After Winning The Esports Championship I’m Going To Pilot A Mecha: Chapter 88

88. Sniper Ranking

In the Lower City District of Yangyuan City, there was the Tianxing Arcade.

“Boss, open four control cabins!”

Several young voices rang out at the front desk. The sleepy-eyed boss behind the desk glanced up and scanned the students standing in front of him. He pulled out a few cards from the drawer below and handed them over. “There are four vacant cabins in Zone B. Go ahead and use them.”

“Thanks, boss!”

The students took the cards and walked shoulder to shoulder towards Zone B.

In the Lower City District, where the wealth level was not as high as the Upper City District, most households couldn’t afford expensive gaming cabins. The best option for playing “Warfall” was to go to the arcade, where you could play for a couple of hours for just ten bucks.

This Tianxing Arcade was located in a prime location, surrounded by several public schools. During class breaks, many young faces would come to play.

The boss watched as the students in front left. Just as he was about to lie down for a nap, another voice of a young man sounded in front of him.

“Are there any available cabins left?”

The voice was clear and carried a hint of magnetism, very pleasant to the ears.

“Yes, there are.” The boss handed over a card to the person. “Deposit is thirty, but you can waive it with a membership. There are vacancies in Zone B, go ahead…”

As he spoke, the boss raised his head and, seeing the appearance of the young man in front of him, was momentarily stunned.

The young man wore a hat, with the brim covering his eyebrows and eyes, leaving only a glimpse of his exquisite jawline.

When the young man took the card, the boss finally saw his face.

It was a refined face with a hint of nobility, looking young but giving off a special aura that set him apart from the other students. He always felt… unlike someone from the Lower City District.

“Thank you.”

Ji Mingzhu took the card, smiled at the boss, and then turned and left.

The boss stared at his retreating figure, wondering if he was some young master from the Upper City District here to experience life. After a moment’s glance, he withdrew his gaze and continued to lie down and rest.

Holding the card in his hand, Ji Mingzhu scratched his cheek with his finger.

Although the bio-synthetic holographic mask fit well and was relatively comfortable, having something extra on his face still felt a bit strange.

Ji Mingzhu’s facial features hadn’t changed much. If the bio-synthetic mask significantly altered his features, anyone with a bit of experience could tell, and his expression would be stiff. Therefore, the bio-synthetic mask given to him by Yao Guang only made slight modifications to the shape of his eyebrows and eyes.

As soon as there was even a slight change in a person’s facial features, it would create a significant difference for others. Although only minor modifications were made, it would be difficult for anyone who wasn’t very familiar with Ji Mingzhu to recognize his shadow in this “new face”.

In the Tianxing Arcade’s Zone B, Ji Mingzhu found an empty control cabin. He sat down, inserted the card, and logged into an account he hadn’t used in a long time.

After entering the Zong Bingyi Academy, Ji Mingzhu had hardly logged into “Warfall” at all. Although it had only been a couple of months, seeing the icon belonging to “Warfall” reappear, Ji Mingzhu still felt a sense of being transported back in time.

However, what Ji Mingzhu didn’t know was that as he logged into his own account, along with a “ding-dong” notification sound, the arcade’s broadcast system also sounded.

“Welcome to Tianxing Arcade, Control Cabin 187 from Zone B! A gaming god descends! He shines with brilliance! His highest historical rank: World Ranking 144!”

The entire arcade fell silent for a moment.

Everyone doubted whether they had misheard, looking at each other in disbelief.

The broadcast repeated three times, “World Ranking 144,” echoing throughout the arcade hall.

The next moment, the entire Zone B exploded!

“What the f*ck?”

“F*ck me!!”

“World Ranking? Who’s this god?”

“Did we just become professional players? Or is the system glitching??”

The boss, who had already laid down to rest, suddenly sat up, completely awake.

A player with a world ranking?!

When high-ranking players come to the arcade to play games, the system automatically broadcasts their presence. This feature undoubtedly attracts many players with inflated egos and serves as a means of promoting business.

