Chapter 97: Mechanism Iron Cage
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
The leaderboard of Celestial Horizon has always been a focal point of discussion on game forums. It shows the trends of popular professions on the overall leaderboard, and also highlights current issues with professions in the current version… Therefore, the overall leaderboard of professions in Celestial Horizon is highly representative, indicating that players excel in equipment, cultivation, operation, and other aspects.
However, due to the strength and popularity of professions, the top positions on the overall leaderboard have always been dominated by powerful versions like physical swordsman, array master, marksman, and healer. When you look at the leaderboard, among the top 10 positions, there are usually at least two or three of these popular professions… Moreover, the competition within the top 200 is fierce; aside from the top 30 where there are relatively stable rankings, the rest of the ranking range can be described as tumultuous on a daily basis.
However, recently, due to an increase in quest events and the opening of level 80, many players’ equipment and points have been refreshed. Changes on the leaderboard have gradually become more apparent. Even among the previously stable top thirty positions, there have been changes in order, such as veterans dropping ranks and newcomers breaking in…
But tonight, the perennial top summoner Sect has changed its leader for the first time in years. Moreover, the newcomer has entered the top fifteen of the Celestial Horizon overall leaderboard, whereas the previous summoner Sect leader, FireworksAndLanterns, was only ranked 20th overall.
Summoner, as a niche faction, has high operational difficulty and fewer players. Since the server opened, there have only been two well-known summoners: one is FireworksAndLanterns, renowned for consistently topping the summoner leaderboard with a multi-line offensive strategy; the other is the recently sensationalized archdemon momo.
Just a day ago, Momo hadn’t even squeezed into the top two hundred of the leaderboard.
As a result, within just one day, he shot up to 15th place, which was simply unprecedented.
[??? Isn’t this a bug? Although I know the pro is strong, this speed is indeed a bit unbelievable.]
[Breaking news ā Last night, stalking ClearWind’s livestream, the pro completely switched to PvP gold equipment, and his PvE gold equipment is probably almost there too.]
[Unbelievable, to rise so much with just one set of gold equipment. Was he wearing trash gear before?]
[It seems there are records of his previous data in the summoner section. You can go check it out.]
[Not really, before this, he seemed to be wearing level 75 gear, with average stats, neither good nor bad.]
Late at night, discussions became heated, with many technical pros coming out to analyze. Among them, the most famous data expert immediately dug into Momo’s leaderboard data, summarizing the data model. According to the model, Momo had a high-grade rating in PvP with Valor Peak dominance and an S+ rating in PvE, combined with his familiar data, skill data, and more… The weakest aspect of his stats was originally his equipment.
[The formula for the overall leaderboard hasn’t been released, but this calculation is done by the mainframe, so the likelihood of a bug is very low. The competition from ranks 30 to 200 has always been fierce; momo might have been stuck around 200th place originally. The attributes and cultivation brought by top-tier gold equipment compensated for his shortcomings, so it’s not surprising that he broke into the top ranks. Didn’t BrokenOracle also push down ReturnToSimplicity, a pro who relied on PvP quests and equipment to rise up the leaderboard?]
[Another possibility is that there’s a hidden score in the overall leaderboard data, reportedly derived from player data by the mainframe, but this hasn’t been verified. If such a score exists, Momo’s hidden score shouldn’t be low.]
StarNet forum users are numerous, but there are even more players in the game. StarNet forum discussions mainly cover a wide range of players, but once you enter the top 200 ranks, it becomes visible to all Celestial Horizon players. Especially for niche professions, the attention is remarkably high.
FireworksAndLanterns, previously known as the top summoner, was revered for his skill and dominance in the niche profession. His appearance on the leaderboard garnered significant attention. When Momo’s PvP gold equipment was revealed, players were stunned.
Due to the path Momo chose, he belonged to the most obscure faction within a nicheāprimarily a physical-attribute summoner with secondary magical skills.
Summoners typically lean towards magical attacks due to their skills, coupled with their long-range attack capabilities. In contrast, physical summoners have shorter attack ranges and are usually deployed for control skills rather than as primary damage dealers.
[I suddenly remembered during Valor Peak when he used basic attacks to interrupt the casting of “Midnight Bell” in the arrayā¦]
[If he’s a primary physical summoner, his basic attacks must be quite powerful!]
āAnyway, that’s my big bro, newbie!!!” ScarletFruit boasted to the nearby merchant while gesturing, “From now on, when I go out, I can say my big bro is the Light of Spirit Sanctuary, the senior summoner, leading the inheritance of the new faction…”
The nearby merchant brother listened and checked the leaderboard, “This set of gold equipment has been upgraded to level 6, and he’s pursuing a dual-path route. Even though physical attacks are generally useless for magic-based summoners, this setup isn’t affected by Celestial Horizon’s backward mechanism. Who knows exactly what attributes he wants? Unless the mainframe is specifically targeting him.”
