The Mountain Inn: Heaven-Defying Talent, with the Potential to Become a God
4L: What? Heaven-defying talent? Potential to become a god?
5L (OP): ...It was like looking at the last big problem on a math test. I couldn't understand it at all, but that didn't stop me from thinking that big shot Xu Xi had heaven-defying talent! He had the potential to become a god!
6L (OP): Wait, 4L, are you a roundworm in my stomach that gained sentience...?
7L: This survival game has been around for a year. It's not like there haven't been badass players, but this is the first time I've seen someone this insanely badass.
8L: But I watched his second instance. He was impressive, sure, but it wasn't nearly as stunning as the first one. I admit his first instance was godly, but the second was ordinary.
9L: I thought his performance in the second instance was pretty ordinary too. The latest instances from big-shot players like Song Xiangpeng and Zhang Tian were much more exciting than this one.
10L: You can't compare them like that. If you're talking about how exciting an instance is or how brilliantly a player performs, there are far too many outstanding ones to compare. What matters is Xu Xi himself. He has a relaxed air that other players don't have.
11L: You hit the nail on the head. A lot of people wonder why everyone online is still hyping Xu Xi when his second instance clearly wasn't that godly. But you're all overlooking one thing: he never got serious in the first place.
12L: What do you mean? Tell us more, expert!
13L: Looking at the whole highway instance, didn't you notice how out of place Xu Xi was compared with the other three players? He said nothing while his teammates actively discussed things, and stayed silent while they went back and forth with the uncanny entities. Rather than his teammates ignoring him, it was more that he didn't care about them at all, as if he were a bystander.
14L: Exactly! Even when his teammates came to talk to him, he barely engaged. Yet the few times he did speak up, he successfully pulled the team out of trouble. So it's not that he couldn't show off his skills; he just couldn't be bothered.
15L: It's actually pretty obvious. Just look closely at the other three players' attitudes later on: none of them questioned any of Xu Xi's judgments. Those big shots on the rankings have to rack their brains and watch every step in every instance. Only Xu Xi handles everything easily and effortlessly. That's why everyone's paying him so much attention.
16L: I can't take it. I'm going to watch big shot Xu Xi's livestream replays a few more times.
17L: Then I'll search for instance breakdowns on that video site. Honestly, there are still some of big shot Xu Xi's moves I don't understand.
18L: I saw a blogger whose analysis was pretty spot-on. He dug out every point worth examining, and it all sounded pretty reasonable.
19L: Link, please!
20L: Link, please +1
In the Player Space, Xu Xi couldn't feel time passing. This time, instead of passively waiting for an instance to open, he chose to enter the next one early.
He couldn't help it. It was too boring; he might as well work hard at clearing instances and climbing the ladder.
When the teleportation ended, Xu Xi found that he was still outdoors this time, though it wasn't as gloomy and oppressive as the last instance.
After looking around, he figured he was halfway up a mountain. Endless mountain ranges stretched into the distance, and the expansive view filled him with a sense of grandeur.
Including him, there were five teammates this time.
One was a fierce-looking man with a burly build and well-developed arm muscles.
The second was a refined-looking young man with a gentle bearing.
The third was a woman with a high ponytail and a rather cold expression.
Last was a girl with short hair and glasses who looked quite young.
Not long after Xu Xi started streaming, the livestream filled with people. A dense mass of bullet comments completely covered the screen, forcing most viewers to turn them off manually.
Meanwhile, in the outside world.
Ji Yang was livestreaming, and the footage playing on his computer screen was none other than Xu Xi's livestream.
He had watched Xu Xi's second instance from start to finish without missing a moment. Needless to say, he had already concluded that Xu Xi was a genuine big shot, even...
His own livestream had plenty of viewers at the moment, and many of them liked listening to the streamer explain players' moves in real time.
The instance had just begun, and Ji Yang's fans were actively posting bullet comments.
[Yangyang, you're watching a different player today.]
[Aaaaaah, it's big shot Xu Xi!]
Some fans weren't surprised at all that the streamer was paying attention to this new player. After all, Xu Xi had practically taken over the entire internet these past few days, and footage of his first instance had even reached foreign sites.
Ji Yang looked at the comments and smiled. "That's right. Today we're watching the hugely popular big shot Xu Xi."
[I'm so excited. I've never been this excited about a newcomer before, hehehe.]
[Old Ji, you know the drill. Time to tell us what you think.]
"What do I think?" Ji Yang pondered for a moment. "Heaven-defying talent, with the potential to become a god."
[...Huh?]
[Ji, don't go stealing descriptions. Do you think we haven't read that popular thread?]
Ji Yang smiled. "I did steal it, but I really do think so."
[Honestly, I think so too. It feels like he's on a completely different level from the other players.]
[Let's not praise him too much. Even the great Zhang Song died.]
The bullet comments fell silent for a while before quickly starting up again, this time more frequently.
[What?! Is that the Zhang Song I'm thinking of?]
[Yes, it's him. Zhang Song, the one ranked first.]
[Holy shit, holy shit, when did that happen? He'd been through more than twenty instances. He was practically the most experienced player there was.]
[At noon. That instance's difficulty was hellish. Every player in it was wiped out. Sigh.]
[How did I not know?]
[If you don't believe it, check the trending searches. It's already trending.]
The bullet comments fell silent again.
"The great Zhang Song?" Ji Yang straightened his back as well, looking at the comments with a solemn expression.
He hurriedly checked his following list and, sure enough, Zhang Song's avatar had disappeared.
That meant the player had died in an instance.
[Oh god, I just checked. The great Zhang Song really... How could this happen? Sob...]
[The great Zhang Song was the person most likely to climb all nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps.]
[Even the great Zhang Song is dead. Does that mean humanity can only wait to be wiped out?]
The rankings were compiled by the state according to the number of instances players had cleared, making them highly credible.
As the top-ranked player, Zhang Song's death had also stirred up pessimism among many people online.
Anyone with eyes could see that failing an instance contaminated an area, while successfully clearing one eliminated contamination. In reality, the rate at which contamination was being cleared was far slower than the rate at which it spread.
Their only hope was to climb the ladder and wait for a player who could reach the top and end the game.
But now even the top-ranked player was dead.
Ji Yang's expression was just as grave, veins bulging on the back of the hand gripping his mouse.
He took a deep breath and addressed the pessimistic comments. "No, humanity definitely won't be wiped out. Just as we never used to imagine a player could speedrun an instance in two minutes and forty-eight seconds, we can't imagine now whether more miracles will happen in the future."
Looking at the young man on the screen, who appeared perfectly at ease, he said slowly, "Maybe there'll be a player who can go even further."