Chapter 124 The universe is a forest, and we are the hunters.
Chapter 124: The Universe is a Forest; Are We the Hunters, or the Prey?
The war between Azure Star and the Kanluo Civilization had ended.
Everyone was celebrating this day.
But only Su Qiu knew that the so-called civilization war was merely a minor skirmish in this grand elimination tournament.
The truly massive spectacle would begin in a few days.
At that time...
He would compete against those at the top of the dark forest in the guise of a 'newbie rookie.'
Would he be the hunter, or the prey?
"Whew."
Su Qiu pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and held it in his mouth.
The smoke exhaled by the young man drifted into the air in irregular rings, eventually vanishing into nothingness.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
The highly anticipated first phase of the Skynet dark forest event was about to begin.
Countdown: 00:21
[System Notification 1: The first phase of the Skynet competitive event 'dark forest' is about to begin!]
[System Notification 2: When the countdown reaches 15 minutes, Skynet will announce the names of the participants and the War Combined Dungeons they have created in the war era lobby!]
[System Notification 3: War Combined Dungeons are team dungeons and can be challenged by multiple people!]
Eye-catching crimson banners appeared across various civilizations; their arrival signified that the brief period of peace had come to an end.
A new round of Battle Royale had begun!
.
Azure Star.
Discussions about this Skynet competitive event were buzzing all over the globe.
"Since the Skynet competitive event is connected to the entire universe, then... the rewards for the top finishers this time should be very rich, right?"
"That's for sure!"
"I've heard some big shots on the War Forums say that there are Zero-Level Civilizations like ours that soared through Skynet events to become famous high-level civilizations in the universe!"
"If the War Designers from our Azure Star participating in this event could achieve a ranking, how great would that be!"
"Maybe we could even complete the leap from level zero to level one civilization!"
"Just thinking about those things is enough."
"Setting aside how many War Designers are participating in the dark forest event and how strong they are, the registration requirements for the dark forest alone have blocked all the Designers from our Azure Star!"
"Yeah. You needed to reach War Designer LV5 before the registration started a few days ago, and own five war dungeons simultaneously. No one in our civilization could possibly do that!"
"Wait! Someone can. Isn't Designer No. 009 a War Designer LV5?"
"Which Designer?! Holy crap, I totally overlooked him until you mentioned it!"
"Because of the civilization war, we've all ignored the progress of the five constants instance lately. I'll go check if the five constants instance is in a lock-in period!"
"No need to go, I just checked. It really is in a lock-in period."
"Does this mean our great god secretly signed up for the event without anyone knowing?!"
"Good heavens! Is he really that bold?"
Looking at the five constants instance in its lock-in period, all the players on Azure Star were dumbfounded!
They found it hard to believe.
Su Qiu actually dared to sign up for this event the moment he reached War Designer LV5!
One must know, his five constants instance had been created for some time now!
In the vast flow of time in the universe, these few days were nothing, but for a war dungeon that players were challenging day after day, it was quite significant!
Because...
The more times it was challenged, the more strategy guides there would be for that dungeon on the War Forums!
Raging Waves, Great Wall Watch, Winter is Coming... the five constants instances had been ground through by players of other civilizations over and over. Although no one had cleared them yet, it didn't mean no one had mastered the methods to beat them!
After all, the event rules were different from usual!
In the past, the five constants instance would only select players with a level lower than the dungeon itself, but during the event, the five constants combined dungeon was open to the entire universe!
Those master decoders might not necessarily be ignorant of how to crack the five constants instance!
Su Qiu participating in the event...
The risk factor was simply too high!
But...
These thoughts could only be complaints now.
After all, Su Qiu had already completed the registration for the Skynet event. Once chosen, there was no possibility of withdrawing.
Either,
His combined dungeon would hack its way through the competition to complete the promotion!
Or,
His combined dungeon would shatter, and he would fall into the abyss along with it!
Soon, the countdown for the start of the event reached 15 minutes, and the long-awaited Skynet notification banners reappeared across the civilizations.
[System Notification 1: The event start countdown has reached the final 15 minutes. war era will undergo a 1-minute non-stop update.]
[System Notification 2: The system has uploaded the names of the participating Designers and the list of dungeons they created. Players can view them in the War Hall.]
[55 seconds remaining until the war era - dark forest version update is complete!]
It's here!
As the crimson banners flashed across various civilizations,
All players, whether they were participating in the event or not, pulled up their war panels to check the War Designers and dungeon lists they wanted to follow.
Among them,
The most searched were the creators of the 15 over-spec war dungeons!
[Deer Civilization War Designer No. 001 - LV79!]
[Event dungeon: Interstellar War!]
The Deer Civilization was a rare Level 6 civilization in the universe, and its commander was named Nie Deer!
He,
Was one of the creators of the fifteen over-spec war dungeons!
Ever since Nie Deer obtained massive opportunities in war era and used them to transform his home planet, the people on the planet had revered him as a god!
The name of the civilization itself had changed at that moment, taking the two characters 'Deer' from Nie Deer's name as a suffix!
[Rebooter Civilization War Designer No. 212 - LV83!]
[Event dungeon: dark forest!]
[Blood River Civilization War Designer No. 066 - LV81!]
[Event dungeon: Blood Sea Universe!]
[Azure Star War Designer No. 009 - LV5!]
[Event dungeon: colorful!]
Su Qiu had created a miracle here; with a mere rank of War Designer LV5, he had climbed into the top 50 of the character search rankings!
The 49 Designers ranked ahead of him were either supreme powerhouses who had ascended to the Hall of Glory or chosen ones who had created over-spec war dungeons!
"Unbelievable... an LV5 War Designer can actually make it into the top 50 search rankings."
"It seems the entire universe has very high expectations for him!"
"He created an over-spec war dungeon just after connecting with war era, and the subsequent four dungeons were part of a series that was difficult to clear. Finally, he chose to sign up for the event and create a combined dungeon the moment he first reached LV5. How could people not be curious?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
"..."
Just as the entire universe was buzzing with discussion about Azure Star's Designer No. 009, the Skynet system notification rang out again!
The new version...
dark forest update complete!
PS: I had some urgent business today and got home very, very late. I desperately rushed out this chapter. I want to say sorry to all my readers, my apologies qaq!
Then, I'm taking a short leave!
Don't worry, I will make up for today's update tomorrow!