What do you mean the games you make are all real?!

Chapter 78 The Beginning of the Competition and Unusual Movements in Japan

"The time has finally come!" Liao Yunkai glanced at the digital clock on the table next to him. The digital screen showed that there were still two hours until the speedrunning competition officially started.

It has been a full two weeks since he became the first person in the world to complete the final chapter of Resident Evil. During these two weeks, he played through the game from beginning to end day and night, memorizing every detail.

Not only that, he also made a special trip to the newly opened Resident Evil theme park on the outskirts of Deepsea City, where he spent several days, pushing his wheelchair as he walked through the game scenes that were recreated one-to-one.

I must say, that theme park was quite well done. It basically recreated all the important scenes from the game, and the NPCs dressed as zombies and lickers were also quite dedicated.

I don't know if it's because Miteng's boss paid too little or what, but all the NPCs dressed as zombies had resentment on their faces.

Some of them looked like they really wanted to pounce on the tourists and bite them hard; their resentful eyes were more terrifying than the zombies in the game.

Liao Yunkai snapped out of his thoughts. The competition would begin in two hours, and all his hard work would have to wait until today to see if it would bear fruit.

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door to his room. All the company's anchors, big and small, as well as the company's boss, were waiting at the door, making the already narrow corridor even more crowded.

Zhou Luo stood at the front, holding a red banner that read "Brother Kai will win!"

Shu Yiheng stood next to Zhou Luo, holding up a cheering stick in each hand, which bore the red and white umbrella logo of the Umbrella Corporation.

The other small streamers were also wearing matching support T-shirts with Liao Yunkai's live stream ID and silhouette printed on the chest.

A group of people stared at Liao Yunkai as he walked out of the door, and then shouted in unison.

"Brother Kai! Victory is certain!"

Liao Yunkai was taken aback by the scene, then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You guys are making me feel like I'm going to war instead of playing a video game."

"Playing games is like fighting a war! Kai-ge, you're not just representing yourself today, you're representing the face of Yan Kingdom players!" Zhou Luo said earnestly.

"Yes, the impact of Brother Kai's match is no less than that of a war!" Shu Yiheng said from the side.

Originally, this was indeed just a game competition, but as the publicity and fermentation over the past two weeks have spread, some players have been constantly stirring up trouble and criticizing others on game forums in other countries, causing the situation to get somewhat out of control.

Basically, all the players were fired up, constantly exchanging trash talk on the forums and claiming that their own country's players were the best.

This speedrun competition, amidst much discussion among players, has become a top-tier event that determines the reputation of a nation's players.

Players from countries that do not achieve results will inevitably be ridiculed by players from countries that do achieve results, and the losing side will truly be unable to hold their heads high on the internet in the future.

"Alright, alright, I know." Liao Yunkai waved his hand, his tone relaxed, but his shoulders still tensed up as he pushed the wheelchair through the crowd.

Although he had been almost completely oblivious to the outside world for the past two weeks, and other streamers hadn't bothered him, the public opinion was just too intense. He still heard some rumors, but he never expected it to be this serious, enough to determine the face of a nation's players. This put him under immense pressure.

Just then, he saw someone unexpected: Captain Ao had also arrived.

"Brother Kai." Captain Ao waved. His face looked much more haggard than it had been two weeks ago, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, and he had even lost a considerable amount of weight.

During this period, he practiced Resident Evil day and night.

After returning home that day, he first boasted in his live stream about receiving the invitation, and as he expected, his popularity soared.

He didn't forget his promise to Liao Yunkai and practiced diligently for two days. However, he quickly became lazy and reduced his practice time by half, using the time to go online.

After that, he watched as the online public opinion gradually grew and eventually spiraled out of control.

He then suddenly realized that if he performed terribly in the upcoming speedrun competition, his viewers would tear him to shreds.

He was terrified that his life would be in real danger, and the more he thought about it, the more scared he became, and the less he could sleep.

Finally, to avoid having to wear a stab-proof vest even when going out to buy groceries, he really started practicing like crazy, compressing his daily rest time to the bare minimum, and repeatedly playing those few maps that he was almost sick of playing.

He really started practicing like crazy, determined not to come in last place in this competition.

"It seems you took my words to heart." Liao Yunkai looked at Captain Ao, who looked almost completely different, with a complicated expression.

He thought that after Captain Ao went back, he would only practice seriously for two or three days at most, and then go back to doing whatever he wanted once the hype died down. He never expected that this person would really go all out.

"Since I've already promised, I'll keep my word." Captain Ao smiled somewhat awkwardly; he couldn't very well say that he was risking his life because he was afraid of being stabbed to death.

"So how are your grades now?" Liao Yunkai asked.

