On the 20th of March, at midnight, the registration for S3 ended on time.
Most of the teams had already submitted their registration applications N days ago. The teams that were the latest to register had already completed their registration on the 19th. There was no such thing as a team that waited until 11 pm on the 19th to collect enough hidden points to register.
At midnight, all the participating players received a system notification, informing them of the number of teams and their matchups for the first round.
This time, a total of 26705 teams had successfully passed the "hidden points" threshold and registered for the competition.
Therefore, in the first round, there would be 26704 teams facing off against each other. Among them, 13352 teams would be eliminated and one team would be lucky enough to advance along with the remaining 13352 teams.
The competition would start one day later, at midnight on the 21st. After the first round, there would be a day of rest. At midnight on the 22nd, the officials would announce the matchups for the next round. Then, on the 23rd, the second round would begin.
After that, every round would follow the same rules until the champion was decided.
Aside from the fact that the team would be eliminated, if they wanted to be the champion … they would need to win 15 matches in a row within 30 days. On the other hand, if they lost any match before the 15th match, they would be eliminated.
From the perspective of the competition system, this kind of random matchup did not require any calculation of points. There was no way to predict the route of advancement in advance. This saved a lot of trouble for the data analysis team of many gaming studios.
Of course, they couldn't stop analyzing the information. Even if their opponent in the next round was an unknown party made up of casual players, they couldn't be careless. They still had to investigate. No matter what, the hidden total points of the other party's party was over 500, so they couldn't be too weak.
…
The night of the 20th, Xu Huai Shang's meeting room.
Underworld Frontline was ready to go.
"Please note, the first round of the Pinnacle Tournament S3 will begin in 10 minutes (game time)."
At that moment, everyone received a voice notification and a dialog box notification.
Because the time ratio in sleep mode was 1: 10, the players in the game world only received the notification when it was already 11: 59 pm in the real world.
One minute after the game ended, another system notification popped up. [Please submit your team's lineup within the next nine minutes. If you don't submit the relevant information within the time limit, your team's lineup will be randomly arranged by the system.]
"Hmm …" Feng Bujue muttered to himself. He glanced at his teammates and said, "Then, I'll hand it in according to what we discussed earlier."
He quickly received confirmation from his teammates. Then, he submitted the list of players for the first round.
Vanguard battle: [Snow]
Battle of the Pillars: Wang Tanzhi, Laughing Soul
General Battle: [Xu Huai Shang]
Deputy General Battle: 【Like Rain】【Among the Flowers on the Stone】
Great General: Feng Bujue
Since Underworld Frontline would be facing a team made up of anonymous casual players in the first round, the strength and specialty of each member was unknown. Therefore, Brother Jue used a more conventional lineup for this battle.
Based on Feng Bujue's analysis, a casual player's team would normally have two formations. The first was the 'conventional balanced' type, which would start from the weakest to the strongest to ensure that there would be a stable fighting force in each round. The other was the 'top-heavy' type, which would send out the third, second, and first strongest members of the team in the first three rounds to try to end the match with a score of 3: 0.
From a tactical perspective, the 'top-heavy' type of lineup was more 'sneaky'. If the opponent used the 'conventional balanced' type of lineup, they might be overwhelmed by this kind of 'horse-racing' tactic.
However, this kind of 'sneaky' tactic naturally came with a corresponding risk. If there was a mistake in any of the first three rounds, then the 'top-heavy' team would basically be finished. This was because the members that they placed in the last two rounds were the weakest, and they would not be able to deal with the enemy's strongest members.
Other than that, there was a high chance that two 'top-heavy' teams would run into each other. In that case, it would be no different from two 'conventional balanced' teams.
In the most extreme case … there might be a third formation that specifically targeted the 'top-heavy' type of lineup. That was to place their strongest lineup in the first round to take out the third strongest lineup of the 'top-heavy' team. Then, in the second and third rounds, they would use their second and third strongest lineups to take out the two weakest lineups of the enemy in the fourth and fifth rounds.
