Under the night sky and city lights, the prosperity and beauty of the metropolis were fully immersed in the intoxication of the night.
If the scorching heat and brightness of daytime symbolized the workings of labor, then the depth of night and its myriad lights surely symbolized a life of luxury and indulgence.
Those upper-class people, beyond the reach of ordinary people, enjoyed the night in the city's brightest central district.
Night was still their playground.
Fang Ran had seen lights like these before. Maybe this was not his city, but he had still seen such dazzling, brightly lit prosperous districts in the night.
Many times, it had been a glimpse over his shoulder while he was heading home alone.
Sometimes, after he and his classmates had finished goofing around, they would all look at the lights of skyscrapers high in the distance.
Then they would joke with each other, "What are you looking at? It's not like we can go there anyway," laugh, say goodbye, and head home.
Yes, Fang Ran still remembered the very center of the city lights he had seen so many times but never visited.
Maybe he would never be able to go there in his life.
Fang Ran remembered the last time he had seen lights like this.
Wasn't that also when a monster had been chasing after his ass and trying to bite it?!!!!!
"AAAAAHHHH!!!! Heeelp~ me~!!!!"
Fang Ran ran for his life through unfamiliar streets, roaring himself hoarse in tragic desperation!
Screw the damn Night Battles System!!!
Fang Ran had not stopped cursing furiously in his heart for even a moment!
Why the hell had he gotten dragged in again?!
It had only been three days since he first got pulled into this mess!
Once a day!
Were they seriously not going to let him live?!
System, had it taken an aphrodisiac or something?!
According to novel conventions, after clearing the newbie dungeon, shouldn't he have first made a name for himself in reality, had beautiful women throw themselves at him, met important people, gotten lucky opportunities to improve his strength, and only then started the next dungeon?!!!
Why the hell was it not following the script?!
Did it know that if it wrote a book like this, no editor would even look at it?!
Stupid asshole Night Battles System, could it hear him cursing it or not?!!
Fang Ran roared and cursed heroically in his heart, then continued with a miserable, near-tearful expression.
If it could hear him, then make those dozen or so assholes behind him stop already! Great System, he was begging it!
More than a dozen pitch-black humanoid shadows chased behind Fang Ran. Their bodies had nothing on them at all, only their eyes glowing with an eerie purple light as they hopped after him like frogs.
"Fuck! Endermen?! System, you bastard!!"
Fang Ran glanced back amid his frantic escape and was scared out of his wits before continuing to sprint. He had once heard that under threat from a bear, someone's survival instincts had awakened, letting them jump two meters and climb onto an airplane wing to escape. Fang Ran had not believed it then, but now he did. At his usual top speed, he could only run a hundred meters.
But now, with more than a dozen little black monsters threatening to bite his ass, he had exceeded his limits!
He had run two hundred meters.
All right, that was actually completely useless.
"Gasp... ha... I'm... ha... dying... ha...!!"
After two hundred meters, Fang Ran was already gasping for breath. His throat felt like it was about to catch fire, just like when he had first run a thousand meters in the past.
It was over. He might be done for. These bastards not only outnumbered him, but they also ran faster than those Zombies last time.
This time, he had not even made it out of one street.
Damn it!
The soreness in Fang Ran's thighs had reached its limit. Suddenly, his legs gave out, and he fell face-first onto the ground like a dog eating dirt!
"Ha! Ha! Ha!!!"
Fang Ran panted violently, turning to look at the dozen little black monsters that had already caught up. Finally, he forcefully let out a breath.
Did he have no choice but to fight for his life?
But just as he thought that, an unrestrained voice rang out from above and behind the little black monsters!
"Flame Ring. Fire Pillar!"
A figure fell from high in the air. Flames on both hands spread out with the rotation of his body, forming an enormous pillar of fire!
It smashed viciously into the ground from above!
BOOM!!!
Fang Ran swore that he had never seen such a huge fire in his life! Who the hell had ever seen a flaming pillar several meters wide?!
The fire pillar crashed down, and the heat wave and raging flames it stirred up instantly engulfed all the little black monsters!
Then, a person slowly walked out from within the pillar of fire. He wore black cowboy pants and a dark jacket, one hand casually running through his hair as he fixed the hairstyle that had been blown messy by the fiery wind pressure.
Fang Ran was stunned.
