Chapter 173 The Mid-Game Begins

Fists clashed, and combat qi intertwined.

The ultimate exchange of moves stirred the entire space.

The will of the two powerhouses moved every onlooker.

But in the end, only one could win.

"Haa... haa..." As the qi clouds and light dispersed, the victor lay on his back on the battlefield, gasping for breath, utterly exhausted.

And the loser had already been swallowed by the energy released by the techniques, turning into white light.

"Did... I win?" At this moment, Asura had returned from the [Ultimate Martial - Asura Transformation] state to his normal form and entered a state of exhaustion; he couldn't even move a finger, let alone sit up.

Although he had indeed defeated his opponent, he did not feel any sense of "victory" in his heart.

With such an evenly matched exchange, it wouldn't have been strange for anyone to be the last one standing.

...

Meanwhile, in the Spectator Area for the Order team.

"Yo, everyone, sorry to keep you waiting." Drunken Lament returned and greeted his teammates with a very casual attitude.

"Hey, hey... What's with that tone, as if you've returned in triumph?" Gui Xiao couldn't help but retort when he saw his attitude. "Losing to that brat, you've already ruined your reputation, haven't you?"

"Ha! Aren't you a brat too? I get beaten by you every now and then. If every loss was considered a disgrace, my integrity would have been shattered to pieces long ago, wouldn't it?" Drunken Lament raised his hand to smooth back his instant noodle-like hair, replying with a smile.

"Although you lost, you seem to be in a good mood..." Wu Si Can Xuan looked at him and muttered with narrowed eyes.

"Ah... because the fight was quite enjoyable." Drunken Lament said, "Besides... now that the result is out, there's nothing to dwell on."

"Hic~" At this moment, Meng Jing Chan let out a burp and interjected, "Sigh... you have such a good attitude. That professional quality of 'never giving up or slacking off before the end of the match, and being able to let go of yourself immediately after the match, regardless of victory or defeat' is truly enviable."

"Hmph..." Sheng Yu Pian said, hearing this, "You're the least qualified to say that, since you're always letting go of yourself..."

Judging from the nonchalant state of these five, teasing each other, the defeat in the first match seemed to have had no impact on their emotions.

However, the other two members of the team were still a little nervous.

Those two were the Order team's ace sniper, [Barcode], and the team's support-style player, [Ye Zhi].

During S2, they were both members of "Order Team Two"; in S3, due to the change in the competition system, they were assigned to this seven-member team under the studio's arrangement.

Barcode was under a lot of pressure in this competition; he was originally a player of the same level as "Drunken Dream" in the studio, but due to Gui Xiao's joining, he had already been squeezed into the position of "Sixth Man"... Considering that he was not young anymore, if he was eliminated early in this competition, he would probably be transferred to the "second-tier roster" after the competition. In that case... the resources the studio invested in him, including his personal income, treatment, and popularity among fans, would all be affected.

These... are all very realistic problems, and every professional player who is getting closer and closer to retirement age must face them.

In addition, Ye Zhi was also under pressure; her situation was similar to Jianghu's [Laughing at the Blue Sky]. Although she was still participating in the competition, she was actually in a semi-retired state. As soon as S3 ended, she planned to transfer to the company's management. As a member of the "quasi-management," she certainly didn't want her team to "have a good time and fight without regrets, and then be eliminated in the first round."

"You guys..." Sure enough, after listening to the team members' cheerful conversation for a while, Ye Zhi said slowly with a gloomy face, "...are already prepared, right?"

When the others heard Ye Zhi speak, and her tone was unkind, they quickly closed their mouths and turned to listen to the "leader's" speech.

"Uh... President Ye..." Drunken Lament was not stupid. He was always very well-behaved when communicating with the "leader." "The 'prepared' you are talking about refers to..."

"Looking at you laughing and joking..." Ye Zhi continued, "Presumably you are confident... that even if the first match is lost, it will not change the final victory and advancement of our team... right?" She paused, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face, "You should also know how the media will report tomorrow if we [Order] are eliminated in the first round, and defeated by our arch-enemy [Deities]?"

