Seeing Li Yao stand up, AdorkableTong stopped him. “Big Bro, wait a minute.”
“What’s the matter?” Li Yao asked, puzzled.
“My sister-in-law just called me, you guys hold on for a second, I’ll be right back.”
Seeing Li Yao nod his head, Tong went offline happily.
“Right on time, I’m tired after clearing the stages. I’ll turn off my livestream for now, I’ll turn it back on when we resume. I hope everyone can understand. In the mean time, you guys can watch other teams clear stages.”
After Fengyi said so, she turned off her livestream and lay down by Li Yao’s side without caring much about her identity as a famous person.
“You will lose your image like that.”
Fengyi rolled her eyes. “What image do I still have when I’m with you?”
Li Yao awkwardly rubbed his nose, it was better to not carry on with the conversation. After all, the two had lived together for two years, they were too familiar with each other.
TV
“Summer will always be Summer, she has always been the independent type.” Tina laughed bitterly.
“Yeah, her livestream exploded.” KB was startled when he saw the popup messages in the chat box.
By this time, the TV station was already broadcasting scenes of other guilds and their progress. Tina’s mind was still immersed in the stage clearance of Li Yao’s squad. She was so anxious, it was as if a cat was scratching her heart.
It was boring when they watched other players attempt in clearing the stages.
“KB, let me ask you a question.” Tina scanned through the script given by the director.
“Go ahead.” KB felt relieved, he hoped that Li Yao’s squad would not resume their progress in clearing the stage.
“Do you think that big guilds and clubs will go crazy to fight over Liao Yuan? Will his value skyrocket to the point where it would exceed what ace pros are getting?”
KB contemplated seriously for a moment. “After today, he will definitely be recruited by major clubs and guilds, but as for his value? With all due respect, let’s not talk about the treatment given to ace pros when ordinary pros are still receiving harsh treatment.”
In this world, there was a set of standards of measurement.
There were newcomers, veterans, experts, masters, reserved players, pros, top players and ace pros.
Although it was vaguely defined, every major guild and club had their own set of assessments.
“Now wonder you guys keep calling him the Great Master.” It finally dawned upon Tina.
KB smiled. “Great Masters are not necessarily more inferior to pros, it is just a general term used for experts. The pros, on the other hand, are athletes who have earned the right and are recognized by the law. When becoming a pro player, forget about the high commissions, even the title of a pro is way more superior than that of an athlete. Moreover, pro players can enjoy many benefits. Major guilds that want to hire pro players will have limited applications and will face lots of difficulties.”
“But didn’t you just say that his operation was brilliant in front of so many fans? Why isn’t he considered a pro player?”
KB shook his head. “It’s very simple. Liao Yuan’s method is only suitable for the wilderness. Combat teams prioritize on PK and stage records, Liao Yuan may seem dazzling today, but he did not display his talents in these areas. There’s no doubt that he has gained interest from some guilds, but I’m sure he wouldn’t join any of them. By the way, I do think StarFire master has the chance to become a pro player, and of course he has to start by being a reserved player first.”
“I get it now. The system is perfected and safeguarded so that the selection process is stricter. Today, Liao Yuan’s performance was definitely eye-catching, but his performance and impact are not enough, right?” Tina summarized.
“That is the logic. My words may offend Liao Yuan, but how many people’s videos have gone viral each day? How many people have TV stations helped to garner fame? The number of people and players that watch our show is just a small drop in the sea. Of course, his impact is limited.”
Tina smiled and did not carry on with the topic. As a qualified host, sometimes guest hosts were able to say things that they could not.
On the dome.
“These people are too much!” The silence in the team voice chat was suddenly broken by ShadowDancer’s indignant words. “After Summer Sis turned off her livestream, a bunch of people came out and said that she’s arrogant. What’s more outrageous is that someone is constantly stirring up rumors saying that our big boss will never get on the second platform, and that we are deliberately looking for an excuse to delay time to think of a way.”
“Why even bother with them, they are just a bunch of random people with itchy balls. They might as well level up while there is still time,” said Li Yao, unbothered.
Fengyi gave Li Yao a surprised look. “The old you would have been so triggered and stomp around in fury.”
“Big Boss, whether you like it or not, you’ve become a celebrity. They’re ruining your reputation, how are you not mad at them?” ShadowDancer shrieked as if the person being defamed was him.
“Celebrity.” Li Yao laughed. “You think too highly of me. What am I? I’m just a one-day celebrity! Besides, you have to understand one problem, this so-called livestream stage clearance contest is no better than an unofficial contest in the wilderness. There isn’t even a judge here, can you tell me why?”
ShadowDancer was just a teenager and did not understand a thing. “Why?” he asked quizzically.
“It’s because the influence is too limited. Let’s compare it with the livestream contest held in the Light faction, I figure there aren’t that many people watching our Dark faction livestream. Likewise for us, we don’t really care about what happens in the Light faction. Let’s talk about the Dark faction, although all players participate in the contest, there are almost no players that have actually passed the trial. In the end, the High Elves are livelier than the other races, and there aren’t many people in the High Elven community. So do you still think that I am a celebrity?”
ShadowDancer scratched his head. “What about the live broadcast and TV?”
Li Yao smiled. “Okay, first, let’s talk about the TV station. This is just a show on the TV channel, and it has limited impact. Secondly, most of the audience are adults that are mainly from the Neutral faction. As for Summer’s livestream, the viewers are here to see Summer, not me, I’m just a familiar face making a cameo. To be bothered by those making noise would not benefit us whatsoever. Besides, the stage we’re clearing now isn’t really valued by the contest, and I’m not interested in the combat teams nor the benefits offered by guilds.”
