Sacred Souls: Genesis-Chapter 205 - 203 Not Just a Game

Chapter 205: Chapter 203 Not Just a Game

Chapter 205 -203 Not Just a Game

Dancing Nuclear Guild stronghold.

Recently, the Dancing Nuclear Guild’s stronghold added a new special building: the Dueling Training Ground.

This building, unlocked after upgrading the guild stronghold to level two, essentially replicates the Sanctum’s arena into the player’s own stronghold.

The structure is actually an arena, where up to three players can engage in matched battles on the Sanctum’s PVP server.

The Sanctum’s current PVP system is very well developed, including a rewards exchange for PVP victories and a comprehensive ranking system.

It is now six in the morning, and there aren’t many players in the Dancing Nuclear stronghold. Zhao Mingwei is alone in the Dueling Training Ground, dueling with some high-ranked player from an unknown part of the Sanctum.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

The duel ended very quickly this time; within just three minutes, Zhao Mingwei had thrown the poor Wandering Gunman to the ground with a back slam, then hammered his fist down onto his throat.

The fist, cloaked in the power of the Telekinesis Beast Tattoo, struck the vulnerable spot at the throat, critical hit damage jumped out from the head of the Wandering Gunman player, and his health was instantly depleted.

The tavern map, projected over the training ground, dissipated along with the conclusion of the fight and the disappearance of the matched player.

At the edge of the training ground, a round of applause was heard; Zhao Mingwei turned his head to see that Lin Xi had appeared beside the training ground without him noticing when.

“Are you an perpetual motion machine or something, Laugher? You just finished a match the day before yesterday and have been squatting online for two days straight, and congratulations on getting into the top fifty of the PVP leaderboard. No, wait, what congratulations? Laugher, it’s only six in the morning, are you trying to kill yourself?”

Lin Xi and Zhao Mingwei were staying in a hotel together in reality. They had another match tomorrow, and when Lin Xi saw that Zhao Mingwei was still online while browsing the Sanctum app on his phone, he hurriedly logged on to tell Zhao Mingwei to go down and sleep.

“I’m not really tired,” said Zhao Mingwei, preparing to continue clicking on the matchmaking system.

“Alright, alright! I know you’re not tired, but Laugher, stop climbing the ranks. Keep playing on Sanctum’s ladder, and even the boss won’t be able to wash you out,” Lin Xi reminded Zhao Mingwei.

Zhao Mingwei is still a professional player for “Conflict,” and the news of him playing another game on the eve of the match had already caused quite a stir online.

The Junlin Club had gone through great lengths to quell the public uproar and ordered Zhao Mingwei not to play “Sanctum” during the summer season… Mingwei didn’t listen.

Because he couldn’t control himself… telling a game-addicted youth not to play games while putting a console in his room is just torturing him, isn’t it?

But Zhao Mingwei had been restraining himself these past two days, which basically meant he seldom left the Dancing Nuclear stronghold and didn’t even join the Heavenly Frost Dragon raid battle.

Yet tonight, Zhao Mingwei felt an unbearable itch in his hands and, seeing as the Dancing Nuclear had built this so-called Dueling Training Ground, he started playing Sanctum’s PVP ladder.

“Just one more round.” Under Lin Xi’s exasperated gaze, Zhao Mingwei clicked the matchmaking button once again.

“Laugher… Sigh.”

As Lin Xi looked on, the scene on the platform changed once more into the interior of a tall tower, and a figure wearing a black robe appeared on the opposite side of the arena.

“Holy shit… Laugher? Don’t you have a match?”

The opponent Zhao Mingwei had matched with was the president of Night Sprint, Cruel Moonlight, who was shocked upon seeing the ID of his opponent.

“Just relaxing with a game at night, Moonlight. Doesn’t your club have a match too?”

“I retired a long time ago, unlike you who can play for so long,” said Cruel Moonlight as he began to buff himself.

Zhao Mingwei paused for a moment… without saying much, he directly started the second duel with Cruel Moonlight.

The showdown still ended with Zhao Mingwei’s victory when the projection of the high tower and the silhouette of the Cruel Moonlight disappeared. Under Lin Xi’s despairing gaze, Zhao Mingwei’s ranking in the ladder climbed to thirty-nine.

This was already a very conspicuous number, and Zhao Mingwei’s fans already knew that his “Holy Spirit” ID was Happy Gaming. If someone with an agenda discovered that Zhao Mingwei’s “Holy Spirit” PVP ranking had soared during the summer tournament… then the result.

