Not long after coming out of the game, Bai Liu was walking and chatting with Mu Sicheng.
"What are attribute panel points?" Bai Liu asked, pointing to the reward from Exploding Last Train. "Can I understand them as something that can be added to improve my attributes?"
"Yes and no." Mu Sicheng briefly explained, "A player's rating in this game is based on four attributes: physical strength, agility, attack power, and resistance. The attribute points you've obtained can only be added to these four stats."
Bai Liu looked thoughtful. "I didn't receive any attribute points in my last game."
Mu Sicheng rolled his eyes. "That was an extra system reward. In your last newcomer single-player game, you received a personal skill as a bonus. You're dreaming if you think you can get attribute points as well. They're very hard to obtain. In a Level 2 game, only 100 attribute points are available. The system is stingy, and these points can't be added without limit. Once you reach the limit of your potential, your attributes won't increase, no matter how many points you try to add."
"But—" Mu Sicheng paused subtly. "Many players die before they ever reach their potential limit. A Level 2 game only offers 100 attribute points in total. There is a faster way for players who don't belong to a big guild or aren't especially skilled to gain panel attribute points, but very few people use it."
Bai Liu looked at him. "What method?"
"Participate in the league," Mu Sicheng whispered. "That's how Spades became a player around the S-level. The league awards a large number of attribute points to the winners."
Before Mu Sicheng could finish, several bursts of virtual fireworks suddenly exploded in the game hall. The fireworks scattered into glowing words, drawing the attention of players coming and going.
[Heavyweight announcement! Heavyweight announcement! The annual horror game e-sports league is here! Don't miss it! This is the grand annual event for all gamers!]
The surrounding players glanced at it and then looked away, as if it were nothing unusual.
"I wonder which guild is so rich that they've already started buying system fireworks to advertise."
"The support season has begun. Starting this week, the major guilds will start frantically promoting their players. The King's Guild spent ten million points on advertising last time and almost didn't recover from it…"
The virtual fireworks drifted down onto the players, and their system panels automatically popped up with a game activity interface resembling a grand opening screen.
[System Event: The Horror Game E-Sports League is about to begin!]
[Players may choose their participation status: League Player or Spectator.]
[As a League Player, you must fight fiercely against other players in the arena, regardless of life or death. As a Spectator, you may watch intense matches, cheer for your favorite teams and players, and send support and rewards.]
[This is a competitive game of wagering life and desire. Have you chosen your position? Will you become a desperate participant to fulfill your desires, or remain a calm bystander like a god?]
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[Requirements for league registration: A team of five players who have cleared 52 instances may register to participate in the league.]
[Competition Format: Two teams will compete in three matches—a team match, a doubles match, and a singles match. The team with the highest total score across the three matches will advance.]
[Note: If a player on a team dies during a game, the team may recruit a new player on their own.]
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There were also many additional rules, such as disabling the player's system store during the game, and so on.
Fireworks fell on Bai Liu as well, and an event notification popped up on his system interface. He swiped through it and felt that it resembled a real-life e-sports competition. Bai Liu wasn't particularly interested in this type of competitive e-sports game. After all, he was a horror game designer, not a competitive battle game developer.
However, he was surprised that a horror game even had an esports league. Mu Sicheng seemed to have known about it for a long time. He closed the system notification interface and complained, "So annoying. The guilds have started advertising everywhere again. The league's support season is coming."
"Support season?" Bai Liu looked at him. "What do you mean? Is this the league you were talking about, where players can gain a large number of attribute points?"
Mu Sicheng replied impatiently, "Just scroll down. It's all advertisements—viral marketing."
Bai Liu scrolled to the bottom of the system page and found that Mu Sicheng was right. The remaining sections were filled with promotional pages for various players and guilds. There were team posters and solo player posters, each accompanied by buttons for sending points and likes. The higher the combined total of points and likes, the higher the advertisement ranked.
The number one solo player poster showed a side-profile photo of a man with bangs covering his eyes.
He had pale lips, a sharp jawline, and a long black whip hanging loosely from his cold, slender wrist. The tail of the whip was coiled in his hand. His face was slightly raised, his eyes narrow and slanted, as if he were squinting. Even through the blur of the photo, he exuded a fierce, icy aura. Though the image was intentionally softened, even Bai Liu—who lacked any conventional sense of human aesthetics—could tell this man possessed an extraordinary kind of beauty. It was the sort of superiority measured by artistic standards.
His perfectly sculpted bone structure reminded Bai Liu of Tawil, yet this man was far colder. If Tawil's appearance resembled moonlight, then this man was like a blade without a sheath—sharp enough to cut anyone who dared to look at him. Even through the blurred image, there was an unmistakable sense of killing intent and indifference.
