Chapter 1 S3 Begins

March 20th, zero o'clock, the S3 registration ended on time.

The vast majority of teams had submitted their application days ago, and even the latest registrations were completed by the 19th during the day. Teams that barely met the hidden score requirement to register after 11 PM on the 19th simply didn't exist.

By 0:10, all participating players received a system notification informing them of the number of teams and match-ups for the first round.

A total of 26,705 teams successfully passed the "hidden score" threshold and registered for the competition.

Therefore, in the first round, 26,704 teams will engage in duels, with 13,352 teams being eliminated. One team will receive a bye, advancing them to the next round along with the remaining 13,352 teams.

The competition begins one day later, on the 21st at zero o'clock. After the first round, there will be a one-day break. On the 22nd at zero o'clock, the official will announce the match-ups for the next round, and then the second round will begin on the 23rd.

Each subsequent round will follow the same rules until a champion is decided.

Leaving aside the bye factor, a rough calculation shows that to win the championship… you need to win fifteen consecutive matches within a thirty-day period. Conversely, losing any match before winning fifteen results in immediate elimination.

From a competition system perspective, this kind of full random match elimination tournament doesn't require any point calculation and prevents any prediction of the advancement path. This saves data teams in many studios a lot of trouble.

Of course, their intelligence analysis work still can't stop. Even if the next round's opponent is a team of unknown casual players, they can't be careless. They still have to investigate... After all, the team's total hidden score is over 500, so they can't be that weak.

…………

Evening of the 20th, in Xu Huai Shang's conference room.

Hell Frontline is ready for departure.

[Please note that the first round of the Peak Tournament S3 will begin in ten minutes (game time)]

At this moment, everyone received a dual notification of voice and dialogue box.

Since the time ratio in sleep mode is 1:10, players in the game world only receive this message when the real-world time is already 11:59.

One minute of game time later, another system message refreshed: [Please submit the team's lineup for this round within the next nine minutes. If the relevant information is not submitted within the specified time, the team's lineup will be randomly sorted by the system]

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue listened and pondered for a moment, glancing at his teammates in the room, and said, "Then, I'll submit it according to what we discussed earlier."

He quickly received confirmation from his teammates, and then submitted the first round's roster –

Vanguard: [Snow]

Centurion: [Wang Tanzhi] [Bei Ling Xiaogu]

Adjutant: [Xu Huai Shang]

Lieutenant: [Si Yu Ruo Li] [Shi Shang Hua Jian]

General: [Feng Bujue]

Since Hell Frontline is facing a team of unknown casual players in the first round, and the strength and characteristics of each opponent are unknown, Jue-ge used a relatively stable and conventional lineup for this battle.

According to Feng Bujue's analysis, teams of casual players usually only have two types of formations. The first is the "conventional balanced type," where they send out their members from weakest to strongest to ensure stable combat power in each battle. The second is the "top-heavy type," where they send out the third, second, and strongest members in the first three matches, respectively, trying to end the match with a 3:0 score.

From a tactical perspective, the "top-heavy type" arrangement is obviously more of a "sneak attack." If the opponent has a "conventional balanced type" formation, they can easily be eaten up by this "Tian Ji's horse racing" style suppression.

But this "chicken stealing" tactic naturally comes with corresponding risks. If there's a mishap in any of the first three matches, the "top-heavy type" team is basically done, because the people they arranged for the last two matches are the weakest and definitely can't deal with the enemy's strong players who are responsible for holding the line.

In addition, there's also the possibility of two "top-heavy type" teams meeting, which makes it no different from a duel between two "conventional balanced type" teams.

In the most extreme case... there might even be a third type of formation specifically targeting the "top-heavy type" arrangement, which is to put their strongest member in the first match, eating up the "top-heavy type" team's third strongest, and then throwing the second and third matches, before using their second and third strongest members to take out the opponent's weakest two in the fourth and fifth matches.

In short, when the strengths of the two teams are close, the difference in formation can indeed determine the outcome, and the game within it... depends not only on psychological warfare, but also on wisdom and luck.

Feng Bujue is a cautious person. He put Xu Huai Shang in the key position of "Adjutant," because he had already thought about it... even if there was a one in a billion chance that they encountered an unknown hidden strong team today, a team full of first-line experts, and they put out a "top-heavy" lineup, defeating Hell Frontline in the first and second matches... then, it wouldn't matter too much.

Because, looking at the entire Thriller Paradise, the number of people who have a chance to beat Xu Huai Shang in a one-on-one duel can be counted on one hand. Jue-ge knows all of those people, and they're definitely not on today's opposing team.

Considering it this way... even in the worst-case scenario, their chances of winning are still greater than 50%.

And in reality, for Hell Frontline's opponents, when they saw the first round's match-up list, the "worst-case scenario" had already arrived.

How many hidden powerhouses are there in this world? They're just a team with an average hidden score of around 75. A few friends got together to participate in the competition, and they were originally quite enthusiastic, but when they saw their opponent—the previous champion, their mood… their feelings… truly matched the saying, "Before the mission is accomplished, the hero dies; leaving heroes to weep tears of sorrow." If it weren't for the opportunity to fight against Goddess Xu, these guys would have forfeited.

…………

Ten minutes passed quickly, and at zero o'clock, the system voice [The match is about to begin, please prepare to teleport] sounded.

Immediately afterward was a ten-second countdown, and when the system finished counting down, the players disappeared from the conference room in a flash of light.

This can be said to be a major reform implemented in this competition.

In the past, players had to return to their elevator room to teleport to any script space, but this time, they could teleport collectively from the conference room.

