novelraw Chapter 533 463: She's Still So Narcissistic
Chapter 533 463: She's Still So Narcissistic
Time suddenly jumped to half a month later.
March 5, 533, New Era Calendar.
On the world forum, night owl players excitedly discussed tomorrow's second match of the tournament.
"So, is it true that the next match of the tournament is starting tomorrow? Time flies, it feels like the qualifiers were just yesterday. Dark Gold Rose's moves left a deep impression on me."
"Yeah, yeah, it was really hard to pull off a comeback in that situation. No one around me had faith in her back then."
"This time it's another 5v5 team battle on the big map 'Skyline City'. Who do you guys think has the best shot?"
"Dude, isn't it obvious? It's gotta be the Light Chasing Garden and the Queen's Armament. They're hot favorites to win right now!"
"Forget Queen's Armament, their ace speaks for itself. Light Chasing Garden only has an average Three Tier setup. Who actually believes in them? You can't always rely on luck, right?"
"Honestly, if they get matched against a strong team in the 5v5, they'll be lucky not to get steamrolled."
"↑ You're all talk with nothing to back it up. Twice now they've failed to smack you in the face, haha, I've even thought of excuses for you."
"First time it was because in Pangard, the old strong guilds were limited to the Three Tier. Second time in Jiulong Street, Dark Gold Rose set a trap to ambush the Golden Navigator. Don't say the third time Dark Gold Rose wins was because the opponents weren't at their best~"
Soon, two factions started arguing.
But it quieted down after a while.
No matter how much they argued,
they had to admit that Light Chasing Garden's miracles in the first two rounds were undisputed facts.
Then someone suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, have you guys heard? Recently, there have been many cases of participants going missing."
"I heard that after the qualifiers, they didn't get teleported back to their guilds. Their last online location was just a coordinate, and they can't be contacted in real life either. No one's seen them, they just mysteriously vanished."
"Several guilds have already experienced this, and I heard it's caught the tournament officials' attention. Rumor has it this might be related to the 'Graffiti Killer'."
"The Graffiti Killer?"
"Well, it starts with a player named 'Amberman'. This guy's pretty famous, likes dabbling in topics related to amber, often posts related videos on social media, and has quite a few loyal fans."
"On the day the qualifiers ended, around 7 PM, this guy posted on his space, with a photo attached. It was in some dark alley, showing some people who died horrifically, their faces filled with graffiti in various colors. All in all, it was pretty creepy."
"According to him, that was the last image his amber buddy sent him before disappearing, and after that, there was no further news."
"The officials haven't said much, but they've allowed the spread of the Graffiti Killer theory. It's hard not to suspect a connection."
"I've seen that photo, it terrified me. I even had nightmares that night."
"Talking about this stuff in the middle of the night is scary; my cabinet just moved. I'm out, not chatting with you guys anymore."
"Same here, I'm out."
...
Unknown coordinates, Cloudtop Apartments.
In a solitary study, Xu Xiaoyou sat at an oak desk, the soft light of a small desk lamp tracing the contours of the girl's face. The pages floating beside her turned automatically, and knowledge assembled itself in the air into different phrases. In such an environment, her focus intensified, and her life skills in the knowledge system gradually improved over time.
Xu Xiaoyou stared intently at the screen before her, watching the 'Queen's Armament' battle footage within the ethereal blue screen.
In this qualifying match, Wu Wu and his team adopted the same strategy, taking on all five at once. Presumably, they had figured out the nature of the qualifiers from the start.
However,
Queen's Armament's five-person match mostly consisted of top-notch professional players from elite guilds, with the entire operation executed by 'God of Killing Changqing'. The other four members simply watched silently from the sidelines and never took action.
Though Xu Xiaoyou was reluctant to admit it,
the fact was that Queen's Armament, unlike Light Chasing Garden which scoured the world for easy targets, acted with a sense of randomness. Whomever they came across, they'd launch unauthorized attacks on the guild, clearly exhibiting absolute confidence in their own strength.
That God of Killing Changqing was unbelievably strong. Despite only being a Fifth Tier, he could face three Fifth Tiers simultaneously without being at a disadvantage, even subtly overpowering them. That robust body seemed born for battle, executing combat techniques with fluidity, some of which required Xu Xiaoyou to slow down several times to see clearly.
The feeling this guy gave her was not like an insurmountable mountain but more like a machine refined to the extreme. The way he swung his engine greatsword seemed so wide and open, yet every move was as precise as surgery. She even suspected if this guy had flesh and blood beneath his skin or countless precise gears.
The latter was obviously more despairing than the former. Worse, despite his nearly shadowy engine greatsword, it turned out this guy was a Shadow Attacker?
She really wanted to see what kind of expression Chichu Chun would have upon learning this truth, but thinking it might hurt her innocent heart, Xu Xiaoyou sighed lightly and quietly turned off the screen.
Clearly, with Light Chasing Garden's current strength, there was no way they could be his opponent.
In the past half-month, they had been either leveling up or playing practice matches with other guilds, often troubling the King Race cats. As predicted by most fans who doubted them, they lost more than they won. Against top players who could unleash their Divine Gift, they were easily crushed in direct confrontations.
Currently, the one closest to the Fourth Tier in their team was Chichu Chun, followed by Bai Youyou, then Anya. Tang Xin was just a step away from the Three Tier.
Due to the Superdimensional Projector, her leveling was exceptionally slow, but she could vaguely sense she was touching the threshold, maybe in a few more matches, she might officially step into the Fourth Tier.
For countless people, the Fourth Tier was a dream beyond reach, a hurdle many could never cross in a lifetime, the release of the Divine Gift.
For them, the difficulty in taking that step was not about bodily metrics but about 'facing oneself, surpassing oneself, achieving self-liberation'.
Interestingly, most even developed a Heart Demon because of this, spiraling into madness, yet Xu Xiaoyou felt none of the 'sluggishness' described by the elder Cleaners of the association, as if once she met the physical standards, everything would naturally fall into place.
Could it be, Xu Xiaoyou mused, rubbing her chin.
Was her self-recognition too clear?