Bai Liu opened the profile.
[Player: Spades]
[Current Support Composite Data: 1.3 million, ranked 1st among all participating players. Death-Free Gold Medal unlocked.]
[Note: Due to this player's high popularity, he is granted system protection and has earned a Death-Free Gold Medal. During competition matches, if the player nears death, the system will forcibly remove him from the game and place him under protective cover.]
[Total Points Ranking: 1st]
[Guild: Killer Sequence]
Bai Liu scrolled down. The gap between Spades' solo poster and the second-ranked player was enormous. Spades' poster looked like a candid street snapshot taken by a passerby. In contrast, the second player's poster was exquisitely refined, like a promotional image of a top celebrity. Even the fine hairs on her face were visible.
The second-ranked player was someone Bai Liu had heard of before. The poster showed a beautiful girl wearing a cheongsam. She had snow-white skin, shoulder-length black curls, apricot-shaped eyes, red lips, and a small peach-shaped mark beneath her right eye. The cheongsam had a high slit on one side, revealing black stockings above satin black high heels. One leg was slightly angled forward. She held a deck of playing cards in her hand. Her smile was languid, almost teasing. With just a glance, she was breathtakingly alluring, exuding a seductive, intoxicating charm that stirred desire.
[Player: Queen of Hearts]
[Current Support Composite Data: 970,000, ranked 2nd among all participating players. Death-Free Gold Medal unlocked.]
[Total Points Ranking: 2nd]
[Guild: The King's Guild]
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As Bai Liu continued browsing, Mu Sicheng explained, "In this game, there's an e-sports league every year after August. Players can form teams to participate. Of course, for ordinary players, joining is basically just delivering themselves to the top players. The league is the arena of the major guilds—they have solid foundations. To canvass support for their participating players, these guilds set off fireworks in the game and use all sorts of publicity tactics. We call it the support season."
"The guilds will also search for items in the game and stockpile them to equip their participating players and boost their attributes."
"This kind of large-scale searching and promotion is really annoying. It makes it hard for players like me—who don't care about the league—to get the items we want." Mu Sicheng couldn't help complaining. "This year, I heard the puppet master was originally a reserve player for the King's Guild, so they put a lot of effort into training him. He was frantically searching for new puppets himself. Unexpectedly, he died, so now they have to replace their reserve player."
"The King's Guild is very ambitious this year. They recruited a new player called Little Witch, whose personal skill can restore health during the game. She's extremely rare—many major guilds tried to poach her. She ranked first on the Rising Stars leaderboard and was eventually snatched up by the King's Guild."
"I heard the King's Guild planned to combine the puppet master's control skill with Little Witch's healing ability to create a unique tactic. As a result, you killed Puppet Zhang, and now they have to change their strategy."
Mu Sicheng snorted, looking faintly gleeful as he said this.
Bai Liu glanced at the various teams and players displayed on the promotional panel and asked, "I've been puzzled about something. In a life-and-death game like this, why are the audience's rewards so extravagant? The top-ranked player's charges and likes add up to 1.3 million points. There's even competitive entertainment like this e-sports league."
"The audience consists of ordinary players. It seems strange for them to participate in entertainment built around a survival game."
Mu Sicheng swiped twice on his system panel before handing it to Bai Liu. "That's because the audience isn't just sending support points—they're also betting. Players get 10%, the system takes 5%, and the remaining 85% goes into the betting pool."
[System Reminder: Before the match begins, 85% of a player's charged points will enter the betting system. If the player wins the competition, spectators who bet on them will receive the losing side's charged points.]
[Small bets are entertaining; excessive gambling is harmful. Please charge appropriately and gamble responsibly.]
"What's 1.3 million?" Mu Sicheng scoffed. "You didn't see last year's league. During the finals, the charged points for both sides reached 100 million. The support season has only just begun—these numbers will keep rising."
"For ordinary players like us, the audience's support points are just pocket change. It's basically just nurturing new talent."
"100 million points…" Bai Liu's thoughts drifted. He quickly did the math. Even if the winning player only received 10%, that would still be 10 million points…
Ten million points.Ten million points.Ten million points.
Bai Liu's eyes gradually darkened.
Meanwhile, Mu Sicheng remained oblivious and continued lecturing him. "The champion's reward is 100 million points per person for the singles and doubles matches. As for first place in the team match, the prize is attribute rewards. I'm not sure about the specifics—it's said to be different every year. But between the prize money and the income from support charges, the winning players earn an astronomical amount. It's a once-a-year opportunity—enough to live comfortably for a long time—so the league guilds go all out preparing for it."
