September, a strange season.
She was like a young lady who was about to change into autumn clothes. The warmth of summer was the last strand of gauze around her waist, and the pressure of the new semester and the haze of the quarterly report were like a pair of safety pants under the gauze.
Alright, let's get back to the main topic …
This September of 2055 belonged to Thriller Paradise. After the preliminaries of the Tournament for the Best S2 began, the Dream Company launched a corresponding promotional campaign to hype up this competition. In just a few days, all kinds of news related to this matter were spread all over the media. Even many mainstream media that were dismissive of the gaming industry had reported on this matter. It could be said that the attention of society was unparalleled at this time.
Within the gaming circle, this competition had become the most eye-catching battle in recent years.
The five months since the start of the server, the format of the team battle, and the point-based ranking … it was not hard to see that this preliminaries had the intention of 'testing the quality of the gaming studios'.
If it was said that the final ranking of S1 was unconvincing due to too many unpredictable factors in the finals, then S2 … at least in the preliminaries, there was no excuse for any of the teams to find.
In fact, most gaming studios had reached a consensus — the result of the preliminaries of S2 might decide the actual ranking of the gaming studios in the eyes of the general public.
Therefore, for those famous gaming studios, starting from midnight on the 5th of September, a battle that would last for fifty days had already begun.
Every day, they would announce their points on their official website, and that was an important cornerstone to their victory.
For the professional players who were regarded as' stars', this was also a long and drawn-out trial.
The result of each round, the process of each team battle, and even the Life Points lost in each duel … all of that could affect a team's ranking in the preliminaries.
From a casual team's point of view, thirty-six matches were just thirty-six wins and losses. Theoretically speaking, 108 points was the best result.
But from the perspective of a strong professional team … 108 points was just a 'pass'. A "complete victory" was a must. As a team that wanted to fight for the championship, if they couldn't even obtain a complete victory in the preliminaries, then what confidence did they have to win all the way to the end in the knockout stage where there were so many strong players like the clouds?
And on top of that, they also had to do their best to ensure that every match was won with the least cost and the most efficient method … Only a team that did this to the extreme would be able to reach the top of the rankings in the preliminaries.
To put it simply, for teams that wanted to be ranked in the preliminaries, in the thirty-six matches, they had to treat every match seriously and not make any mistakes. They would not fight with the attitude of 'as long as they win in the end' like casual players. They were destined to put in more effort than normal players because … only then could they be called a 'professional'.
'Playing a game with a salary 'was not as easy as it sounded. In all fairness, this was more stressful than doing something else with a salary. Even though times were changing, the stereotypical prejudice in people's hearts was still there. No one would say that a football player was' playing football with a salary ', and no one would say that a swimmer was' playing water with a salary '. But in the industry of' professional gamers', there were always people who looked down on them.
Actually, there was not much difference between a professional gamer and a professional athlete. Both required talent, hard work, and a little bit of luck. They both had experience, skill, the ability to withstand pressure, and professionalism. The biggest difference between them was that one party used physical equipment or venues as a competition tool while the other party used virtual electronic programs as a competition medium. Just because the latter medium was more of an entertainment medium than a physical or mental training medium, it was obviously unfair to view the players differently.
This time, when the Dream Company promoted Tournament for the Best S2 to the general public, they paid attention to this point. One of their advertising slogans was, 'I don't understand how people can support themselves by playing games. Let's see what's so special about them. "
Once such slogans were released, even those who knew nothing about the gaming industry or those who had not come into contact with Thriller Paradise were interested in this Tournament for the Best, much less those who were familiar with gaming.
And all of this … was the foundation that the Dream Company had set up for the 'live stream' of the second half of the preliminaries.
At the end of September, when this kind of hunger marketing had piqued the public's curiosity, the Dream Company released an announcement. "Three days later, we will hold an open bidding for the live stream of the second half of the preliminaries."
This move not only allowed them to recoup all the marketing costs, it also netted them a huge profit.
Of course, that was all in the future. At least before September 20th, no one knew that the second half of the preliminaries would be livestreamed. Currently, most of the players' attention was still focused on how to win their own matches.
Almost no one noticed that when the fifty-day preliminaries began, the prologue of the Twilight of the Gods … had been quietly unveiled.
…
The main universe, at the border of the chaotic scorched earth.
At the edge of the void, a huge door stood quietly — the Door to Nothingness.
Years ago … the war between gods and demons was earth-shattering. In the end, the Supervising God used all his power and used a life form with the characteristics of both gods and demons as the seal hub to seal the Fighting Demon into the door.
After countless years … the Ancient Guardian Demon relied on absorbing the Battle Demon Qi that seeped out from the door and successfully escaped from the seal. His whereabouts were unknown.
Thankfully, the Supervising God's seal was indestructible. Even without the 'wedge', it still lasted for a long time.
However … that kind of days would come to an end today.
Crack, crack, crack …
After a muffled shattering sound, the pitch-black door shattered into pieces.
In an instant, an unbelievably dense wave of Demonic Qi swept out from the door.
Then, heavy footsteps came from the door …
Bang, bang, bang …
A huge shadow walked out of the door at a leisurely pace. With every step it took, the entire ground would tremble.
However … just as it walked to the door and was only one step away from stepping out, it stopped.
"Hmm?" "Have I been in 'nothingness' for too long … Or did something happen to this universe …" It muttered to itself.
As it spoke, it raised a hand (front claw) and stretched it out of the door. As a result … in less than two seconds, its hand exploded from the inside.
The dark demonic blood flowed down, emitting a mellow, strong, and distant smell like old wine.
This … was the physical sign of the ultimate 'demon'. From a data point of view, every drop of blood on its body and every breath it exhaled were all highly condensed energy. Compared to those ordinary creatures that emitted a foul stench from their bodies and bodies, it was simply a world of difference.
"Is this really the 'universe' that I used to be in … Why is the 'pressure' so small …" The Fighting Demon retracted its hand. Many black fibrous substances repaired its broken limbs at a speed visible to the naked eye. "It seems that I need some time to adapt to this new environment."
As it spoke, it had already secretly channeled its demonic energy and started to modify its body.
Wrapped in demonic energy, its body began to shrink rapidly and gradually … turned into a human form.
Finally, after about three minutes, 'it' became 'him'.
At this time, the Fighting Demon had turned into a naked human man. He was about 1.9 meters tall, with a well-proportioned body and a gloomy face. He had snow-white skin and a head of naturally curly black hair. Looking at his exposed body, there was nothing different about him compared to a normal person.
"Phew …" After successfully transforming, War Demon took a deep breath. Then, he stepped out of the door that had trapped him for more than billions of years (in 'nothingness', one's perception of time would become infinitely long) and officially stepped into the main universe of Thriller Paradise.
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