“Next match… Lukal Bernstein versus… Honda Tadakatsu.”

The matches on the martial arts stage proceeded one after another. Whether the previous match was epic and moving or dull and uninteresting, the copper lion statue responsible for announcing the matches paid no attention.

Setting aside the situation on the stage, let's talk about what was happening below.

After Ruoyu's battle, Feng Bujue left the edge of the stage and walked towards the stone tablet with the rules inscribed on it.

Qisha and Xiao Tan were standing near the stone tablet. When they saw Jue-ge coming, Xiao Tan even waved to him.

"Oh… private fights are prohibited below the stage, huh…" Feng Bujue walked to the stone tablet, the first rule he saw was this, and he immediately turned to Qisha and Xiao Tan and said, "Sigh… my plan to kill you two offstage has gone bankrupt just like that…"

"Hey! You're saying that right in front of us!" Xiao Tan exclaimed.

"What's there to hide? It's a survival game anyway," Feng Bujue shrugged in response.

"Heh… Brother Feng, you haven't changed." Qisha's reaction was calm, "Although your words are unpleasant, your personality is hard to dislike."

Qisha was a few years older than them, and his life experience was naturally richer. He understood that people who spoke like this to your face were not scary… on the contrary, those who were overly polite and skilled at flattery were the ones to watch out for.

"Too bad…" Feng Bujue laughed self-deprecatingly, "Most people start hating me before they even understand my 'personality'."

"Are you sure it's hate and not fear…" Xiao Tan retorted at the right moment.

"'Fear' and 'disgust' are often related emotions," Jue-ge replied seriously, "I can easily give you a dozen examples, such as… cockroaches, snakes, slugs, ghosts, secondhand smoke, violent mentally ill patients, rich second-generation kids racing on the streets in the middle of the night, diagnostic tests, pop quizzes, midterm exams, final exams, junior high school entrance exams, college entrance exams, graduation theses…"

"Are you sure these things you're listing are in parallel?" Xiao Tan squinted.

"And… starting from 'diagnostic tests'… the nature of the ones after that seems pretty much the same…" Qisha also twitched his lips as he recited.

"If you let him keep talking, he might say 'deadline' or something," a woman's voice suddenly rang out, joining their conversation.

Everyone turned their heads and saw Huajian walking towards them from a few meters away.

"I haven't missed a deadline in a long time." Feng Bujue looked at the person coming and revealed a very unhappy expression, "You're still bringing that up… isn't that inappropriate?"

"Only a guy like you who sees 'missing deadlines' as the norm…" Huajian looked at Jue-ge with a contemptuous look, "would treat 'submitting on time' as something worth showing off about."

"Tch…" Feng Bujue raised his head forty-five degrees and recited in a disdainful tone, "If you're not satisfied… you can find someone else, that's just how I am."

"You're not ashamed, but proud, are you…" Faced with Jue-ge's attitude, Huajian was indeed quite helpless.

"Oh! Right, I almost forgot." Hearing this, Qisha suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Jue-ge, "Brother Feng, you're a writer, right? I think I saw you on TV."

"Ah… a writer or something… I wouldn't dare call myself that." Feng Bujue replied lazily, "I'm at most an author… you know, we artsy types are all very low-key, don't admire me, I'll be very embarrassed."

"Uh… from the content of your words to the tone you said them in… is there even a hint of 'embarrassment'…" Qisha said with a dry laugh.

"There is… look how shy my expression is." Feng Bujue stared with dead fish eyes and replied shamelessly.

"Alright, big brother…" Huajian cast a sympathetic glance at the embarrassed Qisha, "Continuing to talk to him… will only deplete your sanity points."

"Then why did you come over?" Feng Bujue said to Huajian, "Do you think your sanity points are too high?"

"I came to look at the rules, is that okay?" Huajian replied.

"What's there to see, you're not going to fight." Feng Bujue's seemingly casual words actually contained the double intention of "testing" and "stimulating" the opponent.

"Heh…" Unexpectedly, Huajian wasn't surprised at all that her strategy had been seen through, and at the same time, she keenly noticed Jue-ge's intention, "Trying to use reverse psychology on me? I'm not falling for it… I'm just not fighting." As she said that, she took two steps forward and walked to the stone tablet, "Is there a rule that says… people who aren't fighting can't look at the rules?"

"Hmm?" Qisha seemed a little confused by what Huajian said, he wondered, "This beautiful lady… if you don't go onstage to duel, how will you complete the main quest?"

"The content of the main quest is already ambiguous." Huajian replied without turning her head, "Besides, the quest log doesn't say… that you'll be teleported out of the script after surrendering, does it?"

"Hmm… that makes sense…" Qisha touched his chin and nodded thoughtfully, "Although the content of the main quest is [Win the martial arts tournament], what exactly is the concept of 'victory'… is it to become one of the final 'ten challengers', or to successfully kill Orochi?"

"I think… either way, the difficulty is very, very high." Feng Bujue continued, "In comparison, 'killing all the other players besides yourself before the martial arts tournament ends'… might be easier. And… according to the basic principles of survival games, as long as you become the last surviving player, that counts as winning, it doesn't matter if the main quest isn't completed."

"That's easier said than done…" Xiao Tan continued, "From the current stage… it's almost impossible for players to kill each other before the martial arts tournament ends or some kind of change occurs. To make a move offstage, you have to be sure that you can 'kill all your opponents before the demon generals arrive'. If you can't do that… for example, if you only kill one or two people and the demon generals come, then it's all for naught… it's like doing free labor for others." Now, his analysis of the problem was also very logical, "As for killing on the stage… that's equally difficult. Even if the announcer statue happens to call out the names of two players, one side can escape by admitting defeat, without having to fight at all."

"That's right, the real difficulty of this script lies here…" Feng Bujue put his hands in his pockets and paced as he continued, "That 'main quest' is just a lead-in. It leads us to a relatively safe environment where private fights are prohibited. Here, every time a player's name is called, they will face a very dangerous duel. 'Directly admitting defeat' is indeed an absolutely safe and easy way to get through it, but… based on my game experience, this kind of solution that is obviously in conflict with the main quest and has no technical content… will inevitably come at a price. It's just that we don't know what that price is yet…" As he said this, he took a special look at Huajian, and then continued, "Right now, the problem before us is… how to successfully kill all the other players in such an environment. And before we achieve this goal, each of us has to pray… that our names aren't called out too many times…"

"Hmm…" After the voice fell, the four people gathered together all lowered their heads, their faces showing a look of contemplation.

To be honest, their conversation, and this atmosphere… were quite strange. They were clearly a group of people fighting on their own, mutually hostile, yet they were gathered together eagerly discussing how to kill each other. This also reflected from the side… that each of them had considerable confidence in their own strength and wisdom, and had a very good gaming mentality.

At the same time, on the other side of the martial arts stage…

Ruoyu, who hadn't participated in that discussion, was exchanging something with Feng Zhihen.

They were both the concise, frugal with words type, and even if ordinary people stood next to them, they might not understand what they were saying.

Anyway, the general situation was… Uncle Feng was guiding Ruoyu – the correct usage of dual swords.