The Return of the God Level Assassin

1074  NEW FORMAT

LUO YAN browsed Weibo as he and Luo Jin were on their way to school. Winter break was over and now it's the start of the new semester. Students would mostly feel lethargic going to class after a long vacation, but Luo Yan didn't feel any of that. Probably because he had been busy with a lot of things that time just passed by in a blur.

Spending time with family, going on dates with his boyfriend, and fighting in the preliminaries of Arcadia Cup.

Speaking of the Cup, he remembered once again the announcements that Uncle Yi Mu gave last night.

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Since Luo Yan already knew from what Shen Ji Yun said earlier that there's a chance the date of the final tournament might be moved, he wasn't that surprised by Uncle Yi Mu's announcement. What did surprise him, though, was the reason behind it.

It's just a month when the other announced that new servers would be open this year. He just didn't expect that it would be this soon. Maybe when Uncle Yi Mu announced about it during the opening ceremony, everything had already been prepared. Because if not, then there's no way those servers would have been ready this fast.

Luo Yan thought that that would be the end of the announcement. He didn't expect that there would be more.

"To show these new players all over the world how magnificent and wonderful the world of Arcadia is, we had decided to change the tournament format," Uncle Yi Mu continued.

A new tournament format? Based on the murmurs floating around, it's clear that Luo Yan was not the only one confused by this.

"In the previous setup, team battles were categorized into three types—tower defense, battle arena, and wargame. However, with the new format, there will be a change. The top 16 round of the tournament will follow the familiar old format. But, as soon as the tournament progresses to the quarter-finals, a change in the format will be implemented.

"The next three rounds, starting from the top 8, will feature themes that have never been explored in previous Arcadia Cups. For the quarter-finals, the theme will be [Amazing Race]. The competing teams will race throughout Arcadia, searching for clues and solving puzzles until they reach the final pit-stop.

"For the semi-finals, the theme will be [RPG]. The competing teams will navigate the same dungeon scenario, and the team that fulfills the scenario's requirements will emerge victorious. As for the finals, it will be a classic [Battle Royale], where the last two teams will eliminate each other in a harsh environment and penalties could be imposed at any given moment.

13:35

"These changes in the final tournament might come as a surprise to everyone, and some of you may not even like them. However, remember that all 16 teams here represent the best of the best that Arcadia has to offer. Don't you want to show these new players from different countries how things are done? Show them why you are the best?"

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Those last words of encouragement definitely lit the fighting spirits of those players who were there at that moment. It's probably why none of them complained on the spot after hearing such changes.

The same couldn't be said to those who were watching the live broadcast, though. As evidence of the comments on Weibo that Luo Yan was reading now.

[I can still understand moving the date of the final tournament. But changing the format? Like what the heck is an amazing race even?]

[Wasn't it obvious that Moonlight Media is basically using the final tournament to advertise Arcadia to those foreigners? The CEO said so himself.]

[With those changes, the game will definitely be well advertised, no doubt.]

[Is Moonlight Media just turning into a big money grubber? Just to promote the game to other countries, they didn't hesitate to ruin Arcadia Cup?]

[Is there even a game company that's not a money grubber?]

[But you've got to admit, it's a good PR move. This is almost like free promotion. If I were a foreigner and I watched the livestream of the final tournament, seeing all the places in Arcadia featured while those teams were competing, I would definitely buy a VR helmet the next day so I could also play the game.]

Of course, not all the comments were negative. There were those who were excited to watch this new format. Saying that the old setup was already too predictable. Since this would be the last Arcadia Cup, it's better to go out with a bang than to stick with what's comfortable and familiar. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Personally, Luo Yan really didn't have much opinion about it. Whether it's the old format or the new, it wouldn't change what their team had to. And that's to win.

Although the [Amazing Race] and [RPG] could be fun in their own way. Well, it certainly would be interesting.

Seeing that he was browsing Weibo, Luo Jin asked beside him, "Is Arcadia trending because of what happened last night?"

Luo Yan closed his phone and answered, "Yeah. Some people were not too happy about it."

"Hmm, I, for one, approve of this change."

"Why? Do you like the concept of amazing race? Or did you enjoy role playing during the dungeon raid we did last time?" Luo Yan asked curiously, and also with a hint of teasing in his voice.

As expected, Luo Jin's face turned red in embarrassment. The other was probably reminded of that dungeon raid where he had to play the role of a male cross dressing as a female.

"Not that! I'm just glad they moved the schedule," Luo Jin quickly denied. "At least with it being held in the third week of June, you can now focus more on your college entrance exam."

Luo Jin did have a point. Since the college entrance exam was usually held during the first week of June.

Then, as if realizing something, Luo Jin said, "No way. Did that guy ask his uncle to change the schedule for you, so you could have more time to prepare for the college entrance exam?"