Chapter 1 Time Rewind

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[Apex Brawl S3, Round 1]

[Map: Dirac Sea (Pseudo)]

As the system voice echoed, the two teams, [Order] and [Deities], totaling fourteen players, were all teleported into the script world.

This was a dark realm, boundless and lifeless, like a desert composed of particles; the "sky" and "earth" here had no clear boundary, and it was impossible to tell where the light source was... However, whether it was the clarity of vision, or the spatial sense and sense of distance, this place was no different from the outside world.

[The match will begin in thirty seconds]

In a solemn and tense atmosphere, the "vanguard" selections for both sides had already appeared on the battlefield.

The first player sent out by [Order] was [Zui Wo Chang Ran].

In terms of solo strength, Zui Wo Chang Ran was comparable to Meng Jing Chan within "Zui Sheng Meng Si," slightly better than the other two; but in terms of personality... Brother Zui only liked to joke, while Brother Chan was very "casual" in his words and actions. Therefore, it was a relatively safe choice to have Zui Wo Chang Ran play this important first match.

Looking at [Deities]' side...

Their vanguard was the former "secret weapon" – [Asura].

The reason for adding the words "former" was that his strength was no longer a secret.

During S2, Asura had joined forces with the five powerhouses of Order to fight the Mirror Demon. In any case, judging from the situation at the time, he was inferior to any of the five.

However, that was in the past...

After the battle in the "Mirror Realm," Asura's original arrogance and conceit had been crushed to pieces, replaced by an ardent desire to fight.

Those who hate their opponents after being defeated will always be weak; only those who hate their own weakness after being defeated have the possibility of becoming strong.

Asura... clearly belonged to the latter.

When he realized that his talent was only mediocre in the professional world, and that there were countless people who were more talented and worked harder than him... he changed.

He restrained his arrogant chuunibyou demeanor and placed himself in the position of a learner and pursuer; he no longer relied on his boss's (namely [Shiva]) cousin's status to occupy the studio's resources, but instead constantly honed and improved himself through his own efforts.

In short, Asura's strength was now vastly different from what it used to be.

…………

[Five... four... three...]

The final five-second countdown had already begun. At this moment, the two people on either side of the barrier, instead of retreating even half a step, were both moving forward.

They stood facing each other, separated by the invisible wall, at a distance of less than five meters.

[Two... one... fight!]

Whoosh—

The moment the barrier disappeared, a fist force suddenly struck.

Zui Wo Chang Ran was indeed a top player among the current professional players. As soon as he saw that Asura was posing to face him head-on, he had a plan – for his first move, he used the fourth stance of the Tianshuang Fist (Heavenly Frost Fist), [Frost and Snow Fluttering]; this technique not only twisted the fist and penetrated the bones, but also had a certain ice-attribute slowing effect... whether the opponent chose to block or counterattack, they would suffer some damage.

Clang—

As expected, in an instant, Asura, who swung his arm to parry, had dissolved the "penetrating" fist force, but could not avoid the erosion of the frost effect, and fell into a passive position at the beginning of the fight.

Zui Wo Chang Ran pressed his advantage, and a set of his signature skill, [Lightning Light Speed Fist], came crashing down. Instantly, the fist light turned into lines, densely packed like stars, suppressing Asura to retreat step by step, and he could only cross his arms to protect his head to defend.

After a few seconds, Asura's stance became lower and lower, and his entire upper body could not straighten up.

"Hey hey... it won't be over so soon, will it..." The reason for Zui Wo Chang Ran's inner complaint was that the chance for a finishing move had already appeared not long after the battle began.

Facing this kind of enemy with a lowered upper body, and limited vision and stance, there was an extremely suitable way to break through – the uppercut.

As the saying goes... all martial arts under heaven stem from the rising dragon, a single fist in hand shatters the firmament.

