047 Accidentally Becoming the World's Number One!

"It flickered just now. That must have been an ultimate skill, right? Who’s going to win?" Because the map was shrouded in the darkness of night, viewers could not see what was happening inside and had no choice but to wait. "Nightfall" lasts for 12 seconds; once those 12 seconds pass, the victor will be clear.

"Duan Chenfeng only has a sliver of health left. With zero visibility, he’s definitely done for!" The Dark Night Demon King is at his best when acting under the cover of night. Especially after casting "Nightfall," his attributes skyrocket, and his attack and movement speeds become incredibly fast. Dealing with Chenfeng should be a walk in the park.

"The Demon King’s avatar has gone dark..." Less than three seconds after "Nightfall" was triggered, the Demon King’s avatar grayed out. The battle had been decided, and the Demon King, who initiated the "Nightfall," had lost.

...

Everyone was withdrawn from the map’s vision and returned to the edge of the arena, where both Chenfeng and the Demon King emerged. The crowd noticed that the Demon King’s face had turned pale, as if he had been spooked by something. Because of the "Nightfall," no one knew what had transpired inside. How Chenfeng managed to turn the tables and kill the Demon King remained a mystery.

"How did Duan Chenfeng manage to kill the Demon King? He finished it in just three seconds?" Shadow Corner didn't know much about Chenfeng. He knew Chenfeng was formidable, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong. Even he didn't have absolute confidence in defeating the Demon King, yet Chenfeng had taken him down with ease.

Outlet shrugged and said, "It was pitch black; how would I know!"

How did he do it? Outlet couldn't fathom how Chenfeng could counter-attack in complete darkness and kill his opponent within three seconds. Outlet knew Chenfeng would win, but he had assumed Chenfeng would survive the duration of "Nightfall" and then unleash a burst of damage to finish the Demon King. Instead, the Demon King had been countered and killed.

During "Nightfall," even equipment that grants dark vision is useless. How did Chenfeng, a Berserker, pull this off? Outlet felt it was impossible that Chenfeng had killed the Demon King with a random flurry of slashes.

Watching the Demon King toss the Dark Night Ring to Chenfeng and walk away, Outlet really wanted to chase after him and ask. In the end, he decided against it; he could always pay for the information later.

"Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me? Where are the professional players from around the world? Are you still asleep?" Seeing no one stepping up to challenge him, Chenfeng felt he might have overdone it with the posturing. If the pros were too afraid to come out now, there would be no one left to deliver high-quality loot.

Chenfeng knew the pros weren't necessarily afraid of him, but there was no need to fight him in front of so many people. Furthermore, he held a gear advantage; they couldn't acquire such powerful equipment at the moment, making it a stressful fight. The pros knew that being killed by Chenfeng in front of players worldwide would be humiliating. A win would boost their reputation, but a loss would be too shameful. Even if Chenfeng lost, he would just fall back to being a normal player—he had nothing to lose.

Chenfeng was out here purely to build his reputation and farm gear. He knew the top-tier pros wouldn't come out to sabotage him. Even if they had the guts, he wasn't afraid. Right now, anyone facing him had at most a 50% win rate. And what about those freaky psychics from the Cobra Organization? They certainly wouldn't show their faces in front of such a crowd, and as for the other two mysterious organizations, Chenfeng knew they wouldn't emerge either.

"Accidentally became the world number one—feeling empty, lonely, and cold..." Seeing that no one else was coming out, Chenfeng decided not to drag it out any longer. Being able to secure two magic rings was a win. It had taken Baru and his group a long time to collect just a few rings, and yet here Chenfeng was, having finished two arena matches and already holding six rings. The efficiency was incomparable!

After Chenfeng used his Hearthstone to return to the city, the world forums immediately erupted. All the trending posts were about him. Outlet should have been the one looking mighty, but Chenfeng’s two arena matches had completely stolen the spotlight. "The World Number One After the Dawn—Orange Weapon Super Berserker Duan Chenfeng!", "The Strongest Berserker—Duan Chenfeng", "Consecutive Kills on Cobra Organization Experts and the Dark Night Demon King—Duan Chenfeng Becomes Famous Overnight!"...

Journalists on the forums were blowing up every little detail, hyping things up as much as possible to attract attention. In truth, Chenfeng had become famous, but this "world number one" title was largely self-proclaimed. Fans of various teams began to nitpick, claiming Chenfeng had simply chosen the right time; if he had held the tournament at night, the pros would have surely taken him down.

One post titled "The Expert Among the People—Berserker Duan Chenfeng" offered a more reasonable analysis. It didn't label Chenfeng as the world number one but instead analyzed his goal of gathering a crowd during the world announcement to hold the arena matches, as well as the techniques Chenfeng used in both fights. As for the counter-kill during "Nightfall," it didn't claim to know the truth, offering several speculations instead. The post was very objective, acknowledging that Chenfeng’s current status as world number one was partly due to him gathering the world's players—where pros felt no need to fight him—and partly due to his current gear being truly powerful, leaving the pros with no equipment advantage. However, the post also affirmed Chenfeng’s skill, suggesting he was currently qualified to be the world number one. But what would happen after reaching max level?

Chenfeng couldn't be bothered to read what others were saying. He met with Outlet and the others at a tavern to discuss how to develop his magic rings. If Chenfeng were to consume these two new rings, his ring would have absorbed a total of 12, and its attributes would change.

