【Prizes—

In addition to the prizes for the finals, this competition also has generous rewards prepared for the teams with the top rankings in the preliminary rounds.

At this stage, the final prizes are temporarily kept secret.

The preliminary round prizes are as follows…】

"Ah… as expected…" Feng Bujue muttered, "For this kind of team-based points race, it's very likely that some teams will deliberately hide their strength in the preliminary rounds in order to gain an advantage in the finals… In this case, setting up some rewards for the top-ranked teams can also appropriately stimulate those who are conserving their strength."

【The top 100 teams in the preliminary round will each receive 1,000,000 in-game currency and a limited-edition t-shirt for each member.】

"Hmm… this reward is decent…" Feng Bujue immediately did some mental calculations, "Converted into RMB, that's about five hundred yuan in prize money, plus a piece of clothing that could potentially sell for several hundred to over a thousand online." He then thought, "Hmm… judging from the ranking of the distributed rewards, there are a lot of teams that can participate in the finals this time… definitely over a hundred, right… "

【The top 50 teams in the preliminary round will each receive two random excellent-grade equipment items corresponding to their level, and forty-eight hours of limited-time access to the new Thriller Paradise version, "Twilight of the Gods".】

"What the f—?" Feng Bujue was surprised again when he saw this, "They actually directly announced the name of the new version… and what's with the limited-time access? That is to say… by late October at the latest, they can prepare an independent, updated version server that players can connect to?"

His speculation was still too cautious… In fact, the development of the "Twilight of the Gods" version was completed shortly after the official launch of version v1.10, "Derivative Invasion". This limited-time experience is nothing more than a gimmick, taking existing resources and distributing them as benefits.

"Heh… this is interesting." Feng Bujue smiled after thinking for a few seconds, "This is going to force those game studios to their deaths…"

His mind was quick, and he quickly thought of it on this level…

The meaning of these forty-eight hours is completely different for casual players and for game studios…

Any studio worth its salt understands how much of an advantage being able to experience the content before the version update will bring them.

"This move is clever…" Feng Bujue commented, "In this way, those professional teams… will spare no effort to compete for the top fifty spots. If someone wants to 'conserve strength' or something, they have to make a trade-off… For example, large studios that have the ability to send multiple teams to participate will have to re-evaluate the strength of the second and third teams in the studio."

Thinking of this, Brother Jue became even more interested in the following prizes.

He continued to read on…

【The top 10 teams in the preliminary round, team members who are not yet at max level will be immediately upgraded to max level, and each member will receive a flawless-grade equipment item.】

"Damn…" Feng Bujue's eyes widened and he said, "No wonder they're devils, every condition directly strikes at the weakness of human nature…" He shook his head, "After seeing the prizes, even I want to go all out in the preliminary round, I have a feeling that if I'm ranked outside of the top 100… I'll be left further and further behind."

Squeak—

At this moment, the bedroom door suddenly opened.

"Haa… what are you mumbling about all alone so early in the morning?" Ruo Yu yawned and walked out of the room with sleepy eyes.

She was wearing a set of pink pajamas and pants, and her left shoulder and collarbone were exposed. Her medium-length hair was also scattered in a messy manner, looking like a slovenly girl.

After getting along for these few days, Feng Bujue had already mastered some of Ruo Yu's living habits, so… he was no stranger to the scene before him.

"Uh…" Feng Bujue glanced at her and replied in a very normal tone, "Go brush your teeth and wash your face first. I've already brought back breakfast. We'll talk while we eat later."

"Oh…" Ruo Yu replied when she heard this, then rubbed her eyes and dragged her little rabbit slippers, "smearing" all the way into the bathroom and closed the door.

Before Ruo Yu moved in, Brother Jue always thought that… aside from social obstacles and some personality flaws, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call Ruo Yu a "goddess". However, after these three days, he discovered… things were not quite the same as he imagined.

Of course, it's not that Ruo Yu has any terrible shortcomings, but… Feng Bujue vaguely felt that… the other party had many habits in daily life that were surprisingly similar to his own.