Zui Wo Chang Ran, a person who fights with fists, would he not have one or two "rising dragon" fist techniques? In that instant, he seized the opportunity, gathered all his douqi (spiritual energy), and performed [Hundred Styles - Demon Combustion]... But he saw his fist carrying flames, from bottom to top, striking out with a roaring sound along the half-rotating momentum of his body.

He thought it was a sure-win punch, but unexpectedly...

Just as the fist was rising, Asura, who had been defending with his head in his arms, suddenly took a step back at a speed that escaped Zui Wo Chang Ran's sight, retreating more than a meter and dodging the opponent's skill with ease.

"Oh?" Zui Wo Chang Ran, who missed the punch, did not show any panic. He quickly retracted his move, readjusted his stance, and muttered, "As expected... it's not that easy..."

Although he didn't say it explicitly, seeing Asura's relaxed dodging movements, Zui Wo Chang Ran vaguely guessed something in his heart...

"Those punches I took just now..." A second later, Asura, who had stepped back and stood still, looked into his opponent's eyes and said with an imposing aura what the other party was thinking, "are considered a repayment for the care you all showed me in S2."

What he was referring to was naturally that in the Mirror Demon battle, the five members of Order team had repeatedly rescued and assisted him.

"Heh..." Zui Wo Chang Ran smiled upon hearing this, wearing his signature frivolous smile, and replied, "So that's it... just for this reason, you deliberately let me attack for a round first, right?"

Asura did not answer. He just silently raised his douqi (spiritual energy) and adopted a new stance. The unspoken message was – "I'm going to get serious now."

"Sigh... little devils are just little devils, their thoughts and actions are too naive." Zui Wo Chang Ran said, also changing his stance. "It seems I have to teach you what professional ethics are, and how to respect your opponent."

Shhh—

Before he finished speaking, the fist strike had already appeared.

This time, Asura was the first to attack... His attack was attached with some kind of continuously activated enhancement skill (similar to the Spiritual Sense Gathering Technique), so that seemingly ordinary movement and strikes were also vigorous and aggressive.

After more than ten exchanges, Zui Wo Chang Ran found that he was slightly at a disadvantage. If he continued to use basic physical techniques to fight, he would enter a situation of mutual consumption with his opponent, which would not be beneficial. After thinking about it, he decided to change his tactics. He immediately mobilized a strong move, and between the movement of his fists, streaks of golden light burst out, forming a light net to protect his body.

Asura knew that his opponent had used the [Plasma Light Speed Fist], and he also understood... with his current physical skill enhancement, not only would he be unable to break through this fist net, but he would also be gradually suppressed by this fist light.

He didn't want this situation to happen. Therefore, a few seconds after the fist net appeared, he swayed his body, pretended to take half a step, took out an object from his bag and immediately crushed it in his palm.

Instantly, a black energy bloomed from his hand, rushing to his whole body, causing a drastic change in his appearance... Within a few seconds, Asura's entire body was covered with a layer of dark gold color, and a ghoul mask appeared on his face; under the mask and clothes, his skin became jet black, his black hair turned fiery red, and his thin figure swelled into a muscular and sturdy appearance.

…………

At the same time, in the Order team's viewing space.

"This is troublesome..." Gui Xiao gave a disturbing evaluation after seeing the change on the battlefield.

"Is that 'transformation'... that strong?" Wu Si Can Xuan asked doubtfully upon hearing this.

"Yes, definitely." Gui Xiao replied, "The strongest transformation I've ever seen is Feng Bujue's [Fighting Demon Descent], which can be said to be a unique super-S-level transformation... Apart from that, S-level transformations, based on Xu Huai Shang's [Soul Advent] as the standard, are not many... but there are still some; what Asura is activating at the moment is this level of ability."

…………

While Gui Xiao was speaking, Asura on the battlefield had already launched a fierce offensive.

The prop that Asura crushed just now was called [Asura's Blood]. This thing was similar to the [Yatsuka Azure Pill] that Xu Huai Shang had used, and was a consumable unique item; its effect was to allow the user to enter a state called [Extreme Martial - Asura Transformation].

