Chapter 16 Showdown in the Stone Gorge

The sun blazed high, and a fierce wind blew incessantly.

Amidst a forest of towering rocks in the gorge, a battle to the death was already underway.

At this point, nearly three hours (game time) had passed since the beginning of the script. After experiencing a series of plot conflicts, the eight members of Order Team One and Corpse Blade First Team had become scattered within the stone gorge, each fighting their own battles.

"Ugh... how big is this script map anyway..." After wandering alone for a long time, Zui Wo Changran gradually grew weary, muttering to himself, "If everyone gets lost in this labyrinthine, irregular, and endlessly expanding stone gorge, won't this match just end in a draw..."

"Hmph... I wouldn't be so sure." Suddenly, a soft whisper reached Zui Wo Changran's ears.

"Hmm?" Hearing the voice, Zui Wo Changran immediately raised his head, accurately locating and looking towards the speaker's position. "What a surprise..."

This "surprise" had two meanings... first, he was astonished that the other party could approach him so silently without being detected; second, he was surprised that the other party hadn't taken advantage of being hidden to launch a surprise attack.

"Surprise?" Fei Kou Wei Wang, squatting atop a jagged boulder, looked down at Zui Wo Changran in the gorge below and said, "Judging by your tone, do you think..." He paused for half a second, "...that someone like me, with the advantage of being hidden while you're in the open, should attack you without a word, instead of calmly greeting you or something?"

"Heh..." Zui Wo Changran chuckled, reaching up to smooth his instant noodle hair. "I don't quite understand what you mean by 'someone like me'..." Despite his words, his expression held a hint of sarcasm. "But generally speaking... isn't a sneak attack the normal choice?" He spread his hands. "If it were me, I'd attack first and say hello later."

"Spare me the act." Hearing this, Fei Kou Wei Wang was inwardly furious, but under the influence of the drugs, his expression and tone weren't very intense. "Just because I'm from Corpse Blade, you automatically assume I'm nothing special... right?"

"Heh... I didn't say that. I just..." Zui Wo Changran started to deny.

But Fei Kou Wei Wang interrupted him, "Enough. You don't have to say it explicitly; that would tarnish your 'celebrity player' image of humility, wouldn't it?" He also tried to make his words sound sarcastic, but they still came out flat.

"Image, huh..." Zui Wo Changran shook his head with a smile. "Do you think I'm someone who cares about that kind of thing?"

"Hmph... that's what I hate most about 'people like you'," Fei Kou Wei Wang snorted coldly. "You possess things that others don't, yet you act like you don't care; every word and action... exudes a sickening sense of superiority."

"Blame me?" Zui Wo Changran shrugged.

"Keep pretending if you want..." Fei Kou Wei Wang said, producing a strangely shaped, sharp blade in his hand. "I want to see... when you're struggling in despair, whether you can still calmly put on that facade."

...

At the same moment, elsewhere in the stone gorge.

"What's wrong? Pothead." Zhong Kui Qiangxi looked coldly at the already wounded Sheng Yu Pian, "Where's all that confidence from before? Didn't you say you could take on two without a problem?"

"Heh... it's a waste to ask," Mo Ri Qiangxi interjected with a sneering laugh. "He probably can't even hear what we're saying anymore."

"Don't worry, you two." Sheng Yu Pian wiped the blood from his lips and stood up from the ground. "Although you destroyed my hearing, I can still read lips." He gave a bitter laugh. "Heh... I guess this counts as a real-life skill being used in the game."

"Oh?" Zhong Kui Qiangxi responded. "I never would have guessed... you're quite the multi-talent."

There was some basis to this "never would have guessed"...

Compared to most of the other top-tier celebrity players, Sheng Yu Pian's round face, bowl-cut hairstyle, and lukewarm, steady personality... definitely belonged to the "invisible" category. His simple, casual ID also showed... that's just how he was—unassuming and unpretentious. And these days, people like him who took the simple, low-key route... were easily overlooked and underestimated.

"You flatter me." Sheng Yu Pian replied. "There's really nothing to be proud of..." He squinted. "From elementary school to university, to get closer to girls... I joined dozens of interest groups, so I unconsciously learned a lot of life skills, sports, musical instruments, and so on..." As he said this, his expression changed slightly. "Um... but no matter where I went, I was always ignored like an invisible person... Not to mention girls, even the guys and instructors in the clubs never noticed me, even if I made amazing progress in a short amount of time..."

"Uh... that..." Mo Ri Qiangxi noticed Sheng Yu Pian was getting further and further off track and wanted to interrupt him, but...