Bai Liu's fingers hovered over the system panel for five full seconds. His gaze froze when he heard the words '100 million points per person.'
Then he slowly took a deep breath to steady himself. After a brief pause, he decisively opened the registration interface he had previously skimmed past.
To hell with the story-game experience. He wanted to participate.
He will compete!
Only one thought remained in Bai Liu's mind: 100 million points. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that his eyes and brain were completely stimulated by that number. He quickly flipped to the registration interface.
[Registration Deadline: 2 months, 1 day, 7 hours, 34 minutes.]
[Player does not meet participation requirements: 50 game instances cleared; four teammates required.]
It was far too much.
Bai Liu calmed down slightly and forced himself to think rationally. He had only 61 days left and needed to clear 50 instances. On average, that meant nearly one instance per day. Even if time flowed differently within the instances, it was still essentially one game a day. His mental state might not be able to endure it.
To be honest, the game drained him heavily—otherwise he wouldn't sleep so deeply every time he logged out…
Then his gaze drifted back to the 100 million point reward.
Mu Sicheng was still rambling beside him. "Anyway, this competition has nothing to do with newcomers like us this year. It takes 52 instances to qualify. I usually only play once a week. I've only cleared 26 instances so far, and there are just two months left. There's no way to make up the numbers…"
As he spoke, he met Bai Liu's eyes. He shivered involuntarily and took two steps back. "Bai Liu… what are you planning to do?"
Bai Liu smiled. "Friend, do you want to stay up late and grind games? The kind where we clear 50 instances in two months?"
Mu Sicheng: "?????"
The two of them logged out together. The logout point was Bai Liu's house.
Mu Sicheng had said he wanted to contact Bai Liu offline, but specific player information—such as addresses or phone numbers—couldn't be mentioned inside the game. Likewise, information about the game couldn't be discussed in reality. Even exchanging WeChat accounts was blocked by the system.
The fastest way for two players to communicate offline was to log out through the same exit point.
Each player's login address was represented by a 12-digit password-like code. After confirming the logout, a player could enter the password and be transported to the corresponding login address.
The default password corresponded to the location where the player first logged in. If Bai Liu logged out without entering a password, he would automatically return there.
For example, Bai Liu had first logged in from his house, and the system generated a 12-digit code for him. That code corresponded to his home. Anyone who entered it could log out at Bai Liu's house.
Mu Sicheng, however, was still a university student and had logged in from his dormitory. If Bai Liu went there, he would probably be caught immediately by the dorm supervisor. Therefore, they chose Bai Liu's small rental apartment as their logout destination.
The moment he arrived, Mu Sicheng began complaining bitterly. "Bai Liu, listen to me. Don't even think about participating. You don't have enough members. How are we supposed to join with just the two of—"
He abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
A strange expression appeared on his face as he stared at the delicate young man sleeping on Bai Liu's bed, his face streaked with dried tears.
It was unclear what Mu Ke had experienced in the game. Tear tracks marked his cheeks, and there were red welts on his wrists and ankles, as if he had been struck by a whip. He clutched Bai Liu's shirt tightly, burying his entire face in it. Curled up like a small animal lacking any sense of security, he slept soundly.
Bai Liu didn't find the scene strange and paid it little attention. Walking past the bed, he calmly replied, "There are three people. The one on the bed will participate too."
"????" Mu Sicheng's face twisted in disbelief. "Fuck, Bai Liu, are you serious? Who is that?"
You couldn't blame Mu Sicheng for not recognizing him. He truly hadn't expected Mu Ke—the timid newcomer from Bai Liu's previous instance—to appear on Bai Liu's bed in this state…
Bai Liu turned to him. "He's Mu Ke, the newcomer I brought out of the last game. I'll take him to clear instances with me."
Both Bai Liu and Mu Ke were still newcomers, each having cleared only two instances. Since their numbers matched, Bai Liu could simply bring Mu Ke along to progress together.
Mu Ke had logged out at Bai Liu's house last time and knew the logout code. It wasn't surprising that he chose to return here after clearing this instance.
Before entering the game, Bai Liu had told Mu Ke to attempt a solo instance without much intervention from him. If Mu Ke could survive on his own, Bai Liu would consider training him seriously.
Bai Liu disliked communicating with mentally weak people—they were too good at making excuses for themselves. So he had decided to test Mu Ke first. If Mu Ke could clear an instance independently, Bai Liu would train him carefully, avoiding a situation like Puppet Zhang's.
