Tang San's Despair

The lobby of Origin Internet Cafe presented a strange scene of stark class divide.

In the soft, comfortable gaming chairs, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Dugu Yan, and Qian Renxue, who had just arrived to "clock in," wore headsets and ran wild in Night City, letting out excited cries now and then.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the lounge area...

Two boys were crammed onto cheap little red plastic stools.

Tang San and Dai Mubai.

Permanently banned by the system, these two young men, hailed as prodigies in the outside world, could only sit there like hungry chicks, craning their necks and staring longingly at the holographic projection overhead.

"Boss Dai, did... did you make out the structure of that hidden weapon called a Kinetic Pistol?"

Tang San had found a little notebook somewhere. Clutching a charcoal pencil, he stared at the screen while frantically sketching on the paper.

As the Tang Sect's greatest genius in two hundred years, Tang San's obsession with hidden weapons bordered on pathological.

But now, his compendium of Tang Sect Hidden Weapons was being ground into the dirt by the cybertechnology in this Internet Cafe!

On the screen, Ning Rongrong crouched behind a wall with a precision rifle called Achilles.

"That silly girl. The enemy's behind the wall, so why is she aiming at it? Does she think she can shoot through it?" Tang San muttered disdainfully.

Even with the Tang Sect's finest techniques, a hidden weapon could never penetrate a load-bearing wall half a meter thick.

But in the next instant—

Whumm—bang!

The rifle barrel in Ning Rongrong's hands erupted with blinding blue electromagnetic light!

An electromagnetically accelerated solid round tore through the thick concrete wall and blew the head off the thug hiding behind it!

Snap!

Tang San crushed the charcoal pencil in his hand.

"It... it went through?! No Soul Power, just the weapon's own force, and it pierced half a meter of reinforced concrete?!"

Tang San sprang off his plastic stool and clutched his hair. "Impossible! That defies the aerodynamics of hidden weapons! What was that blue light? Gunpowder? Lightning?!"

"Little San, stop shouting... You're breaking my heart..."

Beside him, Dai Mubai stared blankly ahead, tears welling in his eyes.

He couldn't care less about hidden weapons. His eyes were fixed on another part of the split screen—Zhu Zhuqing's view.

Zhu Zhuqing activated her Sandevistan. Within a beautiful, pale-blue bubble of slowed time, she danced through the enemy ranks like a butterfly among flowers, Mantis Blades in both hands.

Blood and mechanical parts flew together. The cold, ruthless beauty of her violence left Dai Mubai feeling inferior.

"Zhu Qing... She's already this strong... At her current speed, even with my White Tiger Vajra Transformation, I couldn't touch the hem of her clothes..."

Dai Mubai covered his face, but tears of regret streamed down anyway.

If he hadn't run away back then, if he hadn't caused trouble at this Internet Cafe, would he be the one playing alongside Zhu Qing now?

"No! I have to figure out how that hidden weapon works!"

Tang San was utterly consumed. Eyes bloodshot, he rushed to the counter and looked at Lin Ye. "Boss! Senior Lin! Please, let me play just one round! Even ten minutes would do! I'll trade the Tang Sect's secret art, the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, for the schematics of that gun!"

To Tang San, the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record was priceless. Trading it for the schematics of one hidden weapon would be an incredible bargain for Lin Ye.

Lin Ye looked at him as though he were an idiot.

"The Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record? That antique cultivation art you can practice your whole life and still fail to dodge a bullet with?"

"Tang San, don't try to pass off your outdated feudal rubbish as a match for a product of the Industrial Revolution. Sit back down and watch other people play. Make another racket in my Internet Cafe, and I'll confiscate your plastic stool too."

"You—!"

Tang San gritted his teeth in humiliation. But faced with a godlike boss who could crush his hidden weapons and Soul Power with ease, he didn't dare utter another word. He slunk back to his little stool and kept playing the game with his eyes.

Just then, Dugu Yan burst into a wild laugh in the game.

"Hahaha! Grandpa! Look at the Smart Assault Rifle I just bought! With this, I won't even have to aim when I fight!"

On the big screen, Dugu Yan didn't so much as glance at the enemies beyond her cover. She pointed the gun at the sky and fired off a whole magazine.

Tang San was just about to mock her for not even knowing how to use a gun when he saw something that shattered his understanding of the world.

The bullets she fired into the sky curved in midair!

As if they had eyes, they traced bizarre arcs through the air, tracked down enemies hiding in every corner, and killed them all with headshots!