Captain Ao hesitated for a moment before giving a rough estimate.

After listening, Liao Yunkai nodded slightly: "Not bad. With this score, you won't be at the bottom, but if you want to secure a spot in the top fifty, you still have a long way to go."

"The key today lies with you, Kai-ge. I'm just here to make up the numbers," Captain Ao chuckled.

This is why he came to see Liao Yunkai again today. When they arrive at the competition venue, he will enter the venue with Liao Yunkai. At that time, all the spotlights and cameras will be focused on Liao Yunkai, the number one favorite to win the championship in the Yan Kingdom region. No one will pay attention to him, the little follower.

Even if his final result is not ideal, as long as Liao Yunkai's result is good enough, everyone will focus on the champion and no one will care about the ranking of a runner who is just a participant.

If even Liao Yunkai's performance is not ideal, then Liao Yunkai will definitely bear the brunt of the public criticism. After all, he is the number one seed that all Yan Kingdom players have high hopes for, and he is the most popular candidate to win the championship. When the sky falls, of course the tallest one will hold it up first.

"Let's go." Liao Yunkai saw through Captain Ao's little scheme at a glance, but he did not refuse Captain Ao's request to go with him.

He has never been one to fuss over such trivial matters, especially in today's competition, where everything ultimately comes down to ability and results.

If the final result is poor, even without Captain Ao running alongside you, the overwhelming insults and ridicule will still be inevitable.

"I'll push! I'll push!" Captain Ao rushed forward like a lackey, steadily took the wheelchair from behind, and pushed Liao Yunkai out.

Three gleaming black sedans were already parked outside the company gate. The crowd escorted Liao Yunkai and Captain Ao into the cars one by one. Tan Qianfan, the boss of the live streaming company, personally sat in the driver's seat of the lead car and fastened the seatbelt.

He glanced at Liao Yunkai in the back seat through the rearview mirror with some concern, knowing how much pressure he was under, and offered words of comfort.

"Yun Kai, it's not a big deal if you lose. Anyway, Resident Evil only has this last wave of popularity left. We'll still go back to streaming Battlefield. Battlefield 2 is coming out, and with your skills, you'll definitely be able to keep your current number one position."

"Hmm." Liao Yunkai responded softly, without saying anything more, and simply looked out the window.

"Sigh—" Tan Qianfan sighed and started the car.

The three cars quickly arrived at the city center, but the city center was more congested than usual, with many traffic police directing traffic at intersections and police patrolling the roads.

Meanwhile, Liao Yunkai also saw a lot of foreigners on the roadside. Although he usually encountered foreigners on the street, the proportion was definitely not this high. Moreover, those foreigners were wearing clothes related to Resident Evil.

Seemingly noticing Liao Yunkai's confusion, Captain Ao explained from the side, "In the past two days, nearly 200,000 foreigners have come to our Deep Blue City. Some of them came to watch the competition, and others went to the theme park."

"Miten has launched a series of merchandise during this period, taking advantage of the increasing popularity of speedrunning competitions. They have sold very well, and I have bought quite a few myself."

The traffic police quickly finished directing traffic, and the road ahead was finally cleared.

Three cars slowly drove through the last traffic light intersection, and the magnificent outline of the Deep Blue City Sports Center finally came into view.

This sports center was built by Deep Blue City at great expense when it bid for the Olympic Games, and it covers a very large area.

After the Olympics, this place hosted a series of large-scale international events and superstar concerts, and can accommodate up to 100,000 people at a time to watch the games.

Liao Yunkai looked out the car window and saw more and more foreigners gathering outside the sports center.

Some people held up homemade cheering signs that read "August will win" or "Go Yamashita-kun!", while many others held up signs in Mandarin that read "Kai-ge is number one."

Even Captain Ao saw several signs cheering him on, which brought tears to his eyes.

There were also many scalpers selling tickets for the game on the roadside. Tickets that originally cost a few hundred yuan were now being resold for tens of thousands of yuan, and VIP seats in the front row had even been resold for six figures, and the price was still rising.

"This is too exaggerated—" Liao Yunkai couldn't help but sigh softly as he looked at the sea of ​​people outside the car window.

Keep in mind that these are people who didn't get tickets; most of the 100,000 people who actually got tickets had already entered the venue.

Captain Ao nodded in agreement; the intensity of this competition had exceeded many people's expectations.

Their car quickly passed through security and entered the underground parking lot. They then took the elevator to the sports center, where many staff members were hurriedly making final preparations.

Shen Yingtang, dressed in a business suit, was waiting ahead. Upon seeing Liao Yunkai, she immediately jogged over.

"Mr. Liao, welcome to the sports center. I'll take you to the athletes' backstage area," Shen Yingtang said respectfully.

