MMORPG: Martial Gamer

Chapter 1799 1799: The Storm Approaches, the Wind Fills the Building

Whether in the real world or the online realm, for wealthy people, matters that can be resolved with money are hardly considered issues.

With a month left until the World Professional League, Wang Yu and his team devoted all their energy to upgrading their equipment during this period.

For the others, it was relatively easy; they either wore ordinary gear or finished products, making it convenient to update and level up.

Wang Yu, however, faced more difficulties. His gear was composed of inferior ancient equipments, and after a month, his upgrades were very limited.

There was no other choice; upgrading Wang Yu's weapons and armor required using ancient equipments as sacrifices, which was indeed a harsh requirement.

As for that broken ring, it was even worse than the clothing and weapons. The latter had strict conditions, but at least one knew how to upgrade them. This ring, however, had no clues whatsoever.

With no other options, Wang Yu could only use Illusory Demon Spirit Stones to raise the level of his equipment a bit, ensuring he was prepared.

With just a week left until the World Professional League, the members of the Quan Zhen Sect finally received an official invitation from the Soaring Dragon Group.

Unlike last time, when the Quan Zhen Sect was entirely grassroots, this time they were participating as the champion team of the professional league, which naturally came with vastly different treatment. Not only was all transportation and accommodation covered by the organizing Soaring Dragon Group, but there was also dedicated reception service.

After all, <<Rebirth>> is currently the most popular online game in the world, and Soaring Dragon Game Studios has thus opened up the global online game market. For a financially robust company like Soaring Dragon, this expenditure was hardly significant.

This S-Level Professional League belongs to the world-class league, with three continental battle zones, nine servers, and a total of eighteen teams participating in this competition.

Each selected team was one of the two strongest teams from their respective servers.

In the Chinese server, besides the Quan Zhen Sect's ragtag team, there was also the runner-up from the last professional league, the Kyushu Team.

The Kyushu Team is a powerhouse among powerhouses. Since the development of eSports, they have won the world championship three times and have made it into the top four every time, making them one of the top eSports teams in the world. This time, they were participating in the S-Level World Professional League as the national server's runner-up for the first time.

However, the most excited ones were not the two qualifying teams, but the players from the national server.

While the eSports level in the national server has always been among the world's best, there were many domestic teams, but only the Kyushu Team reached world-class status, often struggling alone in the final stages.

This time, however, there was an additional team that was slightly stronger than the Kyushu Team, which naturally increased the chances of winning the championship compared to before.

Of course, where there are people, there are disputes, and where there are idols, there are overzealous fans.

Before the two teams had even set off, the national server's forum was already in an uproar, seemingly more lively than the game itself.

As a veteran team that has dominated the national server for many years, the Kyushu Team has a plethora of fans. Now that the Kyushu Team had exited as the runner-up, they were bound to feel quite aggrieved.

Everyone knows the antics of overzealous fans, and the fans of the Kyushu Team, having nowhere to vent their frustrations, directly aimed their ire at the champion team, the Ragtag Team.

They claimed that the grassroots team relied solely on luck and had no real skills deserving of the champion title, and they spread conspiracy theories about the team being garbage and involved in shady dealings. In short, they threw all their dirty water onto the Quan Zhen Sect.

Everyone believes what they want to believe; who wouldn't want to think their own idol is stronger? This sentiment is not hard to understand.

But feeling aggrieved is one thing; you can't just slander another team.

Although the Ragtag Team wasn't very famous and had few fans, they represented the broader grassroots class.

Who doesn't have a dream? As a typical example of grassroots motivation, many players identified with the Ragtag Team, and now that they were being slandered, it felt like a personal attack on them.

The actions of the Kyushu Team's fans attracted the attention of onlookers.

In an instant, the forum was flooded with derogatory posts, with more than ten thousand replies, and fans from both sides clashed fiercely. The data on the <<Rebirth>> general forum was almost crashing.

In the game, the members of the Quan Zhen Sect, the parties involved in this turmoil, were drinking and chatting in the tavern as if nothing were amiss.

"Oh dear! I heard the forum is about to explode, haha!" Frost Blade animatedly recounted the great battle on the forum.

"What a bunch of idle people", Wang Yu said, speechless. "With that time, why not do something productive?"

Wang Yu also saw the posts slandering the Quan Zhen Sect on the forum. To be honest, he felt very displeased seeing others twist the truth.

He had won the championship through his own skills; how could it be called a conspiracy? After decades of martial arts training, to have it reduced to mere luck by some keyboard Warrior, where could he go to argue the point?

Fortunately, Wang Yu had a high level of composure, and he decided to let it go. However, he never expected that this matter would stir up such a huge commotion on the forum.

The toxicity of today's internet keyboard Warriors is truly overwhelming.

"No smoke without fire", Fearless waved his hand, smiling. "Those trolls are just being used by others."

"Oh?" Wang Yu was puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hehe." Fearless grinned. "Did you think this matter just erupted spontaneously? Someone must be stirring the pot behind the scenes."

"Stirring trouble? For what purpose?" Wang Yu asked, confused.

"For fame and fortune", Fearless said with an air of understanding. "It's not about the buns, but about pride. For us, as champions, we don't think there's much worth fighting for, but for teams that have been overshadowed by us grassroots types, they might think differently."

"Are you saying that the Kyushu Team is the one instigating this?" Wang Yu was astonished. "No way, they don't seem like the kind of people who would target us."

"They're certainly not targeting us", Fearless explained. "In the past, every time there was a champion, this time it's the runner-up. This guy naturally has to give his fans an explanation. Just wait, before long, the Kyushu Team will come out to clarify."

"Clarify? What does that mean?" Wang Yu was once again bewildered; he never imagined there would be so many layers to playing a game.

Fearless chuckled. "First stir up a war, then say a word to quell it—both fame and fortune gained."

"Uh..."

Although Wang Yu still didn't fully grasp Fearless's words, he seemed to understand a bit.

"So what should we do?" Wang Yu asked again.

"We only need to watch", Fearless said. "This is also an opportunity for us to raise our visibility."

"What use is visibility?" Wang Yu said dismissively.

"You don't understand", Fearless sighed. "In our line of work, popularity is very important. Without it, no matter how strong you are, you're just a gaming expert. Your commercial value can't compare to those who sell their looks."