69: The s

[ "Brother Hao is the GOAT" tipped 50 yuan. (Leonhardt is still my god!) ]

[ "Class" tipped 50 yuan. (It's too early to challenge him now.) ]

[ "Candy" tipped 50 yuan. (He lost...) ]

[ "Gambling King" tipped 50 yuan. (My points...) ]

- "Leonhardt is just too strong!"

- "The number one ranking is truly well-deserved."

- "My fried chicken just arrived."

- "Is the stream ending here today?"

- "How about switching to IRL content?"

Fu Hao stared at Leonhardt in the gray screen, listening to the donation notification sounds and the barrage in the chat area, standing there in a daze.

His first death had to happen in front of 1.6 million viewers. From the start of the battle to his death, it took only 5 seconds. This crushing defeat, which couldn't even be called a "duel," dealt him a heavy blow.

"Today's stream... let's end it here."

He bid farewell to the audience in a hoarse voice and pressed the end stream button.

——————

In a southern territory of the Kalis Empire, Tianma and his guild members sat around a giant screen watching the stream—the figure on the screen was none other than Leonhardt.

During the guild meeting, a member accidentally stumbled upon a re-stream post of "Leonhardt vs Fu Hao," and things spiraled out of control.

"Guild Master, maybe we should stop watching."

"We already know the outcome, why set ourselves up for disappointment..."

"You guys don't actually think Fu Hao can win, do you?"

Tianma scanned everyone coldly, and the guild members shrank back. Only one rookie spoke up:

"I think Fu Hao can win. If he uses the binding magic like on the 60th floor followed by 'The Strongest 1 Second,' and then follows up with Spatial Slash, even Leonhardt wouldn't be able to withstand it, right?"

The air in the conference room turned cold. The members lowered their heads and frantically spammed in the "Guild Chat Without the Guild Master":

- "Oh my god!"

- "We're doomed!"

- "Who recruited this rookie?"

- "Killer Bee brought him in!"

- "Killer Bee, can you put more effort into rookie training?"

- "Sorry."

To everyone's surprise, Tianma spoke up:

"...Actually, I also think Fu Hao can win."

"Huh?"

"'The Strongest 1 Second' that skill is too broken. You guys saw it too, it's practically a cheat."

"Guild Master, you actually watched Fu Hao's Training Tower stream?"

"Yeah, I watched it. Honestly, it was pretty shocking. Didn't you guys watch it?"

...

Silence spread through the conference room—of course they had watched it. Which high-level player wouldn't be curious about Fu Hao's Training Tower operations? Not to mention Tianma, who had lost "The Strongest 1 Second," keeping an eye on the opponent's moves was a required course.

"Regardless of anything else, in terms of PvP alone, Fu Hao is almost invincible right now. As long as the Mimic doesn't have extra BOSS health bonuses, Fu Hao is guaranteed to win."

If "Vine Bind" were a targeted spell that required aiming, Tianma might not be so certain, but the spell had auto-lock and was at a very high level; even top-tier players would find it hard to resist.

"That may be true..." a member still had doubts, "If he could end it in 5 seconds, why drag it out for traffic? It feels like he's deliberately keeping the audience on edge."

Witnessing it with one's own eyes is ultimately different from predicting the result—the members worried that Tianma would fall into a mental demon again because of Fu Hao's activity.

"I don't want to see him show off either, but aren't you curious to see Leonhardt get humbled?" Tianma asked back, "Even if it's a Mimic clone, this is the first time he's been defeated by a player."

Leonhardt—most players viewed him as a belief, while top-tier players, while looking up to him, deep down all longed to witness "his defeat."

Just as Tianma finished speaking, on the stream, Fu Hao swung his sword to activate "Earth Shatter," and Leonhardt dodged into the air with monster-like reaction speed.

"Wow..." "Are you crazy?" "He can dodge that?"

Although Tianma reminded them to be quiet, the members couldn't help but exclaim.

