Chapter 1 The Beginning

This battle found Xiao Tan facing a player who specialized in hand-to-hand combat, ID: [Nan Quan Bei Tui Zhong Er Bing]. This person appeared to be around twenty years old, with a ponytail and a blue kung fu robe, without any guild emblems. Overall, this player had the air of a lone wandering swordsman, but his nickname betrayed his dorky nature.

"Hmm... judging by his stance, he probably doesn't have any long-range attacks either," Nan Quan Bei Tui Zhong Er Bing thought to himself. As he was still contemplating his battle plan, Xiao Tan took the initiative to speak, "Hey—Zhong Er Bing! Can you hear me?"

"What?" Zhong Er Bing shouted back at about the same volume.

Although the distance between them wasn't very far, the wind was so loud that they had to shout to be heard.

"You don't have any long-range attacks, do you?" Xiao Tan asked.

"Uh..." Zhong Er Bing hesitated for a moment. "What's it to you?" Why would he answer such a question in the middle of a battle?

"You definitely don't, right!" Xiao Tan shouted. "I don't either!"

"Whoa, this guy's a little too friendly..." Zhong Er Bing mentally retorted, then shouted, "So what if I don't!"

"Then how about we fight on the cable?" Xiao Tan asked again.

Zhong Er Bing was stunned by that suggestion. After a few seconds, he replied, "Are you crazy?"

"Nope!" Xiao Tan replied.

"Damn... this guy's serious..." Zhong Er Bing muttered to himself, glancing up at the cable suspended in mid-air. "Fight standing on that thing?..." He shook his head, immediately dismissing the idea. "Even though I'm confident I can stand or run on it, fighting up there... especially in this wind, is just too ridiculous..."

"Don't joke around! Who would fall for that! Why don't you go up there yourself!" Zhong Er Bing shouted.

"Okay! I'll go up first!" Xiao Tan actually responded, and with a light leap, he landed on the cable. Although he was still above the elevator, his feet were indeed on the cable, and he was standing quite steadily.

"Okay... I get it now, this guy's an idiot..." Zhong Er Bing concluded, then shouted, "Since you're already up there, why don't you just come over here! We'll fight on top of my elevator!"

Xiao Tan replied without hesitation, "You want to attack me while I'm halfway there, right?"

"He saw right through me..." Zhong Er Bing's expression betrayed him, and he shouted in frustration, "Damn! You knew it too? It's obvious that staying on the elevator is the more advantageous defensive position!"

"It'd be too lame if we both just stayed in place, making no progress, right?" Xiao Tan said. "Besides, we'll get penalized for passive play!"

"Fine!" Zhong Er Bing said. "Then you come over here, and I promise I won't shoot you."

"What gun do you even have?" Xiao Tan retorted. "Speaking of which, you're already holding some hidden weapon in the hand behind your back, aren't you? You'll promise not to 'shoot' me, then throw a hidden weapon at me instead, right?"

"Damn it..." Zhong Er Bing was exposed again. "Enough talk! Come over here if you dare!"

"I don't trust you anymore!" Xiao Tan said. "You should come over to my side instead!"

"Hmph..." Zhong Er Bing snorted. "In other words, you're just too scared, right?"

"If you're so brave, you come over here," Xiao Tan retorted, not wanting to be outdone.

...

Meanwhile, in Feng Bujue's meeting room...

The three members of Hell Front were naturally watching the livestream of this match.

At this moment, Bei Ling was lightly bumping her head against the conference table repeatedly; Si Yu was staring at the screen with a blank expression; and Jue-ge... was propping his chin up with one hand, commenting with a helpless expression, "Two big idiots..."

"Although there might not be many viewers watching Xiao Tan's match, the players who fought against those two in the preliminaries are probably watching..." Si Yu said.

"Ah... it's definitely a little embarrassing, but... whatever. We see similar situations on TV every summer anyway," Feng Bujue replied.

"What do you mean?" Si Yu asked.

Without saying a word, Feng Bujue jumped onto the conference table and pointed to the empty space beside him. "Dare you come up here?"

