Li Ran was left standing there, furious enough to want to stab someone!

Before long, Xu Jingyao removed her bald-headed disguise and returned with her real appearance.

"How’d it go, Sister Ran? You got the 400, right?"

She had started off sounding excited, but as she spoke, she noticed something off about Li Ran’s expression.

Her enthusiasm faded into hesitation as she tentatively asked,

"Wait… no way… Sister Ran, don’t tell me…"

"Did you mess up? Or… did you go soft?"

Li Ran gritted her teeth. "Neither. I didn’t mess up, and I definitely didn’t go soft."

"It’s just that we both got played by that bald guy!"

"He was just playing dumb while actually being a beast—and he figured out right away that we were working together!"

"He turned the tables on me and scammed me instead!"

Xu Jingyao’s eyes widened in disbelief. "No way! He’s stronger than you?!"

Li Ran pressed her lips together, too embarrassed to admit she was practically one-shot killed. Instead, she simply nodded.

"His stats completely crushed mine."

"And besides the Disguise Mask, he also had a Bronze-tier item."

"Holy sh*t…" Xu Jingyao was dumbfounded.

How was she this unlucky?

She tried to scam one random guy and ended up running into a hidden powerhouse in disguise?

What kind of reverse jackpot was this?

Feeling uneasy, she asked, "So… what now? Will that guy hold a grudge and come after us later?"

Li Ran didn’t answer.

She was still seething inside—she was the one who lost 400!

That bastard had no reason to take revenge on her!

If anything, she should be the one taking revenge!

But in the end, she didn’t voice those thoughts.

After a long moment of contemplation, she solemnly told Xu Jingyao,

"I don’t want to play Challenge Mode anymore."

Xu Jingyao was taken aback and quickly tried to persuade her, "No, Sister Ran! It was just one mistake! You can’t give up over a small setback!"

"This is the fastest and most stable way to make money!"

"Otherwise, whether it’s Random Matchmaking or Random Challenge, you could lose everything in a single match!"

"Please reconsider!"

But Li Ran shook her head without hesitation. "No need. I’ve already thought it through."

"My fight with that bastard made me realize something—"

"My combat sense is garbage!"

"When I was fighting him, I didn’t even use my full strength!"

"I plan to use Random Matchmaking to fight players of similar strength and improve my combat skills before thinking about making money again."

"Besides, I have a high enough loan limit. I can definitely afford the rent."

Xu Jingyao stared at her in shock. "Wait… you’re actually serious?"

Li Ran didn’t respond. Instead, she acted on her decision.

Without hesitation, she opened the operating panel in her mind and selected Random Matchmaking Mode.

—

On the other side.

Jiang Ye had found a quiet seat and decided to try out Random Matchmaking as well.

He had a feeling that—

In Random Matchmaking, both players would have similar combat power.

But combat power wasn’t the same as real strength.

For example—whether he had the Poison Blade Blood Dagger or not, his displayed combat power remained the same.

Which meant that equipment and items didn’t affect the combat power on the panel.

So, Random Matchmaking wasn’t completely fair.

Players with powerful gear would still have a huge advantage!

Aside from that, combat sense also played a role in real strength.

Two players with 20 combat power—

One had never fought before and would be awkward and hesitant, probably only able to use a fraction of their combat strength.

The other was highly trained, or even a special forces soldier or a murderer.

That second player would obviously be far stronger!

This explained why the top five players on the War God Ranking all had 100% win rates.

They either had overpowered items,

or they had insane combat skills from before Doomsday,

or maybe even both!

Because in this new world, it wasn’t about backgrounds or connections anymore.

It was simply about who could fight the best.

And those who knew how to fight naturally had a higher chance of obtaining powerful items—

Which created a positive feedback loop!

But luckily, in Random Matchmaking Mode, Jiang Ye also had an edge.

Previously, he had thought that his two abilities—Absolute Focus and Combat Stance—weren’t as good as the elemental skills that dealt direct damage.

But after fighting that schoolgirl, he realized the truth—

His abilities were just as strong!

Because both Absolute Focus and Combat Stance could temporarily boost his stats during combat!

And in his previous fight, Jiang Ye had personally experienced the power of overwhelming stats.

