National destiny: Global tower climbing skills have decreased by 10,000 times.

Inside the library of Rendon University, United States.

Sunlight streamed in through the arched glass windows, falling on the long, dark brown table. A coffee machine in the corner emitted a low hum, mingling with the soft rustling of turning pages and hushed conversation.

But the entire first-floor lobby became noisy because of one place: the computer desk in the southeast corner.

A young man sat there, blond and blue-eyed, with a classic handsome European face, wearing a black hoodie with his unique 'EV' logo printed on it.

Elan Vaker, 20 years old, is the youngest player in the US to be ranked among the top glitch-prone esports players. His name is synonymous with "genius" in the US esports scene; he's still in college, but his fame has already spread far and wide.

A dozen or so people had already gathered behind him. There were students passing by with books, fans who had come specifically to watch him play games, and a few girls who were secretly taking pictures with their phones.

Wow! It's Elan.

"Elan's here again today?"

"I heard he played seven games yesterday and won them all, bringing his points to 1200. Today he's here to advance to the next level and smurf."

"Why are they still pushing the level 1 fish-frying technique? Isn't that just bullying us?"

"That's how esports is. There's no such thing as bullying or cheating. The strong should win everything."

"Is this the famous e-sports prodigy Elan? He's so handsome..."

The noise grew louder and louder, and more and more people gathered, gradually forming a human wall around the computer desk.

But Elan didn't turn around. He was used to being watched and was now ready to put on a show in front of everyone.

He logged into his account as usual, selected the most familiar faulty robot, advanced level one, and started matching.

On the screen, the matchmaking interface is loading. His score is 1215, with a 100% win rate, seven wins out of seven, and no losses.

And this so-called "points" is the core rule of the "Dragon Slayer Ranking" competition.

Whether it's matchmaking, win/loss settlement, or ranking, everything is based on "points".

Each device can only log in to one account, and each account starts with 1000 points. Winning earns points, losing deducts points, and the competition ends when points reach zero, eliminating the player from the competition.

Higher advancements typically translate to higher scores. Except for advancement 0, which serves as a transitional level with no point rewards or penalties and no opponent matchmaking, all other advancements from 1 to 10 will have rewards or penalties based on wins and losses.

The rewards and penalties for the first four advanced levels are relatively low. There is no entry fee or completion reward. You must defeat the matched opponent to gain points. If you are defeated or die halfway, points will be deducted.

The points awarded for a win at the same advancement level are generally much greater than the points deducted for a loss. For example, at advancement level one, the reward for a win is approximately 30-35 points, while the deduction for a loss is only 10-15 points.

Advanced level 5 is a watershed moment, often seen as the threshold that distinguishes ordinary players from expert players. Upon reaching advanced level 5 and above, a certain amount of points must be paid as an "entry fee" for battles. For example, the entry fee for advanced level 5 is 50, and the higher the advanced level, the more expensive the entry fee.

Correspondingly, upon reaching level 5 and above, there will be "clearance rewards," meaning that there will be certain rewards as long as you clear the third level, while the rewards and penalties for defeating opponents will be settled separately.

However, starting from level 5, the amount of reward and penalty points will increase dramatically. For example, in level 5, the reward for winning a game in level 4 is only 35-40 points.

For Advanced Level 5, completing the third level will grant you a "clearance reward" of 60 points. If you successfully defeat your opponent, you will receive an additional 100 points.

The matching rules are also very simple: players with similar scores are more likely to be matched together at the same level.

The "Dragon Slayer Ranking" competition has only just begun, and the score differences between all players are very small. This means that even at lower levels, players of all levels—from ordinary players and skilled amateurs to top professionals—are likely to be matched together. (Readers are all...)

Although the rules state that only by clearing the previous advancements can you unlock the next one, there is no restriction on players who have reached a higher advancement level returning to a lower one.

This is why Elan is currently stuck at the advanced level 1 "smurfing" and hasn't climbed any higher. He knows that once the skill gap between players widens, he'll have a much harder time matching with truly newbies.

Jack, his good friend, sparring partner, and roommate, came over and patted him on the shoulder:

"Oh? Fishing again. Let's see which unlucky guy I'll be matched with today."

A successful match notification pops up:

Opponent ID: "Sakura's Second Sword"

Points: 1000

Highest level: 1

Nationality: Japan (Sakura)

—It's a new account.

Upon seeing the ID, Jack paused for a moment, then burst out laughing:

"Sakura's second slash? Wasn't the first slash enough? Now you're making a fool of yourself with a second one?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd behind them.

"Is this guy here to be funny?"

"Ugh, what bad luck, I ran into our Elan in the very first match."

"This is going to be interesting. Elan is going to have to turn one of them away today."

"People from Japan who love cherry blossoms should just go home and rest!"

He reached up and pulled his mask up, covering half of his face. The black mask had his signature silver "EV" logo printed on it.

He pushed his hands forward, twisted his neck, and made two soft "crack" sounds—his "pre-battle" ritual.

Then click Start.

The countdown reaches zero. Both players simultaneously enter the game.

According to the rules of the PVP matchmaking mode, two players are at the same rank and from the same seed, but their characters are not limited. At this time, the icons of a malfunctioning robot and a silent hunter appear on the screen at the same time.

The first three levels are all normal levels. After the final boss battle at the end of the third level, the player-versus-player (PvP) mode will be activated.

During the challenge, although you cannot see your opponent's battle screen or hand cards, you can see their progress in real time on the map.

Without much thought, Elan chose the safest route—two campfires, one shop, and avoiding all the elites.

His malfunctioning robot had become like an instinctive muscle memory, and after defeating the first three small monsters, it would systematically add familiar reward cards like "Strike with the Momentum," "Charge," and "Glass Craft" to its deck.

But when he caught a glimpse of the progress bar on the right side of the screen, his eyes suddenly widened.

"Sakura's Second Slash" was far ahead of him from the very beginning.

He had just finished defeating the third mob when the enemy was already fighting the elite.

Moreover, according to the route he took, there were still two elites ahead of him to fight.

"This guy... isn't developing?" Jack muttered to himself.

Elan didn't get distracted and sped up his actions. After the fourth small monster, he walked into the fire and immediately played a 'Shock'.

Looking at the progress bar again, the gap hadn't narrowed; in fact, it had widened. "Sakura's Second Slash" had already defeated the second elite and entered the next room.

"How could it be so fast?" The onlookers began to notice this and exclaimed in surprise.

Just as he walked to the next campfire and knocked on another 'Double Release' card, he opened the map and was dumbfounded again.

The icon for "Sakura's Second Slash" has disappeared. This means he has already gone to the second floor.

"WTF!!?"