Review

"Incredible! Simply incredible! So many things that barely look human suddenly flooded into the ring... uh... or should I say puppets... an army?..."

"Contestant Echimilu has been completely surrounded! He's fighting back with all his might..."

"Where is contestant Oboro? Where is Oboro? We can no longer find his position!"

The host's shrieks echoed across the arena.

On the stage, blades flashed and arrows flew, while small shells repeatedly rained down, kicking up clouds of black smoke and dust.

The already small, battered ring had become a miniature battlefield shrouded in gunpowder smoke.

"Why can't I dodge them?!"

Echimilu was on the verge of losing his mind, grumbling inwardly as he forced himself to stay calm.

His battle instincts and experience told him that he had to find Oboro himself as quickly as possible. As long as he killed him, these annoying soldiers would disappear.

Otherwise, once his Nen power ran out, he would be in serious trouble.

Though these little soldiers did not have much offensive power, he still needed Nen to defend against them... especially the archers and cannon soldiers. No matter how he twisted his body or shifted his footing, their arrows would still strike him.

The cannon soldiers' ammunition was even more powerful... and equally impossible to evade. Every time he sensed incoming artillery fire, he had to push his Nen power to its limit.

After a while... Echimilu finally saw hope.

The black hole that had continuously produced soldiers vanished! "Come out!"

"I've changed my mind. I'm going to kill you!"

"You can't stay hidden forever. Once I deal with these damned fake people..."

As the dreadlocked man shouted, the soldiers, whose numbers had stopped growing, began to be rapidly killed one after another, turning into phantom bubbles.

Oboro was actually standing only a few meters behind him.

But Echimilu had not noticed at all... his attention and focus had already been scattered by the soldiers' attacks.

Oboro's Nen ability, the Game Treasury of the Endless Dreamer, had a game rule that was incredibly easy to overlook!

That was right... once the game began, the rule had already been imposed.

The archers' and cannon carts' attacks were targeted... in other words, once someone entered their attack range, there was no way to dodge.

That was the advantage of making a Nen ability more complex!

It was hard to predict...

"Die!"

A moment later, Echimilu seemed unable to endure any longer. Like an enraged beast, after clearing out the melee soldiers, he instantly pounced before a group of archers and tore several soldiers apart with the sharp force of his fists.

But just as he finished his move, before he could even catch his breath, a shell shot through the air and struck his back, exploding on impact.

Although more than half the arena had been cleared, black smoke still filled the air, leaving the view murky.

The dreadlocked man's Nen power had weakened. That shell made his body stagger, and he dropped straight to his knees.

Even the headphones on his head were blown away.

"Ah!"

His eyes red, the dreadlocked man roared and abruptly rose to his feet, his gaze locking onto several cannon carts.

But just as he was about to move, his eyelids suddenly twitched wildly, and an icy chill ran through him.

Because a blurry shadow had appeared in the black smoke behind him...

Someone had come close, yet he had failed to notice immediately.

"Do you get this angry when you play games too?"

The dreadlocked man heard the taunt coming from behind him.

He wanted to turn around and attack... but... it was already too late.

One of Oboro's fingers sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.

It precisely pierced the Nen aura around the man's body and stabbed into his temple.

In an instant, the dreadlocked man's body trembled, his eyes widening in fury.

As Oboro lightly pulled out his finger, stained with red and white blood, the man's body went limp. With a thud, he collapsed to the ground, his life extinguished.

For the audience, none of them had clearly seen what had happened... whether it was Echimilu's earlier assault on the soldiers or Oboro's successful sneak attack, both men had moved far too quickly.

On top of that, smoke and dust filled the air, greatly affecting visibility.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! My god! Contestant Oboro appears to have defeated Echimilu and turned the match around! Who could have imagined the match would end like this... Oboro had once been beaten down so badly by Echimilu that he couldn't fight back, but in the end, he was the one still standing on the battlefield!"

"Is he about to write his own 'legend' again?"

The host shouted.

Only after the black smoke dispersed did they finally see it clearly... Echimilu lay beneath Oboro's feet in a pool of blood, eyes wide open, no longer breathing...

"Ahhh!"

The spectators throughout the entire venue erupted in feverish excitement.

They had finally witnessed an exceptionally thrilling battle. Though they could not truly appreciate its deeper essence, the fight between the two had still been immensely satisfying.

What mattered was that Oboro had won.

His fans were the most excited of all.

"Get someone over here! Hurry and save him!"

"Contact the hospital!"

Several staff members ran onto the stage and began examining Echimilu's corpse.

Out of humanitarian concern, Heavens Arena still tried its best to treat injured contestants after a match ended.

