"The 11th edition of the League Cup is about to begin!"

The cold night breeze whined outside the window, and although February approached and the warm spring was coming, it was also a matter of the future - even the advanced technology of the 22nd century could not change the winter brought about by the changing seasons. Pen~Fun~Pavilion www.biquge.info Although the basic conditions such as energy, cooling and heating have been completed in the house that Duan Qing rents, for some reason, Duan Qing's heart is still like a cold winter.

So he gave up tossing and turning in bed, got up and made a cup of hot coffee, and then browsed the latest news - the afternoon before yesterday, a co-worker who had worked for Duan Qing came to the door and gave him an old account from a long time ago. This made Duan Qing a big surprise. In order to celebrate, he went to the supermarket and swept around, preparing a lot of surplus food for his home. The coffee brewed now is one of them, of course, synthetic, the cheapest kind.

After the coldness in his heart dissipated a little, Duan Qing noticed the most eye-catching headline.

The new edition of the League Cup is about to start again. Although every year's League Cup, almost all of them release the news of signing up for the competition at this time, so this kind of similar event arrangement can no longer be called news. However, the game industry still pays a lot of attention to this news, and the number of attention on the forums of major platforms will even exceed that of the "Emerald Forest" incident a few days ago.

After so many years of hard work, the results of the alliance's efforts have finally appeared. This large-scale event, which they have spared no effort to organize, has gone from strength to strength to become a grand event in the virtual gaming industry. Whether it is focusing on the competition between masters, or focusing on the exchange between game skills, or even to deal with each other, meeting friends with martial arts, excavating talents, or simply joining in the fun, they will come to participate in this game feast, and then make this competition more lively. Of course, in the ten years since the League Cup was founded, many famous players and players have been born here, and all kinds of anecdotes and miscellaneous stories have also taken place in this event, which has become the idle capital of players after dinner.

What's more, this year's League Cup, after the first decade, seems to want to make some changes of its own.

"A more streamlined schedule! Fairer Grading Criteria! A more relaxed playing environment! What are the allies waiting for, come and sign up for the contest and show your true colors! ”

Yo, that's still blowing...... However, Duan Qing casually looked at the process of the 2135 alliance event that had entered the countdown, and found that there were indeed a lot of changes.

The new competition project has finally cut some "feelings", and the virtual game competition project, which is still in the previous generation of game technology, has been decisively discarded. Of course, this will cause opposition from some old players, but in the face of the general trend, these waves of opposition that have been continuous a few years ago have finally become powerless.

Two years ago, in 2133, a new generation of game architecture relying on the latest algorithm of the optical brain was released and officially tested. Taking that time as a node, some virtual games, which had been two generations behind, finally began to let go of glory and walked towards the end of life. After all, these games that have been around for seven or eight years are so old in design and architecture that even if they are kept for competition, they will always feel a little out of place compared to those new-age games.

A race that is in a real scene in the virtual world, but has some flat events that rely on graphics and operations, does not make people feel ...... Isn't it a violation of peace?

After all, it's not a one-level thing.

Of course, Duan Qing knows that the content of these virtual games now, on the surface, there are not many changes in the content, gunfight themes, martial arts themes, magic themes, and science fiction themes...... The content of the game will never exceed the imagination of human beings. But people like Duan Qing can also see that there have indeed been huge changes underneath these superficial contents, whether it is the design and logical operation methods inside the game, or the operation and reaction methods outside the game.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so stretched in the free world.

I think the other people will feel similar to me...... Duan Qing took a sip on the rim of the cup, turned off the content of the news, and then flipped through the list of friends, and unexpectedly found the name of Xue Ling Phantom Ice.

What a dedication...... Duan Qing thought to himself. Then a message was sent with the input device: "Will you participate?" ”

As the few remaining player parties, none of the members of the five-person team led by Duan Qing came forward to give any detailed explanation to the Pillar of Soaring Light that happened that day in the Emerald Forest. However, the players who had fought with Duan Qing on the Emerald Tower ran out to show off their might. But in the face of all kinds of doubts, they don't know more details, and they can't describe all the faces of the whole story clearly, so they don't make up the whole story, in addition to exposing more doubts, the only thing left is to make this matter more hot.

Of course, the participants still said the names of the Broken Mountain and the Snow Spirit Phantom Ice, as for the rest...... probably regarded Duan Qing and the three as their subordinates or unknown passers-by, so they didn't mention it much.

In this matter, Duan Qing himself did not say anything, and he did not sit idle to warn other people - he felt that it was the freedom of his teammates to say this kind of thing. So in this case, the two guys of Snow Spirit Phantom Ice and Broken Mountain didn't say anything afterwards, and he didn't know why—for the two of them, this was a great opportunity to build their guild's prestige.