"A... a hidden weapon that tracks targets on its own?!"

Tang San toppled to the floor, stool and all.

Batwing Reincarnation, one of the Tang Sect's most advanced hidden-weapon techniques, demanded enormous concentration and a unique throwing method just to alter a projectile's course a little.

Yet in this game, a gun anyone could buy could track targets automatically and hit every time?!

"Fake... It's all an illusion! There's no way any of this can appear in the real world! If things like that existed, what would be the point of Soul Masters?!" Tang San lay on the floor, desperately trying to convince himself.

"Ahem. Attention, players."

As Tang San tried to piece his shattered worldview back together, Lin Ye picked up a megaphone from who knew where and tapped it twice.

"If you still have playtime left, pause for a moment. I have good news to announce."

Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Dugu Yan, and Qian Renxue reluctantly took off their headsets and looked eagerly at Lin Ye.

"Boss, what good news? Have you finally grown a conscience and decided to raise the daily six-hour limit to twelve?!" Ning Rongrong's eyes shone.

"In your dreams!"

Lin Ye rolled his eyes, then pointed to a huge poster that had just appeared on the wall.

"Origin Internet Cafe has been open for over half a month. To thank our regular customers, we've decided to hold the first Night City Mercenary Grand Prix in three days!"

"Competition format: an unrestricted combat and assassination points contest."

"All contestants will be transported to a designated arena, where you'll fight each other using the cyberware and weapons you've accumulated in the game."

Lin Ye paused deliberately. Seeing everyone listening intently, he dropped the bombshell that could drive the entire Douluo Continent mad:

"The champion's prize—a real-world manifestation of one common-grade weapon or piece of cyberware you own in the game, regardless of the laws of space!"

A terrible silence fell over the Internet Cafe lobby!

Then an uproar erupted, loud enough to lift the roof!

"Manifested in the real world?!"

Qian Renxue could no longer maintain her composure. She stood up. "Boss Lin! Is that true?! Even a Sandevistan that boosts Reflexes could be brought into the real world?!"

"Of course." Lin Ye smiled faintly.

"Sign me up! I want in! That Smart Pistol is mine! Let's see who dares say a support-type Soul Master can't fight once I have it!" Ning Rongrong was so excited she jumped onto the desk.

"The championship is mine!" Fire blazed in Zhu Zhuqing's cold, feline eyes. "I'm bringing the Falcon Sandevistan out. I'm going to change my fate!"

"Move! All of you, get out of my way! The Metabolic Editor is mine! If anyone tries to take away my chance to save Grandpa, I'll blow her up with a Chemical Grenade!" Dugu Yan's eyes all but glowed green.

In the corner, Tang San and Dai Mubai watched them fight over a piece of "game equipment" and turned to stone.

Manifested in the real world?

That hidden weapon that tracked targets on its own, that mechanical soul bone that slowed time—could they really be brought into the real world?!

Tang San's mind went blank. Then jealousy spread through him like wildfire and swallowed his reason.

If he could get that gun... If he could study those cyberweapons and incorporate them into Tang Sect Hidden Weapons... He could dominate the entire Douluo Continent!

"B-Boss!!!"

Tang San found strength from somewhere and threw himself at Lin Ye's feet. Clinging tightly to Lin Ye's leg, he bawled, tears and snot streaming down his face, without a shred of dignity left as a Tang Sect disciple.

"Senior Lin! I was wrong! I really was wrong! Please lift my ban! I want to enter the Grand Prix too! I'd even work for you for ten years!"

Dai Mubai came to his senses too. He scrambled over and grabbed Lin Ye's other leg, wailing alongside Tang San. "Boss! I'll pay! I'll pay a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins! Just let me enter the competition, and I'll do anything you ask!"

Lin Ye looked down at the two sobbing spectators and shook his legs in disgust.

"Security!"

"Yes, boss! I'm here!"

Dugu Bo, who had been silent until now, answered eagerly. He appeared behind the two in an instant and lifted one in each hand.

To squeeze out a little more playtime, the mighty Poison Douluo was happy to serve as the Internet Cafe's enforcer and security guard.

"Throw these two spectators out. And tell them—"

Lin Ye looked at Tang San's despairing face and smiled, twisting the knife:

"Sorry, but Grand Prix registration is limited. Banned troublemakers aren't even allowed to watch! Off you go. Don't expect me to see you out!"