Chapter 9 September

September, a subtle season.

She is like a graceful young woman, about to change into a dress called autumn; the lingering warmth of midsummer is the last wisp of gauze tied around her waist, while the pressure of the school year and the haze of quarterly reports are like a pair of safety shorts beneath that gauze.

Okay, let's get back to the point...

This September in 2055 undoubtedly belongs to Thriller Paradise. After the preliminary round of the Peak Tournament S2 began, Dream Inc. launched a corresponding promotional plan, hyping up the competition. In just a few days, various news related to it spread like wildfire across all media, and even many mainstream media outlets that disdained the gaming industry reported on the event, making it the focus of unprecedented social attention.

Within the gaming community, this competition has become the most eye-catching focal point in recent years.

The timing of the server's five-month anniversary, the team battle format, and the point-based ranking system... it's not hard to see that this preliminary round system subtly implies a "test of the studios' true mettle."

If the final rankings of S1 were unconvincing due to too many unpredictable factors in the finals, then this time in S2... at least during the preliminary round, each team has no excuses to make.

In fact, most game studios have unanimously reached a consensus: the preliminary round results of the Peak Tournament S2 will likely determine the true strength rankings of each studio in the eyes of the vast majority of players.

Therefore, for those well-known game studios, a fifty-day covert war has already begun from the moment of zero hour on September 5th.

Every day, the point standings they publish on their official websites are important cornerstones leading to victory.

And for those professional players who are revered as "stars," this is also a long and arduous trial.

The results of each round, the process of each team battle, and even every single point of survival value lost in each duel... all may have an impact on the team's preliminary round ranking.

From the perspective of casual teams, thirty-six matches are just thirty-six wins and losses, and theoretically, 108 points is the best possible result.

But from the perspective of professional powerhouses... 108 points is only "passable." "Total victory" is a must. As a team that wants to compete for the championship, if you can't even achieve total victory in the preliminary round of sifting through the sand, then what confidence do you have to win all the way through the elimination round filled with strong opponents?

And on the basis of total victory, they must also ensure that each game is won with the least cost and the most efficient way... only the team that does this to the extreme can reach the top of the preliminary round standings.

Simply put, teams seeking preliminary round rankings must treat each game and every moment seriously and without error in all thirty-six effective scoring matches. They cannot play with the attitude of "as long as we win in the end," like casual players. They are destined to pay more than ordinary players, because... only then can they be called "professional."

"Getting paid to play games" is never as easy as it looks on the surface; in all fairness, it carries even greater pressure than getting paid to do something else. Even though times are progressing, stereotypes still exist in people's minds... no one says football players are "getting paid to play football," and no one says swimmers are "getting paid to play in the water," but the profession of "professional gamer" is always judged with prejudice.

In fact, there is no essential difference between professional gamers and professional athletes. Both require talent, hard work, and a little bit of luck, and both possess experience, skill, the ability to withstand pressure, and professional ethics. The biggest difference between them is simply that one uses physical equipment or venues as competitive tools, while the other uses virtual electronic programs as competitive carriers. It is obviously unfair to look at those who engage in the latter with different eyes, simply because the entertainment tendency of the latter carrier is greater than the tendency to train the participant's physical or mental strength.

Dream Inc. paid close attention to this point when promoting the Peak Tournament S2 to the general public outside the gaming circle. One of their slogans was: "Don't understand why some people can make a living by playing games? Then come and see what they have that others don't."

With such slogans, not to mention gamers who have some experience with games, even people who know nothing about the gaming industry or have never been exposed to Thriller Paradise are interested in this "Peak Tournament."

And all of this... is the groundwork Dream Inc. is laying for the "live broadcast" of the second half of the preliminary round.

By late September, when this "only hearing the news, not seeing the shadow" hunger marketing had stirred up everyone's curiosity, Dream Inc. took the opportunity to release a message: "Three days later, a public bidding will be held for the live broadcast rights of the second half of the preliminary round."

This move not only allowed them to recoup all previous promotional costs, but also earned them a hefty sum...

Of course, these are all stories for later. At least before September 20th, no one knew that the later stages of the preliminary round would be broadcast live. At present, the focus of most players is still on how to play their own games well.

Almost no one noticed... that at the beginning of this fifty-day preliminary round cycle, the prelude to the Twilight of the Gods... had already quietly begun.

…………

Main Universe, the border of the Chaos Scorched Earth.

At the edge of this void, quietly stands a huge gate - the Gate of Emptiness.

Back then... the battle between gods and demons was earth-shattering. In the end, the Du Shen (Overseer God) exhausted his divine power and used a life form with both divine and demonic characteristics as a sealing hub to seal the Dou Mo (Fighting Demon) inside the gate.

After countless years... that ancient demon guardian relied on absorbing the Dou Mo's aura that seeped out of the gate to successfully escape the seal and disappear without a trace.

Fortunately, the Du Shen's seal was indestructible, and even after losing the "wedge," it still persisted for a considerable period of time.

However... this kind of day has come to an end today.

Crack, crack...

After a series of dull shattering sounds, the pitch-black gate shattered into rubble.

In an instant, an ultimate demonic aura with an unbelievably high density swept out of the gate.

Then, heavy footsteps came from inside the gate...

Thump, thump, thump...

A huge behemoth walked out of the gate unhurriedly. With each step it took, the entire earth would tremble.

But... just as it reached the door, one step away from stepping out, it stopped.

"Hmm?" it muttered to itself, "Have I been in 'Nothingness' for too long... or has something strange happened to this universe..."

As it spoke, it had already raised one of its hands (front paws) and stretched it outside the door. As a result... in less than two seconds, that hand exploded from the inside.

Pitch-black demonic blood flowed down, emitting an aroma as mellow as aged wine, fierce and far-reaching.

This... is the characteristic of the most ultimate "demon." From a data perspective, every drop of blood on it, every breath it exhales, is all highly condensed energy. Compared to those mundane things that emit a foul and disgusting aura inside and outside their bodies, it is simply a world of difference.

"Is this really 'that universe' where I used to be... why is the 'pressure' so small..." The Dou Mo withdrew its hand, and many black fibrous substances repaired its broken limb at a speed visible to the naked eye. "It seems I need to take some time to adapt to this new environment."

As it spoke, it had already secretly activated its demonic energy and began to modify its body.

Enveloped in demonic energy, its figure began to shrink rapidly and gradually... became humanoid.

Finally, after about three minutes, "it" became "he."

At this time, the Dou Mo had transformed into a naked human man. He was about 1.9 meters tall, with a well-proportioned body and a gloomy appearance. He had pale, frost-like skin and naturally curly black hair. Looking at his exposed body, there was nothing that looked different from ordinary people.

"Hoo..." After successfully transforming, the Dou Mo took a deep breath, and then he stepped out of the gate that had trapped him for hundreds of millions of years (the sense of time in "Nothingness" becomes infinitely long), and officially entered the main universe of Thriller Paradise.