Chapter 199 Deleting Emails

"Hey, Brother Jue, how's it going on your end?" After being killed, Xiao Tan returned to the login space and established voice communication with Feng Bujue.

"Deleting emails..." Feng Bujue replied weakly. Clearly, his hands weren't idle while he was saying that.

"Haha...still not done yet." Xiao Tan laughed.

Around midnight, he and Feng Bujue had communicated once already. At that time, the list of specially invited players had just been announced on the official website, and Brother Jue's mailbox had just exploded...

"About what I expected..." Feng Bujue said, "This time, I'm definitely famous. For the next three days to a week, I'm mentally prepared to handle thousands of emails every day..." He paused for a moment, "After a while, when the heat of this matter subsides, it might get better. But...I'm afraid I can never return to the ideal state of being unknown. Jian Shao (Kuang Zong Jian Ying) once told me that it's common for well-known players like him to receive dozens of emails from strangers after logging in. My situation will probably become like that in the future..."

"I think countless people would kill for your kind of treatment..." Xiao Tan retorted.

"Hmph...actually, being a seeded player has its advantages, no need to play in the preliminaries...so easy." Feng Bujue continued, "By the way, how did your first preliminary match go?"

"Sigh...lost." Xiao Tan sighed.

"Oh." Feng Bujue seemed very calm.

"Hey! That's too cold a reaction!" Xiao Tan replied, "It's as if me losing is a very normal thing!"

"Losing one match isn't a big deal, is it?" Feng Bujue said, "The Cocoon War's [Bug Fight] requires fifty matches. As long as you don't lose four consecutive matches and get eliminated early, it's not a big problem..."

"Easy for you to say...this game has millions of players, and only three thousand can enter the Cocoon War. Moreover, players who win fifteen consecutive matches at any stage of the Bug Fight will directly advance." Xiao Tan calculated while speaking, "Players who play all fifty matches, the theoretical best record is forty-seven wins and three losses...if you can't achieve fifteen consecutive wins, then if you want to advance, you have to work towards this record."

"Don't worry," Feng Bujue said, "Forty wins should guarantee advancement."

"Ah?" Xiao Tan was stunned for a moment. Based on his friendship with Brother Jue, he could judge many things from the other party's tone. Therefore, as soon as he heard this sentence, he knew that Feng Bujue said it with a rather certain attitude.

"How do you know?" Xiao Tan asked, "Even the people inside the game company can't say for sure about this, right?"

"Inference," Feng Bujue said.

"Your two words...are they considered a complete answer, or some kind of summary..." Xiao Tan said with twitching corners of his mouth.

Feng Bujue also knew what Xiao Tan meant, so he directly started explaining, "Let's just start from the day of the public beta...in this time of less than twenty-four days, there are a limited number of people who can reach level thirty or above. You say 'this game has millions of players,' that's actually nonsense...those guys who don't meet the registration requirements can be ignored.

"Your competitors are the players who are already above level thirty and have registered, except for the ten seeded players. Those who meet these conditions are far from a million, and it would be good if they barely broke a hundred thousand...among them, there are also some players who are impatiently using double experience cards or getting carried (one of the routine businesses of game studios, four to five professional players carry one to two bosses to play scripts, guaranteeing completion) to level up in order to participate. These guys are all experience fodder; they only have each other to fight with. If they encounter those players who have practiced steadily, they are bound to lose, and losing four consecutive matches and being eliminated is only a matter of time.

"As for the situation of advancing with fifteen consecutive wins, although it theoretically exists, to be honest, it's difficult. Under the principle of absolute random queueing, anything can happen. In fifteen consecutive one-on-one matches, as long as you encounter a strong player whose strength is higher than your own, or a player who counters your specialization, the winning streak will be interrupted.

"From a probabilistic point of view...the higher the player's ranking on the combat power rankings, the higher the chance of completing this feat. For players ranked after one hundred, the hope of achieving fifteen consecutive wins is already very slim. So...at most, out of the three thousand slots, those taken by consecutive win advancers...one hundred would be about right.

"Most people need to play all fifty matches and then look at the win rate."

He paused here, and then continued, "Now let's look at the theoretical best record you mentioned—forty-seven wins and three losses, that's basically a super high standard comparable to fifteen consecutive wins, right..."

"Hmm..." Xiao Tan responded thoughtfully.