Immediately after, Fu Hao cast "Vine Bind" on the charging Leonhardt—but was bound in return and instantly killed by a five-hit combo, the screen turning gray.

...

After a long while, Tianma whispered:

"So the real monster is someone else..."

He suddenly remembered the fact he had deliberately forgotten: they were living in Leonhardt's era.

——————

In an unpopular high-level monster grinding area, a seven-person team was grinding monsters.

"Wait!" a member called out to his teammates, "I heard Fu Hao and Leonhardt are fighting! Guild Master, should we watch this first?"

"Huh? Didn't they say it would be in five months?"

"I'm not sure, a friend told me."

"Leonhardt vs Fu Hao"—ever since Fu Hao became Helm's disciple, it had become a hot topic in the high-level player circle. Among low-level players, Leonhardt was more popular; but in the eyes of high-level players, Fu Hao's status was already on par with Leonhardt.

"It's the Training Tower!" a member wearing a cute bear doll skin interjected, "I'm watching Fu Hao's stream. The 71st-floor BOSS is a Mimic, it copied Leonhardt's appearance."

"Really? Awesome! But Chaos, you actually watch streams?"

"...Suddenly interested."

Chaos answered vaguely—she had been secretly watching Fu Hao's stream, and only now dared to express it publicly by borrowing her teammate's topic. Fortunately, her teammates didn't suspect anything.

"Alright, let's watch it together." The captain made the call.

Everyone retreated to the safe zone and watched the stream intently.

"Getting to the 71st floor is already very impressive."

"How did they pass the 70th floor?"

"Sigh, we haven't even been to the 50th floor."

"Didn't expect this game to be such a money sink."

"It's not just about spending money; Fu Hao is also lucky. Who would have thought the Novice Trial title would be this strong?"

"Anyway, I'm so jealous."

"Who do you think will win?"

"I'm betting on Fu Hao. Based on his 60th-floor playstyle, no one can withstand it."

"I'm voting for Leonhardt. He's a legendary figure, after all, he wouldn't get one-shot, right?"

She knew deep down that her close friend Qin Zhe (Fu Hao) had set Leonhardt as his goal, and the duel in five months was a heavy burden. How she wished Fu Hao could crush "Leonhardt" to alleviate that pressure.

Chaos stared fixedly at the screen—when she saw Rachel driving traffic for Fu Hao, she almost lost her composure, but fortunately, remembering she had teammates around, she managed to restrain herself.

However, as Fu Hao unleashed "Earth Shatter," the battle ended in a disastrous defeat within 5 seconds.

"Wow..." "That's absurd." "How is he supposed to beat the 71st floor now?" "Don't worry about it, we can't even beat the 50th floor." "I'm talking about the high-level player circle!" "They have their own ways."

The teammates chattered away, but Chaos said nothing. Only after Fu Hao ended the stream did she speak:

"I'm logging off first."

Without waiting for a response, she logged out of the game.

——————

After taking off the virtual reality access equipment, Qin Zhe fell into deep thought. His phone vibrated—the caller ID displayed "Chaos."

"Hello."

"It's me."

"Yeah."

"...Are you okay?"

"What do you mean by okay or not?"

"Losing to Leonhardt, and that character dying in the game for the first time."

"...It is indeed the first time, but it's fine. Actually, it's quite good."

"Huh?"

Chaos was confused by this unexpected answer.

"Isn't this a great practice opportunity? My opponent in five months—I can get early exposure to his 'Mimic' now. Although it's different from the real Leonhardt, where else would I find such a similar sparring partner?"

The blow of having his death witnessed by 1.6 million viewers hadn't completely faded, but as Qin Zhe reviewed the battle, he realized: this was a god-sent opportunity.

If he had one-shot Leonhardt just now, he would have lost the precious sample to analyze Leonhardt. This failure, surprisingly, made him feel relieved.