Melissa was hooked.
As a judge, she still had certain privileges.
So during the competition's second stage, she'd been playing Plants vs Zombies the entire time.
Her progress could be said to be the highest now.
Through repeated cycles of death, review, death, review, she'd reached the game's fourth major area: Night Pool.
This stage unlocked Balloon Zombies, which could fly in the sky and ignore all ground plants. Extremely annoying.
She had to use Cactus plants to shoot spikes and pop the balloons first, forcing them to the ground before she could damage them.
Plus, the thick fog on the right side of the map severely obstructed vision. She had to spare extra slots to plant Torchwood.
As levels unlocked...
More and more plants, all varieties of zombies began appearing one by one.
Plus various items and cards appearing in Crazy Dave's shop.
She couldn't help but admire this work's creativity.
All sorts of wild ideas, various novel mechanics dazzled her eyes.
She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun.
She'd been playing for almost a full day without feeling the slightest bit tired.
She clearly remembered the starting interface still had three grayed-out options. No doubt they were other modes.
A small rookie work actually had such rich content.
Though it cleverly used fixed scenes, even a miniaturized sandbox world, it hadn't diminished the entertainment value in the slightest.
She quietly withdrew her consciousness.
"The third round begins!"
"The elder judges present will evaluate and score the top ten contestants' works!"
"Each contestant's second round vote score plus votes multiplied by the judge scoring base average will determine the final score!"
"The highest-scoring work will become this competition's champion!"
"Let's wait and see!"
The venue fell silent.
"Please welcome the 10th place contestant and their work [Jungle Phantom]!"
"This work features a rare assassination theme with excellent creativity, telling the story of a retired jungle ranger hunted by old enemies."
"Using the complex environment of Moonshadow Forest, it becomes a game of hunter and hunted."
"Though the creativity is good, unfortunately the execution is too immature."
"Dialogue lacks depth, details aren't properly handled, and some areas have excessive scene repetition."
"So I give it a 6."
"I think... so I give it a 7."
"Contestant 10's judge average score is 6.3. Vote score: 310 multiplied by (1 + 0.63) makes the Final score: 505."
...
"Next, please welcome the 5th place contestant and their work [Rose Knight]!"
"This work tells the story of a noblewoman unwilling to be bound by her family's constraints, who forges her own path, ultimately thwarting the kingdom's dark forces' conspiracy and becoming a knight sworn to the Queen."
"You can see this work's designer has extremely deep foundations."
"The plot has dramatic ups and downs, incorporating mystery puzzle elements with multi-layered narrative progression."
"Moreover, the overall world visuals are extremely exquisite, with details handled very well."
"So I give it a 9."
...
"I give it an 8."
"I give it a 9."
"Contestant 5's judge average score is 8.6. Vote score: 413 multiplied by judge base points (1+0.86) makes the Final score: 768."
The audience gasped in amazement, they hadn't expected this work to score so highly.
But the only pity was this was a female-oriented work, which explained why the votes were somewhat lower, but still somewhat normal. The scores of 800+ were the abnormality.
Unlike other works, many of which allowed gender customization.
"Next, please welcome the 2nd place contestant and their work [Legend of the Saints]!"
"This work uses mythological legends as background, telling stories from the ancient war period."
"Its narrative scope is grand, the plot magnificent and imposing."
"A rare masterpiece indeed!"
"I give it a 9."
Melissa's brow furrowed slightly.
"I believe this work, while having no major design problems, clearly shows the author's historical knowledge isn't particularly deep."
"I've conducted extensive research on ancient history."
"Many legends and customs in this work are incorrect."
"For anyone who truly studies history, it's riddled with errors."
"So overall, this work still needs refinement. I give it a 7."
The first elder immediately became agitated.
"Miss Melissa, I disagree with your assessment!"
"Though this work has some minor flaws, they don't overshadow its merits!"
"For ordinary citizens, ancient history is far too distant. What's the point of scrutinizing these details?"
"As long as the work is interesting and the public is willing to accept it, then it's a good work!"
Bayev felt his dignity had been insulted.
His words were forceful, like a teacher correcting a junior's mistakes!
"Elder Bayev, are you saying the truth doesn't matter, and the public doesn't deserve to know the truth?"
Melissa stared at Bayev unflinchingly.
During the initial screening, she'd already felt this judge was somewhat irresponsible. Some works he hadn't even looked at, just glanced at the basic information before making arbitrary judgments.
The audience's emotions seemed stirred up now.
"Yeah, yeah! Just because we don't understand those profound subjects doesn't mean we should be casually deceived!"
"Some elder he is, how irresponsible!"
"Bah... ptui!"
"Legend of the Saints? Not even dogs would play it!"
Bayev's face turned black as coal
"You... I'm just saying this work, though it has some flaws, don't overshadow the merits."
"For rookie designers, shouldn't we show more encouragement and tolerance?"
"I'm sorry, Elder Bayev. I must be fair to every work, and responsible to the public."
"So I stand by my decision. 7 points."
Next, seemingly influenced by Melissa's words, subsequent judges incorporated this criterion into their evaluations.
"I give it an 8."
"I give it a 7."
One 9, three 7s, five 8s.
"Contestant 2's average judge score is 7.7. Vote score: 805 multiplied by (1.77) makes the Final score: 1424."
Though the score was high, Damian's expression was dark, lost in thought.
Next came the climactic moment everyone had been waiting for.
"Now then..."
The host paused.
"Please welcome this competition's 1st place contestant and their work [Plants vs Zombies]!"
The audience erupted in cheers.
For players who'd experienced Plants vs Zombies, in their hearts this innovative work was already the undisputed champion.
Moreover, second place had suffered a disaster due to special circumstances, securing the final competition championship was basically guaranteed!
No one noticed...
Bayev's gaze swept across, finding Damian below. The two made eye contact.
Damian's expression was so dark it seemed water would drip from it, his eyes bloodshot.
He gave a slight nod in Bayev's direction.