Unfortunately... this service isn't supported during regular script queuing.

[Loading complete]

[Peak Tournament S3, Round One]

[Venue: Cell Games Arena]

Compared to the previous two tournaments, this time's loading voice was much simpler. When the voice finished, Snow was already standing on a "ring."

This was a square ring with sides of more than thirty meters, made up of many square bricks measuring one meter on each side. From above, it looked like a chessboard. At each corner of the ring stood a pillar, the shape of which resembled a Western knight's lance, but much thicker than a real knight's lance.

The surroundings of the ring were basically a wasteland. As far as the eye could see, there were only rolling hills and some weeds. The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the sun was shining brightly.

[You have entered spectator mode]

Several seconds later, everyone except the two players in the first battle heard this prompt.

At this time, the members of the two teams were teleported into two transparent rectangular containers, and these two boxes were suspended in mid-air on either side of the field, so they could see the duel on the ring from a bird's-eye view.

[Note that the spectator space and the battlefield are not on the same phase layer. Players on the battlefield cannot communicate in any way with teammates in the spectator space]

What this means is that the person fighting can't see, hear, or touch the transparent box, so those in the box don't need to try to help their teammates by shouting or anything else.

[The match will begin in thirty seconds]

Immediately afterward, the system gave the next prompt.

On the ring, Snow and his opponent [Red King] were both eager to fight.

This "30-second preparation time" is naturally useful. During this time, the two participating players are separated by a transparent barrier. Neither the player himself nor any other object can pass through the barrier, but... taking advantage of this time to release some "skills" in advance is possible. Especially for players like Snow, who specialize in machinery and summoning, these thirty seconds are invaluable.

Snow's mind wasn't slow. He instantly understood the meaning of the preparation time. As soon as the system voice finished, he took out a pile of materials from his bag and started tinkering with his [Sandbox Dweller's Hammer] and [wjQ-308 Military Shovel].

Although his summoning skills were also good, his main focus was on machinery. The only passive skill he had equipped, [Artisan's Spirit], had the effect of "improving the capabilities of machinery-specialized creations and accelerating the production speed of such creations."

In less than half a minute, Snow had created something out of a pile of metal, parts, bonding agents, and some strange materials.

[Name: Construction Art – King of Mountain Roads]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Learned]

[Skill Category: Machinery]

[Effect: Create a high-performance land-based manned vehicle]

[Consumption: 5 Stamina lost every 10 seconds during manufacturing, no less than ten kilograms of metal, no less than five connecting parts, other parts can be added as needed]

[Learning Condition: Machinery Specialization A]

[Remarks: I have a friend who runs a repair shop. Every time he finishes repairing a car for someone, he ends up with a small box of parts that he doesn't know how to put back.]

One day, I said to him, when you accumulate enough parts, you can put together a new car.

So, he really started storing those parts, until one day, he finally collected enough parts, and then… he was arrested.

So, I often say that there are risks involved in vehicle modification.

— A low-key veteran driver.]

Although this skill looks mediocre, it actually has a very large operating space and potential when used.

Assuming the skill's consumption requirements are met, Snow can make things ranging from small skateboards, unicycles, and bicycles to larger cars, sports cars, and trucks. Even larger, he could make tanks, maglev trains, and mobile fortresses...

This skill doesn't have any cooldown restrictions. As long as he has enough stamina and materials, he can start building at any time, and he can make things as big as he wants. He can also complete the same thing in several installments.

Right now, Snow used twenty-odd seconds to create a bizarrely shaped motorcycle.

[Five… four… three…]

When there were five seconds left before the start of the battle, the system voice began counting down. At this time, Snow had already straddled the motorcycle, facing the opposite direction from his opponent... and started the engine.

The Red King with the ID [Red King] on the opposite side also had a confused look on his face, thinking, "This guy... is he planning to run away?"

[Two… one… fight!]

With a "fight" sound, the barrier between the two disappeared, but Snow had already ridden away two seconds before the barrier disappeared...

It can be said that he fully understood the meaning of the "30-second rule." Why did the system only set up barriers between the two players and not restrict them from going to the area behind them? It's simple. It's to give players who use "stealth ambush" or "long-range sniping" as their combat style, as well as those who want to use other roundabout tactics, time to create some distance.

Of course, the "battlefield" is large, but it still has boundaries, and the "passive game" judgment is also in place. If there were no these two restrictions, then the side with the upper hand in mobility could "run endlessly toward the sunset," and the game would never end.

"This..." Red King thought to himself, watching Snow's receding back, "I didn't expect this..."

He just stood there, waiting blankly. It wasn't that he didn't want to chase, but he really couldn't catch up.

Red King is a very traditional close-combat player with considerable combat power, but he has a weakness... he's slow. It's not certain if he could catch up to a person, let alone a vehicle.

"Um... won't he be judged as a passive game this way?" Xiao Tan couldn't help but say, looking at the figure standing still on the field in the spectator space.

"It should be the one who turned around and ran away who will be judged, not the one who's standing by." Feng Bujue replied.

"That's right." Xiao Ling also said, "It's obviously disadvantageous to chase an opponent riding a vehicle on foot, and even if you catch up, it will consume a lot of your stamina. So, it's a very correct judgment and response for the opponent to stand by and wait. It would be unfair if this were counted as a passive game."

As they were talking, Red King in the field had already sat down and muttered, "Huff... then I'll just wait here. Anyway, you were the one who ran away first, and you'll have to come back eventually. If you don't do anything, you'll be the first one to be judged as playing passively..."

His idea was correct, but... Snow, who was planning to build a missile launch pad, didn't seem to need to come back in the first place...