If the mystery rider during the previous month's practice match was the same person as the global ranked number one player from District 79, AliveAfter500Years, that meant that...
"They faced off against each other right from the start!"
To go up against the Big Five e-sports clubs, not only was courage needed but also the strength to back it up. All these years in Yanzhou, there had been people who had challenged the top and had threatened the positions of the Big Five, but ultimately, the Big Five still held firm. Now there was a competitor who possessed the strength and courage, or rather, an unknown person that had the backing of Silver Wing who had declared war on the Big Five early on!
A lot of people guessed as much.
Whether reality was the same as the guesses of others, today was no ordinary day at District 79. There was a flurry of activity, and many players watched as the figure riding the heavy-duty motorbike swept through the streets, accumulating points like a furious roar of thunder.
"He is coming back again!"
"That point-sweeping machine is back to kill once again!"
"That method of sweeping is just way too berserk!"
"First time seeing for myself the point-sweeping prowess of the globally ranked first position, mad respect! Coming online was totally worth it!"
When many of the players in District 79 heard the sound of concentrated gunfire, they knew that this big god had once again returned from District 78. He appeared riding Yanzhou's third street version T-Rex, and his point sweeping was even more intense!
Chief editor of Prairie Fire, Qian Cheng, was regretting. He had just transferred a number of people away from District 79. Initially, he had thought that the target would not return back to District 79 anytime soon, so he'd only left a few people to keep watch and instead sent a larger group over to District 78. However, in a flash, there was the sound of activity at District 79, and he hurriedly transferred manpower over there. But it was still a mistake after all, and the amount he could photograph was limited.
Reporters in District 79 managed to get a few photos, but as they did not have ample preparations, they were not as vividly detailed as the video that the host Strong Bubbles had managed to snap.
The staff at the studio of Strong Bubbles's live broadcast hurriedly edited a video of that point in time, making a few segments of the video in slow motion and analyzing it before releasing it in the afternoon.
"I was in a kneeling position as I watched him disappear into the distance. That was too impressive!" The host's, Strong Bubbles's, exclamation was in no way exaggerated. Even now, as he recalled that scene, his thoughts were surging. He might not have been a game enthusiast, but as a spectator, he'd felt his blood racing for the first time.
Players that had received the news went to search for the video from Strong Bubbles's webcast, especially those that were from elsewhere and had only seen various news from other media that were rushing to get the news of what had happened in District 79. However, the material in those reports were no good. Some only had photographs, while others had videos where only the roaring sound of the machine and gunfire could be heard, as the image was too blurry. When they saw the information that Strong Bubbles's webcast released, they rushed over to watch. Many players who were playing the game temporarily went offline to watch the video and see for themselves what the media described as "Downright masterful!"
As the video had been edited, at crucial parts, the video was put in slow motion, letting everyone have a clearer understanding of what had happened during that brief moment.
"How frightening! Is this b*stard even human?!"
"If I did not watch this video, no matter how many people said that they saw him personally, I still wouldn't believe them."
"If it was not in slow motion, you totally wouldn't be able to see his hand movements, and you wouldn't actually see him switching guns. The way he switches is too fast!"
"Switching three times? He can actually switch his gun three times at that moment? And every switch has a purpose. Just take a look at his marksmanship and you can tell how impressive his control is!"
"I was watching his actions in slow motion as he loaded the gun with one hand, too cool! It's a pity a monster was obstructing and the gun cannot be fully seen. Does anyone know what model of shotgun he uses? I once picked up a similar model but couldn't use it and chucked it somewhere. I'm trying to remember where I left it at."
"I picked up a similar one, but it was a different model. Old Era guns are more or less the same. This sort that is strenuous to use, I threw it away, but I have changed my opinion now!"
"So this is the rumored Big God that is number one on the global rankings, AliveAfter500Years?"
"It's definitely him. Watch the leaderboards when it refreshes, his points always have a steep jump. Every time it refreshes, I feel shaken. On the first day, I thought his points were already ridiculous, but never did I expect that it would get even more ridiculous later on!"
"This is the strength of the global number one! Where are those that were making a ruckus about hacking?! Where are those that have studios and teams using hidden methods to help them rise up the rankings?! If you have the guts, repeat what you guys said!"
"Just watching the way he operates, is there even anyone who can do the same? The way he thoroughly sweeps up points, there is no equal, right? I dare to say, as long as he logs on to sweep points, he will always be the champion on the leaderboards! If some day he gets dislodged from his position, it will be because he no longer plays."
On the website, everyone who saw that video could not remain calm. Even those e-sports club members that were resting were dumbfounded.
How could a studio produce such a person. This was completely his own prowess, based on rigid killing!
Viewers watching the webcast of Strong Bubbles kept increasing and increasing. The number of clicks in half an hour increased from six figures to eight figures, and it was about to hit nine figures soon. And this was all within 30 minutes!