She personally greeted each contestant to ensure nothing went wrong. This competition was extremely important to their company, and they absolutely could not afford any mistakes.

"Thank you." Liao Yunkai nodded.

Shen Yingtang turned around and led the way, with Liao Yunkai pushing the wheelchair behind him, followed by Captain Ao, Tan Qianfan, and others.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Shen Yingtang pushed open a heavy fireproof door marked "Players' Lounge".

The space behind the door was much more spacious than Liao Yunkai had expected. It was a large, renovated lounge that had originally been the VIP reception hall of the sports center, but had now been temporarily requisitioned as the backstage preparation area for the athletes.

There were already quite a few people in the lounge. Liao Yunkai glanced around and saw several familiar faces that he had repeatedly studied in the live broadcast recordings.

By the window, a blond Stars and Stripes teenager was leaning back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed.

He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled down low, covering most of his face, with only a few strands of golden hair peeking out from under the brim, and his arms were crossed over his chest.

That was August.

Sitting next to him were several players and coaching staff members who were also from the Stars and Stripes Federation. They were talking in hushed tones and occasionally glanced toward the door, sizing up the people who had come in.

On the other side of the lounge, a young man dressed in a dark blue kimono was sitting cross-legged in the corner of the lounge.

He sat very upright, his back straight like a javelin, his hands on his knees with palms down and fingers naturally spread. He wore a black mask that covered most of his face, revealing only a pair of narrow eyes.

That's Yamashita Yosuke.

Liao Yunkai pushed the wheelchair into the lounge. August and Yamashita Yosuke opened their eyes almost simultaneously, and their gazes met in mid-air in the lounge.

August's gaze swept over Liao Yunkai, finally settling on his wheelchair and legs, a slight smile curving his lips.

"So you're the Yan countryman who got the first pass on the final chapter? I didn't expect you to be disabled?"

The arrogant captain next to him instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Although he himself was not exactly a gentleman, Liao Yunkai had helped him a lot, and this Stars and Stripes kid was too arrogant.

"You—" Just as Captain Ao was about to retort, Liao Yunkai reached out and stopped him.

"I'm sorry, you lost to a disabled person." Liao Yunkai said calmly.

He knew this was the trash-talking part of the game, and he wouldn't get angry over these words and let it affect his subsequent actions.

August raised an eyebrow, as if he was about to say something more, when Yamashita Yosuke spoke up.

"August, if you can't even show basic respect to your opponent, it won't be honorable even if you win the game later."

August gave Yamashita Yosuke a cold look, but didn't say anything more. The two were old rivals who had faced each other countless times in the Battlefield World Championship, with their wins and losses being roughly even.

He could trash talk any other player before the match, but he couldn't bring himself to do it with Yosuke Yamashita because he knew that this Japanese man was truly capable of going head-to-head with him.

Yamashita Yosuke didn't say anything more, but simply nodded slightly to Liao Yunkai as a greeting.

Liao Yunkai nodded to him as well, and soon other contestants went in. As more and more contestants came in, the spacious lounge became crowded, but the time for the competition was getting closer and closer.

"All contestants may now take the stage." Shen Yingtang said as the last contestant arrived, pushing open the door.

Ninety-nine contestants stood up at the same time. Liao Yunkai also pushed his wheelchair forward a few steps. Captain Ao wanted to follow up and help him push, but Liao Yunkai stopped him by raising his hand.

"I'll do it myself."

He gripped the wheelchair's rims with both hands and pushed forward with force. The wheelchair's rubber tires made a slight scraping sound as they rolled on the carpet, heading towards the open door to the lounge.

One hundred athletes walked through the athletes' tunnel, at the end of which were two huge metal doors, behind which was the giant stadium that could hold 100,000 people.

The door wasn't open yet, but light was already streaming in through the crack, along with an overwhelming wave of sound that surged in like a tide, wave after wave, without stopping for a moment.

Shen Yingtang walked to the metal door, reached out and pressed the doorknob, then looked back at the contestants behind her.

"Are you ready?"

No one answered her, but everyone's eyes changed at that moment.

Shen Yingtang took a deep breath and forcefully pushed open the two heavy metal doors.

The spotlight shone in the moment the door opened, illuminating the entire contestant tunnel.

Liao Yunkai squinted, then pushed his wheelchair into the center stage of the stadium, facing the light and sound waves.

One hundred thousand people.

The moment his wheelchair appeared at the edge of the stage, the roar from the stands made him feel like his eardrums were about to burst; the voices of 100,000 people came from all directions.

His body was trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the feeling of being watched by 100,000 people at the same time, which caused his adrenaline to surge to a level he had never experienced before within seconds.