Although... it was already useless.

Anyone with eyes could see that the dreadlocked man was dead.

Oboro did not acknowledge the audience. Letting his injured left arm hang down, he left the stage and entered the passageway like a battle-scarred veteran.

"Echimilu lost!"

"He was considered strong enough to challenge a Floor Master..."

"This Oboro seems able to summon a group of soldiers... is it like having an army?"

"This newcomer... is terrifying! It seems our earlier thoughts were too naive. Unless someone has absolute confidence, then... for ordinary Nen users... whoever faces him dies! Beating Echimilu proves that... he has the potential to challenge the twenty-one Floor Masters from the 230th to the 251st floors!"

The Nen users who had witnessed the battle firsthand all fell silent.

Teasing, beating up, and giving newcomers a lesson were the shared understanding and unspoken rule on the 200th floor.

They were free wins.

They had thought a little lamb had arrived, but... once they tore away the sheep's skin, they discovered... it was a tiger.

The contestants who had previously intended to challenge Oboro shuddered in fear, thankful that... they had not been the ones to face him.

"Woman... did you know something all along?"

One of the 200th floor's stronger fighters approached Jinsha.

The woman sat curled up in her chair, trembling.

She did not even have the courage to look up at the match...

After defeating Oboro, Jinsha had wanted to leave... she wanted to flee Heavens Arena as quickly as possible and get far away from that dangerous man.

But... someone had noticed something unusual and forcibly stopped her.

"I'm talking to you... tell me what you know!" The long-haired man, half his face wrapped in bandages and his eyes cold, mercilessly grabbed Jinsha by the hair and yanked hard, forcing her to face him.

Jinsha did not dare resist, her expression twisted in pain.

"I-I-I..."

Tears streamed down Jinsha's face as she spoke.

"By forcing out his ability, your death was worth something after all... I warned you long ago that you had to be cautious against every opponent... ending up like this can only be called reaping what you sow." In a corridor, Zalon, dressed in military uniform, watched as the staff carried away his friend's body and murmured softly.

He and Echimilu had not been particularly close. They had met after arriving at Heavens Arena... and their personalities had gotten along fairly well.

Thus, he only felt a little regret over the dreadlocked man's death.

Under normal circumstances, most of the Nen users in the arena would now be thinking about avoiding Oboro.

But as a soldier... Zalon felt that before challenging a Floor Master, Oboro would make a fine appetizer.

"His ability is excellent... suited for confusing opponents and fighting prolonged battles... but it is also true that the summoned soldiers have weak offense and defense! They might be useful for tying down enemies not much stronger than him... but if the gap is too great, no matter how many soldiers there are, they are just a bunch of paper figures."

"The only thing to watch out for is the archers' and cannon carts' guaranteed hits... his combat thinking and in-the-moment reactions are too slow... compared to the beginning of the match, he improved somewhat... but he also exposed his lack of experience. The best way to deal with someone like this is to deny him time to drag out the match and adapt to the rhythm... right from the start, kill him in one blow and end the battle."

Zalon closed his eyes, clearly replaying every scene from Oboro's match with Echimilu in his mind.

Then he opened his eyes and offered his assessment.

After saying that, he turned and left.

At that moment, Oboro had also returned to his room, reviewing his fight with the dreadlocked man.

"Whether he was attacking, defending, or dodging... his 'rhythm' kept changing, and... he wasn't much better than me at using Nen techniques. It was just that his timing was perfect. Every move targeted me and left me restrained... it wasn't because he could predict the future. It was because he could read the battle, or rather, see through my attack tendencies and desires..."

"My fighting style is too rigid... once someone figures me out and gains an understanding and judgment of my 'data,' things become easy for them afterward... when true experts clash, it comes down to who can adapt better, catch the other off guard, and step outside the established framework..."

"I need more Chinese Martial Arts techniques too. There are no shortcuts for combat experience; I have to grow step by step. But a large variety of martial skills can enrich my combat system... they would be excellent support."

Oboro lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a sigh.

His waist and back ached, his arm was still bleeding... and he was mentally exhausted as well.

Fighting a strong opponent consumed too much effort and energy... it was not only a clash of Nen, but also a contest of wits.

As for his injuries, there was no need to worry too much... Oboro knew his physical condition well. Even without immediate treatment, he would recover in a month or two.

But he could not waste time... so it would be best to get treated.

He had to prepare for his next match.

"Hehehe... overall, I gained quite a bit... as expected, even if Heavens Arena is full of small fry, there are still some ruthless opponents... at least, at my current level, I'm not capable of crushing everyone yet..."

After saying that, Oboro got up and left his room.

He would deal with his wounds first.