Genius Chapter 197: Top of the Leaderboard

Chapter 197: Top of the Leaderboard

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

The Celestial Horizon overall leaderboard was a comprehensive ranking that compiled all ranking data. Recently, the server’s registered name had been marksmanReturnToSimplicity, which later became the Doaist priest BrokenOracle and continued to this day. However, there was a new change in this ranking. Since the end of last year’s Grand Debate of the Realm, the top five positions on the Celestial Horizon overall leaderboard had been pretty much fixed: BrokenOracle firmly held the first place, followed by momo, 夜半钟声 (Midnight Bell), UnchainedWanderer, and CloudTraveller.

But after this faction battle ended, the Celestial Horizon overall leaderboard was refreshed once again in the early morning. Momo and UnchainedWanderer suddenly soared to first and second place, respectively. The long-dormant first position of the Celestial Horizon overall leaderboard finally changed hands. As soon as the ranking was updated, countless players rushed to check the overall leaderboard rankings.

Momo secured the top position with a high score, UnchainedWanderer was in second place, just five points behind, and BrokenOracle fell to third place, trailing by fifteen points.

[My goodness!? Archdemon is in first place!?]
[I haven’t seen him running quest dungeons lately; how did he get up there?!]
[This overall leaderboard refresh was too sudden.]
[It should be from the faction capture battle? It seems that momo and UnchainedWanderer have never participated in a capture battle, right? I remember that the scoring rules included points from faction battles, and the hidden points from the capture battles accounted for a portion of the score.]
[That’s right; accounts that have never participated in a capture battle have different hidden scores compared to those that have.]

With the first post appearing, more posts quickly followed on the front page. The sudden change in the long-dormant leaderboard’s top position piqued the curiosity of night owls, and the discussion rate surged. The most excited were the summoner players. The number of summoners in this profession was no longer as low as in the past, but due to the difficulty of operation, it still remained the least populous profession among all Celestial Horizon players.

In this faction battle, summoners shone brightly, and many players were already considering creating summoner alt accounts. Just a short time after the faction battle ended, the summoner master brother, momo, topped the leaderboard, surpassing numerous popular professions and rising to the top with a less common profession, truly earning some respect for the previously overlooked summoners! Moreover, the attack-type array master UnchainedWanderer also climbed to second place, and the position of array master was handed over from Midnight Bell to UnchainedWanderer.

The leaderboard refreshed in the early morning, with the summoner taking first place and the array master position changing hands.
[Is it really because of the faction battle?]
[It should be. Momo and UnchainedWanderer had already equipped themselves with top-tier gear; their achievements in both PvP and PvE were impressive. When their rankings were behind mine, I didn’t quite understand it… Now that I think about it, it might be because they never participated in capture battles?]
[This week’s rewards were doubled, and given such a result, their scores must be very high!?]
[Go check the scores for demons and PvP; they must be incredibly high.]

With momo taking the top spot, others began speculating on the reasons for his ascent. After discovering that momo’s gear and other scores hadn’t changed, they quickly turned their attention to the faction scores, which had seen a significant change. In the past, momo’s faction scores were low, and it could be said that they were somewhat lacking since he hadn’t even made it into the top 200 of the faction leaderboard. This closely related to the fact that he rarely participated in faction battles, causing the system to consistently rate him at a mid-to-low level, and his hidden points were not high either.

So even though he held the number one spot on the divine weapon leaderboard and had titles like Valor Peak champion and 天下论道会 (World Discussion Conference) champion above his head, his overall ranking remained beneath others. It wasn’t until this week’s faction battle ended that the system reassessed his participation level and hidden points, giving him a new faction score that raised his overall score and allowed him to successfully rank first.
[I just went to check archdemon’s faction score; it has also risen and is hovering around 200 this time.]

