Chapter 386: Watching the Match
As the most popular character in the game, if Zhou Ning were to appear in person at the competition, it would be an incredibly foolish move—tantamount to exposing his identity as a player.
So, after thinking for a moment, he decided against it and instead looked around for a bench to sit on and watch the live broadcast. Unlike the earlier scenes filled with sleeping homeless people, the streets now appeared unusually deserted—even the patrolling police looked listless.
Spotting a bench not far away, Zhou Ning brushed off the dust and sat down. He opened the forum and entered the pinned post to watch the live broadcast.
Based on the total 300 million revenue from the sale of Apocalypse game helmets and immersion pods during the time-limited period, 60% was set aside as the prize pool. This meant the total prize money for the professional league exceeded 180 million—an unprecedented amount that attracted over forty million viewers to the stream, far more than in his previous life.
This broadcast featured eight sub-stages and one main stage, with eight matches running simultaneously. Players could freely choose which match to watch, while the main stage would broadcast the round's most anticipated match, as voted by viewers.
Unlike the first tournament he remembered, this time the female host remained the same—the sweet and pretty "vase girl" Hua Kai Cheng Hai—but the male host had changed to one of his former underlings, Qingbai Wild Sake. He still looked as sleazy as ever—a true "beauty and the beast" pairing. When Zhou Ning opened the stream, Qingbai Wild Sake had just finished the opening remarks and loudly announced:
"Welcome to the First Apocalypse Professional League, Bryston Division Preliminary Rounds! The tournament officially begins!"
"This preliminary round has a total of 4,962 teams and over 200,000 players registered. The competition will start with the individual matches. Until the top 512 are decided, all matches will use single-elimination format; from the round of 512 onward, it will switch to best-of-three. All brackets are drawn by the central AI and notarized by the national certification authority. Winners advance, losers are eliminated, until we determine three qualifying teams and five individual qualifiers."
"The preliminaries will last five to seven days, with all matches broadcast live. Stay tuned!"
After explaining the rules, HuaKai ChengHai and Qingbai Wild Sake turned to gesture toward the largest arena within the Darkland National Stadium.
"Now, let's bring you the most anticipated opening match of the individual competition—the top-ranked player on the level leaderboard, the Wandering Gunslinger 'Jinse,' versus the warrior star of the 'Super Sweet Candy' Club, 'Sugarhill Big Bro'!"
Amid a burst of colorful fireworks, the under-1.6-meter-tall Jinse and the over-1.9-meter-tall professional player "Sugarhill Big Bro" stepped onto the stage.
When Zhou Ning saw Jinse, he couldn't help tugging at the corner of his mouth. The girl was wearing the same trench coat as him—but since she was so short, it didn't fit at all, making her look kind of ridiculous.
Both competitors were among the most popular professional players of the moment, and their appearance immediately drew waves of applause and cheers—the atmosphere was electric. The broadcast director even zoomed in on Three Realms Six Paths, the owner of the Deep Blue Club, whose expression looked rather grim. No surprise there—Sugarhill Big Bro was an experienced veteran, known for his aggressive playstyle and fierce offense. And since item use wasn't restricted in individual matches, there was a real chance of an upset.
Jinse and Sugarhill Big Bro took their positions on opposite sides of the stage. After a brief introduction, the match was about to begin.
A 30-second countdown appeared on the giant screen. The audience quickly quieted, all eyes focusing on the two competitors.
The air was thick with tension—an explosive battle was about to erupt.
In the lower-left corner, the commentators' window popped up. This match's guest commentators were a few pro players who had a bye this round—Sunken Star Beneath the Water and Super Powerful Bluecat, the latter also from the "Super Sweet Candy" Club.
"The two classes are Wandering Gunslinger and Warrior, at levels 41 and 40 respectively," Bluecat explained. "This will be a high-level duel between two top-tier players. Though Sugarhill Big Bro has worked hard, he still can't quite match Jinse, who's famous for her insane grind. Will this one-level gap become the key deciding factor?"
Bluecat shook his head. "That single level won't make a qualitative difference. What really matters is the level-40 class specialization. For Warriors, that's Heavy Armor Mastery, which allows them to wear heavy armor, drastically increasing their defense. Once a Warrior hits full form, their pursuit ability becomes terrifying. This won't be an easy match for Jinse."
Sunken Star Beneath the Water cut in curtly, "I'll bet a million—Jinse wins."
The director reacted fast and instantly muted him—best not to flaunt one's 'money power' here.
Zhou Ning: "..."
He rubbed his chin, watching the tension build on the stage. The first match being against a veteran Warrior was perfect—a true trial by fire for the Wandering Gunslinger class. He had quite a bit of faith in Jinse.
"Five… four… three… two… one!"
As soon as the countdown ended, Sugarhill Big Bro switched into combat stance. His entire body flared with blazing battle aura, and wielding his flaming greatsword, he charged straight at Jinse.
At the start of the match, the distance between the two was just right for a guaranteed charge hit. Jinse was immediately stunned for a moment.
Basic attack! Power Slash! Ground Splitter! Basic attack!
Sugarhill Big Bro's greatsword rained down blow after blow on Jinse. His basic attacks were interwoven with numerous minor skills—within seconds, Jinse's HP had dropped by about one-fifth. But on the fourth strike, Jinse suddenly countered with a knee strike, interrupting Sugarhill Big Bro's combo.
"That's the Wandering Gunslinger's advanced skill—Psychic Counter! Jinse pulled it off beautifully. Sugarhill Big Bro's assault was forcibly interrupted. That move has a bit of a Wayne Sturwell feel to it—you can tell she's practiced it for ages."
Professional players differed greatly from ordinary ones—their offense and defense were precise and calculated. They wouldn't rush in recklessly or turtle defensively; they pushed every detail to the limit.
After forcibly breaking Sugarhill Big Bro's combo, Jinse immediately executed Evasive Shot to widen the gap and activated Observation Haki.
This part was all about precision—Warriors at level 40 had three pursuit skills: Charge (25–31 yards), Intercept (12–25 yards), and Leap Slash, a semi-targeted skill. Too close or too far, and Charge or Intercept would fail, making accurate distance judgment crucial. Only Leap Slash could reliably land, but it had a 25-second cooldown and around 0.2 seconds of recovery lag—usually enough for only one hit before the opponent dodged.
The two began circling the stage in a cat-and-mouse chase, but unlike typical Warrior vs. Ranger matches, their duel was full of subtle micro-movements—a battle of countless details and mind games.
Jinse couldn't afford to let the Warrior get close; if he did, she'd be hit with a storm of chained attacks. She had to maintain distance, dodge skillfully, and keep up suppressive fire. Meanwhile, Sugarhill Big Bro had to guard, evade, and seize every chance to close in for a strike.
Both players' HP gradually and inevitably began to drop. The process was thrilling and razor-tight—even Sunken Star Beneath the Water, who'd been annoyed at being muted earlier, couldn't help but get fired up watching it.
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