Chapter 100 Prizes from 100th to 51st Place

The prizes from 100th to 51st place could only be considered participation awards. Aside from the limited-edition T-shirt, everything else could be bought directly with RMB and wasn't even that expensive. Ten double experience cards and 200,000 game coins were worth only a little over two hundred RMB. A whale-level player would spend more than that in a month.

The prizes for 50th to 31st place were clearly more valuable. Two pieces of Excellent-grade equipment above level 30 would easily sell for over 300,000 game coins in the auction house (after two weeks, the inflated prices in the auction house had eased somewhat). The 2,000 skill points were something you couldn't buy with money.

And then there were the prizes for 30th to 11th place... The value of 3,000 skill points was basically the same as above, but the key was the Perfect-grade equipment. If Excellent-grade equipment could still be measured in money, Perfect-grade equipment was priceless but unavailable. Because equipment of that level almost always had the characteristic of being bound to the player after being equipped, all the Perfect-grade equipment in the auction house was incredibly expensive, and there were very few of them.

What's more, the rewarded equipment, under the premise of random attributes, allowed the player to choose the type themselves. In other words, there would be no situation where a sniper received a cold weapon or a grappler received a submachine gun. It also avoided the equipment overlapping with a powerful piece of equipment the player already had. Therefore, just entering the top 30 would definitely bring about a qualitative improvement in strength.

In summary, it's not hard to see that Dream Corporation knew very well which rewards were more valuable to players and understood how to grasp the players' mentality.

The vast majority of casual players participating in this competition were aiming for the 30th place. They all understood that rushing into the top ten was probably a long shot (of course, there were also those who severely lacked self-awareness, those idiots who thought they were invincible; there was never a shortage of idiots in this world). Setting the goal at the top 100 seemed a bit too self-deprecating. So, aiming for 50th and fighting for 30th seemed like a more reliable goal.

But in reality, this goal was also extremely difficult to achieve... because of the existence of professional players.

To use swimming as an example, casual players were like amateur enthusiasts who go swimming two or three times a week at most; while professional players were like professional athletes who train all year round and are always ready for competitions.

When the two meet, the result is obvious: casual players will lose at least eight out of ten matches.

However, this doesn't mean that the top 100 will definitely be monopolized by professional players. After all, among casual players, there will be a very small number of gifted individuals, such as Feng Bujue...

Also, in the preliminary rounds, it's very possible that two professional players will meet very early, causing one of them to be eliminated early. Considering that the number of participants in this competition is expected to exceed six figures, it's hard to say how many professional players will be left when it's whittled down to a little over a thousand people. After taking into account the huge difference in base numbers and various accidental factors, it's by no means easy for professional players to enter the top 100.

In short, casual players still have a chance to compete for the top 100, but professional players with absolute strength are probably much more confident in making it into the top 30.

As for the top ten...

[Players who enter the 10th-4th place will randomly receive skill cards *3 corresponding to their highest-level specialization, random skill cards *4 of other specializations, and 5000 skill points]

When Feng Bujue looked at the prizes for 10th to 4th place, his brain instinctively calculated the value in an instant... A player's skill bar has a total of twelve slots. Taking himself as an example, he has been playing since the closed beta and is already level 29 (he couldn't get rewards from the sandbox, so he didn't reach level 30). Currently, he only has nine skills in his skill bar. If you remove [Moon Step] and [Tempest Kick], which he picked up for free from R2, and the useless skill [Stinky Chicken "Bomb"] that disappears after one use, he actually only has six skills. And one of them is a title skill that doesn't take up a skill slot.

And the reward for entering the top ten allows one to directly get 7 skill cards, three of which prioritize the strongest specialization. Compared to equipment, these skills are obviously a more comprehensive and longer-lasting boost. What's more, there are 5,000 skill points to get. If players add some skill points themselves, it's enough to buy Perfect-grade equipment in the Surprise Box.

Seeing this, Brother Jue was already losing his composure, but next, there were three more unbelievable items.

[The third-place winner of the Peak Tournament will receive a random Legendary-grade equipment *1 corresponding to their level, and 10,000 skill points]

[The runner-up of the Peak Tournament will receive a random Legendary-grade equipment (type selectable) *1 corresponding to their level, and 20,000 skill points]

[The champion of the Peak Tournament will receive a mysterious gift from Dream Corporation]

"The number of players in Thriller Paradise is in the millions, and the number of people who can sign up for this competition is estimated to be over 100,000. Even if it's only 100,000, the guys who can get into the top three out of 100,000 can already be said to be monsters... And this kind of reward is simply helping monsters to put on stronger wings and fangs." Feng Bujue stared at those lines for two minutes before muttering, "Speaking of... what the hell is this mysterious gift? It's quite intriguing..." He snorted when he said this, "Hmph... This game company really knows how to play. Starting from the top 100, the value of each level of prizes is almost doubling, but when it comes to the champion level, they actually give a vague explanation like 'mysterious gift'..."

