Mu Sicheng frowned as he looked at the Russell Cemetery members sitting across from them as they prepared to go into battle. "Why is it only two people? And they're wearing masks?"
The masks worn by the Russell Cemetery members were drawn with a sun radiating rays in every direction.
Wang Shun looked at the two players sitting silently on the bench opposite and quickly tensed up. "The one on the left is their guild master. They haven't played in so long. Why are they coming out this time to face us?"
"According to their normal tactical style," Liu Jiayi calmly analyzed, "these two people's skills should probably be able to restrain us."
Bai Liu merely swept a simple glance at the masked Russell Cemetery players and then over the spectator seats without pausing. His gaze wandered over the spectator seats for a moment before stopping at a corner.
There sat a white-gloved man, wearing a top hat and holding a cane. He seemed to feel Bai Liu's gaze and took off his hat like a gentleman, spreading his hand toward Bai Liu and giving him a slight smile.
Wang Shun followed Bai Liu's line of sight and jumped in fright. "Charles? Why did he come? Didn't he say that he wouldn't watch our matches before the challenge match?"
"And if I remember correctly…" Wang Shun rapidly tapped open the system panel. "Today's midseason matches include Gamblers' Alliance's match! He should be at the match. Why is he here?"
Bai Liu met Charles's gaze. "Because I went to look for Charles alone before the match to talk."
Wang Shun was shocked. "Talk about what?"
"After this match will be the challenge match. The opponent's gambling pool and points will be more than ours tenfold. To control the situation, I needed strong support from our investor, Charles." Bai Liu indifferently redrew his gaze. "So I said to come watch our match today. He will get a gambling match that will satisfy him."
"So he happily decided to abandon his match and come watch our match's gambling."
"Satisfies Charles?!" Wang Shun's voice couldn't help but rise instantly. He quickly suppressed it, his face anxious. "Guild Master, Charles is a professional gambler. Aside from matches he can win double points from, other matches won't satisfy him."
"We're going to play the challenge match soon. There's no need to show loyalty or prove yourself to him right now. You shouldn't have been so impatient to talk to Charles today. Even if we win brilliantly against Russell in today's match, their gambling pool isn't big, and the money we get from it won't satisfy Charles."
The look on Wang Shun's face became increasingly heavy. "Abandoning his own match to come watch ours means that Charles is giving up the base money in his own gambling pool… A person like Charles, once he gives something up to do something and doesn't see the return he wants, will withdraw his investment without hesitation!"
Bai Liu calmly put on his leather gloves and walked forward. "I'm confident. Just leave it to me. Don't worry."
Charles, sitting in the spectator seats, rested his hands on the top of his cane, casually tapping his fingers on the spherical top. His gaze shifted from Bai Liu to the Russell Cemetery team members opposite, and the smile on his face grew even more profound:
"I haven't seen a match that satisfies me in so long. I hope my chosen racehorse this year won't disappoint me and will deliver a match that satisfies me as promised, rather than wasting my precious match time."
A loud murmur of discussion erupted from the spectator seats:
"Holy shit, Gamblers' Alliance is really daring, directly forfeiting their match. They haven't even played three matches, already giving eight points to their opponents."
"The spectators who bet through the Gamblers' Alliance must be going crazy over this match, right?"
"What can they do? This isn't that Charles guy's first time playing fixed matches or controlling the gambling pool's points. He's got the largest amount of points stored in the entire game; his own strength is formidable, and he participates in the league not to win, but to gamble. There's just no way to figure out his strategy. It's impossible to deal with him."
"Anyway, I don't dare to bet on Gamblers' Alliance—it's too stimulating. I don't know what those who bet on Gamblers' Alliance were thinking…"
"For points? Even if you bet once, the thrill of winning is enough to multiply it by thousands immediately."
"Usually, when Charles simply forfeits, it means he's betting on the opponent, right? So, who is his opponent?"
"Deer Hunter."
"…Deer Hunter is really fierce this year. They've rushed up to third place. If I were Charles, I'd also forfeit. That Clown of theirs is too terrifying with that soul-shattering skill. As soon as he entered the field, he immediately opened fire, attacking indiscriminately. The people who were killed screamed in agony…"
"Deer Hunter is 9 points short of overtaking King's Guild. Do they still have any matches?"
"They do. Let me check. Fuck! —Today's next midseason match is Killer Sequence vs. Deer Hunter!"
The midseason match.
Daniel lazily leaned on the back of his chair, contentedly humming an unknown folk tune from his hometown. His apple-green eyes casually swept over Killer Sequence opposite him, seemingly unconcerned that he was facing a top-tier team, as if he were looking at a pile of corpses.