“Indeed, you can see he has several high-physical-attack equipment pieces, which are garbage for magic-based summoners.” ScarletFruit nodded. “It’s like how I focus on Lucky Gear; I’m pretty much the only lucky burst healer in all of Celestial Horizon.”
The merchant brother replied, “Enjoy it while it lasts. You’re probably the only one in Celestial Horizon with all attribute points invested in luck.”
On weekends and during breaks, Su Mo didn’t have classes or lab work during the day, so he logged in early. Upon joining the team, he immediately heard ScarletFruit boasting about the advantages of a luck-based healing build. Remembering ScarletFruit occasionally only healing for 250, Su Mo decided not to deflate his confidence.
“Bro!! From today onwards, you’re the Light of Spirit Sanctuary, the senior summoner…” ScarletFruit began lavishing Su Mo with titles as soon as he spoke.
Before logging in, Su Mo had seen their discussion in the group chat, knowing that he was a bit surprised when he reached first place. He checked his equipment data and furrowed his brows slightly as he analyzed, “Equipment ratings not only depend on the numerical values but also on the attributes, such as the high potential score of gold-tier attribute entries…”
Su Mo paused halfway through his sentence, noticing a few detailsā
His cultivation level wasn’t high originally, but in recent days, there has been a noticeable increase. He skimmed through the Sect’s side quests and found that all the tasks related to gaining cultivation points or skill points had been completed.
Since no one else usually logged into his account, it had to be Yu Zhen who was helping him with daily tasks.
“Online so early today, planning to clear daily quests soon?” ScarletFruit continued, “Windy and ZenSlasher said they’ll be on later. Brother Wanderer hasn’t replied to me yet, not sure when he’ll log in. He used to be on quite early before, don’t know what’s up these days…”
Su Mo’s attention was on his cultivation attributes. He casually responded to ScarletFruit’s words, “Should be logging in soon.”
Half an hour ago, they had just had breakfast at a nearby cafƩ, so the timing should be about right.
ScarletFruit paused, “How did you know?”
Su Mo shrugged nonchalantly, “Just guessing.”
“Oh, I thought you were secretly chatting with Brother Wanderer again,” ScarletFruit said halfway through his sentence when a notification popped up in the friend list, followed immediately by a team join request.
[UnchainedWanderer has joined the team.]
ScarletFruit: “?” Su Mo paused for a moment, then asked, “Bro, did you help me with the cultivation quests?”
Yu Zhen: “Yeah, I noticed you hadn’t done them for a few days, so I did them for you.”
ScarletFruit stayed in the team, watching the other two exchange words back and forth, feeling a sudden strange sensation rising inside him.
Soon after, ClearWind and ZenSlasher logged in. They immediately started discussing Su Mo’s rise to the top of the rankings, even mentioning several forum posts.
“I know about this! People are saying my bro has become the representative of the new summoner faction!” ScarletFruit chattered excitedly, “The physical swordsman and array master summoner!”
“I’ve seen a lot of players starting to play summoner, aren’t they checking the rankings?” ClearWind chuckled, “Saying physical summoners can be played, then discussing it on the forums, but there’s no data on equipment choices, only the equipment data when my bro was on the rankings, and there’s still a problem with the transition data!”
“Physical summoners need movement speed support,” Su Mo added, “Base movement speed needs to be high, or else you’ll get hit. Physical and magic dual cultivation can work, but it requires high equipment and skill requirements.”
He also benefited from Soul Rabbit’s passive skill “The Law of Things and Stars.” to gain the dual-system bonus. Initially, he chose this attribute allocation method to maximize his output. However, without a foundation in skills or equipment, a physical and magic dual-cultivation summoner can become rather mediocre.
“Celestial Horizon offers many choices in profession paths. Blindly following trends in choosing a path isn’t necessary. It’s better to adjust according to one’s own situation,” Su Mo said succinctly, “Just like how you physical swordsmen have fast swords and slow swords, and array masters have half-support, half-attack and other variations… It’s important to find a play style that suits you.”
ClearWind responded, “Bro, you don’t understand. Have you heard of someone leading a profession? Like ReturnToSimplicity, who made marksman popular. How many people started playing marksman because of him?”
Upon hearing this, Su Mo paused slightly, then turned his head to glance at the array master beside him.
ScarletFruit remarked, “The healer class is the same. Originally, it was a very flexible healing role, but unfortunately, the healing amount isn’t high and the operational requirements are demanding. As a result, fewer people play clerics.”
On a crowded weekend morning, with fewer monster-spawning points available, the group of them could only occupy one to grind monsters.
“I suddenly feel our group lacks some fun,” ClearWind continued, “Why do we always talk about equipment and attributes while grinding? Can’t we discuss some entertaining topics?”
