Chapter 11 November 5th, 00:00

The Thriller Paradise Pinnacle Melee S2's preliminary round—[Fierce Battle of the Four Realms]—started on time.

The format of the preliminary round was just as Feng Bujue had predicted: a knockout tournament, and a single-elimination one at that.

No matter which team, as long as they lost a single match... they would directly bid farewell to this event.

This kind of format was undoubtedly extremely cruel.

You must know that among the 256 teams that entered the preliminary round, the bottom 156 teams didn't receive any prizes. And in the first round of the preliminary round, 128 teams would be eliminated.

This meant that... after the first round, all the eliminated teams that weren't in the top 100 in the qualifiers would be no different from those who failed to advance to the preliminary round in terms of material rewards... they would all have nothing.

But that's the competition...

...

At midnight on this day, the Hell Frontline team had also finished assembling their team in advance and joined the match queue on time.

According to the rules, the match-ups for each round of the preliminary round were announced sixteen hours before the match... that is, at eight o'clock in the morning of the previous day.

And Hell Frontline's opponent in this first round was—[Corpse Blade Second Squad].

This match of theirs was one of the focal points of the first round, and could even be said to be the most watched.

There were three main reasons for this...

First, whether they were professional studios or casual players, everyone wanted to learn more about the strength of this mysterious Hell Frontline team.

Second, this match was the only top-ten clash in the first round, a direct dialogue between the seventh and ninth place teams in the qualifiers.

Third, the Si Rui Group's publicity campaign had recently been launched, and "Crazy Unawakened's" identity as a writer was being known by more and more people, and had become the focus of hype... its attention had reached an unprecedented height.

To sum it up... everyone wanted to know, just how strong are you guys? Can you beat a strong professional team? And... what will that madman do in the match this time?

...

[Crazy Unawakened, Level 50]

[Vain Sigh, Level 50]

[Rain Like Separation, Level 50]

[Sad Spirit Laughing Bones, Level 50]

[Flower Between Rocks, Level 50]

[Please select the game mode your team wants to join.]

[You have selected Pinnacle Melee S2 - Fierce Battle of the Four Realms, please confirm.]

[Confirmed, please select the spectators for this battle.]

[Confirmed, your team has entered the queue and is waiting for your opponents to be ready.]

[Match complete, coordinating neural connections, script generation in progress...]

[Loading begins, please wait.]

"The smoke of war has just settled, the blood is still warm,
Fierce battles start again, people do not wait.
All the stars gather in the four realms,
Heroic feelings soar to the nine heavens."

[Loading complete, welcome to Pinnacle Melee S2 - Fierce Battle of the Four Realms.]

[This mode provides a script introduction and has a chance to trigger side hidden quests and special worldviews.]

[Script Victory Reward: Advance to the second round of the preliminary round.]

[The script introduction will be played shortly, and the match will begin immediately after the playback.]

Except for the opening poem... oh no... the opening remarks have changed, the loading process for the preliminary round is roughly the same as the qualifiers.

The "Privacy Protection Option" no longer existed in the later rounds of the qualifiers, which also saved some steps.

It should also be noted here that... the rewards for the qualifiers were distributed on November 1st. Considering that each team still has the possibility of obtaining subsequent rewards (i.e., the prizes for the preliminary round and the finals), the physical prizes in the real world will be distributed uniformly after the finals; as for the "New Version Experience Rights," they cannot be used for the time being.

However, all other rewards were in place on the day the leaderboard was announced...

Therefore, the five members of Hell Frontline have all received the luxurious rewards of "Perfect Grade Equipment *1," "Excellent Grade Equipment *2," "Game Coins 1000000," and "Direct Level Up to Level 50."

Of course, the "Direct Level Up to Level 50" reward also has its advantages and disadvantages. It's okay for Ruoyu, Xiaoling, and Xiaotan, because all three of them had reached level 49 in October; but... Huajian's level before the direct level up was only level 44. Although the direct level up saved her a lot of leveling time, her specialization, skills, and equipment configurations would obviously be somewhat out of sync.

In this case, Jue-ge (Brother Jue) naturally unceremoniously invited her to the substitute bench.

According to Jue-ge's judgment... it is relatively unfavorable to send Huajian to the field, at least in this first match.

...

After talking about Hell Frontline, let's take a look at [Corpse Blade Second Squad] in general.

The four members who appeared in this match are: [San Yu Striker], [Shui Shi Striker], [Reborn as King], and [Transmigrated as King].

In terms of IDs, these four also adhered to Corpse Blade's consistent style, all kinds of obscure and incomprehensible.

As for the appearance of the four team members... there is not much to introduce, four men with the same hairstyle, clothing, dull expressions, and even similar figures.

However, in terms of the abilities of the game characters, these four are very different. After all, Corpse Blade's lineup is compiled by AI, and there is unlikely to be homogenization between team members, so that they can complement each other.

First of all, the captain [San Yu Striker] is a player who excels in Summoning specialization. He has two S-level summoned creatures at the same time, and his own Melee specialization is also good. His apparent strength ranks in the top thirty of the personal player combat power list (now many first-line players have chosen not to display their names on the list, so some players who should have been outside the top fifty have risen in the rankings), which should not be underestimated.

Secondly, there is the vice-captain [Shui Shi Striker]. This person is a master who specializes in Shooting specialization, and the specialization is relatively one-sided; even so... he can still be among the top fifty in the personal combat power list, and is also a tough opponent.

Next, there is the team's strategist [Reborn as King], a support-type and intelligent character who is good at Medical and Spiritual specialization. He occasionally serves as a substitute in the qualifiers, and does not have many opportunities to perform in the main competition, but his basic functions are still relatively clear.

Finally, there is [Transmigrated as King], who is good at Melee specialization. As the team's main combatant, S-level Melee specialization is a must. The ranking in the top forty of the personal combat power list can also confirm his ability.

The above is the basic overview of [Corpse Blade Second Squad].

Although it is the Second Squad, objectively speaking, their qualifier results are ranked above the First Squad. And... the people of Corpse Blade, even if they are not very strong, will definitely not be weak.

Their ranking on the combat power list cannot be completely believed, because they use foul means such as "drugs," so their actual combat power must be higher and more difficult to deal with than what can be statistically measured...

For Hell Frontline, this first match is already a severe challenge...