Besides the all-out, five-round format, there is also a best-of-five format.
In other words, both sides have a list of players, and each player will play one game. All ten players on both sides will have a chance to play, and the final result is best of five games.
This style of play lacks excitement and demands a high average skill level from all team members. JION didn't propose this strategy because he feared that even if he won, three of his teammates would fail, resulting in a loss. Therefore, he believed that by placing himself last, he could still turn the tide in the end, which is why he chose the P system. However, he now realizes that the opposing team has placed their strongest player, ICE, first, clearly intending to take on all five of them!
"What do we do? What should we do now?" JION was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Meanwhile, RAIN, the second-to-last player from South Korea, had also lost a match, similarly "stolen" by Chen Xu. Against Chen Xu's Tai Chi-like tactics, RAIN's micro-management skills had absolutely no advantage; the gap was too large!
Rain lost the second round quickly, but this time Chen Xu didn't manage to kick him in the groin.
Perhaps having prepared in advance, RAI deliberately chose a very high cliff when selecting the arena. This type of map also has the characteristic that if you knock your opponent off the edge of the arena, they will fall off the cliff and be judged as the loser.
Rain wondered if he could push Chen Xu off the cliff, but he was soon disappointed because he couldn't even touch the hem of Chen Xu's clothes. Finally, fearing that he would also be "stolen like a monkey," he simply jumped off the cliff himself, directly admitting defeat.
Only JION is left!
Chapter 161 The Horn of Counterattack
Rain's suicide-style surrender shattered the morale of the Korean team, sending it plummeting to rock bottom. JION, sitting at his computer, slapped Rain hard across the face, unleashing a torrent of angry curses. But seeing the almost numb expressions on Rain's and the surrounding teammates' faces, JION knew that his team had already lost the match.
That damn ICE always ends the fight with a groin strike, it's an absolute insult!
With only one match left, Jio felt he couldn't go on; his hands were trembling uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, the chat room in the game lobby had exploded with excitement. Excited Chinese players had flooded the page with praise, and countless others were shouting, "ICE, take me on as your apprentice!"
Even the South Korean players who rushed over after hearing the news mostly left in a dejected manner. They were afraid that their hearts wouldn't be able to withstand the shock if they stayed any longer.
At this moment, ICE was typing "!" rapidly in the battle chat box, and several pages of duel invitations were flooding in, but JION no longer had the confidence to click the "OK" button.
Putting aside the difference in strength, just based on his current state, it's safe to say that he has absolutely no chance of winning.
Rather than going up there and getting brutally beaten to death, it's better to just admit defeat and say something nice. That way, you won't be as humiliated as being beaten 0-5.
JION replied, "Your side is indeed highly skilled, but it seems that only ICE is a master. Could you show us the level of the others?"
This was a way for him to save face. Chen Xu chuckled and replied, "Of course you can. If you defeat me, the weakest one, you'll naturally be able to compete with the experts behind me. Stop dawdling and make your move."
JION almost choked on his own words. He was the weakest? What a joke!
However, JION could not refute Chen Xu's statement, because that was the rule. So JION replied, "We are humbled by ICE's strength. I know I am no match for you, so I concede defeat in this battle."
When this sentence was translated into Chinese, the chat room erupted in cheers!
The once arrogant Koreans were finally beaten so badly they had no chance to fight back and reluctantly admitted defeat!
But then JION added, "But I just think I'm not as good as you, ICE. Your skill level should be the best in the world. But your teammates seem to be much worse than you. I suggest we have another match, with each side fielding five players. Each player can only fight one opponent, so it's a best-of-three format. That way, if we still lose, we'll be completely convinced."
These words immediately sparked an uproar among Chinese players, who flooded the chat with angry comments condemning the Koreans as utterly shameless. They were clearly losing, yet they refused to admit defeat, adopting a victorious attitude that was utterly shameless!
