S/N Name     Number  Score


    1.  Cloudsmith   778   685


    2. Handel Gretkart 111   675


    4.  Green Thorns  324   652


    5. Floating Mirage  787   616


    "It''s break time in this fabulous cksmith tournament hosted by the cksmith guild of ck Rock City and the rankings have been finally updated.


    "The number one spot is still retained by the unyielding number one yer cksmith of ck Rock Province, the elusive Cloudsmith. At this point, no one doubts his title as the number one yer cksmith in ck Rock Province and I''m sure he will prove it today. As for the second and third ces, they''re being held by NPCs with the second ceholder being the son of a Master cksmith. Rumour is going on amongst the yers that the NPC is being favored but since the first ce is still the Cloudsmith such rumor are being dismissed. However, we can''te to decision straight away and can only watch on from here."


    While the tournament was ongoing, many yers began live-streaming it, to either increase their follower count or they simply felt like doing so. Of all the live-streamers present, one of them had to most followers as well as the most audience. He was poprly known as the ''legendary nutter Pine dog''[1] and operated the channel ''Acorns and Walnuts''. While the name didn''t explicitly state what the channel was concerned about, it was still recognized as one of the most famous VR gaming live-streamworks in the gaming world.


    Pine dog had managed to build hiswork to such a level thanks to his amazingmentary as well as reputable information that he always feeds to his audience. Not only could yers know the most popr events in a VR game from thework but they could also tune in to his live-streams with impressivementary that could always keep them entertained with a smile on their face, or grab their attention like a dramatic action movie.


    Coincidentally, Pine Dog was based in ck Rock City Province and had started from Salt Springs town before getting promoted to the city. After being made aware of the cksmith tournament, he immediately headed over to the location to cover the event and boost hiswork''s ratings.


    "Fourth ce remains the presumed guild-born, Green Thorns as this unknown character bes the second-best yer cksmith right after the Cloudsmith. The difference between fourth ce and second ce is only 7 points so there''s still a chance for Green Thorns to rise in rankings. It should be known that just like the Cloudsmith, Green Thorns'' identity is unknown. A ''she'' or a ''he'', we do not know. But we do recognize them by the signature green thorns on their product.


    "Fifth ce goes to the reputed leader of the League of Hammers, Floating Mirage. During thest contest, he was ced at 6th ce but had managed to rise above his adversary, snatching thest position in the top 5 spots and bing the third-best yer cksmith of the province. This result is indeed impressive for anyone else, but as the supposed leader of all cksmiths in the region, taking the fifth position in the contest as well as the third position amongst yers doesn''t seem to make him live up to his title."


    One of the yer cksmiths in ck cloaks suddenly had a slight disfigurement in his facial expression as he listened to the live-stream through his interface. He was the yer in a ck cloak from the auction house, who had stood alongside Blue me and the red-haired yer; the leader of the League of Hammers as well as the best cksmith in the league, Floating Mirage.


    Having been shot down by the Sato from his self-built pedestal as the number one cksmith of the region during the auction, Floating Mirage had sworn to turn things around during this tournament. However, he was destined to be disappointed.


    Not only did he perform miserablypared to Sato, but he had even lost to an NPC and wasn''t in the top 5 after the written test. It was only thanks to the first practical session that he was able to barely squeeze himself into the top 5. Even then, there was still the guild-born, Green Thorns, ahead of him with a whopping 36 points difference which wouldn''t be easy to surpass. There were also the 2nd and 3rd ces which were NPCs, with the gap between him and the 2nd ce being 59 points, much less him and Sato.


    It was at that moment that Floating Mirage had given up on taking first ce and just decided to maintain his position, or at least, hope he could surpass the rumored guild-born and take 4th ce in the rankings but second amongst yers.


    Floating Mirage wasn''t the only one having a hard time though. The other members of the League of Hammers were finding it difficult to beat their NPC counterparts and make it to the top 10. Apart from Blue me and another guild-born, the rest were all below the top 15 spots, including the red-haired yer.