Perhaps some people still remember (actually I know that basically no one remembers anymore, what's the point of writing it out if everyone remembers), this was the move used by the ultimate Lu Bu in "Superdimensional Brawl." Once activated, the caster would transform into a true Asura demon god, and their combat power would increase exponentially.

There was no doubt that Asura in this state was definitely stronger than Zui Wo Chang Ran, and... because they were basically the same type of player (both are martial arts specialists who mainly use boxing), once the main attributes were widened, the comparison in actual combat would be particularly obvious.

Before long, Asura broke through the fist net created by the [Plasma Light Speed Fist] and launched a fierce barrage of attacks on Zui Wo Chang Ran's body.

The Asura's fists, every punch hitting the flesh, penetrating the back, the place where the douqi (spiritual energy) burst forth, sweat and blood were evaporated at the moment of being splashed out.

Zui Wo Chang Ran was beaten in such a blurred vortex of douqi (spiritual energy) while blocking and retreating, unable to break free, and his defeat was already showing.

But... he did not give up.

Professional players do not give up easily, especially old players like Zui Wo Chang Ran who have rich experience, their resilience is even more extraordinary.

Everyone knows that in the "professional player" industry, no matter how long the growth period and peak period lasted, and what height it reached, once they pass the age of twenty-five, they will go downhill... This is determined by human physiology. Although the age of adaptation for some projects may be larger, or even the older the better, and there are very few individual exceptions... but in general, in those projects with high operational intensity, players under the age of twenty-five have a clear advantage.

Zui Wo Chang Ran is exactly twenty-five years old this year. Without others saying it, he himself knows... as a professional player, at least his physiological peak period has passed.

But... he is still one of the top, most stable, and most difficult players to deal with today.

Perhaps he no longer has the reaction speed and growth potential of a teenager, but he has advantages that those teenagers do not have – experience.

People who have experienced hundreds of battles have a judgment of the situation, a sense of opportunity, and a persistence in victory... that are incomparable to novices; and the psychological quality that has been tempered over and over again has long been trained to the point where they can remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses in front of them.

Great players are great not only because they have fast reactions, superb operations, and outstanding awareness... People with these abilities can be called "powerful," but to become "great," they also need a tenacious spirit and an iron will.

Zui Wo Chang Ran is a professional player who deserves the title of "great." When he played other projects in his early years, when he encountered a battle situation that others thought could be AFK'd and surrendered in about ten minutes, he would still fight seriously, all the way to forty minutes, fifty minutes... Even if he was miserably abused, as long as the game was not over, he would still constantly think about ways to counterattack, using all his skills, just to exchange for even 1% of the chance of a comeback.

His logic is also very simple: Assuming that in a hundred seemingly hopeless reverse games, there will only be one comeback, then I can win that game, and those who give up early will never have that opportunity.

The same is true if this ratio is changed to a thousand games or ten thousand games... and this theory can also be said to be the origin of Zui Wo Chang Ran as a professional player.

At present, Zui Wo Chang Ran, who has been completely overwhelmed by the other party in terms of hard power, has indeed reached that "desperate" point.

But he did not lose his composure and determination to win. While minimizing his own damage, he thought...

"The gap in physical skills is already too large. It's already the limit to be able to parry like this. If I'm attacked like this for a while, my survival points will be exhausted...

"There are no items or equipment that can change the situation or delay time...

"Unless I temporarily break free from this continuous suppression, it is impossible to forcefully use an attack skill and perish together with the other party..."

As these thoughts flashed through his mind one by one, Zui Wo Chang Ran's survival points had broken through the dangerous line of 20%, and he had no room to wait any longer.

And Asura seemed to have noticed the other party's situation, and immediately lifted his breath, raising the power of this continuous punch by a few points.

In fact, for Asura, the current battle situation cannot be said to be foolproof...