Then, he jumped down and stood in the spot he had just pointed to, facing the table. "Dare you come down here?"

Si Yu smiled knowingly. "Crossing the Liusha River?"

"Older Sis..." Bei Ling still had her head buried, as if ashamed to show her face. "Your sense of humor is gradually being dragged down by the team leader... this is dangerous."

...

After shouting at each other for a while, Nan Quan Bei Tui Zhong Er Bing and Xiao Tan stopped because their throats were getting hoarse.

At this moment, Zhong Er Bing noticed something odd on the other side.

He saw Xiao Tan climb back inside the elevator and begin shaking it violently. The elevator car was swinging back and forth like a swing, parallel to the cable.

"He's trying to shorten the distance between the two elevators this way..." Zhong Er Bing muttered. "Well... regardless of whether this works or not, at least he's trying... If I just wait around like this, I'll soon be penalized by the system for [Passive Play]."

After shaking it about thirty times, Xiao Tan climbed back onto the roof of the elevator and looked over at Zhong Er Bing. "Hey—am I a little closer to you now?"

"Huh?" Zhong Er Bing was taken aback, thinking, "If I tell him the truth and say that the distance hasn't shortened, he'll give up on this. But if I lie and say it has shortened... he'll continue to waste his stamina. Hmm..."

As the saying goes, all warfare is based on deception. After a few seconds of mental struggle, Zhong Er Bing replied, "It seems like it's shortened a little bit!"

"Oh!" Xiao Tan heard this and returned to the elevator to continue swinging...

"Hmph... I feel a little guilty, but after all, a match is a match... blame yourself for being too naive," Zhong Er Bing thought. "Once you've wasted most of your stamina on this useless effort and can't unleash any powerful skills, I'll rush over from the cable. At that point, it won't matter if I take a few mid-range hits... as long as it turns into a close-quarters battle, I'm guaranteed to win."

"Eh? Wait..." Zhong Er Bing had just finished rehearsing his scheme in his mind when he thought of something else. "Hey! Isn't now a great opportunity to get close! That guy's inside the elevator and can't even see me!"

That's right... the two elevators suspended on the cable were in a "back-to-back" position; the doors of the elevators they were in opened on opposite sides, facing the cable. So, Xiao Tan, who had returned to the elevator, couldn't see what Zhong Er Bing was doing.

"Sure enough... stupidity is contagious..." Zhong Er Bing hummed as he climbed onto the cable. "I almost let his actions disrupt my rhythm..."

He stood on the cable, ready to rush over to Xiao Tan's elevator.

"I'll take this opportunity to run over, break the big lock on top of his elevator, and he'll be finished..." Zhong Er Bing thought to himself, and was about to set off.

But... he suddenly thought of something else and stopped abruptly.

"Although I don't want to admit it, didn't he see through all my thoughts earlier..." Zhong Er Bing began to mentally debate again. "What if this guy is just pretending to be stupid, trying to lure me over..." He muttered, "Maybe... even if he's inside the elevator, he can still track my movements, and as soon as I run to the middle of the cable, he'll jump out of the elevator and ambush me."

Just as he was pondering, Xiao Tan came out of the elevator again. He jumped onto the cable, gasping for breath, and said, "Hey! Why does it feel like the distance hasn't shortened at all?"

Zhong Er Bing's thoughts were pulled back. He hesitated for a few seconds and replied, "Huh? Ah... it's... it's just your imagination, I've been watching, and it's definitely gotten a few meters closer!"

"Oh..." Xiao Tan responded and returned to the still-swinging elevator to continue rocking.

"Hmm... it seems I really was being paranoid." Zhong Er Bing revealed a self-absorbed, evil smile that was characteristic of his *zhong er* (chuunibyou) personality, thinking, "Hmph... this great one's caution is truly a double-edged sword... luckily this guy is gullible, the opportunity is still before me."

Finally, after several moments of deliberation, Zhong Er Bing set off along the cable.

Fifty meters, a cable less than twenty centimeters wide. For a player above level thirty with decent agility, it wasn't a very difficult obstacle. Under normal circumstances, it would only take six or seven seconds to cross.

