"I didn't expect you to be so strong when you get serious..." Bei Ling gave Xiao Tan a praising comment upon his return.

"Mm-hmm, especially that impulsive act of abandoning advantages for a decisive blow, it made someone reveal a heart-fluttering expression." Feng Bujue smirked, pointing at Bei Ling, "Being cool is more important than winning, that's the truth."

"Guild Leader... don't fabricate unwarranted scenarios, it's easy to cause misunderstandings." Bei Ling narrowed her eyes, glancing sideways at Jue Ge.

"I saw it too." Si Yu unhesitatingly betrayed her cousin...

"Cousin!" Bei Ling's cheeks flushed slightly, and she complained in a resentful tone.

Xiao Tan just smiled awkwardly on the side, not joining in. He was a kind person, and usually wouldn't push his luck.

Feng Bujue also knew when to stop, and immediately changed the subject, "So... now that you've entered the winner's bracket, you shouldn't have any matches for the next two days, barring any unforeseen circumstances. And your continuous overtime is over, you should be able to take advantage of the rest days to level up."

"Yeah... I hope so too," Xiao Tan replied, "but... that victory just now doesn't guarantee that I'll advance to the second round, right? What if my record ranks in the bottom one hundred and twenty of the winner's bracket, wouldn't I still have to play in the additional matches?"

"Have a little confidence in yourself, you have forty-two wins in hand," Bei Ling encouraged, "There are one thousand five hundred people in the winner's bracket, and only 8% of them need to play additional matches; you always think other people's scores are too good, but most people only advance after playing all fifty matches, and only a handful of people win more than forty-five matches, so your record is clearly above average."

"Is... is that so..." Xiao Tan scratched his head and replied.

"Of course it is," Feng Bujue added, "Judging from her tone, she must have already investigated it, presumably by reading a large number of posts on the forum and combining them with the analysis of the qualification list." He paused for a moment, "According to this detective's intuition and experience, Xiao Gutou (Little Bone) is so concerned about someone, she must have ulterior motives..."

"Aren't you an artist, a great writer?" Bei Ling interrupted in a very displeased tone, "Did you change professions again!"

"Hmph... when necessary, I can become all kinds of people and do all kinds of things." Feng Bujue replied with full chuuni spirit, "My hidden identities are as numerous as the hairs on a cow, just a few hours ago, I saved the Earth from the clutches of the Martians."

"You just ate some takoyaki after dinner, right..." Xiao Tan knew him best, obviously, Jue Ge had used this gag more than once.

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue pouted after being exposed, and changed the subject again, "That... it's not early, let's queue up for a team instance, if we want to go further in the Peak Tournament, Xiao Tan's Spirit Arts level urgently needs to be improved."

"Tch... you're also pretty concerned about Xiao Tan's affairs, but you always make fun of me... saying nonsense..." Bei Ling muttered softly.

Xiao Tan was closest to her and heard her clearly, and immediately leaned close to her ear and whispered, "That... there should be, right."

Bei Ling rolled her eyes at him: "What should be?"

"Hehe..." Xiao Tan smiled, but didn't answer.

"Believe it or not, I'll log off now, drive to your house within fifteen minutes, break down the door, pull you out of the game pod, and then smother you to death with a pillow." Bei Ling finished the entire sentence in one breath.

"Okay, okay, no no." Xiao Tan still gave in to her, "I'm afraid of you..."

…………

At the same time, the game mall.

On the main screen, two commentators had just finished broadcasting a focus battle—[Xiao Wen Cang Tian] vs. [Vishnu]

This was a direct dialogue between the sixth and seventh ranked players on the combat power list.

In the end, Xiao Wen Cang Tian, known as "Master Xiao," successfully defeated the second figure of the gods, sending Vishnu into the additional matches.

While the audience was still discussing this fierce battle, the live broadcast of another match was switched to the main screen.

"Welcome back, everyone." Commentator A said, "I am commentator Pan Feng."

Commentator B added, "I am commentator Hua Xiong."

