An Evenly Matched Opponent!?

Pang Pang, on the other side, shuddered violently when he heard Lin Xia's voice and stiffly turned to look.

"Hi~!"

Knowing he had this match in the bag, Lin Xia couldn't help grinning.

After all, this was a promotion match.

"Goodbye."

After getting a clear look at his opponent, Pang Pang didn't say another word. He simply vanished on the spot.

[Your opponent has surrendered. You win by default!]

[Victory Points +50!]

[Promotion successful!]

[Current rank: Black Iron Tier 2, 10 Victory Points!]

"So he really just quit instantly?"

Lin Xia had won without a fight, so he should have been happy. But honestly, he was also pretty curious about what Pang Pang's Awakening Card was.

After all, anyone who could get into Imperial University surely wasn't ordinary.

"Still, this is great. I ranked up so easily, and now I'm only two tiers away from completing the system mission."

Lin Xia glanced at the clock on the wall. He still had a full 47 hours to complete the mission, so he had plenty of time.

"One more win to make sure I meet the minimum requirement of 50 Victory Points for class placement... then I can get a good night's sleep!"

Lin Xia yawned.

The Awakening Ceremony had left him exhausted over the past week.

He hadn't slept well for even a single day.

He felt that if he didn't get some rest soon, he'd be on the verge of dropping dead.

[Matching...]

[Searching for an opponent across a wider range...]

"A wider range...?"

Lin Xia looked at the message that had popped up on the panel.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

He began moving his limbs without thinking.

"Could it be that my winning streak has finally earned me an evenly matched opponent?"

Winning easily was certainly satisfying.

But what Lin Xia wanted more than anything was an evenly matched opponent!

Someone who could trade blows with him and make him feel the pressure!

Twenty minutes passed.

Lin Xia was getting sleepy from waiting.

Just as his eyelids drooped and he was about to doze off, the panel chimed.

[Match found!]

[Battle map: Blazing Desert!]

"Another repeated map? Don't tell me it's Pang Pang again!"

Lin Xia opened his eyes, both expectant and disappointed.

The familiar desert and cacti came into view.

He stared at the beam of light slowly fading on the sand dune ahead.

The moment it disappeared, an unfamiliar figure appeared in the circle of light.

It was a girl.

Lin Xia immediately perked up. He'd waited so long for an opponent; he'd better take a good look at her.

The girl was around 168 centimeters tall, with her hair tied in a high ponytail. Her fair, delicate face was breathtaking, though her expression was so cool and distant that she seemed to keep everyone at arm's length.

What surprised Lin Xia most was that she was still wearing her school uniform... She had probably awakened just today and had rushed to play ranked matches.

There was no denying that the blue-and-white uniform perfectly outlined her slender yet graceful figure.

And with her elegant bearing, she more than lived up to the words "peerless beauty"!

"She looks... just like her!"

A familiar figure flashed through Lin Xia's mind.

It was the girl he'd secretly loved for three years back in his previous life as a student. He'd never had the courage to confess, and after graduation, he'd lost touch with her.

"Judging by your uniform... you're an Awakener from neighboring City B, right?"

Lin Xia took the initiative and spoke to her.

Perhaps it was because the girl reminded him of someone he'd once known.

For the first time since arriving in this world, Lin Xia felt his heart flutter!

But the girl paid no attention to his attempt at conversation.

Instead, she swept her long, slender fingers through the air before her, and a golden Card took shape.

At the same time, her stats appeared.

[Awakening Card: Elemental Mech]

[Rank: SSR]

[OVR: 82]

"An SSR-rank Awakener?"

Lin Xia's eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled with satisfaction.

Right after that, he powered up too, revealing his stats.

The girl's cool expression finally changed a little when she saw how strong Lin Xia was.

But the change vanished almost at once.

Then the Card in her hand scattered into motes of light, which swiftly enveloped her from head to toe.

When the golden light faded, a black-and-white mech stood in her place.

Before Lin Xia could admire the technologically advanced armor, it rushed toward him, brimming with murderous intent!

Lin Xia flew straight toward it to meet its charge.

"Boom!"

Their fists collided, sending waves of force rippling outward.

Lin Xia noticed a [Metal] character floating inside the energy core in the mech's chest.

"No wonder it's so strong. You're using the power of the metal element right now."

No sooner had Lin Xia finished speaking than the girl's sweeping kick came whistling toward him!

He figured he could block it easily, so he raised an arm in front of himself.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, Lin Xia saw the [Metal] character on the mech's chest turn into [Fire]!

Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly retreated.

But it was too late. Flames that had appeared out of nowhere around the mech's foot struck his clothes.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

Lin Xia quickly patted out the flames, preventing himself from getting burned.

But before he could catch his breath, the girl launched another attack!

Every punch from the mech came with a fierce burst of flame.

The heat made Lin Xia's hands burn.

If he had been an ordinary Awakener instead of a Saiyan, he would have been burned by now.

"Boom!"

Lin Xia seized the right moment and grabbed the mech's wrist, clamping down hard and leaving the girl unable to move.

"Have you ever heard of love at first sight?"

Struggling to resist the girl's efforts to break free, Lin Xia smiled.

"Then have you ever heard of an instant kill?"

The girl finally spoke.

Immediately afterward, the character on the mech's chest changed to [Ice].

"Brr, that's cold!"

A bone-chilling coldness spread through Lin Xia's palm.

The next second, he noticed frost rapidly forming over both his hands.

At this rate, he'd be frozen solid before long.

Lin Xia had no choice but to let go.

But just then, the girl's lips curled beneath her mask. Her expression turned fierce, and she aimed both hands at Lin Xia like cannons, saying coldly:

"[Absolute Zero]!!"

"She's using her ultimate?"

Lin Xia frowned, the playful smile disappearing from his face. "Looks like you're trying to freeze me, huh?"

He'd figured out what the girl was planning.

But it was already too late to interrupt her.

So he hurriedly flew upward.

Although his Dance in the Sky Technique was only level one,

it was still fast enough for Lin Xia to put some distance between them.

"Whoosh!"

A beam of icy white light shot from the girl's palm.

As if it had a homing function, the beam chased after Lin Xia!

"If only I'd awakened the Turtle School Ki Attack."

Lin Xia muttered, then immediately came up with a plan.

He bent forward and flew toward the ground.

Then he swung his hands rapidly, firing countless Energy Bullets.

The blasts sent yellow dust billowing across the desert.

Soon, they kicked up a vast cloud of sand so thick he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face!

"What are you doing?"

The girl saw her view blocked, but didn't think much of it.

She firmly believed her ultimate move, Absolute Zero, would hit Lin Xia without fail.

Once it hit him, he would be frozen, and his health would plummet until he died!

But just as the girl was basking in the joy of her imminent victory, Lin Xia suddenly burst out of the sandstorm and appeared right in front of her!

"Hello there!"

The smile returned to Lin Xia's lips.

The next moment, he spread his arms and wrapped them tightly around the girl.

"Damn it!"

The girl realized something was wrong, but it was too late.

"Bang!"

The white beam hit Lin Xia.

Or rather, it hit both her and Lin Xia!

In almost an instant, the two of them turned into statues.