San Tian Liang Jiao
Chapter 501 Prize
These past few days, the game forums had been even more ablaze than they were on the day of the public beta's launch.
In the two months since *Terror Paradise's* public beta began, the number of registered players had exceeded three million. With the servers currently down, these players had naturally flocked to the forums.
Of course, at least sixty percent of them were purely casual players, those who only played the game in their spare time from work or studies, and only browsed the forums for ten minutes or so before logging off.
Another thirty percent were hardcore players who were deeply passionate about the game. They would log in whenever they had the chance, and were keenly interested in any information or materials related to the game. These were the people who were most active on the forums.
And the final ten percent were naturally industry insiders. For example, players from studios, independent professional players, studio employees, internet trolls, and so on... These people were generally the trendsetters and conversation starters on the forums.
For them, the forums were a battlefield without gunpowder, where language was their bullets and information was their gun barrels. The battles fought here were far more dangerous than those fought in the game...
"Hype," "public opinion manipulation," and so on... They could be difficult, but not *too* difficult...
Some classic examples included:
A and B trash-talking each other, but in essence, promoting each other.
A praising B incessantly, only to be swiftly slapped down by C, which was actually A and C working together to discredit B.
A seemingly having a mental breakdown and losing all shame as they relentlessly bashed B, but essentially recruiting hate for C.
A deliberately provoking B's fan, C, who then proceeded to crush A with concrete actions, but in reality, A and C might both be fans of B, putting on a joint performance.
In short, the methods were diverse and unique. Some achieved their goals, while others did not. Some were so clever that you were helping them count the money after being tricked, while others were so low-level that they were instantly exposed by passersby and left speechless.
Without a doubt, internet trolling was a skill, a very sophisticated and profound skill.
It was a battle of wits and emotional intelligence between one group of people and another. And the people they wanted to win over and influence were those who blindly followed public opinion and lacked their own critical thinking skills, or were overly naive.
"[Vote! Who do you think is the real champion!]..." Feng Bujue looked at a voting thread with a "Hot" prefix and chuckled, "Heh... So this is what it's like to make a living doing this. You guys are really working hard..."
It was obvious that this kind of thread was the work of studio personnel, most likely from Order or Deities. Anyway, Starlight would definitely not post this kind of thread. At most, they would have their own people flood the thread and cast a vote for Pegasus in every poll...
There was also another hot thread titled: [Dream Inc. Tampered With the Rules Mid-Competition, The Pinnacle Tournament Was Riddled With Shady Deals, A Rematch Is Inevitable!] This seemed very much like Corpse Blade's style.
It was worth mentioning that there were signs indicating that Corpse Blade's number one expert, [Corpse Blade the King], seemed to have left Corpse Blade Studio. His photo and information had already been removed from Corpse Blade's official website. In *Terror Paradise*, the character "Corpse Blade the King" had also been deleted.
This matter had caused quite a stir among industry insiders. In addition to being interested in the reasons for his departure, people were more concerned about his whereabouts. If he wasn't retiring or changing careers, then where would he go? Would he join another studio, or become an independent professional player? Did the contract between Corpse Blade and him contain any "non-compete" clauses?
Although he had been with Corpse Blade and had a less-than-stellar reputation, business was business. If he really had the skills, other studios would definitely not turn him away. They could rebrand him with phrases like "abandoning darkness and embracing the light" or "a prodigal son returning," and he would still be a star player, while also taking a jab at Corpse Blade... A win-win situation.
"Hmm... Although there are a lot of posts, the atmosphere isn't very tense." Feng Bujue browsed the forums for a while longer, and quickly realized that the popular topics related to the competition were mostly just various trolls arguing back and forth. The focus of most players had already shifted to the "new version."
It seemed that Woody's tactic of feigning an attack on one target while secretly aiming at another had really worked. By using the major changes in the version update, he had diverted attention away from the aftereffects of the competition and the secret of the derivatives.
"But... 90% of the posts are still utter nonsense..." As Feng Bujue continued to browse, he came across many amusing things.
Many of the posts were hilarious just from the titles, such as [My Thoughts on the Free Exploration Mode] and [Is it Really That Hard to Kill a Derivative? Let Me Teach You!]. Even the noobiest of newbies wouldn't believe such pure wishful thinking guides.