Although his live streams usually have millions of viewers, those are all virtual numbers, lacking realism and completely incomparable to the feeling of watching a real person.

In the very center of the stage, one hundred virtual game pods were neatly arranged in a huge circular array.

Each gaming pod is a fully enclosed egg-shaped structure with a pure white shell, and the nationality and number of the contestant are sprayed on the surface. This is a more advanced gaming device than a virtual reality headset.

A huge circular LED screen hangs directly above the stage, divided into one hundred equal-sized squares. Each square displays the first-person perspective of the corresponding contestant in real time.

No matter where the 100,000 spectators are sitting in the stands, they can see the live game footage of any player simply by looking up.

Liao Yunkai found his game pod, parked his wheelchair next to it, and, supporting himself on the edge of the pod with both hands, moved into it. The pod door slowly closed above his head, instantly cutting off all outside noise.

The world fell silent.

All that remained was the sound of my own heartbeat and breathing.

Meanwhile, a man who looks about 80% like Leon from the Resident Evil game rises from the stage's lift.

Fang Qingzhou was also very excited when he saw the 100,000 people in the sports center, so he decided to personally host the competition. This was also his first public appearance in front of the world.

As it rose fully, the spotlight shone directly on Fang Qingzhou in that instant.

The eyes of 100,000 people in the stadium immediately shifted to the man who had suddenly appeared in the center of the stage.

The face, which bore an eight-tenths resemblance to Leon, the male protagonist of "Resident Evil," stood out prominently in the close-up shot on the giant circular screen.

"Welcome to the Resident Evil: Raccoon City Global Speedrun Competition. I am Fang Qingzhou, the current boss of Miteng Company."

There was a moment of silence in the stands for about two seconds, then a roar erupted that was more intense than ever before.

"Leon! It's Leon!"

"Holy crap! Is the boss of Miteng really that handsome?!"

"This is the real Leon! Did Mitten really hire someone who looks exactly like the game character as his boss?"

"You should say that the Leon in the game was made using the face model of the boss, Mitten."

"He's so handsome! I want to have his babies!"

Fang Qingzhou stood under the spotlight, listening to the waves of sound coming from all directions. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he raised his right hand and waved to the audience in the stands.

The cheers of 100,000 people rose another octave.

He lowered his hand, cleared his throat, and the microphone carried his voice to every corner of the stadium.

"Today, there are 100 players standing here. They come from 27 different countries and regions around the world. They have stood out from hundreds of millions of players in the past two weeks to earn the right to stand here."

"Some of them will take the 100 million yuan prize, and some will go home empty-handed, but no matter the outcome, just being able to stand here means they are already the top Resident Evil players on this planet."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the hundred virtual game pods on the stage, whose doors were already closed.

"The rules of the competition are simple: one hundred players start the game simultaneously, starting with Resident Evil: Raccoon City."

The timer starts from the first second and ends when the completion screen appears; the player with the shortest time wins.

"If multiple players have the same completion time, the system will automatically rank them based on a combination of factors, including kills, accuracy, and headshot rate. All data is recorded and displayed in real time by the game system independently developed by Miteng Company, ensuring complete transparency and allowing for public oversight."

"Now! The match begins!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another loud shout erupted around him.

Meanwhile, on the edge of a dense forest marked as a military restricted area on the outskirts of Kyoto, Fusang, several burly Northern Federation men appeared on a secluded path.

They were all large men among the Northern Commonwealth people, with shoulders as broad as doors.

The leader was named Vasily. He had a long scar on his neck that ran from his ear to his collarbone, a souvenir left from a piece of shrapnel on the battlefield.

He crouched behind the bushes, scanning the barbed wire fence in front of him with his cold gray eyes. Behind the fence was the ground camouflage area of ​​the Fusang Biochemical Research Institute.

"Vasily, are you sure we won't be discovered by the Fusang Sky Hunting Group? I've heard that those ninjas have monsters that can hide in ceilings and beams for days without being detected," a young team member crouching behind Vasily asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry, the leader of the Sky Hunting Group is currently taking care of their Emperor, and the acting leader has taken a group of people to Yan Country to participate in some competition. No one will find us. Don't ask any more questions, the people are here," said the burly man named Vasily.

Soon, a Japanese man in a white coat appeared in front of them, looking around nervously as he walked towards them.

"Are you the contact people?" the Japanese man asked.

"Yes, where is what we want?" Vasily nodded.

Soon, the Japanese man took out a test tube from his white coat, inside which were many green spores floating.

"This is what you wanted, the core achievement of the Fusang Biochemical Research Institute: parasitic fungal spores. I risked my life to steal them from the laboratory. You promised to take me to the Northern Federation and give me a large sum of money."