The props in the hands of Serious Young Man from attracted attention at the scene.
However, attention led to collective puzzlement.
After all, this item had obviously never appeared at the competition venue before, neither in the Nianhua Cup nor the Century Cup.
“So, Serious Young Man from Seven Silver Coins holding those… is that a notebook?” The commentator asked somewhat uncertainly.
“It seems so,” replied Mimi with a smile. “This is a very common prop for us during the game. It’s indeed rare to see it at the competition venue. Looking at the situation, could it be that Seven Silver Coins intends to draw today’s game map?”
She used a joking tone, which made the commentator laugh along.
The atmosphere became momentarily cheerful.
But after a while, no one could laugh anymore.
Because they gradually realized that this Serious Young Man might actually be drawing a map!
“Well…” The commentator couldn’t find the right tone to describe their current feelings. “I can only say, Seven Silver Coins always manages to surprise us in every match.”
Of course, it could also be shocking.
He silently added the latter part of the sentence in his mind.
The competition proceeded vigorously.
Through the visuals, the action routes of the eight teams were clearly visible.
If at the beginning Seven Silver Coins had seamlessly integrated into the match, gradually, their different approach became more apparent.
Other teams: Rushing — Searching for BOSS coordinates — Encountering enemies — Engaging in combat — Winning side continues to search for the BOSS location — Trying not to get lost.
Seven Silver Coins: Rushing — Observing terrain — Changing levels — Observing terrain again — Changing to the next level.
Yes, from a god’s eye view, all the audience present could distinctly feel Seven Silver Coins’ detailed survey of the route.
From start to finish, they seemed not to participate in the competition but to evaluate the map.
Although it was known that Serious Young Man was drawing the map and it was assumed that this player indeed had the ability to handcraft a three-dimensional map, spending so much time on seemingly irrelevant matters in a professional competition primarily focused on scoring, was it really not a problem?
In truth, Jiang Shi didn’t have any specific evidence regarding whether it was an issue or not.
The decision to improve the map came after observing the progress of Serious Young Man’s hand-drawn map. At that moment, intuition told him, “Sharpen the knife before cutting wood.”
The main terrain survey tasks throughout this journey fell on Han Yuze’s shoulders. After all, from a certain perspective, his “little flies,” which were enough to trigger trypophobia1, perfectly matched this project2.
This made Jiang Shi quite idle along the way besides accompanying them, and perhaps due to the rapid progress in switching rock layers in this area, none of the guild’s people had even reached such a deep location, making the whole process somewhat excessively boring.
Suppressing the urge to yawn, he approached Serious Young Man for the umpteenth time and asked, “Disciple, how’s the progress?”
“It’s almost done,” said Serious Young Man, gesturing towards the completed page, continuing to sketch swiftly. “The information God Yu has been providing is very accurate. This level is almost finished; we just need to perfect the last two levels.”
If given enough time, Serious Young Man could accurately depict the ten-layer structure here. However, considering the primary goal of the competition, he focused on sketching the area near their randomly refreshed point, roughly about a quarter of the entire map.
Even so, it was still a colossal task.
Jiang Shi glanced at the current team score on the leaderboard and nodded, “No rush.”
The team scores on the leaderboard were only changing in small increments for now. Even if there was a BOSS kill, it was estimated to be at least 10 minutes away. After all, the teams participating today were all from decently strong old teams. The scenario where they could quietly conceal a BOSS like in the first stage would likely require the luck accumulated from saving the world in a previous life.
Whether anyone in Seven Silver Coins had saved the world was unknown, but it was evident that luck was on their side.
After completing the composition of the eighth level and just delving into the ninth level, they discovered the silhouette of the BOSS in the cave on the side of the main road.
Lava Lizard King Ruse.
The people from Seven Silver Coins stood still in front of the BOSS, showing no excessive smiles on their faces, almost expressionless.
“Are we going to fight?” Gentleman Fan casually played with the fan in his hand while asking, but from his actions, there was no intention of making a move.
“Not particularly eager to,” Jiang Shi glanced at the thick-skinned armor on the lizard’s body and remained quite indifferent.
Thinking about killing this lizard, it would probably take enough time for the other teams to kill three other BOSSes and leisurely arrive here.
Just thinking about it felt exhausting.
Jiang Shi simply found a rock nearby to sit on and reminded the two people who were working hard nearby, “Make progress quickly and hurry to the tenth floor.”
Han Yuze, restraining a smile, replied, “This terrain is simple; we’ll finish soon.”
On the official commentator’s platform, just after updating about the BOSS contention between the two teams to the northeast, when turning back, the commentator happened to witness the scene of Seven Silver Coins. Unable to help but chuckle, he said, “Seven Silver Coins’ luck, it’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad. However, the Lava Lizard King BOSS isn’t particularly friendly. But now, they seem to have taken the lead in discovering it. Looking at Seven Silver Coins, are they really not planning to make a move to snatch the kill?”
“Indeed, they seem completely uninterested in making a move,” Mimi said in amazement, witnessing for the first time such a picky approach towards a BOSS from a participating team. “So, are they planning to directly give up on the Lava Lizard King and continue to search for other BOSSes? Frankly, being ‘picky‘ in a major event like the Youth Cup isn’t a good sign. You know, BOSSes aren’t easy to find…”
She hadn’t finished her sentence when she abruptly stopped upon seeing the deep red eyes of the Seven Silver Coins group as they headed towards the tenth floor. She concluded, “Alright, judging by the current situation, they indeed have the qualification to be ‘picky.'”
