Chapter 12: Closed Beta Player?
The bright moon hung high, and snowflake-like volcanic ash fell from above, mingling with the half-melted snow on the ground.
The night in Blackmelt City was very quiet. At the rear side of Blackmelt City stood the Black Ring Fortress. Originally, only the Black Ring Fortress existed here, but as the surrounding population gradually gathered, it eventually reached the scale of a city.
Inside a room on the seventh floor of the Black Ring Fortress, flames blazed in the fireplace. Su Xiao, who had just finished dinner, was sitting cross-legged on a bench near the hearth. The bench was covered with the fur of an entire Polar Bear, a trophy seized during a battle with the Polar Ice Lord over a decade ago.
At this moment, Su Xiao was holding the personal terminal of "Deathmatch." He pressed his thumb against the center of the screen, as if unlocking it with a fingerprint. A honeycomb pattern appeared on the screen, followed by a string of text.
'Thanks to the special sponsorship of the Void Bana Dwarf Clan, thanks to the friendly sponsorship of Wind Sea Continent (Transcendent), thanks to...'
'This company will permanently support the use of users belonging to the following factions...'
Su Xiao scrolled down. Several small patterns appeared side by side. First was the imprint of a tree, followed by ф (blood red), (sky blue), £ (gray)...
These represented the marks of Reincarnation Paradise, Apocalypse Paradise, Death Paradise, Sanctuary Paradise, Holy Light Paradise, and Watchful Paradise. However, only the marks appeared, without any textual annotations.
'Please read the following game regulations...'
Su Xiao skimmed through them and then skipped ahead. The line below, 'The final interpretation rights of the above content belong to this company,' made it clear that these game regulations were essentially nonsense.
After refusing to sign the game regulations, Su Xiao successfully logged into the game. Through a preliminary inspection, he learned that the internal fairness of this game was quite good. As for external fairness, since this was just a company, it was likely impossible to achieve complete impartiality.
'Please design your monster...'
The initial template appeared: modeling a monster. The body size ranged from 2 to 5 meters, and the weight ranged from 120 kilograms to 2,700 kilograms. This involved factors such as muscle density and bone density.
After successful modeling, the monster would have four traits: Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Energy.
These four traits ranged from E to S, with S being the highest. However, there was one rule: each monster could only have one S-tier trait. For example, if Agility reached S, then Strength, Endurance, and Energy could only reach a maximum of A.
The monster's height and weight directly affected its four-dimensional attributes. Monsters with large bodies and heavy weights had stronger Strength and Endurance. After all, a massive body meant that Endurance involved the most factors, such as the duration of high-intensity combat, impact resistance, and load-bearing capacity.
What attribute the energy within the monster possessed was entirely random. Only after completing the cultivation could one determine what type of energy the monster had.
If it was a large body type plus life-attribute energy, then it was a jackpot—capable of both offense and defense, with extremely powerful recovery and regeneration abilities.
If it was a small-to-medium body type plus lightning-attribute energy, it was a downright arena killer.
With innate four-dimensional attributes, even if one designed the monster in an extreme way, only a single attribute could reach B, while the rest would all be E.
To strengthen the monster, one had to defeat opponents. However, there was one point: the direction in which the monster grew stronger was not something the player could control. It depended on the monster's initial traits.
From the game's rules, it wasn't actually difficult to get a monster's specific trait to S. This game focused more on arena battles, so there wouldn't be a situation where one side was level 999 while the other was only level 5.
No matter how powerful the monster was, if the player controlling it was weak, the likelihood of defeat remained high. A monster with S-tier traits could still lose to a monster with B-tier traits. There were no garbage monsters, only garbage players. After all, over there, it was a bloody, flesh-and-blood battle, not a comparison of two sets of data.
Su Xiao first set the traits. He designed the monster to be 2.37 meters tall. This size was sufficient—bigger meant clumsier. For weight, he set it at 150 kilograms. The overall form was humanoid, but in critical moments, it could run on all fours. This required setting up the corresponding body structure.
A long tail, with a tail blade at the tip, sharp like a spear point. However, Su Xiao set this long tail to be capable of splitting and detaching from the main body. This was a trump card.
The head was fully protected by a carapace, a pale white shell that, at first glance, looked like a mask. Apart from the eye sockets used for vision, there were only two rows of air holes at the mouth.
No claws or talons were needed; they would only hinder combat. The right arm bone was modified, with two segments of a long blade embedded inside. These two blade segments had no handles and were not connected to each other, so they wouldn't interfere with the monster's arm movement.