In conclusion, in a situation where the ability of both teams was close to each other, the difference in formation could indeed decide the outcome of the battle. And in this game … it was not only a psychological battle. Intelligence and luck were also very important.
Feng Bujue was a cautious person. He had placed Xu Huai Shang in the 'Battle of the Champions' because he had made up his mind … Even if there was a one in a billion chance that they would run into an unknown, hidden team, and the whole team was made up of top players, and they were arranged in a 'top-heavy' formation, and they managed to defeat Underworld Frontline in the first and second matches … then, it would not be that big of a deal.
Because looking at the whole of Thriller Paradise, the number of people who had the chance to defeat Xu Huai Shang in a one-on-one battle could be counted on one hand. Brother Jue knew all of them. In any case, they were not in the team that day.
Considering this … even in the worst case scenario, the chance of them winning was still greater than fifty percent.
In reality, for Underworld Frontline's opponents, when they saw the first round's match list, the 'worst case scenario' had already arrived.
How could there be so many hidden strong players in the world? Underworld Frontline was just a team with an average hidden score of seventy-five. A few friends had gathered together to participate in the competition. Initially, they were quite excited, but when they saw their opponent — the previous champion, that feeling … that feeling … it was truly a reflection of the saying, 'Dying before the start of the battle will make heroes weep'. If not for the chance to fight Goddess Xu, these few would have given up already.
…
Ten minutes passed quickly. At midnight, the system announcement announced, "The competition is about to start. Please prepare to teleport."
Then there was a countdown of ten seconds. When the countdown ended, the players dissolved into light and disappeared from the conference room.
This could be said to be a big change that was implemented in this competition.
Before this, when the players wanted to teleport to any scenario, they had to return to their own elevator, but this time, they could teleport together in the conference room.
Unfortunately … this kind of service was not supported during normal dungeons.
"Download complete.
"Tournament for the Best S3, First Round.
"Venue: Cell Gaming Hall."
Compared to the previous two competitions, the loading announcement this time was much simpler. When the announcement ended, Snow was already standing on a 'ring'.
This was a square ring that was about thirty meters long. It was made up of many one-meter square bricks. From the top, it looked like a chessboard. There was a pillar at each of the four corners of the ring. The shape of the pillar was similar to a western knight's lance, but it was much thicker than a real knight's lance.
Around the ring was a wasteland. Looking out, there were only hills and some weeds. The sky was blue and white, and the sun was shining brightly.
"You have entered spectator mode."
Several seconds later, other than the two players in the first round, everyone else heard this announcement.
At that moment, the members of the two teams were teleported into two transparent rectangular containers. These two cubes floated in the air on both sides of the field, and they could see the competition on the ring from a bird's eye view.
"Attention, the spectator space is not on the same plane as the battlefield. Players on the battlefield are unable to communicate with their teammates in the spectator space."
This meant that the person who was fighting could not see, hear, or touch the transparent cubes. Therefore, the players in the cubes did not have to try to help their teammates by shouting or doing anything else.
"The competition will start in thirty seconds."
Immediately after, the system gave the next announcement.
In the ring, Snow and his opponent, Thunder King, were already rubbing their fists and getting ready to fight.
This' thirty seconds of preparation time 'was, of course, useful. During this time, the two players would be separated by a transparent barrier. Regardless of whether it was the players themselves or other objects, it was definitely impossible to pass through the barrier. However … it was possible to take advantage of this time to release some 'skills' in advance. This was especially true for players like Snow who specialized in machinery and summoning. These thirty seconds were precious.
Snow's brain was not slow. He instantly understood the meaning of the preparation time. As soon as the system's announcement ended, he took out a bunch of materials from his inventory and started to tinker with them with his [Sandbox Dweller's Hammer] and [WJQ-308 Military Shovel].
Although his summoning skills were not bad, his main skill was still machinery. The only passive skill that he had equipped was [Spirit of the Smith]. Its special effect was to 'increase the various abilities of machinery creations and increase the production speed of such creations.'