"This tournament system is not bad. The settings of consecutive wins advancing and consecutive losses eliminating will reduce the probability of you encountering overly strong and overly weak players." Feng Bujue continued, "Leaving aside luck factors...normally speaking, if you play fifty matches, the total number of god-tier opponents and trash players you encounter might not exceed five.

"In the remaining forty-five matches, you will be facing opponents who are in the same strength range as yourself.

"As long as your PK level is slightly above average, your win rate cannot be lower than 50%, which is equivalent to already winning twenty-three matches. And whether you can advance...depends on how many you can win in the remaining twenty-two matches. And...in those luck-based games, whether you encounter more god-tier opponents or more trash players."

"Ah...in short..." Xiao Tan continued, "The situation for qualifying is much more optimistic than I imagined."

"That's right," Feng Bujue said, "In my opinion...the minimum baseline for qualifying might be at thirty-five...or even lower. As long as you don't accumulate fifteen losses, there is a possibility of qualifying."

"Okay..." Xiao Tan was much more relieved after listening to Brother Jue's analysis, "By the way, speaking of luck-based games...do you know who my first opponent was?"

"Judging by your tone, did you lose to a strong enemy?" Feng Bujue said.

"It's Qisha! That Qisha from Long Ge's guild!" Xiao Tan emphasized.

"Oh..." Feng Bujue muttered, "That can indeed be considered a god-tier opponent."

"Thinking that you once won against that kind of guy, I'm not surprised at all that you entered the list of specially invited players..." Xiao Tan said.

The Cloak Scramble was the script that Feng Bujue boasted about the most in front of Xiao Tan, so the latter knew a lot about it.

"You...should be able to exchange blows with Qisha now, right?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Yeah, I just can't beat him." Xiao Tan said, "I feel like the gap between me and you top-tier experts is still very large..."

"Heh...if it were ten years ago, you could beat the crap out of me..." Feng Bujue complained.

"Ah? What?" Xiao Tan asked somewhat puzzled.

"Nothing...I was just talking to myself." Feng Bujue was distracted by deleting emails and spaced out for a moment, letting something slip. He immediately covered it up, "I seemed to have blurted out some lines from a movie...don't mind it..."

"Oh..." Xiao Tan didn't think much about it and replied, "Well...then you continue deleting emails, I'll go play a few more matches and try."

"Go, go." Feng Bujue said, "Hanging up."

The two ended their communication, and Brother Jue took a long breath, "Phew...that was close..." He muttered to himself, "I was just thinking about encouraging him...didn't pay attention to what I was saying..." He stopped what he was doing, took a deep breath, and some fragments of memory flashed before his eyes, filled with blood and wailing, "At that time...that kid must have been crazy..."

...

Meanwhile, a 1v1 killing game was unfolding between two specially invited players. They were [Worthless Uncle] and [Corpse Blade the King].

Worthless Uncle's appearance was completely unkempt...a head of messy short hair, a stubble of a beard, wearing sunglasses, and dressed in a set of brown pajamas, with flip-flops on his feet.

Corpse Blade the King was wearing a green and black guild uniform, with a badge printed on the left chest of his clothes. The pattern was a finely carved skull curved blade, with the words "Corpse Blade" written in black. The players in their studio basically had no unique characteristics. They all had the same crew cut, wore uniform clothes, and the rule for naming was to add the suffix "Assault" or "the King" to their nicknames.

In the maple forest, the bright moon hung high in the sky.

The trees and night were distinct, and the killing intent was like a shuttle.

At this time, the two had exchanged several blows, and one side had already shown signs of decline.

"What a joke..." Corpse Blade the King said as he retreated, picking up a long halberd from the ground, which was the weapon that had been knocked out of his hand dozens of seconds ago...

"That's my line, right..." Worthless Uncle said while still holding a cigarette in his mouth, "You are the number one expert of Corpse Blade, and also a man in the top twenty of the combat power rankings. It's too unreasonable to be this weak."

"You..." Corpse Blade the King's face had no expression, but he was both shocked and angry in his heart. He thought to himself, "I was just randomly queuing for a killing game to practice...but I encountered a monster...this guy is only fifth? Impossible...I have fought against Zui Wo Chang Ran, this Worthless Uncle is much stronger than Zui Wo Chang Ran..."