ZenSlasher replied, “Like what entertainment topics? Aren’t you busy enhancing equipment recently?”
ClearWind retorted, “Look at other groups. They chat about scenery, buy fashion items, and here we are, talking about nothing. I’ve even become the most flamboyant one.”
Su Mo interjected, “You can chat, we’ll listen.”
ZenSlasher added, “If you have money, you can focus on equipment.”
ScarletFruit concluded, “As long as clothes are enough to wear, buying fashion items is a waste of money.”
The team chatted about game-related matters intermittently. ClearWind realized the fashion topic wasn’t holding, so he switched to gossip he heard on the forums.
Su Mo occasionally chimed in, his gaze occasionally flicking towards the silent figure in the team.
Yu Zhen rarely spoke when playing games; he was more talkative during dungeon runs or outdoor fights. Su Mo hadn’t paid much attention to this before, but now he noticed that Yu Zhen was generally a man of few words. However, in private conversations, Yu Zhen would open up about many topics.
After finishing an array, Yu Zhen suddenly noticed the side glance. He glanced sideways slightly and happened to catch Su Mo retracting his gaze. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing.” Su Mo steadied himself and changed the subject. “Are we still starting the daily dungeon runs at 7 p.m.?”
ScarletFruit replied, “Yes, the third stage opens in the evening. But quite a few people cleared the second stage this morning. When I was setting up my alt account stall in Glacial Ravenlands this morning, there were still many people at the NPC entrance. There’s probably still a lot of people progressing through it. If it continues like this, I wonder how long this event will last.”
The gaming time passed quickly, and soon it was time for the evening gathering.
By around six o’clock, almost everyone had arrived. Su Mo logged in after dinner, being the last one to join the group. The atmosphere within the team was lively, and as soon as Su Mo entered, he heard FireworksAndLanterns speaking emphatically.
Su Mo asked, “What are you all talking about?”
Apple replied, “He’s sharing his thoughts on being the second senior brother. As soon as he logged in today, he was greeted by countless people.”
FireworksAndLanterns said, “Ah, they don’t understand. Being the second brings the joy of usurping.”
ScarletFruit joked, “Are you plotting to overthrow my big brother?”
Su Mo simply replied, “Oh.”
“Playing games must have aspirations!!” FireworksAndLanterns exclaimed as he moved about. “Apple, aren’t you catching up to FirstUnderHeaven recently? Have you sent him the name change card?”
Apple got annoyed upon hearing this, “He smashed two hundred high-level materials the day before yesterday and widened the score gap again.”
ScarletFruit chimed in, “Boss, need materials? I have all the high-level materials you need.”
CloudTraveller signed up, and the team was lively discussing how to increase equipment scores. ScarletFruit seized the opportunity to sell materials on the side. In just a few minutes, he managed to sell two.
The event interface popped up quickly, and a group of 15 people clicked to confirm.
BitterMelon commented, “It’s a bit slow to start today.”
“Personally, I think FirstUnderHeaven is a cash warrior. If you wash a few gold attribute items, can’t you surpass him?” Watermelon suggested, “Only money can defeat money.”
ScarletFruit agreed with Watermelon’s statement, “Especially for noble and precious high-level gold materials, they have the highest drop rates. Don’t you believe it? Look at my brother’s equipment, it turned red thanks to my materials. If you buy from me, I’ll even throw in two pieces of lucky gear. Washing equipment is all about mysticism; surpassing FirstUnderHeaven is just a matter of time.”
Apple almost believed it, “Is it really that good?”
Little Treasure from the Cold family said, “Is that okay? My recent equipment washes have been especially bad. I’ve changed several merchants.”
ScarletFruit assured, “Of course, you can ask my big brother.”
Suddenly, Su Mo was prompted and added calmly, “His materials are on sale; you can buy them.”
At that moment, the event dungeon finally opened, and everyone’s surroundings changed in an instant. Shortly after, they heard the voice of the mainframe.
[Welcome, players, to “Journey Through Wind and Rain: Mechanical Iron Prison.”]
[Mission Objective: Team must escape from the iron prison. The faster the escape, the richer the rewards. Successfully escaping as a team earns bonuses. If the entire team dies or is captured, it will result in challenge failure. (Note: Death within the iron prison triggers random events with uncertain outcomes).]
[Specific game rules will be explored by the players. Wishing everyone good luck.]
When Su Mo opened his eyes, he was greeted by a grim and horrifying scene. Blades glinted coldly on pitch-black walls, and his lantern staff hung in a corner.
Half of his body lay in a pool, the icy water chilling his clothes to the bone.
He was trapped inside the water dungeon.
Author’s note:Ā
ScarletFruit: My brother is my proxy, the embodiment of my image.
My God, this is a horror game! Thanks for the chapter!
ScarletFruit forever getting that bagš°