The King's Guild had invested heavily in Puppet Zhang, but he relied too much on intelligence absorbed from his puppets. In the end, he fell to Bai Liu, and the guild's investment was wasted.
Bai Liu didn't like doing useless things. He preferred actions with high returns.
It seemed Mu Ke had truly struggled to clear the instance alone. After surviving such a life-and-death ordeal, he had subconsciously chosen Bai Liu's home as his logout point. It was both a search for comfort and proof of determination. Mu Ke wanted to show Bai Liu that he had succeeded.
It was like a child who finally scored full marks on an exam, crying while showing the results to his parents.
The "parent," Bai Liu, casually took a white shirt and suit pants into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, he emerged neatly dressed.
Mu Sicheng had retreated into a corner like he'd seen a ghost, keeping as much distance as possible from Mu Ke on the bed. He pointed at Mu Ke and stared at Bai Liu.
"…Did you bring the newcomer you saved last time into your bed?!"
"He came here himself. He knows my logout code—I can't stop him," Bai Liu replied, completely unaware of the direction Mu Sicheng's thoughts had taken. "I originally planned to let him go, but time is tight now. I want to participate in the competition, and I don't have many cards to play. He's not bad. I think I can train him through the instances."
Ever since learning about the 100 million point prize, Bai Liu seemed possessed. No matter how Mu Sicheng tried to persuade him, he was determined to participate.
But participation required five players, each having cleared 52 instances. Where was Bai Liu supposed to find such a team?
Even if Mu Sicheng somehow managed to grind through more than 20 additional instances, Bai Liu would still be three members short.
And now Bai Liu intended to take Mu Ke—who had only cleared two instances—to compete?
It was absurd.
Reaching the registration threshold meant clearing 50 instances within two months—an exhausting, relentless grind. Even if Bai Liu's frightening mental resilience could withstand it, how could an ordinary player like Mu Ke possibly endure that?
Mu Sicheng couldn't help pointing at Mu Ke, who was still lying in bed. "Bai Liu, a lunatic like you might be able to clear 50 instances, but Mu Ke is a newcomer. He just cleared an instance, and he's still injured. Do you know under what circumstances a player comes out of an instance with injuries? You and I came out completely unharmed."
Bai Liu finished adjusting his tie. His gaze fell on the red marks around Mu Ke's wrists and ankles before he looked back at Mu Sicheng. "Under what circumstances would a player come out injured?"
Mu Sicheng casually pulled over a chair and sat down. He had expended a great deal of energy in the game and felt somewhat drained, though aside from slight fatigue, there wasn't a single wound on him.
Leaning back, he tilted his head and looked up at Bai Liu, who was still straightening his tie. "Injuries from a game instance can only be carried over if the player truly believes they're injured and can't be healed. The game follows the player's will and manifests the injury in reality. Generally, this only happens under extreme fear, like when their mental value drops below 10. At that point, people usually lose awareness that they're in a game. They think it's real life. If they believe they're genuinely hurt, the injuries will be brought out with them."
As he spoke, Mu Sicheng glanced at the fragile-looking boy curled up on the bed, then shot Bai Liu a disapproving look.
"A player who comes out injured shows weak mental resilience. His panel potential probably isn't high. And if I remember correctly, this Mu Ke doesn't even have a personal skill, right?" Mu Sicheng raised an eyebrow. "If you take him into the competition, aren't you just serving yourselves up to your opponents?"
"To some extent, I cleared Exploding Last Train with his help," Bai Liu replied calmly.
He had relied on Mu Ke's Merfolk Amulet as his trump card against the god-level NPC. It was also by using that same amulet that he tricked Mu Sicheng into entering the instance.
According to Mu Sicheng, Mu Ke must have experienced extreme fear and desperation if he brought injuries with him.
Even so, in his solo instance, Mu Ke hadn't used the Merfolk Amulet. Instead, he had left his most valuable life-saving item with Bai Liu.
Before entering the game, Bai Liu had mentioned that he might need to use the amulet. Even when Mu Ke's mental state deteriorated to the point where he confused reality with the game—and came out physically injured—he still hadn't used it.
It was the same as what Mu Sicheng had done in Exploding Last Train.
"In my eyes, you and he have the same value," Bai Liu said, staring steadily at Mu Sicheng without wavering. "Both of you upheld your agreements with me, even in desperation. So I won't break my agreement with either of you. I said that if he cleared an instance on his own this time, I would train him and let him live."
"Just as I didn't give up on you, I won't easily give up on him."
Bai Liu lowered his gaze to Mu Ke, whose body was covered in bruises.
"It's because both of you have proven your value to me."