    "Who knew that this would be so difficult." Fudo''s voice was heard in the team chat.


    While the team wasn''t needed here, they still came over to show their support for Sato as well as to take notice of the progress of various yers.


    "What would you expect? If we''re to think through everything logically, it makes sense. The yers arepeting against characters that have been at this stage for months now. They''ve already gathered a ton of knowledge and experience regarding the subss andpared to us yers, who have only been around for two months or so, there''s no way we could simply beat them that easily." Seiichi exined.


    "Makes sense." Lu Zhen nodded.


    "Hey, Sato, how confident are you in winning this, and who do you think would be your runner-up?" Fudo greedily licked his lips as he asked.


    Just as there were live-streams covering the event, there were also betting tforms with different odds covering each yer. Some of the betting services were run by NPCs but quite a few of them were run by yers; the rich ones of course.


    The odds for Sato to take first ce were 1.1, to take second ce was 1.5, and third ce was 2.2. For Handel Gretkart, the odds to take first ce was 1.5, second ce was 1.1, third ce was 1.7. For Green Thorns to take first ce was an attractive 5.0, second ce was 3.8, third ce was 1.5 and 4th ce was 1.2 odds. As for Floating Mirage, the odds to take first ce was a whopping 11 odds, 2nd ce was 7.5, third ce was 5.7 while 4th ce was 2.2 odds. Fifth ce was at 1.3 while the sixth ce was 1.7 odds [2]. The higher the spected position was from the contestant''s current rank, the higher the odds. The same was true the lower one goes from the contestant''s rank.


    Since he was interested in betting arge sum of money, Fudo wanted to bet on a safe odd but with high risk. Simply pacing a bet on Sato taking first ce would only earn him a 0.1 increase to the original fee and while this was a sure bet, the profit was too little. Hence, Fudo decided to ask for Sato''s advice.


    "You make it seem like I''m a gambling pro." Sato said with a tired-out voice.


    "Hehe. It''s your profession so you should be able to see who has the most talent." Fudo thickened his face and praised.


    *Sigh*


    With a sigh, Sato turned to face the rankings in the sky as he began contemting.


    "Handel Gretkart will maintain the second position and there''s quite a high chance that Green Thorns would make it to the third ce. Therefore, you can bet on that and also on the current third-ce dropping to fourth. Floating Mirage is probably stressed about the rankings due to his status, and that could potentially affect his actions. But considering he was able to make it to the 5th ce calmly, he will be more cautious than ever. ce a bet on him retaining 5th ce but if you want to be extra careful, put another or him slipping down to 6th but with a slightly smaller amount of cash than the other one. As for the rest, I wasn''t paying attention to them so I can''t advise you on that. Ask Seiichi for more info; he''s a pro at this." Sato slyly passed the task onto Seiichi after which he left the chat and focused on the contestants.


    ''Green Thorns and Floating Mirage. I wonder who you fes might be.''


    Including him, there was a total of 4 yer cksmiths with ck cloaks on.


    The score distribution for the 2nd round was different from the written test. They were expected to forge a Mortal rank item and depending on the final quality and sess rate, which was determined by the number of equipment forged, they would be allocated points. For a low-tier Mortal rank equipment would be 50 points, Mid-tier 100 points, and finally, Upper-tier 140 points. The total points a contestant could amass in that round was 420 points which were 3 Upper-tier equipment.


    All those in the current top 5 were able to achieve this and from that, yers were able to limit the possible participants that held the identities of the top yer cksmiths.


    Of the top 5, three of them were yers and each had a ck cloak on. One was the Cloudsmith, the other Green Thorns and the final one would be Floating Mirage. Since none of them had admitted to being the other, nobody knew who was who. Only the members of the League of Hammers knew who was their leader amongst the trio but still couldn''t identify the Cloudsmith from the remaining duo.


    However, with the next few contests, the identities of all three would eventually be known to all.