If conditions permit, not sleeping eight hours is uncomfortable…

It takes a lot of determination to get up, so you're very irritable for a few minutes when you first get up…

Always squeezes toothpaste from the middle…

Doesn't wash hair without showering…

Hates taking out the trash…

Likes to cook more than clean up, but shows obsessive cleanliness once she starts cleaning…

Things like that… and so on…

This was the first time Feng Bujue had lived with someone other than his parents, and it was even the first time he had lived under the same roof with a young woman (Asas obviously couldn't be classified into the first two situations). He originally thought that after adding such a roommate, he would at least have to go through a period of "adaptation" to eliminate the restraint, embarrassment, and disharmony between the two.

But for some reason… after living with Ruo Yu for a few days, Feng Bujue felt that everything was very natural.

They have many of the same habits, they have many of the same hobbies, their personalities have certain differences, but they still get along very well with each other.

He's living comfortably, and she's also living comfortably.

It's like that sentence we often say at the dinner table—adding a person is just adding a pair of chopsticks.

Brother Jue now has this feeling…

He couldn't say what the situation was. Maybe he had just adapted to a person's loneliness and regarded it as a normal state… Maybe… he had just discovered that it was nice to have such a like-minded person as a companion.

…………

At nine o'clock in the morning, Feng Bujue and Ruo Yu had both finished breakfast and lay down in their respective game pods.

Ruo Yu's game pod was undoubtedly also a deluxe version. Fortunately, the space in Brother Jue's living room was relatively abundant, and two units placed side by side and close together could still fit.

【Welcome to use our company's product. Scanning has started. Please wait.】

【Scanning complete. Citizen ID confirmed: sh13***313, Name: Feng Bujue; Access device: nL2055 deluxe single-person game pod, no abnormal external hardware detected; cardiopulmonary function is within normal range; nerve connection program is ready, please select access type.】

【Access type is non-sleep mode, adjusting… adjustment complete, please confirm loading the game or returning to the previous option.】

【Program starting, loading game in ten seconds…】

After a series of familiar voice prompts, Feng Bujue appeared in the login space.

He is now a level 50 player. Although he didn't train much for those last few levels, and mainly leveled up by receiving extra reward experience… Brother Jue's strength is beyond doubt. Whether it's the character's basic attributes, or skills, equipment, Soul Intent, Spiritual Weapons, etc… even in terms of raw strength, he can rank among the top fifty strongest players in the entire game.

Writing to this point, I believe that everyone has already had a faint premonition…

That's right, the following content is!

Madness is not Cool: Lv50

Title: 【Cunning Schemer】, Title Ability: 【Prophetic】

Experience Points: ----, Skill Points: 3184, Game Currency: 2152000.

Specializations: General A, Machinery A, Investigation C, Fighting S, Shooting C, Medical D, Spiritual Arts A, Summoning B.

Inventory (2125): Composite Anti-Gravity Catapult, Vajra Bell, Survival Value Supplement (Medium) *5, Endless Grenade Magazine, wjQ-308 Military Shovel (Indestructible), I Cried I Held It Mushroom*1, Deception Pocket Watch, Must-Break Defense Blade, Chuck Norris's Razor, Oxygen Pipe, Yi Da, [Wind, Forest, Mountain, Shadow, Thunder], Blackbeard's Skull, The Sealed One's Right Foot, The Sealed One's Left Foot, The Sealed One's Right Wrist, The Sealed One's Left Wrist.

Equipment: Death Poker (Spiritual Weapon), Artemis's Embrace, Alchemist King's Taunt, Tread the Void, Phantom Lady's Caress, Bell's Everyday Knife, Smiling Face, i_WAnnA_Be_A_BeLt.

Storage Room (315): "Poker Man" Hero ID Card, Jigsaw Puzzle-Sweater, Jigsaw Puzzle-Tears.

Skill Slots (1212): 【Mechatronics Power】【Spiritual Sense Gathering Technique-Modified】【Evil King Flame Kill Hellfire】【Moon Step】【Luan's Kick】【Flying Sand Spinning in the Wind】【Spirit Gun】【Baseball Fist Lv10】【Brat's Lower Whip Kick】【Lingxi Finger】【Summoning Technique—Musashi Koganei】【Summoning Technique—Ma Sun】

Unequipped Skills: 【Ice Alchemy Master's Persistence】【Not So Hasty Repair】【South Dipper Flying Dragon Fist】

This is Feng Bujue's stats shortly after reaching max level.