Spades had currently lowered his head, adjusting his shoes. He felt someone looking at him and looked up. Across from him, Daniel's mouth split into a smile the moment he met Spades's eyes. He playfully flicked his hand, made a shooting gesture, squinted one eye, and aimed at Spades and the few teammates beside him, making "bang bang bang" sounds with his mouth.
The Reverse God, sitting in the front, silently lowered his head. Across from him, Cen Buming straightened his back, his gaze sharply on Reverse God.
The announcer between them raised their voice: "May the tacticians of both sides step forward and shake hands!"
Reverse God and Cen Buming got up and walked toward the big screen. Both extended their hands in front of it. Reverse God finally lifted his head to look at Cen Buming opposite him with a strange, complex expression. "…You've killed a lot of people this year."
Cen Buming smiled, tightly gripping Reverse God's hand. "Really? Then it should be because the number of people who deserve to die this year is rather high."
Reverse God fell silent again. He withdrew his hand and turned around, preparing to leave, but Cen Buming stepped forward and rigidly grabbed Reverse God's wrist, not letting him leave. His mouth subconsciously called out "Sen…" but he forced it back down his throat, switching to "Reverse God."
"Reverse God." Cen Buming's chest heaved twice, his gaze fixed sharply on Reverse God, and his voice grew hoarse from a surge of emotion. "Do you think it's wrong for me to kill these people?"
"You know what these people have done, what they would do. I also know. Should they not have died? Should I not have killed them?"
Reverse God slowly met Cen Buming's gaze. "They probably should die, but not now."
"So they die in the [future]?" Cen Buming let out a low, hoarse laugh. He slowly released Reverse God's hand and mockingly asked, "But this world line is already the last [future]. We don't have any more futures that we can restart."
"If they don't die, if Bai Liu doesn't die, everyone won't have a [future]."
"[We will die in Bai Liu's hands] this future—haven't both you and I seen it over six hundred times? Do you still cling to that foolish belief that if he hasn't done anything wrong, he doesn't need to pay the price?"
Reverse God lifted his gaze to look at him. "Yes."
The fire-like light burning in Cen Buming's eyes slowly dimmed. He let go of Reverse God's hand, shook his head with a mocking laugh as if he found it all absurd, and turned away.
"I am his guardian." Reverse God's calm voice came from behind him. "If he does something wrong, I will bear the responsibility with him."
Cen Buming suddenly clenched his fist. He turned around and grabbed Reverse God's collar, shouting at him uncontrollably: "It's him doing wrong, not you doing wrong! It's those heretics killing people, not you killing people! It's him tormenting you, tormenting Fang Dian, tormenting your friends, colleagues, relatives, tormenting all of us!"
"Why do you insist on standing by his side?!!"
Cen Buming's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted at Reverse God's emotionless face, his voice suppressed yet hoarse from the strain. "If you continue like this, you're going to die, Lu Yizhan!"
When the tacticians communicated before the match, they stood within the login barrier displayed on the big screen; just one step forward would let them enter the game. The audience couldn't hear what they were saying, but they could see the two of them standing before the screen, arguing.
Seeing the argument about to escalate, Cen Buming was quickly pulled away by people who rushed in to ensure the match could proceed normally. As he struggled against their hold, his eyes nearly tearing apart with rage, he stared at Reverse God, who stood motionless in place, gazing back at him with a faint, detached look.
He saw Reverse God quietly mouth: [I'm sorry, junior brother.]
[System notice: Killer Sequence vs. Deer Hunter, match officially commences]
[System notice: Wandering Circus vs. Russell Cemetery, match officially commences]
Yuan Zheng shuddered as he stood up. He tapped open his panel's [Tactician Privileges] box, pressing forfeit single matches and double matches, then turned his head to look at Shi Qian as if inquiring.
Shi Qian nodded at him in assurance, indicating that she was already prepared.
Yuan Guang turned his head and took a deep breath. Raising his head to look at Bai Liu opposite, he pressed the [team match] option.
[System Notice: Team match starting… Detected Russell Cemetery has only two members; team members are insufficient… The Russell Cemetery tactician's skill is a special, summoning type, which can bring five team members onto the field, meeting the team match rules. Team match initiated…]
[…Loading the game…]
[System Notice: Players on both sides have been logged into "How to Own Five Buildings"]
[System Notice: You are an ordinary worker in a bustling metropolis, with an average monthly salary of 4,500. You work diligently, all for the dream of owning your own home. Unfortunately, the average housing price here is 320,000 per square meter. Even if you started today, saving every bit of your salary without eating or drinking, it would still take you 592 years of work to buy a 100-square-meter house.]
[Initiating main task: Please find a way to own five houses in this city within a week!]