"Later, I realized... no matter if I was late, left early, was absent, or even quit the club... no one would notice. It was as if I wasn't even in the group..." Sheng Yu Pian was getting more and more excited. "After entering middle school, I changed clubs seven or eight times every year, coming and going as I pleased... I didn't even need to write applications to join or quit because it didn't matter if I wrote them or not; I didn't have to go to training camps because the managers and instructors never remembered to book tickets or berths for me; even when I went out to competitions with the team, I was always stuck on the bench..."

"Dude... what's with this Twilight Zone-esque sense of déjà vu..." Zhong Kui Qiangxi thought to himself. Although he also thought the other guy was going off on a tangent, for some reason... he actually wanted to hear the rest of the story.

"I remember the year I was a freshman in high school, my school's basketball team made it to the national tournament..." Sheng Yu Pian gazed at the sky, lost in thought. "I thought that in the intense national tournament, for the sake of stamina, the team's rotation would increase, and I'd finally have a chance to contribute to my teammates... So, before the tournament started, I skipped class for two weeks and completed a special training of 20,000 shots, finally mastering the Okugi (secret technique) - [misdirection. Judgement]..."

"Skipping class for two weeks is fine too..." Zhong Kui Qiangxi muttered, "The teachers and classmates didn't notice you weren't going to school?"

"I won't even talk about the 20,000-shot training..." Mo Ri Qiangxi added, his mouth twitching. "But why would practicing shooting lead to misdirection... and do you really even need misdirection, of all things... And what's with that weird suffix 'Judgement'..."

Sheng Yu Pian ignored their complaints and continued in a serious tone, "This Okugi... is my unique move. Its effect is to guide the referee's line of sight on the court, infinitely magnifying the smallest actions of the opposing team's players; within the rules, it maximizes the chances of the referees making rulings that benefit our team."

"Dude! Isn't that invincible!" Zhong Kui Qiangxi's shock value went through the roof. "If you have this kind of technique, why are you even playing games! Go play basketball! China's domination of the world is just around the corner!"

"However, in the first game of the national tournament, I still sat on the bench," Sheng Yu Pian said. "I thought... it was because the first opponent wasn't particularly strong, and anyway, our team still won in the end." He paused. "But... in the second game, we faced the undefeated legend that had dominated high school basketball for thirty years - Shan Wang Industries (Eel King Industries)."

"Are you sure it's Industries and not Agriculture..." Mo Ri Qiangxi muttered.

Sheng Yu Pian continued, "I remember, in last year's national tournament, the perennial champion of my province, the mighty Hai Nan High School team... lost to Shan Wang by a huge margin of 30 points."

"Could that king's team name be any lamer..." Zhong Kui Qiangxi was starting to feel a headache coming on.

"Faced with Shan Wang's full-court press in the second half, my team's starters were exhausted, and even some of the usual substitutes were showing signs of fatigue," Sheng Yu Pian continued. "I thought... my chance to play was finally coming, but..." He looked downcast. "The coach still ignored my existence..."

At this point, Sheng Yu Pian sighed to the heavens, "Alas... in the end, we lost that game." He looked forlorn. "On the bus ride back, I happened to sit next to the coach. After much hesitation, I mustered the courage to ask him... 'Coach, why... didn't you let me try playing until the very end?'" He shook his head. "The coach turned to look at me and said something I'll never forget in my life..." He paused for two seconds and repeated, "'Kid, who are you?'"

Silence descended...

After a full minute of silence, Zhong Kui Qiangxi lowered his voice and quietly said to Mo Ri Qiangxi beside him, "Remind me... to never initiate a conversation with the opponent during a fight again."

"Yeah... I think so too," Mo Ri Qiangxi replied.

...

On the other hand, at the edge of the stone gorge, atop a broken cliff.

"The scenery here is really nice, hic~" Meng Jingchan lay sprawled on the edge of the cliff, drinking and leisurely admiring the orange sky before him and the vast expanse of misty clouds beneath his feet. "Too bad... someone just had to come and spoil the view."

Before his voice faded, a figure had already appeared behind him.

"If you just wanted to look at the scenery, you should have been a spectator," Xian Ye Wei Wang replied from five meters behind Meng Jingchan.

Even though Chan Ge was lying on the ground, Xian Ye Wei Wang didn't dare to be careless. He maintained a safe distance and warily watched his opponent.

"But..." Meng Jingchan responded without turning his head, "Spectators can't lie down and drink as comfortably as I am."

"Now that you mention it..." Xian Ye Wei Wang replied, "That does seem to make sense."

"Want to come over and have a drink together?" The next second, Meng Jingchan asked casually. His tone was so relaxed and natural that it didn't sound like he was joking at all.

"No, I'm here to fight," Xian Ye Wei Wang said. "Not to look at the scenery or drink."

"Is that so..." Meng Jingchan muttered. "That's a shame..."

With that, he threw away the empty bottle and stood up, swaying slightly.