The Second Buyout Customer

The second buyout customer

The fox shadow behind Hu Liena lingered for only a single breath.

One breath later, the shadow dispersed, yet it felt as though it had silenced the entire internet café.

Tang San did not look at Hu Liena's face.

He was looking at the spot where the fox shadow had vanished.

That was not a soul skill.

No soul ring had lit up, there was no fixed trajectory of released Soul Power, nor had he sensed the origin of her martial soul being stirred. It was more like a "method" forcibly stuffed into her body—brief, yet perfectly suited for the most dangerous gaps in actual combat.

If Hu Liena had such a shadow before initiating her charm, then so long as her opponent's gaze slipped for half a beat, she could seize the initiative.

Half a beat was already enough to get someone killed in a real fight.

Xiao Wu moved close to Tang San and lowered her voice. "Brother, isn't this more troublesome than her previous movement technique?"

Tang San nodded.

He did not say everything he was thinking.

Xiao Wu's Moonshadow Linked Steps emphasized evasion, while Hu Liena's fox shadow was more like tearing open a gap in both vision and presence at once. Against an opponent with an unstable mind, one breath was enough to make them misjudge their target. Even against a powerful opponent, it could force them to divide another layer of attention.

This was not simply about running faster.

It made the very first exchange of a battle harder to predict.

Thinking of this, Tang San unconsciously rubbed the cuff of his sleeve. No hidden weapon emerged from within, but Xiao Wu still noticed the motion.

She knew Tang San was taking this seriously.

Naturally, Hu Liena saw their reactions.

Tang San had just beaten her to the first clear of White-Clothed Scholar, and the frustration in her heart had yet to settle. Now that Fox Shadow Ascension had entered her body, she had finally regained some of the advantage of being the first buyout customer.

Yan was even more anxious than she was.

He stepped forward, as if afraid that if he hesitated for even a breath, someone else would steal the chance.

"Boss, I want to buy out a slot too."

Lin Chuan raised his eyes at him. "Three hundred Gold Soul Coins for one personal game access slot. After buying out, you retain your personal save file, equipment, items, and settings. Let me make this clear first: buying out does not mean free computer time in the future. Computer time is charged separately."

The momentum on Yan's face immediately faltered.

"That costs extra too?"

Flender had already been stirred up by Hu Liena's fox shadow, but upon hearing that, he immediately came to his senses.

"I knew it!" He instantly covered his money pouch. "First you pay a huge sum, then you have to pay by the hour afterward. That adds up to no small expense."

Lin Chuan's tone remained steady. "You can still play normally without buying out. If you do not buy out, your personal progress will not be retained, and you will not receive a lottery chance. The choice is yours."

Flender opened his mouth, then shut it again.

He wanted to argue, but there was nothing wrong with those words.

More importantly, he knew himself that save files were useful.

During Shrek's usual training, what they feared most was not that the students would suffer, but that they would suffer without understanding where the suffering lay. Tang San could turn a death into experience, Xiao Wu could draw a movement technique through a hidden condition, and Hu Liena had gained a fox shadow immediately after buying out. With all those things laid out before him, no matter how much Flender hated spending money, he could not honestly say it was not worth it.

He could only curse Lin Chuan inwardly for being too good at business.

Tang San stood before the counter without speaking for a long while.

It was not that he could not afford three hundred Gold Soul Coins.

What truly made him hesitate was the commitment behind that money.

Once he bought out a slot, he would be acknowledging that this internet café was not a passing novelty, but a training path that required long-term investment. Its rules were too unfamiliar—so unfamiliar that the Mysterious Heaven Skill, Blue Silver Grass, Clear Sky Hammer, and hidden weapon techniques could not directly provide the answers.

And precisely because of that, Tang San could not bear to let it go.

He recalled the instant White-Clothed Scholar transformed into a snake.

He had nearly died there.

Not because he had not been cautious enough, but because his old habits had been too reliable—reliable enough to make him instinctively trust himself. The Tang Sect's experience, his own body, familiar footwork, and familiar feel had all saved him before.

