The Western Continent, Moonwhisper Forest, Misty Swamp.
"Why?" A tall, powerfully built tauren slammed his shield onto the ground.
"Nanfeng, calm down," another equally burly man, an Orc, urged.
Nanfeng Luan wiped his face hard and said nothing more.
"Bloodshadow, where are you going?" The Orc turned toward the Dark Elf beside him.
"You Chinese have an old saying: 'Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never lose a battle.' I'm heading to the Southern Islands to see just who's making trouble for us." Bloodshadow tapped his two daggers together. His voice was calm, but his eyes gleamed like cold blades.
"Dipper, I think we really should take a look." Another tauren sitting nearby spoke up, though his gaze was fixed on the Moon Elf leaning against a tree a short distance away.
"Shoot, what do you think?" The Orc turned to their captain.
The Moon Elf, Too Late to Shoot, suddenly smiled. Rubbing his chin, he said slowly, "Let's set Bloodshadow and Bai Caosheng's suggestions aside for now and analyze what happened first."
"What's there to analyze? They're slapping us right in the face!" Nanfeng Luan said bitterly, his anger still simmering.
Too Late to Shoot smiled. "Nanfeng, don't forget that those two system announcements came pretty close together. No matter how good 'they' are, there's no way they could time their boss kill that precisely."
"You mean..." Lonely Big Dipper frowned and lowered his voice. "It was a coincidence?"
Too Late to Shoot snapped his fingers and continued, "For now, that's what I think. But it's not their intentions I'm concerned about. Breaking records comes down to ability anyway. There's nothing to get angry about if we lose."
"Then what seems off to you?" Bai Caosheng knew what their captain was capable of. If he said that, he must have noticed something suspicious.
Too Late to Shoot said slowly, "Only three names appeared in the system announcement. What does that tell us? The three of them cleared Hell Mode!"
The other four exchanged looks. Their minds, previously clouded by anger, cooled down a little.
Bai Caosheng ventured, "Could it be... that the other two didn't want to reveal their IDs?"
"Impossible." Lonely Big Dipper frowned. "When we cleared the dungeon, the system asked whether we wanted our names displayed too. There were only two options: 'Reveal names' and 'Hide names.' In other words, at most, they could all hide their names the way those people did. Otherwise, if all five refused, how would the system make its announcement?"
"That makes sense." Bloodshadow rarely joined their discussions. The man was usually so quiet that sometimes they barely heard a few words from him for ten days or half a month. Today was an exception.
Too Late to Shoot nodded. "Brothers, I'm not being arrogant, but the five of us would rank among the best even in the professional scene. We spent an entire day wiping before we barely managed to clear Madness Mode, yet those three actually cleared Hell Mode! Honestly, I'm really curious who they are."
Watching the slight upward curve of his captain's lips, Lonely Big Dipper suddenly had a flash of insight. "Could it be..."
Too Late to Shoot smiled. "I imagine you all have a vague answer in mind. Mine isn't much different. How many people have that kind of ability, after all? No rush, no rush. Let's work through it by elimination."
Bloodshadow suddenly spoke. "Heavenfall... What's he doing?"
"Him?" Too Late to Shoot shook his head. "Leveling alone somewhere. I asked him. It wasn't him. He's already level 17 and can't be bothered with dungeon records."
"Oh." Bloodshadow gave a quiet reply, lowered his head, and went back to playing with his two little daggers.
Too Late to Shoot glanced toward Bloodshadow... His eyes shone as though a fire were blazing inside them. Although he quickly lowered his head, Too Late to Shoot had seen it clearly.
Heavenfall, a name of incomparable glory, a legendary ID, a man who had once stood at the pinnacle...
He was an idol worshipped by countless people, and an opponent countless people wanted to defeat!
It was said that this man had lost only once after making his name, and that had also been his last defeat.
Several years earlier, in the 1v1 Arena of the Gods tournament hosted by Light of Freedom, he had lost to another man whose name was equally legendary.
Too Late to Shoot remembered that man's name clearly-One Leaf Windwalk.
Heavenfall had once mocked his own name. Yes, he had fallen... But a man like him was never destined to remain among mortals!
Two years later, the triennial Arena of the Gods tournament began once more! This time, Heavenfall finally towered above his rivals, climbed to the summit, and reclaimed his rightful place.
"The sky... is where he belongs." Major media outlets around the world all offered the same assessment.
In an age of extraordinarily advanced virtual technology, a vast, realistic virtual world like Light of Freedom had long since become far more than "a game"... Nor was it like the football or basketball of the past, because its scale was much greater! Its user base was far larger!