These two blade segments were normally stored inside the forearm and upper arm bones. The front half could be ejected from the palm for attacks.
Monsters were not allowed to wear external weapons, so Su Xiao used the monster's body to construct a long blade nearly two meters in length.
The front two-fifths of the blade were stored in the forearm and upper arm, while the rear three-fifths, including the handle structure, were formed by the detachment of the long tail. The three parts shared the same biological traits and energy, allowing them to instantly assemble into a long blade.
The modeling was complete. Su Xiao chose to submit.
Meanwhile, in some unknown world, 275 meters underground, inside a laboratory.
The place was full of technological flair. Several staff members were sitting in front of virtual screens, looking at 3D holographic projections in midair. These were the structures of various monsters.
"When is the next Deathmatch tournament?"
"Not sure. Are you going to that shop tonight? Last night, I almost couldn't hold out."
"You two, youth is truly wonderful."
Several staff members in white lab coats chatted and laughed. It was clear that this wasn't an underground force or an illegal organization. They were all office workers with formal employment.
A blue email arrived. A young male staff member opened it and found it was a monster's modeling design.
"2.37 meters, 150 kilograms. Such a small frame will get crushed as soon as it steps into the arena."
"That has nothing to do with you or me. The player designs, we cultivate. Don't forget, some small frames are also very strong. Heavenly Punishment, Li King, Eunice—which of these monsters isn't powerful?"
"Those are special cases. Heavenly Punishment and Li King are strong because of their players. Eunice has a stable structure. That 'Beauty,' no matter how many times I see it, I can't help but admire its designer. I heard it was also a woman..."
"Don't talk nonsense! This is player information."
The two who were chatting immediately stopped. A cup of hot coffee was placed on the rack between them. Seeing this, both knew something was wrong. Their boss had arrived.
"Another one of 'those people' is participating in the game."
An old man with a monocle spoke. His left eye was replaced by a mechanical one.
"A strong swordsman, huh. Reduce this monster by 30%. No, reduce the overall stats by 70%. As compensation, increase the monster's potential correction by about 75% to 77%. If his monster is on the verge of death in the first three deathmatches, immediately use gravity suppression to stop the match. Though that's unlikely to happen."
The old man with the mechanical eye smiled as he spoke.
"Boss, that's against the rules, isn't it? Reducing the player's initial stats..."
"For those people, if we don't reduce the monster's initial stats, ordinary players' monsters will be instantly killed. Imagine this: you paid a high price to buy a game pass, and in your very first match, you get instantly killed by a player of the same rank. What would you do? In reality, even a 70% reduction isn't very effective. At first, the company thought these special players were using external access devices or auxiliary devices to improve their control. Later, we found out that wasn't the case."
"Uh..."
Under the staff member's manipulation, the prototype of an embryo was gradually constructed. This monster was named Predator.
...
Su Xiao looked at the personal terminal in his hand. The countdown displayed showed that in 10 hours and 17 minutes, the monster he had designed would complete its cultivation. For now, it was still in its embryonic structure.
Inside an alternate space several dozen meters away from Su Xiao, the Goddess of Fortune was also holding a terminal. As a half-homebody enthusiast, she had already joined this game. The game company had proactively mailed her a game terminal. In layman's terms, the Goddess of Fortune was a "closed beta player."
Not only that, but her monster was designed by a Feather Clan member she had a good relationship with.
"Predator? Found it. It'll take 10 hours to complete cultivation? I'll wait for you."
The Goddess of Fortune smiled exceptionally happily because she suspected that she was no longer a match for Su Xiao in reality. But in the game, she was absolutely certain she could defeat him. Her monster was named Eunice. Although it was a monster, it was renowned for its beauty and elegance.
"Law Destroyer, even though I can't beat you in reality anymore, I refuse to believe I can't beat you in the game."
One sentence best described the current Goddess of Fortune: in reality, she was timid and submissive; in the game, she was going to strike with full force.
Just as the Goddess of Fortune was looking forward to it, Su Xiao put away his game terminal. His Devouring Core ability suddenly activated at full power, and his gaze locked onto the direction where the Goddess of Fortune was. In an instant, the smile on the Goddess of Fortune's face froze.
There was no need for a showdown in the game anymore. The Goddess of Fortune was about to engage in a real-life, face-to-face PK with Su Xiao.
Bang!
Su Xiao vanished from his spot. Shrouded in dark blue smoke, he directly pierced through space and instantly appeared near the Goddess of Fortune. Baha had already been locking onto the Goddess of Fortune's location.