Chapter 1 The End of the Re-election

In the early hours of November 16th, with the Gods' forfeiture, the re-election stage of Peak Contention S2 came to an end.

No one expected that the long-awaited semifinal... that highly anticipated, climactic peak showdown... would conclude in this manner.

The reason for Team Gods' forfeiture was known only to their captain, Shi Long, also known as [Shiva]. Even his four teammates were unaware of the underlying cause.

Speaking of... those four had no choice. They had contracts with the Gods, and naturally had to comply with the studio's arrangements regarding matches. Shi Long was both the team captain and the studio owner, so once he declared forfeiture... the teammates could only comply.

On the other hand, Order was quite shocked by the situation.

The management was undoubtedly overjoyed, but the players were suspicious. "Living in a Dream" and the "Four Heavenly Kings of the Gods" were old acquaintances, which made them even more baffled by the forfeiture.

However, they couldn't contact Shiva himself for the time being, because within fifteen minutes of the announcement, the Gods' studio website and customer service system had crashed...

Shiva himself quickly logged out of the game, refused all interviews, and didn't even answer questions from within the company.

That night, he simply gave a few instructions to the studio's general manager, and then went home with his wife.

After that... Feng Bujue came uninvited and met with him to discuss some matters.

What exactly they discussed, we'll leave for now...

Let's move on to the next day...

At two o'clock the next afternoon, Shi Long, in his capacity as the owner of Gods, held a press conference regarding the "forfeiture incident"...

Holding a prepared speech, he read from it, giving a rather bizarre but unassailable reason: "Due to physical reasons last night, I was unable to participate in the match. With the unanimous agreement of my teammates, the entire team forfeited."

Frankly, no one believed this explanation...

But disbelief was useless... anyway, Shi Long said it was a "physical reason," so it was a physical reason. As for the specific physical reason, sorry... that's personal privacy.

Trying to get something out of his teammates... would be equally futile. [Vishnu], [Brahma], and [Yama] had been friends with Shi Long for many years, and they wouldn't say anything out of line in public or in private. And then there was [Asura]... Shi Long's own cousin, who was even less likely to say anything he shouldn't.

With these people singing from the same hymn sheet, there was no breakthrough...

In the end, it was a forfeiture, not cheating. Weren't they allowed to be physically unwell? Was it against the rules for Boss Shi to have his period?

In short, Shi Long forced an explanation for the forfeiture.

Of course, he had finished fooling around on his end, but the reporters wouldn't accept it at face value... Everyone believed that there was something big behind Gods' forfeiture, and the impact of the incident would continue to ferment for some time.

So, as soon as the press conference ended, irresponsible rumors such as "cowardice in the face of battle," "external gambling," and "backroom deals" began to brew in the minds of unscrupulous media people...

However, most of these people's articles never made it to the draft stage, because...

At four o'clock on the afternoon of November 16th, shortly after the Gods' press conference, Dream Inc. quietly posted an announcement on its website that made the majority of media people's jaws drop—

[The Peak Contention S2 Finals are restricted to in-game players only.]

What did this mean? According to the FAQ below the announcement... this announcement didn't just mean that the finals would "not be broadcast externally," but that... there would be no "recording" of the finals either.

To put it more specifically—only "players" who entered Thriller Paradise using a gaming pod in "sleep mode," and who had created a character before midnight on November 16, 2055... could watch the match. Anyone who did not meet the above conditions would be unable to connect to the game or would be forcibly disconnected during the finals. As for other online streaming platforms... they would all be shut down. Moreover, the footage of the finals would not be released for viewing afterwards.

From a businessman's perspective, Dream Inc.'s actions were nothing short of insane...

First of all, given the current social attention on "Peak Contention S2," the advertising revenue alone before the finals began would be a deal worth over a hundred million. But... they weren't even broadcasting it.

Secondly, not broadcasting it was fine, as they could then take the match recording and release it exclusively to earn even more. But they claimed they wouldn't even keep a recording...

In addition, barring viewers other than existing players... made no sense at all.

If the first announcement hadn't included the restriction of "characters created before November 16, 2055," it could have been understood as a marketing activity... simply forcing people to play your game (gaming pods weren't a problem, you could use them at internet cafes if you didn't buy one). But Dream Inc. specifically limited the time, so even if you immediately created a character in the game after seeing the announcement, it wouldn't work...

This kind of approach would definitely make those who were interested in the game but hadn't yet joined very dissatisfied...

In summary, Dream Inc.'s decision was truly inexplicable, with virtually no advantages to be seen other than the loss of large amounts of money and potential players.

However... thinking about it carefully, no matter what the motivation was, this behavior had actually been foreshadowed...

As early as before the preliminary rounds were over, when Dream Inc. first put the "match broadcasting rights" up for auction, they had already prepared for this step... so their broadcasting rights were all sold in stages.

This way, when it came to the finals, they could suddenly announce that the broadcasting rights for this stage were not for sale.

In addition, below the aforementioned bombshell announcement, was another announcement that had nothing to do with the vast majority of players—

[Regarding the distribution of prizes not yet issued from the preliminary rounds.]

The "prizes not yet issued from the preliminary rounds" mentioned in this announcement totaled two items: a "limited edition T-shirt" and "forty-eight hours of New Version Experience qualification."

The other prizes from the preliminary rounds, including game coins, experience, equipment, etc., had already been distributed before the re-election stage began, with only the above two items delayed.

And this time, the official announcement clarified the time and form of distribution: one, the T-shirts would be sent out today, with free shipping; two, the limited-time experience feature would be activated within a week after the finals.

So... what was the date of the finals?

The third announcement was it—[Peak Contention S2 Finals—"Twilight of the Gods," will be held at midnight on November 19th.]