Having interacted with Seven Silver Coins extensively in the first stage, the official commentator had already learned to control his speech.
Seeing his commentary partner caught off guard, he laughed and continued speaking, “We can only say that Seven Silver Coins’ team has always been favored by the heavens. This time, they encountered the Crypt Guardian, Clifford. Although not an easy character to deal with, compared to the Abyssal Lizard King, it’s simply adorable. Congratulations to Seven Silver Coins, they can finally… rest.”
The comentator barely held back his expletives, tears in his eyes, barely stopping the swearing that was about to escape.
Just now, he had been relieved that he hadn’t spoken carelessly, but in no time, he ended up blundering right there.
Previously, disregarding the Abyssal Lizard King because of its thick skin was one thing, but how could they turn a blind eye even to the Crypt Guardian?
This was still a competition, the crucial first round of the Eight Advancements and Four Initial Position Matches. Could Seven Silver Coins play a card according to common sense or not!?
Would they even consider the BOSS points?
It wasn’t surprising that the commentator couldn’t switch gears. When they discovered the Crypt Guardian’s position, even Gentleman Fan and Junk Collector almost skillfully displayed their abilities to rush forward.
But Jiang Shi swiftly intervened, “Hold on, let’s wait and strike later.”
Junk Collector paused but didn’t speak, raising his eyes with a questioning expression.
Meanwhile, Han Yuze, already adept at deploying a flying machine for surveys, multitasked to explain, “He means that since we’ve encountered both, let’s take down both BOSSes together.”
Gentleman Fan raised an eyebrow, finally grasping the meaning after this reminder, and chuckled, “Hmm, you two really understand each other when it comes to these sneaky tactics.”
“Firstly, it’s tactics, not sneakiness,” Han Yuze relayed the terrain data collected to Serious Young Man and looked at Gentleman Fan, correcting him word by word, “Secondly, even if it were something else, we’d still understand each other just as well.”
Seeing Han Yuze about to continue, Gentleman Fan waved his fan, nonchalantly nodding, “Yes, yes, understood, understood.”
The young man from Seven Silver Coins made the final stroke beside them, “The map for this area is all done.”
The others temporarily halted their discussion and gathered around.
Gentleman Fan had made sufficient estimations beforehand, but he was still taken aback, “Young board member, did you do this with a printer?”
Serious Young Man modestly smiled and used a pen to mark a few locations on the map, “If we’re leaving someone behind, these points should suffice.”
“Then it’s two people per level,” Jiang Shi didn’t waste words, quickly divided the tasks, clapping his hands, “After resting for so long, it’s time to get to work.”
Han Yuze sounded aggrieved, “I feel like I’ve been working all along.”
Jiang Shi patted his shoulder, knowing this person’s desire for rewards but tactfully diverted the conversation, “Well, let’s continue to strive.”
Han Yuze opened his mouth to respond but met Jiang Shi’s gaze that subtly discouraged any playacting. He chuckled, “Alright, leader.”
With Jiang Shi’s command, the Seven Silver Coins’ group members arrived at their designated positions according to the allocated layers, holding the floor maps torn from their notebooks.
Not engaging with two consecutive BOSSes had already sparked intense discussions among netizens.
And now, as they all dispersed once more, the barrage of comments in the live chatroom surged—
[“What’s the meaning of this? Are they even going to fight for the BOSSes?”]
[“Did anyone understand their conversation? I recognize every word, but put together, I can’t grasp a thing!”]
[“They’ve split again? They haven’t been together for so long!”]
[“Are they a newly formed team? Doubting that Seven Silver Coins understands cooperation in battles.”]
[“What difference does it make whether they cooperate or not? It’s a competition; winning is what matters. Why worry so much about the process?”]
[“They don’t want either of the two BOSSes. Do they think they’re running this competition? So picky.”]
[“Hey, haters, stop talking nonsense. The God Milk definitely has a plan of their own.”]
[“Haha, it’s hilarious. They’ve been hyped too much, thinking they’re the God Milk after just a few matches in Nianhua Cup?”]
[“I don’t understand why you’re all in a hurry. I’m actually looking forward to what sneaky moves Seven Silver Coins will pull off next, hehe.”]
[“That’s right, sneaky fans like us love their clever maneuvers, hehe. In the world of sneakiness, what’s the point of rules? Who said BOSSes must be attacked immediately upon encounter? Let’s wait and see; there must be another plan.”]
Some were expectant, while others scorned.
Watching the tension escalate between the fans, in the Seven Silver Coins’ main viewing room, through the camera lens, they saw distant figures drawing closer.
In the current phase of the competition, Seven Silver Coins finally encountered their initial opponents for this match.
It was uncertain if it was fate’s design, but it was precisely the old friends Han Yuze had jokingly mentioned earlier—the Nightwalkers Guild.
Note :
- Trypophobia is a term used to describe an aversion or fear of clusters of small holes or bumps. ↩︎
- It implies that the person’s attention to detail or the specific elements they introduced aligned effectively with the requirements or intricacies of the project at hand, even though these elements might cause discomfort or uneasiness for some individuals. ↩︎