It doesn't matter. It won't affect my first place anyway.

"Wasn't that a coordinated match? Where is the referee?"

Although they could not hear the conversation, the spectators could clearly see that the Virtual-Reality Boundary and the Deep Sea Zoo had completed a transaction.

Words like "rigged match," "coordinated match," and "cheating" were being thrown around freely without any restraint.

The projection light screen flickered with sparks, and the miniature flame sparrow appeared once again.

"The referee panel has verified the matter. No rules violated."

After this brief statement, it once again dissolved into nothingness.

"Someone is going to shed some little pearls now. They were having a great time sucking up to their newfound daddy just moments ago, only to find out that the daddy they just acknowledged couldn't fight back. They went looking for the management, but the management wouldn't help either."

This was directed precisely at Dream Sovereign.

When the Deep Sea Zoo was setting up their ambush, they had led a crowd in making a tremendous uproar.

"Now the tide has receded, and we get to see who is swimming naked."

"What's wrong with an ambush? Do you not want the first-strike advantage?"

"Sigh, it's only the first day of the matches, and the Virtual-Reality Boundary already has filial sons."

"No matter how the fight is played out, winning is all that matters."

The boomerang came back rather quickly.

Indeed, someone was swimming naked, but it certainly wasn't the Virtual-Reality Boundary.

Well-versed in the principle of avoiding unfavorable team fights, Dream Sovereign temporarily went silent.

Within the match, Jiang Heyi located the Crystal Witch according to the coordinates.

"Oh~~ Your destinies are exceptionally dazzling."

After offering this exclamation of admiration, the Crystal Witch said no more, forming a stark contrast with the warm and hospitable Plague Doctor.

The light cast by the floating illumination fireballs orbiting the Crystal Witch left the upper half of her face obscured in the shadow of her wide-brimmed hood, allowing people to see only her rosy lips.

A crystal ball, a Rubik's cube, a pair of dice, and an armillary sphere each represented a unique service. Their specific effects would only be revealed after purchase.

In the words of the Crystal Witch, "To the vast majority of people, destiny remains mysterious and unknowable."

Brother Jailer muttered softly under his breath, "Isn't this just relying on luck..."

Crystal Ball: 1230 points
Rubik's Cube: 1680 points
Dice: 380 points
Armillary Sphere: 5890 points

So expensive!

Because the Deep Sea Zoo had squandered all their points before engaging them in combat, the total points of the Virtual-Reality Boundary had only reached 4396 by the end of the battle.

When it came to deciding what to buy, Jiang Heyi passed the ball to Orange Tea.

As for Orange Tea...

"Unknown Revelation, help me."

"You must determine your own destiny."

Orange Tea's eyes widened abruptly, and she stared at the Crystal Witch in astonishment.

"What is it?" Jiang Heyi asked in a low voice.

"From the Unknown Revelation... I heard her voice."

The corner of the Crystal Witch's mouth curved upward.

Was this the special individual among the guides that the Plague Doctor had mentioned?

Relying on her intuition, Orange Tea made her choice: "The crystal ball."

"Please select the target for divination."

---

Orange Tea glanced over. "President Potato, I suppose."

As the Crystal Witch gently caressed the crystal ball, an exact-scale crystal ball manifested above Jiang Heyi's head, casting a hazy, misty purple glow that enveloped his entire body.

"Mmm~~~ An interesting destiny, an interesting destiny."

The crystal ball flared with brilliant light, and a stream of golden radiance poured into Jiang Heyi's body.

[Warrior's Glory]
"Upon defeating a player, you will obtain the entirety of all points they possess."
"Duration: 24 hours."

The crystal ball turned out to be a potent blessing effect that lasted for an entire day.

Now the combat was going to be an absolute joy.

The Virtual-Reality Boundary couldn't help but develop a keen interest in the much more expensive Rubik's Cube and Armillary Sphere.

Unfortunately, the Crystal Witch would only provide her services to each guild once.

Repairing their equipment cost 600 points.

Blessing the weapons of Jiang Heyi, Original-Flavor French Fries, Blanket, and Zhong Zemo granted them the [Wind at Your Heels] effect, consuming 2519 points.

To have white, rank-0 weapons imbued with blessings—such a bizarre spectacle could only ever occur within a guild war.

Holding a massive fortune just a moment ago, the Virtual-Reality Boundary instantly plummeted from the top of the leaderboard to the very bottom.

How to weigh and utilize points prudently was a test for the commander of every team.

Consuming a vast amount of points in one go could undoubtedly enhance combat prowess, but if there was no way to catch up to the first tier in the subsequent phases, they would likely hand the promotion slots over on a silver platter.

An approach like that of the Virtual-Reality Boundary, which invested all its points into reinforcements in a single breath, could only be described as audacious.

To outsiders, this was a symbol of formidable technical skill—a profound self-confidence that no unexpected situation could possibly defeat them.

In fact, seeing the Virtual-Reality Boundary's points plummet frantically, the other guilds in the same arena already felt a chill run down their spines.

Before receiving reinforcements, the Virtual-Reality Boundary was already gaining points as if drinking water, and now that they were reinforced with more than half a day remaining... surely they wouldn't change their strategy, would they?

Almost every guild sensed that the Shadow of Nightmare was growing stronger by the moment. What if the Virtual-Reality Boundary found monsters too troublesome and decided to stop cutting down monsters and start cutting down people instead?

The principle of "the neighbor hoards grain while I hoard guns, and my neighbor becomes my granary" was something everyone understood well.

The resource-depleted circle continued to shrink, forcing all guilds to head toward the rich central point.

The [Fairies in the Paper Tube] guild lay in ambush near one of the only four fixed guide spawn points remaining after the circle shrinkage, remaining completely motionless.