"I've heard some rumors about your studio, phew..." Worthless Uncle spat out a mouthful of smoke and continued, "You guys are using 'medicine,' right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Corpse Blade the King wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, taking advantage of the gap where the other party was talking to him to adjust his breathing and look for opportunities.

Worthless Uncle just stood there smoking with a very casual stance and continued, "Corpse Blade has always been firmly in fifth place on the guild combat power rankings, and you also occupy the most spots in the top twenty of the level rankings. But you, the number one expert of Corpse Blade...your actual combat ability is really shocking..." He sneered and took another deep puff of smoke, "Is it some kind of drug that can suppress fear value...although it can't completely control it at zero, it should be able to keep the fear value in a lower range. In this way...you can ensure that you get an evaluation of 'courage is commendable' or higher for every script you clear, and receive some experience rewards."

"Hmph...be careful what you say, everything should be based on evidence." Corpse Blade the King also sneered, "You are also a well-known player. If you spread rumors everywhere and damage our company's reputation..."

"Evidence...hehe...is that important?" Worthless Uncle laughed, "I'm just a freelancer who makes a living in the game in my personal capacity...my words carry little weight, even if I personally see your people taking medicine before lying down in the game pod, so what? You haven't broken the law." He shrugged, "This little guy like me has no other strengths except being a little better at playing games. You big studios can send me a few lawyer's letters, and maybe you can force me to a dead end, begging for mercy on my knees. I'm the kind of person who stops working when my hands stop moving, I can't afford to offend you, and I don't have the time or energy to offend you." His tone was full of mockery, "The way I can fight you...is to beat you into meat patties in the game and pack you into cardboard boxes..."

"Too much!" Corpse Blade the King's anger surged up again, "I'll make sure you don't return!" He shouted violently, and the long halberd swung out three purple lights, breaking through the air.

Worthless Uncle flipped his palm and raised his sleeve, pushing out a palm lightly. The strength of the palm formed a wall of qi, and the purple light in mid-air was immediately obstructed.

"It seems that you can't make any decent attacks." Worthless Uncle said, "Let's end you..."

As soon as he made up his mind, the skill was ready. Worthless Uncle took half a step forward and returned a majestic palm, scattering the purple light and rushing towards Corpse Blade the King's location.

"Hmph...I've got you." Corpse Blade the King couldn't make too many expressions on his face, which also gave him cover.

At this moment, he used a move called "Entering the Clouds Step",窜上 in the air and disappearing.

"Oh? Running away..." Worthless Uncle thought, "No...it's..."

Whoosh—the sound of breaking wind was faster than the player's thoughts.

The long halberd suddenly fell from above Worthless Uncle's left shoulder, and the violent force instantly chopped off his entire left arm...

The battle situation changed drastically in a single move.

Worthless Uncle's situation took a turn for the worse. Corpse Blade the King relied on a simple hiding and movement skill to push his opponent into a desperate situation.

...At least, that's what he thought.

"Oh...that really hurts." Worthless Uncle said weakly, turning his head to look at the left arm that had fallen to the ground. His left hand still had a cigarette butt in it, "I haven't finished smoking that one yet..."

"Think about yourself before the cigarette!" Corpse Blade the King spun in the air, reversing the halberd's blade, this time aiming for Worthless Uncle's neck.

In this split second, Worthless Uncle made a move that confused the other party. He didn't dodge or evade, standing in place...he just quickly took off his sunglasses with his right hand and threw them out...

With a puff...the head fell to the ground.

However, before Worthless Uncle's "corpse" missing an arm and a head could fall, on the other side, another complete Worthless Uncle appeared behind the sunglasses.

"Interesting, right?" Worthless Uncle said, reaching into his pajama pocket and taking out another cigarette, calmly lighting it for himself, "Which position do you want to lie in the cardboard box in?"

Looking at his opponent who had fully resurrected in place, Corpse Blade the King felt a deep sense of despair. From the beginning of this battle until just now...he had used all his skills, but the other party had resolved them in various strange ways every time, and the result was always unscathed...

The next second, Corpse Blade the King forcibly quit...

Worthless Uncle listened to the system prompt ringing in his ears, exhaling smoke rings, "Hmph...forcefully quitting...seemingly the last resort to save face, but in reality...this is precisely the reaction of the weak..."