“Mingwei, aren’t you afraid of ruining your reputation?” Lin Xi looked at Zhao Mingwei, who had walked to the edge of the arena and sat down, and couldn’t help but voice his concern.

“I’ve thought about it. Playing ‘Holy Spirit’ is my private business; it doesn’t affect the club’s reputation too much. Besides, there’s already someone in the team who can take over the captain’s position,” Zhao Mingwei said.

“I’m talking about you! Mingwei, your recent form has been improving, and your fans are looking forward to seeing you on the ‘Fray’ tournament stage, not playing ‘Holy Spirit.’ Your popularity built up over seven years of competition is what you can rely on for your future livelihood. Once your contract expires in two years and you become a streamer or something, you could outshine other top streamers on platforms like the raccoon broadcast,” Lin Xi continued after some thought.

“Originally, your professional career didn’t have a single blemish, but if you keep playing ‘Holy Spirit’ intensively during the summer tournament and it gets exposed, public opinion could very likely turn against you, resulting in a tarnished reputation. The Fray Professional League would also punish such behavior. If they ban you from competing, then all the popularity you’ve built up over these seven years… it’ll all be wasted,” Lin Xi said.

“Do these things like popularity and buzz matter that much?” Zhao Mingwei suddenly asked, listening to Lin Xi’s words.

“It’s all you have,” Lin Xi said with a headache, rubbing his temples. “What else do we have after we retire as professional players? A set of skills? No, it’s popularity, buzz, traffic! You are one of the top attractions in ‘Fray.’ You won’t have to worry about the second half of your life if you retire and become a commentator. Besides that, what do we know? Go back to the old days in internet cafes, fighting with others for BOSSes and playing games for money?”

“I actually think the days in the internet cafe were more interesting,” Zhao Mingwei said.

“Are you crazy… Have you forgotten how hard it was back in the day when we had nothing and were starving? The gold price of ‘Holy Spirit’ is already falling, and besides, the game currently has only about thirty thousand players, just thirty thousand! ‘Fray’ has an average online player count of two million three hundred thousand and growing. Mingwei, think about it! To put it bluntly, besides your popularity as a ‘Fray’ professional player and your fans, what else do you have? Nothing! If you keep playing other games during the summer tournament and end up getting banned, everything will be over.”

Lin Xi, unlike the naive Zhao Mingwei, had a much clearer understanding of the realities of the esports professional circle. No matter how popular an esports player was, a small mistake could lead to being blacklisted.

A suspension would be an indelible stain on Zhao Mingwei’s illustrious career as a ‘Fray’ professional player.

“…” Zhao Mingwei was silent as he watched Lin Xi. Just as Lin Xi thought he had convinced Zhao Mingwei…

“Master! Master! All of a sudden, I’ve got lots of these weird things on me!”

Yelena popped out from behind Lin Xi at some point, bypassed him, and handed a bunch of semi-transparent red hearts to Zhao Mingwei.

Zhao Mingwei picked up one of the red hearts and glanced at the description of the item.

‘Yelena’s Affection X233·Delight

Exchange Item

Description: The affection Yelena exudes while practicing telekinesis… filled with all sorts of happy emotions.

Effect: Can be used to expand the construction area of a stronghold. Exchange for stronghold construction materials and blueprints with the NPC ‘Alu.’

Master is so amazing! —Yelena.’

“How can you say there’s nothing?” Zhao Mingwei, looking at the semi-transparent red heart, turned his gaze toward Lin Xi and said, “In this world, you’re known as the volatile walking arsenal, while I am the Wild Tiger Emperor who inherited the Telekinesis Beast Tattoo… To the residents of the stronghold, we’re heroes who saved the world.”

“Are you out of your mind, Mingwei? She’s just a bunch of data, and you’re seriously getting attached to a virtual character?” Lin Xi suspected that Zhao Mingwei could no longer distinguish between the game and reality.

But Zhao Mingwei didn’t answer Lin Xi; instead, Yelena right next to him directly voiced a rebuttal…

“I’m not a paper doll!”

“?” Lin Xi turned his head and gave Yelena a look, feeling as if he’d seen a ghost… It’s true that NPCs in ‘Holy Spirit’ had a lot of preset dialogues, but ever since arriving on this island, why did Lin Xi have the feeling that these NPCs’ responses to the players were excessively detailed?