That schoolgirl likely had multiple gold-element skills.

She probably even had a Bronze-tier item from a treasure chest.

But—

She didn’t even have time to use them before she got one-shot killed.

The reason was simple—

With Absolute Focus and Combat Stance active, Jiang Ye’s stats completely crushed hers!

Against absolute stats, all tricks and gimmicks were useless!

What’s more, Combat Stance also improved his combat sense after every battle.

Meaning—he would only get stronger the more he fought!

Becoming a powerhouse was just a matter of time!

At this rate, fighting evenly-matched opponents in Random Matchmaking was the fastest way to grow.

And considering he had both a Disguise Mask and the Poison Blade Blood Dagger,

And his combat sense was constantly improving…

Jiang Ye was confident that he had a high win rate in Random Matchmaking.

Alright. Time to try it out!

With that thought, Jiang Ye opened his operating panel and selected Random Matchmaking Mode.

In this mode, the betting range was set within a limited range.

For example, if he bet 800,

His opponent would have similar combat power and a betting range between 100 and 900.

In Random Matchmaking, the final wager was always determined by the lower bet.

For example, if his opponent bet 200, then the final wager for the match would be 200.

If his opponent bet 900, then the final wager would be his bet—800.

This meant that, before the battle even began, you could make a rough assessment of your opponent based on the final wager.

After all, higher wagers usually indicated greater confidence in one’s strength.

At the same time, players betting within the 100-900 range were most likely weaker than those betting in the 1,000-9,000 range.

Of course, this wasn’t absolute, but it was a useful starting point for analysis.

Jiang Ye had bet 800 simply because that was all the money he had.

He had assumed that, after matchmaking, the final wager would be lower than 800.

But to his surprise, the final wager was exactly 800!

This meant his opponent had either also bet 800 or bet 900.

They intentionally avoided betting 1,000 to enter the next wagering tier?

Looks like they might be skilled.

Jiang Ye immediately became more cautious.

A shift in consciousness, and he found himself once again in the familiar arena space.

Standing across from him was…

A delivery rider in a bright yellow uniform!

The moment his opponent saw him, he immediately blurted out,

"Disguise Mask?"

Those two words made Jiang Ye’s heart sink slightly.

That tone—he didn’t sound like a newbie at all.

He must’ve fought multiple matches before.

Jiang Ye didn’t respond.

In his mind, the countdown had already begun—

[3]… [2]… [1]…

The moment the countdown ended—

The delivery rider in yellow suddenly vanished from the arena!

Wang Qiang, watching the match, was stunned. "What the hell? Where’d he go??"

Xiao Likun, relying on his Comprehension Enhancement ability, immediately deduced,

"It’s a spatial skill!"

"This delivery guy must have awakened a spatial ability, just like Bai Ruowan!"

"But unlike Bai Ruowan, he has an offensive spatial skill—which makes him way more dangerous!"

Xiao Likun was already speaking as quickly as he could.

But before he even finished his sentence—

The yellow figure had already teleported from one end of the basketball court-sized arena to the other in an instant.

More precisely—

He had teleported behind the "bald guy"!

At the same time, he raised a massive battle axe and swung it straight at the bald guy’s head!

Xiao Likun couldn’t help but sigh in relief,

"Good thing this guy doesn’t have Spatial Blade, the ability that ignores all defenses!"

"Otherwise, the bald guy would be dead on the spot!"

"He might have powerful spatial abilities, but… that battle axe clearly doesn’t suit him!"

As if to confirm Xiao Likun’s point—

The "bald guy" tilted his head just slightly and effortlessly dodged the attack from behind!

It was only then that Xiao Likun realized something felt off—

He and Wang Qiang had watched multiple matches now.

They had seen several battles featuring Yang Wenchao and two battles featuring the bald guy.

And they had noticed something—

Almost every single player who entered the arena had some kind of equipment or item!

At first, Xiao Likun had assumed that these powerful players had purchased their gear from the High-End Mall in the apartment.

That they had spent money to buy items.

But now—he wasn’t so sure.

Because this delivery guy’s skills clearly favored lightweight weapons and speed.

Yet his weapon was a giant battle axe?

Was it because he was just an idiot who didn’t understand basic combat logic?