When the second round was over, there were 720 participants left in the Battle of the Cocoon.
Wang Tanzhi was one of them.
After that match, Brother Long had contacted Xiao Tan to discuss the situation at the time. Long Aomin was indeed a straightforward person, and he was very open-minded after his loss. He did not regret it at all. If anything, he was impressed by Xiao Tan's amazing strategy. He almost clapped his hands to cheer him on.
After all, Blade Edge was not a commercial gaming studio, so they did not have a ranking requirement for their members, so it did not matter where Brother Long lost.
However, this match did cause quite a lot of discussion on the forums. Since Brother Long had sent Meng Jingchan into the playoffs in the first round, many players viewed him as the dark horse of this competition. However, after just one round, the ID Long Aomin, which had just gained popularity, was revealed to have been eliminated …
"I told you, Long Aomin won the first round through luck." This kind of opinion popped up like mushrooms after a rain. Actually … ninety percent of the people who came up with this opinion had not seen Brother Long's matches … not even two rounds. They had only read some posts and news, made some conjectures based on the outcome of the matter, and made some fallacies.
Of course, there were quite a number of players who had seen the real battle between Wang Tanzhi and Long Aomin. Most of them were there to see Brother Long, but they did not expect the tunnel battle to end like this … and they did not expect the process to be so dramatic.
Xiao Tan completed a classic kill before thousands of viewers. Even though luck played a part in it, as Feng Bujue had said, since he had come up with this idea and dared to do it, then he deserved this victory.
However … compared to Brother Long's rise to fame after the first round, the ID Wang Tanzhi was still lukewarm. It looked like most people still thought he had won through luck.
…
At 1 am on May 21st, the third round started.
Like the previous two rounds, Xiao Tan waited in the log-in lobby on time.
It was the same familiar system announcement. "The third round of the Battle of the Cocoon is about to begin. Your data will be loaded in thirty seconds. Please do not leave the log-in lobby.
[Ten seconds before loading. Nine, eight, seven … two, one.]
But … after the countdown ended, the opening speech did not come as scheduled.
After about five seconds of silence, just as Xiao Tan felt that something was wrong, the system voice message rang. [No match has been found. You will be given a bye in this round. Congratulations, you have directly entered the fourth round.]
"Huh?" Xiao Tan didn't know what to do after hearing the notification. After a few seconds, he finally reacted. "Did someone not line up on time?"
Obviously, yes.
Coincidentally, one of the 720 players who entered the third round of the Battle of the Cocoon did not show up that night. The reason was that his wife was in labor … She was sent to the hospital in the evening, so he didn't come online tonight.
If there were an even number of players absent, the system could still complete the pairings until the number of players in the next round became an odd number. But tonight, there was only one player left, so … one player was left unattended.
And Xiao Tan was the one who was left unattended.
Five minutes later, when he arrived at Feng Bujue's meeting room and told him about his direct advancement, Brother Jue's comment was, "Your luck … If you could give me twenty percent of it, I would sell everything I have and buy a plane ticket to Macau tomorrow."
…
In any case, Xiao Tan managed to enter the Top 360 without any hiccups.
The next day, the news of him being left unattended was spread like wildfire. Many IDs who were obviously part of the internet ghostwriting army started to criticize the Dream Company on various forums.
After breaking down these people's arguments, and looking at the core of their argument, to put it bluntly, "This is not fair! He should have a certain someone who was eliminated in the play-off round fight him! The winner will advance! "
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was a farce run by some despicable gaming studios. They wanted to give their eliminated players another chance. These studios saw the matter of the players being left unattended as a life-saving straw. They sent out gunmen, claimed to be bystanders, and pretended to be indignant. They spared no effort to create public opinion in an attempt to pressure the gaming company.
But they obviously got the wrong person …
The Dream Company was not an ordinary gaming company. Doing things their way and letting others laugh and scold them were their motto.
The rules had already stated that players could not compete due to off-field factors. It was considered a forfeit, and there was no objection at all. Therefore, the Dream Company completely ignored the ghostwriters.
Therefore, after causing a ruckus for an entire day, the angry gunmen focused their attention on Xiao Tan. It could be said that they were venting their anger … In short, Xiao Tan was targeted. If his performance in the fourth round was not bad, they would naturally have nothing to say. However, if he appeared weak, it would definitely become the main excuse for the ghostwriters to attack him after the game.
If that happened … "If someone was allowed to fight, he would have advanced!" "The Dream Company would rather let a loser advance than give a capable player a chance. Where is the justice?" These kinds of comments would definitely come out. That was something that could be predicted.
…
May 22nd, 1 am, the fourth round of Battle of the Cocoon.
After the countdown ended, the system announced the opening statement. "The cocoon that sleeps three times in the dark forest, the softness that wraps around the finger has been tempered a hundred times."
"Download complete. You are currently playing Tournament for the Best — Battle of the Cocoon.
"This mode does not have a scenario introduction, hidden side quest, or unique world view.
"Reward for winning the scenario: Advance to the top 180.
"Main quest triggered.
"Kill your opponent."
Xiao Tan was transported to a dark wasteland. The ground was made up of sturdy rocks, and there was not even a blade of grass. Looking around, there was nothing that could be seen.
A full moon hung in the sky.
Two figures stood proudly in the air.
A familiar face appeared in Wang Tanzhi's sight. Without the confirmation from the game menu, Xiao Tan recognized the man — Seven Kills.
Seven Kills also recognized the man in the assassin's outfit.
They were not going to play any tricks on this map; both of them knew that.
Seven Kills had a good relationship with Brother Long, and this was not the first time he had met Xiao Tan. Therefore, it was impossible to expect him to underestimate his opponent.
The moon stretched for thousands of miles, and the murderous intent filled the air.
The winner would advance, and the loser would be eliminated. There was no turning back, and no one would back down.
"Phew … This kind of map, this kind of opponent … I don't think I'm going to survive this …" Xiao Tan adjusted his breathing and thought to himself. "But …" He lowered his head to look at his hands. "Why am I shaking with excitement? Is it because deep inside my heart … I yearn for this kind of battle?"
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