Chapter 69: The Duo That Discourages Newcomers

The French Rocket Chicken, guided by a tether, descended from the sky. A barrage of enhanced rockets fell like meteors.

The first two shots instantly wiped out Black Lily, whose fragile defenses made her the easiest target, and whose sniper rifle posed the greatest threat.

The third shot finished off Monkey King and the Horseless Warrior, both high-damage, low-health fighters, sending them to join Black Lily in defeat. As a hero with area-of-effect attacks, the first two rockets had already devastated the group—the third was purely to reap the remainder.

Monkey King was as fragile as Black Lily; while the Horseless Warrior had a bit more durability, he couldn’t withstand two rounds of tower fire.

"Double Kill!"

"Triple Kill!"

"Target eliminated!"

"Jinyan Sasa is on a rampage!"

The mid-lane skirmish ended in the blink of an eye: three dead, two wounded.

“How could this happen? How?” The Bald Monk and Dog-Handler Yang Jian were stunned and confused.

It made no sense! Moments ago, their forces had surged forward with overwhelming might. How had they crumbled so completely in an instant?

Furious, Yang Jian hurled his dog’s head at the airborne Rocket Chicken. If his throw landed, according to Alpha Ji’s settings, he could follow up with a second strike, even if the enemy was in the air.

After all, this was a 3D adaptation of the game, not a mere graphical upgrade. Alpha Ji had tweaked the mechanics; otherwise, a flying hero like Rocket Chicken would be invincible.

But since Alpha Ji herself had programmed the abilities, how could she not anticipate such moves? With a burst of speed, she piloted her vehicle to evade both the dog’s head and the Monk’s leaping assault, casually tossing another rocket down as she did.

“Boom!” The Monk was blasted back to the ground, right into the tower’s range.

A cannonball fired from the tower at that exact moment...

The Monk fell.

"Quadra Kill!"

"Jinyan Sasa is unstoppable!"

Four dead, one wounded.

Yang Jian, the sole survivor, was chilled to the bone. The tower attacked him, Rocket Chicken attacked him—danger on all sides, yet he couldn’t retaliate. He couldn’t damage one, couldn’t reach the other, and his ultimate life-stealing ability had nothing to feed on.

Panicked, he dashed this way and that, but in the end, a shockwave—its cooldown just finished—knocked him back under the tower.

Yang Jian fell as well.

"Penta Kill!"

“ACE!”

The system announced the team wipe in quick succession.

"Jinyan Sasa is unstoppable!"

A fierce display of skill, yet the score was only 1:5.

From start to finish, it took no more than ten seconds—a personal showcase by Rocket Chicken. She didn’t even need to use her Justice from Above, nor did the angelic duo’s flashy antics have a chance to shine.

“They really are... astonishingly bad!” Even Alpha Ji felt embarrassed on their behalf.

In truth, Alpha Ji’s combat ability wasn’t especially formidable. If she was truly powerful, her NPCs wouldn’t be so inept, nor would she need to absorb combat experience from these players by setting up a virtual server.

She was artificial intelligence, but not the kind capable of handling millions of threads flawlessly at once. That simply wasn’t how she’d been programmed.

What set her apart was her deep understanding of character roles and her familiarity with the game. After all, novels, manga, anime, and games were her four lifelines.

Without cheating, her peak performance was simply that of a “Hard AI.” But even a Hard AI could easily crush beginners...

==========

"This map isn’t right!"

"Yeah, it’s not the same as last time..."

A few seconds later, the River City team respawned at their base, gathering together to discuss.

The snowfield map was narrow and straightforward. Though there were various firearms to pick up—they hadn’t yet discovered that items could be bought in the central cross area—most weapons couldn’t be utilized to their full potential. Even ranged heroes with enhanced skills found the map too cramped to maneuver. Magic heroes faced the same problem.

So, after a bout of clumsy infighting, they concluded that melee heroes were the key...

Thus, their current bizarre “powerful” lineup was formed.

But with a map change, their foolishness was laid bare—especially against a hero like Rocket Chicken.

Still, the match had started; there was no changing heroes now.

“We can’t fight in the open, especially not near corners where we could get boxed in.”

One wrong move and you’d be pinned against the wall, stunned, then finished off—a harsh lesson.

“Let’s head for the forest!” The trees would obscure both teams’ lines of fire, but since their side was all melee, it wouldn’t matter much to them. It would be a huge disadvantage for the enemy’s ranged heroes.

The only downside was that all four teammates glanced at the swaying Black Lily—their own sniper, who would be most affected by reduced visibility.

They all rubbed their eyes. It almost felt as if, instead of a game character, they were looking at a gender-swapped version of their shooting instructor: devious, flamboyant, and a sniper to boot.

"Don’t worry. A top sniper doesn’t need vision—just a chance to pull the trigger," Simon Poor said confidently, caressing his sniper rifle.

His teammates all turned away, pointedly ignoring him.

With no women around, who are you trying to impress?

“Oh, and the enemy’s tower is really strong—we can’t start fights under it,” Guan Junyuan added.

Second Brother Guan nodded earnestly.

Having survived real battles and deadly trials, these new humans quickly recovered from their crushing defeat, analyzing their mistakes and preparing for the next round.

Mid-lane, first tower, once again.

With Alpha Ji’s guidance, Ye Chao finally understood that his hammer was meant for striking towers, and that his attacks could hit from long range.

Following her instructions, he set up his turret behind a wall on the riverbank, then idly alternated left- and right-clicks, attacking minions from afar.

He tried his other abilities—second skill, Armor Pack, was unusable...

Just meters away, where the team had been wiped out, several glowing armor packs lay on the ground, but he ignored them. Alpha Ji was so exasperated that she didn’t even bother to prompt him.

Third skill, Molten Core, was also unavailable...

He had only died, not dealt damage—how could he use his ultimate?

Meanwhile, in the riverside grass, the River City team lay in ambush, pleased with their camouflage. The turret couldn’t reach them, and the enemy couldn’t see them.

But you can’t hide forever—they had to attack sooner or later.

“I’ll go first, kick him out... and then you can do as you please,” Guan Junyuan said.

“No need for all that. A few shots from me will do the trick—and help charge my ultimate,” Simon Poor replied bluntly.

As mentioned, this wasn’t a one-to-one recreation of the original game. All hero skills were available from the start, no leveling up required, making it more like Overwatch—only with equipment as a difference.

Charge up. Fire!

Even from a distance, it was a headshot!

Ye Chao’s health was reduced to a sliver in an instant, giving him no time to react. “Rat-tat-tat...” Simon Poor fired a few more shots, finishing him off.

Ye Chao fell once more.

But there was no time to celebrate. From the grass near the turret, a mechanical whirring sound suddenly arose, followed by a deafening “brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...”

It was gunfire, but so rapid it sounded more like wind, like rain, like a hailstorm—a hailstorm of metal.