The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Even Dak frowned when he saw the name.

　Because he had never heard of this name before! The appearance of this name was quite abrupt.

　He wasn't in the top ten, or even the top twenty, before. "Is it an alias, or some reclusive orc prophet?" Dark was surprised by this, not expecting that the appearance of this name had already caused a huge uproar among the orcs.

　Because even the Lionheart didn't know that such a person existed in his kingdom!

　He couldn't find any information about this orc. It was as if the orc had appeared out of thin air and had never existed in this world before.

　So much so that when other factions' leaders mentioned this orc to him at dinner, he would have a gloomy face and be unable to boast about it.

　Let's leave aside this orc of unknown origin for now.

　Professor Steven Harvey is now third in the points rankings.

　Looking at the rankings, Dark knew that Professor Harvey had become quite famous. It was fortunate that times had changed; otherwise, a necromancer operating so openly would be hunted down and judged by the Holy Church.

　Louis Kenan, the Sage who had held the top spot for a long time, has fallen to fourth place.

　The fifth place went to Professor Pavajohn.

　The sixth place went to an elven royal. The seventh place went to a sea creature.

　The eighth place is an immortal being from Sky City. The ninth place is Senior Sister Doragon from Pandora.

　After an afternoon of work, she finally broke into the top ten in several points.

　The tenth place went to an archbishop from the Holy Church.

　These are the current top ten in terms of points.

　Reggie Hocchia's ranking has fallen to twentieth.

　Professor Cazell, whom Dak was more concerned about, was still hovering around thirty and seemed to have no intention of continuing his advance.

　Incidentally.

　Professor Lily, who was originally ranked seventeenth, has now plummeted to outside the top fifty.

　Dark seriously doubted whether she had grown tired of dueling.

　But you know how it is with little devils; they might only have a three-minute attention span. Hmm...

　In short, I hope Professor Lily will be careful and not fail to even make it to the preliminary rounds!

Chapter 1512 Darkdemon's Brave Adventure in the Haunted House (9k)

　After all, the preliminary selection is just a preliminary selection. Some people who have received KPIs will definitely try to make a big push.

　Many contestants who are confident of making it to the preliminaries tend to keep their strengths hidden. Therefore, they don't care as much about climbing the rankings in the preliminary rounds.

　However, this is only possible if you can guarantee advancement through the preliminary rounds. You can play around, but don't overdo it!

　Dark had no worries about Professor Cazell. But it was hard not to worry about Professor Lily.

　However, Professor Lily was just there to have fun. Even if she made it to the preliminary rounds, let alone the open selection, she might not play well. So, in the end, the most important thing is to have fun.

　Dark swallowed the last piece of bread, then drank the milk in one gulp, setting aside all other thoughts to focus on the upcoming duel.

　Although his current situation is not bad, he has not yet entered the top 128. He needs to work harder and at least firmly grasp the qualification for advancement before talking about anything else!

　This "Dragon King" arena was an unexpected surprise for him.

　He had already prepared to put on the mask and play the role of the Golden Kingdom's mage.

　Now that we have the "Dragon King" arena, we can put the "Golden Kingdom" trump card to rest for a while.

　seven thirty.

　The lunch rush had largely passed, but the crowds at Dragon Cliff hadn't picked up much. But thinking about it, that's quite normal.

　There are a total of twenty competition zones in this Duel City, and the spectators can't stay on Dragon Cliff forever.

　As night fell and dinner was over, the initial enthusiasm naturally dissipated.

　The audience are, after all, just ordinary people. After walking and standing around the competition area all day, even if they can keep up mentally, they are physically exhausted. In addition, after nightfall, Duel City will have more night markets and performances to allow the audience to rest and have fun. Places like Dragon Cliff, which were originally only used as "viewing points", naturally can't keep up with the pace.

　And this applies to the players as well.

　At this point, many contestants have already realized that they are out of the running for the finals, and their mindset will change as a result.

　Those contestants who came solely for experience or fame were exhausted after a full day of duels and naturally wanted to rest.

　Therefore, these players will choose to rest at night. This naturally reduces the number of players on Dragon Cliff. However, by this point, Dark's total score had reached 107 points, successfully climbing to 109th place on the leaderboard. His next task is to maintain his points and ranking.

　He also relaxed, and his pursuit of high scoring efficiency became less intense.

　As long as the ranking points remain stable, it won't matter much if there are fewer people on Dragon Cliff.

　His biggest hope right now is to stay on the "Dragon King" arena until 2 a.m.

　This behavior, for viewers who pay special attention to him, lacks a sense of ambition and can become tedious after a while.

　But for Darko himself, this is the most prudent approach. And the journey of racking up points and climbing the leaderboard is never boring.

　Another hour and a half passed, and it was 9 p.m.

　The Alliance Duel Arena, located in the heart of Duel City, began its first wave of fireworks displays.

　Suddenly, the number of people climbing Dragon Cliff increased again.

　While Dark was dueling, they could see fireworks blooming in the night sky from afar.

　Many spectators climbed up Dragon Cliff and gathered in twos and threes, as if attending a festival celebration, to watch the fireworks display.

　Unfortunately, although they made Dragon Cliff lively again, they only treated it as a wonderful place to watch fireworks, not for the "Dragon King" arena.

　Dark glanced at the fireworks, then continued the duel, remaining focused.

　As the fireworks faded, the spectators on Dragon Cliff gradually dispersed. However, a small number of spectators remained, allowing the "Dragon King" arena to continue.

　However, the decrease in the number of challengers was an inevitable trend that could not be reversed. By 11 p.m., the contestants and spectators on Dragon Cliff had all dispersed, leaving only a small number of contestants and some enthusiastic fans.

　Dak was somewhat prepared for this.