There were also some regretful posts, like [I Should Have Sold That Equipment Earlier] and [Looks Like Equipment Prices Aren't Going to Drop]. These people were relatively reliable; at least they saw the impact of the "equipment binding" setting. In the future, there wouldn't be any more situations where "a piece of equipment could be used from level one all the way to level ten, and then hung on the auction house to exchange for money."
It was clear that *Terror Paradise's* sudden version update had objectively nipped many of the "pre-update trends" common in other online games in the bud.
After aimlessly browsing the forums for a while, Feng Bujue began to deal with the private messages on the forums.
The number of messages he received on his forum account was definitely no fewer than those in his in-game mailbox... After all, he was a celebrity now...
Fortunately, the forum's inbox had a "smart association" feature with the in-game mailbox. The block lists were shared. In other words, those who had been blocked by Jue-Ge in the game would also be blocked on the forums.
However, even so... Feng Bujue's inbox had still accumulated tens of thousands of messages. He scanned and deleted them, flipping through hundreds of pages, before he finally saw the message that Xu Huaishang had sent him a few days ago. Now that the finals were already over, these words were meaningless, but at least they demonstrated the goddess Xu's good character.
............
On the morning of June 2nd, Dream Inc. finally released the latest announcement on its official website: [The servers will be reopened at midnight on June 3rd. The version after this update will be v1.10—Derivative Invasion.]
As soon as this news came out, the internet trolls all declared that they were off work. The major game studios immediately turned their attention back to the game... The opening of the new version meant that there was still a lot of work to be done, and they no longer had the energy to dwell on the battle for supremacy that had already passed.
Anyway, after these two months, everyone from Order and Deities to Ice Emperor and individual players... All institutions or individuals engaged in the game industry had seen... Dream Inc.'s attitude toward the outside world could basically be summarized in three sentences: First, a dead pig fears no boiling water; Second, you can play or not, badmouthing me is useless; Third, if you dare to take an inch, I'll kill you.
In the face of such an operator, all unconventional means... Were just clouds.
............
June 3rd, midnight.
Feng Bujue logged into the game in sleep mode.
Recently, in order to exercise, he had adjusted his biological clock and started paying attention to his diet, so now he was definitely asleep by twelve o'clock at night...
"Players ranked tenth to fourth will randomly receive three skill cards corresponding to their highest-level specialization, four random skill cards from other specializations, and five thousand skill points..." As soon as Feng Bujue entered the login space, he muttered to himself, "Heh heh... Even I have this day!"
As a man who had been rejected, abandoned, and despised by the god of luck, how delightful was it to receive seven skill cards at once...
He couldn't wait to open his mailbox. Sure enough, the prize email was highlighted and pinned to the top of the mailbox interface.
[Congratulations, you have achieved the excellent result of tenth place in the Pinnacle Tournament.] The title of the email was also particularly pleasing to the eye.
The attachments to the email were the seven skill cards. As for the five thousand skill points, Feng Bujue had already opened the menu to check. They had been added when he entered the login space.
Currently, Feng Bujue's strongest specialization was Fighting, and after the Pinnacle Tournament, his Fighting specialization had reached Grade A. Therefore, he received three skill cards of the Fighting category at once. However... His terrible luck manifested itself at this moment, because his other four skill cards were two of Investigation and two of Medical.
Apart from the Fighting specialization, Jue-Ge's specializations were 1B, 4C, and 2d, and he happened to draw the skills from those two relatively weakest specializations...
Fortunately, these skill cards were not bound, and he could give them to his teammates in Infernal Frontline to use. If no one wanted to use them, he could sell them. Otherwise, half of his prizes would be useless...
"Hmm... A bad premonition." Feng Bujue only glanced at the skill specializations and immediately felt uneasy.
He was a person who always planned for the worst, so he had considered several bad scenarios beforehand. For example... That all the skills he drew were F-grade.
This was not impossible... The prize terms stated "randomly receive three skill cards corresponding to their highest-level 'specialization', and four random skill cards from other specializations." The key point of this sentence was... Corresponding to 'specialization', not corresponding to 'highest level'.
