Chapter 17 Prizes

[Prize List—

In addition to the prizes for the final stage of the competition, we have also prepared generous rewards for the teams ranked highly in the preliminary stage.

The final stage prizes are currently confidential.

The preliminary prizes are as follows...]

"Ah... as expected..." Feng Bujue muttered, "For team-based point races like this, it's very likely that some teams will deliberately hide their strength in the preliminary stage in order to gain an advantage in the final stage... In this case, setting up some rewards for the top-ranked teams can also appropriately stimulate those who are conserving their strength."

[The top 100 teams in the preliminary stage will each receive 1,000,000 game coins and a limited-edition t-shirt.]

"Hmm... this reward is not bad..." Feng Bujue immediately did some mental calculations, "Converted to RMB, it's about five hundred yuan in prize money, plus a piece of clothing that could potentially sell for several hundred to over a thousand online." He then thought, "Hmm... judging from the ranking range for the rewards, there are a lot of teams that can participate in the finals this time... definitely more than a hundred, right..."

[The top 50 teams in the preliminary stage will each receive two random Superior-grade equipment items corresponding to their level, and a forty-eight-hour limited-time trial of the new "Twilight of the Gods" version of Thriller Paradise.]

"What the—?" Feng Bujue was surprised again, "They actually directly announced the name of the new version... and what's with the limited-time trial? That means... by late October at the latest, they can prepare an independent server with the updated version that players can connect to?"

His speculation was still too cautious... In fact, the development of the "Twilight of the Gods" version was completed shortly after the official launch of version v1.10, "Derivative Invasion." This limited-time trial was nothing more than a gimmick, using existing resources to distribute as a benefit.

"Heh... this is interesting." Feng Bujue smiled after thinking for a few seconds, "This is going to force those game studios to their deaths..."

His mind was quick, and he quickly thought of this aspect...

The significance of these forty-eight hours is completely different for casual players and game studios...

Any studio worth its salt understands how much of an advantage it can gain by experiencing the content before the version update.

"This is a good move..." Feng Bujue commented, "This way, those professional teams... will spare no effort to fight for the top fifty spots. If anyone wants to 'conserve strength' or something, they have to make a trade-off... For example, large studios that have the ability to send multiple teams to participate will have to re-evaluate the strength of their second and third teams."

Thinking of this, Jue-ge became even more interested in the following prizes.

He continued to look down...

[The top ten teams in the preliminary stage will have all their members below max level immediately raised to max level, and each member will receive one Perfect-grade equipment item.]

"Damn..." Feng Bujue widened his eyes and said, "As expected of a devil, every condition directly hits the soft spot of human nature..." He shook his head, "After reading the prizes, even I want to go all out in the preliminary stage. I feel like if I'm ranked outside the top hundred... I'll be left further and further behind."

Squeak—

At this moment, the bedroom door suddenly opened.

"Haa... what are you muttering about so early in the morning?" Ruoyu yawned and walked out of the room, her eyes still half-closed.

She was wearing a set of pink pajamas, her left shoulder and collarbone were exposed, and her medium-length hair was scattered messily. She looked like a typical sloppy girl.

After spending the past few days together, Feng Bujue had learned some of Ruoyu's habits, so... he was no longer surprised by the scene before him.

"Uh..." Feng Bujue glanced at her and replied in a very normal tone, "Go brush your teeth and wash your face first. I've already brought back breakfast. We can talk while we eat later."

"Oh..." Ruoyu responded and then rubbed her eyes, dragging her bunny slippers as she "wiped" her way into the bathroom and closed the door.

Before Ruoyu moved in, Jue-ge always thought that... putting aside her social awkwardness and some personality flaws, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call Ruoyu a "goddess." However, after these three days, he discovered... things were not quite as he imagined.

Of course, it's not that Ruoyu had any terrible shortcomings, but... Feng Bujue vaguely felt that... the other party had many habits in daily life that were strikingly similar to his own.

If conditions allow, it's uncomfortable not to get eight hours of sleep...

It takes a lot of determination to get up in the morning, so you're very irritable for the first few minutes...

You like to squeeze toothpaste from the middle...