Despite the interference from the strong crosswinds, Zhong Er Bing didn't waste any time and successfully arrived at the cable above Xiao Tan's elevator.

"Bye-bye..." Zhong Er Bing channeled his skill and struck down with both palms.

[Name: Azure Dragon Probes Its Claws]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]

[Skill Category: Combat]

[Effect: Unleashes a strike that can shatter gold and split stone with both palms (Cooldown time: 20 minutes)]

[Cost: Stamina Value 600]

[Learning Requirements: Combat Specialization C]

[Note: This move evolved from a style in the Wudang Tiangang Fist. The best posture is: Palms facing up, raised to the chest, then flipping the palms downward, legs straightened, and striking with both palms.]

At this moment, Zhong Er Bing was using the standard posture described in the skill's note to activate the move. He slammed his palms together, clamping them down on the hook that was suspending the elevator. This would ensure that the cable remained intact, while the elevator plummeted.

His plan was good, but...

Just as Zhong Er Bing was about to strike, the swaying elevator, with its door side, happened to be at a forty-five degree angle upwards. And inside the elevator, Xiao Tan was bracing himself by grabbing the handrail on the wall.

Suddenly, there was a violent jolt from above.

At this moment, there was no time to think; only instinct could save Xiao Tan. And his instinct told him—leap out the door and grab the cable.

So, three seconds later, Xiao Tan's elevator plummeted into the deep valley. And on the section of the cable above where the elevator had been, two figures were standing.

The distance between them was less than five meters, but their melee weapons couldn't reach each other for the time being. The two of them engaged in a standoff at this precarious distance...

"So it ended up turning into this situation after all..." Zhong Er Bing thought. "Hmph... whatever. Since we're both combat specialists, and we're both standing on the swaying cable, the conditions are the same."

Eh? Wait a minute! If we're talking about conditions... don't I still have an elevator behind me? And I'm closer to the elevator! With only a small area to move around in, if I turn around now, rush back to the elevator, and stand my ground, won't he become a sitting duck... then I can throw my flying pebbles, thunderclap bombs, and whatnot at him..."

But, in the few seconds that Zhong Er Bing was considering this, Xiao Tan made his move first.

"Oh—" Xiao Tan suddenly let out a long roar and charged forward.

"What... he's coming straight at me?" Zhong Er Bing was not one to sit and wait for death either. If his opponent wanted to go head-to-head, he wouldn't back down and immediately launched an attack to meet him.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Tan's figure split into two, then recombined into one, instantly appearing behind Zhong Er Bing.

[Demonic Bat Phantom Shadow] helped Xiao Tan bypass his opponent's block and continue rushing toward the remaining elevator.

"What!" Zhong Er Bing's reaction wasn't slow either. The moment Xiao Tan's figure split, he had already turned around. If Xiao Tan had chosen to stab back after passing through his opponent, he probably would have been blocked.

Fortunately, Xiao Tan understood that the chances of killing a combat-type player with a single blow under these circumstances were very small, so he didn't stop but continued charging forward, carrying the momentum of the skill.

"Crap!" Zhong Er Bing quickly realized what his opponent was trying to do and chased after him.

But Xiao Tan had started earlier after all, and his speed and position were far ahead, so he naturally jumped onto the elevator roof first and stood firmly.

"That's too despicable! You actually used an extremely *zhong er* (chuunibyou) shout like 'Oh—' to confuse me, making me mistakenly believe that you were going to attack when in reality you used it to get behind me and occupy favorable terrain!" Zhong Er Bing simply stopped chasing, because if he went over now, he would face the direct shot of the [Winchester Shotgun], with no way to dodge.

"That sounds unconvincing coming from someone whose nickname is 'Nan Quan Bei Tui Zhong Er Bing'..." Xiao Tan said with a serious expression as he aimed his gun.

In the current situation, the tactical value of the shotgun had been infinitely amplified. Zhong Er Bing, who was on the cable, was bound to get shot no matter which way he chose to approach.