Seeing him speak like that, Baji's fiery temper flared up, and he shouted in the conference room, "Say yes to them! ICE! Say yes to them! I'll teach them a lesson!"
Watching Baji shouting and yelling in front of the camera, Chen Xu calmly replied, "Baji, have you forgotten your promise from yesterday?"
Upon hearing this, Baji immediately deflated and remained silent.
Yesterday, the group made a promise that no matter what happens today, Chen Xu will be in charge of all decisions. No one may object.
Although Baji had a fiery temper, he was still a man of principle and kept his promises.
Chen Xu typed to JION on the keyboard, "So that means you're admitting defeat now?"
JION replied, "Yes, we concede, but we hope to have another match."
"What's the point of even having a match!" Chen Xu retorted. "A loss is a loss. There are no excuses. In the World Cup final, if a team loses, can they tell the organizing committee that this match doesn't count and we should have another one? Isn't that annoying?"
Upon hearing this, everyone on the channel burst into laughter. If this were in real life, many people would probably have whistled and cheered.
JION was furious and said, "You guys are so insincere! We don't accept the result of this match! You won entirely because of one person; the others are far inferior to us!"
"Then why don't you suggest to the World Cup organizing committee that all FIFA World Player of the Year winners be barred from participating in the World Cup from now on?" Chen Xu replied with a sneer, "That's utterly ridiculous. Losing is losing, why make up so many excuses? If that's really the case, then we might as well find a bunch of kindergarten kids to fight you. If you win, you can say that Taekwondo is the best martial art in the world. Bah!"
"A loss is a loss. You lost not because of me, but because of yourselves! Even without me, An Yi, Xiao Fen, and Bajiquan would never have been able to beat your so-called Taekwondo. Anyone with eyes can see how strong Taekwondo really is. You're afraid to challenge our Chinese martial arts in real life, so you think you can take advantage of us in the game? Bah!"
"You failed today and you're not convinced? Don't worry, one day we'll make you admit defeat. There's a Chinese saying: 'It's impolite not to reciprocate.' You've been swaggering around on our online platforms for a while now; it's time for our netizens to have some fun there. Starting tomorrow, I'm offering a million-yuan reward: whoever gets the highest score on the Korean gaming channel that day will receive 1,000 yuan, until the entire million-yuan reward is paid out!"
Before leaving, Chen Xu didn't forget to give his father a plug: "This event is exclusively sponsored by Chen's Pharmaceutical Group."
Upon hearing this, JION's face immediately turned ashen. Meanwhile, the Chinese players erupted in cheers.
What a wonderful thing it would be to be able to fight Koreans and even win a prize!
It is foreseeable that in the coming days, Chinese players will completely dominate the major gaming platforms in South Korea until they have no chance to compete with South Korean players.
As for whether South Korea has any experts?
What a joke! Does China have no masters? The squad leader, An Yi, and the others were even more excited and eager to try their skills, because Chen Xu had completely and freely offered up the martial arts techniques of the other major schools. With practice, they could definitely take their skills to the next level!
If you were to ask Chen Xu whether he felt the pinch of taking out a million at once, would you say?
Of course it hurts! A million! How long would it take an average college student to earn that?
However, this amount of money is of little concern to Chen Xu now. His game, "My Home, My House," brings him at least 100,000 yuan in income every month, and according to estimates, this figure will continue for quite some time... Of course, this is small change, absolutely small change. He also has a billion dollars in Swiss bank money transferred to him by X, but with the RMB appreciating and the USD depreciating, oh dear, he needs to find a way to deal with that money, otherwise, wouldn't he be losing a huge amount of wealth for nothing?
Chen Xu couldn't see the money in the Swiss bank. Such a large sum was just a number. So, he still felt a pang of regret spending a million. But when he thought about how this would severely damage the Koreans, Chen Xu felt the million was well spent. Hmm, it would also help advertise his father's pharmaceutical factory. If his father was happy, he might just reimburse him.