According to historical highest rank calculations, as long as the historical rank reaches 3000 points, it triggers the broadcast.

There are many people in the Lower City District, and there are quite a few who love to play “Warfall.” A rank value of 3000 points is already considered high, with basically two or three broadcasts every day. Those above 3500 points are rare, with a broadcast occurring about once every one or two weeks.

A rank value of 4000 points has entered the threshold of “Warfall” professional players. Those who can reach this level basically don’t operate in the Lower City District anymore; they have long been recruited by clubs in the Upper City District, or they have been eyed by the Calamity Control Bureau and conglomerates to become reserve drivers.

Since the opening of Tianxing Arcade, there has only been one broadcast with a rank value of over 4000 points, triggered when a professional player from a club in the Upper City District came to the Lower City District to visit relatives. As for world rankings… let alone triggering a broadcast, the boss didn’t even dare to think about it.

What does world ranking mean?

There is no fixed rank value range. As long as the rank value reaches the top 500, they can have a world ranking, also known as the “World’s Top 500”. However, even in seasons with less intense competition, achieving a spot in the top 500 requires a rank value of over 4600 points. In some more competitive seasons, the score threshold is even higher.

What kind of immortal has descended upon the Lower City District, gracing this small, run-down arcade with their presence?

As the broadcast sounded, the entire arcade became restless, and a crowd rushed over, crowding Zone B to the point of congestion.

…

“Welcome back, [Tian Nan], to Warfall. It’s been over 30 days since your last login. We’ve prepared a generous welcome back gift for you. Please proceed to claim it from the DJ…”

Ji Mingzhu casually closed the return task interface and opened his personal profile.

It had been a long time since he last logged in. The fame he had accumulated to attract the attention of the Calamity Control Bureau had long since dissipated. “Warfall” never lacked gaming prodigies, and the hype came and went quickly.

Glancing at his current rank, the rankings from the previous season had already been settled. The system issued a top 500 avatar frame and reward points. As the previous season he held a world ranking, this season’s initial ranking was already at 3500 points.

In the warehouse lay the “Broken Heavy Cloud” he had modified at the time, with its simple and beautiful white paint job resembling a work of art.

When he modified this mecha back then, Ji Mingzhu was still a member of Zong Bingyi Academy. At that time, he was still struggling to gain recognition from the Zuo Quanzong and was trying to get close to the Titans. But unexpectedly, just over a month later, everything had changed drastically.

A friend request and communication request popped up in the bottom right corner. Ji Mingzhu glanced at it; it was a newly created account with a string of random characters as its ID.

He accepted the friend request and answered the call. On the other end was indeed the voice of Yao Guang.

“How’s it going?” Ji Mingzhu asked.

Yao Guang said, “Yao Mingkai has logged into ‘Warfall’ already. They’re about to participate in a school-level league match. They spend at least six hours a day training for the qualifiers, so they still have plenty of time.”

Yao Mingkai is currently a third-year student in the Mecha Department of one of the top universities in Yangyuan City. He will graduate next year and, as a fervent fan of “Warfall,” joined the school’s professional team when he enrolled and is currently preparing for a school-level league match.

Yao Mingkai’s “Warfall” account was also dug up by Yao Guang. His current rank value is 3689 points, similar to Ji Mingzhu’s current score. Although there is a large player base for “Warfall,” there are not many people in this rank range. With a bit of luck, they can quickly climb the ranks.

“He just finished a qualifying match and is currently on the results screen.”

After a while, Yao Guang prompted, “You can queue up now.”

Ji Mingzhu pressed the queue button.

Searching for a match.

Match found.

Upon entering the interface, the opponent that appeared in front of him was not Yao Mingkai’s account.

Didn’t match.

Ji Mingzhu sighed and casually clicked to exit.

The opposite side rolled up his sleeves preparing for battle, suddenly the opponent disappeared from view, as if they had vanished into thin air.