Of course, he will not care about such a thing, and as for whether anyone will come to their door to trouble them after this incident, it is not up to him to have the final say.

It didn't take long for him to receive a reply: "I want to participate, but the level is not enough." ”

Then he received another question: "How is it stealth?" ”

"Yes, of course...... For personal reasons, you are not at the level enough? ”

Duan Qing also went to the league's Hall of Fame to look up the ID of Snow Spirit Phantom Ice, a player who has appeared in the past three years, and of course there are some achievements, but in Duan Qing's eyes, these results are not in his eyes.

Because she is beautiful, and she always has a straight face on weekdays, she looks like frost, so the fans of Freedom Wings gave her the title of "Ice and Snow Goddess". After getting along for a period of time, Duan Qing naturally scoffed at this title a little - the technology is not very good, and the people are not very cold, but they are just ...... It's just a little stubborn.

Of course, he can't deny that he is beautiful.

"The matter of the Emerald Forest has dragged on for a long time, my level has already fallen, if I can't rush to level above forty before the registration deadline, the president will not agree."

The level is not enough, which means that the attributes are not enough, and the equipment cannot keep up, that is, the strength is insufficient, even if you go to participate in the competition, most of them will be hanged. The backstage of Wings of Freedom, it is estimated that it is also for the sake of fame and win rate, so it is necessary to make such an internal request.

"That's right...... Then you can only refuel. ”

"I will."

"What if...... If you participate, I will cheer you on. Duan Qing hesitated for a while, and then said one more word. Then he felt that he was really cheap.

I've suffered such a loss once before.

It didn't take long for him to receive his usual brief reply.

"Thank you."

Closing the dialogue window, Xue Lingphantom Ice shook his head, and then put the conversation that had been temporarily put aside in front of him again: "I already know what the president means. Is there anything else the first team can ask for? ”

"No...... However, the players have been a little emotionally unstable lately, and I'm worried...... It will affect their performance in April. ”

"I can't adjust my mentality...... Is that still called a pro? That's what I said, and I'll tell them that. ”

The snow spirit phantom ice who wrote here, in fact, was also a little proud in his heart, because he also showed some instability of his will in the matter of the Emerald Forest, as well as ......

"Okay, Captain."

Thinking of the ID name of the man she had just spoken to, Xue Ling's heart fluctuated again, but it was just an instant, and her spirit that had been trained for many years made her return to her previous state again.

"What else do you have ......?"

Mo Shang Qingshan...... Castle peak...... That's right.

As if she suddenly remembered something, she turned the dialog box back again: "The one named Duan Qing who asked you to investigate before, how is it now?" ”

“...... There are no results yet, but we're narrowing it down. What's the matter, captain, it's ......"

"It's fine, it's just ...... Just ask. ”

She waved her finger casually in front of the screen, and then put it aside, along with the whole bunch of windows, for a moment.

"Really...... In line with her style. On the other side, Duan Qing shook his head and also closed the chat window, deleting a lot of other information by the way.

Since the rumors of "the blade of the broken sky are back in the rivers and lakes" came out, a lot of inquiries have popped up in his friends' messages every day, and even his mailbox has been flooded with all kinds of similar emails. Duan Qing took out the posture of Mount Tai collapsing in front of him without changing his face, and pushed these things aside. He's said goodbye to his old self, both in reality and in the game.

He just wants to play the game now.

Flip through the industry news, professional reviews, and player gossip - the world of gaming is so exciting, there's never a shortage of topics. Even the things of "Jianghu and Wings of Freedom fighting on the battlefield", "hot-blooded young people fighting for NPCs", and "new skills being released, but belonging leads to disputes" will also be discussed by players with a lively mentality. There are a few people in the middle who are either enthusiastic or indignant and scolding each other, most of them are only for the views they support, or for the stars and guilds they support. After all, positions and values must be firm no matter what.

But there are some topics that are not suitable for such a routine. For example, the news that Duan Qing saw next.

"Christo dies at the age of 91."

Duan Qing sighed.

Christo is one of the leaders of the "Liberator" development team and the chief designer of the fourth generation of virtual game technology. A few years ago, this cute old foreign man made frequent appearances on various media terminals, showing off his IQ while presenting the research results of their entire group. But I have to say that relying on the development of those technologies, he completed the triple jump of virtual game technology in his later years, and also completed the leap from a poor man to a billionaire.

This raunchy, humorous designer always looks like an old naughty boy when talking to the media, which makes people laugh and admire it at the same time. Of course, this admiration is not because of the billions of dollars he has earned, but because of his contributions to virtual technology. Without the efforts of him and his development team over the years, perhaps until now, all games would still be stuck in the peripheral operation and control stage.

However, this old man who opened up a big era in the game industry has not been able to break through the shackles of time after all.

