Novice Village, Gambling Arena

Xiao Ya's pretty face darkened. She raised a fist and smashed it onto Xiao Wen's head.

"You brat, how dare you tease your own sister? Your guts have gotten pretty big lately, huh?"

"Sis, don't hit me! If you're this violent, you'll never get married."

Xiao Wen chuckled, hugging his head with both hands as he teased.

"You brat, don't try to change the subject! Confess quickly, or I'll beat you to death!"

Xiao Ya huffed, brandishing her slender fist a few times.

"I'll confess. I really earned this money myself. Just yesterday, I earned it in the game. I got a few pieces of equipment to drop." Xiao Wen confessed.

"A million for a few pieces of equipment? That must be at least several pieces of green-grade equipment, right! Do you really think your sister is an idiot? Even someone as amazing as your sister, with incredibly good luck, only got two white-grade items to drop last night. You, with your ugly face, could actually get something to drop?"

"I'm ugly?"

Xiao Wen rolled his eyes.

Even if he wasn't considered handsome, he definitely wasn't ugly. At worst, he had a good-looking face, alright.

"Sis, does that mean you only have two white-grade equipment pieces on you right now?"

Xiao Wen rubbed his hands together and looked at Xiao Ya, asking.

Xiao Ya shook her head, placing one hand on her hip, and said with a proud expression, "Two pieces? Do I look like someone who only has two pieces? I have three pieces of equipment on me! Another one was given to me by my good sister, hmph!"

"Th-three pieces?"

Xiao Wen's mouth twitched. He lowered his voice and said, "Sis, can we discuss something?"

"What is it?" Xiao Ya squinted at Xiao Wen and added, "You want the equipment on your sister? No way!"

"No... no... I mean, Sis, in the future, when you see me in the game, please don't say you know me." Xiao Wen said with a serious expression.

"???"

Xiao Ya was full of question marks, not knowing what Xiao Wen was up to.

"It's mainly too embarrassing... As my sister, to only have three pieces of equipment, and all of them are white-grade!"

Xiao Wen lowered his head and sighed. Seeing his sister's bewildered expression, he quickly retreated into the game pod and closed the protective shield.

"Uh, Sis, I'm going into the game. I'll send some equipment over to you. Which Novice Village are you in? What's your name?"

"7... No. 76817... Xi Rou."

Xiao Ya responded almost reflexively.

By the time she realized it and wanted to grab Xiao Wen for a good lesson, the kid had already entered the game.

"Alright, I'll just see what this brat is really up to."

Xiao Ya huffed. She glanced at the bank card beside her, picked it up, and wiped away a few specks of dust on the card surface with her fingertip. "This card, your sister will keep it safe for you for now."

Inside the game, Xiao Wen's figure materialized. He glanced around; no one was there. Fist Overlord had already logged off.

He turned his gaze to his backpack. He only had a green-grade staff, the Ice Magic Staff, and white-grade equipment. While the stats were decent, Xiao Wen was thinking about getting a set of green-grade equipment for his sister.

Maybe he should try his luck?

Xiao Wen's gaze shifted towards the Novice Village.

Within the Novice Village, fighting was prohibited, but there was one exception: the Gambling Arena.

The Gambling Arena was a venue for players to gamble and compete. It was divided into three categories: betting gold, betting equipment, and private bets.

The first two were, as their names suggested, betting gold coins and equipment. Both parties would put up a set amount of gold coins and equipment as the spoils, which would be given to the winner.

As for private bets, they were private wagers. The NPCs in the game would merely act as arbiters, collecting the corresponding notarization fees.

Xiao Wen's target was naturally the "betting equipment" section, which was the fastest way he could think of to help his sister gather a set of green-grade equipment.

"Dear player, hello. To enter the Gambling Arena, you need to pay an entrance fee of 50 silver coins," a scantily clad female NPC said softly at the entrance of the Gambling Arena.

Xiao Wen nodded and paid the entrance fee before stepping into the Gambling Arena.

"Oh, my dearest player, is there anything Flod can help you with? As long as you have money, Flod will be your most, most loyal servant."

An NPC dressed in a tailcoat stepped forward and bowed slightly to Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen nodded. "I need to make a wager – a bet on equipment. The base stake is the Ice Magic Staff. Please verify it."

With a raise of his hand, the Ice Magic Staff was taken by Xiao Wen and handed to Flod.

As Flod took the Ice Magic Staff, a gold coin "inadvertently" rolled out from Xiao Wen's sleeve and landed in Flod's palm.

After carefully examining the staff, Flod quietly clenched the gold coin in his palm, and the smile on his face grew even more pronounced.

"Oh, my dear player. It is indeed a green-grade weapon. Please choose the equipment of the opponent you wish to exchange for. Please try to choose equipment of equivalent value. If there is a difference, we will not compensate." Flod said.

Under normal circumstances, for white-grade equipment, accessories often fetched higher prices than weapons for each class due to their attribute bonuses, and weapons for each class generally sold for more than equipment for class parts.

"Level five and above, Mage equipment parts, anything is fine."

Flod nodded and retreated. After about half a minute, he brought a card and a headset to Xiao Wen.

"Dear player, please accept this gambling card and gambling headset."

[Gambling Headset]

Usage Level: None

Rarity: None

Attributes: 0

Description: A headset that can only be used within the Gambling Arena. It has the ability to conceal the face and mask attributes and nicknames. It is said that only players Flod has a good impression of can possess it.

"A complimentary gift? It seems like that one gold coin was really worth it," Xiao Wen muttered.

After putting the headset on, Xiao Wen immediately found that all his attributes had become undetectable.

Ding! A challenge has been detected. The stake is the [Ice Armor]. Do you accept?

"Someone's already coming for me this quickly."

Xiao Wen immediately chose to accept. The moment he made his decision, the card in his hand glowed, instantly disappearing from its original spot. It reappeared in a small, enclosed arena.

Across the ring stood a swordsman holding a long sword.

"Here you are, the owner of the Ice Magic Staff, right? Thank you for delivering the staff into my hands. It is your supreme honor to be defeated by me."

The swordsman was taken aback when he saw Xiao Wen, who was wearing the headset, but then he sneered.

Xiao Wen did not reply, only staring at the swordsman opposite him.

"Make your move. I'll take your armor," Xiao Wen said in a low voice.

"A Fist Master without any gauntlets? What a pauper!"

The swordsman snorted. Since Xiao Wen's headset concealed all his information, he naturally assumed Xiao Wen was a Fist Master without even a weapon.

For this kind of poor player, he killed one when they came, and a pair when two came. There was no pressure at all.

The battle begins!

A crisp sound echoed through the air. The swordsman moved instantly, dragging his sword with both hands as he charged at Xiao Wen. His speed was fast, and he closed in on Xiao Wen, swinging his greatsword horizontally to slash at Xiao Wen's waist.

"Weakling."

Xiao Wen shook his head, shifted his body, and dodged the opponent's attack. He then threw two punches in succession, landing them on the swordsman.

Health -480.

Health -480.

Health bar, zeroed!