The simulated sandbox began to roll, randomly selecting the terrain for the finals. The scene quickly scrolled through desert, jungle, glacier, and finally stopped at ruins.
The circular competition area is an independent world of its own. Through the glass, you can see the blood-red sunset, the scorching sun, the wasteland mechanical city with steel and concrete interlaced, and the zombies slowly moving from the edge to the center.
Unlike natural maps, ruins maps also have external interference. The zombie swarm will gradually become stronger over time. After more than thirty minutes, even the strongest warriors will not be able to survive in the mouths of zombies that have evolved several times.
The red and blue players began to look for cover, waiting for the opportunity to start the first confrontation and looking for the best time to snatch the Water Spirit.
"The blue team's players seem a bit absent-minded," the commentator said, his mind wandering for a moment. He coughed half a minute into the match before jokingly saying, "Indeed, this time's Water Sprite image is incredibly adorable. I wonder how long the modeling staff worked on it..."
Modeling staff: “???”
They clearly remembered that the water elf they modeled this time was a little otter, how come it turned into a little mermaid!
In Utopia, due to objective conditions, there are very few players of "Cub Development Plan".
Moreover, even if one was playing the game, it would be hard to guess that the 'Water Spirit' before their eyes was none other than the King of the Muse Empire... Wen Xingze, who was teleported here by the Light Tower System and had the mermaid and dwarf filters superimposed directly due to the disorder in the filter system.
The 'Water Spirit' was still curled up in the beam of light.
The little guy is soft from skin to hair, and even his pearl-like scales, and his tail fin has a gauze-like texture.
The bubbles from bottom to top repeatedly brushed across the ends of the young mermaid's hair, making the silver light, like moonlight falling into the galaxy, form a startling arc.
The little mermaid looked sleepy. He yawned softly first, then rubbed his eyes and tentatively touched the transparent wall of the light column.
"Ding Dong."
The wall he touched lit up with pixelated fluorescence, like exploding fireworks. The mermaid was startled, and as she frantically flapped her tail and backed away, her eyes widened and she blew rapidly, "Gululu!"
...Many people stood up suddenly from the audience.
Damn, this is so cute!
If the competition area had not been completely closed after the finals began, and if I had not still had some last bit of rationality left, I really wanted to rush onto the stage right now, snatch the little mermaid out and take her home to raise.
Fortunately, the live broadcast system was turned off during the interstellar journey, otherwise, it is hard to imagine what the Muse parents would do.
Several cameras were working at the same time, and four giant light screens were floating above the stadium, showing the stadium from a God's perspective, the follow-up cameras of the red and blue players, and the current situation of the water elf.
Before they knew it, nearly half of the audience's attention was drawn to the water spirit, and they were distracted from discussing the game.
"This terrain is definitely not good for the Titans... Ah, the little guy is blowing bubbles again. Is he hungry?"
"Will virtual models get hungry too? ... The zombies have already evolved three times, and there's not much time left... I want to use the bottle to feed the little guy."
“I couldn’t take my eyes off it.”
"He seems to be observing his surroundings, trying to figure out what this thing that's trapped him is. The little guy is quite smart."
"I heard Muse has a 'Cub Raising Plan'. If the babies they raise are this cute, I can understand why this kind of kryptonite scam is so popular..."
“…”
Wen Xingze didn't understand what they were saying.
When he opened his eyes, he realized that he had come to another universe, and this was obviously not the Muse.
He was 'contained' in a cylinder filled with nutrient solution. The inside felt smooth, and the nutrient solution felt moist and warm. Wen Xingze took a tentative sip, and then another sip a few seconds later.
"belch."
The taste is a bit like the Four Seasons Milk Tea with 30% sugar and no ice.
The director, who had been observing the little mermaid, looked at the little creature and, at this moment, inserted the sponsor's advertisement: "Xingyu brand nutrient solution, your little cutie will definitely love the four-season milk tea flavor. Edible nutrient solution is the real nutrition!"
"..." Wen Xingze thought to himself that it seemed that Utopia's large-scale competition was also for making money, and then nodded in cooperation, and the fish tail swayed up and down.
Many people in the audience were fascinated by the little guy's every move. At this time, some audience members excitedly threw the terminal into the sky, and the terminal worth tens of thousands of star coins turned into fireworks and exploded.
Such "simple folk customs" should be a utopia.
Wen Xingze guessed that this was the finals of Utopia's annual "Kill Show." He activated both the mermaid and dwarf filters, the latter reverting him to a five or six-year-old appearance.
Being stared at by so many people without clothes made Wen Xingze feel a little... Actually it was okay, because he was not the kind of person who was easily shy... uh, fish.
It’s not that he can’t get out.
