As he walked, Bai Liu browsed the forum through his game manager, gradually piecing together the internal structure of the game.
The [Game Lobby] was divided into three main areas: the [Live Mini-TV Area], the [Game Login Area], and the [Game Logout Area].
Players selected games to enter through the [Game Login Area]. Once logged in, their gameplay would be broadcast across the countless mini-TVs in the [Live Mini-TV Area]. Players who successfully cleared a game would return through the [Game Logout Area], while those who failed would remain trapped inside forever—either dying outright or becoming fully assimilated into monsters.
Of the three, the most complicated by far was the [Live Mini-TV Area].
The place resembled a labyrinth. Different sections were decorated in wildly conflicting styles that overlapped and collided with one another so chaotically it almost made Bai Liu dizzy. Partitioned zones, specialized sections, promotional slots—everywhere he looked, hundreds of thousands of mini-TVs continuously streamed the progress of different players’ games.
The [Newbie Zone], [Death Comedy Special Zone], and [Single-Player Game Partition] where Bai Liu’s mini-TV had appeared were merely three among thousands of partitions within the [Live Mini-TV Area]. The promotional slots were even more complicated. A single partition could contain dozens of different categories of promotion placements.
And among those promotional slots, there was a clear hierarchy.
Out of all partition promotions, the most difficult and prestigious position was the [Central Hall King Promotion Slot]. Only the top ten players in overall daily performance rankings could appear there. It had effectively become territory monopolized by Great Gods.
According to the forum, it had been a very long time since a newcomer had managed to reach that level. The first and second positions in particular were virtually untouchable. As long as [Spades] and the [Queen of Hearts] entered a game, their mini-TVs would permanently occupy the number one and number two spots on the [King Promotion Slot].
For newcomers, the highest-tier promotional position was the [Central Hall Nightmare New Star Promotion Slot]. Mu Shicheng was a long-term fixture in fourth place there.
The [Central Hall Core Promotion Slot] that Bai Liu had entered previously was indeed considered good, but compared to all promotional slots overall, it could only be classified as a [High-Level Promotion Slot]. Although it attracted many paying viewers, it still ranked a level below the truly elite [Top-Tier Promotion Slots] that nearly all players followed and spent points to watch.
Mu Shicheng had once explained why he found it difficult to consistently appear on the [Central Hall Core Promotion Slot]: his performance fluctuated too much. Whenever he played especially well, he usually skipped past the [Core Promotion Slot] entirely and went straight to the [Nightmare New Star Promotion Slot]. But when he performed poorly, he could not even come close to qualifying for the [Core Promotion Slot].
Naturally, if there were top-tier partitions and premium promotional slots, there were also the worst partitions and the worst promotional slots.
Bai Liu stopped at the entrance to a barren area that looked like a giant scrapyard.
The walls here were stark white. The mini-TVs were not neatly arranged but instead piled haphazardly into crooked mountains. Within those heaps of screens flickered the miserable struggles of countless players desperately trying to survive.
Most of the screens crackled with static, making the mini-TVs look cheap and broken-down. Some displayed nothing but snow, making it impossible to tell whether the players inside were alive or dead.
The “mountain” of televisions stretched endlessly forward like a train without an end, extending from where Bai Liu stood into a vast white emptiness.
The distorted voices of innumerable players echoed throughout the pristine yet chaotic space. It reminded Bai Liu of the futuristic electronic-waste disposal sites he had once seen on television. Hanging above the entrance was a crooked sign that looked ready to collapse at any moment. Four slanted characters were scrawled across it—
[No-Name Land].
The game’s cruelty was blatant and unapologetic. The highest-ranked players were called [Kings], while the lowest-ranked players were not even worthy of having names.
This was the only area without promotional categories—and naturally, there was no need for any. Broadcasting from any mini-TV here produced virtually the same result, because there was not a single viewer in sight. Players sent to this place had almost no chance of ever recovering. It was the equivalent of a prison within the game itself—a dumping ground for those who had been completely abandoned and exiled.
While Bai Liu stood within the cold, desolate [No-Name Land], silently contemplating several questions, the forum was exploding with discussion about him.
***
[The seven-day countdown for newcomer player Bai Liu—who entered the VIP library with his very first video—is almost over. Let’s bet on what game he chooses next!]
1L:
He’s seriously amazing at sophistry-style reasoning. I’ve rewatched his 《Siren Town》 video three times already, and I notice something new every time. I really want to see him play another game!
2L:
Same here! I want to see him in a multiplayer game! Single-player rewards are nowhere near as good as multiplayer rewards, and multiplayer games are way more competitive and entertaining. I want to see Bai Liu go head-to-head with the big shots!
3L:
Sure, Bai Liu’s unconventional tactics are interesting, but wouldn’t that kind of strategy completely backfire in multiplayer games?