Feng Bujue stretched lazily in his computer chair, "This is the so-called 'having the un-necessary to win' I guess. To win with no moves over having moves, to win with the formless over having form, to win with no desire over having desire, to win with the silent over having sound... A prize whose contents cannot be known is the most attractive, the most priceless." He really wanted to applaud Dream Corporation's plan, "Brilliant, it's damn brilliant!"

"Meow~" At this time, Asas suddenly jumped onto the computer desk, scratched the monitor, and meowed.

"Oh? It seems you also agree with my opinion, master." Feng Bujue teased Asas.

The tabby cat still showed an arrogant expression, glanced at Feng Bujue, meowed twice, and then gently touched the monitor with the pads of its front paws.

"What? You think I can get into the top ten?" Feng Bujue picked up Asas to prevent it from scratching the LCD screen, "Heh... Then I'll sign up after I reach level 30. This is an opportunity, and I really want to try... to see how much I'm really worth."

…………

At the same time, in the game world, in Shiva's meeting room.

The four strongest players of [Gods' Studio]: [Shiva], [Vishnu], [Brahma], and [Yama], were gathered together.

"He accepted my friend request, but quickly switched to the sleep mode channel, and never replied to my messages after that. He hasn't been online at all today." Shiva was discussing Feng Bujue with his comrades, "But I'm basically certain that the anonymous second place on the combat strength ranking updated this morning is this 'Mad Detective'."

"Hmm... If he hasn't logged into the game since the ranking was updated, then the system will default to using an anonymous method to hide his name on the list, so that makes sense." Vishnu added.

Brahma said in a coarse voice, "Ha... Why think so much? It's very simple in my opinion. The boss was originally in second place, and now he beat the boss, so naturally he's taken over."

Yama rested his chin on one hand, flicking a lock of blue hair in front of his forehead, and pondered, "Don't you find it strange? Originally, his name wasn't on the combat strength ranking. Those anonymous guys in the top twenty, you can guess who they are, but he wasn't one of them. Therefore, before that scenario started, he was at least outside the top twenty."

"If he was lucky enough to win that killing game, relying on the boost he gained from that scenario to jump to second place, it would be barely explainable... But judging from the boss's description, this person's combat strength was already at the top level before the scenario ended."

Vishnu added from the side, "And he's also cunning and resourceful; you could say he's both capable in literary and martial arts..."

"Hmm... I'm also very puzzled by this." Shiva's face was buried in the shadows of his long hair, lost in thought, "Although he did say some ambiguous explanations before I 'died', I didn't understand what he was talking about at all. This kid is full of deceptions and his words and actions are unpredictable... Instead of trying to figure out his words, it's better not to trust them at all and rely on your own reasoning." He paused, then continued, "In my opinion, the only reasonable explanation is—during the course of the scenario, he greatly increased his strength through some means, perhaps a hidden mission, or picking up a very strong skill or item."

"That makes sense..." Yama nodded in agreement, "His capture of Robin, provocation of God's Web, acquisition of Mr. Freeze's equipment... all of these actions show that he has a high utilization rate of scenario resources."

Shiva continued, "So, he killed Zhao Yingwang, defeated me... and Seven Murders is obviously no match for him (when Shiva died in the scenario, he didn't know that Seven Murders had obtained the Batman suit, so he judged that Feng Bujue could easily win)." He sighed, "Suddenly a strong player emerges the day before the Peak Tournament news is announced... it's really not something to be happy about."

Brahma laughed, "Boss, hasn't he already agreed to add you as a friend? This shows that this person can be won over. His club... what's it called, 'Hell Frontline'? I've never even heard of it, it's probably just a small club for casual players. Just have them all join our Gods' Studio."

Vishnu immediately said, "Big head has finally learned to use his brain."

"Who are you calling big head?" Brahma retorted.

Vishnu smiled, ignored him, and continued on from what he had just said, "As the saying goes, it's easy to get gold, but hard to find a general. This person is both intelligent and brave, a rare talent. If he can come to Gods' Studio, we'll have another hidden trump card when we fight against Order in the future." He pointed to Brahma and continued, "I think Big Head's merger plan is feasible. Even if Hell Frontline is full of noobs, we should tolerate it for the sake of this Mad Detective, and recruit them all."

Shiva said in a deep voice, "I understand all of this... but..." He hesitated, the line in his heart was "I suspect this person has mental problems."

"Forget it..." Shiva swallowed those unreliable words back and said seriously, "After he goes online and replies to my message, I'll talk to him personally."