The arena is an officially provided friendly platform for sparring, and at the beginning of each season, the rankings are reset once, restarting the competition for the leaderboard.
This season has been underway for some time now, and the total points of some top-ranked players are already remarkably high.
At first glance from the list, it’s apparent that they are mostly professional experts from major guilds.
Compared to the overall rankings of those guilds, it’s evidently the individual performance in the arena that truly showcases their own abilities. It serves as one of the indicators of their professional worth.
Jiang Shi noticed that the ID of Yu Weize was positioned outside the top 20.
Undoubtedly, this didn’t quite match his capabilities. It seemed that during this period, Yu Weize had essentially been playing alongside others, neglecting the arena, gradually allowing others to surpass him.
Jiang Shi glanced briefly, then retracted his gaze, purchased an entry ticket from the NPC in front of the counter, and entered the separate preparation area.
After entering the waiting queue, he quickly got matched for the first battle.
At the same moment, What Pen Carries Fragrance swiftly entered the spectator area through the observation mode, adeptly aligning the camera of the live streaming booth towards the arena.
Following that, Serious Young Man also entered.
The first opponent Jiang Shi was matched against was an 84-level Berserker.
When this player saw that his opponent was a Light Elf, he was momentarily surprised but didn’t underestimate. He immediately started maneuvering swiftly.
Sometimes, the lower ranks tend to be more cautious due to insufficient confidence in their own abilities.
Mutual probing was always an important stage in a 1v1 situation.
However, Jiang Shi, having not played the game for five years and having a basic arena score approaching zero, glanced over and immediately assessed the opponent’s skill level that the system had matched him with.
Jiang Shi simply stood still.
It wasn’t until the opponent intended to initiate an attack up close that he calmly created the first runic field without any fuss.
And then, he simply evaded the opponent the entire time, denying any chance to approach, maintaining full health, and ending the match.
Total time taken: 3 minutes and 50 seconds.
Jiang Shi glanced at the time portal.
For him personally, it took a bit longer than expected.
He could only say that after not playing for so many years and suddenly returning to the arena, there was still a bit of unfamiliarity in the 1v1 scenario. Even though he had complete control over the opponent’s every move, the cooldown control was slightly imperfect.
However, the damage intensity of support professions was generally moderate, and after several updates in Genesis players’ equipment’s defensive attributes had significantly increased. So, from this perspective, the result of this debut match was acceptable.
It’s just that Jiang Shi didn’t open the live broadcast of What Pen Carries Fragrance, otherwise, after the match, there would have been an inundation of barrage comments:
[“Wow, finished in less than five minutes? This support is godlike!”]
[“The opponent was a Berserker, a BUG profession in the arena! Whenever I encounter a Berserker in solo queue, I want to give up on life.”]
[“The key isn’t the time taken, but the fact that he was at full health by the end!”]
[“He controlled the entire match to death… sigh, just thinking about it makes me collapse.”]
[“I was wrong, I shouldn’t have doubted whether a support could play in the arena. I felt so immersed.”]
[“Mainly because the opponent clearly didn’t know how to play? Doesn’t understand how to use Berserker’s skills, doesn’t comprehend crowd control, isn’t this a free win?”]
[“That dude at the front is amazing. Shouldn’t he join the arena and show off? Maybe he’ll run into us?”]
[“Mouth strong, a king indeed. Even in low-end matches, taking a Light Elf and securing a five-minute match?”]
Jiang Shi had already entered the next match.
This time, his opponent was a Spellblade, and it ended in 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
If there were some doubts in the first match, by now, things were undoubtedly much more stable.
Then came the third, fourth, fifth matches…
Jiang Shi’s primary goal in the arena was to get a feel for 1v1 battles, preparing for the Three Courts Hill appointment with Han Yuze. Therefore, he hadn’t selected any of the restrictive conditions for the series of matches and encountered a diverse range of opponents.
After swiftly finishing ten matches, the consecutive wins rapidly pushed him out of the lower ranks, and he began to match with players in the mid-tier ranks.
Some in the barrage comments were already getting excited: [“See, all those earlier matches were just child’s play. Things only get interesting once he crosses the 1000-point mark.”]
However, the journey of the Light Elf’s ascent in the arena continued smoothly without any suspense.
Once again, after a few minutes, there was a continuous winning streak. Watching the score approaching 2000 under the streak’s boost and entering the high-end games, all the audience members, from their initial shock and excitement, gradually became numb, devoid of any feelings.
In the mind, there were just a few repeated thoughts-
“Wow, another great win,”
“It seems impossible to lose,'”
“Looks like there’s no difference between mid-tier and low-tier games…”
At this point, everyone in the live streaming room realized that it wasn’t about whether one played as a support or a damage dealer; it boiled down to a stark difference in skill levels.
Almost every time the match started, the opponents’ expressions revealed their joy at matching with a support player. However, it wasn’t the easy match they imagined. By the end of each game, they often left with a sense of existential doubt.
1v1.
Firstly, one must be worthy of a Victory.
Throughout the entire gameplay, it seemed like every match saw Jiang Shi effortlessly toying with his opponents.
Let alone defeating him, the opponents couldn’t even touch him with their skills. It was a living testament to the phrase, “You’re within reach but beyond grasp.”
What Pen Carries Fragrance is live streaming this whole time, looking completely dumbfounded.