　As time goes on, the number of players and spectators will decrease. Players are inherently mobile; even if they don't take breaks, they need to travel to other regions to find new opponents.

　As the night progresses, most viewers choose to continue watching the games indoors.

　Almost every shop in Duel City has a projection device, allowing customers to view their food while they eat.

　Watching the game while discussing the outcome with like-minded spectators is a unique experience.

　Those spectators who were still chasing after the contestants were basically the contestants' die-hard fans.

　And this trend will continue.

　After midnight, the number of viewers still active in the city will see a significant drop.

　According to the competition rules, unless a contestant has already reached zero points and is eliminated, the competition must continue until 2:00 AM.

　But at this point, there will be a great many players whose remaining points are only three red dots, or even less than three dots.

　After all, the "survival of the fittest" process is very brutal in this selection process; if you are not skilled enough, you can only give up points.

　These weren't eliminated, but it was practically the same as being eliminated.

　Such players, although they still have a few "red dots," are only doing so to avoid being eliminated.

　They have effectively lost their fighting ability and will be excluded from the category of "active players".

　As these "easy targets" become inactive, the scoring speed of the top players will inevitably drop significantly.

　With fewer and fewer opponents to challenge, the difficulty of scoring naturally increases.

　at last.

　12:15 a.m.

　The last challenger on Dragon Cliff left "satisfied" after losing the duel.

　Dark waited a few more minutes at the dragon's head, and seeing that no one else was challenging him, he smiled, packed his things, and prepared to leave Dragon Cliff.

　But just as he finished telling Sofia about the next arrangements, the last remaining group of enthusiastic fans suddenly surged forward with a frightening enthusiasm.

　Dark was used to it and not afraid at all; he handled the fans' enthusiasm with great skill.

　When they asked for autographs and photos, he tried his best to oblige. When they shouted "Dragon King," he remained humble. When they asked if he would continue defending his title the next day, he smiled and shook his head. There was nothing to hide.

　He definitely won't be coming to Dragon Cliff again tomorrow.

　He should just say it directly, so that those who genuinely like and support him won't have to wait in vain.

　However, he certainly won't reveal his plans for tomorrow.

　Although the audience was frighteningly enthusiastic, they were surprisingly rational and did not ask too many questions.

　The "fan meeting" that followed the "Dragon King" arena was relatively harmonious.

　Thanks to Dak's skillful handling, it only took him a little over ten minutes to fulfill the wishes of these fans.

　He then said goodbye to his fans, who waved excitedly, but no one followed him.

　Dark quickly descended Dragon Cliff, then immediately summoned a magical spirit to speed up their flight away!

　"call--"

　Sofia let out a long breath.

　Dark couldn't help but chuckle, "I haven't even caught my breath yet, what are you panting for?" Sophia rolled her eyes and said playfully, "I'm tired too, you know."

　As she spoke, she took out a damp towel and wiped Dak's sweat, saying, "Won't you rest a little longer?"

　Dark shook his head and said, "Hurry up and keep pushing for points. Get as many as you can. Once it gets light, it won't be as easy to get points as it is today."

　Sofia nodded and said, "That's true. There are clearly fewer challengers tonight, so many contestants must have chosen to rest."

　Dark said, "That's right, physical strength is also an advantage."

　Magical duels are extremely mentally taxing, and very few duelists can withstand a whole day of continuous, uninterrupted duels and still maintain their peak condition.

　Dark has a significant advantage in terms of physical strength, magic power, and mental strength.

　With the enemy weak and us strong, wouldn't it be a waste not to take advantage of this moment and score as many points as possible?

　His next move was to head directly to the Ghost-type competition area next door to find new ways to rack up points.

　"My current total score is 150, ranking 62nd, which is very secure."

　The benefits that the "Dragon King" arena brought him were enormous.

　While the scoring efficiency of other contestants declined rapidly, his scoring efficiency remained relatively stable and sustained over a long period. He not only successfully entered the top 100 but also eventually broke through to 62nd place.

　However, he had actually entered the top 50 in the rankings just over ten minutes ago, but now he has slipped back down.

　It's clear that the competition for the top 50 is extremely fierce. Even now, they're still maintaining a decent scoring rate.

　If he rests any longer, he might be kicked out of the top 100.

　A short while later, Dark arrived at the Ghost-type competition area.

　The Ghost-themed area is designed to resemble a haunted house; just stepping inside gives you a chilling feeling, as if ghosts or phantoms might leap out from the corners of the buildings at any moment.

　The Ghost-type arena is relatively quiet during the day, despite the League's use of atmosphere-enhancing gas generators like "black mist" and "dark clouds." The intense sunlight still makes the arena feel somewhat out of place. However, once night falls, the Ghost-type arena's true terror is fully revealed.

　Many spectators even wait until nightfall to come to this area just to experience the fear.

　This kind of terror—knowing it's fake but still being unable to stop screaming—is the feeling that audiences want to experience.

　So while most other regions saw their crowds dwindle on nights, only the Ghost region saw its crowds increase instead of decrease.

　It's past midnight now, but there are still quite a few spectators and contestants in this competition area.

　The audience members come for the experience.

　The contestants were mostly chosen because they were skilled at using undead magical spirits!

　Most of the undead magical creatures are Ghost or Dark types. These two types of magical creatures receive a slight boost in this region, and combined with the advantage of environmental suitability, they often allow players to unleash 120% of their potential.

　Among Dark's magical spirits, there happen to be many with the dark attribute, so they can naturally thrive in this competition area.

　Without changing his clothes, he went straight into the Ghost-type competition area and then plunged into a building that looked like a giant haunted house.

　The dim, albeit present, light outside vanished completely the moment we entered the haunted house.

　The.