Chapter 7 August Seventh

August 7th, 8:00 AM.

It was exactly seventy-two hours since Feng Bujue had received the requirement to “reach max level within three days.”

On this seemingly unremarkable morning, an explosive news item appeared on the Dream Inc. official website.

[Peak Brawl S2 Forum Section Launches Today]

[The Battle Rekindles, Gods Reappear.]

[United in Purpose, Unstoppable.]

As long as players opened any webpage under the Dream Inc. domain, a large pop-up window displaying this slogan would appear, making it impossible to ignore…

“Ah… what’s coming will always come…” Feng Bujue, who was sitting in front of his computer eating breakfast, reacted to this announcement with remarkable calm.

Having read this far, some of you have probably guessed that the “thing” Woody told Jue-ge about after “The Last Supper” was referring to this.

After all, Jue-ge had “someone upstairs,” which ordinary players couldn't compare to. Of course, Woody only informed Jue-ge three days in advance about the upcoming competition; he didn't reveal much about the other rules and details.

“At this moment, those professional players… are probably going crazy…” Feng Bujue said with a gloating expression as he drank the last mouthful of soy milk.

He guessed right… All the major studios assumed that the preliminary round for Peak Brawl S2 would be in November (the S1 announcement mentioned the competition would be held every six months), so they were all in a relatively relaxed state at this early August time.

But they never expected… the rules for S2 would be completely different from S1. Whether it was the qualification for registration, the preliminary round cycle, the competition format, or the ranking rewards… everything was practically upgraded.

To put it another way, Peak Brawl S1 was like a knockout grand prix organized by a small-scale boxing league, while this S2… felt like the top five European soccer leagues.

“In any case… let’s first see what they wrote…” Feng Bujue muttered as he looked at the screen and clicked the link on the pop-up window.

Two seconds later, he was linked to the S2 forum section.

After absorbing the various experiences and lessons from Peak Brawl S1, Dream Inc. made some very targeted changes.

Take this “Peak Brawl S2 Forum Section”… they even prepared a separate server for this forum channel. Even if tens of millions of accounts flooded in at the same time, or even posted simultaneously, it would never crash. Hacker attacks and software spamming were also within the scope of prevention.

At the moment this special section was opened, Dream Inc. also hung a pinned post on all the forum's channels—[Before and after Peak Brawl S2, all topics related to the competition will be transferred to the relevant discussion area.]

It was obviously difficult to rely on administrators alone to handle this operation… Reading posts, reviewing posts, and moving posts all took time, and if the number of posts was large in a short period, the moderators simply couldn't manage it. Fortunately… in this era, there were optical computers. Most of the screening and classification work could be done by optical computers, and the moderators only needed to be responsible for clearing out some of the outliers.

“Hmm… this should be it…” Feng Bujue glanced over the special section after opening it and went into the [Competition Rules Official Summary] thread.

The post prohibited anyone other than administrators from replying, and its content added up to more than a dozen floors.

And Jue-ge, as a voracious reader, would naturally not let go of any line.

First, the registration part…

[This competition will adopt a team registration system. From 0:00 on August 8th, players can fill out a registration application on the main screen of any "Meeting Room."

A team that meets any of the following conditions is eligible to register—

One, the team contains one (or more) Level 50 players, and all other members are Level 40 (including Level 40) or higher.

Two, the average level of the team members reaches 44.

Three, three members of the team reach Level 45, and the remaining two members reach Level 40 and each possess two or more A-level (including A-level) specializations.]

“Hmm… this standard is considered reasonable.” Feng Bujue said as he looked at the post, “The third condition should be to take care of those players who practice healing or mechanical specialization, as well as those who rely on puzzle-solving… The leveling speed of this group of people may be slower than the mainstream combat-based players.”

He continued to read…

[Registration must be carried out on the premise that five players maintain a team state.

The team name and team member list used in the competition shall be filled in by the team captain.

The registration form can only be submitted after all members of the team have completed the confirmation operation.]

“Five people…” Feng Bujue thought to himself when he saw this, “It’s already more than the 3v3 limit of the ‘Slaughter Game’… What should be done in terms of tactical drills…”

The following content answered his question…

[After submitting the application, the system will complete the review of the registration form within five minutes.

