Chapter 1 The Butterfly's War Begins

[The Butterfly's War is about to begin. Your data will be loaded in thirty seconds. Please do not leave the login space.]

[Ten-second countdown to loading. Nine, eight, seven... two, one.]

After the countdown, a system voice entered his ears: "Jade butterflies flit through tattered silks, catkins dance a reckless game."

Accompanied by these opening lines, Feng Bujue was transported into the script.

[Loading complete. You are currently participating in Apex Contention - The Butterfly's War.]

[This mode has no script introduction, no side quests, hidden missions, or special worldviews.]

[Script Victory Reward: Advance in Apex Contention]

[Main Quest Triggered]

[Kill your opponent]

Soon, the white light in front of Feng Bujue faded away, and his body regained the ability to move.

He stood in the center of an ancient Roman Colosseum, surrounded by circular stands, but there were no spectators in the stands.

Overhead, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and the sun was shining brightly.

All around, there was a stillness.

Twenty meters in front of Jue-ge, a female player was standing.

Xu Huaishang was at the height of her youth, tall and slender, with a delicate waist and beautiful temples. Her appearance was exquisite, her skin fair and smooth, and she was charming and lovable. She was indeed a woman who was hard to forget at a glance. The "Red Cherry" guild uniform also complemented her temperament: a long white dress with a blood cherry pattern, its hem fluttering gently in the breeze, like a fairy.

In contrast, Feng Bujue... Judging from his appearance alone, he was quite handsome, but he exuded a gloomy, bizarre aura. His lazy expression and listless eyes made it impossible to understand his inner thoughts.

…………

"What is that... Is that really Feng Bujue...? Is he really the number two player on the combat rankings? Could there be a mistake?"

"Hey, hey... Is that a Joker look? This guy is just a chuunibyou (eighth-grader syndrome), does he really have any skills...?"

"So, Feng Bujue is this perverted bastard! If that little brat dares to touch my Shang-shang, he can just wait to die and apologize!"

In the Mall, Xu Huaishang's supporters (including general fans, hardcore fans, fan clubs, etc...) were clearly not very friendly to Jue-ge. Although this was expected, it was a bit of an exaggeration that such an atmosphere arose as soon as Feng Bujue appeared...

"Hello, everyone, the long-awaited [Butterfly's War] has finally arrived." The commentator's voice sounded on the big screen, "I am the commentator Hua Xiong."

"I am Pan Feng," Pan Feng interjected from the side.

"Today, we naturally bring you another focused battle." Hua Xiong continued, "Both sides of the battle are specially invited players, that is, 'seed players.' One of them, I believe everyone is familiar with. That's right, she is the number one expert of 'Red Cherry,' the goddess in the hearts of thousands of players - contestant [Xu Huaishang]."

A burst of cheers rang out from the audience below the main screen. It seemed that Xu Huaishang's popularity was indeed amazing, and there was no shortage of fans in the various facets of the Mall.

"And the other one..." Pan Feng continued, his tone becoming a little strange, probably recalling some unpleasant memories, "Is a mysterious expert. Over the past month, his name has spread to every corner of Thriller Paradise, but few have seen his real self... How strong is he really? Today it will be revealed!"

Obviously, what followed was a chorus of boos... Even though the two players themselves could not hear this uproar, Xu Huaishang's fans were still sparing no effort to express their position.

"Okay, as shown on the screen, the match has officially begun." Hua Xiong said, "We can see the two players confronting each other in the center of the arena. Neither of them has made a move yet."

Pan Feng interjected, trying to say something, "This is a match between experts... Without knowing the other's details, no one will rashly attack. In my judgment... This battle will most likely begin with tentative attacks using ranged weapons."

They were also quite clever, directly cutting to the theme of the battle, without further discussing the situation of Feng Bujue and Xu Huaishang. Because these two players have chosen to remain anonymous on the combat power rankings, it is inconvenient for game officials to discuss their rankings.

…………

At the same time, the confrontation in the Colosseum continued.

Xu Huaishang's weapon was the dao (saber).

