Chapter 379: Pre-season

1am, reality, inside Bai Liu's rented house.

Du Sanying has fallen asleep, while Bai Liu and Tang Erda sit crouched on either side of the coffee table, which is littered with materials.

Tang Erda had an ashtray at his feet, with a number of cigarette butts extinguished by a pestle and mortar, and Tang Erda still had one burning in his mouth, he frowned at the information on the coffee table, reached out and turned over a copy: "These are the information I just asked Su Yang to print out and send over, about the owners of the Sunshine property last year. "

"If it is as you suggest, then the profile of the victimised owners of the Sunshine development fits the profile of the Russell Cemetery Guild."

Tang Erda said with a flourish, "But one thing that's strange is that if these people they really are gamers, their life trajectory is just too ......"

Bai Liu looked down at the information: "Normal people, eh?"

Going to work, going to work, eating, living, taking holidays, there is little sign of this group of people taking part in a bizarre game behind the scenes, just a bunch of tired, ordinary people who are surviving.

"Yes, gamers are more or less extreme, thinking of using game props outside the rules of reality to escape the crushing and sanctioning of reality, such as the Rabid Lamb we've encountered before." Tang Erda's brow tightened, "but this group showed no signs of that at all, despite being very oppressed."

"That's the reason we didn't find anything unusual when we investigated last year, they didn't look like gamers at all."

Bai Liu pulled out a few minutes of information and looked down at it, asking questions as he read: " Captain Tang, if you were the owner of this property and you got into the game, what would you do?"

Tang Erda was only slightly stunned before answering without hesitation, "Use the points exchange props to track down the fleeing developers and bring them back."

Bai Liu took one of the documents he was looking at and put it in front of Tang Erda: "Is that so?"

A newspaper was pasted on the information - [The developer of the Sunshine property is suspected to have surrendered, saying that the money rolled up was not in his possession and had long been transferred by a shell company abroad].

The news in the newspaper was dated last October, exactly after the pre-season ended and a month after these owners jumped.

"After the developer surrendered, all his assets were pledged to fill the gap in the Sunshine property, but it was far from enough to fill the gap, and he was sentenced to life." Bai Liu looked up at Tang Erda, "Now that the developer has been caught, but it hasn't done much, you still have to pay your mortgage every month, and you still have to work hard to save points to survive in the game, what will you do next?"

Tang Erda thought for a moment, he didn't even know what to do for a moment, there was a sense of emptiness that he couldn't find a place to land, he slowly spoke: "...... I may continue to pursue the developer's matter ...... "

But he stopped even in the middle of saying it.

"There's no point in chasing the developers, even if we get them killed it won't help, it'll just be a waste of points, once the money goes overseas it's like water dripping into the sea, after three years it's probably been washed a few rounds already, the chances of getting it back are too slim." Bai Liu's tone was calm and analytical, "The only thing that can solve their plight is money."

"The points earned in the game can be exchanged for money, but that's what keeps you alive, and when you have to go through the game once a week, they shouldn't dare to touch those saved points easily, they can only and only dare to work to earn money to pay off the mortgage."

Bai Liu looks flatly at Tang Erda: "You're actually right, they're just a bunch of ordinary people and they just want to live an ordinary life, and the moment of extreme emotions brought about by the change crushed this group of ordinary people into the game."

"Instead of solving their problems, gaming puts a huge burden on them, the despair and stress grows like a snowball rolling up, working and gaming at the same time is not the intensity of life a normal person can handle."

"They got into the game because they were escaping reality, and in the game they had nowhere to go, so they got into Russell Cemetery."

Tang Erda picked up a newspaper with a stony face: "These people have stable jobs, families, normal social contacts, friends and relatives, people who are in the same problem together, and as far as I know, even with some difficulties, they should not have broken down so quickly and come to this point in three years."

Bai Liu looks at the black and white photographs published in the newspaper of the people who jumped off the building last year and speaks softly.

"It's probably not three years that make a breakdown."

"Rather, it's thirty years."

Bai Liu's eyes fell on a black and white photograph of a man named [Wang Juping], next to a newspaper with the words [Thirty Years of Loans].

"Whether it's in or out of the game, a problem lasting three years might be nothing, but once you don't see hope for thirty years, it's a great test for the average person; there's still hope of repayment for the mortgage, but there's no hope of getting out of the game, and I think that's the main reason for their mental collapse."

Bai Liu looks at Tang Erda: "Not everyone has the resilience of Captain Tang, who has persevered through hundreds of worlds with no hope in the game."

Tang Erda was quiet as he put out the cigarette at his mouth, leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes and exhaled a puff of smoke, and abruptly asked, "Bai Liu, if you were the president of Russell Cemetery and you wanted to save these people, what would you do?"

"Win a game by any means possible." Bai Liu pulls out the owners' materials one by one and skims through them quickly, "Just win one game and the money and game problems can be solved once and for all."

"The points can be used to pay off loans, they can be used to solve the problems of those ordinary people in the guild, and that wish-"

Bai Liu looked to Tang Erda: "I think that president, I think, wants to make a wish to get everyone out of this game."

"This is not a game where normal people can survive, normal people are either going to go crazy or die in this game, he wants everyone to survive, he has to get everyone out of this game, there is no other way but to win the league once."

