While the vampire lord Murphy and Lady Shani the Winter Fox were making some "little moves" behind Triss's back, forty players taking part in the Governor's Challenge were sitting around looking glum in a private room on the second floor of the East Mountain House restaurant in Scarlet Castle's bustling commercial district.
They weren't in the mood to review that morning's defeat. Their hearts were simply filled with bitterness.
Even the usually cheerful Cheche and Meow Brother had lost their urge to chat. They just kept poking at the flatbread in their bowls with their chopsticks, as if it had another name: "Murphy, the Cheater."
But there were still some thick-skinned people in the room, despite the gloomy atmosphere.
Take Great Shark, for instance. He was clutching his calculating orb and pestering the person beside him to "review" the battle. When he saw Lord Murphy end the fight with a flashy dimensional slash, he even pounded the table and shouted:
"Strong and powerful! As the governor of Transia and guardian of all foreigners, he ought to be strong and powerful!"
"Hey, don't you think you're being a little too thick-skinned?"
Fun Arin, who was close friends with Great Shark and currently shared a bunk bed with him in real life, said with a pained expression:
"Lord Murphy was strong and powerful, sure, but that means we're in trouble! At this rate, unless he gets nerfed, we have no way to beat him. We can't even dodge that damn full-screen dimensional slash."
"Actually, we can."
Teacher Li, sitting across the table, was just as unperturbed. He set down the chicken leg in his hand and wiped his fingers as he said:
"That skill forcibly drains our health. We can't block it or move, but it isn't lethal. In other words, as