Chapter 350: Ultimate Trial: The Blind Leap Challenge

Today, the forum's Redu was completely dominated by the news that the Workaholic Squad was about to graduate.

The player with the greatest influence on the forum was: Nightfall Approaches.

Meanwhile, the most popular section in the live streaming area was the broadcast rooms of the Workaholic Squad members.

At this moment, the topic "Workaholic Squad Graduation" shot up to the top of the forum's trending list like a prairie fire.

Whether they were veteran players, new players who had only recently qualified, or even reserve players watching the streams from outside as guests, many among them had witnessed the Workaholic Squad's growth within the training camp.

During this time, they would burst into laughter over various amusing incidents in the camp, feel sorrow when a trainee died during a trial, and clench their fists when the Workaholic Squad and their comrades faced desperate situations, holding their breath along with them in the live streams... It was like a TV series they had been following for two years.

But now, the story of the Workaholic Squad's training camp phase was about to reach its conclusion.

This left many players who had followed their journey thus far feeling deeply reluctant to let go.

In the forum's discussion area, someone dug up a group photo taken when the Workaholic Squad first entered the camp two years ago.

Back then, their faces still carried a lazy air, their smiles immature; behind them, the training camp flag snapped loudly in the wind, while not far away stood Gui Tong and other Four-Pupil clansmen with looks of disdain, and further still stood Kuang Sha, the Chief Instructor of the Phase One Training Camp, standing mid-air with his arms crossed.

Looking at the latest group photo now, there were many new faces, and in everyone's eyes lay a sharpness forged through Chendian .

Yet when they looked at each other, that warmth remained exactly the same as it had been two years ago.

This story had continued until now, and both the players and guests watching the live streams knew it was inevitably heading toward an ending.

Just as the morning mist of the training camp would always dissipate, and the boss in the Adventurer Dungeon would eventually be defeated.

The Hunger Tactic, the Stay-Up-Late Tactic, the Camp Graduation Trial... those nights spent staying up late alongside the Workaholic Squad would ultimately become starlight in their memories.

There were too many stories worth remembering.

Especially the Hunger Tactic from the Phase One stage, which players still dug up to watch repeatedly as a mealtime drama.

The live streaming rooms of the Workaholic Squad members were also the places where "Keep it up" appeared most frequently.

This journey had never been a smooth march forward with triumphant songs.

The audience had accompanied the Workaholic Squad through the joys and sorrows of the training camp, watching them grow stronger bit by bit.

And the three words "Workaholic Squad" had long become part of many players' daily lives.

Many players, upon dying and entering the Xiaoheiwu , would immediately rush to the Workaholic Squad's live stream to spectate and see what interesting events had occurred there.

Even if nothing happened.

Just watching this group of brothers together, listening to their banter and bickering, felt interesting enough.

During this period, someone posted a thread on the forum with a simple title: "Feeling like crying, is the training camp story really ending?"

Replies flooded in rapidly below.

Many players expressed their emotions in the thread.

Among them, the most upvoted replies were all filled with warmth.

"No, they are just going to write the next chapter; the training camp story is curtain-calling, but their adventure continues. Our companionship hasn't ended either; we've just changed scenes. I think they are more like jumping out of the Xinshoucun , and we should send our blessings."

"What true ending is there? The persistence learned in the training camp, the trust chosen in desperate situations, the courage picked up after failure—all have flowed into the hearts of every witness through the years in the live streams. Just as the Demon Instructor said, 'Quenched steel remembers the heat of the furnace.' The time in the training camp, every difficult challenge, every struggle on the brink of despair, was like the furnace fire tempering steel. And this two-year-long companionship has added a piece of warm memory to our hearts."

"Though reluctant in my heart, I am willing to offer my blessings. The forum today feels like a grand send-off, seeing off those figures who once laughed, cried, and complained alongside us as they head toward a broader battlefield, and also seeing off the self that once accompanied them in the live streams as it welcomes a new story. Workaholic Squad, keep it up. Stories will always have a period, but the things within the story will take root and grow like seeds in the hearts of everyone who has heard them. I wish you a triumphant return."

"Opening the forum today, my emotions suddenly surged violently. It feels like watching stars I've followed for so long heading to farther places. I am proud of their brilliance, yet I can't help but miss those nights when I could see them just by looking up. Those days when I laughed because of them, cried because of them, and believed that persistence leads to success because of them have already become my Medal of Memory."

At this moment, the Workaholic Squad players currently in the training camp had never expected

that they, about to graduate, would become the topic dominating the forum's trending lists, reaching an unprecedented level of popularity.

Looking back on the past, they couldn't help but feel emotional in their hearts.

Initially, bearing rustic game IDs like Ban Ban Zhuan and Eat Dirt, their only thought upon first entering the game was to earn high profits through gaming.

Usually, aside from hunting, they would squat outside the Xinshoucun gnawing on canned rations, then argue fiercely in the teammate chat box over who got the last hit.

Who could have imagined back then that this group of greenhorns, who had only unlocked a single Star Vein Slot, would later become the Workaholic Squad, consistently ranking first in live stream popularity?

And their definition of the game had changed during this process.