"This kind of naive thinking shows that he has never heard of Captain Tang, he must be quite a young man." Bai Liu's search for the owner's information finally slowed down, and he pulled one out of a pile of owner's information, put it on the coffee table and turned it 360 degrees and pushed it in front of Tang Erda, "Can Captain Tang find out more about this person?"

Tang Erda's eyes fell on the information Bai Liu handed him -

[2701 homeowners: Yuan Guang - the owner of Sunshine Homeowners Victims Group].

The final day of pre-season and mid-season in the Roving Circus meeting room.

Tang Erda, who spent the whole night researching, rubs her temples and closes her eyes, while Bai Liu, who had been reading until after four o'clock last night, holds his jaw and half-closes his eyes.

Wang Shun pushed the door open and entered, he looked around the room and took a deep breath, "Today's match-up team, Russell Cemetery."

"Before we leave for the viewing pool, let's broadcast a good news story."

Wang Shun clicked on the system panel, "As I told you before, President Bai has risen to 73 in popularity after the last tournament and is the first person on our team to have an exemption."

"And today, we have a second popular player with an exemption."

Wang Shun's gaze slowly moved to Mu Sicheng: "The lagging effect of the last tournament, combined with God Mu's recent outstanding performance, has seen your popularity rise to 98, congratulations, you have been awarded a death free medal."

Mu Sicheng was stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to react, then jumped up with a fist clenched and shouted YES!

"I have stressed to you all the importance of the death penalty many times, your eyes should not just focus on the match in front of you, but also look ahead to think about the future matches, if we win this match, next we will have to compete against the eight guilds selected in the mid-season tournament and play a challenge match."

"Today is also the last day of the mid-season tournament, and excluding today's matches, the top eight guilds in terms of total points so far are -"

Wang Shun tapped the system panel.

"First in line, killer sequence

Second in line, King's Guild

Third in line, Deer Hunter

Fourth in line, Golden Dawn

Placed fifth, Gamblers' Union

Placed sixth, Kabbalah

Seventh in line, Masons in Paradise

Placed eighth, the Cloak of Invisibility."

Wang Shun looked to everyone: "These eight teams, no matter which one they are, are all top powerhouses and are basically full of exemptions, so even if we have qualified for the playoff challenge so far, we can't slack off in today's game, not only must we win, but we must win beautifully in order to gain the support of the crowd and try to get all our players in this one game get the get-out-of-jail-free card."

"And in order to do that." Bai Liu slowly opened his eyes, "We first have to interrupt that Mist skill player."

"If we allow the other team to successfully perform their skills to cover the map and the view of the spectators, it will not only make the match more difficult for us, but also make the spectators unable to see the match, not to mention gaining support from the audience."

Bai Liu stood up and looked around lightly, "When you're ready, let's move."

All answered in unison, "Yes!"

As Bai Liu turned to walk forward, Tang Erda got up and strutted next to Bai Liu, who turned his head sideways and asked in a low voice, "Did you see anything from reading the information all night?"

"I don't see anything." Bai Liu replied laconically, "Except that Yuan Guang and I are peers."

Tang Erda stared and subconsciously asked, "A fellow smuggler? Is he in the smuggling business too?"

"No." Bai Liu gives Tang Erda a quick glance, smirking, "He's a beautician."

The other end.

Yuan Guang sat nervously on the bench shaking his legs, his hands clenched into fists, and kept taking deep breaths, but his face was still suffocating.

Shi Qian, who was next to him, looked annoyed and amused: "As the head of the team, can you behave like a big man on the field? Is it reasonable to be so nervous?"

"I don't know how many times I've had to go up on stage to give speeches and introduce myself and stuff from primary schools to college to work ......" Yuan Guang looked slyly sideways at Shi Qian, "I get as nervous on stage now as I do when the main beauty introduces I'm just as nervous as I am when I present my ideas."

Shi Qian looked at Yuan Guang like this is really pathetic, did not resist the old saying again: "pre-season to advance two teams, this does not play me? can also advance to the playoffs challenge, why not we abandon ...... "right.

"No!" Yuan Guang's voice calmed down as he looked to Shi Qian, "This has to be a fight."

"Give up this we play the challenge directly against the big guild will definitely die a lot of players, we still may not be able to win, the wandering circus is a guild that we have recently encountered the most sufficient bottom money, the players who have died and those who will die next need pensions, otherwise their families can not afford to pay the mortgage, there are many people who can not afford to pay the mortgage this month already, if we do not win this of the betting pool ......"

Yuan Guang gritted his teeth and took a breath: "Anyway, I will win this match!"

Shi Qian retorted to Yuan Guang in mock displeasure, "What do you mean, you don't? We're the ones who will win this game!

Yuan Guang was quiet for a moment: "Thank you, we were just colleagues, I dragged you into this."

Looking at the roaming circus group approaching in the distance, Shi Qian also clenched his sweaty fists nervously and let out a breath: "Real relationships in reality, in-game relationships in game."

"We're standing here now." Shi Qian turned her head to Yuan Guang and smiled, "Then we're no longer colleagues, we're comrades in arms! "

Shi Qian said with certainty: "We're going to win!"