Chapter 1 The Rumbling Sounds

Before his words even faded, a rumbling sound echoed through the forest.

A moment later, a colossal figure slowly walked out, entering everyone's sight.

This monster was over two meters tall, with giant bat wings on its back, sharp teeth and claws, beast hooves, and a lion's tail. The intense presence and overwhelming aura emanating from it were undoubtedly manifestations of Unique Data.

"Samodil?" After two seconds, Wu Si Can Xuan recognized the newcomer. He had encountered this Boss in a previous script, but there hadn't been a direct confrontation.

"What's going on?" Gui Xiao turned back, his eyes flashing again. "You're clearly not a Shi Guan..."

"I haven't been for a long time," Samodil replied. "But I have a way to make you 'think' I am."

Gui Xiao immediately understood what he meant. "You deliberately created a 'Shi Guan Realm' and made me sense it, to lure me here..."

"Very good." Samodil said coldly, "You figured it out yourself, saving me a lot of explanation."

"Hey... Gui Xiao, what's the situation now?" After another Boss-level monster appeared, Zui Wo Chang Ran, already in a battle stance, vaguely sensed something was wrong. He leaned over and whispered to his teammate.

"The situation..." Gui Xiao muttered gravely, "You and the captain will be killed soon..."

"Heh..." Zui Wo Chang Ran's mouth twitched into a smile. "Is that so..."

As he spoke, he turned his head and gave Wu Si Can Xuan a look. With just a glance, Wu Si Can Xuan understood his teammate's intention.

In the next second, they both charged forward with almost identical speed, launching a sudden attack. Their target was the same – Atobe.

The audience watching the match never dreamed that they would witness two of Order's top stars ambushing a nobody like Atobe in a live broadcast.

But this scene did happen, and... it was perfectly logical.

Because... in the short five seconds from when Gui Xiao said "killed" to when Zui Wo Chang Ran and Wu Si Can Xuan exchanged glances, these two professional masters had already calculated the situation in their minds:

First, although Gui Xiao's words sounded unbelievable, he was clearly not joking. Considering this guy's 100% accuracy in predicting battle results, it was basically certain that the combined strength of Dian He Wang and Samodil could crush Zui Wo and Wu Si.

Second, Gui Xiao only said "you and the captain" would be killed soon, but didn't say he would die. This showed that... even if his teammates died, he was quite confident in saving his own life.

Combining these two points, Zui Wo Chang Ran and Wu Si Can Xuan thought... since facing them head-on would definitely result in death, they might as well contribute to the team before they died. And what was that "contribution"? Naturally, it was killing Atobe.

In short... they spent five seconds accepting the fact that they were doomed and reached a consensus on "what I can still do at this moment" – We can't beat the two Bosses in front of us, but can't we join forces to kill you, Atobe?

Thinking like this, Zui Wo and Wu Si both used all their strength to attack.

In the blink of an eye, the two had already reached Atobe... Zui Wo Chang Ran went straight in, releasing the strongest fist technique in his skill bar – [Dragon Fist-Outbreak]; and Wu Si Can Xuan was also unceremonious, using a pair of spray cans to perform a large-scale control move – [Graffiti Domain].

One move was an absolute killing blow that could instantly kill high-defense players; the other was a super-strong control skill that combined a series of negative effects such as attack reduction, deceleration, and armor breaking.

Faced with this terrifying combination attack, not to mention Atobe, even Shiva would be in grave danger.

However...

What happened next shocked Zui Wo and Wu Si.

Not only them, but everyone present except Atobe himself, as well as every viewer watching the live broadcast, was stunned by Atobe's response.

…………

November 10th, 9:30 PM, in Feng Bu Jue's conference room.

"That's about it, have you written it all down?" Jue Ge lazily slumped in the main seat of the conference table, completing a rather lengthy narration.

"Of course, who do you think I am?" Atobe crossed his arms in front of his chest, sitting upright in the high-backed chair to Jue Ge's left, replying in a matter-of-fact tone, "Not to mention twelve plans, even twenty would be no problem."

"That's good..." Jue Ge responded, then suddenly seemed to remember something, changing the subject, "Oh... right, there's something I need to remind you."

