Chapter 119: The Knight in the Martial Arts World

"Net admin, take my money, start the machine."

Chen Fan stepped through the automatic doors, his mouth already shaped for the words, but he swallowed them back just as they reached his throat.

"Ahem, almost forgot," Chen Fan said, shaking off his awkwardness as he leaned against the counter. "Tell me, is it busy today? Any spots available?"

"Unless it's the weekend, it's usually empty. But we're testing a new version inside; I heard it's in preparation for the Werewolf King Tournament. If you want to use our local network to connect to the game, you might be restricted to specific setups."

The receptionist was a new face, generic from head to toe. Chen Fan didn't pay much attention and instead asked, "The Werewolf King Tournament? Didn't that use to be held at the club? Why does the club house need to do anything?"

The other person shook their head, clearly uninformed. "The person in charge didn't tell me much. They just said the database would be updated these few days and told us to communicate with every player who asks, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

"The person in charge is inside testing right now, right?" Chen Fan gestured toward the tightly shut double doors. Seeing the attendant nod, Chen Fan offered a word of thanks and pushed the door open.

The people in the activity room were all crowded into a corner, and even the VR headsets on the table had been gathered up and stacked into two irregular piles.

"Uh... excuse me, is the place still open for games?" Chen Fan didn't dare to speak loudly and whispered instead.

The person in charge turned around. It was Han Youyi, whom he had met before. She looked serious and nodded, saying, "Yes, but you can only play the designated modes and scenarios. National Day is almost here, and we're checking for bugs in the storylines one by one."

"Don't tell me? Is the Werewolf King Tournament hosting a special session here too?" Chen Fan guessed boldly.

Han Youyi confirmed his suspicion. "With the popularization of Werewolf, especially with the progress of technology, the organic combination of VR and Werewolf has made the player base grow rapidly. This is the result of our collective efforts."

"Furthermore, according to the club's statistics for this year, the number of participants has more than tripled compared to last year. If the schedule remains the same, the club alone can't meet the demand. That's why the club has set up special tournament venues at major university clubs to facilitate students, and we are one of them."

"By the sound of it, is the entire Werewolf King Tournament going to be in VR mode this year?" Chen Fan had a new question.

"The club has considered that. I can't speak for other places, but at the Yuanyu University venue, the matches will be entirely in VR mode. See that pile of VR headsets on the table? One stack is already calibrated, and the other hasn't been yet."

Han Youyi finished her explanation and turned her attention back to the testing. "Are there any bugs affecting the game progress? If you find any, report them as soon as possible, and I'll be responsible for notifying the club's engineers."

Someone raised their hand and said, "Report, um... in the Zootopia scenario, when I took the train into the city, I got stuck in a carriage with a bunch of sloths. I couldn't squeeze out when I reached my stop, so I overshot it..."

"Why is it the sloths again? The official engineers are so persistent. We've already reported dozens of bugs regarding the sloths, and they still haven't deleted that animal setting. It's a pathological obsession." Han Youyi shook her head and silently noted the bug in her notebook.

"In the Republic Era Police Station scenario, I acted recklessly and was beaten to death by the inspector..."

"In the Warring States 'Hundred Schools of Thought' scenario, the guards at the city gate wouldn't let me in, insisting I was a spy, and threw me in jail. What do I do? Urgent, waiting online..."

"In the Moon Palace scenario, a player went out of bounds. Looking at the map, it seems they went off to chase the Jade Rabbit..."

"Report..."

Han Youyi was flustered. At first, she could record the problems fully, but later she could only jot down keywords. "There are some unavoidable factors in the plot; if you run into them, you can only say it's bad luck. Think of it as adding some spice to your life. I'm going to get a drink of water; report any issues later."

"Understood," everyone said in unison.

Chen Fan pointed to himself. "What about me? If I want to play, which scenario do I need to test?"

Han Youyi held her water cup and gulped down a large mouthful. "There was a martial arts scenario that had no problems during testing. Choose that one later. See if you encounter any bugs while playing, and if anything affects the game balance, report it to me immediately."

"Got it. What about the setup?" Chen Fan picked up a VR headset and put it on impatiently.

"Seer, Witch, Knight, Guard; standard Sheriff, side-slaughter. To cater to the Werewolf King Tournament, many new setups have been added to the plot, and also..." Han Youyi pointed to the other pile of VR headsets. "You grabbed one that hasn't been calibrated yet. Those over there are the ones you can use."

"What the heck is a 'Knight'? I've only heard others talk about it; this is my first time playing this setup."

Chen Fan felt a bit nervous. After all, it was an unfamiliar setup, and he wasn't just playing for fun—he had the heavy responsibility of finding bugs.

Fortunately, there was a detailed skill introduction before entering the scenario. Chen Fan paid attention to the Knight's skills; they weren't complicated and were well within his understanding.

As a replacement card for the Hunter, the Knight's skills were similar. The difference was that the Hunter's role leaned more toward deterrence, and that lethal shot could only be triggered after death. In a 'slaughter the gods' game, the Hunter was usually left until the very end to be killed, so the actual effect wasn't ideal.

Conversely, the Knight was equivalent to an active Hunter card. They could reveal their identity before the daytime vote and designate a player as a werewolf. If the target was indeed a werewolf, they would die immediately, and the game would proceed to nighttime. Although it could only be used once per game, it was a powerful tool to catch up in rounds if used well.

If one misidentified the target's identity... well, they would have to pay with their life. Thus, the Knight was also a highly functional god card with great potential for manipulation.

Commonly known as the 'scapegoat card.'

"Tomorrow I'll be a Knight. Should I pick a Knight to practice with today and see if I can be a dark-hearted Knight, just to humble myself a bit?" While the system was still matching players, Chen Fan was already looking forward to it.

Game match successful, loading...

Game Name: Werewolf
Player Configuration: 12-player match, Seer/Witch/Knight/Guard, standard Sheriff, side-slaughter.
Scenario: Martial Arts World—Mount Hua Sword Trial
Player Identity: Knight

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, ask and you shall receive. Wait for me to dominate the martial arts world with my Knight's sword skills, hahahaha." Chen Fan laughed heartily in his mind.

In his field of vision was a lush bamboo forest. The serene atmosphere didn't betray a hint of murderous intent, only endless quiet and peace. But Chen Fan knew this was the calm before the storm, just like in the movies.

"Who goes there?"

Chen Fan heard a rugged "greeting" from behind him and smiled, turning around.

"I am..."