However, Wen Xingze had always wanted to come to Utopia to watch the finals of the Killing Show. He had never had the chance when he was playing games before. Now that he finally had the opportunity to watch the game up close, Wen Xingze decided to watch it for a while longer.
Some viewers specifically mentioned the names of the people who paid money to the "Water Elf", and soon a bag of potato chips and a bottle of milk fell from the sky.
Wen Xingze watched the game with relish while holding some potato chips.
As the finals became increasingly intense, the two players engaged in combat in the very center of the ruins. The clanging sounds of weapons colliding and the flying sparks were magnificent.
In addition to facing pressure from each other, most of the zombies have evolved to level five. If the water elf is not rescued within five minutes, the entire finals area will be razed to the ground by zombies that have evolved to the highest level.
Then, this will be the only competition in the 30 years of the Killing Show without a champion... The grumpy guys in the audience will probably curse.
Everyone's attention, which had long been scattered, finally returned a little.
I hope it won't hurt the little guy.
"Time is running out for the two contestants. The highest-level zombies are already level five... level six! Level six! There's only less than 10% of the survival space left in the entire arena!"
The commentator's tone also became tense.
The two finalists were barely able to fight back against hordes of level six zombies, not to mention that the ruins in the ruins map would gradually collapse.
It has now begun to collapse, with various steel bars and concrete falling down continuously.
The competition area suspended in the air was filled with smoke everywhere.
Both players suffered injuries to varying degrees.
The little mermaid in the beam of light seemed inexplicably relaxed, as if he had gradually adapted to the current situation. He was watching the fighting outside and the zombies approaching with ease and even a bit of curiosity... He had no idea how many viewers were worried about hurting him.
The little mermaid is even eating potato chips.
Audience: “…”
The two players fought closer and closer to the Water Spirit's location. With just over a minute remaining on the countdown, the Blue player finally gained the upper hand. The Titan player, severely injured and unconscious, was punched back into the resurrection pod by a Level 7 zombie, disqualifying him from the competition.
But the blue player hasn't won the game yet. He needs to rescue the Water Spirit.
In such a fierce battle, the blue player's hood was already riddled with holes and stained with blood. He leaned on his cane and walked towards Wen Xingze.
Through the glass, in the deep blue water, Wen Xingze quietly watched him walk up to him.
"We're getting out of here," the man said.
Wen Xingze blew out a string of bubbles of approval.
The man twitched the corner of his lip and continued, "Can you come out by yourself?"
Wen Xingze: “?”
Audience: “???”
The audience and Wen Xingze were both stunned.
Immediately, hundreds of millions of viewers across Utopia were furious. What kind of person was this? The little mermaid was right in front of him. Go hug him! Then steal him home and raise him! If he didn't do it, the audience would want to do it!
If you don’t need it, you can donate it to people in need!
Wen Xingze kept biting half a potato chip. After a moment, he slowly chewed and swallowed the potato chip: "...I——"
I don't know what Wen Xingze did to offend the other party again. The contestant looked at his potato chips, frowned, and suddenly started to criticize him sarcastically:
"I eat potato chips every day. I eat whatever snacks anyone buys me. I don't worry about them poisoning me."
The tone is very motherly.
Wen Xingze: "...I——"
Wen Xingze was speechless and ate another piece with a feeling of grievance.
"I'm leaving. I won't care about you if you dawdle any longer." The man knocked on the glass impatiently.
The man was completely covered in a hooded robe, and Wen Xingze could only vaguely see a pair of lazy honey-colored eyes.
He looks very much like someone Wen Xingze knows.
They look alike, and their personality... is also quite like that of the Orcs.
Orcs actually have different personalities depending on their race. Herbivorous orcs are generally warm and innocent, while carnivorous orcs are withdrawn, aggressive, possessive, and sharp-tongued. To Wen Xingze, they are very much like your mother forcing you to wear long johns in the fall.
Wen Xingze once lived in the desert with the polar wolf orcs. During that time, he would be scolded for almost everything he did. He would be scolded for eating without permission, for staying up late, and for going out without goggles, he would be yelled at angrily by the entire orc community...
She would curse him madly during the day, but at night she would turn back into her furry silver wolf form, lie down around him angrily, and help him block the cool wind from the desert mixed with sand and gravel.
But the contestant before him had no earrings. Orcs would never take them off until their death.
Wen Xingze: "I'll be right out, burp."
"...Stop eating your fucking potato chips!" the man yelled at him.
The audience was already in disarray. It was hard to imagine this was happening in the final minutes of the Killing Show finals; it felt like some "Happy Family" sitcom. The two players' dialogue was so expertly executed, it didn't sound like a competitor and an NPC meeting each other for the first time on the field. Was this programmed? When did Killing Show achieve this level of skill?