Chen Xu knows his father quite well. He's a bit of a cynical old man. One of his most vivid memories is from when he was a kid, when the Japanese anime "Dash! Yonkuro" was very popular. A lot of people were buying 4WD cars to play with, and Chen Xu wanted to buy one too. So his dad took him to a 4WD car specialty store, pointed to the fancy racing car models on the counter, and said, "Son, look how pretty these cars are!"
Chen Xu naturally said they were beautiful, then looked at his dad with starry eyes, hoping he would pull out his wallet. But then his dad said, "You think they're beautiful? These are all Japanese things. And Japanese anime. Do you like 'Sailor Moon' and 'Doraemon'?"
Xiao Chenxu nodded frantically!
So Chen Xu's father said, "Alright, since you like Japanese things so much, then you'll have to take action and bring them back yourself in the future!"
Chen Xu asked curiously, "How do you steal it?"
My dad said, "It's simple. In the future, we'll take guns, kill all the Japanese devils, and then we can take their things and make them our own. What do you say?"
Chen Xu was still young then, and he clapped his hands happily. Then, ignoring the fact that the waiter in the store was sweating profusely, Chen Xu's father said, "Then remember this: you must learn a lot of knowledge and culture now. When you grow up, you must kill all the Japanese devils, turn all the Japanese people's wealth into yours, and make all the beautiful Japanese women your servants. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
Then the father and son strode away triumphantly, leaving the waiter standing there dumbfounded...
Now, besides the Japanese, the Koreans have also started to make noise, and this trend has been intensifying in recent years... However, in Chen Xu's view, the Koreans are truly pathetic.
Chen Xu considered the Japanese as enemies, meaning that the Japanese people were qualified to be China's enemies. But the Koreans? A bunch of clowns, they didn't even qualify as enemies. To put it irresponsibly, if China really wanted to attack South Korea, it could collapse the entire country within three hours, and at most, its army could march directly into Seoul in less than a day.
Do these idiots have the right to be China's enemies?
However, when the clown gets too excited, he has to be swatted a few times, just like a fly that doesn't bite but is disgusting!
JION messaged Chen Xu privately several more times, almost pleading with him not to be so ruthless, but Chen Xu simply ignored her. What a joke! Why didn't you say this when you were swaggering around on Chinese gaming platforms?
Finally, in a fit of anger, JION said, "We Korean gamers are far more civilized than you Chinese gamers. Come on, let's see who's afraid of who?!"
As JION said, there are indeed many skilled gamers among South Korean players, and the proportion is indeed higher than that of China.
However, a large part of the reason for this is the sheer number of Chinese gamers. Moreover, in China, playing games is considered a waste of time, unlike in South Korea, where the gaming industry is practically a pillar industry, and the South Korean government encourages its development to generate tax revenue.
Different atmospheres lead to different game philosophies.
However, China's entertainment industry in this area is still developing. When they learned that the game "Martial Artist" was made by SMMH, the Chinese officials didn't know what they were thinking. Perhaps stimulated by the statement "hoping that more players will come together to explore the mysteries of the game," the officials also planned to first set up a domestic "Martial Artist" game competition, see the effect, and then gradually develop it into a professional league.
When Hao Aiguo told Chen Xu this, Chen Xu was incredibly surprised... Was he really that influential?
However, this isn't entirely without reason. After all, the development of the gaming industry can significantly boost domestic demand. Although these are esports games, not online games, if they could be organized into leagues like those in football or basketball and attract a large number of players, it would be a very good option. It could also stimulate the economy.
Given the current explosive popularity of "Martial Artist" online, this is not impossible.
Furthermore, the government also wants to take this opportunity to see if it can use official channels to further curb the temper of "Martial Arts Master" players and regulate the atmosphere of the game.
And rectifying the atmosphere is what Chen Xu needs to do next.