[Extreme Martial - Asura Transformation] is a transformation that puts a lot of strain on the body. Even Lu Bu on Wushuang Plain could not turn it on for too long, otherwise his own life would be in danger; Asura, as a player, had even more limited time to use this move, so he did not dare to let the offensive slacken at all, and tried to take away his opponent with a round of continuous attacks.

"Ha!"

Just at this tense moment, suddenly, Zui Wo Chang Ran shouted loudly, making an unexpected move... But he saw him clenching his teeth and enduring a punch with his chest, and then using the "sticking" technique in soft boxing, grabbing Asura's wrist.

This move... is said to be of little use, because Asura's strength is above him, even if his wrist is grabbed, this fist can still be retracted.

However, Zui Wo Chang Ran obviously did not mean to do so; he did not intend to prevent the other party from retracting his fist, but to...

Whoosh—

In the next second, Zui Wo Chang Ran actually retracted and rolled his figure, and the whole person, like a swimming snake, took advantage of the momentum of the "sticking" force and wrapped around Asura's arm.

It turned out that the method Zui Wo Chang Ran came up with in despair was – to use grappling techniques.

If Feng Bujue's grappling techniques are professional-level, then Zui Wo Chang Ran's grappling techniques are vAn-level... Including him, such as Qisha, Xiao Wen Cang Tian, Da Fantiant, etc., these players who are very proficient in unarmed combat, each and every one of them have specially practiced grappling techniques.

Of course, in general, very few players of this level would actively use that, because this kind of technology can only delay time at most in the battles of the later stages of the game, and cannot determine the outcome; moreover, in terms of viewing, compared to the kind of battle where both sides use fists and feet to attack or release waves at each other... the entanglement of grappling techniques is both tiring and ugly.

"Is this how much you want to win..." Asura was entangled in half of his torso by the other party, but he was still standing, which shows that his current strength is enough to support the weight of Zui Wo Chang Ran's entire body while fighting in grappling.

"It's not that I 'want to win that much', but that I have an obligation to 'want to win that much'..." What Zui Wo Chang Ran said was really difficult to understand at first glance, "The will to win is the basic professional ethics of this industry, I simply won't think about or measure how much I 'want to win' this kind of question... because it is a matter of course to try my best to win the victory..." While he was saying this, he also used a free hand to take out a bottle of unknown liquid from his bag and poured it into his mouth, "There's no time for you to think about the desire for victory in battle, what you should be thinking about in your mind is how to use the most effective technology... at the most effective distance, at the most effective timing, with the fastest speed... launch an attack!"

I don't know what Zui Wo Chang Ran drank, after he said this, the power on his body also suddenly climbed... He used the power of his whole body to fight against Asura's power of one arm, and successfully broke the latter's arm.

"Cough—" When the severe pain came, Asura gritted his teeth and did not shout out, but let out a muffled groan from his throat. Two seconds later, he shouted, "Okay! Thank you for your guidance!"

After drinking, he suddenly threw his shoulder.

For Asura, a broken left arm is also a good thing in a sense, because it allowed him to naturally break away from the grappling technique.

With a forceful throw, Zui Wo Chang Ran's whole person flew out.

"Now's the time!"

In this instant, the same thought flashed through the minds of both people.

Zui Wo Chang Ran was already in a dying state, and he had worked so hard to win such an opportunity for a mid-air confrontation, so he would not let it go.

And the burden on Asura in the transformed state had also reached its limit. In addition, he had lost an arm. If he did not decide the outcome with this move, the one who would probably face a narrow escape from death next would be him.

"Dragon Fist..."

"Asura..."

At the moment of dying, both sides unanimously offered their strongest killing moves and the energy of their whole bodies, and... they also announced the name of their moves when they launched them.

[Dragon Fist - Burst] vs [Asura Overlord Phoenix Fist]!

Extreme powerhouses, extreme killing moves.

Head-on confrontation, a battle to the death.