The square was packed with people, a constant stream of pedestrians creating a lively scene that reminded Li Ang of the game square's early days.

He started walking, following the crowd towards the Sky Arena.

The already thousand-meter-high modern building seemed to have expanded again, but the distance between it and the surrounding buildings hadn't shortened...

Had the square itself been enlarged?

Li Ang observed carefully and found that it was indeed the case.

The Sky Arena, Game Store, Sales Office, and other system buildings all had larger footprints than before. The registration point in the middle of the square had been removed, leaving only the three leaderboards floating in mid-air.

With 24 hours until the official start of the Doorway Contest, the words [Under Maintenance] floated in semi-transparent letters in front of the Sky Arena's main entrance, the main competition venue.

However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the players in the square.

Everyone stood in place, chatting quietly with acquaintances, excitedly discussing the upcoming event.

Some players who hadn't reached Lv20 originally thought they would completely miss this major event, only able to watch other players participate in the competition and receive rewards with regret.

Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better. The Sky Arena's ability to earn experience points and the setting that allowed non-participants to plunder qualifications gave these people a shot in the arm.

Although they knew how difficult it would be to defeat a Lv20 player with a 10:0 arena score, and even if they did win, it would be difficult to reach the top 500.

But, what if?

Dreams always have to be had. Anyway, no one would die in the Sky Arena. At worst, they could spend money on medical treatment after each arena match.

"Alas, as the saying goes, all the world is drawn by gain, and all the world is driven by gain."

A bald, handsome young man in red and black leather armor sighed softly, "People die for wealth, and birds die for food.

This Doorway Contest is probably going to cause another bloodbath..."

"Indeed."

A young man in a Flash cosplay costume standing next to him nodded and said in a low voice, "I wonder what position we can occupy in this event that will determine the future of the real world...

Do you think we can win?"

"This competition is full of strong contenders."

A young man in a yellow-green Aquaman cosplay costume said lightly, "The elites of the major guilds will participate, as well as many talented players who are only one step away from Lv20.

The chances of qualifying aren't optimistic."

These three had familiar costumes, all wearing blue whale badges on their chests, along with a silent young man next to them. They were [Luo Ri Rong Jin], [Ge Chui Luo Xing], [Tie Ding Neng Ying], and Li Ang's old acquaintance, [Hei Se Mu Ma].

The Jin Ge Tie Ma programmer quartet from the Whale Song organization.

Judging by their tone, they seemed to have signed up for the Doorway Contest as well?

This was normal. The Whale Song organization seemed to have some influence in the real world, and should be able to occupy a share of the real-world routine tasks, assigning tasks to members to solve abnormal events, earn experience points, and increase their levels.

"If the preliminary round of the Doorway Contest was based on the format of real-world sports events, that would be great."

Luo Ri Rong Jin sighed, "That way, we could first climb to about the 50th floor, and based on the information we got from the Watcher Society, analyze who's on that floor.

Combining their previous records and the relationships between wins and losses, we could create a timetable for agreeing on when to fight.

Through the relationships of wins and losses, we could maximize the probability of qualifying.

Unfortunately, the preliminary round ultimately depends on comprehensive data, and clever ways of researching the format are destined to fail..."

"It still depends on strength... Without the strength to crush everyone, we can only entrust our hopes of qualifying to others."

Hei Se Mu Ma shook his head, the corner of his eye noticing Li Ang not far away.

He paused, walked over, and greeted him, "Brother Li, you're here too."

"Ah."

Li Ang nodded, glanced at the other three members of Jin Ge Tie Ma who had followed him, and asked, "Are you all here waiting for the Sky Arena to open?"

"Yes."

Luo Ri Rong Jin nodded and said with a smile, "But we're just participating. It would be nice to get a reward for being in the top 500."

"If you can get into the top 500, there's a good chance of getting into the top 300 or even the top 100."

Li Ang said casually, "After all, after the first round of the competition, the major guilds will definitely invest a lot of resources in the qualifying personnel, and the equipment and props of the remaining participants will undergo a qualitative change.

In this case, the probability of players with backgrounds appearing again is definitely much greater than that of lone wolf players."

In the Killing Game, many excellent and perfect-level equipment and props have binding attributes.

Once bound, they cannot be transferred or sold at will.

However, agencies such as the Special Affairs Bureau and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Special Incident Division still have many idle high-level equipment in their warehouses that can be deployed. The current personal combat power rankings may not be accurate.

Thinking of this, Luo Ri Rong Jin's heart stirred, and he subconsciously asked, "Then Brother Li, you..."

Previously, in the [Gao Wei Hai Ru] (High-Dimensional Intrusion) script mission, Luo Ri Rong Jin had seen Li Ang's dragon head mask + white coat outfit, confirming that Li Ang was the shopkeeper of the Immaculate Furnace.

In fact, the Immaculate Furnace had been in the sights of many forces for a long time.

The think tanks in the real world were not useless. As long as they observed the video data provided by the Watcher Society, and counted the hourly traffic of each store, combined with the price of goods and the time of purchase,

It was easy to calculate the daily turnover of each store.

The data obtained by Whale Song showed that the profitability of the Immaculate Furnace ranked among the best of all small private shops in the square.

Considering that Li Risheng was a lone wolf and hadn't joined any large forces...

The money he had could pile up enough to get him into the top 300 in personal combat power.

"Me?"

Li Ang spread his hands and said casually, "It would be nice if I could get a ranking. I'll aim for the top 500 and fight for the top 300."

Luo Ri Rong Jin shook his head when he heard this, "Brother Li, you're too modest. After all, you are..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Li Ang knew he was referring to the existence of the Immaculate Furnace, and said casually, "Actually, opening a retail store in the square was the biggest mistake I've ever made.

Little money, a lot of trouble, and tiring.

My original dream was to open a family-style restaurant of my own."

"Family-style restaurant?"

Ge Chui Luo Xing couldn't help but ask, "What is that?"

"Similar to Kenmai Hua, hiring chefs from the real world to cook meals."

Li Ang said seriously, "But we focus on a family dining atmosphere. The waiters will sit next to the customers while they are eating, constantly reminding them of dining etiquette and the correct way to use utensils.

At the same time, they will repeatedly nag the customers to get married, go on blind dates, lose weight, and quit their jobs to take the civil service exam."