In less than half a minute, Snow had already created something from a bunch of metals, parts, bonding adhesives, and some strange materials.
[Name: Construction Skill — King of the Mountain Road]
[Skill Card Type: Active Skill, Permanent]
[Skill Type: Machinery]
[Effect: Create a high-performance land carrying vehicle.]
[Consumption: During the manufacturing process, 5 Stamina Points will be lost every ten seconds. No less than ten kilograms of metal, no less than five joining parts. Other parts can be added as required.]
[Learning Requirement: Machinery Mastery A]
[Remark: I have a friend who owns a car repair shop. Every time he finishes repairing someone's car, there will be an extra small box of parts that he does not know how to put back.
One day, I told him that when he has accumulated enough parts, he will be able to piece together a new car.
So, he really started to store those parts. Until one day, he finally collected enough parts, and then … he was arrested.
So, I always say that there are risks involved in modifying vehicles.
— A low-key old driver.]
Although this skill looked like it was just average, when it was actually used, there was a lot of room for manipulation and potential.
Under the premise of satisfying the consumption of the skill, the things that Snow could create could be smaller ones like skateboards, unicycles, and bicycles. Bigger ones could be cars, sports cars, and trucks. Bigger ones could be tanks, maglev trains, mobile fortresses …
This skill did not have any cooldown time restrictions. Anyway, as long as he had enough Stamina and materials, he could start building at any time. He could build as big as he wanted. He could even build the same thing several times.
Right now, Snow had used around twenty seconds to build an exquisitely designed motorcycle.
[Five … Four … Three …]
When there were five seconds left before the start of the battle, the system voice started to count down. At this time, Snow had already gotten on the motorcycle, facing in the opposite direction of his opponent … and started the motorcycle.
Brother Thunder, whose ID was [Thunder King], was also dumbfounded. He thought to himself, "This guy … Is he preparing to run away?"
[Two … One … Fight!]
With the shout of "Fight," the barrier between the two disappeared. But two seconds before the barrier disappeared, Snow had already ridden away on the motorcycle …
It could be said that he fully understood the meaning of the "30-second rule." Why did the system only set up a barrier between the two players, but not restrict them from going to the area behind them? It was very simple. It was to give the players who used "stealth ambush" or "long-range sniping" as their fighting style, as well as the players who wanted to use other roundabout tactics, a period of time to distance themselves.
Of course, although the "battlefield" was big, there was still a limit. Moreover, the judgment of "AFK-like Play" was also there. Without these two restrictions, the side who had the upper hand in terms of mobility would "run toward the endless sunset." This match would be endless.
"This …" Looking at Snow's back, Thunder King thought to himself, "I didn't expect this …"
He just stood there, waiting blankly. It was not that he did not want to chase after him, but he really could not catch up.
Thunder King was a very traditional player who specialized in fighting. His combat power was not bad, but he had a shortcoming … That was his slow speed. If you asked him to chase after a person, he might not even be able to catch up, let alone chase after a motorcycle.
"Hmm … He won't be judged as AFK-like Play, right?" Looking at the figure standing blankly on the battlefield, Xiao Tan, who was in the spectator space, could not help but think.
"If they want to judge, they should judge the one who turned around and ran away, not the one who stood there and waited," Feng Bujue continued.
"That's right." Xiao Ling also said, "Chasing after the opponent who rode on a vehicle on foot is obviously at a disadvantage. Even if you can catch up, it will consume a lot of your stamina. So, the opponent standing there and waiting for orders is a very correct judgment and response. If this is considered as AFK-like Play, then it is unfair."
Just as they were talking, Thunder King had already sat down on the battlefield and muttered, "Phew … Then I'll just wait here. Anyway, you were the one who ran away first, so you have to come back. If you don't do anything, you will be judged as an AFK-like Play first …"
His idea was not wrong, but … Snow, who was planning to build a missile silo, did not seem to need to come back.
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