As everyone imagined, even someone as formidable as the Whirlwind Big Shot couldn’t possibly rank first in every dungeon, right? While raw strength matters in some dungeons, "The Princess’s Gathering" is all about getting work done.
Is the Whirlwind Big Shot really that skilled at manual labor? Surely they weren’t a janitor before joining this survival game?
So Qi Xu’s screen was buzzing with activity...
Qi Xu skimmed a few messages lazily and yawned. "I don’t even know what this dungeon is about, so how could I have any intel?"
Lately, they’d been going to bed by 8 or 9 p.m., so staying up even slightly later made them drowsy.
The two little furballs were already curled up in their nests, motionless, and Qi Xu’s eyelids grew heavier until they finally dozed off.
Then came a sharp ding.
Qi Xu’s eyes snapped open. It was only 10 p.m.? What was going on?
Baffled, they checked their screen but found no notifications. Had they imagined the sound?
Just then, Qiuqiu spoke up: "Player, hello. The survival game is convening a meeting for select high-level players who meet certain criteria. Would you like to participate?"
Qi Xu was instantly wide awake.
Since when did the survival game hold meetings? Unheard of! But then again, their level probably hadn’t been high enough to know before.
"I’ll join!"
Qiuqiu rarely spoke so formally—something big must be happening.
Qi Xu hurriedly tied their hair back, slipped on their shoes, and got out of bed.
While pondering how this "meeting" would work, they suddenly noticed a new group chat.
Ah, so much for being teleported somewhere, like entering a dungeon. Overthinking it.
Qi Xu tapped into the chat.
There were 51 members total, with Qiuqiu as the admin.
The others were listed by server region, sub-region, and nickname—no additional details.
Scanning the nicknames, Qi Xu spotted a few familiar ones: late-game powerhouses, all from the Chinese server. No foreigners.
They also saw Warwolf 001 and Warwolf 007—teammates of Warwolf 009.
Talk about coordination. The whole squad had matching names, no wonder they recognized each other instantly.
Qiuqiu posted a message:
"Hello, everyone! I’m Qiuqiu, the AI assistant for high-level players. Welcome to this meeting. The chat is in mute mode for now. Once I’ve announced the mission, there’ll be time for open discussion."
"You’ve all obtained the ‘DIY Dungeon Card,’ which is a prerequisite for this task."
"Next, we’re launching a cross-region battle—‘Survival of the Fittest!’ The 50 of you will be randomly split into 25 pairs for head-to-head matches.
If anyone declines, your DIY Dungeon Card will be confiscated, and a new player will be randomly selected to replace you.
Before the battles begin, you’ll each design a dungeon within your sub-region to select 10 players for the cross-region showdown.
Winners of the cross-region matches can swap 10 players from the opposing sub-region with 10 from their own.
Besides generous rewards, you’ll also gain access to the loser’s entire inventory and may claim one resource of your choice. Teammates of winners receive bonuses; teammates of losers face no penalties."
"Now, it’s Q&A time! Feel free to ask me anything!"
Suddenly, Qi Xu remembered.
Before the mass server mergers, newcomers had frequently appeared out of nowhere.
But since Qi Xu never paid much attention, it hadn’t registered—until now, with these rules spelling it all out.
Whirlwind Big Shot: "What’s the format for the cross-region battles?"
Fortune God’s Only Daughter: "Whirlwind Big Shot? Fancy meeting you here. You know, if you’d been an hour slower, I would’ve been the first to hit Level 6 vehicles. The announcement would’ve been mine."
Whirlwind Big Shot: "Oh? Second place doesn’t get cross-server announcements, though."
Fortune God’s Only Daughter: "Bold words. Qiuqiu, I demand a match against Sub-region 666 in Server 88."
Qiuqiu: "No requests allowed."
Qiuqiu: "@Whirlwind Big Shot The format is an arena battle. (◦˙▽˙◦)!"
Fortune God’s Only Daughter: "Why do you smile at her but give me attitude? @Qiuqiu"
Qiuqiu ignored them entirely.
Gambling King Lai Xiaohua: "Can we bring weapons into the arena?"
Qiuqiu: "Yes, but no firearms."
Happyending: "Can we kill in the arena?"
Qiuqiu: "Of course. We encourage the weak to die."
Fortune God’s Only Daughter: "You’ve got a real way with words."
Qiuqiu: "@Fortune God’s Only Daughter And you sound like a barking mutt."
Qi Xu nearly laughed—despite the gravity of the situation, Qiuqiu’s rare insult was oddly refreshing after its usual professionalism.
Whirlwind Big Shot: "When does the arena start?"
Qiuqiu: "8 a.m. the morning after the DIY dungeons conclude."
Gegwu: "One thing—do we supply the monsters and materials for the dungeon cards ourselves?"
Qiuqiu: "Correct. If you need monsters, purchase them with survival coins. Costs will be tallied after dungeon setup."
More questions followed, but Qi Xu found most irrelevant. They also noticed...
Not every selected player was a powerhouse. One named "A Dairy Cow" kept ranting about how killing in the arena violated "human solidarity."
Qi Xu’s eyes narrowed in irritation. Their stupidity was a liability—already exposing weakness before the battles even began.
Qiuqiu: "Now, random pairings..."
"Matchups are live. Check your assignments. Do not leave the group—arena details will be posted here."
Qi Xu opened the list and sighed.
〖Server 88, Sub-region 666 vs. Server 12, Sub-region 632: Warwolf 007〗
Of all people, it had to be him or Warwolf 001.
Their strength was one thing, but their stubbornness was worse—they’d endure any hardship without complaint, and their teamwork was flawless.
Worse, they were blindly loyal. In the last game, their faction started off fine, if overly generous. But then they met some former "leader" (not even their direct superior) and practically enshrined the guy.
Their idiocy got most of the "Warwolf" faction killed.
Warwolf 009, in Qi Xu’s eyes, was a good person and reliable ally—they’d built trust and tacit understanding. But...
........
