"Wee to Roach''s Competition joint practice! We''re back with me, Grand, and…"


    "Nature! Hahaha, we are invited to be the host of thispetition. Those who watched the Scrim a week ago will probably be familiar with us."


    "Indeed! We''ve been hosting the Scrim held by Flexy a week ago. Still, this time, our role is just as a host and to talk before and after the game. Jack and Paul will help us cast the whole yter."


    "Whoa? So, do we have an easier job this time? Neat!"


    Grand and Nature, whose hosting ability was proved in Scrim and was part of its sess, was once again invited to host the joint practice.


    This joint practice was live-streamed on Roach''s official Punch ount, with an amazing number of viewers that reached more than 60K, not counting the watch party by other streamers.


    "Nature, do you know what made this different from the Scrim in the past?"


    "Of course! All 40 teams,ing from the whole world, will join us this time. Many teams with unknown strategies will be separated into 4 groups. 10 top points earners from the 4 groups will advance to the next stage, the final. We will use the tournament format this time!"


    "I see, so it''s not elimination-based but a point-based tournament, right? Teams with the highest points from Annihtion and Survival will definitely advance to the next round. I wonder how teams will umte points. Will they try to survive until wave 10 or just destroy other teams?"


    "I think the survival n is the most effective way to earn the highest points. Why? Because theypete not only with the other 9 teams in their group but also with different groups. A team that survived until wave 9 alone will have more than 8K survival points, which is a lot!"


    "The wave boss from fifth to tenth will also give a total of 5K annihtion points. Will we be able to witness a new world record for the highest total points in this tournament or even in today''s joint practice??"


    "I hope so! And not because of a bias… Personally, I think the OrangeSquash team will have the highest chance of achieving it. And the other strong contender would be the MiceMice team. As we can see in the Scrim, both teams managed to survive until the ninth wave. The former even killed some wave bosses."


    "This time, I have to agree with what you said, Nature. I would be a fool if I said OrangeSquash is just a new team after I saw what happened in the Scrim. Also, they have probably improved since then. I hope I am able to see the legendary tenth wave this time!"


    "It''s not just you, but I also want to watch it. And I also believe the viewers want to witness the tenth wave live."


    — We do!


    — OrangeSquash! OrangeSquash! OrangeSquash!


    — MWRifle! You can do it!


    — Tenth wave? We can witness it live! Damn, I want to see it


    — Yooo! This year''spetition is lit! It''s more exciting thanst season!


    — Many new teams reced old ones. We won''t know who will win this time


    — MiceMice! Go strong, defend strong!


    The livestream viewers were excited.


    Unlike the Scrim, the yers weren''t allowed to do an individual stream, so the chat on the main Roach channel became like a warzone between fans and haters.


    — MiceMice is overrated! THEY SUCK.


    — ^^ You suck. You sukhisdik


    — Naaah, Team Vorpal is already fcked before they even y lol. Gant got kicked out yesterday lolol


    — No one said anything bad about OrangeSquash or I will squash your PP


    — Try me. Their orange jacket is tacky! It sucks. Their orange space suits too. More like orange obsessed lol


    — That Flexy was high on orange


    "I am not orange-obsessed! And I am not high."


    Inside the OrangeSquash waiting room, Flexy suddenly shouted after he read the chat. Maxughed loudly as he pointed at his friend''s funny face.


    "You''re high, alright. Just admit that you''re addicted to orange, buddy."


    "Not you too…" Flexy''s shoulders slumped in defeat as he drew something on the floor using his finger. "I just like oranges… You know? Like how you like ck or blue. At least I have changed our space suit to gray, you know? Praise me a little."


    "That''s not a praiseworthy feat. If anything, it''s a normal thing to fix your mistake." Max retorted coldly, "You do know having an orange space suit will only make us stand out like a sore thumb in the gray desert, right?"


    "Tsk, my appeal didn''t work, huh?"


    "Fufufu, that''s a weak appeal, leader. You should look at him with puppy eyes instead. That always works against At."


    "I see. I will take a note." Flexy nodded at Ferin, who gave him strange advice, while Lisa held her head.


    "Please don''t. That''s disgusting." She spat coldly.


    "Max, here is some drink."


    "Thanks, Lily."


    The atmosphere in the waiting room was just as silly as usual. No tension could be felt.


    Just like they discussedst night, they would y around in this joint practice to prepare for the serious y tomorrow. It was out of consideration for two people, Max and Lily, who weren''t used to their SR yet.


    As and Ferin were fine, as they were hardcore gamers who had more than 3 years experience of non-stop gaming in Horizon Online. No matter how high their SR was, they were already used to it.


    At that moment, a staff member entered their waiting room.


    "Excuse me, the practice will start soon. May I ask the OrangeSquash team to prepare themselves in the corridor?"


    "Alright. Thanks for filling us in." Flexy replied as he fixed his image immediately.


    The staff tilted his hat and smiled, "It''s just my job."


    Afterward, the staff left and Flexy coughed loudly to get the group''s attention.


    "Well, because it''s just a joint practice, and we n to y around, I don''t prepare a nutritional supplement. I will give a B-Grade supplement for tomorrow''s match instead. Our budget is unexpectedly cutting it close with our sponsor getting busy over… something."


    "Hmm, it''s not a problem. We have enough of it already." Ferin nodded excitedly, but her eyes were squirming around as if she felt guilty about something.


    Max noticed that and sighed.


    ''I guess she had something to do with StoneSword''s action.''


    Still, he wasn''t really disappointed that he got no B-Grade supplement today. He already nned to use his A-Grade supplement before the match tomorrow, so he couldn''t stack it with that supplement.


    ''I will save the one Flexy give me tomorrow for next month''s workout regime.''


    Lisa, who was secretly gone earlier, returned with the team''s jackets. Everyone donned it and exited the waiting room.


    The four main yers, Max, Flexy, Ferin, and As would y in the first match while Lily would stay with Lisa to make notes of what they realized from other teams.


    "Good luck, Max." The girl waved at her boyfriend and smiled.


    Turning back, Max gave her a bright smile and raised his hand.


    "I''ll win."


    And the joint practice started. The team was transported in the gray desert. Their base was located next to a sand dune, which was pretty bad as they could be ambushed.


    Thanks to the leader, Flexy''s skillful negotiation, they wore gray space suits with their sponsor logo on their chest instead of bright orange space suits.


    However, they still became the center of attention for a different reason.


    Much to the hosts'' and viewers'' surprise, all of them were holding the same weapons.


    "What! The OrangeSquash team appeared with 3 sniper rifles and 1 machine gun in hand! Is this a part of their strategy?!"


    "New meta? I am curious how they will proceed!"


    — Strategy? More like no strategy


    — kekw, 3 SR in joint practice? What madness do they bring this time?


    — Is this truly a new meta? I know 4 MG, but 3 SR and 1 MG? They are nuts!


    — I bet they are drunk on orange juices!


    — As if! I bet they are just trolling!