[UnchainedWanderer must have participated a lot in faction battles and resource battles before. Momo only made his presence felt in faction battles these past two weeks; I used to see them in resource battles just grinding for points (laughing and crying).]
[Ahem, I encountered UnchainedWanderer running both accounts last year while grinding points with Momo’s account several times.]
[How did you know it was dual-accounting?]
[During one raid, he used Momo’s voice multiple times to guide us while we were out in the wild. ClearWind called him Brother Wanderer!] [So these two were already in cahoots last year! How did I only just find out?]
[Archdemon is too lazy! If only he had been a bit more diligent in faction battles, his scores would have skyrocketed by now.]
[I’m scared; if he consistently participates in faction battles, wouldn’t that just make his score rise steadily? He has a lot of potential for growth in that faction score.]

The forum buzzed with discussions for a long time. When Su Mo woke up in the morning, he felt a bit dazed. Once he collected his thoughts, he looked at the spot next to him and noticed the mattress was cool; Yu Zhen hadn’t stayed over last night. He opened his terminal, which was filled with greetings from friends in the game, but the most exaggerated were from the “Get Rich Soon” group and the “Exploration” group, where a bunch of people were celebrating his rise to the top.

The good news about taking the number one spot didn’t catch Su Mo’s attention; instead, he was focused on a particular contact pinned at the top of the Zenith Expanse chat. Yu Zhen hadn’t sent him a message, and there had been no follow-up about last night’s events.

Su Mo felt a wave of unease wash over him. He went back and scrolled through the messages in both groups but didn’t see Yu Zhen saying anything. His heart sank as he wanted to ask Yu Zhen what had happened last night.

-Yu Zhen: Are you awake?
-Yu Zhen: Did you take a long time to type? Have you thought about what you want to say?

Su Mo paused slightly while typing. He deleted a long string of questions in the chat box and finally sent just one sentence.
-mo: Where did you go?

-Yu Zhen: I didn’t go anywhere. How about helping your boyfriend open the door?

Su Mo hurriedly stood up, but the world around him was still dim. After a moment, he quickly rushed out of the bedroom.

In the kitchen, Chen Shanxue and Lele were making breakfast. Hearing the noise, they turned to see their son just waking up, not even wearing a jacket, rushing barefoot toward the entrance. She quickly put down what she was holding. “Momo, it’s cold outside; put on your clothes.”

The attentive robot Lele zipped over to fetch a jacket for him.

Yu Zhen was holding freshly steamed buns from the nearby breakfast shop by the entrance of the family area, his gaze focused on the messages on the terminal.

Before long, the door in front of him suddenly opened. A boy with slightly messy hair stood there, his chest rising and falling as if he was still catching his breath.

When their eyes met, the boy suddenly sniffed. Behind him, the robot Lele rushed out, holding a jacket and hurriedly saying, “Su Mo! Put on your jacket!”

Yu Zhen realized that the boy was dressed too lightly. Outside, there was no climate control like in the indoors, and the temperature in early spring was still quite low.

He entered the room and closed the door. “Dressed so lightly, aren’t you afraid of getting a fever?”

Su Mo put on the jacket and stared at Yu Zhen, honestly saying, “I forgot.”

Chen Shanxue walked over. “Xiaoyu has arrived; come in and have breakfast.”

“Auntie,” Yu Zhen nodded slightly in greeting, handing the buns to Lele. “Where are the slippers?”

Su Mo replied, “In my room.”

Yu Zhen ruffled his hair. “Go wash up. Breakfast will be ready in a moment. I bought your favorite buns.”

The morning routine at the Su family was as usual. After finishing his wash, Su Mo came out to find that Yu Zhen and Chen Shanxue had already prepared breakfast. Their way of interacting was completely unchanged. Su Zhixing woke up relatively late and didn’t show any displeasure when he came out. He occasionally chatted with Yu Zhen at the dining table.

After breakfast, Su Mo was getting ready to head back to school. Chen Shanxue had helped him pack his things the night before, and since his morning classes started relatively late, he had enough time.

Yu Zhen was heading to work, which was along the way, so Su Mo suggested going to school with him. His parents didn’t refuse.

“Be careful on the road,” Chen Shanxue said.