There was no doubt that the Magic Ring was the ultimate synthesis equipment. Chenfeng could now choose from the attributes of all the rings he had absorbed to customize his own, including stat bonuses, granted skills, and additional effects. If he were to choose himself, he would rely on his personal intuition, which wouldn't maximize the ring's potential; he needed Stan and the others to help him make the right selections.

Before meeting Outlet and Stan, Chenfeng would have definitely done it his own way, picking whatever felt right. But after knowing them, he realized they analyzed everything with their brains, breaking down situations to find the best possible outcome. Chenfeng had gradually been influenced by them, starting to use data and analysis to handle parts of the game that used to frustrate or make him hesitate.

"Crow, once you finish the ring, how about we go loot Baru’s ring? While we have the advantage of this super-strong orange weapon, it’ll be easier to kill him. If he keeps collecting rings like this, it might cause trouble later!" After Stan finished his analysis, Outlet shifted the topic. It could be said that Outlet and Chenfeng were rivals, and they were only cooperating temporarily because of the rings; it wouldn't be good if Chenfeng became too powerful.

"If we loot the ring, does it go to me or you?" Chenfeng asked the most crucial question.

Outlet took a swig of beer and said naturally, "Whoever picks it up gets it!"

"Fine, I agree!" Shadow Corner hadn't expected Outlet and his crew to attempt something so massive. Even their assassination organization couldn't kill Baru—could these guys really pull it off? If he happened to be the one to pick up the ring, that would be fantastic.

Outlet glanced at Shadow Corner and said, "Shadow, stay out of this! You don't have a ring, so what are you participating for? You’ll just be easily discovered by Baru."

Given Shadow Corner's class, lurking in one spot to deliver the finishing blow and snatching the ring would be the most advantageous strategy. The "Shadow" class could continuously summon undead creatures, and his control skills were notoriously tricky. If the two of them went, it was purely to grab the ring; Outlet wasn't a philanthropist, and he wasn't going to loot the ring just to hand it over to someone else.

"Call me when the operation starts. I'm going to go level up first!" After obtaining the analytical data from Outlet and Stan, Chenfeng went to the counter to settle the bill, ordered two extra barrels of beer for them, tossed 28 gold coins, and left. The tavern owner loved generous adventurers like Chenfeng and even had someone deliver an extra small barrel of premium beer to their table.

Chenfeng already had a few plans for what attributes to choose for the ring; listening to their suggestions simply made him more cautious about which set to pick. He knew full well the power of the Magic Ring. A big reason no pros came out this morning was that Chenfeng hadn't even needed to use the ring’s granted skills in either match. He was no longer dependent on the ring to secure victory, and that was exactly what made him so terrifying.

[Blood Magic Ring]
Scattered Artifact, Right-hand ring, drops on death
Equipment requirements: None
+20% Resistance
+20% Lifesteal
+60% Health
Granted Skills: [Space-Time Shift], [Greater Invisibility], [Nightfall]
Effect: 22% chance to be immune to all attacks
Effect: When an attack crits, there is a 25% chance to deal 7x critical damage
Effect: Attacking from stealth is guaranteed to deal 3.5x critical damage and grants an additional 25 Rage
Effect: At night, you enter stealth faster, and movement speed and jumping ability are increased. Day-night cycles will occur on arena maps, shifting every 5 minutes (starting with day)
Consume: Consumes other magic rings to improve overall attributes (consumed count: 12)
Description: Every dimension connected to the Aoglass Continent possesses one magic ring.

For the attribute bonus, Chenfeng could have chosen to increase damage, critical hit chance, or critical damage. Ultimately, he chose to increase resistance. 20% resistance was extremely high; few pieces of equipment provided resistance, especially powerful gear. To Stan, resistance might often be less valuable than raw damage or critical hits, but at critical moments, it could determine life or death. Resistance is the hardest stat to obtain, regardless of the value. If it could appear on a piece of equipment, that was the best-case scenario. Chenfeng decided on resistance. During his last fight with Atlan, the failure of his "Repentance" effect was due to resistance, a moment that had left a deep impression on him.

Regarding the granted skill, Chenfeng did not choose the more destructive "Death's Destruction." If he had that skill, it would be terrifying, and it wouldn't conflict with the three skills of "God Mode," as it was a debuff applied to enemies. Outlet and Stan, as friends, had suggested he choose it, because once that skill was applied, if the opponent didn't remove it in time, it would easily take them out. The struggle in Ghost Valley was the perfect example. However, they didn't really want him to pick it because it posed a huge threat to them. Chenfeng didn't reject it because of them, but because he felt his damage output was already strong enough, and the second effect—the 25% chance for 7x critical damage—was effectively similar. Furthermore, status skills like that were easily removed, and he felt it wasn't as practical as the map-wide blind of "Nightfall."

As for the third effect, Outlet and Stan strongly opposed Chenfeng choosing it. They considered it quite trashy compared to other options. In the end, Chenfeng insisted. He chose it because he wanted to develop more tactical options. This effect changed based on the player's attributes; if the Blood Magic Ring fell into someone else's hands, the attribute would change.

Beyond gaining an extra attribute, skill, and effect, the ring’s existing stats were mostly strengthened or mutated. For instance, the chance for the second effect decreased, but the critical damage increased. This ensured that it wouldn't overlap too much with the third effect.

"Let's see who levels up faster than me from now on!" Chenfeng was no longer worried about being ambushed while leveling on the open map; he had thought of a way to level up much faster than grinding monsters outside. While the Chinese server was viable, the speed was simply too slow.