Fengyi smiled faintly. “I didn’t expect you to be so sensible now, and you’re right, your current fame is too feeble. Those people that know your name are just a small fraction of the population. Even though people are now calling you a master, they might not team up with you in the future because you’re a Hunter.”
“That is the logic behind it.” Li Yao looked up at the white clouds leisurely floating in the sky. “This time, I participated so I could embarrass Getaway Studios, and get some on-screen time on TV along the way.”
Deep down, he knew clearly that he did it for the Titan’s equipment. He did not really care much about his so-called fame. He predicted that after today, not many people will remember his name.
Now, there were over eight hundred million people that were in the game and ten billion players that have yet entered the game. Today was just a child’s play. At best, he had only gained some fame in the High Elven territory.
He had also gained enough prestige to establish a guild, club, combat team, participate in competitions in China, international competitions and the Olympics.
“I’m coming up!” Tong’s voice rang in the team chat. “Do you guys know what I did earlier?” She asked happily.
Li Yao pretended to be curious. “What did you do?”
“I got the participant ticket for the carnival contest! I can finally meet up with Big Bro and Sis in real life, and I get to sit with you guys!” Tong said triumphantly.
“What about me, what about me?” ShadowDancer was envious. “Now that I’m rich, I can buy a ticket.”
“Why would you want to go? Just stay home and watch TV.” Tong muttered. “Big Bro, on that day, we must make a name for ourselves, then we can establish a guild of our own.”
“We will, and we shall make a spot for our guild.” Li Yao promised.
In World of Ancient Gods, not everyone had the power to establish a guild, it required certain qualifications and prestige. The reason he used his StarFire identity to get a Platinum Medal was to acquire the ticket for the carnival, thus increasing his reputation.
If his performance in the carnival contest was more eye-catching, more points would be awarded. In real life, each person’s identity profile had a set of reputation points. Only individuals that had enough reputation points could create a guild in the game.
Normal players in World of Ancient Gods could only create a mercenary group of forty people. Guilds were tied to their real-life fame.
“Alright, let’s not talk about anything else, I’m going live soon.” Summer reminded them.
“You guys, get on the platform first and make room for me.” Li Yao took out a coil of rope, followed by an iron hooked claw, “ShadowDancer, watch this. This is called a hook rope, observe closely. Your goal is to play with this hook rope since you’re more flexible and skilled with this than Hunters.”
There was a saying in his previous life that Bandits that were not able to use hook ropes were not good bandits. With hook ropes, Bandits could climb trees and walls.
It then dawned upon the fans after Li Yao had made a hook rope.
Li Yao gradually wheeled in the hook claw. He slowly released the rope as he spun it.
It was like there was a spinning propeller on top of Li Yao’s head, and the propeller was getting longer and longer. The radius of the propeller gradually increased to several yards long.
When the hook rope got long enough, it was almost reaching the nearest pillar on the second platform. Li Yao jerked loose a segment of the rope.
The hook rope wrapped around the pillar several times with force, and it was then securely fastened to the edge of the pillar’s engravement.
“You can get on the dome now.” Li Yao tied another hook rope over the tip of the dome, then used the rope to quickly climb to the second platform. Next, he used the rope that was tied around his waist and tied it to the top of the dome on the second platform.
This way, the two platforms were linked by two ropes, still, Li Yao was not satisfied. He used another rope to link the two pillars from each platform, and three rope passages appeared between the two platforms.
“Big Bro, one rope passage should be enough. Why did you make three?” Tong asked.
Li Yao returned to the dome on the second platform. “We’re going to fight a Boss. The first Boss will be patrolling between the second and third platform. We have to kill the Boss.”
Then, Li Yao shared the Boss’s information to the squad.
Arcane Guardian
Rank: Level 11 low-level leader
Health: 75,000
Skills: Arcane Burst, Arcane Heavy Fist, Arcane Trample, Arcane Whirlwind, Arcane Dance, Arcane Explosion
Seeing the Boss’s data, everyone was dumbstruck. The total Health of the Boss when faced with a four-person squad was already 75,000. If it were a five-person squad, its Health would exceed 100,000.
Everyone was speechless. A Level 4 Boss usually had a little more than 10,000 Health.
75,000 Health for a Level 11 Boss, anyone would have given up at the sight of it. How were they going to fight this Boss when even a Level 10 Boss was able to instantly kill any player?
Thoughts flashed across the minds of all the fans and spectators, they thought that Liao Yuan and his squad could only go this far.
Tina was silent. “KB, care to explain?” She mumbled.
KB laughed bitterly, “What is there to explain? At their current stage now, it is impossible to defeat the Boss.”
“Before this, you said that Liao Yuan won’t be able to get on the platform, be careful or else your words will backfire again.” Tina added “That’s what the audience said.”
KB was helpless, but he could not get mad at the audience. The only thing he could do was to be patient. “Everything they did in the beginning was a success, but look at this Boss. Forget about Crossbows, not even a Ballista is able to knock down this Boss. If they can’t knock it down, what tactic do they do still have? There is only one word for them—death. Okay, let me take a step back. Liao Yuan is very powerful, but he can only control a Boss for around one to two minutes. But even if it’s ten minutes what can they do? A Level 5 player’s damage on the Boss is estimated to be around 2 or 3 damage points, and the Boss’s Health is 75,000.”
No one was able to refute that statement, this was an impossible task, Liao Yuan and his squad’s journey was going to end here. Most audience had given up watching, even those players from guilds that were watching Summer’s livestream had left. All of them thought that it was impossible to get through the Boss.
What was the use of exterminating the smaller mobs if the Boss could not be killed, it was akin to not completing the stage…