Lin Xia's stats appeared in the air.
The young man glanced at them, then hurriedly pulled back his fist. With a smooth backflip, he retreated several steps and put some distance between himself and Lin Xia.
He stammered as he opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he gave up.
During that brief hesitation, Lin Xia caught a trace of fear in his eyes. But it lasted only a moment before determination took its place.
"My overall rating is eleven points lower than yours, and this is only the first match..." The young man struck a fighting pose. "I can't lose for nothing. I'll at least make you pay for it!"
With that, he charged at Lin Xia again.
Watching the young man press forward, Lin Xia didn't move. Instead, he smiled and raised a hand toward him.
In the next moment, golden energy began gathering in his palm.
A volley of Energy Bullets shot toward the young man with a piercing whine.
The young man dodged a few of them, but most struck him squarely.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The dust kicked up by the explosions soon obscured the young man from view.
The area had already been a ruin, but now Lin Xia had blasted it into an even more battered state.
"S-so this is the strength of an SSR!?"
The young man had survived the barrage, but he was so exhausted that he collapsed to his knees.
He gasped for breath. When he saw that his health bar had fallen to just 1%, he slammed a fist into the ground, unwilling to accept defeat.
"I couldn't even touch him with my second attack... I was beaten so easily..."
The young man lowered his head and stared at his bloodstained hands, his eyes vacant. "There's always someone better... I have to train harder!"
As the smoke slowly cleared, Lin Xia stood waiting in front of him, his expression cold and proud.
"You won." The young man squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. "But I only lost to the numbers, not to you. Next time we meet, I'll show you that hard work beats talent!"
"Is that so?" Lin Xia sneered. "Then I look forward to seeing you again."
He said no more, finishing off the young man with an Energy Bullet.
Lin Xia knew that for someone with this kind of personality, giving him a quick end was a form of respect!
A beam of light rose from beneath his feet.
[Complete Victory!]
[Victory Points +30 (includes Complete Victory bonus)]
"Right, Complete Victories give you bonus Victory Points."
Lin Xia suddenly remembered. "Looks like I'll have to finish the next fights quickly and make sure my opponents don't get a chance to hurt me!"
"Wait, didn't I just get some affection points...?"
Lin Xia opened the panel and found the character archive. Sure enough, Vegeta's affection bar had reached 20%!
"Looks like showing off wins the prince's favor!"
Lin Xia smiled. He thought it suited the Saiyan Prince's character perfectly.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, Lin Xia was automatically transported back to his room.
Since players below Bronze weren't allowed to field Card characters, he gave up on the idea of having Fat Buu grind points for him.
Instead, he hit the match button again, hoping he could reach his target of fifty Victory Points in Black Iron Tier 2 before tomorrow.
[Match found!]
[Loading...]
[Loading complete!]
[Map for this match: Ruined City!]
"This map again."
Lin Xia frowned. The next moment, he was transported to the familiar place.
However, none of the traces from the previous fight remained.
It seemed the map reset every time.
"Who will my opponent be this time?"
Lin Xia curiously watched the beam of light in the distance slowly fade away.
Before long, the silhouette of a man appeared in the circle of light.
He was around 168 centimeters tall, but weighed at least 200 pounds!
He had short hair and wore glasses. Headphones hung around his thick neck, and he wore a black T-shirt and track pants. All in all, he looked like a shot put.
Of course, what made Lin Xia most curious was the game console in the man's hands...
"Hey, what's up, bro~!" The fat man waved, flashing a goofy, good-natured grin. He shouted, "I'm a freshman at Imperial University, getting ready for the entrance exam. Just surrender and quit so I can get a Complete Victory Reward!"
Hearing that, Lin Xia—who had been smiling along with the fat man's infectious grin—suddenly furrowed his brow and wiped the smile from his face. "Why should I quit?"
"Was I not clear enough?" The fat man pointed proudly at himself and explained, enunciating each word. "I'm going to Imperial University. Do you think someone with average strength could get in?
"The guy I matched with earlier refused to quit, so I took him out in one hit!
"I figured life isn't all about fighting and killing. It's about relationships and connections, right?
"You quit, and we can be friends. What's wrong with that?
"Otherwise, we'll have a grudge between us. Wouldn't it be awkward if we ran into each other later?"
"Uh..." Listening to the fat man ramble on, Lin Xia was speechless. But now he understood why the guy had brought a game console. He must have thought his connections would let him breeze through the matches.
"Boom!"
Lin Xia powered up, revealing his stats.
The dazzling SSR letters appeared, and the fat man's mouth fell open. The game console slipped from his hand and hit the ground.
"S...SSR!?
"Overall rating: 82!?
"Are you even human!?"
The smile vanished from the fat man's face. Muttering curses, he picked up his console and looked like a sore loser. "Guess I'm out of luck."
With that, he disappeared.
A notification appeared before Lin Xia.
[Your opponent has surrendered and quit. Victory awarded automatically!]
[Complete Victory!]
[Victory Points +30 (includes Complete Victory bonus)]
[2-win streak +10 Victory Points!]
[Total Victory Points: 40!]
[Current Rank: Black Iron Tier 1, 70 Victory Points!]
"H-he surrendered?"
Lin Xia leaned back slightly. Before he could even process what had happened, he was transported back to his rental apartment.
But seeing that he was only one match away from advancing to Black Iron Tier 2, Lin Xia eagerly started another match.
In less than three seconds, the system showed that a match had been found.
[Loading complete!]
[Map for this match: Blazing Desert!]
Lin Xia first felt a wave of heat wash over him. Then his vision began to clear.
All around him stretched a boundless yellow desert and sand dunes. The only greenery came from the sparse cacti.
"Aw, damn it! What kind of weather is this? If I stay here much longer, I'm gonna get roasted!"
A familiar voice rang out.
Lin Xia watched the figure gradually appear beneath the fading beam of light, unable to stop himself from grinning.
"Hey, Pang Pang! We meet again!"
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