Su Zhixing added, “Just let the autopilot drive; you should rest more.”

He then turned to Su Mo and said, “Let me know when you get to school. Do you really not want Lele to follow?”

Su Mo replied, “I’m much better now. I can handle it by myself, and there are emergency measures at school.”

Chen Shanxue said, “Send me a message when you get there.”

Su Mo agreed one by one. He was dressed warmly and got into the hovercar with Yu Zhen.

A few jackets were tossed in the back seat of the hovercar, and Su Mo glanced over, realizing that Yu Zhen probably hadn’t gone home the night before and had likely made do in the car. He frowned slightly. “Why didn’t you wake me? What did Dad say to you last night?”

Yu Zhen leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “You have so many questions so early in the morning? Your dad didn’t refuse, but he didn’t say yes either.”

Su Mo looked at him, puzzled.

Yu Zhen had been called to the study last night and had been completely honest from the beginning. The Su family situation was unique, and Su Mo had been separated from his parents for so many years.

If he had been upfront from the start, their feelings would have felt too rushed, and gaining their approval would have been even more difficult.

So, from the very beginning, he had intended to take his time, to pursue them again and earn the elders’ approval slowly before revealing their past feelings. This approach was bound to be gradual; although it was hard to endure, it was the best way to show his sincerity. His beloved was too special, and now he had a happy family. The future would only become healthier, and he was prepared for a longer wait. He just hadn’t expected that a series of misunderstandings would lead to everything being completely exposed.

Now that it was out in the open, he couldn’t hide too much. He had to be honest about everything to seek the elders’ approval.

Whatever Su Zhixing asked, he answered.

“I just came clean to your parents, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to stay over at your house,” Yu Zhen said as he activated the autopilot, reaching out to pinch Su Mo’s cheek. “But now that things are out in the open, I can pursue you openly.”

Su Mo replied, “There’s no need to pursue me again.”

Yu Zhen teased, “Little one, pursuing someone is a form of romance, you know?”

He smiled and continued, “It gives me a chance to show off, like picking you up and dropping you off from school?”

Su Mo said, “You’ve already done that before.”

Yu Zhen responded, “But the situation is different now. I need to make a good impression.”

Su Mo was curious. “How do you plan to impress me?”

Yu Zhen asked, “Maybe by taking my boyfriend out for dinner?”

Su Mo said, “I want to eat what you cook. I want to go to your house tonight.”

After he spoke, he noticed that Yu Zhen hadn’t replied, so he asked again, “Is that okay?”

Yu Zhen held his hand, feeling the delicate and smooth skin, with a thin layer of calluses between his fingers.

These hands had disassembled machines, calculated formulas, and sewn many stitches… They had also recklessly touched him in the middle of the night.

“Whatever you say, I’ll do it.”

They arrived at the school, and Yu Zhen accompanied Su Mo back to the dormitory. He watched him head to class before returning to the company.

When Su Mo entered the classroom, the lesson hadn’t started yet. He sat in a seat near the aisle and was browsing through the messages in the group chat. He hadn’t looked at them much in the morning, but this time he read the messages from beginning to end, then sent a few emojis in response. The group had added several familiar faces, along with some new ones, and everyone was joking and laughing, resulting in a flurry of messages compared to before.

• apple: Who will be the next to take over?

• ScarletFruit: I hope the big shots give us a heads-up before making a move; I’ll open a betting thread on the forum.

• Watermelon: You joined the group just for that?

• Old Banana: If you’re making money, take me with you; I can help you gather information.

• CloudTraveller: My long-held second place has changed too.

• BrokenOracle: momo, hold tight; I’m only 15 points away from overtaking you.

• Begonia: Change your position for better luck.

• ChatMasterWu: Wow, are so many people thinking about taking over?

• FireworksAndLanterns: I want to take over too.

• Bitter melon mixed with milk: Little Silver Flower, isn’t that a reverse takeover for you? How come you’re getting farther from first place?