"What else?" Atobe asked.

"I have a tactical suggestion that I hope you can adopt." Feng Bu Jue paused and asked, "You have a skill that can only be used once, called [Ice Shard Mirror Wall], right?"

"Damn?" Atobe's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "How did you know?" After asking this question, he seemed to conjure up an answer in his mind, "Did you plant an undercover agent in my studio?"

"Do you think we're filming a police movie?" Feng Bu Jue replied with narrowed eyes, "There aren't that many undercover agents in real life... Not to mention whether your studio is worth sending an undercover agent to, let's talk about me... I'm not a professional player, and I have no conflict of interest with you. Why would I send an undercover agent to your side? Is it to hook up with you?"

"Hmm..." Atobe also narrowed his eyes, looking back at Jue Ge with a suspicious expression, remaining silent.

"Sigh..." Jue Ge looked at his reaction, sighed, and continued, "My last sentence was a rhetorical question, not a question."

"Oh..." Atobe breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me..." He paused for two seconds, then continued with the previous question, "Then how do you explain that you know about my skill? Only people inside our studio know that I have this skill, not even the peripheral members recently recruited by the guild."

"Well..." Feng Bu Jue considered for a few seconds and replied, "Well... it doesn't hurt to tell you." He suddenly asked, "Have you seen 'The Matrix'?"

"I've seen it, of course I've seen such a classic movie." Atobe replied, "Eh? Why are you asking this? Are you trying to change the subject?"

Feng Bu Jue ignored him, continuing on his own, "Simply put... like the protagonist in the movie, I have the ability to see through the 'Matrix code' in the game world."

"Ha!" Atobe immediately burst out laughing, "Hahahaha..." And he laughed very fakely, "Why don't you say you have superpowers in the real world?"

"I do." Feng Bu Jue's expression remained unchanged as he calmly replied, "It's just that I haven't fully mastered how to use them yet."

"Oh..." Atobe nodded, imitating Jue Ge's expression, replying with a serious face, "Seriously... I suggest you find a better hospital and see a psychiatrist."

To his surprise, Feng Bu Jue still calmly responded, "As for psychiatry, I went to see one when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school. At that time, I found two adults who had handles on me to impersonate my parents and go to the hospital for a comprehensive examination and test." Speaking of this, he made quotation marks with his hands, "As a result, they gave me an 'everything is normal' assessment report."

After a two-second pause, Feng Bu Jue chuckled twice, "Hehe... but recently, I learned that I was already being monitored by a mysterious government department at that time. So now I can't be sure... whether the report I got back then had been 'processed'."

"Okay, okay... you win..." Atobe supported his forehead with one hand, shaking his head, "You're a novelist, I can't argue with you... I won't ask, okay? I'll just treat you as..." He also looked up, sticking out the index and middle fingers of both hands to make a quotation mark gesture, "...'can see through the Matrix code'." Having said that, he brought the topic back on track, "In short, I do have the [Ice Shard Mirror Wall] skill, and it is indeed a consumable skill that disappears after one use, so?"

"I just want to tell you..." Feng Bu Jue replied, "No matter which plan you choose in the script, once the 'setup' I set up takes effect, you—Atobe... will face two to three Order players accompanied by two NPCs. Among them, one will definitely be Tun Tian Gui Xiao, and the other two... no matter who they are, as long as they find that the situation is unfavorable to them, they are very likely to launch a fierce attack on you at all costs." He spread his hands, continuing, "When this happens, even without any analysis, you should understand... any combination of two of the four 'Zui, Sheng, Meng, Si' can instantly kill you."

"You mean, when that moment comes..." Atobe followed Jue Ge's train of thought, thinking and responding, "...I should decisively use [Ice Shard Mirror Wall] to counterattack them?"

"No." Feng Bu Jue denied.

"Huh?" Atobe was stunned, "No?"

Feng Bu Jue immediately revealed an evil smile, "When that moment comes, you should..."

…………

Time, return to the present.

At the moment when [Graffiti Domain] and [Dragon Fist-Outbreak] struck, Atobe was already prepared.

