The Annual Celebration of The Second World, Huang Yi found this term to be as familiar as thunder, often mentioned by players on forums.
Since the first celebration was held last year, it has become the largest event in the world. Leaders from various countries around the globe, celebrities from all walks of life would attend, and even the World Federation was no exception! This celebration was equivalent to gathering all of humanity’s elites in one place, drawing the attention of the entire world, with all radios and televisions broadcasting live.
Because the organizer of this celebration was the Era Corporation!
At this celebration, the Era Corporation would present a series of awards to those who had performed exceptionally in The Second World over the past year, with over 200 categories of awards, each undergoing three rounds of rigorous selection.
The first round, screening out 100 contenders.
The second round, narrowing down to 10 nominees.
The third round, selecting the ultimate winner.
The Era Corporation would issue honor medals to each contender, with contenders receiving a bronze medal, nominees a silver medal, and winners a gold medal!
The value of these medals was on par with the Olympic medals, as The Second World encompassed the entire global population. Hence, everyone in the world was essentially a candidate, participating in the competition for these awards, no longer mere spectators like in the Olympics. The experience of such participation was completely different from that of mere observation, which is why everyone in the world maintained high enthusiasm for the celebration. Anyone who obtained a medal would be as if they had brought honor to their country and would be adored by countless people of that country.
Last year, the United States topped the gold medal leaderboard with 43 golds, China was second with 39, and Japan third with 27.
Of course, among these two-hundred-plus awards, there were certainly differences in prestige. In last year’s celebration, the two top-tier awards were the Annual Best Individual Award and the Annual Best Group Award.
Those who won these top awards, in addition to receiving a gold medal, would receive an even greater benefit, that was to have Mr. Huang Sha, the president of the Era Corporation, fulfill one of their wishes! As long as the wish wasn’t too extravagant, Mr. Huang Sha would help them achieve it!
Figures like Dao Feng, Dragon Spike, and Heavenly Dao had all been finalists for last year’s Annual Best Individual Award, with Dao Feng emerging as the ultimate winner. The Annual Best Group Award went to the Angel Legion from the United States, the core of the world’s number-one guild, Heaven, created by the American player Pope.
What wishes these individuals put forth to Mr. Huang Sha had been a hot topic among the players, yet the parties involved never spoke of it, creating a mystery that people speculated about for an entire year.
Now, as the second Annual Celebration approaches, it will undoubtedly stir up another whirlwind. Masters from various nations are gearing up for another round of competition, a new batch of faces ready to catch the limelight, and the whole world is about to go crazy.
Among these awards, what Huang Yi most wanted to win was the Best Individual Award, because after receiving this award, one could make a wish to Mr. Huang Sha. As long as he won, he could ask Mr. Huang Sha to meet a request on behalf of the winner. Regardless of whether Mr. Huang Sha would agree or not, at least the odds were much better!
However, Huang Yi had little hope for this award. Although his current momentum was commendable, it was only in terms of fame; his actual strength was still far behind that of Dao Feng and the others, because he had been in The Second World for less than a month, whereas Dao Feng and his peers had been struggling here for two years!
Dao Feng and his group appeared to be only at Level 55, but level was not a measure of strength. More than a year ago, they had already reached Level 50. They had only risen 5 levels in over a year, not because they were lazy, but because after reaching Level 50, every player would awaken their own War Soul!
War Souls greatly enhanced a player’s various attributes, but cultivating a War Soul required a large amount of Experience Points. Using Experience Points from Level 1 to cultivate a War Soul granted a far greater increase in strength compared to the enhancements from levelling up, so those who were over Level 50 spent their Experience on their War Soul instead, with nobody willing to level up. Moreover, even if one tried to level up, they simply couldn’t beat the NPCs, because after Level 50, the NPCs’ strength drastically increased. Players without a cultivated War Soul could hardly kill even the lower-level monsters past 50, let alone engage in Level Grinding.
Huang Yi had already reached Level 36 and was only 14 levels away from Level 50. Once he reached that level, he would be able to awaken his own War Soul and would see a period of rapid progress in terms of strength.
Huang Yi quickly skimmed through the specifics of this year’s ceremony and discovered that it was somewhat different from last year. This year’s ceremony had added several top-level awards, one of which strikingly was the "Best Newcomer of the Year Award".
The conditions for this award stipulated that only those who had not been shortlisted for any award at last year’s ceremony were eligible to compete!
This meant that Huang Yi met the nomination criteria!
Because at this time last year, he was still detained in Rose Prison. He had not even logged into The Second World, let alone participated in any awards, which made him a complete newcomer!
Huang Yi’s thoughts suddenly became animated. Since the Best Newcomer of the Year Award was also a top-level award, the winner should be able to make a wish to Mr. Huang Sha!
He could actually strive for this award. However, his opponents were no less formidable. As far as he knew, there were two major threats just within the China Region.
The first major threat was Thunder God. Thunder God had risen to prominence within the past year and was the first player to journey across the continent. Although this feat did not trigger a system announcement or earn National Honor Points, in the hearts of many players, he was regarded on par with figures like Dao Feng and Dragon Spike. With his strength, his nomination was certain, and he would pose a significant threat to Huang Yi.
The other major threat was Yang Yuheng, the person who ranked ahead of Huang Yi in the contribution list for China National Honor Value.
Yang Yuheng was different from most celebrities. While celebrities like Dao Feng, Dragon Spike, Heavenly Dao, and Pope all belonged to Rare Classes, Yang Yuheng was a member of a Common Race and a Common Class! Half a year ago, nobody had heard his name; he was just an ordinary player one could find anywhere on the streets, but then, six months ago, he suddenly triggered a system notice and became the leader of the Draenei Clan!
The Draenei were one of the one hundred Common Races of The Second World, and the average number of players choosing the Draenei was around one hundred million. Yang Yuheng became the leader of this one hundred million!
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Sorry, this Chapter took a long time to conceive, so it’s only being published now...