Dual dao, a pair of short dao that were not very long.

She had scabbards on both sides of her belt.

At this moment, the dao were in their sheaths, and her hands were near the sheaths.

However, Xu Huaishang did not move for a long time.

Facing the mysterious [Feng Bujue] in front of her, she was obviously wary. She had naturally heard the rumors that this person was number two on the combat rankings. But the studio could not find any information about this man, which made her feel even more uneasy.

"His appearance is adjusted to be fair and clean, gentle and refined... Doesn't look very powerful..." Xu Huaishang thought to herself, "The outfit is personalized, but if you look closely... They should all be cheap goods, not very practical; except for ordinary pockets, there are no weapon scabbards or anything like that..." Her eyes wandered over Jue-ge, "But I can't rule out that this is a disguise, or... confidence..."

At this moment, Jue-ge suddenly moved, inexplicably kneeling on one knee...

"What... Is he proposing?" Xu Huaishang was startled. Even though they were tens of meters apart, she instinctively took half a step back.

The next second, Feng Bujue calmly activated a skill and summoned a bizarre-looking elementary school student.

"Hiss hiss hiss hiss... Is it my turn to appear again..." Musashi Koganai struck a lewd pose, smiling sinisterly.

In fact, Jue-ge suddenly kneeling on one knee was only to fulfill the condition of this summoning technique - "Make a strange move."

Xu Huaishang quickly realized this, but her deduction was... that the activation condition for the other party's summoning technique was "kneeling on one knee."

"Could he be a summoner-type player?" Xu Huaishang thought, "But this summon looks not very strong... Could it be some kind of ultra-high-level summoned creature that uses psychic powers or magic?"

Just as she was suspicious, Jue-ge whispered a few words in Koganai's ear, and then the latter turned around with a sinister smile and scurried away... And ran further and further, all the way out of the Colosseum.

"What's going on... Could it be that I guessed right?" Xu Huaishang looked at the scene in front of her, still not acting rashly, but she still opened her mouth to test him: "Do you want this summoned creature to hide in the dark... and use ranged attacks to ambush me?"

"Hide in the dark and ambush me... Hehehe..." Here, Feng Bujue cleverly used a technique he learned from Woody - using a question to answer a question, coupled with a sinister smirk.

This trick is very vile, but very practical. It has a high chance of angering the other party and creating some psychological pressure. If you don't believe me, you can try it on other people at school or at work... For example, when the teacher asks you in class, "When did the Xinhai Revolution take place?" you answer, "The Xinhai Revolution... Hehehe..." When the leader at work asks you, "Where's the report I asked you to do this morning?" you smile sinisterly and say, "The report... Hehehehe..." It would be even more perfect if you made an expression like "That thing has already been used to wipe my butt."

In short, this trick never fails and is extremely powerful. Without the determination to fight to the death, please use it with caution, hehehe...

Back to the topic... Obviously, Jue-ge's actions just now were simply to use the script to grind his "character mission," because he was only two times away from completing the task of [Use summoning skills and successfully summon a summon fifty times], so he had to use the opportunity to do it.

But Xu Huaishang didn't know this. Under Jue-ge's psychological tactics, she unknowingly carried a psychological burden, and she didn't even know... that what she was worried about was just a non-combat summon that had already left the battlefield...

"Never mind if you don't want to say it." Xu Huaishang frowned slightly, a hint of anger rising, she continued, "In battle... you really have no obligation to tell me these things." As she spoke, she already had both dao in hand, ready to strike, "No matter what your fighting style is, I..." Her words stopped abruptly, because Feng Bujue did another thing at this moment.

"Damn... He actually took out a folding stool from his inventory..." Xu Huaishang looked at the scene in front of her, unable to restrain her urge to complain, muttering silently in her heart.

Jue-ge held the folding stool and waved it a few times in the air, like a baseball player warming up before hitting the ball, the movements were quite professional.

After doing this, he took a deep breath and turned to look at Xu Huaishang and said, "I am also a person who cherishes beauty." He paused, "So... you will soon be freed from this violent competition."