Having purchased mimicry magic, they blended seamlessly into the midnight bushes. If anyone were to pass by this place at that moment and overhear their whispered conversations, they would surely cry out in sheer terror...

Can trees talk?

Ranking fourth, they no longer intended to contend with the Shadow of Nightmare—it was simply becoming too terrifying.

At first, killing the main bodies had been as easy as turning over a hand, and they had picked up plenty of points.

However, once a full day of the match had passed, the situation changed.

Whether projections or main bodies, the Shadows of Nightmare displayed terrifying combat prowess. The main bodies that used to stand around stupidly would actually cast magic while sleepwalking.

Several members in the guild had sustained injuries. Although not fatal, it heavily dragged down the team's score-pacing progress, requiring the expenditure of multiple bottles of healing potions.

Healing potions were also becoming increasingly expensive.

Initially, they cost just 50, then 100, and had now escalated to the point where a single standard healing potion commanded an exorbitant price of 300 points—a score even more expensive than the combined total assets of two unlucky fellows in the guild.

After completing their status adjustments, as the resource-depleted circle continued to expand, they grew cautious and reluctant to venture out rashly, which also cut off the guild's channels for acquiring points from NPC commissions.

Then, the only method left for them to maintain their standing was...

What belongs to others belongs to me!

"President, we've been camping for so long, nobody's here."

"It's fine, we still have a bit of an advantage—4626 points, which is still 1000 points away from falling out of the promotion line. It's dangerous outside now; the Shadow of Nightmare and those wandering monsters have all been buffed. It'll be difficult for anyone to surpass us."

"Speaking of which, the Virtual-Reality Boundary is truly perverted. After spending all 4000-plus points, they farmed another 20,000 points, and then spent it down until they only had 9,000 left."

"Who is to say otherwise? Who knows how they managed to deal with those Shadows of Nightmare? The ones that respawned later were all tough-skinned main bodies whose durability was practically worn down to nothing by their blades."

"People are different. Some people are unreasonably strong. What can you do about it?"

"So what on earth does this game use to judge strength? Aren't you guys curious?"

"According to the game's introduction, everyone's initial attributes are identical upon entering the game. How on earth can they get so far ahead?"

Just as these talking trees were about to delve deeper into this topic, a gust of strange wind swept past with a "swoosh."

Taking advantage of the moonlight, the guild's shadow hunter caught only a glimpse of a blurry afterimage.

"Someone's here!"

"That's a courier or scout-class profession. Ignore her, ambush the ones following behind."

"Understood!"

Every member of the guild lowered their voices and replied in unison.

The guild president frowned. The crooked tree he had transformed into turned slightly, surveying his surroundings.

Surely he hadn't misheard—how could there be eight voices?

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for me, would you?"

Amidst the shadows, a grinning dark elf flashed a mouthful of white teeth as she slowly materialized.

"Shadow Hunter!"

The shadow hunter hurriedly broke the lurker's innate skill, but the others were already breaking out in cold sweat.

They had clearly witnessed the dark elf "fly" past just moments earlier; how had she returned so quickly?

Two lightning-fast figures plunged into the crowd. At that moment, every single member of the guild knew precisely who their camping spot had attracted.

It was a completely one-sided massacre. Jiang Heyi and Original-Flavor French Fries, having already undergone two rounds of enhancement and buffs, were like tigers entering a flock of sheep, regretting only that this buffet was far too small and not enough to eat.

Knowing that the situation was beyond saving, the guild president requested, "Wait, big shots of the Virtual-Reality Boundary, let me lose with understanding. How on earth did you find us?"

"When you weren't paying attention, Blanket—who has enhanced innate skills—already came by once and discovered that you guys whispering among yourselves liked to chat. Next time, you really ought to set up a soundproofing array."

The president of the Paper Tube Guild was left speechless and chuckled bitterly. He hadn't expected the reason for their discovery to be so bizarre...

"Huh? You aren't planning to kill me?"

Seeing the Virtual-Reality Boundary preparing to leave, the guild president was dumbfounded. What was the meaning of this?

"Just turtle up for a bit; who knows, you might end up getting a few extra lottery draw chances in the end," Jiang Heyi chuckled. "Even if you might not necessarily draw anything good, at least there's a glimmer of hope."

Understanding Jiang Heyi's goodwill, the Paper Tube president expressed his gratitude repeatedly with thanks.

"Small matter. It doesn't affect us taking first place anyway, and you guys get a chance to freeload some rewards—it's a win-win," Jiang Heyi said. "If it were me in a retirement guild, I'd also look forward to my guild war team bringing something back."

The poise of the strong.

During the very first guild war, everyone was still groping for the mechanics and moving forward with trepidation, yet the Virtual-Reality Boundary acted with such effortless ease that it was bound to stir emotions.

It wasn't just the Deep Sea Zoo and the Fairies in the Paper Tube; the Virtual-Reality Boundary swept through everything along their path, absorbing points as if entering uninhabited territory. Every guild they trampled over would have a single, perfectly intact member left behind.

Even if that final member accidentally sustained injuries during the fight, a healing potion would "accidentally" fall out of their obtained loot and be left behind at the scene.

For a time, the external spectators were completely baffled.

In the arena where the Virtual-Reality Boundary resided, the resource-depleted zone had shrunk down to merely a tiny circle, yet as many as 17 guilds still survived.

There were as many as 9 undermanned formations, basically all of them guilds spared by the Virtual-Reality Boundary.

For a time, people could not figure out whether the Virtual-Reality Boundary was practicing scientific pig-farming for sustainable overfishing, or simply farming reputation.

Or perhaps... both.