Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 628 - 626: Advertising

"Let us congratulate! The Passionate Swordsman has defeated his opponent and won this match!!"

Accompanied by Narrator Spitzer Vegan's hoarse shouting, Wanli Fengdao stepped down from the Dueling Field.

His floral shirt was already torn by flying pebbles, and the deep scars on his body were plainly visible. The web of his hand gripping the Dragon-Slaying Sword had also burst open from the ferocity of the battle, bleeding fresh blood.

"Yo."

A slightly flippant greeting came from behind. Wanli Fengdao turned his head to see a man wearing a Dragon Head Mask waving at him. Above the man's head floated a nickname, identifying him as a friend of Li Rising.

"How did you get here?" Wanli Fengdao asked.

Little Brother Dao smiled, and as he shook hands with Li Ang, a system prompt echoed in his ear.

[The other party has enabled merchant services. The safety of the provided service products will be monitored by the System throughout the process.]

Wanli Fengdao raised an eyebrow. "You've opened a shop?"

"Just applied for it," Li Ang said casually. "So, how about it? Want to try out our clinic's medical service? Guaranteed 100% healing for injuries, no scars left behind. For a friend like you, I'll give you the 'special ten-tenths price'—only 200 points."

"Hey, hey, doesn't 'special ten-tenths price' just mean full price?" Wanli Fengdao subconsciously retorted, yet his hand honestly clicked the [Confirm Transaction] button in his field of view, transferring 200 Game Currency to Li Ang.

A 200-point medical procedure definitely wasn't expensive. Ordinary quick-acting topical ointments and bandages still needed time to take effect and couldn't guarantee that the underlying muscles and blood vessels would heal perfectly without affecting future use. On the surface, Wanli Fengdao didn't seem to have major injuries. But in the arena, he had clashed his Dragon-Slaying Sword against a Meteor Hammer. The One-armed Giant's immense brute force had traveled through the Dragon-Slaying Sword into his arm and body, nearly shattering his internal organs. If he were to go to a clinic or hospital run by a large organization now, he'd be fleeced for at least 400 or 500 Game Coins—and there weren't any insurance companies in the plaza offering severe injury medical insurance yet.

Little Brother Dao had witnessed the efficacy of Li Ang's emergency medical skills multiple times in the previous Shengnan King's Dream. Li Ang had repeatedly cut and healed wounds on Xing Hechou, using Xing Hechou's Life Paper to transmit Morse code.

And, just as Wanli Fengdao expected, fine plant fibers grew from the rubber gloves Li Ang wore, penetrating Wanli Fengdao's palm and spreading through his blood vessels.

The injuries on Wanli Fengdao's body healed at a visibly rapid pace. His face turned alternately pale and flushed, his hand tightly clenched as he resisted the strange itchiness emanating from his limbs and bones—the experience of having the Origin of Life mend his body was not pleasant, a side effect of the rapid treatment.

However, the audience below knew nothing of this. They only saw Wanli Fengdao shake hands with a man in a Dragon Head Mask, and his injuries were mostly healed. The Watcher Organization's photography team, curious, peered over, seeming quite intrigued by Li Ang's identity.

Players with medical skills were among the most coveted individuals, especially those capable of rapid healing.

Li Ang completely ignored the prying eyes. Or rather, healing Wanli Fengdao's injuries and attracting other players' attention actually served his interests. The Immaculate Furnace shop had just opened and needed some publicity.

DING-DONG.

The System's notification alert sounded.

Li Ang withdrew the vines and calmly opened his player panel. It was a notification from the Sky Fighting Arena informing him that he could now compete. Just moments ago, at the registration desk, Li Ang had indicated he was "ready to compete at any time." Now that a spot had opened up, it was his turn.

Li Ang chose to participate in the match.

Above the arena, the arena-specific names of the two competitors immediately appeared. The two narrators in the commentary box also regained their composure and began to fulfill their duties.

"Alright, dear audience, the previous match was truly exciting, but now we have a new event for your viewing pleasure!" Narrator Spitzer Vegan roused his spirits and said into the microphone with a deep voice, "Both players have chosen to enter the match. Let's see who they are!"

Narrator Abdel nodded, looked up at the stage, and said, "The first player is our familiar 'Blackstone Razor.' As for the second player's name, uh..."

Abdel hesitated for a moment, seemingly unable to believe his own eyes. He exchanged a helpless glance with Spitzer Vegan, then, with resignation, pulled the microphone closer and said, "The second player is named 'Authentic Supermarket and Clinic; at the southeast corner of the plaza, the newly opened Immaculate Furnace shop offers services including Magic Potion sales, equipment forging, medical surgery, and enhancement modifications. Advanced technology, fair prices, honesty guaranteed for young and old. New customers can even enjoy a 'ten-tenths' discount! What are you waiting for? Come and spend now~'"

Indeed. Li Ang had shamelessly set this ninety-two-character spiel as his dedicated arena name.

Narrators could abbreviate when introducing players or give them nicknames, but the arena-specific name was displayed by the System above the stage at the beginning of each match, forcing the audience to see it whether they wanted to or not.

After rushing through such a long sentence in one breath, Abdel quickly took a sip of water from the cup on the table. Spitzer Vegan grabbed the microphone and said, "If the two players are interested in collaborating, they can contact our Watcher Organization work team below the stage."

The so-called collaboration naturally involved The Watcher Organization shooting ultra-clear, high-frame-rate, all-angle recordings of the match for sale, sharing the profits evenly with the two players, or participating in side bets.

This was still just the first-floor lobby, so few people participated in side bets. However, selling match recordings was still feasible. If both sides were evenly matched, the battle see-sawed without a clear winner after hundreds of rounds, and ended with both competitors collapsing simultaneously in a thoroughly satisfying climax, the recordings would be even more marketable.

Li Ang walked forward and greeted the staff of The Watcher Organization, handing them a piece of paper with his personal introduction. As he passed the note, Li Ang noticed that the expressions on the staff's faces were a bit off, and there was some whispered gossip from the audience seats below.

"Tsk, it's 'Blackstone Razor,' that scumbag. What bad luck..."

"How did he fall to the first floor again? Wasn't he on the twentieth floor just the other day, gearing up to climb higher?"

"Isn't it obvious? He must've failed to advance further, so he deliberately surrendered to drop back down. That's how he gets to the lower floors to prey on newbies. I saw his match on the third floor this morning. The newbie player opposite him originally intended to surrender before the match, but he pretended he would hold back his strength to make the match fair. Then, once the match started, he launched a surprise attack, directly breaking the newbie's limbs and crippling him, just to satisfy his own twisted desire to win..."

The audience was abuzz with discussion. Li Ang felt someone pat his shoulder from behind—it was Wanli Fengdao.

"Hey, that 'Blackstone Razor' is a pretty strong scumbag," Wanli Fengdao whispered to Li Ang, his eyebrows furrowed. "He's a Bounty Hunter from South America who has also been climbing the tower in the Dueling Field these past few days. Whenever he reaches a certain height and feels he can't go any further, he frantically accepts matches and then surrenders before they begin, falling all the way back to the first floor. Under the guise of tower climbing, he goes to the lower levels to smurf and torment newbie players. Quite a few newbies have been crippled by him. Be careful."

"Is that so?" Li Ang raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the other end of the Dueling Field below, where a sullen-faced, dark-robed middle-aged man stood.