Chapter 162 of the main text
Chen Xu single-handedly defeated the arrogant Koreans and offered a million-dollar bounty to kill them all. This event quickly caused a huge uproar online, and Chen Xu was already a well-known internet celebrity... He was the creator of "Jin Yong's Heroes... Continue the Romance" and the currently popular web-based plug-in game "My Home, My House". This great victory of "Martial Arts Master" once again propelled Chen Xu to a new level, so reporters from portal websites such as Sohu and Sina immediately came to interview him.
The two topics that people are most concerned about are: first, where did Chen Xu, as a student, come from to give away one million RMB as a prize, and how did he manage to do so with such courage?
However, Chen Xu's father helped solve this problem. After calling back and scolding Chen Xu as a "spendthrift and a little bastard," Chen Xu's father doubled the reward amount... because Chen Xu's father is also playing the game "Martial Arts Master" and was overjoyed to learn that his son had defeated the Koreans.
The second question, naturally, concerns Chen Xu's abilities.
According to rumors, Chen Xu is proficient in several martial arts styles, ultimately overwhelming domestic masters to the point that they willingly submitted to him. Many reporters know that defeating a South Korean isn't actually that difficult. Even if Chen Xu's skill isn't exceptionally outstanding, if truly top-tier Chinese fighters were chosen, he might not necessarily lose… Do you think Chinese martial arts are like football? Is this fear of South Korea so extreme that you're hopeless?
But Chinese people are too proud, especially those who are more capable. This isn't necessarily a flaw, but it makes it difficult for them to gain the respect of others. Therefore, the fact that Chen Xu defeated his own country's top fighters and earned their complete respect is the biggest news!
On that day, Chen Xu fought against top fighters from his own country. He won over twenty consecutive matches, all with near-legendary feats of turning the tables on his opponents. This excited the reporters like they were on steroids... Where did Chen Xu learn all those fighting techniques?
Chen Xu had already prepared a response to this question. When asked by reporters, he said, "Actually, I was a beta tester."
This sentence completely stunned the reporters!
Beta tester?!
This game, "Martial Artist," actually has beta testers?
Like its developer SMMH, Martial Artist is shrouded in mystery. Dozens of large companies have offered rewards for finding SMMH or even for cracking the game... through unofficial channels, of course.
Ever since Vivendi suddenly announced the release of the game "Martial Artist" and made it completely free, discussions about it have never stopped. The game seems to have appeared out of thin air; aside from SMMH later stating that they developed it, there's been absolutely no trace of it.
As for internal testing, that's simply unheard of.
Now that Chen Xu claims to be a beta tester, how can this not be surprising?
The reporters were incredibly excited, like they'd been injected with adrenaline, and they wouldn't let go of this question... This was big news!
Chen Xu chuckled and said, "I was also very surprised at the time. One day, my computer was suddenly hacked, and then a line of text appeared on the notepad. 'I am SMMH. Would you like to participate in the testing of our game?' So I joined the closed beta. If you think about it, it was three months before the game's release, right after winter break."
Chen Xu was vague and evasive, refusing to comment on anything related to SMMH, only saying that these were matters he couldn't discuss and declining to answer any questions about SMMH. This drove the reporters crazy while also filling them with envy. Wow, to be directly received by the head of SMMH—what an honor!
Chen Xu's statement didn't raise any suspicion. After all, the previous game, "Jin Yong's Heroes... Reunited," was provided by SMMH. So it was quite reasonable for these students to be associated with SMMH again.
Unconsciously, anyone who can be associated with SMMH gains a higher status. This is probably what they mean by "when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs benefit."
As the only person publicly known to have had direct contact with SMMH, Chen Xu has essentially become the spokesperson for "The Martial Artist".
Chen Xu also announced that he would release the martial arts style move plugins he used free of charge, and claimed that these moves were just a basic template with a lot of room for improvement, and players could continue to study them.
As for the release of this template, Chen Xu mentioned a very strange method.