You don't wash your hair without taking a shower...

You hate going downstairs to take out the trash...

You like cooking more than cleaning up, but once you start cleaning, you show signs of being a neat freak...

Things like that... and so on...

This was the first time Feng Bujue had lived with someone other than his parents, and it was also the first time he had lived under the same roof as a young woman (Asass obviously didn't fall into the first two categories). He originally thought that after adding such a roommate, he would at least have to go through a period of "adjustment" to eliminate the awkwardness, embarrassment, and disharmony between the two.

But for some reason... after living with Ruoyu for a few days, Feng Bujue felt that everything was very natural.

They had many of the same habits, they had many of the same hobbies, their personalities had certain differences, but they were still very compatible.

He was comfortable, and she was comfortable.

It was like the saying we often hear at the dinner table—adding one more person is just adding another pair of chopsticks.

Jue-ge now had this feeling...

He couldn't explain what this situation was. Maybe he had just adapted to a person's loneliness and regarded it as a normal state... Maybe... he had only just realized that it was quite nice to have a like-minded person as a companion.

…………

At nine o'clock in the morning, Feng Bujue and Ruoyu had both finished breakfast and were lying in their game pods.

Ruoyu's game pod was undoubtedly also the deluxe version. Fortunately, the space in Jue-ge's living room was relatively ample, and two of them could be placed side by side, close together, and still fit.

[Welcome to the product of our company. Scanning has begun, please wait.]

[Scanning is complete. Citizen ID confirmed: sh13***313, Name: Feng Bujue; Access device: nL2055 deluxe single-person game pod, no abnormal external hardware detected; Cardiopulmonary function is within normal range; Neural connection program is ready, please select the access type.]

[Access type is non-sleep mode, adjusting... adjustment complete, please confirm loading the game or return to the previous option.]

[Program starting, loading the game in ten seconds...]

After a series of familiar voice prompts, Feng Bujue appeared in the login space.

He was now a level 50 player. Although he didn't really train properly for the last few levels, he mainly leveled up by claiming bonus experience... but Jue-ge's strength was beyond doubt. Whether it was the character's basic attributes, skills, equipment, Soul Power, Spiritual Weapons, etc... even in terms of pure strength, he could be ranked among the top fifty strongest players in the entire game.

At this point, everyone must have developed a vague premonition...

That's right, the following content is!

Feng Bujue: Lv50

Title: [Scheming Madman], Title Ability: [Predictive Genius]

Experience: ----, Skill Points: 3184, Game Coins: 2152000.

Proficiencies: General A, Machinery A, Investigation C, Fighting S, Shooting C, Medical D, Spiritual A, Summoning B.

Inventory (2125): Composite Anti-Gravity Catapult, Vajra Bell, Survival Value Supplement (Medium) *5, Endless Grenade Magazine, wjQ-308 Military Shovel (Indestructible), I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-a-Mushroom *1, Deception Pocket Watch, Must-Break Defense Blade, Chuck Norris' Razor, Oxygen Pipe, Yi Da, [Wind, Forest, Mountain, Shadow, Thunder], Blackbeard's Skull, The Sealed One's Right Foot, The Sealed One's Left Foot, The Sealed One's Right Wrist, The Sealed One's Left Wrist.

Equipment: Death Poker (Spiritual Weapon), Artemis' Embrace, The Alchemist King's Taunt, Treading Void, Phantom Lady's Caress, Bell's Everyday Knife, Smiling Face, i_wAnnA_Be_A_BeLt.

Storage (315): "Poker Man" Hero ID Card, Puzzle Card - Sweater, Puzzle Card - Tears.

Skill Slots (1212): [Mechatok's Power], [Spiritual Sense Gathering Technique - Modified], [Evil King's Flame Kill - Hell Scorch], [Moonwalk], [Rankyaku], [Flying Sand in the Wind], [Kikouhou], [Baseball Fist Lv10], [The Brat's Low Kick], [Spirit Rhinoceros Finger], [Summoning Technique—Musashi Koganei], [Summoning Technique—Ma Sun]

Unequipped Skills: [The Ice Alchemist's Persistence], [Not-So-Hast Repair], [Nanto Flying Dragon Fist]

This is Feng Bujue's stats shortly after reaching max level.

