The requirement to enter a first-graded city from an inferior-graded city could be considered the hardest thing to do. It was the equivalent of trying to climb up the social ladder from a lower class to an upper class.
Most of the time, those from the inferior graded-city would be denied visa or entry to the higher-graded city.
Not even money could resolve the problem unless one had an abundance of connections with powerful people in the higher-graded city.
Another exception was being qualified and invited to an event authorized by the city's government.
And one of the events was the streamer's award. With how advanced technology had become and how streamers were considered influential people, they were eligible and exempt from certain restrictions.
By being invited meant exempt from the restriction and bypassed the law to directly ascend from a third-graded city to a first-graded city.
"You think too much." Xu Feng laughed bitterly and shook his head.
"The reason why I'm not excited is because OneManMedia only said we qualified— not invited. Being qualified and being invited are two different subjects." He explained, knowing fairly well that it was way more difficult than what Carmen and OneManMedia believed.
Sure enough, once the adrenaline rush ended, Carmen came back to reality and realized she was indeed dreaming far too much.
To surpass 500,000 viewers wasn't that uncommon with the current world population. She was just too blinded by the fact that these 500,000-plus viewers were people who paid to watch.
It was completely unlike the other streamers who allowed anyone to join to watch.
"Shouldn't there be an exception since all your viewers are paid?" Carmen pursed her lips and said.
"Do you think those at the top would care about it being paid or unpaid?" Amused, Xu Feng knew fairly well how these managements work. It looked fair on the surface, but the truth was that many under-dealing were being made in the process.
"Huh, if they don't care then why are we still streaming?" Confused, Carmen was unable to understand why the stream must be pay-per-view. If their goal was to warn and demonstrate their power, then wouldn't it be more wise to open the stream to the public.
That way, everyone could see the consequences of messing with them.
"We're streaming this for those who got the money to watch."
"Okay, I'm officially confused."
With Carmen throwing in the white flag to surrender, Xu Feng merely chuckled in response.
"The top might not care if the stream is paid or unpaid, but those who have paid to watch are definitely people related or connected to the top. What do you think will happen if our stream got snubbed of a streamer's award despite its popularity?" He asked softly.
"Eh, nothing because they are just a bunch of scum?" She responded coolly.
Awards being snubbed from deserved recipients was extremely common because the recipient either lacked connection or background.
Nodding, Xu Feng agreed with her response. "Indeed, that's the reality of the world, but since we're currently showing the world how we act. If you were the people responsible for the event. Would you start to hesitate and pause for a moment to wonder what the Vanguard Guild would do if they got snubbed or sidelined?"
"Ohhh," Carmen opened her mouth wide in an "O" shape. Realization quickly dawned upon her when she finally understood the meaning.
Without a doubt, today was going to be the end of MIST, and if the Vanguard Guild could achieve it simply by stating it. Then how hard could it be for the Vanguard Guild to target those in charge of the event?
"MIST really screws it up by putting themselves as a stepping stone for you to step over." She commented.
"Alright, let's save the moral talk when I know and you know that you despise MIST as well." Xu Feng chuckled.
Carmen simply shrugged in response. She didn't really have much against them from the start, but it was MIST's own action that brought this conclusion.
Who told them to be greedy and constantly want to expand by stepping over?
Well, jokes on them. It was them who would be stepped over, and not the Vanguard Guild.
Time quickly passed by, and the battlefield had reached its peak.
"Everyone, remain strong. United we strong, divided we weak." Tyler shouted, not even caring how cringe his words were.
"Yes, Guild Leader!" Tyler's subordinates responded in fervor. However, deep down they knew this was a losing fight.
They were completely caught off-guard, unable to take advantage of the terrain and strategy they had come up with.
Simultaneously, they also began to wonder where the elders went. Prior to the battle, almost all elders decided to log out, causing their pressure to increase. Without the elders' support, the battle became disorientated.
The only good thing and possibly a great relief was that the two great Vanguard Guild players didn't join in.
"Guild Leader, we're running low on supplies. The dead players seem to be continuously reviving and we're losing a lot of levels." Another MIST member exclaimed in shock.
Meanwhile, Tyler was more or less in a state of disarray.
'Just how did Lin Feng manipulate the system to create this death event?' He screamed internally in frustration.
After witnessing his members dying and reviving 10 seconds later, their experience points dropping like crazy. Tyler felt a pang in his heart, almost as if it was being crushed by a hand.
His elites were detained in the prison of Star Falls City, and his remaining forces were being killed continuously. It was only a matter of time before they would all drop to level 0 and by then, failure was inevitable.
"Need reinforcement here! Healers, anyone please!"
"Shut up, this side is also lacking support!"
"My side is being overwhelmed as well. What are you tanks doing in stopping the enemy's flank?"
As MIST's members continued to shout in a chaotic manner, they were soon swarmed by the overwhelming numbers that Xu Feng had gathered.
In the end, they were all wiped out, leaving only Tyler in the scene.