Kar98K Upon Touchdown!

Prizes were given to the first three teams of the charity duo exhibition tournament.

After second place was third place.

The second runner up was not from any of the popular teams in the tournament. Instead, they were players from team Vega; their team consistently finished within the top 10 teams in all the three matches that day.

As for the chicken dinner winners of the third match, Moon and Pig Emperor Evermore, they had abysmal results for the first two matches. In the first match, they turned into crates almost as soon as they had touched down. It was as equally bad in the second match since they ended up as rank thirty-something.

Even with their chicken dinner in the third match, their final score was below that of team Liquid’s. Hence, they ended up in fourth place.

After the tournament was the award ceremony.

No medals were given out for the charity tournament. The prize money was to be donated in the winners’ names.

Liu Zilang and Misaka Mikoto were awarded 500 thousand US Dollars. They made their choice onstage and donated the full amount to the XXX Children’s Fund. The money would be used to help children in need.

Misaka Mikoto did not receive even a penny. However, she blushed and felt a warm sense of satisfaction in her heart when she imagined that in the future, people would mention her name together with Liu Zilang’s in the ‘joint donation’.

The day ended after the award ceremony. Hence, they took the bus and returned to their hotel.

That night, during dinner time, Long Shenjue summoned the members of 4AM for a brief meeting.

It was about the solo tournament that was to take place the following day.

As an exploratory measure for the first-ever international PUBG tournament, the final champion of the third tournament day would not only receive the star-studded ‘Solo King’ title, but the developer would also release an official weapon skin based on their victory.

More precisely, the weapon skin would be based on the weapon that dealt the final blow. For example, if the chicken dinner winner wielded a shotgun, the new weapon skin would be that of a shotgun’s. The same thing was true for rifles and other guns.

As for unusual circumstances like winning with a frag grenade, a pan, or even punching someone to death, special arrangements would be made after the tournament.

The weapon skin would be sold in the official marketplace after the tournament. The developer would retain one-third of the skin’s profits for advertising and marketing, while the remaining two-thirds of the skin’s profits would go to the player.

No matter the game, many players had the goal to leave their mark in it. This was especially true when the mark was as prominent as a weapon skin.

Everyone was tempted by the prize offered, and so they were poised to do their best in the solo tournament.

After the brief explanation of the tournament, Long Shenjue changed the topic and began talking about the international PGI league which was to take place after the current tournament.

It was going to be the first official league tournament with regional divisions. Compared to previous leagues, the international PGI league was much bigger in scale along with formal regulations. Evidently, the competition would be much tougher than before.

“Many esports clubs are formalizing and setting up teams, and we can see a new generation of prodigies arising from all over the country.

“For example, Lionkk from team OMG. He’s rumored to be from the same prestigious school as Vic, and he’s been poached by OMG’s team coach after multiple invitations.”

Long Shenjue’s tone of voice turned serious. “We will need to expand our club in terms of recruiting new blood and training substitutes. After this tournament, you can start looking into the terms of your contracts.

“Sy recommended a young player to me. I took a look at him, and I think he’s not bad. After we return, I’ll recruit him as a substitute.”

“…”

Liu Zilang felt something swell in his heart as he listened to Long Shenjue speak. It was as though he was back in the glory days when he was a gleaming icon in the tumultuous competitive FPS scene.

After two days of the tournament, he had rediscovered the feeling of competing on stage.

He knew it was where he belonged.

Unfortunately… he thought of a certain incident and sighed.

…

The next day, after a quick warmup, the players of 4AM rode on the shuttle bus after lunch and arrived at Colt Arena in downtown California.

After alighting from the bus, Liu Zilang looked around to take in the bustling atmosphere.

The two days of intense and exciting tournament matches had livened the atmosphere of the crowd.

Everyone was engaged in discussions over the various aspects of the tournament.

The audience had their own opinions and analyses on the individual strength of the players. Other than ranking the players by strength, the other hot topic among them was guessing who would be the one taking the illustrious title of ‘Solo King’ and thus be the player with the highest individual value in the world!

…

The audience members and competitors took their respective seats in the arena.

The commentators also took their places on the platform. After a brief round of introductions, the three commentators started their pre-show warm-up discussion.

“Heheh. I felt something chaotic blowing in the wind when I woke up this morning. Looks like we’re in for a day of intense battles.”

“That’s right. I’m not sure if anyone else has heard the news, but the four players of SKK began climbing the North American solo ladder madly after yesterday’s tournament. This noon, four out of the top five spots on the ladder start with ‘SKK’.”

“You’ve heard the news too. As far as I know, the top spot on the North American ladder is being held by Satan with a rating of 2945. Directly beneath him are Karl, Vivian, and Billy, all of whom have more than 2700 ranking points. The streamer in fifth place has less than 2500 points. I have to say that for these top-tier professional players, gaining points is as trivial as eating rice and drinking water.”

“I believe it all comes down to marksmanship and tactics. By the way, do you think that SKK’s mad dash for the top spots on the solo ladder is their way of intimidating their opponents, telling them that they will be the undisputed champions of the solo tournament today?”

“Hm… I have a feeling that might be the case.”

“…”

While the trio on the platform gossiped to hype up the crowd for the upcoming solo tournament, the competitors finished setting up their equipment on stage.

Then, the game marshals confirmed that everything was ready, and the curtains were drawn on the first match of the solo tournament.

Vroom vroom vroom~!

On the big screen of the tournament, an airplane rumbled into view from the horizon.

In the competitor’s area on stage.

Liu Zilang glanced at the map. It was a flight route that was diagonally upward as it came from seven o’clock in the southwestern direction.

The first landmark along the route was Sosnovka Military Base. It then passed by School and Rozhok before stopping at the right of Severny which was on the northern edge of the map.

‘Looks like the car crash match from yesterday.’ Liu Zilang grumbled in his heart.

The main difference was that he had no team support in the solo tournament.

In this tournament, he carried himself.

One-man squad!

There was no need for coordination, nor any need for tactics.

It was a test of pure marksmanship and intuition!

The strong devoured the weak!

Liu Zilang’s heart began to beat a little faster as he thought of it. The adrenaline rush cleared his mind.

As the ‘All-Rounded King’ in the past, pure individual skill was his domain!

‘Show me all your tricks, and I’ll counter them with my gun!’