"Instant Ultimate! She actually used an Instant Ultimate!"
In a dim room, a young man wearing a gray cloak threw the controller he had just purchased onto the floor, scratching his head dejectedly.
He had not turned on the lights. Only the pale blue glow from the monitor illuminated his gaunt face.
This young man was no ordinary person.
He came from the underground casino scene.
Nowadays, underground casinos had incorporated a large number of video games.
Some impoverished teenagers had no money but possessed exceptional gaming skills, so they earned commissions through these games.
They called themselves "game hunters."
And this frail young man, dressed in an oversized black T-shirt, sweatpants, and a pair of worn canvas shoes, was a legendary figure among the "game hunters"—"Top Player."
Ordinary people would probably find it difficult to imagine that this poor-looking young man was a top-tier gamer who had once defeated "Casino Tyrant" and "Black Friday," earned millions every month, and even had his ID listed on the World Gaming Rankings.
Yet one day, he lost to someone who was either utterly unknown or incredibly famous—
HoMu Kart.
He was unknown because his name had never appeared in the esports world. Even a dark horse would have left some trace on the TGC forums.
He was famous because the game HoMu Kart was known throughout the gaming world.
It was a brand-new competitive racing game independently developed by Principle Studio under HoMu Network Technology Co., Ltd. The game took place in a fantasy world known as HoMu World. There, players assumed the role of a racer, enjoyed the thrill of extreme speed through the streets, and searched for the truth behind their revoked driver's license.
Although no related esports tournaments had been held yet, the game had already received glowing praise throughout the online gaming community and had even appeared among trending news topics.
Of course, that was not the important part. What mattered was that the young man had noticed an officially verified VIP lightning symbol beside his "rival's" ID, proving that the account he was using was the official HoMu Kart account.
Was one of HoMu Kart's creators secretly using the official account to play an action game?
And he was this strong?!
Although losing the invitational match had left him frustrated, he accepted his defeat wholeheartedly.
After all, his opponent's moves had been almost completely flawless. Even during the incredibly tense final exchange, she had managed to execute all seven stages of the Instant Ultimate combo, which had an extremely low success rate even among expert players.
She had already held an overwhelming advantage. If even one of the seven stages had failed, however, she would have lost that advantage completely.
This was not a score-chasing run. There was no chance to undo a mistake.
Yet she had still chosen to show off her technique.
The young man felt as though he had glimpsed the image of a perfect player through her.
Without much hesitation, the young man opened the game's voice chat.
He urgently wanted to speak with the expert who had defeated him and exchange thoughts about the spectacular battle they had just fought.
This was also an old tradition in the esports world.
On one hand, it was a form of etiquette similar to that of martial arts, born from mutual admiration between experts. On the other hand, speaking through voice chat could determine whether the opponent was a real person or an AI.
Many veteran esports players had recently been exposed for having AI play on their behalf. AI was indeed exceptionally skilled at gaming, but it still had shortcomings when communicating with humans.
Most AI capable of basic conversation existed only within laboratory supercomputers and could never possibly be used merely to play games.
With such extraordinary skill, the other party must possess a certain amount of pride. Surely, he would not refuse.
This time, he absolutely had to add him as a friend!
As the young man imagined that the expert must be either a retired professional hired by HoMu Company or an active coach...
The voice connection opened.
Beep.
"Your voice request has been accepted. Please strictly observe voice-chat regulations. Prohibited and offensive language is forbidden."
"Hello." Before he could offer a polite greeting, a young girl's soft, childish voice came through his headset.
The young man was stunned. The overwhelmingly powerful expert who had defeated him twice in a row was actually a girl even younger than him.
Top Player had believed himself to be a gaming genius who appeared only once in a century. He had never imagined that someone else could be even more talented.
"Are you using a voice changer?" the young man blurted out in surprise, only to immediately realize that the question sounded extremely blunt and rude.
Fortunately, another woman's voice came from the background on the other end, interrupting his question. "Young Lady, the forged digital signature you transmitted has passed the Heliopolis security system's verification. We are about to land."
Young Lady? Is she some kind of great noble? Does she even have her own personal maid? the gamer wondered.
From the sound of things, however, the other party truly was not using a voice changer. The realization made the young man breathe a sigh of relief.
Wait, why am I relieved? Doesn't this prove that she really is an even more talented player than I am?
The girl yawned, then replied to the young man in a lazy voice, "Uwah... The helicopter has arrived. I'm about to enter the battlefield. Whatever you want to say... contact me through HoHo."
HoHo was currently a popular messaging application. It had already replaced V-line as the world's mainstream communication tool.
This world still lacked a unified messaging application, but HoHo, developed by HoMu Network, was about to accomplish that feat.
"The... battlefield?"
The young man froze upon hearing the word "battlefield," but quickly understood. She must have been referring to a battlefield within a game.
An ordinary person would be so nervous before entering a battlefield that they could barely breathe. Who would be relaxed enough to yawn?
This expert gamer had clearly begun treating the game as reality, immersing herself in it completely.
As expected of the super player who defeated me. She already treats the game like reality and approaches it with absolute seriousness, the young man marveled inwardly.
HoHo—connecting you and me, illuminating every surprising moment. Enter HoHo and let the world hear your voice!!
The girl in a Mad Hatter uniform opened HoHo. HoHo's greatest selling point was that it contained neither direct advertisements nor covert promotions, which was precisely why it had spread across the entire world almost instantly.
The capitalists of the Previous Era had not yet realized the value hidden behind messaging applications. They still thought only about profiting directly from the applications themselves.
After accepting her opponent's friend request, she closed the virtual chat window before her and looked down over the entirety of Dusk City.
The crimson security grid that had originally covered the sky above the city now contained a green corridor, and the helicopter was slowly descending through it.
Bronya pushed the glasslike Vision Pro lightweight VR goggles up onto her forehead and sighed. "This really is cheating. To think she could design a device that turns infiltrating a defense system into a game guide and even allows other players to help crack it... Teacher Vill-V truly is... a genius at making games."
Bronya had contacted several game hunters she knew to cooperate with her precisely because she needed to breach Dusk City's security network.
Casino Tyrant and Black Friday were both absolutely terrible. They had nearly caused Dusk City's security firewall to detect Bronya's intrusion, and even the security grid's health bar had almost appeared.
Fortunately, Top Player truly was skilled. He quickly passed through the verification zone and worked perfectly with Bronya to breach the city's security firewall.