The atmosphere in the exploration group was harmonious, and Su Mo noticed that BrokenOracle had sent him a private message, asking if he needed any materials from 任逍遥’s guild. BrokenOracle had mentioned a reward before during the faction war, but since Su Mo wanted to play for fun, he hadn’t agreed to accept any rewards.

He replied to BrokenOracle, saying that he didn’t need the reward; he had enjoyed himself and had unexpectedly earned first place.

• ChatMasterWu: Can I inquire about some information? Is it still momo commanding your Abyss faction this week?

• 海棠: Confidential information; we won’t disclose it.

• CloudTraveller: Even if we encounter momo, it’s not unbeatable. This week we’ll change our strategy and form more summoner groups.

• BrokenOracle: ?

• CloudTraveller: We can also use summoners to sneak into the summer stronghold.

• apple: Have we already started competing for summoners? Our magical swordsmen are one step closer to unemployment.

• FireworksAndLanterns: I didn’t expect summoners to be so popular now (sigh). Back when I was running dungeons, I couldn’t even get a ticket!

• momo: Now you can start quoting prices; the appearance fee is 10,000 J each time.

• FireworksAndLanterns: Oh, really!

• ChatMasterWu: Can we buy you out of appearances, @momo?

• momo: ?

• BrokenOracle: ?

• UnchainedWanderer: ?

• CloudTraveller: Ahem.

Su Mo watched the chat in the group, and in the blink of an eye, it was already time for class.

He put away his terminal and focused on the course content. Not long after, the class began. Recently, there had been quite a few group assignments, and he had formed a group with a few classmates, including the class monitor. He often sat on one side during class, which allowed him to overhear the subtle discussions among the monitor and others.

At that moment, he had just completed the in-class assignment assigned by the professor, and as he submitted his answers, he heard the class monitor and others engrossed in their discussion. Their topics ranged from yesterday’s faction war to the changes in the rankings, covering various hot issues from the forum. Su Mo listened from the side, intrigued, especially when he heard them discussing himself.

“momo is really strong; I’m still immersed in his series of taunts,” one said.

“I didn’t have a chance to participate, but I heard he’s a great commander. When is the official faction war highlight reel coming out?” another added.

“It should be coming out soon, probably around this time. Some content seems to need approval from both sides,” someone else replied.

Hearing this, Su Mo suddenly remembered that BrokenOracle had also asked about this matter that morning, and he had said it was fine. It seemed that there was nothing secretive about the command content anymore.

“Su Mo, you also play summoner, right?” Lancelot asked when he noticed Su Mo seemed to be listening. “Isn’t there a lot of discussion about the master in your Sect? Does momo usually talk in the Sect channel?”

Suddenly being asked, Su Mo hesitated for a moment and replied, “It seems not; he occasionally posts recruitment messages.”

Lancelot responded, “As expected, the great ones are very aloof.”

The class monitor added, “momo is indeed low-key.”

Su Mo was left speechless.

He thought for a moment, was he really low-key?

“Hey, I just saw that the official announcement was released!”

“What announcement?”

“An event announcement, just posted. I’ll forward it to you guys; I already shared it in the group.”

“No way! They’re actually holding a game meetup!!! There’s a registration link! It’s happening on Capital Planet!”

The class monitor said, “Is this the first offline meetup since Celestial Horizon launched?”

Su Mo asked, confused, “A game meetup?”

“Yeah, large-scale online games usually have meetups like this, where they organize some offline events. There are plenty of online meetups, but what’s the point of meeting in StarNet? You can only see the big shots in real life,” Lancelot said, clearing his throat. “I heard there are a lot of handsome guys and beautiful girls in Celestial Horizon. The game meetup might even turn into a real-life dating event.”

“Su Mo, are you going? Capital Planet is really close; I saw the venue is right in that big exhibition hall near our school!”

Su Mo hesitated for a moment. Just as he was about to open his terminal to check the announcement in the group, he received an email invitation from the Celestial Horizon game team—

[To dear summoner Momo]