled the hitman to walk out of the alley. Branded sportscars and lamborginis lined the road outside the tower. Ushers holding umbrellas came greeted and welcomed guests outside the tower.
He walked nearer to take a closer look. Those finely dressed social elites would produce an invitation before entering the tower. Only after the ushers had verified their invitations could they enter. Moreover, these ushers had impeccable service and manners; their eyes stayed on the guests all the way up till the point when they entered the elevator.
For example, Ren Suo saw a young gentleman who had parked a distance away and had filthy water splashed onto him. When he approached the building and flashed his invitation, the usher immediately said, "Mr. Ricard, we have spare suits and dryers up in the tower. Allow me to take you there."
"Thank you."
Truly, the usher's service was faultless. He led this young gentleman all the way to the elevator and told the usher inside the elevator about the gentleman's needs. Throughout the whole process, at least three ushers had their eyes on him. Looks like it was absolutely impossible to sneak in.
Ren Suo controlled the hitman and made him attempt to enter the tower. Naturally, he was stopped by an usher. The usher spoke a few lines of English and simultaneously, a dialogue box popped up beside his head, "Sir, please present your invitation."
At this moment, four options appeared at the bottom of the screen. Ren Suo could pick them using his direction pad, but he had only 10 seconds to do so, otherwise the first option would be picked for him by default.
①"I left my invitation at home."
②"I'm one of the people in charge of the company up above. I need to ride the elevator up to pick up a document."
③ (Attack him) "Since when do I take instructions from you?"
④ (Take out 5 pounds) "Cousin! It's been such a long time…"
Wow, he could pick a response? Ren Suo wasn't all too alien with this sort of gameplay. These options basically decided how the player would get past the obstacle. Based on Ren Suo's many years of watching gameplay videos, he believed that ① was pretty much a useless option;②was a tactic of talking his way through the obstacle;③ was surely charging through with brute force;④ was an option to bribe his way through. 
Tentatively, he picked the seemingly cost-free ② - "I'm one of the people in charge of the company up above. I need to ride the elevator up to pick up a document."
Usher: "Oh? Unfortunately, the tower's been closed since 1800HRS. Please come back tomorrow."
Ren Suo: "What gives you the right?"
Usher: "The fact that this tower belongs to the Lamperouge family."
Ren Suo: "..."
So his first attempt failed. Ren Suo decided to try again with the other options.
But this time, the usher frowned. "Why are you here again? Security, take this man next door so he can cool down."
Two nearly two-meter tall security personnel, dressed in blue uniforms, strode over and grasped the hitman, one on each side. Ren Suo assumed that the mission had failed. Soon, however, the hitman was taken to an alley.
"Don't start trouble, kid," the security guard patted the hitman's head, then turned around and started to leave. Subconsciouly, Ren Suo pressed a button on his controller and the hitman automatically seized the guard's neck and snapped it with a crack.
Ren Suo was momentarily stunned. But not the other guard. He immediately pressed something in his ear and shouted, "A hostile has appeared. Position – Palen Alley. Terry's been killed. Send reinforcements, send reinforcements!"
He pulled out his baton and pointed it at the hitman, retreating out of the alley slowly while he reported the hitman's deeds to his superiors.
Ren Suo watched as the security guard exited the alley. In the screen, the dead body of the guard began to glow a faint yellow. He made the hitman turn and examine the body. Three options appeared above the body: Search, Drag and Handle.
[Search] allowed him to strip the guard of his clothes and equipment and use them himself; 
[Drag] would mean to move the body; but when Ren Suo clicked [Handle], the game prompt appeared: [You do not have any tools to handle the body.]
Just then, a dozen men in black armed with guns appeared outside the alley and started shooting at the hitman. Blood burst out of the hitman and the game screen turned into black and white.
[You died.]