Judging from the numbers, the data is quite impressive. But to say it's "gorgeous" or "heaven-defying" is not quite accurate.

Comparing it from God's perspective... the top experts in those large studios are actually a step ahead of Feng Bujue in terms of equipment and skill quality.

If Jue-ge has any advantages, it's that his proficiency growth is more balanced, and he has more strategic equipment and skills.

…………

"Yo! Everyone!" When Jue-ge entered the conference room, Xiao Tan, Xiao Ling, and Huajian were already sitting at the conference table. He greeted them very energetically, "Long time no see~"

"Yeah... it's been almost half a month, right?" Xiao Ling said. Except for Xiao Tan, Jue-ge hadn't seen the other two online for a long time.

"What 'everyone' are you talking about... are you a middle school teacher or something..." Huajian replied.

"Actually, I used to think about being a middle school teacher." Feng Bujue replied.

"You must have been inspired by *GTO*." Ruoyu's voice came in at the right time. She entered the conference room right after Jue-ge.

"That's right." Feng Bujue turned to look at her and admitted it very straightforwardly, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Ruoyu walked past Feng Bujue, came to the conference table, and sat down, "If you want to be a teacher, you have to graduate from your *chuunibyou* phase first, right?"

"Nice comeback!" Xiao Tan immediately responded loudly from the side.

"What's so good about it..." Feng Bujue squinted his eyes, "Whatever is good is what you learned from me."

"Stinky shameless." Ruoyu replied.

"Hmm?" Feng Bujue was shocked, "You actually swore?"

"Yeah..." In the next second, a trace of shame and panic inexplicably appeared in Ruoyu's eyes, "I directly said what was on my mind... and the system didn't block me?"

"This proves two things..." Huajian raised one hand and extended two fingers, "First, Jue is indeed thick-skinned. Second, even the system thinks that what Ruoyu said makes sense."

"Who taught you to talk like that again?" Feng Bujue squinted at Huajian and asked.

"What's wrong with the way I talk?" Huajian asked in confusion.

Before Jue-ge could reply, Ruoyu interjected first, "Hmm... it's a bit like the tone of a character in someone's book..."

"Eh?" Hearing this, Huajian's pretty face flushed. After a few seconds, she put on an annoyed expression and slammed the table fiercely, "Damn it... I must have been mentally polluted when proofreading..."

"Whose manuscript are you talking about?" Feng Bujue raised his voice and stood up.

"Whoever responds is the one I'm talking about..." Huajian replied.

"You..." Jue-ge hesitated, thought about it, and sat down, "Well... as the saying goes, a good man doesn't argue with a woman."

As soon as he said this, he was hit in the face with potato chips, kicked, and pinched.

"System guards!" Feng Bujue shouted, "Why haven't you appeared yet? Is there no justice?"

"Jue-ge... stop acting cute..." Xiao Tan interjected, "If the system guards really come, it'll be because what you just said was suspected of gender discrimination... the one who gets taken down will still be you..."

"Alright... then I'll talk about something serious." Feng Bujue said, brushing off the potato chips on his body. He leaned forward, put his elbows on the table, and interlaced his fingers in front of his lips.

After striking this trademark Commander Ikari pose, Jue-ge revealed a stern look and said in a deep voice, "Everyone has heard about the Peak Tournament Season 2, right?"

"I knew you were going to say that, Team Leader~" Xiao Ling was the first to reply, "We were discussing it before you came."

Huajian added, "It's also a coincidence... I barely reached level forty yesterday."

Xiao Tan also said, "Since you're max level, Jue-ge, the five of us can form a team."

The three of them said everything that Feng Bujue wanted to hear and say.

At this moment, Ruoyu inadvertently revealed a slight smile and turned to look at Jue-ge, "It seems... your classmates don't need you to worry about them."

"Heh..." Feng Bujue also smiled, "Very good..." He raised his head, "If everyone has no objections, then I'll impolitely... take on the position of captain of the 'Infernal Frontline' team."