In a space of utter darkness, an arena with a radius of over two hundred meters floated silently in the void. Looking up from the arena, there was nothing but emptiness. Only the lights shining down from around its edges gave people enough comfort to steady themselves.
"What is this?"
"How did I get here?"
"Wasn't I supposed to be taking a game test?"
Zhao Hu got to his feet and stared blankly at the empty space, utterly unable to understand what had happened.
One moment, he had been lying inside the Virtual Game Pod. The next, it was as if time and space had shifted. An icy chill ran through his limbs, and every breath carried freezing air. It felt as though each inhale sent a blast of cold straight into his lungs, making his whole body shudder uncontrollably.
Before Zhao Hu could recover, a resolute one-eyed man appeared at the center of the arena.
No!
In Zhao Hu's eyes, the figure at the center of the arena did not resemble a human at all.
He stood a full two meters forty tall. Even Zhao Hu, who was two meters tall himself, felt like a child before this one-eyed man.
System: Hold out for 20 seconds.
"This is a game?"
Hearing the system prompt, Zhao Hu froze, completely unable to believe it was real.
Many virtual games focused on stimulating the player's five senses, but Zhao Hu had never experienced anything this realistic in his life. Especially that bone-piercing cold that reached his lungs with every breath.
It was like being naked in the depths of winter while someone kept forcing cold water down his throat with a kettle, growing more addicted the more they poured, and occasionally asking, "Does it taste good?"
However, just as Zhao Hu came to his senses and prepared to properly face the opponent before him—to show him what Invincible Iron Fist meant—Qin Mu at the center of the arena moved.
With one step, the marble tiles beneath his feet cracked apart. Qin Mu became like a gust of wind, crossing fifty meters and appearing before Zhao Hu in less than two seconds.
"So fast!"
"So strong!"
Looking at Qin Mu, who stood before him like a small tower, Zhao Hu's years of combat experience in Pilgrimage told him clearly that Qin Mu was terrifying—not someone he could casually cross hands with.
As Qin Mu's fist came smashing straight at him, Zhao Hu instinctively leaped backward. He narrowly avoided the blow, but his retreat had been too fierce, and he tumbled across the ground several times before steadying himself.
"That was close. His speed and strength both far surpass mine. If I want to hold out for twenty seconds, I have to keep my distance."
Zhao Hu watched Qin Mu, who had not pursued him, while constantly analyzing the situation in his mind.
The test only required him to endure for twenty seconds, not defeat Qin Mu. That undoubtedly lowered the difficulty by a great deal, but lasting twenty seconds before someone far stronger and faster than himself was still no easy task.
Just as Zhao Hu finished rolling three times and sprang to his feet like a carp flipping upright, he suddenly froze.
At some unknown moment, Qin Mu had already appeared before him. A single fist filled his entire field of vision.
Boom!
"Am I dead already?"
Zhao Hu stared at the screen of the Virtual Game Pod before him, completely dumbfounded.
Fast!
Far too fast!
Zhao Hu considered himself one of the few people who could be called serious experts in close combat. Even if an opponent possessed astonishing strength and speed, he could still use his agile movements to restrain them to a certain degree.
But in that battle just now, Zhao Hu had felt that his concentration was at its peak. Yet before he could react, he had been struck head-on by that fist.
"Again!"
Without another word, Zhao Hu paid 198 and revived for another battle.
No matter what, he bore the title of Invincible Iron Fist in Pilgrimage. If he could not even last twenty seconds against an unarmed NPC, he would become a laughingstock if word got out.
Besides, with a game that felt this real, the thrill of battle was unlike anything he had ever experienced. How could he not try again?
As his vision shifted, Zhao Hu appeared on the arena once more. This time, he was no longer confused or flustered. Almost immediately, he fixed his gaze on the center of the arena, waiting for Qin Mu to appear.
"I refuse to believe that even if I can't beat you, I can't dodge you!"
As Zhao Hu watched Qin Mu charge at him again, his concentration reached an unprecedented level. He locked onto Qin Mu's every movement, retreating to evade the instant Qin Mu threw a punch and maintaining a distance where Qin Mu could not strike him.
One punch!
Two punches!
Three punches!
Like a machine, Zhao Hu precisely evaded Qin Mu's fists. His grasp of timing was exquisite to the extreme, and this continued for a full three seconds.
Boom!
Because of a split-second error in judgment, Zhao Hu was once again punched in the head by Qin Mu.
"I've already grasped his attack rhythm. Again!"
Zhao Hu paid another 198.
Five seconds later.
"Again!"
"Again!"
After Zhao Hu had died over a hundred times and was preparing for the next challenge, a communication alert suddenly rang in his ear.
"What do you want? Speak quickly!"
Zhao Hu answered impatiently, his tone full of challenge.
"Brother Zhao, we've already gathered our people in the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty. We're just waiting for you now."
"Alright! I'll finish this fight and head over right away! Set the plan first—I'll be there soon!"
After saying that, Zhao Hu hung up the call. He got up and walked to the large refrigerator in the room, took out a bottle of iced drink, gulped it down, and paid another 198 to challenge Qin Mu.
"This NPC really is a monster, but now I'm completely familiar with his attack rhythm and attack patterns. Holding out for twenty seconds this time shouldn't be a problem at all." Zhao Hu watched Qin Mu appear at the center of the arena again, brimming with confidence.
After dying over a hundred times, Zhao Hu had thoroughly figured out everything about Qin Mu. Earlier, he had nearly lasted ten seconds, only losing because his focus had wavered slightly and he failed to keep up with the rhythm, getting blown away in one hit.
But now, Zhao Hu had drunk a specially made beverage that made his brain incomparably excited. For a short time, he would no longer have any issue with insufficient concentration.
One second...
Three seconds...
Nine seconds...
"Good! The tenth second is past!"
Zhao Hu's face was filled with excitement as he dodged another punch.
Every one of Qin Mu's attacks was lethal. The slightest error in judgment meant death; even being grazed meant death.
Now that he was completely familiar with Qin Mu's attacks, he could barely evade them as long as his timing was accurate, despite the enormous gap in strength and speed.
Just as the eleventh second began and Zhao Hu had already prepared to repeat another cycle, Qin Mu suddenly took a step back, opening the distance between them.
"Phase two?" Zhao Hu was not surprised by this.
This was a boss fight, after all. Of course there had to be a second phase. That was simply common sense in games. In fact, if such an excellent boss as Qin Mu did not have a second phase, Zhao Hu would absolutely leave a bad review in the comments section.
At some unknown moment, a silver spear over three meters long had appeared in Qin Mu's hand. With a simple sweep of the spear, the violent wind it generated nearly blew Zhao Hu off his feet.
"Come on! Let me see just how powerful your second phase is." Seeing Qin Mu's stance, Zhao Hu understood that the battle was only beginning now.
However, before Zhao Hu could prepare to widen the distance, the silver spear in Qin Mu's hand shot forth like a flood dragon emerging from the sea.
Seven spear shadows suddenly burst into view!
"Fuck!"
Zhao Hu stared at the seven spear shadows attacking him at once, his eyes nearly splitting wide open.
Before, Qin Mu's attacks had been nothing more than straightforward punches. Zhao Hu had only needed to keep his eyes fixed on the fist Qin Mu swung.
But now he had to watch seven spear shadows at once. Was this game even going to let people play properly?
Then Zhao Hu's vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, his view had returned to the Game Pod, while communication alerts kept ringing in his ear.
"Brother Zhao, people from Mythic Paradise suddenly attacked us. You still haven't arrived—what should we do now?"