Conrad Bookstore

Ever since Lucky had been able to take care of himself without needing anyone else, he had lived in the staff rooms on the 100th Floor. Naturally, the facilities there could not compare to the luxurious suites above the 200th Floor.

If Lucky had been willing to ask his adoptive father, he could have obtained quite a few "privileges."

But he had not chosen to do so.

There were still some things he wanted to earn for himself.

Lucky was in no hurry.

The next day, Lucky began his work once more.

To his surprise, he ran into an acquaintance—the contestant numbered 2558 from yesterday.

Of course, after passing the lower floors and reaching the 50th Floor, contestants began to be addressed by name.

Lucky also learned the other party's name: Piccolo.

"It's you again!" Piccolo was also quite surprised when he saw Lucky. Lucky's features were too distinctive, and he recognized him immediately.

His opponent was likewise a skinny young man.

Starting from the 50th Floor, spectators were allowed to place bets on the outcome of matches.

This was also one of Heavenly Arena's most popular businesses.

Lucky did not respond.

Instead, he asked whether the two contestants were ready. If they were, the match would begin.

As Lucky's words fell, the match began, and the two contestants moved at once.

This contestant, Piccolo, employed a defensive style.

Lucky could tell that Piccolo was not confident enough in his own strength. He intended to wait for his opponent's attack and gauge his ability first.

The skinny young man opposite him opened with a standard martial arts stance. Lucky recognized it as a school called Iron Fist.

It was a Martial Arts School focused on the weight and power of one's punches.

The force behind those fists made the defending Piccolo feel terribly uncomfortable.

Clearly, his body's resistance to blows was not particularly strong.

After only a few exchanges, Lucky could already tell that today's winner and loser had been decided, and this battle was unlike yesterday's.

This time, trying to launch a surprise attack with the same method would be completely impossible.

When the gap in strength reached a certain level, no schemes or tricks would be of any use.

Clearly, this contestant named Piccolo had encountered exactly such a situation.

His luck was truly terrible. On the 50th Floor, he had run into such a young Martial Artist.

Piccolo was knocked to the ground by a punch. Though he got back up quickly, Lucky still promptly awarded the points.

"How did you judge that?" Piccolo immediately became dissatisfied. Though his strength was inferior to his opponent's, the referee's action still made him very unhappy.

Lucky did not answer. In truth, he had merely adopted the choice made by the referee during Gon Freecss and Hisoka's battle in the anime.

That was, when the difference in strength between two contestants was too great, points would be awarded quickly to avoid casualties.

The matches at Heavenly Arena were extremely bloody. Getting crippled could already be considered good luck.

Such rulings increased the chances of survival for some participants and gave them another opportunity to challenge again.

Lucky did not answer.

Naturally, this also provoked dissatisfaction among some spectators.

Lucky's way of refereeing did not yet exist in the current Heavenly Arena.

As for the commentator, he did say a few words in Lucky's defense.

There was no helping it. The match could only continue.

In the end, Piccolo quickly lost the match by ten points.

At that moment, his hands hung limply at his sides, powerless and wracked with pain. Although Lucky had awarded the points quickly, his arms had still been struck hard enough to crack the bones.

In his current condition, he would probably continue dropping floors.

Piccolo stared furiously at Lucky.

Instead, his opponent understood. "He was doing it for your own good. If the fight had continued, your arms would not be in their current condition."

Then he looked at Lucky again. "So you saw the difference in strength between us so quickly? No wonder someone your age can become a referee."

"The match is over. Please leave the arena promptly, both contestants." Lucky's attitude remained icy.

Hearing this, Piccolo understood.

The dissatisfaction vanished from his face, and he sincerely bent at the waist to thank Lucky.

After Piccolo left the arena, he received basic medical treatment from Heavenly Arena.

Lucky's work continued.

After everything was finished, Lucky was preparing to return to his room.

When he spotted Piccolo in the hallway on the 50th floor.

Piccolo was struggling to eat a piece of bread. His hands could barely exert any force, making even eating a troublesome task.

His injuries had worsened even further.

He had clearly participated in another match.

There was also a bundle beside him, apparently all of his belongings.

Although those who came to compete at the Heavenly Arena could earn prize money, the rewards on the lower floors were not high. Moreover, rooms were only provided after reaching the 100th floor.

Piccolo was clearly one of those with no money.

There were quite a few people like him. Some competitors were still sleeping on the floor in the hallways.

Surviving in this world was truly difficult!

That was Lucky's conclusion. He really had been lucky.

After lunch, Lucky was in no hurry to work and recalled Phoenix.

Instead, he left the Heavenly Arena.

The Heavenly Arena fulfilled every need of daily life.

But there was one thing the Heavenly Arena did not have: books.

Although television already existed in this era, there were very few programs. If he wanted to learn more about this world, television alone was nowhere near enough.

Lucky also wanted to learn more about books.

It had to be said that most of the area around the Heavenly Arena was filled with Martial Arts Halls, both famous and obscure.

The entire city had a thriving martial culture.

To find a bookstore, he had to travel quite a distance away from the Heavenly Arena.

The bookstore was called Conrad Bookstore.

It was owned by a Mafia family.

It was hard to believe that the Mafia would run a bookstore.

"Lucky, it's been a long time. I've prepared all the books you asked for." The bookstore's manager was a young blonde woman.

She wore a women's suit and a monocle.

The bookstore was large, with two floors.

The bookstore staff were all young women, and some were even children around Lucky's age.

At that moment, there were also some people in the bookstore learning to read and studying.

"Is it not time yet?"

"This is too painful!"

The people learning to read wore expressions of agony.

Lucky was already used to such scenes.

"Thank you. Is there still money left?" Lucky asked.

Lucky had left money at this bookstore, and every so often, he would have the manager collect certain books for him.

"There's still some. Lucky, I heard you recently became a referee?" Julia Conrad asked casually.

"Yeah, but the money isn't enough anymore." Lucky nodded and casually made up an excuse.

Lucky had already picked up a book and started reading.

This batch of books was all related to novels.