That summer, they accepted the God of Wealth's invitation and embarked on the journey to the Nichao Training Camp.

The early stages of this journey were not viewed favorably by the outside world.

After all, the start had been too miserable.

Every day, they were either beaten or looked upon with disdain; every word spoken seemed to mock their weakness, believing they were unworthy of entering the training camp.

They thought those with connections should be eliminated quickly to avoid wasting the training camp's resources.

At that time, there weren't many viewers in the live stream; most believed they would likely give up this hidden mission.

Even they themselves felt they probably wouldn't last long.

The reason for persisting could be summed up in four words: Hidden Mission (Rich Rewards).

Living in the modern era, none of them had ever suffered hardships since childhood; all physical labor was completed by robots.

They had approached the game with an entertainment mindset, wondering how they ended up living a life worse than death within the game.

Later, when even their right to eat was stripped away and they were beaten black and blue before being thrown out of the canteen, this incident Chedi enraged them.

Although they were brick-moving players, they also had their own principles.

Li Zheng chose to confront them head-on; together with a group of good brothers who had followed him for years, he threw fists of resistance against powerful figures like Gui Tong.

Since they were fighting, they might as well first push themselves into a desperate situation.

Thus, they embarked on a brand-new path for players, what players now call: the Trainee Stream players.

As for their relationship with Gui Tong and others, evolving from enemies to close friends, even the Workaholic Squad players found it incredible.

When they first met, there was only the spark of hatred generated by colliding fists between them and the other trainees.

In the mud of the training camp, the reflection in each other's eyes was their most wretched state, each wishing to pin the other down and beat them mercilessly.

Back then, they considered themselves the Chosen Ones favored by the player system, players who just wanted to slack off, get by, and claim rewards.

On the other side were the training camp trainees led by Gui Tong, warriors who came bearing glory, pride, and the desire to become stronger... Two completely different survival philosophies destined to be incompatible like water and fire.

Yet fate fused them together in the cruelest way possible.

When blizzards swallowed the entire squad, when poisonous miasmas corroded the last half-pot of spiritual liquid, when the roars of fierce beasts were right beside them as their blood and qi ran dry... the once clear boundaries were erased by the body heat transmitted through backs pressed tightly together and the sight of them licking each other's wounds in predicaments...

In the Phase One Snow Mountain Trial, they warmed each other with body heat; in the Phase Two Magma Purgatory, they learned to trust each other's blades... They were no longer mere competitors; although they still spoke harshly to one another, deep down they regarded each other as brothers.

Looking back in a daze, they realized with shock that the fists once thrown at their faces and the taunts once shouted at their lips had, at some unknown point, been tempered into bonds stronger than any contract.

What was written in the training camp was not a beautiful fairy tale, but comradeship forged through countless entrustments of life and death.

This group of new-generation warriors, who once despised each other, could now smile while exposing their most vulnerable sides to one another, and their history of confrontation had long become a topic of nostalgic laughter.

Countless players witnessed this growth journey firsthand, accompanying them every day.

Together, they witnessed their transformation.

At this moment, the Workaholic Squad players were browsing forum information inside the training camp, moved by the words of countless players.

But they had not forgotten their preparations for what came next.

The Ultimate Trial was about to begin, and they needed to inventory their carried supplies according to the instructor's requirements.

This trial had no restrictions; all weapons, equipment, and items could be brought along.

Just as the God of Wealth had once worn the battle armor left by his father to participate in the Ultimate Trial.

In half a day, the instructor would hold a farewell ceremony for them.

Before that, they had to add some guarantees of survival for their training camp brothers who were about to part ways.

Li Zheng prepared 20 bottles of Special Effect Recovery Potions for each of Gui Tong and the others.

This was a significant expenditure of Sacrificial Power; the value of each bottle of Special Effect Recovery Potion reached as high as 1000 points of Sacrificial Power.

But in the eyes of Li Zheng and the Workaholic Squad players, their brothers surviving was more important than anything else.

When they handed the potions to Gui Tong and the others, Gui Tong and his group did not decline; they all accepted the potions, though their mouths were still teasing.

Especially Gui Tong, who stuffed the potions into the tactical pack at his waist, then raised his hand and punched Li Zheng heavily on the chest:

"When Laozi comes back alive, I'll return double the amount of these potions to you."

Beside him, Long Gen shook the bottle of Special Effect Potion in his hand, the glass clinking crisply:

"Ban Ban Zhuan, you're really stingy; only 20 bottles? Who is that enough for? Give us another 20."

While complaining verbally, he reversed his hand and pressed the potions into the inner compartment of his Heart-Protecting Armor.

Hearing the teasing from this group of brothers, Li Zheng stretched the corners of his mouth into a smile:

"All of you must come back alive; consider the potions given as a debt you owe me. I'll wait for you to return and repay it."

"Pah, there's no word 'owe' in my dictionary; once it enters my space, it's mine. No potions, but I have one life..." Before the Huang Tong clan trainee could finish speaking, Eat Dirt sneaked up from behind and choked his neck:

"Then I'll take your life; die for me."

The scene descended into daily horseplay, but soon fell suddenly silent.

Everyone understood how risky this journey would be.

Perhaps some brothers would never return.