Late at night, on the short-video platform Douyin.
A gaming news post titled #First Honor of Kings Account to Reach Legendary 100 Stars with a 100% Win Rate and an All-MVP Record# shot straight to the top of the gaming trending chart. Its popularity remained sky-high, drawing millions of players and netizens to check it out!
"Holy shit! That's beyond ridiculous! I have to shed a layer of skin just to win ten games in a row, and this absolute beast went straight to Legendary with over eighty consecutive wins?"
"Brother above, getting to Legendary with over eighty consecutive wins isn't even the scariest part. The key is that every single match on his record was an MVP, and after he climbed from Bronze to King, every damn rating was a top-tier badge!"
"Holy mother of horses! If there weren't complete livestream replays, I'd think this god had hired actors!"
"Damn it, can someone tell me where Exalted Emperor came from? The gaming trending chart has been full of news about him for the past three days!"
"Exalted Emperor crushed the Three Monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain and Zongshi, the popular streamer known as the Jungle Overlord. Now he's crushed Nuanyang, the former strongest Overlord, and we still haven't seen the limits of his gaming skills!"
"A suspected King-Titled Player? I'd say Exalted Emperor is clearly one of those three mysterious Champion Emperor players!"
The Champion Emperor players had been mentioned again, and the news post's comment section immediately exploded!
An informative comment from a netizen named [King Over All Under Heaven] gained over ten thousand likes and was quickly pushed to the top of the comment section!
"As a ten-year veteran of Honor of Kings, I'm honored to have another top comment. Let me explain things to the newbies again."
"At the beginning of the game's operation, the super-god players at the top of the Honor of Kings gaming hierarchy established their own set of titles, independent of the official ones."
"The first-tier glory title, [Overlord], has seven spots in total."
"The second-tier glory title, [King Title], has five spots!"
"And above those two titles is the third-tier glory title, [Emperor], also known as [Champion Emperor], with three spots in total!"
"'Three Emperors, Five Kings, and Seven Overlords' is what the Honor of Kings expert community calls them collectively!"
Many Honor of Kings players felt as if a divine elixir had been poured over their heads.
The comment section grew livelier still.
"Holy shit! Brothers, I just had a bold guess. Exalted Emperor has 'Emperor' in his game name too. Could he really be a Champion Emperor? Champion Emperor players never show their faces, after all!"
"Without a doubt, Exalted Emperor's gaming skills have reached King Title level if he could reach 100 Stars with a 100% win rate and an all-MVP record, but he absolutely can't be a Champion Emperor player!"
"Why can't he be?"
"Exalted Emperor revealed on his livestream that he's eighteen! And the three Champion Emperor players have never changed in the ten years from Season 1 to the current Season 40! It's always been the same three people!"
"Ten years ago, in Season 1, Exalted Emperor was only eight. Do you think an elementary schooler could have claimed the highest glory title in the Honor of Kings community?"
"Oh, everyone, instead of guessing back and forth here, why don't we just ask Fly? As the current Supreme King Title Player, he must have had contact with the Champion Emperor players!"
The netizens soon reached a consensus and began summoning Jinan RW Xia's Fly.
Before long, Fly himself appeared in the comment section.
Jinan RW Xia Fly: Exalted Emperor is not a Champion Emperor player!
Jinan, RW Xia training base.
In the brightly lit training room, Xiaopang picked up a tender, glistening piece of braised pork with his chopsticks, bit into it, and pulled it away. His eyes lit up at once, and he flapped his arms. "Brother Niu, this braised pork is especially delicious. Damn, I can't stop myself from wanting to dance!"
"Then eat more." Fly chuckled twice, put down his phone, and said, "How can a jungler go without eating his fill? I ordered another ten portions of braised pork from . They'll be here soon!"
"Brother Niu really does spoil me!" Tears streamed uncontrollably from the corners of Xiaopang's mouth. "I really want to stay here and train with you forever instead of going back to Wolves!"
"Brother Niu can't afford to keep a Little Fat Pig like you."
A teasing voice came from the side. It belonged to a fair-skinned, chubby young man sitting in an extremely aggressive posture, wearing glasses and holding a phone.
Xiaopang's expression changed abruptly. He turned his head and said coldly, "I was just wondering, Yaodao, why aren't you staying at KSG like you should? What are you doing here at Brother Niu's, sticking your nose in?"
"Well, well, well, is Wolves' current strongest jungler, Little Fat Pig, angry?" Yaodao grinned and reached out to tease him. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. So you're allowed to come hang out with Brother Niu, but I'm not allowed to come see him and relieve my boredom?"
"I'm here for special training with Brother Niu to improve my gaming skills!" Xiaopang's face and neck turned red as he picked up a takeout container full of hot oil. "Yaodao, I'm warning you, if you call me Little Fat Pig again, I'll fight you!"
Yaodao raised both hands, the corners of his mouth curling up.
"Okay, Little Fat Pig."
"You-"
Xiaopang was so angry that his finger trembled.
Faced with Yaodao, the former bully of Wolves' training room, who was both mischievous and talkative, Xiaopang was utterly helpless.
Xiaopang put down the takeout container and complained pitifully to Fly, "Brother Niu, look! Yaodao's bullying me again!"
"All right, all right, Daozi." Fly clapped his hands to get their attention. "It wasn't easy for the three of us brothers to get together, so stop making fun of Xiaopang."
"Of course I have to give Brother Niu face." Yaodao rested his fist against his cheek and said with a wicked grin, "Xiaopang, I worked so hard helping you with special training today. Calling me Brother Dao wouldn't be too much, would it?"
"Special training?"
Xiaopang froze. He had spent the entire day in Fly's training room, testing his gaming skills against a King Title expert Fly had called over.
"That King Title pastry chef was you?"
Xiaopang's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
"Who else?" Yaodao narrowed his eyes. "Besides me, the current Farm Lane King, do you think there's anyone else who can keep a Little Fat Pig like you, who's riding a wave of success, in check?"
Xiaopang gritted his teeth, nearly driven mad with anger. "Stop calling me Little Fat Pig!"
"That's enough, Daozi." Fly smiled at Xiaopang. "I do know quite a few King-Titled Players, but none of them had time. Only Yaodao was willing to set aside his team's practice matches and travel all this way to help you."
"Hey, hey, hey, Brother Niu."
Yaodao hurriedly explained, "I came to RW Xia to hang out because you invited me. I had no intention of helping Little Fat Pig."
"I understand."
Fly gave him a meaningful look.
"By the way, Brother Niu, why are you so sure Exalted Emperor isn't a Champion Emperor player?" Yaodao hurriedly changed the subject and waved his phone. "Have you met a Champion Emperor player in real life?"
"Champion Emperor players never show their faces, so naturally I haven't met them." Fly smiled. "But I have challenged two of them, so I'm very familiar with their playstyles."
"Doesn't that leave one more?" Yaodao frowned. "For all we know, Exalted Emperor is the Champion Emperor player you haven't challenged."
Fly shook his head. "No."
Yaodao said thoughtfully, "Is the possibility very small?"
Fly said with absolute certainty, "It's not very small. There's no possibility at all!"
That piqued Yaodao's curiosity. "Why?"
Fly's eyes flickered.
"Because that Champion Emperor player is a woman!"
"A woman?"