First, there’s no guarantee other players would cooperate with his bizarre way of thinking. Multiplayer games are way more unpredictable than single-player games.
Second, if he runs into killer-type players—the kind who murder other players to steal their items and points—a “fat sheep” like Bai Liu, carrying tons of points and items, would get robbed and slaughtered instantly. Killing and looting are banned in the lobby, but inside games? Totally allowed.
4L:
Honestly, I think he should stay in the single-player zone. The multiplayer zone is packed with big shots, and massacres happen constantly there. A player like Bai Liu, who relies on sophistry logic, isn’t suited for it at all. With his F-rank stats, he’d probably get killed before even clearing the first main quest.
5L:
Not necessarily? Didn’t Bai Liu trigger [Berserk Peak] in 《Siren Town》 after his mental value dropped? His stats shot all the way up to Super A-rank level. Even if he runs into a big shot, it’s not guaranteed he’ll get crushed.
7L:
...I’ll say this quietly, but I honestly think Bai Liu reaching Super A-rank with only 1 mental value left in 《Siren Town》 was pure luck... What if his mental value ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) had dropped straight to 0 instead? Wouldn’t he have instantly GG’d?
8L:
Multiplayer games require balanced stats. A player like Bai Liu—whose build is completely skewed toward intelligence while his attack is ridiculously low—isn’t suited for multiplayer at all. Going there now would just be suicidal overconfidence.
9L:
The core of multiplayer games is competition. Whoever gets the highest overall evaluation receives rewards on a completely different scale from everyone else. Everyone enters multiplayer games to fight for first place, but Bai Liu has zero advantage in direct competition. Tsk. Looks like his only option is attaching himself to some big shot as a strategist...
10L:
If a guild invested in him and gave him a high-attack team to command as the group’s [Brain], he could actually develop along the multiplayer route. Isn’t that basically how [Puppet Master], the player ranked 199th on the points leaderboard, made it into the top two hundred? By controlling other players?
11L:
The person above clearly has no idea what they’re talking about. As a fan of [Puppet Master], I need to say this—Bai Liu and [Puppet Master] aren’t even remotely comparable, okay? Comparing them is a cross-galaxy insult.
First of all, [Puppet Master] is one of the Kings Guild’s elite players, and the guild pours absurd resources into supporting him.
Every single [Puppet Player] under his control is personally selected by the Kings Guild. Any one of them could crush Bai Liu in terms of panel stats. And on top of that, [Puppet Master] himself has an intelligence stat of 93. Ninety-three!
Bai Liu only has 89! The only reason he managed to break into the top hundred last time was because none of the Great Gods happened to be streaming. It was a lucky fluke. He already dropped out ages ago—his current overall ranking is outside the top three thousand. Meanwhile, [Puppet Master] has remained steadily within the top two hundred the entire time.
12L:
[Puppet Master] really is insanely cautious and intelligent. During games, he always hides among his [Puppet Players] to protect himself. I’ve watched tons of his videos, but I still have no idea what he actually looks like. Half the time I can’t even tell which player he is.
12L:
By the way, didn’t [Puppet Master] lose one of his [Puppet Players] in his last game? I heard the Kings Guild was recruiting a replacement recently. The待遇 was ridiculously good too. Even as just a puppet, you’d get a thousand points per game plus item rewards. If I qualified, I’d totally apply too, sob...
13L:
No point dreaming about it. Recruitment already ended. Apparently some player named Li Gou got selected...
***
Wang Shun looked over the forum posts claiming Bai Liu’s rise to the core promotion slot had merely been luck and nearly laughed aloud. Shaking his head, he closed the game manager.
Everyone seemed to have completely forgotten that Bai Liu’s luck stat was only 0. If someone like Bai Liu could be considered “lucky,” then wouldn’t ordinary players—with luck stats easily exceeding 30—basically be beloved children of the Goddess of Fortune?
Still, Wang Shun did agree with some of the forum’s opinions.
At Bai Liu’s current stage, multiplayer games truly were unsuitable for him.
More than eighty percent of all players gathered in multiplayer games, and the competition there was brutal beyond imagination. Although Bai Liu had temporarily displayed Super A-rank physical ability during his berserk state last time, the condition for triggering it was simply too dangerous—
his mental value had to fall to exactly 1.
A mental value of 1 was terrifyingly fragile. A monster brushing against him even once could wipe it out completely.
Bai Liu’s potential was undeniably extraordinary, but he was still clearly in the middle of his growth phase. Entering the [Multiplayer Game Zone], where both the death rate and the competition were incomparably harsher, would be far too risky. It would be far safer for him to remain in [Single-Player Games], steadily raising his panel attributes before attempting multiplayer content.
Of course, for a newcomer with as much potential as Bai Liu, there was another, much faster path to growth—
—and that was joining a major guild directly.