Holy shit! This guy was the ultimate example of "cool guys never look at explosions." Did he have to be this damn cool?! Wasn't he hot!?
But Fang Ran soon noticed a fact that made the corner of his eye twitch.
Not only was there an explosion and flames behind the guy, but flames were burning all over his body too.
Was this guy risking his life just to look cool?
Yet another shocking thing happened soon after. The cool and unruly young man walked near him, casually waved his hand, and every flame on his body returned to his hand as though they had never existed!
"Ooh, ooh, oooh!!!"
Fang Ran immediately cried out in surprise like a rooster, as though he had suddenly realized something!
Could this be... that?!
That! The ability every member of the FFF Group most dreamed of having!
The Flame-Flame Fruit?!
"A newbie?"
The man walked over to Fang Ran, looked at him lying on the ground with a shocked expression, thought for a moment, and then smiled as he asked.
"Uh, yes!"
Fang Ran felt awkward, then admitted the fact that he was a total scrub.
"Oh my, this really is..."
Hearing Fang Ran's answer, the young man rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.
"What is it?"
Fang Ran could not help asking. Bro, saying half of it and holding back the rest was making him really anxious!
"Nothing. You're just especially unlucky!"
The wild and uninhibited young man grinned brightly, looking like he was just about to give Fang Ran a thumbs-up.
Fang Ran: "..."
That hurt, bro.
"This scenario is a random special contest mode, not a normal scenario. So you got dragged in just because you're too unlucky, and you're even a newbie."
The man, with his stylish dyed hair and a hint of delinquent swagger, forcefully patted the bewildered Fang Ran on the shoulder and laughed loudly.
Fang Ran: "..."
Bro, was that really how one chatted? Casually patting someone's shoulder, then laughing loudly and taking delight in how unlucky they were?
Forget it. He had just saved him, and besides, if Fang Ran could beat him... Hmph, he would let it slide.
After laughing for quite a while, the man finally came back to his senses. Seeing Fang Ran staring at him with a speechless expression, he smiled awkwardly to cover his embarrassment.
"Ahem. Sorry, I'm kind of thick-skinned."
The young man pretended to clear his throat and said to Fang Ran, whose expression plainly said I don't believe you, "How about this, kid? I'll take you along in this scenario."
"Really?! You really can?"
Fang Ran instantly snapped out of his salted-fish expression and replaced it with one of shock.
"Sure. I came through the newbie stage myself, so I know how hard it is. Having someone explain a lot of simple things can save you so much trouble."
The young man smiled, then shrugged.
"I kneel in gratitude, oh mighty thigh!"
Fang Ran was immediately moved to tears. "My name is Fang Ran. Please take care of me!"
The young man listened, then smiled and asked, "Your real name?"
"Huh?" Fang Ran looked confused. Could he not use his real name in Night Battles?
"You're still a newbie, so it doesn't matter much. But later on, it's best to use an alias or something. This is Night Battles, after all. You don't want grudges from here to affect your real life, right?"
The young man spread his hands and smiled. "Besides, maybe as you grow stronger, that alias will become even more famous."
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm!!!"
Fang Ran immediately nodded like a chick pecking at grain.
"But then again, you're so weak—only E-Rank—so it's not like it matters."
Then the young man added another sentence.
Pfft! Fang Ran felt a knife stab into the chest known as his self-esteem.
"Let's go. First, we'll get a map, figure out which city this is, then head to the city center. I'll also tell you some basic common sense along the way."
The young man said, then added as if he had suddenly remembered, "Oh, right. My name is Si Ai. Just call me Big Brother Ai."
"Um... Big Brother Ai... there's something I'm really curious about and want to ask."
"What is it?"
"You definitely have the Flame-Flame Fruit ability, right?"
"..."
"No! My ability is the Fire Spirit Elemental Body."
"Big Brother Ai, you seemed to hesitate just now."
"That was your imagination."
"And that move you used earlier sounded like the name from One Piece too!"
"That was your imagination."
"But even your name is just theirs read backward!"
"That was your imagin—no, that was a coincidence."
"...Big Brother Ai, is it really okay to argue like that?"
"No, I really am a Fire Spirit Elemental Body."
"Bro, the ability you just said doesn't seem to be pronounced like that."
"Kid, you're an otaku, aren't you?"
"Yeah, so what?" (matter-of-fact.jpg)
"...Nothing. Forget I asked."
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