Pan Feng said, "That duel just now was truly magnificent and unforgettable."

Hua Xiong said, "However, tonight's broadcast is not over yet, and there are still many players whose matches have not been decided. Now, please compose yourselves and join us in cutting into another battle that is currently in progress."

These two game administrators did not appear on the screen, players could only hear their voices.

At this time, the scene on the main screen of the mall had switched to the scenario map.

The images of the matches were naturally taken by the system, usually from a high, overhead angle, and the camera would zoom in and out from time to time, and even shake; the lighting effects also simulated real-life shooting, strong light, darkness, dust, water splashes, etc., would all affect the broadcast image.

In terms of sound, it was three hundred and sixty-degree surround sound, and there would never be any rustling sounds from the microphone. If the two sides in the battle had a dialogue, as long as they spoke loudly and clearly, it would be broadcast, of course, whispers or soft mutterings could not be recorded.

"In the first round, the only players ranked in the top twenty on the combat power list who encountered each other were Xiao Wen Cang Tian and Vishnu just now, it seems that these two were not very lucky." Hua Xiong continued from what he said just now, "Other high-ranking players have successively achieved victory, and the one who is still fighting is this... player [Meng Jing Chan]."

Pan Feng added, "For player Meng Jing Chan, I believe most players are no strangers, he is one of the 'Drunken Life, Dream Death' four experts of 'Order', a star-level player among professional players." He paused for a moment, "And his opponent, may not be so familiar to everyone. Let me briefly introduce him... this player [Long Ao Min], belongs to the guild 'Blade'; his level is the same as player Meng Jing Chan, both are level thirty-seven; and his title is... [Berserker Shield]."

Hua Xiong continued, "Like everyone else, we have just seen the footage of the match. From the current situation on the scene, it seems that player Meng Jing Chan is in the lead, suppressing player Long Ao Min with fierce attacks." His tone changed slightly, "It seems that this match has also entered the final stages, as expected of the side with a higher combat power rating..."

Pan Feng suddenly interrupted his partner, "Wait! Everyone, please look! Player Long Ao Min is suddenly surrounded by golden Battle Qi, he has begun to counterattack! Is he going to give up defense and fight to the death?"

Hua Xiong also followed up, "Player Meng Jing Chan has also launched a powerful skill to suppress him, just looking at the special effects, you can tell that this move is extraordinary, this is undoubtedly a fatal blow! Oh! The attack is actually ineffective! Player Long Ao Min has reached a very advantageous position!"

These two spoke extremely quickly, but the two players in the picture fought even faster.

The sound of ping pong clang, was the concerto of sword and shield.

The sound of booming and whooshing, was the chorus of speed and strength.

Within the scenario, Long Ge (Brother Long), covered in golden light, had rushed in front of Meng Jing Chan, at this moment, the latter, whose stamina had been reduced to zero, had become a lamb to the slaughter.

Perhaps to others, it looked like Meng Jing Chan was suppressing Long Ao Min, but in reality, Meng Jing Chan was the one being passive. The reason why he continued to attack fiercely was because he had no other choice.

From the beginning of the scenario until now, Meng Jing Chan had never been able to break Long Ao Min's defense system. When his stamina reached its bottom, Long Ge activated his title ability, with one breath, like a hot knife through butter, he launched this decisive counterattack.

"Hehe... I didn't expect to lose here..." Seeing that the situation was over, Meng Jing Chan simply sat down on the ground and muttered with a wry smile.

Long Ao Min was an open-minded person, he would not deliberately embarrass his opponent: "Your fast sword met my slow shield, it can only be said that your luck was bad. Anyway, with your ability, the additional matches shouldn't be able to stop you, right..."

"Who knows..." Meng Jing Chan laughed, "Don't look at me like this, our studio also has some requirements for my record... Heh... the pressure will be great next."

"Then I wish you good luck." Long Ao Min said, and swung the final blow.

Meng Jing Chan shrugged, "Likewise..."