Then, everything changed in an instant.
As the ruins collapsed, a huge rock fell from the sky. The blue player didn't even look at it, but raised his hand and used a skill to shatter the rock.
However, what no one expected was that it was a special prop stone cursed by a level 7 zombie.
Starting with the blue player's staff, everything within a ten-meter radius was frozen in the blink of an eye. Before being completely frozen, the player's last reaction was to half-kneel in the direction of the mermaid and reach out.
An unreserved, instinctive protective posture.
"Bang--"
The ice was smashed to pieces by the zombies that followed.
The blue team player was also sent back to the resurrection cabin and lost the qualification to compete!
If he hadn't thought about protecting the little mermaid in the end, but had saved himself first, he might not have been disqualified directly. Of course, because of this, the icy curse didn't spread to the direction of the light column.
"...The blue team's players have also been disqualified. There will be no champion in this finals." The commentator was also shocked by this unexpected turn of events, and it took him a long time to recover. "There are only thirty seconds left. The 'Water Spirit' that everyone is most concerned about is in a very dangerous situation. The zombies have all evolved to level seven, and the ruins are about to be completely destroyed!"
As a game that is popular all over the country, the game effects and atmosphere of Killing Show are extremely realistic, almost the same as reality.
The circular competition area, suspended in mid-air, was completely covered in collapsed debris. Hordes of hideous, level-7 zombies roamed the space.
The wind is howling.
Everyone's heart was in their throat, and they felt inexplicably anxious and worried, while also sighing.
“I didn’t expect there would be no champion this time.”
"What will happen if the water spirit isn't rescued? Modeling shouldn't die... but it feels so heartbreaking."
"It's just an NPC in the game. Its power is set very low. I suggest that the Killing Show officials launch a training game. Raising this little mermaid elf would be great."
"No, then wouldn't we be the same as those idiots from Muse?! Strong men don't play development games!"
The Water Spirit was, after all, just an NPC with no special abilities. Its sole purpose was to be saved. No matter how adorable or popular it seemed, this fact remained unchanged. If even the top two players in a show of expert slaughter couldn't withstand it, how could such a small NPC possibly survive?
The last ten seconds countdown.
The outcome was already decided and the game was about to end, but for some reason, no audience member stood up to pack up and prepare to leave.
It seemed as if something was forcing them to keep looking towards the competition area.
Ten, nine, eight, seven...
A wind swirled with blood and sand, sweeping across the entire space. The blood-red setting sun blazed fiercely in the sky, and the entire suspended platform trembled slightly. The pillar of light where the water spirits lived was buried beneath the dust and sand. Its essence was nothing more than a petri dish filled with nutrient solution, its broken wires exposed, and blue sparks crackled.
The tracking camera slowly zooms in.
Four, three, two...
Sudden.
Explosions rang out, and large areas of ruins and scorched earth were raised by the sound of artillery fire. The whole scene looked like the end of the world.
The boy's thin figure appeared among the smoke.
Like a knight in an ancient ritual, he knelt on one knee, leaned forward, and backhanded his sword. The young man's knuckles twisted slightly, and a pure black dagger suddenly appeared in his palm. In that instant, time stretched infinitely, reflected in everyone's retina. His movements were slow yet extremely sharp, like a black blade tempered by bloodlust, slashing diagonally across the neck of the only Level 8 zombie—
boom!
Flames shot up into the sky.
It was a scene that was enough to make one's adrenaline surge to the extreme, and every cell in the body trembled. The fierce confrontation that night was not even as shocking as this scene.
The young man's long hair was tied back with seaweed, his skin was so pale it was almost transparent, and his pale golden eyes were distant yet noble, like a jade statue in a shrine, indifferent and without joy. Behind him lay the apocalyptic wasteland, where the sky was constantly collapsing, smoke billowing and sparks emanating.
“…”
For the second time today, the entire arena fell into complete silence.
Dead silence.
Even the host and commentator, who were good at livening up the atmosphere and describing the current situation, were suddenly speechless.
The backend was in complete chaos, with red lights flashing wildly indicating various bugs, and the programmers in charge of debugging were already exhausted.
At this moment, the countdown displayed above finally cleared completely, and the gentle reminder tone set by the game system sounded as expected:
"Tonight, we reach the peak.
"The Killing Show finals have officially concluded. Let us congratulate the winner—Wen Xingze from the Muse Empire—for becoming the champion of the 30th Killing Show.
"The champion will gain the right to challenge our king. The match will take place in one hour, at nine o'clock tonight, at the central arena. Please be sure to arrive on time!"
Wen Xingze: “…”
Audience: “…”
Audience: “??? Ahhhhhhhhhhh——”
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