Looking Down on Him Was Looking Down on Herself
Ye Qingxue stood up, her voice clear and cold. "Wang Hao."
The crowd fell silent for a moment, and everyone turned to look at her.
Wang Hao also turned his head and saw that it was Ye Qingxue; his expression froze for a moment.
"You've said so much," Ye Qingxue said calmly, looking at him. "I remember during the Trial Nest, you made a bet with Su Mu to see who could clear the dungeon faster, and you lost to him. You even lost a random quality Soul Skill book."
The air was still.
The people around him looked at each other, then all turned to look at Wang Hao.
Wang Hao's face flushed red at a visible speed.
"I..."
"What?!" Ye Qingxue didn't give him a chance to speak. "An S-rank core card, a martial soul-themed card, lost to an F-rank stone card. You can easily confirm this by asking around at Rongcheng No. 1 High School. How credible do you think your words are?"
The surrounding area was completely in an uproar.
"Wang Hao lost to Su Mu? An S-rank player lost to an F-rank player?"
"Impossible, right? Wang Hao has an S-level core card, and his family has invested so many resources in him."
"But Ye Qingxue wouldn't lie. Who is she to need to make up such a lie?"
"Go ask someone from No. 1 High School. I just saw someone wearing their uniform over there."
A tall, thin dungeon raider actually ran to the other side of the crowd and pulled over a student in a high school uniform. The student was asked a few questions, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.
"Indeed... Wang Hao lost to Su Mu on Awakening Day. The bet was on a random quality Soul Skill book. The whole school knows that."
The crowd fell completely silent.
All eyes were on Wang Hao, their gazes shifting from initial trust to doubt, and then to mockery.
"So what Wang Hao just said was a deliberate attempt to smear Su Mu?"
"He lost the bet, and now that he sees others getting into the Nightmare Lair, he's talking badly about them behind their backs."
"Tsk tsk, is this all the magnanimity an S-rank core card can muster?"
"Stop talking, they're an S-rank after all. But a loss is a loss, losing to an F-rank is indeed a bit embarrassing."
"It's not just shameful, now they're even talking about others behind their backs. What kind of character is that..."
The sarcastic remarks pierced him like knives. Wang Hao stood in the center of the crowd, his face turning from red to white, then from white to green. His fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his nails digging into his palms.
He wanted to argue.
But he had no way to refute it.
He did indeed lose to Su Mu. Ye Qingxue's words are true. Those who went to No. 1 High School to inquire would also confirm this.
The only person he could blame was Ye Qingxue.
Why?
Why is she speaking up for Su Mu again?
It was the same thing at the registrar's office last time, and it's happening again this time. She clearly knows she lost to Su Mu, she clearly knows how precious that soul skill book is, so why does she still have to reopen his wounds in front of everyone?
Wang Hao gritted his teeth, his gaze fixed on Ye Qingxue, before turning to the dark purple light screen.
Su Mu.
It's all because of Su Mu.
If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have lost face in front of Ye Qingxue. If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have lost that soul skill book. If it weren't for him, Ye Qingxue wouldn't have stood against him again and again.
A deep-seated resentment flashed in Wang Hao's eyes.
He remembered it.
He will remember all of this.
Su Mu was unaware of all that was happening outside.
He stood on the battlefield of the fifteenth wave of the Nightmare Goblin Camp, his feet paved with shattered bones and dark green bloodstains. The boss of the fifteenth wave had fallen, but the depths of the rift continued to tremble, with waves of dark purple light surging out.
Wave 16, Wave 17, Wave 18, Wave 19, Wave 20.
The last five waves were actually easier than the previous ones.
One is a melee attacker, the other a ranged area-of-effect attacker.
Little Drill Wind is responsible for clearing out elites and bosses, while White Bone Spirit is responsible for intercepting split forces and clearing the field.
One provides single-target burst damage, while the other provides area-of-effect suppression. Even as the number and strength of monsters continue to rise, this coordinated approach poses virtually no challenge.
The twentieth wave was completely wiped out.
Nightmare Lair, completed.
Su Mu stood there, looking at the mess on the ground, and slowly exhaled. He glanced at the time; about twenty-seven minutes had passed since he entered the Nightmare Lair.
In the Soul Space, the experience bar started ticking again.
[Level Up: 14 → 15]
Little Drill Wind leveled up to level 15, and White Bone Spirit leveled up to level 13.
After the Nightmare Boss fell, it dropped a whole bunch of loot.
Su Mu walked over, squatted down, and examined them one by one.
First, there are the materials.
The dark green Goblin King Core, about the size of a fist, is covered with rough totem patterns and glows with a ghostly green light.
This item can sell for around 150,000 Alliance Coins on the market; it's a rare material for crafting C-grade or higher creature cards. Next to it are three Goblin King Bone Armors, each as thick as a shield, which can be polished into defensive equipment cards.
In addition, there were more than twenty goblin elite eyeballs, a dozen bundles of dark green tendons, and a large bag of animal hide scraps.
All things considered, it should fetch at least 300,000 Alliance Coins.
Then came the card. A card gleaming with a dark gold light lay quietly among the shattered bones.
[Name: Goblin King Cavalry]
[Rank: E]
[Level: 1]
[Blood: 1800/1800]
[Attack: 180]
[Defense: 95]
[Agility: 60]
[Skills: Charging Thrust (Increases attack power by 50% while riding and deals 1.8x damage to a single target), Beastly Roar (Increases the attack power and movement speed of nearby goblin creatures by 10% and 5%), Brutal Collision (Knocks back enemies in front of you, dealing 0.8x damage)]
[Note: Formed from the remnants of the elite cavalry under the Goblin King. It can grow according to the dungeon theme, but its maximum potential is limited.]
Su Mu glanced at it and casually put it into his Soul Space.
An E-rank card with mediocre stats and ordinary skills. It would be a decent addition for an average dungeon raider, but for him, like the goblin materials he'd used before, its greatest value was selling it for money.
He kept the concept of "cavalry" for now, though he might need it later.
He took one last look at the mess on the ground, and on a whim, exited the instance.
A dark purple light curtain spat him out.
Su Mu had just steadied himself when he froze.
There were several times more people outside the entrance than before he went in.
A dense crowd of people, at least two or three hundred, surrounded the light screen, all eyes fixed on him. Some were taking notes with electronic manuals, some were whispering among themselves, and others had clearly just arrived to see what was going on.
Su Mu thought he had gone to the wrong place.
He glanced around instinctively, but didn't see Ye Qingxue.
There were quite a few young faces in the crowd. Several girls wearing Rongcheng No. 1 High School uniforms stood in the front row, taking pictures of him with their phones.
"It's out! It's out!"
"Twenty-seven minutes! He was in a nightmare for twenty-seven minutes!"
"Really? An F-rank core card stayed in a nightmare for almost half an hour?"
"I don't know if I've cleared the game yet, but I've at least gotten past wave ten, right?"
"That can't be right. The experience gained after the tenth wave is enough for him to go from level fourteen to level sixteen, but he's only level fifteen now..."
"That's just over ten waves. Even so, it's still terrifying."
Listening to the surrounding discussions, Su Mu roughly understood.
These people came specifically to see what was going on because he had entered the Nightmare Lair.
He couldn't be bothered to listen to the specifics of their discussion.
He'd been grinding monsters all day, clearing three dungeons in a row—Normal, Hard, and Nightmare—and was mentally exhausted. All he wanted now was to leave as soon as possible and find a quiet place to rest.
He started walking and moved towards the outer edge of the crowd.
"Su Mu."
A cool, clear voice came from the side.