Therefore, theoretically, players could draw seven S-grade skill cards, or... Seven F-grade skills...
This reward, which was related to luck, was really interesting. If someone really received seven S-grade skills at once, then the improvement they gained might be even greater than the top three. Even if four of the seven cards could never be learned, they could be exchanged for money or given to teammates in the same guild.
But if someone had extremely bad luck and received seven F-grade skills... Then, this reward would be truly pitiful to the extreme, and might even be inferior to the rewards for 100th-51st place... Their ten double experience cards, twenty thousand game coins, and limited edition T-shirt were definitely more valuable than ten F-grade skills. Fortunately, the top ten still had five thousand skill points to take, at least this thing was a hard currency and would never depreciate.
"No way..." Feng Bujue put the four Medical and Investigation specialization cards aside for now, and began to look at the first of the three Fighting skill cards:
[Name: Gang Leg]
[Skill Card Attributes: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]
[Skill Category: Fighting]
[Effect: Emits a weak ranged slash (Cooldown time: fifteen seconds)]
[Consumption: Stamina Value 15]
[Learning Condition: Fighting Specialization F]
[Remark: A vacuum slash evolved from the powerful wind generated by high-speed kicks. P.S.: This skill has absolutely nothing to do with *Lanjiao* (Storm Leg)!]
"Of course it does!" Feng Bujue shouted, "This is a complete rip-off! The consumption is one-tenth of *Lanjiao*, and the power is estimated to be less than one-tenth! And it has a fifteen-second cooldown time?"
This skill could definitely be abandoned without any consideration...
Jue-Ge, with his A-grade Fighting specialization and the legitimate *Lanjiao*, had no need to learn this bootleg *Gang Leg*. Moreover... Players only had twelve skill slots in total, and Feng Bujue had already equipped eleven skills. There was no way he could equip this one.
"Good! Very good! One-seventh of the prize is wasted like this..." Feng Bujue murmured, "In a sense... It's one-third." He raised his head, not knowing who he was talking to, "Ah~ I thought someone was looking out for me... Looks like I misunderstood? Don't want to win the bet anymore?"
Of course... No one would pay attention to his rogue-like behavior.
"Hmm..." Feng Bujue waited for a few seconds, and seeing that there was no reaction, he had no choice but to give up. Anyway, he was just trying his luck.
He turned his gaze again and picked up the second Fighting skill card...
[Name: Brat's Sweeping Kick]
[Skill Card Attributes: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]
[Skill Category: Fighting]
[Effect: Ignores specialization level, 100% chance to trip any monster that can theoretically fall, and enrage the opponent to attack you (No cooldown time)]
[Consumption: Stamina Value 500]
[Learning Condition: Fighting Specialization A]
[Remark: This is *Blue Cat's* three thousand kicks!]
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Heaven... No... Hell has eyes!" Feng Bujue laughed three times, seemingly very satisfied with this skill.
That's right, this was the permanent version of [Brat's Sweeping Kick], which could be learned at F-grade and could only be used three times. This was a typical "strategic" skill. The A-grade rating and the high stamina cost of 500 were enough to show its value.
"Ahem..." Feng Bujue quickly restrained his laughter, "Need to calm down... Calm down... Must not lose composure due to great joy and sorrow. I am a person who doesn't show emotions on my face..."
It was strange. When he was in front of others, Feng Bujue could naturally act like a pro... But when he was alone, he would often show his *chuunibyou* side. This might be the aftereffects of living alone and making " *chuunibyou* cuisine" for a long time.
"Okay... As long as the third one isn't a dud..." Feng Bujue finally picked up the last Fighting specialization card and placed it in front of his eyes.
[Name: Wildball Fist Lv1]
[Skill Card Attributes: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]
[Skill Category: Fighting]
[Effect: Unleash both fists, launching a melee attack against enemies directly ahead (Can be activated at will without a target, cooldown time: one hour; limited to ten uses per scenario, unlimited use in Free Exploration Mode)]
[Consumption: Stamina Value 3]
[Learning Condition: Fighting Specialization F]
[Remark: This skill will level up as the number of uses increases. It will level up every sixty punches, for a total of ten levels.]