On the suspended cable, in an isolated situation, the foothold was limited, leaving no room for Zhong Er Bing to dodge. As long as he got close enough, some of the scattered bullets would inevitably hit his body. Although the power of these bullets wasn't enough to kill him, the force of the bullets would be enough to shift his position and send him plummeting into the abyss.

...

"Isn't he fighting pretty well..." Feng Bujue muttered as he watched the scene on the conference table.

"I think it's just luck," Bei Ling replied. "If the elevator hook had broken while the door was facing diagonally downwards, wouldn't he have..."

"He could still have gotten back on the cable," Feng Bujue interrupted. "He could have flipped out of the elevator door, taken a strong step on the falling elevator, and jumped upwards. It wouldn't matter if he caught the cable or not, as long as he jumped higher than the cable, he could have readjusted in the air." He paused for a moment. "Of course... you could say it's luck too... in that situation, if the opponent reacted quickly enough, they could launch an attack. Relatively speaking, the risk factor would be higher."

"I'm curious, if you were fighting this rematch, how would you have handled it?" Si Yu asked.

Feng Bujue smiled. "If I were there, the system wouldn't have generated a map like this. I would just use Moonwalk to fly into the sky, then cut both ends of the opponent's elevator cables with two *Ran Kyaku* (Tempest Kick), and the outcome would be decided in ten seconds..."

"Hmm..." Si Yu pondered. "It seems the system is indeed protecting other players by sending you directly into [Battle of the Butterflies]..."

...

"Maintaining balance on this cable is more exhausting than I thought," Zhong Er Bing thought to himself after facing off against Xiao Tan for a few minutes. "Relatively speaking, although he needs to free up both hands to hold the gun, he has an entire flat surface to stand on, which is much better than my situation..." He sighed deeply. "Am I going to be forced into the additional match...

[I, who am burdened with the power of light, severed bonds... prayers that cannot be conveyed... the glory of the past is no more... at this moment, as if resonating with the steps of despair, the powerful and extraordinary dark power hidden within me awakens... after defeating the opponent before me, I will then seal away my rampaging left hand...] Such a development... is probably unlikely to happen, right."

It seemed this *zhong er* (chuunibyou) patient himself knew that the possibility of his *zhong er* soliloquy becoming a reality was close to zero...

"You must feel a little unwilling to lose in a map like this, right?" Xiao Tan said at this moment. "Actually, I'm not enjoying this fight very much... no, I should say I'm not fighting at all." As he said this, he actually put down his gun.

"Wh... what?" Zhong Er Bing exclaimed, but as soon as he said it, he realized something was wrong. "Crap, I accidentally said the common line that villains say before they get killed..."

"I think, since this competition is called 'Peak Confrontation,' we participants should at least have the... 'I'm stronger than my opponent' mentality," Xiao Tan said with a solemn expression. "I can use a safe method, stand here, and wait for you to exhaust yourself. When your stamina runs out, you'll naturally fall into the deep valley." He changed his tone. "But... I don't want to win like that."

Xiao Tan paused for a few seconds, then continued: "Remember my initial suggestion?"

Zhong Er Bing replied blankly, "To decide... the outcome on this cable?"

"That's right..." Xiao Tan said as he jumped from the top of the elevator onto the cable and used the muzzle of the shotgun to point at the hook below that was suspending the elevator, decisively blasting it apart. "If I had said that earlier, you might still have hesitated. But now... there's no turning back for you."

As the elevator plummeted, Zhong Er Bing's fear level gradually increased... He wasn't afraid of the situation before him, but of the aura of the person before him.

"I think I can win." Xiao Tan put away his shotgun, the energy for the tri-edged military dagger had been fully charged, "I know... I can win."

Instantly, the black flames of Fei Yan Liu Hen (Flying Nightmare Leaving Traces) ignited on the cable, and Xiao Tan actually rushed forward upside down from the bottom of the cable, unleashing a violent killing intent between heaven and earth.

[Fei Ying Zhui Hun] (Frightening Shadow Chasing Soul) howled away...