Real-world currency could be freely exchanged for in-game currency, countless people made "playing games" their profession, and hundreds of millions of fans passionately loved this game! A single game had become a virtual nation...
Such a phenomenon was not unprecedented. After all, fully immersive neural-interface games had existed for centuries. The first game of that kind had caused an enormous sensation when it was released! But Light of Freedom had undoubtedly taken the significance of these games to a new height. It truly deserved to be called a "virtual nation"!
Football had La Liga, Serie A, and the Premier League...
Basketball had the NBA...
Light of Freedom also had similar professional leagues, no different in nature from commercial sports leagues like the NBA. Many gaming enthusiasts loved paying to watch matches, and their fervor was every bit as intense as that of sports fans centuries earlier!
With such a strong following, the popularity of the professional leagues was easy to imagine. A market economy, stripped to its essentials, was nothing more than supply and demand. If the masses wanted something, there was a huge market for it, and wherever money could be made, countless people would fight tooth and nail to get in.
Many countries had established well-developed professional leagues. Among the better-known ones were China's Yanhuang League, America's Miracle League, and Rome's Ancient Arena.
Professional players were selected from thousands upon thousands of candidates, and their skills, awareness, and equipment were all top-notch. As long as someone entered a professional league and could hold a starting position on a team, a full set of orange gear would be placed straight into their hands-the players at other clubs in the league all wore orange gear, so no club could let its own players look shabby. After all, no club wanted its players to lose because of equipment.
To ordinary players, a full set of orange gear was an unattainable dream. To professional players, it was everyday attire.
Football in the past had the World Cup.
Light of Freedom likewise had a worldwide tournament of equivalent significance-the Arena of the Gods!
Heavenfall was the star player of the Shenluo Team in America's Miracle League, and the American team he led was a championship powerhouse in the Arena of the Gods!
Heavenfall had led his team to a glorious three consecutive championships, only to suffer an "unexpected" loss in the finals of the fourth tournament to an obscure team from China-the Beaconfire Team.
For the American team, it had been a painful lesson... Whether in 1v1, 3v3, 5v5, or fifteen-player team matches, they had been utterly crushed!
The Beaconfire Team had only seventeen members, not even enough to fill all its substitute slots, yet it had defied everyone's expectations, defeated the championship powerhouse, and seized the crown! They had claimed the title in one stunning triumph!
At the time, countless Chinese people had erupted in excitement...
At the time, countless Americans had smashed their furniture to pieces...
The most legendary team in World Cup history was the Beaconfire Team. That was not to say it was overwhelmingly powerful-although, in that year, it had indeed been undefeated and unstoppable! But at the Arena of the Gods three years later, it had failed to place at all. Its reign as champion had been rather short.
The Beaconfire Team was considered "legendary" because of its "unofficial nature"-to put it simply, it was a knockoff team!
The Arena of the Gods allowed each participating country to send two teams. That year, China's Yanhuang League had sent two: the Yanhuang Team, selected through successive rounds within the league, and the previously unknown Beaconfire Team.
This "strange" team belonged to no club whatsoever. It was a band of "wild kids" that had emerged entirely from the amateur scene. As for how they had qualified to compete... the Yanhuang League remained deeply secretive about the matter. The secret had been kept for years and had still never been revealed.
The Beaconfire Team had certainly lived up to its countrymen's hopes. Although the Yanhuang Team had been eliminated by the Roman team in the semifinals, the Beaconfire Team had fought stubbornly to the very end and brought home a glittering Gods' Cup for the nation!
For such a "grassroots lineup," or "grassroots team," to create a miracle like that... Calling it the most legendary team in history was no exaggeration. One could even say it had earned the title!
Some might have wondered who had led this mysterious Beaconfire Team.
Naturally, that man was Heavenfall's... most respected rival, the man who had once defeated him-One Leaf Windwalk!
At that moment, the former "captain of the Beaconfire Team" was squatting without a shred of dignity at the entrance to the Ghostly Cave, grinning at the ace healer who had just set a dungeon record with him. "Kawaii, it was a pleasure working with you. If another opportunity comes up, let's give each other a shout."
Kawaii nodded with a smile. "I'm utterly in awe of both your abilities. Let's call ourselves friends from today onward. If there's anything I can help with in the future, just say the word."
"Take care. We won't see you out." Ironhead waved to Kawaii too, watching him step out of the dungeon.
Too Late to Shoot's group was still chatting animatedly when they suddenly saw their captain frown and accept a voice chat invitation.
Before you continue