From the books, the data is quite beautiful. But to say it's "gorgeous" or "heaven-defying," it really doesn't count.

Comparing from God's perspective… those top experts in large studios are one notch higher than Feng Bujue in terms of the quality of equipment and skills.

If there's any advantage that Brother Jue has, it's that his specialization growth is more balanced, and that he has more strategic equipment and skills.

…………

"Yo! Everyone!" When Brother Jue walked into the conference room, Little Tan, Little Ling, and Flower Between were already sitting at the conference table. He greeted them very energetically, "Long time no see~"

"Yeah… it's been almost half a month." Little Ling muttered. Except for Little Tan, Brother Jue hadn't seen the other two online for a long time.

"What 'everyone'… are you a middle school teacher…?" Flower Between replied.

"Actually, I also thought about being a middle school teacher before." Feng Bujue replied.

"You must have had that thought after watching *GTO*…" Ruo Yu's voice came in at the right time. She entered the conference room at almost the same time as Brother Jue.

"That's right." Feng Bujue turned to look at her and admitted it very simply, "Is there anything wrong with that?"

Ruo Yu walked past Feng Bujue, came to the conference table, and sat down: "If you want to be a teacher, you have to graduate from being a chuuni first, right."

"Nice retort!" Little Tan immediately responded loudly from the side.

"What's so good about it…" Feng Bujue squinted his eyes, "Being good is also something you learned from me."

"Shameless." Ruo Yu replied.

"Huh?" Feng Bujue was shocked at the time, "You actually swore?"

"Yeah…" In the next second, a trace of shame and panic inexplicably flashed in Ruo Yu's eyes, "I just said what I was thinking directly… and the system didn't even block me?"

"This shows two points…" Flower Between raised one hand and extended two fingers, "First, Bujue is indeed thick-skinned. Second, even the system thinks Ruo Yu is right."

"Who taught you to talk like that again?" Feng Bujue squinted at Flower Between and asked.

"What's wrong with the way I talk?" Flower Between asked suspiciously.

Before Brother Jue could reply, Ruo Yu replied first: "Hmm… it's a bit like the tone of the characters in someone's book…"

"Eh?" Flower Between's pretty face flushed when she heard this. After a few seconds, she put on an annoyed expression and slammed the table fiercely, "Damn it… I must have been mentally polluted when proofreading…"

"Whose manuscript are you talking about?" Feng Bujue raised his voice as he spoke, and even stood up.

"I'll talk about whoever answers…" Flower Between replied.

"You…" Brother Jue hesitated, thought about it, and sat down, "Forget it… as the saying goes, a good man doesn't fight with a woman."

After he said this, he was hit in the face with potato chips, kicked, and pinched.

"System guards!" Feng Bujue shouted, "Why haven't you appeared yet? Is there no law anymore?"

"Brother Jue… stop acting cute…" Little Tan replied, "If the system guards really come, it's because your words just now are suspected of gender discrimination… You'll still be the one who gets killed…"

"Alright… then I'll talk about something serious." As Feng Bujue spoke, he brushed off the potato chips on his body, leaned forward, put his elbows on the table, and interlaced his fingers in front of his lips.

After putting on this Gendo Ikari's signature pose, Brother Jue revealed a cold look and said in a deep voice: "Everyone has heard about the Peak Hegemony S2, right?"

"I knew Captain was going to say this~" Little Ling replied first, "We were discussing it before you came."

Flower Between added: "It's also a coincidence… I just barely trained to level forty yesterday."

Little Tan also said, "Since Brother Jue is max level, then the five of us can just make a team."

The three of them said everything that Feng Bujue wanted to hear and say.

At this moment, Ruo Yu inadvertently revealed a slight smile and turned to look at Brother Jue: "It seems… you don't have to worry about your classmates."

"Heh…" Feng Bujue also smiled, "Very good…" He raised his head, "If everyone has no objections, then I'll impolitely… take on the position of captain of the 'Infernal Front' team."