Duan Qing silently opened the news, and then after a brief death report and life introduction, he saw a video. The video was supposedly recorded by Christo lying in his hospital bed before he died. According to his wishes, after his death, this video will be released to the world as the last thing he wants to say to everyone in the world.

It's not going to be something like "do you want my treasure...... Duan Qing thought maliciously, and then opened the video, which had been clicked countless times by the players.

The video is short, and it seems that due to the haste and emotion of the recording, the camera keeps shaking there. When the old man was dying, he didn't have much strength to squander. But judging from the picture, he was very excited, and his wrinkled face was full of flushing like a flashback.

Duan Qing spent five minutes reading it, then was silent for more than ten minutes, and finally closed the browsing interface and entered the game.

In my head, the naughty voice belonging to the old man still echoed.

"Dear players, I'm about to travel to another world, the world of freedom."

"My life has been colorful. I'm honored to be able to create more colorful worlds and then make them more enjoyable for more people. ”

"I believe that virtual technology can do much more than that. But the rest of the way is up to you to continue to explore. ”

"However, I will not leave here, I leave a gift to players around the world, I hope you will discover and take advantage of it."

"Free World is the best work of my life, and the most satisfying work I have. I hope you can find ...... in this world."

"The Meaning of Freedom."

*******************

"It's so slow, uncle! Do you know how long I've been waiting here? ”

Before the scene in front of him became clear, Duan Qing heard a lively voice belonging to Mengzhu and yelled at him.

It was still the purple burqa, still the golden ponytail that jumped off, the little girl looked very excited, bouncing around Duan Qing's left and right, and then took out a leather coat from her bag: "Look! What is it? ”

"It's ...... Leather armor......"

"It's leather armor made of wolf skin! Does Wolf Skin know...... "Seeing that the uncle in front of him was so cold, Mengzhu's small mouth showed signs of pouting. But after a moment, she excitedly held the equipment again and introduced it as if she were invited.

"This is bought from the players who set up stalls at the entrance of the village, purely handmade, and the best wolf skin! It is said that the sewing process once passed through Uncle Norman's hands, and when I looked at the marks on it, it should be true! And most importantly......"

"That player only sells for 200 ebres!"

Duan Qing covered his eyes, wanting to pretend not to know this little girl with a golden light of coins in her eyes.

After that day's separation, Duan Qing and Mengzhu made the decision to go out together, so in the past few days in the game, they are all preparing for the departure.

The adventure of the Emerald Forest, although there was not much actual gain, but it also made Duan Qing and Mengzhu both improve their levels a lot, plus the grinding workers in the past few days, now they are level 20 and level 19, and if they don't leave Greenstone Village, there will be no new development.

And now the green stone village,It's really the level of a novice village.,Those wild wolves on the grassland north of the village.,It's become the most powerful monster that players can find.,And the veritable Emerald Forest.,It's hard to find the existence of monsters.。

Many players of the guild forces, and even some famous masters, hurried here after the events of that day. But they also did not find anything of value, because the power of the principality came earlier and was stronger than them.

Some players who have not gone far into the Emerald "Stone Forest" are immediately driven out by a patrol composed of Duchy soldiers, on the grounds that the Duchy is carrying out research missions inside, and idlers are not allowed to enter. This kind of "there is treasure in it, but we have to keep it alone" situation really makes players angry, but other than that, they can't do anything.

Players can't beat the Orthodox NPCs, at least not yet. And they don't want to provoke these NPC forces, which means endless trouble.

However, Duan Qing and Mengzhu had no resentment about this, anyway, there was indeed nothing in it. Presumably, it won't be long before these patrolling soldiers will let go of the blockade......

In comparison, they have more headaches.

On the third day after that day passed, Duan Qing accompanied the entangled little girl to the north of the village and found the little boy. After explaining the truth to Benny, they wanted to return the gloves to apologize, but the little boy refused with gritted teeth and tears.

Whether to tell the truth or not, the two of them have also discussed it before. Judging from the current results, Duan Qing's persistence is not in vain, at least the title of "Manly Benny" can be truly crowned on the head of this little boy. The little girl looked at the little face that was trying to hold back her tears, and leaned down and hugged him a little sadly: "It's all our fault for not finding your father earlier......"

"No, that's not the case...... Benny put down the basket in his hand in a struggle, and then wiped his eyes with his dirty cuffs, only to have his little face dirtier: "Actually, ......"

His voice was a little choked: "I want to ...... Father for so long...... Didn't come back...... Quite possibly...... They said...... Said ......"

"But, I just ...... I, I hope he ...... Not as they say....... I, my father was a man, so ...... I...... I'm going to ...... too."

"Your father was more than just a man." Although there was some confusion, the two of them could still hear a child's little hope from those intermittent words. Thinking of the ragged figure that constantly resisted the forest, Duan Qing finally squatted down and patted Benny's thin shoulder.

"Your father was a hero."