Before this, he had never imagined that a support role could shine so brightly in the arena?!
It wasn’t until countless times of spectating from the sidelines that What Pen Carries Fragrance remembered to check the popularity of the streaming room.
To his surprise, the sudden realization hit him, “Whoa, what’s happening?”
A small streamer whose popularity occasionally crossed a thousand, now witnessing a skyrocketing viewership, heading straight towards a hundred thousand.
Serious Young Man, who always occupied a spectator seat, replied, “Someone posted on the forum. Congratulations, it’s gone viral.”
What Pen Carries Fragrance was momentarily stunned, opened the official forum, and indeed saw the prominently featured, highly active post on the front page.
His eyes moistened, nearly overwhelmed with joy.
Brother Milk, you’re my hero!
Unaware of how much attention his every move garnered, Jiang Shi was solely focused on the point difference between him and Han Yuze.
Currently ranked around twentieth on the leaderboard with about 5600 points, despite his winning streak this afternoon poised to break into the high-end games above 2000 points, the gap with top-tier players was still considerable. Even in an ordinary high-end match, it was merely a warm-up for Jiang Shi. To refine his skills and operations, he might have to wait until reaching 4000 points.
Furthermore, if he aimed to duo with Yu Weize, considering the team-up permissions of every 1000 points, he needed to ensure a score of at least 5000.
But with Qixi Festival fast approaching, this last-minute effort made him feel like he might be running out of time.
Considering the pressing time constraint, Jiang Shi decided to slack off where he stood.
If it came down to it, he might casually raise his score as a pre-match warm-up.
As for the rest, he’d deal with it later.
With such an ‘adapt as you go’ attitude, Jiang Shi continued battling in the arena until nightfall.
While he kept gaining points, What Pen Carries Fragrance continued streaming.
As the discussion spread, more and more people entered the streaming room, igniting even livelier debates on the official forum.
Apart from the initial influential post, several new threads emerged.
From speculations about when PoisonedMilk might end the winning streak to technical analyses of gameplay patterns and debates on whether this playstyle could be considered supportive, everything found its place in the forum. Newcomers to the forum might even get the impression that ‘The official forum has been taken over by the toxic support.’
Unbeknownst to him, Jiang Shi became the hottest streamer of the era.
As his popularity continued to rise, this news eventually reached the ears of a certain slow-to-react guy.
[Green Fanatic: Master, Master, your wife is dominating the forum again! [Link]]
Jiang Shi? What’s he up to now?
With this curiosity in mind, Han Yuze clicked on the forum link sent by Green Fanatic. After reading the main post, he fell silent for a moment.
Then, he opened his friend list, found Serious Young Man, and sent a message.
[Yu Weize: Is your master grinding in the arena?]
[Serious Young Man: Yeah.]
[Yu Weize: Why did you suddenly decide to push for rankings?]
[Serious Young Man: I thought you knew.]
[Yu Weize: …Is it related to me?】
[Serious Young Man: Of course, isn’t this for the preparation of your ‘date‘ on QiXi? #Smile.jpg]
Han Yuze: “?”
He repeatedly read the last sentence several times, struggling hard to link the words “preparation” and “QiXi” together, finally understanding the meaning of this sentence.
After understanding, a longer-lasting silence followed.
Five years ago could be brushed aside, but this time, clearly mentioning QiXi, how could he still misunderstand it as a challenge?!
So, where did things go wrong this time…
At that moment, Jiang Shi finished the last round of the arena for the day.
Just returning from the preparation room to the arena lobby, the streamer, What Pen Carries Fragrance, who had turned off the live broadcast, tearfully exclaimed, “Brother, you’re on fire!”
Jiang Shi glanced at him, “I was on fire before.”
What Pen Carries Fragrance worshipped and screamed, “No, it’s different! This time, it’s even hotter! My stream room is on fire along with yours!”
Actually, even from the perspective of an onlooker, with a flawless operation of victories this entire afternoon, it was impossible not to get attention.
Playing the support role, almost consistently at full health, crushing opponents with a 100% win rate, going straight from zero points to over 2000 points.
Throughout the entire process, there was no transition between low, medium, and high-level matches. Even the last match before the end seemed completely like mindless domination in AI mode…
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there was no predecessor or successor for such an extreme level; if it weren’t for the live broadcast, it could even be suspected of cheating.
What Pen Carries Fragrance was excited, hands trembling, almost stuttering as he spoke, “S-So, when will there be another chance for a live stream? Please, let me quietly be a leg ornament!”
“Forget about being a leg ornament, but if you still want to stream…” Jiang Shi pondered for a moment and said, “Since QiXi is approaching, you can ask Han Yuze for his opinion.”
What Pen Carries Fragrance instantly understood, “I’ll go ask right away!”
Han Yuze was reflecting on the problems in his presentation when he received What Pen Carries Fragrance’s message inquiring about the possibility of a live stream: “…”
So now, except for him and Green Fanatic, everyone thinks he sought out a PoisonedMilk to challenge in a match?!
Han Yuze rubbed his temples. Just as he was about to refuse, a thought flashed through his mind as he typed the response.
With a slight lowering of his gaze, a hint of a smile curved his lips.
[Yu Weize: Sure, you’re welcome to come for the live stream~^_^~]