But the game had taken all of that away.

It had forced Tang San back into the position of someone who needed to learn.

No one in reality would feel at ease letting him die again and again.

Yet the game could lay death out before him and let him see exactly where he had gone wrong.

When Xiao Wu saw Tang San's silence, she suddenly slapped her own money pouch onto the counter.

"Brother, buy it."

Tang San turned his head. "Xiao Wu."

"Don't look at me like that." Xiao Wu turned her face away. "I'm not giving it to you for nothing. I want to play in the future too. If you clear things faster first, you can teach me how to die fewer times."

She said it as though it were perfectly justified, but her fingers remained pressed against the money pouch without moving away.

Tang San's heart softened.

He pushed Xiao Wu's money pouch back and took out his own Gold Soul Coins from Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night.

"I'll pay for it myself."

Ning Rongrong had watched for a while, arms folded. "If you're embarrassed about it, I can lend you some too."

Tang San shook his head. "No need. If it truly has value, then I should pay for it myself."

One Gold Soul Coin after another landed on the counter.

Listening to those crisp sounds, Flender's face twitched with every coin, as though the money were falling out of his own pocket.

Lin Chuan collected the money with steady movements.

A system notification flashed before his eyes.

[Second personal buyout customer achieved.]

[Customer: Tang San.]

[One buyout lottery draw granted.]

Above the counter, the Great Dao Wheel appeared once more.

Hu Liena's previous draw of Fox Shadow Ascension had already whetted everyone's appetite. Now that it was Tang San's turn, everyone's attention became even more focused.

Yan's expression darkened somewhat.

He had clearly been the first to call for a buyout, yet Tang San had paid first. In terms of results, he had fallen another step behind.

The wheel slowly turned.

Tang San did not stare at the area where the golden light shone brightest.

He had discovered that the things offered by this internet café were not judged by how intimidating they looked. Xiao Wu's Moonshadow Linked Steps, Hu Liena's Fox Shadow Ascension, and his Edge-Breaking Intent were not simply raw boosts in power. They were tailored to personal weaknesses and habits.

This time, the light stopped on a small gray-white square.

[Item category: Three Rewind Incense Ashes.]

[Effect: Allows one complete review of a death, failure, or key battle before and after it occurs in a personal save file, and permits the player to attempt it once again from a designated point. Limited to in-game use only; does not enhance real-world combat strength.]

Flender was the first to let out a breath of relief.

"Good. At least it's not something that can both protect the body and counterattack."

But Grandmaster immediately looked at Tang San.

"No, this suits Little San even better."

Tang San understood as well.

Rewind Incense Ash would not make him stronger, but it would make every failure more worth studying. For ordinary players, trying again might merely mean taking fewer detours; for him, it was a chance to turn death into experience.

What he was best at was not winning from the very beginning.

It was never losing a second time in the same place after losing once.

When Tang San put away the three incense ashes, his movements were even more careful than when he stored a hidden weapon.

A hidden weapon was gone once used, and so was incense ash.

But hidden weapons killed enemies, while incense ash revealed oneself.

For a moment, Tang San found it hard to tell which of the two carried greater weight in his heart.

Hu Liena narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Looks like you'll die with more clarity in the future."

Tang San glanced at her, his tone calm. "At least I won't die for nothing."

Oscar could not help laughing.

Lin Chuan tapped the counter.

"Next."

As those words fell, the shop seemed to begin breathing again.

Everyone had been staring at Tang San's wheel just now, as if those three incense ashes had already illuminated part of the road ahead. Now that it was someone else's turn, they remembered that they too stood beside that path.

Yan immediately pressed a hand over his money pouch.

At the same time, Flender pressed down on Ma Hongjun's shoulder, as if afraid the fat boy would impulsively take out his money as well.

The people on both sides looked toward the counter almost simultaneously.

Watching the atmosphere in the shop heat up, Lin Chuan suddenly realized something.

Eight computers might soon no longer be enough.

And computers were probably not the only thing that would be in short supply.

There was also time, seats, and the competitive fire the game had stirred in these young soul masters.