The extraordinaire has disrupted the silence of the world and ever since then, technology has taken a different path. 
When humans find a path for evolution in the dark, I’ll remove my ribs, burn my heart and burn the midnight oil to become their pioneer. 
This is the process of a gamer manipulating the world.
Mini world of endless fun awaits.

She hung up.
After a while, a call came in from an unfamiliar number.
Qiao Lian picked up the call. "Hello, how can I help you?"
"Hello, Ms. Qiao. I'm looking for you to find out some information."
Qiao Lian frowned. "What is it?"
"It's about the professional team PC Team. Have you heard of them?"
After a pause, Qiao Lian answered, "Yes, I have."
PC Team had been exceptionally popular in recent years.
Although she had not been gaming in recent years, she had been paying close attention to the competitive scene.
Besides…
CQ Team had made it to the national grand final, hence, she had to understand the teams with strong players.
PC Team was considered peerless and had held the national champion title for a number of consecutive years.
Furthermore, when one spoke of the PC Team, one name was exceptionally famos: Prince.
Prince had fought his way up to become the individual national champion in the last few days.
The whole gaming world knew Prince.
He was like Zi Chuan of the past, or even more famed than Zi Chuan at that time.
Because he had taken part in the national competition, his image was similar to a celebrity's.
For some time, he had already been known as Lot eSports' current celebrity gamer.
Yet why was this big boss asking her these things?
The big boss continued, "Well, it's like this. PC Team would like to invite you."
Invite her?
Qiao Lian was surprised. "What?"
"Their team captain Prince saw your livestream and finds you acutely talented in gaming. Furthermore, you have a unique perspective. Hence, their fighting team has invited you to join them, to become their team coach." 
Qiao Lian was speechless.
So had she been talent-spotted?
Although being talent-spotted was a happy thing…
Qiao Lian said confidently, "I'm sorry, Sir, I'm not really interested in professional gaming competitions."
She was already the coach of CQ Team.
How could she join PC Team?
If Zombie Leader found out, he would be livid.
Besides…
There was no way she could lead CQ into the next phase now, so it was also out of the question for her to become the coach of their opponent team.
When the big boss of her livestream platform heard this, he started to get anxious. "Ms. Qiao, please reconsider. As a coach, you don't have to spend much time guiding them. In terms of wages, we can negotiate."
Qiao Lian smiled and said, "Thank you, but I'm really not interested."
As she sounded adamant and left him no room to negotiate, the big boss sighed and replied, "Well then, I'll convey your message to them in a bit."
Qiao Lian: …
After hanging up, Qiao Lian sighed.
As usual, she delivered her livestream that night.
The night passed in silence.
The following day, after she woke up and checked her cell phone, she saw that she had a few missed calls.
Most of the calls had come in late at night.
This puzzled her.
Thinking that the calls were from a local number in Suzhou, she called back.
She wondered if they could be from her old-time friends in Suzhou.
Unexpectedly, after the phone rang for a long time, someone finally picked up the call. Following this, a croaky voice, as though the person had just woken up from his sleep, came through the line, "Hello?"
Qiao Lian cleared her throat and asked, "May I know whom I'm speaking with?"
"Prince."
Prince?
Qiao Lian's pupils shrank immediately as Prince continued, "Can we meet up and have a chat?"


They say the greatest blessing is marrying the idol you always dreamed of.

But Qiao Lian knows that reality is different...

The Internet claims that Best Actor Shen Liangchuan is a male god who is unaffected by any sexual drive, but Qiao Lian vehemently disagrees. It's a lie!

After finally carrying out the contract, Qiao Lian burst out, "I want a divorce! I don't want such a life!"

optic gaming team

Obsessed with his smile

Kar98K Upon Touchdown!

Super Electric Eel Avatar

VRMMO: Tales of Nomadic Ranger

Abyss of Silent Heroes

League of Legends: League of Unknowns

Ultimate Avatar

Superstars of Tomorrow

Mini World Of Endless Fun Awaits

You Are My Unforgettable Love

People search optic gaming team also like: