They Divided My Land Before I Even Played

A splitting headache jolted Chen Guang awake. The first thing she saw was a series of blood-red numbers floating in midair. 【SYSTEM: National Fiefdom Survival Tournament. Players Remaining: 5.】 【SYSTEM: House Chen must finish in the top four to retain its fiefdom.】 【SYSTEM: Current HP: 3.】 "It's over. House Chen is finished!" "Only three HP left? How is she supposed to survive another round?" "To think House Chen once produced some of the kingdom's greatest generals. And now its fate rests on the shoulders of a young girl who can't even keep herself alive." Voices rose from the stands, one after another. Chen Guang jerked her head up. She was standing on an enormous floating platform. Beneath her feet stretched a chessboard made of sixty-four glowing squares. Tiered spectator stands surrounded the arena, where tens of thousands of people watched from above. High overhead, a royal adjudicator sat at the official judging table. Across from her stood an array of chess pieces, frozen in place as they awaited the next battle. Then, without warning, a flood of unfamiliar memories crashed into her mind. It took Chen Guang several seconds to make sense of the chaos. She had transmigrated. One moment, she had been a professional Auto Chess player who had just finished a match. The next, she had become the heiress of a declining noble family in another world, a family on the verge of losing everything. And in this world, of all things, Auto Chess determined a noble family's status and right to rule its territory. House Chen had once been among the kingdom's most distinguished noble families. But years of poor tournament results had pushed its accumulated points dangerously close to the relegation threshold. Today was the final survival tournament of the year. If House Chen failed to reach the top four, the kingdom would revoke its hereditary right to govern its fiefdom. Its mineral trading rights, skyship routes, and cargo warehouse licenses would then be redistributed. Generations of family wealth and influence would disappear overnight. And to make matters worse, Chen Guang had only three miserable HP remaining. In a luxurious glass-enclosed box overlooking the arena, several elegantly dressed nobles were chatting among themselves. "House Chen's warehouses at Cloudport... I assume House Huo has already made arrangements?" "The warehouses are hardly the main prize," a middle-aged noble replied, casually taking a sip of tea. "House Qin wants the mineral trading rights. Once House Chen fails to qualify, those licenses will be up for reassignment. The rest should be easy enough to arrange." Another noble chuckled and casually asked whether the Chen girl had only officially become the family's heiress that year. "She's done well enough to survive this long," someone replied. "But unfortunately for her, noble privileges aren't something you get to keep just because people feel sorry for you." The nobles exchanged knowing smiles. As far as they were concerned, House Chen's defeat was already inevitable. Down on the chess platform, Chen Guang had no time to worry about the conversations around her. Her eyes were locked on the interface floating before her. Population. Gold. Units. Equipment. Synergies. Everything was so familiar that she almost couldn't believe it. This... This is Dota Auto Chess! She had played countless matches of this game in her previous life. The shock of transmigration lasted only a moment before her professional instincts took over. First, assess the situation. Then, evaluate the available resources. Finally, find a way out. Her gaze swept across the chessboard. Nine units. A complete lineup. Enchantress, Lone Druid, Monkey King, Primal Beast, Pangolier, and Tusk formed the six-Beast core. The remaining three units were Magnus, Gyrocopter, and Sniper. It was a classic six-Beast Gyrocopter composition. The original Chen Guang hadn't survived to the final five through sheer luck. With the six-Beast synergy continuously stacking physical damage vulnerability on enemy units, Gyrocopter's wide-area firepower could theoretically tear through most late-game compositions. Unfortunately, her units and equipment were far from ideal. Gyrocopter, the team's primary damage dealer, was especially poorly equipped. One look at its items was enough to tell Chen Guang that this wasn't a lineup prepared for the final rounds. Worse still, according to the match records, her next opponent was running a fully developed Terrorblade-centered insect composition. Terrorblade was the primary carry, relying on the single-Demon synergy for bonus pure damage. Sand King provided initiation and crowd control, Venomancer summoned Plague Wards, and the Insect synergy could continuously produce more insects throughout the battle. The composition was terrifying. Its opening burst damage was devastating, and once the insects began multiplying, controlling the battlefield became nearly impossible. The greatest weakness of a six-Beast Gyrocopter lineup was its dependence on a durable frontline. If the frontline collapsed before Gyrocopter could unleash its firepower, the entire formation would fall apart. Chen Guang needed only a couple of glances to reach her conclusion. I can't beat this. Even with her professional experience, she couldn't magically erase the massive equipment disadvantage left by the body's previous owner. Unless some miraculous equipment appeared at the last second, her chances of defeating Terrorblade head-on were practically zero. And she barely had any resources left to make adjustments. An ordinary player might have been reduced to praying that the opponent made a mistake. But Chen Guang wasn't an ordinary player. Her gaze suddenly stopped at the right side of the interface. A small panel displayed the current status of the five remaining players. The top three still had relatively healthy HP totals. Chen Guang was fourth, with three HP. In fifth place was a gray-robed player with only two HP remaining. Chen Guang studied that number, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. Then she looked up at the tournament rules displayed above the arena. 【SYSTEM: If multiple players are eliminated during the same round, their final rankings will be determined by the order in which their elimination results are confirmed.】 Chen Guang froze for a brief moment. Then her eyes began to shine. Wait a second... Why do I have to beat Terrorblade at all? House Chen only needed to finish in the top four. And there were exactly five players left.