He planted his hands on the ground, and the spiritual energy around his body suddenly bloomed. As the skill was activated, a silver-white, translucent giant spiritual wall appeared.

[Name: Ice Shard Mirror Wall]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, disappears after one use]

[Skill Category: Spiritual Art]

[Effect: Creates an Ice Shard Mirror Wall that can last for five seconds. All attacks endured by the Mirror Wall will be absorbed and converted into pure energy; this energy can be blasted at any target within thirty meters according to the user's will. Unreleased energy will explode on the spot as the Mirror Wall disappears after five seconds.]

[Consumption: 50% of maximum Stamina Value and Spiritual Power Value]

[Learning Conditions: Level 50, Spiritual Art Specialization B, Fighting Specialization B]

[Remarks: An ice spiritual art created by an unknown master, possessing absolute defensive capabilities against all skills below S-level, and can also absorb 70% of the power of S-level skill attacks when attacked by S-level skills.]

This skill, if it were the "permanently mastered" version, would definitely be S-level. However, Atobe's "consumable version" has the same effect as the permanent version, only the learning conditions are lowered.

The moment Atobe made his move, Dian He Wang and Tun Tian Gui Xiao had already seen what the skill's special effect was, and they both thought that Atobe would use this move to counterattack Zui Wo Chang Ran and Wu Si Can Xuan.

But... Atobe didn't do that.

In an instant, the skill effect sprayed by Wu Si Can Xuan and Zui Wo Chang Ran's fist fell on the Mirror Wall. Then, a mass of mottled energy and a giant dragon flashing with golden light were injected into the translucent Mirror Wall.

The two forces blended and swirled in the Mirror Wall, quickly brewing into a mass of mixed power, and then broke through the ice, blasting straight towards – Tun Tian Gui Xiao.

"Tch... not bad..."

Objectively speaking, Gui Xiao was caught off guard by Atobe's unexpected counterattack, and he rarely showed a hint of panic.

However, that was all...

"But it's useless against me!" Facing the huge energy ball that was rushing towards his face and could not be dodged, Gui Xiao shouted lightly, and raised his right arm sideways, "[Right Hand of Rejection]!"

The audience did not know what this [Right Hand of Rejection] was. In fact, if Gui Xiao hadn't reported the skill name in a very chuunibyou way, they wouldn't even be sure if this was a skill.

But the effect of this skill could still be seen...

It was seen that Gui Xiao's entire arm was covered by a white stream of light when he used the skill, and then he used his right palm to catch the flying energy ball...

"This kid... could it be..." Seeing this scene, Samodil, who was watching the battle, suddenly changed his expression, and thought to himself, "Damn... it seems I've been tricked by Feng Bu Jue again... He wouldn't be trying to use a borrowed knife to kill me, would he..."

"So that's how it is... no wonder he went to hunt down the Shi Guan..." On the other side, Dian He Wang was thinking about other things, "Since he has already obtained the 'right hand', it shows that he even knows the secret of the 'left hand'. If he collects the 'Power of the Twelve Shi Guan' before Ragnarok, the situation will be difficult to control..."

Chi chi chi...

After a few seconds of stalemate, the energy ball melted and leaked like an ice cream ball being baked under a spray gun, and disappeared in an instant.

"Hoo..." After taking a breath, Gui Xiao's arrogant chuckle reappeared on his face, "Atobe, is it... I always thought that the captain of Hyotei was useless, but now it seems that he is quite capable."

"Is this guy too strong..." On Atobe's side, although he was still trying his best to pretend to be calm on the surface, his heart was on the verge of collapse, "The move that Zui Wo Chang Ran used to hit me should be [Dragon Fist-Outbreak] without a doubt. Since it is an S-level skill, I still took 30% of the damage, and that 30% caused my survival value to drop by half... but that guy actually blocked the dual-skill energy refracted by [Ice Shard Mirror Wall] with one hand, and still looks like nothing happened..."

"Alright, the warm-up is almost over." Gui Xiao's voice soon sounded again, and his gaze also shifted to Samodil, "You're the tallest here, so let's start with you..."