Chapter Forty-Nine: Defeated Once Again

This time, Chen Hao no longer held back. Now that he knew Vivian didn’t know the way home, there was no point in delaying any further. Although Vivian could still try to leave ahead of him, she didn’t know the roads. If she ran off at random, there was no telling what danger she might stumble into. If she were captured again, it would only result in a repetition of their current predicament.

So, Chen Hao didn’t let Vivian leave first this time; instead, he told her to wait for him. If he could defeat the enemy before him or even take this GM hostage, perhaps the two of them might be able to escape safely—at least for now. His earlier suspicions had also been confirmed: though the monsters had been dealt with, these humans harbored no goodwill toward Vivian either.

Chen Hao was grateful he had taken the GM’s words seriously at the very beginning and fled with Vivian. Had he chosen instead to trust these humans and stayed, they might have calmly led the two of them to their settlement and then quietly watched or locked them up. At that point, escape would have been even harder. At least now, only he was held up, while Vivian remained relatively safe. Even if he couldn’t defeat these human GMs and NPCs, Vivian could still fly away. As for any danger she might face later, that was out of his hands.

The battle between Chen Hao and the GM raged on. Having changed his mind and tactics, Chen Hao’s attacks were significantly more aggressive than before. Previously, he had slowed the pace deliberately, not wanting to push his opponent into a corner and risk provoking an all-out assault by a group of NPCs.

Now, knowing there was no use in stalling, he pressed the attack to end things quickly and give them both a better chance of escape. Even if his opponent realized this shift and called for reinforcements, Chen Hao no longer cared. He was throwing everything he had into the fight, showing no mercy just because his opponent was a woman.

Yet this fierce assault made Chen Hao realize something was off—he couldn’t summon his full strength as he could in the real world. Whether in speed, power, or reaction, he lagged behind his real-life self by a noticeable margin.

This confirmed it: in the game, his character could not fully mirror his real-life capabilities. In straightforward terms, his character’s stats fell far short of his real-life standards. Everything was limited by the basic attributes assigned when the character was created. No wonder, he thought, even though his martial arts skills were obviously superior, his opponent could still hold out for so long.

Moments ago, when he punched the ground, his hand had started bleeding. In the real world... Well, even if he couldn’t punch through the ground, he certainly wouldn’t have been injured.

His opponent, the GM, must have realized this too. Seeing Chen Hao’s intention to finish the fight quickly, she kept her leisurely pace, refusing to meet him head-on, instead circling to wear down his stamina. So, his weakness had already been seen through.

But what of it? Even if his character’s physical stats were weak, that didn’t matter. The family martial art passed down in Chen Hao’s family wasn’t about brute strength. Their style had many branches, and Chen Hao specialized in one of them—a style reminiscent of Tai Chi, using softness to overcome hardness, neutralizing force with deft technique.

It wasn’t that Chen Hao only knew this one style. In fact, he had studied every branch of the family art. When he first chose his specialty, he was required to learn the basics of them all, then select the path that suited him best.

With his father’s guidance, Chen Hao ultimately chose to focus on the branch most similar to Tai Chi. Of course, that didn’t mean he was ignorant of other styles. In addition to his family’s teachings, he had dabbled in countless other schools of martial arts. He could wield forceful, open-handed techniques as well.

To be honest, against most opponents, Chen Hao didn’t need to use his true skill at all; any style he was familiar with would suffice to defeat them easily. That was why he began the fight using a powerful, aggressive martial art against the GM.

But now, knowing his character’s basic attributes were weak, continuing to fight head-on made little sense. So, Chen Hao decided to use his family’s signature art—the art that had always been his trump card. It bore the elegant name “Nine Dragons Crescent Moon Fist.”

As the name suggested, there were nine distinct forms, each with unique characteristics. The one Chen Hao was using now, and the one he was most skilled in, was the second—“Waxing Crescent Moon.”

Some might find it strange that he was most proficient in the second rather than the first form. Wasn’t it logical to learn them in order? Actually, he did learn them sequentially, but after mastering the basics of each, he had to choose the direction that best fit him.

For example, in Wing Chun, there are long-bridge and short-bridge techniques—straight-arm and bent-arm movements. Each person, depending on their physique, will excel in one or the other. The same principle applied to Chen Hao’s family style.

The “Waxing Crescent Moon” form was similar to Tai Chi’s gentle power—using body positioning to borrow force and redirect it, rather than clashing head-on.

This style was particularly effective against opponents who relied on brute force, such as practitioners of Hung Gar. Coincidentally, the GM was using a style just like that—ferocious and direct, the very sort of technique that played into Chen Hao’s hands.

With his specialty unleashed, the GM’s responses became hurried and ineffective. She failed repeatedly to block Chen Hao’s attacks and found herself increasingly on the defensive. Whereas before she could counterattack every few moves, now she was entirely pushed onto the back foot, unable to mount any offense at all.

“Damn it! Chen Hao is getting harder and harder to handle!” the GM thought. She remembered their past encounter, when she had also lost to him. From that day, she had redoubled her efforts, determined to take revenge and one day coolly tell him, “You’ll have to train harder if you want to beat me.”

Yet after all these years, she still wasn’t his match—even here in the game, where her character’s attributes clearly outstripped his. Did that mean her talent was truly inferior?

She remembered clearly: back in their previous match, Chen Hao hadn’t even used his signature style—he had used Hung Gar, just like her. Before the fight, he’d said with an air of nonchalance, “I’ll use the same style as you. If I used my family’s technique, you wouldn’t last a single move.”

At the time, she’d thought this was just a taunt and dismissed it. But the outcome was exactly as he’d predicted—even without his true skills, he had easily defeated her.

After her defeat, Chen Hao had told her to keep training. She thought he was lying, that Hung Gar was his main specialty, and she’d only lost because she underestimated him.

But when she later saw him face off against an elder Hung Gar master and witnessed the techniques he used, she realized he hadn’t lied. He had indeed held back against her. If he had fought at his true strength, she would have been floored in an instant.

Chen Hao hadn’t been boasting—he really was that strong! She could hardly believe that someone her own age, maybe even younger, could possess such skill. She had been hailed as the most gifted young disciple of the Hung Gar School, but before Chen Hao, she had seemed weak and powerless. How had he done it?

From that day on, she had vowed to train even harder, determined that one day she would beat Chen Hao and prove herself.

She hadn’t actively sought him out all these years—not because he was hard to find, but because she felt her strength was still lacking, not yet enough to challenge him.

She never expected to encounter him here in the game, and their duel had come earlier than she’d imagined. Yet the result... was still disappointing. This time, Chen Hao hadn’t defeated her, but only because his character’s stats were so much lower. If he’d had the same attributes as her...

So all her years of hard training had been for nothing? She still couldn’t defeat him... How ironic!

Chen Hao had no idea what was going through the GM’s mind, nor did he remember when they had fought, or even recall such a person at all. He had beaten so many peers in his youth that the GM was just one among many, nothing special.

But he did notice her focus wavering. Naturally, he wouldn’t let such a chance slip by. He instantly ramped up his assault and, within three moves, decided the outcome.

He seized her arm, broke her stance with a downward twist, then spun around and locked her in a choke hold, using her as a shield in front of him.

“Let us go!” Chen Hao demanded, his grip tight around her throat.

But to his surprise, after a brief daze, the GM began to laugh. “Heh heh heh heh...”