Although her expression was not scary, her aura had frightened the other six into silence, and even Gui Xiao swallowed nervously.

"Don't think that the punishment for losing this match is just a deduction of bonuses." As she said this, Ye Zhi's smile became brighter and brighter, her bright eyes squinted with laughter, and her tone was very kind and amiable, "I'm a girl, a player, and a team leader. I have to train with you idiots and then work overtime as a manager... the pressure is really great. If a situation like 'Order Studio suffers a disastrous defeat in the first round of the S3 competition and is eliminated' occurs, causing me, who could have been directly promoted to manager after retirement... to become a tea-pouring and water-serving assistant..." At this point, her smile and tone, which were as warm as a spring breeze, revealed a chilling aura, "...this lady will personally kill you."

...

The five-minute break time passed quickly, and the second match of the [Order] vs. [Deities] battle—the 2v2 mid-game—was about to begin.

Accompanied by the voice prompt of [The match will begin in thirty seconds], the players from both teams were teleported to the battlefield.

The two players from the Order team were [Sheng Yu Pian] and [Barcode].

It was clear that this was a combination that excelled at ranged combat. The former's wide-area reconnaissance ability and the latter's shooting ability were a perfect match.

At this moment, due to Sister Ye Zhi's "encouragement" just now, Sheng Yu Pian and Barcode, who had just entered the arena, stared at their opponents with eyes that seemed to devour people alive. Although there was a barrier between them, their aura of "you die or I live" had been well conveyed to the other side through the barrier.

On the Deities team's side, the players in the arena were [Vishnu] and [Garuda].

The former is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Deities. What level is his combat power at? Let's take a look back at the rankings on the combat power list during S1. At that time, the top ten were [Devouring Ghost Xiao], [Crazy Unaware] (anonymous), [Shiva], [Drunken Lament], [Worthless Uncle], [Laughing at the Blue Sky], [Vishnu], [Brahma], [Wu Si Can Xuan], and [No-Knife Swordsman].

Of course, that was the ranking from almost a year ago, and the players' combat power has already undergone earth-shattering changes. Many of the experts who were ranked eleventh to twentieth at that time, or even those who had not yet established a game character at that time, may have already surpassed several of the above ten players in terms of hard power.

But in any case, judging from the initial ranking, Vishnu was definitely one of the strongest players in the first echelon.

Next, let's talk about [Garuda]. He was the main player of "Deities Team Two" during S2, and was promoted to Team One in S3.

Like Asura, Garuda is also a young player who just turned eighteen this year.

Here's a digression, in the e-sports circle, some people can already be called "veterans" at the age of eighteen... it mainly depends on the project.

Unlike Order's "sniper combination," [Vishnu] and [Garuda] formed a "speed combination" that focuses on mobility and excels at mid-range combat.

This match is indeed very interesting.

...

"Hmm... it seems that the loss in the first match has put a lot of psychological pressure on the opponent." With only a dozen seconds before the start of the match, Vishnu couldn't help but lower his voice and mutter to his teammate beside him.

"Yeah... their expressions look so scary." Garuda also nodded and replied, "As expected of the main members of Order, this is the first time I've seen eyes that seem to be risking their lives in the real world..."

In a sense, he was right...

On the other hand, the actions of Sheng Yu Pian and Barcode, the "sniper combination," were a bit strange; they didn't choose to distance themselves like Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling, but instead, while glaring at their opponents, directly started "setting up formation" in place.

Sheng Yu Pian took out an old-fashioned radio and several megaphone-like objects from his inventory and laid them out on the ground; while Barcode took out two golden revolvers, held one in each hand, and aimed directly at his opponents through the barrier, preparing to strike.

[Five... four... three... two...]

Soon, the system's final five-second countdown had begun, but neither of these teams, who were not good at close combat, showed any intention of retreating...