Chapter Eighty-Two: The Arena of Combat
After logging in, Luo Xiaohu found himself in an isolated, blank room. He was already intimately familiar with the operations that would follow. After scanning his body, he chose for himself an imposing moniker—Tiger King!
Although he received a prompt informing him that there were already several million users with the same name, Luo Xiaohu didn’t care in the least. He believed that one day “Tiger King” would become uniquely his, just like the champions in the Battle Arena.
“Welcome to the Battle Arena…”
“Tiger King, matching you with an opponent...”
“Match successful. Loading room...”
“Random environment generating...”
“Adjusting parameters...”
“Room loaded. Tiger King, your opponent is Sentry. Enjoy your battle!”
As the voice faded, Luo Xiaohu found himself on a plain. The title “Sentry” was reserved for newcomers to the Battle Arena; only after completing a certain number of matches with a requisite win rate could it be removed.
He soon saw his opponent before him—a towering giant, three meters tall. As the ten-second countdown in the sky reached zero, Luo Xiaohu was about to greet his adversary when the figure called Sentry suddenly charged at him with startling speed.
A wide grin spread across his face. This was exactly the kind of opponent he wanted. A fierce battle light blazed in his eyes; fists clenched, his fighting spirit surged. As Sentry closed in, Luo Xiaohu lashed out with a punch!
Missed!
Sentry’s body twisted at an impossible angle, dodging Luo Xiaohu’s fist.
Having missed, Luo Xiaohu’s other fist, intended for a follow-up, shifted smoothly into a guard position.
With a sharp sound, Luo Xiaohu was sent flying backward, his grin only growing wider. He had no time to inspect the wound on his abdomen—cut open by Sentry’s arm, which had morphed into a blade—because Sentry’s attack never paused nor hesitated.
Their clash was ferocious beyond compare. Facing Sentry’s assaults, which could morph and shift form at will, Luo Xiaohu struggled to defend, fresh wounds opening on his body from time to time.
Yet a keen observer would notice that, apart from the first injury, all subsequent wounds appeared in places that didn’t hinder his combat ability, and the intervals between each injury grew steadily longer.
“Ha... Hahaha! So this is the Myriad Worlds? Wahahaha! Fascinating!”
In the midst of battle, Luo Xiaohu burst into wild laughter. At some point, the fighting spirit swirling around him had gathered to an astonishing intensity. Dimly, a white tiger’s phantom seemed to envelop his form.
From that moment on, Luo Xiaohu, who had been on the defensive, shifted his posture. Like a savage hunting tiger, he pounced upon Sentry, his bestial instinct so sharp that Sentry’s attacks could no longer touch him.
A thunderous roar erupted—
A massive tiger’s claw tore through the air, nearly cleaving Sentry into several pieces.
Having vanquished a formidable foe, Luo Xiaohu threw back his head and laughed wildly at the sky, elation flooding his heart. In that instant, he felt his martial prowess rising to a new level.
“Wahahahaha! That was incredible! Ahahahaha... Hic...?!”
He suddenly turned his head and saw Sentry already on his feet, wounds healing at a shocking speed.
What?!
Luo Xiaohu swallowed hard. “Someone’s cheating!”
The Battle Arena’s AI core responded: “Tiger King reported opponent Sentry for cheating. Checking... Check complete. Tiger King, your opponent Sentry has not engaged in any cheating. Enjoy your battle!”
Tiger King was dumbfounded!
Fortunately, Sentry’s fighting style had shifted from relentless assault to standing still, or else Luo Xiaohu, in his current state, would have been finished.
Once Luo Xiaohu regained his composure, Sentry seemed to have concluded some kind of internal exchange.
“Authorization granted. Restrictions lifted.”
It was the only time in the match Luo Xiaohu heard Sentry speak, though he didn’t yet understand what it meant.
Wisps of white mist spread across the battlefield, Sentry’s form twisted briefly, then vanished.
From within the white mist came the sounds of even fiercer combat.
…
A thunderous explosion rocked the dormitory district. In the sky above, blood-red mist coalesced into the shape of a massive, ferocious tiger.
“Killing intent? Is that Xiaohu?!”
An instructor from the Martial Arts Academy saw the scene, his expression shifting as he rushed in that direction.
When he arrived, he found Luo Xiaohu standing there, the blood-red murderous aura around him gradually being drawn back into his body. The sight made the instructor breathe a sigh of relief.
Then he noticed the collapsed dormitory and his face darkened.
By now, students from nearby dorms had come running, drawn by the commotion.
“Brother Tiger! What happened?”
“Boss Tiger, did you run into an enemy?”
“Idiot, how could there be enemies in the academy?”
“What do you mean? Didn’t you see the wrecked dorm? Must’ve been a top expert!”
“Brother Tiger, are you hurt?”
Hearing everyone’s concern, Luo Xiaohu snapped out of his battle-induced euphoria, a grin so broad it nearly reached his ears.
“Today I realized just how fascinating this world is. The Battle Arena is fantastic, and the Myriad Worlds even more so. Hahaha, one day, I'll set out on my journey, drink the strongest spirits, and win the wildest women! Ahahahaha...”
“Make sure to pay for the dorm’s damages yourself later. Also, you can forget about entering the Battle Arena again anytime soon,” the instructor said dryly from the side.
“...Gah gah gah... Meow meow meow!”
Luo Xiaohu froze, even the blood tiger he was drawing back into his body seemed to pause. He turned his head stiffly and saw that the previously intact virtual pod was now nothing more than a heap of scrap metal!
“Ah—!”
…
At that moment, Lando was reviewing Sentry’s first battle in the Battle Arena, watching from a first-person perspective.
From the start up to the moment Sentry was felled by the tiger’s claw, Lando thought Luo Xiaohu’s skill and talent were impressive but nothing extraordinary. But when the restrictions on Sentry were fully lifted and the two clashed again, Lando took note of Luo Xiaohu’s unwavering fighting will and burning desire for victory.
“What a true tough guy!”
That last surge of blood-red aura left a particularly deep impression.
“If only I could analyze it in the Mindspace!” Lando sighed with some regret.
He had uploaded Sentry’s combat AI to the Battle Arena, letting the arena’s system generate its body using set parameters. This was the standard approach for many weapon labs and research institutes testing new weaponry; Lando found it very effective. So he immediately used his virtual pod privileges to have the combat AI continuously matched with new opponents in the Battle Arena, gathering as much real battle data as possible.
Once the combat AI’s data was shared, he would have at his disposal a whole legion of Sentinels, each brimming with combat experience.
A perfect plan!
PS: Today I’ll finish all my errands, and use the time to think out the next part of the story. As promised, starting tomorrow, I’ll write non-stop from the moment I wake until I sleep. Let’s see what my daily limit really is.
Go for it! Let’s charge ahead!