？？？

What’s going on? Did they just bail on me? Look down on me, huh?

Ji Mingzhu didn’t waste any time with others. If he didn’t match up, he’d slip away directly. When Yao Mingkai’s account re-entered the matchmaking queue, Ji Mingzhu queued up again at the same time as the opponent.

This approach is quite common in the gaming community, often seen when casual players “snipe” streamers for ranking up.

Finally, after missing the mark three times, in the fourth match, Ji Mingzhu finally managed to match with Yao Mingkai in the same game.

Gotcha at last.

Ji Mingzhu’s lips curled into a meaningful smile. He didn’t exit this time, quietly waiting for the countdown to end.

At the same time, Ji Mingzhu’s opponent also noticed the white modified mech in front of him.

From the mech’s parameters, it was estimated to be a B-grade mech, while his own mech was an A-grade model, and a particularly fierce type within the A-grade mechs.

Wasn’t this a mismatch in mech types?

No… Can’t be careless. The captain said not to underestimate any opponent in the match, even if their mech type is inferior, one must exert full force to deal with them.

The countdown slowly elapsed, then reset.

Hum—

Ji Mingzhu activated the power core, and a loud hum surged from the “Broken Heavy Cloud.”

His goal was simple. Since he was going to make contact with Yao Mingkai, he naturally wanted to leave a lasting impression.

An experienced high-ranking player who plays dozens or even hundreds of matches every day has seen all sorts of situations. How can one leave a lasting and indelible impression on the opponent?

In this regard, Ji Mingzhu was much more skilled than anyone else.

The “Yao Mingkai” account piloted the mech and charged towards Ji Mingzhu.

Although he was the first to attack, his steps were cautious, not rushing to attack, but moving in arcs to prevent Ji Mingzhu from using ranged weapons to attack.

But Ji Mingzhu had no intention of using long-range laser harassment. When the distance between them narrowed to twenty meters, the opponent abandoned the probing and launched a formal attack!

“Boom, boom, boom—”

The sound of the mech stomping on the ground was like an ancient behemoth galloping. While launching close-range attacks, the opponent began to sway the mech, not because it was unstable, but because this gait could disrupt the opponent’s judgment, making it difficult to predict their next move.

It was a clever tactic, but in Ji Mingzhu’s eyes, this level of operation was still somewhat immature.

As the distance between them closed to five meters, they entered the close-quarters combat phase!

Ji Mingzhu still didn’t move!

The opponent already sensed something was wrong. Why didn’t they move at this moment? Could they be disconnected?

With a clang, the blade gate popped out, and a radiant laser sword appeared in Ji Mingzhu’s hand. Even though Ji Mingzhu didn’t make any counterattack movements, the opponent didn’t show any mercy. The power core operated at full speed, power output instantly maxed out, and they swung down at Ji Mingzhu with all their strength!

At this moment, the “Broken Heavy Cloud” swayed slightly.

Like a silent swordsman who had practiced for decades, normally immovable but deadly when striking!

The white “Broken Heavy Cloud” trembled slightly, emitting the crisp sound of armor collision, then took a half step forward.

Only half a step!

This half step was simply ingenious, instantly closing the distance between them, reaching the opponent’s close range position, and perfectly jamming the opponent’s mech’s power point. Then, as Ji Mingzhu pulled down the control lever, the “Broken Heavy Cloud” suddenly delivered a powerful elbow strike!

Boom!

Amidst the tremendous roar, this elbow strike directly hit the opponent’s mech’s head. The impact force made the opponent’s mech sway violently. Before they could stabilize, Ji Mingzhu once again drove the “Broken Heavy Cloud” to deliver a powerful knee strike.

This time, no matter how the pilot tried to control it, it was difficult to maintain the balance of the mech. The entire mech lost its pivot point and tilted backward.

Before the mech could even touch the ground, the pilot felt the white mech in front of them move slightly. Then, everything went black as the screen went dark.

Mech explosion!

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