Chapter Ninety-One: The Hero’s Challenge Tournament, Part Twenty

On a bright morning, I woke to sunlight and glanced outside; a thick layer of frost flowers had already formed, and crowds of commuters were hurrying along the streets of this modern metropolis.

I picked up my phone and saw that it was already seven-thirty. In half an hour, the individual competition would begin, and the prize for the champion was five hundred thousand in cash—that was my goal. To avoid living at another's mercy in the future, to buy a house, to marry a wife, I had to get that money.

As soon as I stepped out of my room, I ran into Snow, who was just about to call me for breakfast. Seeing that I was awake, she smiled and said, “The match is about to start. Hurry up, wash up and eat!”

Lynn and Rain had already gone online. I finished breakfast in a hurry, and by the time I entered the game it was already ten to eight, right on schedule for the competition.

A few moments later, the system announced: the Hero Challenge Tournament has begun. Players, prepare to enter the arena.

Whoosh!

I was transported to Arena Seven-Two-Zero-Three-Five-Four. Across from me stood a frail little mage, blinking at me with wide eyes. After a few seconds, she said something that nearly made me faint: “Huh? Big brother, why is your gear red? Is there a place in town where you can pay to dye clothes? Where did you have it dyed, and how much did it cost?”

At that moment, I suddenly thought of a game called Dark Guild. These boring games really did harm people. They claimed to be free, but the truth was they made money selling virtual clothing. By my rough calculations and deductions, Dark Guild was very likely the only game in which a virtual bra sold for more than a real one. Especially those vain and ignorant little girls—rather than wear a real bra, they would save up to buy a virtual one. Come to think of it, the younger generation of girls these days had become so shameless that most of them didn’t even wear bras at all.

“Big brother, you’re so handsome, and your gear is great too. Do you want me to be your wife? We can video chat...”

Before the girl had even finished, she turned into a beam of white light and vanished. I muttered to myself, “Sorry, I’m not interested in women who are underdeveloped, plus crazy about looks, plus completely stupid...”

The first match ended in three seconds. I was then teleported out of the arena, and luckily, I appeared right beside the auction house!

I put up more than a dozen pieces of equipment dropped yesterday by Berserker and the others, listing them for sale at good prices. This money could be counted as ill-gotten gains, and I wondered what expression Murong Shanshan would have if she found out.

As I was thinking, I suddenly realized that a huge crowd had gathered around me, and many of them already had their swords and blades drawn. Only then did I remember that I was already a red name beyond red.

Greed can make people fearless. I was decked out in top-grade equipment, and no one knew how many envious eyes were on me. Walking openly through the city was even more dangerous.

I drew my sword, pointed it at them, and said, “What are you all looking at? Want to blow me up for my gear?”

Two mages had already begun gathering power for Fireburst, while several knights were preparing the opening motions of their charge. The battle to kill a red name and seize his equipment was about to erupt.

Whoosh!

A fiery figure blocked my front. It was none other than Murong Shanshan, whom I had not seen for a whole day.

“What do you think you’re doing? Looting in the fire?” Murong Shanshan glanced at the crowd around us. Her sword traced a beautiful arc through the air. “If you want to rob someone, fine—but first consider whether you can afford to offend the Greenleaf Family and the guild I, Murong Shanshan, will found in the future. Today, if anyone makes a move, I, Murong Shanshan, swear I’ll kill him down to level zero and never stop!”

I was a little touched. I wasn’t afraid of making enemies with these people, but at such a crucial moment in the competition, losing gear or levels was not an option.

The way the little beauty ground her teeth and spoke harsh words was especially adorable. The few who had been eager to try moments ago immediately fell silent; some even began to drool while staring at Murong Shanshan.

Indeed, if they swarmed us together, they might very well beat both Murong Shanshan and me to death—but the ones rushing in first would have no way out. After all, having witnessed our attack power, and with that video as proof, the deterrent was overwhelming. Even with me standing red in the middle of the city, perhaps no one would dare make a move.

The crowd dispersed at once. I quickly pulled Murong Shanshan into the cathedral. There were fewer people inside, and even if someone wanted to kill me, with our strength we could deal with them easily.

Murong Shanshan looked at me in surprise. “Lin Fan, how did you end up such a deep red name? Did you go PKing in the wild again? You must have killed a lot of people, right?”

“Don’t mention it. It was that idiot Berserker. Last night he brought people to surround and kill my boss and two coworkers. I went to save them and ended up killing a few more people, so now I’m red.”

Murong Shanshan smiled sweetly. “Was that the hottest thread on the forum this morning, the one called ‘Never Use Your Temper to Challenge My Character—The Story of Me and a Gang Boss That Had to Be Told’? Did you write it? I didn’t read it carefully, but it seemed like a wild PK video. It should have been you, right?”

“Yes. So you knew about it too? By the way, what happened when you went home yesterday?”

Murong Shanshan froze for a moment, then bit her lip and said, “Let’s not talk about that. By the way, I heard that this individual competition has reward money in addition to the original prizes, and the champion gets a huge five-hundred-thousand cash prize. What do you think?”

Seeing that Murong Shanshan also seemed unhappy about what had happened when she went back last night, I decided not to ask further. I answered, “With that much money, I could buy a house and marry a wife. Of course I want it...”

Murong Shanshan covered her mouth and smiled mischievously. “You’re already thinking about marrying a wife so early? Does that mean there’s already someone in your heart?”

“Yeah. What do you think of the priest girl in my workshop?”

“Do you want the truth or the lie?”

“Cut the nonsense. Of course I want the truth!”

“In that case... hmm. I think if she were willing to marry you, it would be like a flower stuck in a pile of cow manure...”

After saying that, Murong Shanshan put on a completely innocent look and stared at me with her bright, watery eyes.

I really had no way with this girl...

Time passed quickly, and the next round began at once. Murong Shanshan and I disappeared from the cathedral together.

This time, my opponent was a level twenty-five mage. At this stage, he should have counted as fairly strong, since most players still had not leveled up because of the competition. Level twenty-five was definitely enough to put him in the top hundred in town. Unfortunately, he ran into me in the second round of the preliminaries. One could only say his luck was abysmal.

The mage grinned in a rather sleazy way. “Brother, can I ask you something? That Greenleaf Temptation girl you were with earlier—what’s her phone number? A messaging account would do too. Could you tell me?”

I stared at him, then said in surprise, “You want to hit on her? I’m really afraid you couldn’t handle her. Do you know she sleeps with her legs spread open...”

The mage broke out in a cold sweat. “Uh... no, no, I was just admiring her. I’m leaving first...”

“Hey, aren’t you going to compete?”

“I forfeit. See you~!”

A shadow shot out of the arena. This guy had actually returned to town directly...