A team that passes the review will be regarded as "registration successful," and all members of the team will immediately unlock the "Peak Brawl S2 Practice Mode [See Floor 4 for details]."]

“Oh… directly open a mode that can be practiced.” While speaking, Feng Bujue had already slid the mouse wheel and directly turned to the fourth floor of the post.

[Peak Brawl S2 Practice Mode—

This mode only supports 4v4 battles between Peak Brawl S2 registered teams.

This mode has no scare value settlement or rewards, but the basic principle of "forced disconnection due to excessive scare value" still applies.

This mode may feature any worldview or task, and the size and layout of the map will be randomly generated based on the capabilities of both players.

In this mode, players can only observe the nicknames, levels, and survival status of their teammates in the team bar, and all enemy information will be shielded.

The experience, game currency, and skill value rewards provided by this mode are similar to the Slaughter Mode, but the acquisition rate of items and skills will be lower than the general Survival Mode, similar to the Novice Practice Mode.

The player interaction rules A-e of the team survival mode still apply in this mode. If you are not clear about these terms, please click the following link to watch.]

“What’s going on? 4v4?” Feng Bujue was stunned after reading it, “Isn’t registration required for a five-person team?” He quickly returned to the top of the post and continued reading the previous content.

[This competition will take the form of 4v4 battles. In each round of the competition, the registered teams can adjust their lineups and choose any four players from the five to fight.]

“Ho?” When this rule entered Jue-ge’s sight, he keenly saw something, “This is interesting…” he said to himself, “Different personnel configurations can make different tactical combinations… In this way… pre-match analysis and planning are likely to become a part of what determines the outcome of the game.”

He immediately showed an unfriendly smile… in front of his eyes, it seemed as if countless people were showing their frustration after being tricked by him.

[At 0:00 on August 10th, the "Peak Brawl S2 Practice Mode" will be officially opened. At that time, teams that have unlocked this mode can join the queue for matching.

Until 0:00 on August 30th, this mode will be closed again. The official "Preliminary Round Mode" will be opened shortly after this.

During the period from 0:00 on August 8th to 0:00 on August 30th, all captains of registered teams have one opportunity to submit a "Personnel Change Application."

In addition to the team captain, all members have one opportunity to submit a "Leave Team Application."

After 0:00 on August 30th, all team lists will be locked and cannot be changed.]

“So that’s how it is…” Feng Bujue read this section and said, “First of all, before 0:00 on the 10th, give the players two days to form a team. Then, in the remaining twenty days, provide these teams with time to practice and cooperate, and give each player a chance to choose again. In this way… at least the vast majority of teams can form a lineup that satisfies them.”

["Preliminary Round Mode" (tentative name) will adopt an points system. The specific opening time and rules will be announced at 0:00 on August 30th.

The total cycle of the preliminary round is expected to be fifty days.

There are no specially invited players in this competition.

The final list will be completely based on points and sorted by the optical computer.

The competition process will be completely open, transparent, and fair.]

“Hehe…” Feng Bujue smiled, “Fair my ass… Last time, you directly invited me, and this time, you gave me spoilers in advance, how can you have the nerve…” When he said this, he deliberately raised his voice a little.

“Haa~” The next second, Asass, who was sleeping on the sofa, yawned and added, “I know your intentions, don’t waste your effort, meow.”

“Ah? Are you talking to me?” Feng Bujue turned his head and pretended to be stupid.

“You pretended to be nonchalant and casually said something that might affect Woody, and deliberately let me hear it.” Asass bluntly exposed Jue-ge, “You want to use this to test… whether I will report to him in similar situations. If so, you can use me as an opportunity… to pass some information that you want him to hear. If not, you will think of other ways to further test…”

Feng Bujue shrugged after hearing this: “Tch… Was I seen through…”

“Continue browsing your forum, meow…” Asass lazily continued, “Don’t think that you have reached level 50 (Jue-ge reached max level on August 5th) and you can sit back and relax… This S2 competition will be much more difficult than S1, you better prepare more in advance…” After saying that, she shook her tail and turned her head to sleep again.

“Ah… I’ll do my best…” Feng Bujue responded and turned his gaze back to the monitor.

The content listed in the post next was the highly anticipated—prizes.