"Viral!" someone in the studio excitedly said.
Another staff told the host who had just disconnected, "Bubbles, you made the right choice! Using this game to do a webcast indeed has much greater prospects than before! Look, just a few days of playing and we got our chance!"
"An advertising company wants to collaborate with us... Oh, and a media firm wants to buy our information... Money, money! This time we are going to be rich!"
"Wait a minute! Do not reply to those first, business has arrived! Rising Dragon's chief editor has left us a private message!"
"Rising Dragon? The world's greatest online gaming community?"
"Yes, that's them. The message is verified; it's authentic. They wish to purchase the exclusive usage rights for the original video, and the price they offered... is very high..." The Bubbles's broadcast studio staffer's voice trembled as he saw the quoted price. If he had the rights to decide, he would have long agreed to it.
Ultimately, Rising Dragon had offered a price that nobody in Bubbles's broadcast studio could say no to, and they bought the exclusive usage rights for that video. Hence, other than Bubbles's broadcast studio, in the rest of the world, only Rising Dragon could use that video footage.
Therefore, on the second day, in Rising Dragon's news section, hanging on the headlines was the portion of the video at the intersection, where the bike did a 360 swerve turn as the rider switched guns and fired with rapid precision in a killing frenzy. And it was probably the best news of the week!
What followed this short video were the frantic shrieks of players who saw the news. They were unable to do anything but kneel down on the spot!
People who did stunts were excited and continuously tried to copy that 360 spin. There were even some that saw this as a business opportunity and started their own training classes to specifically teach people who were interested how to do so, but all these were done in game. Trying it out of the game could result in the loss of life. Even if there were people willing to try, professional stuntmen did not dare to teach.
Players who were fans of shooting games were also worked up and gave rise to a fad where players would have contests to see who could kill the most targets within three gun switches.
Gun enthusiasts also saw a rise in interest and gave players an analysis on how that gun model could be loaded with one hand and how to effectively use every type of gun.
But whether they were stuntmen, professional shooters, or gun enthusiasts, nobody was able to do all three at once. They either crashed the bike or broke their fingers when switching guns, and forget about shooting accurately. The more they understood the actions and the difficulty of it, the more they felt that person was not mortal.
All the voices of doubt gradually died down with the emergence of the video and analyses from all sorts of industry experts.
On the global leaderboard of "Battle of the Century," AliveAfter500Years's total experience points had increased by a huge chunk within half a day. The global number two had actually closed down the gap previously, but when it was refreshed, the gap had widened again. When it refreshed once more, number two was already left in the dust.
In Mazhou, when Ma Xier, the world-renowned gold medalist shooting superstar, saw the video, he was totally at a loss.
In an actual shooting competition, Ma Xier was confident he could win, but in the game, he no longer believed so. Forget about shooting, just that short period where the rider had swerved a complete round on his bike, switched out his guns, and fired accurately, that was just perfect. Every single movement was just on point. Even after he watched the video for an hour in slow motion, he could not find a single fault.
That sort of self confidence and gun sense could not have been produced by a studio. That was true strength, a powerhouse!
Regarding a powerhouse, Ma Xier had respect for him. The depressing feeling he got from being trampled on dissipated somewhat. However, he would not give up on climbing up the leaderboards.
District 79 was bustling again. There were people from Yanzhou as well as from other continents had used all sorts of methods to get to the district.
And when many people wished to catch a glimpse of that god up close and reporters from the media had already camped at the best spots for taking photos and videos, they once again drew a blank.
"West side, any movement?"
"Nope, what about you guys at the north side?"
"Nothing here."
"All clear to the east."
"Nothing in the south other than a few others from the industry looking to steal the news."
On that day, in the aftermath of that sweeping session, District 79 once more fell into a strange lull. Although there were still other players hunting monsters, compared to the roaring thunder of that day, it was considered peaceful, but hidden in the shadows of that peaceful quiet were countless frantic reporters and webcast hosts.
For two days in a row, it had been the same! Nobody even caught a glimpse of him! On the contrary, there were a number of players courting disaster by trying some gimmicky imitations of riding and gun switching. Not only did they waste people's time, they were killed and became examples for any other pretentious wannabes. Up to three or four could be photographed daily.
These were just treated as jokes and did not have much impact. This was not what the entertainment reporters were looking for!
Taking a look at the leaderboard, first place was still ahead by a wide margin. It was just that his score had not changed in two days.
Had he disappeared from the game?!
After going crazy for a day, he had not appeared online for two straight days. What was playing at?!
In Prairie Fire's chief editor's office, after receiving reports from his subordinates, he did not let them withdraw from District 79. This time they had to watch till the death!
Qian Cheng even mobilized his subordinates. "Bring out the paparazzi in you! Be more patient than a sniper and continue lying in wait! According to my professional sense of smell, there will be big news soon!"