Chapter 74: ch74- Shattered Expectations
Compared to the previous **Citywide Arena Tournament**, this **Global Arena Tournament** was broadcast city by city. As long as participants were from the same city faction, spectators could watch their battles through the guidance of city coordinators.
Right at 8:00 PM sharp, millions of people from strongholds and beginner towns worldwide tuned in to watch the tournament unfold. In East Sea City, only 137 people qualified for the competition, and many coordinators were actively looking for powerful gods from their city to broadcast their battles.
When the feed switched to Alex's battle, many who didn't recognize him were about to switch to another participant. But those familiar with Alex quickly locked in on his screen the moment he went online, and they witnessed that dazzling golden strike.
What could have been a thrilling reversal was instead met with stunned silence as the devastating 77,500 damage number appeared, leaving the entire audience in shock.
Similar reactions occurred in Manchester, where Carey, Alex's opponent, was from. As a top player in his city, Carey was a well-known star among the gods in his school, and he had earned considerable fame throughout the city as one of its strongest. When the match began and Carey landed his opening attack on Alex, his fans were already cheering. But when that solar-like golden flame turned the tide, producing that overwhelming damage number, the cheers died away in stunned silence.
"Carey? Carey! Are you okay?" Back in reality, Carey sat in a daze, still reeling from the shocking defeat. It wasn't losing that bothered him—it was that absurd 77,500 damage number. As an experienced player, Carey had carefully crafted what he believed to be the optimal path to power, but the fact that Alex's output was nearly 80 times greater than his own left him deeply shaken.
After a few shakes from his concerned friends, Carey slowly regained his senses. With a wry smile, he said, "I'm fine. I just learned a valuable lesson. Honestly, this is good for me. Competing on the global stage has really opened my eyes to how big the world really is."
His friends remained quiet, still processing what they had witnessed. The sheer magnitude of 77,000 damage wasn't just something they hadn't seen—it was beyond what they had ever imagined. Even the highest-level player they knew hadn't broken 10,000 damage yet.
Carey turned toward a red-haired boy sitting nearby and asked, "But seriously, 77,000 damage? That's unreal! Troy, you're an SR-level god. I remember your output was around 3,000 yesterday. Could you ever hit numbers that high?"
Troy Betts, the strongest god in Manchester, was a mathematical genius who had been ahead of the curve ever since he awakened his god powers. Even within the entire city, his strength was likely in the top ten.
Troy shook his head, calmly admitting, "No way I can hit that level of damage anytime soon. But theoretically, it's possible with enough points."
His blunt response left Carey and the others feeling a bit discouraged. But Troy's second statement piqued their curiosity. They asked, "But he's only wearing the **Champion's Set**—how could his output be so high?"
Troy, though eccentric with his red hair, exuded an air of academic rigor. After removing his glasses due to his god powers, he now had a sharp, cold aura. He thoughtfully speculated, "It's likely due to his level effects. We know the first effect grants a 10% damage increase, but the second effect can vary. Some increase health, while others boost damage. I suspect both of his level effects are damage-based, and he's probably maxed them out."
"Right, if both effects are maxed, that would give him a 10x damage multiplier, plus an additional 1,000 points of flat damage. If he stacked that with weapon damage boosts, it would explain those insane numbers," Carey agreed. As a veteran gamer, Carey had been analyzing the game's mechanics from the start, gathering valuable insights with help from his university's elite players. They had already contributed significant findings, like the **Universal Language** feature.
"But if that guy's level is around 200, wouldn't his attributes be really low? We know that damage is based on strength, and the higher the attribute levels, the harder it is to gain experience. Isn't the principle 'You can't have both level and attributes' something we proved through multiple tests?" one of Carey's friends asked.
Through careful testing, Carey's group had discovered that damage was indeed tied to strength. The higher your strength, the more damage you could deal, though the exact numbers were still unclear. But the downside was that higher attribute levels made it harder to gain experience.
Troy shook his head again and countered, "It's possible if you farm enough monsters before raising your attributes—or if you focus on killing higher-level monsters."
"Is that even doable?" his friends asked, finding it hard to believe. They knew how tough monsters were before their stats improved. How could anyone farm efficiently under those conditions?
Even with higher stats, grinding monsters wouldn't be easy. In Manchester alone, there were multiple resource points and monster dens, but could Troy just go and farm them endlessly? Efficiency and power were significant hurdles.
"Plus, even with high attributes and a level of 200, it still wouldn't break 10,000 damage, right?" one of them pointed out.
Carey, however, had an answer for this. With a bitter smile, he said, "That's probably because of his gear quality. Now that I think about it, his **Champion's Set** looked a bit different. It was likely enhanced to a pretty high level."
Everyone knew about equipment enhancement, but didn't Alex buy the **Champion's Set** because he couldn't afford the more expensive gear? Did he really have enough points left over to buy tons of gems for enhancement?
Carey's group started second-guessing their own plans. Maybe their original upgrade strategy was flawed, and Alex's approach—spending heavily on enhancements—was the correct one.
After all, Carey had spent 8 million points on **Holy Angel Wings** and **Holy Angel's Judgment**. With that amount, he could've bought the entire **Champion's Set** and three **R-Level Gem Packs**, effectively gearing up with a full set of powerful equipment.
Perhaps Alex's strategy wasn't just about having points—it was about making every point count.
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