The person who kept failing did not know exhaustion.
While the constantly winning him felt an exhaustion from the depths of his heart.
Wasn't this ironic?
OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation softly said, "I'm leaving."
Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised, and after reacting to this information, he hurriedly said, "Why aren't you playing anymore? We agreed to fight through the night?"
When OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation heard this, he could not help but have the corner of his mouth twitch. Alright, it appears as though the circuits in this guy's brain aren’t like a normal person’s.
"Little guy, compared to a particular man, your Crab Steps are still far inferior, so keep working hard!"
OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation said warmly as he appended a sentence in his heart—I'll place my bets on you.
He used his mind to summon the game menu. Immediately the choice "Leave Room" appeared. OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation looked at the "Friend Request" at the corner of his eyes. As he smiled silently, he raised his fingers to point at "Leave Room".
"Name!" Shi Xiaobai's voice was suddenly heard!
OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation's hand could not help but stop as he turned to look at Shi Xiaobai.
"Tell me your name!" Shi Xiaobai said loudly.
OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation was surprised for a moment. Asking for another person's name in virtual competition was taboo. This little guy sure was...
"Thomas."
Thomas hesitated for a moment before he gave his real name.
"Shi Xiaobai, that's my name. A name of a man destined to become the King of the World!"
Shi Xiaobai suddenly pointed his finger at Thomas and said loudly, "So Thomas, remember This King's name. That's because the defeats you gave This King, there will be a day This King will return them all!"
"So Thomas, keep working hard, keep climbing higher. That's because This King will chase up to you one day and surpass you, flinging you far behind!"
"So Thomas, don't stop, don't be lazy and don't slack off. Remember, there was a man who once suffered 1111 defeats under your rifle, and that man will one day take back the victory he deposited with you."
"So Thomas, you must keep winning for This King!"
Shi Xiaobai's voice crescendoed, a strength bursting out from his throat, causing those words to resound in one’s ears, penetrating straight to the heart.
"What an...unbridled guy."
He was already too lazy to count the number of victories, but this guy had been keeping count.
A smile suffused on Thomas' lips. Having immersed himself in the virtual world to enjoy the smurfing of noobs, he might have indeed been slacking for too long. Ever since he could not see that man's back figure, it was as though he had lost the motivation to chase after him.
However, there was a madman desperately chasing from behind him. If he did not run faster, it might seem a bit outrageous.
Thomas lowered his head. He suddenly felt his heart pounding at this very moment.
"Also!"
Shi Xiaobai's voice resounded once again.
Thomas looked up and could not help but freeze.
He saw the little guy in a clown costume giving him a 90-degree deep bow.
"Thank you!"
While maintaining a 90-degree bow, his words said those two words softly. His tone was very light, but the gratitude contained in those words was extremely heavy.
"I should be the one thanking you."
Thomas sighed slightly before he reached out his hand to press the exit button.
.....
"Player OneHeadShotWithoutExplanation has left the room."
-------
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Chapter67 Yea-habitant of the Yea Planet
United States, Washington, Prince Virtual Competition Cafe, Room 250.
A stocky blond man lay in a virtual immersion cabin. The man wore a tight-fit t-shirt. His left arm was clearly muscular, but the right side of his body only revealed a stump where his right hand should be.
The blond man was in deep sleep when he suddenly opened his eyes.
...
Thomas woke up from his virtual immersion experience. Immediately, he felt intense pangs of hunger. His body was extremely stiff, and when he gently twisted his neck, it issued snapping sounds.
Looking sidewards to the clock in the immersion cabin, he could not help but reveal a wry smile.
"Twenty hours."
Even though he had removed the one minute preparation time before the battle through the room settings, after more than 1000 battles—as well as spending a long time "reprimanding" the little guy—he had still spent twenty hours.
This was the first time Thomas spent twenty consecutive hours in the virtual world. His body and mind was extremely exhausted, but for some reason, he felt energy coming from his chest.
"Shi Xiaobai, this name seems like he's from China."
Thomas muttered to himself. He crawled out of the immersion cabin. The food on the table had already gone cold, but having starved for twenty hours, he was not picky. His left hand picked up a fork to bring a steak into his mouth as he quickly chewed on it.
After putting down the fork, he used his only left hand to pour a cup of expensive red wine. The wine tasted slightly astringent, but for some baffling reason it tasted slightly bitter.
"This bottle of red wine is worth a person's head."
Thomas sighed lightly.
An F Class bounty for a criminal's head could buy such a bottle of red wine.
Those Heroes who claimed to be righteous, but were unwilling to risk their lives to fight calamity fiends or astral beasts would use their Hero salary each month to bring home the bacon. Hence the money to buy wine naturally came from exchanging the heads of those criminals.
Bounty for criminals was evil.
The eradication of evil in exchange for a few bottles of red wine, this...was very heroic.
"So the taste of red wine is bitter."
Thomas set the glass down and suddenly pulled out his cellphone. Touching the screen a few times, he entered the Contacts page and his finger lingered over a particular name.
After hesitating for a moment, he pressed down on it.
That was a number he had not called for twenty years. He thought he would never attempt to call this number for the rest of his life.
"Ring...Ring...Ring..."
The regular ringing tone sounded exactly like his heartbeat.
"Hello, who is this?"
A second after the call connected, a voice that sounded more mature than before, but still warm and magnetic entered his ears. Thomas' breathing paused slightly.
"It's me. Thomas."
Thomas's voice suddenly turned dry. He had used red wine to moisten his throat, yet he produced a voice that was almost hoarse.
"Ha, so it's my junior. It's been so long since we got in touch. Has it been twenty years?"
The voice from the other end of the call sounded surprised and happy.
"Yea, it's been twenty years, Yaris."
Thomas silently said in his heart that to be precise, it was twenty years, one month and seven days.
...
Once upon a time, he and Yaris studied in the same school.
Back then, Yaris was his senior who was mocked by other classmates because he cultivated in Crab Steps, and he was a naive lowerclassmen who followed behind Yaris.
One day, he said to Yaris, "Yaris, there will be one day I will surpass you."
Yaris answered with a laugh, "Then I will have to run faster. If I get caught up by a junior, it will be very embarrassing!"
Thomas believed that if Yaris stubbornly carried on using Crab Steps, then it was a matter of time before he surpassed Yaris.
After graduation, they joined different Hero organizations. They began their separate lives, but their deep ties of friendship made them keep in touch. They often met
and competed against each other, as they played catch up.
However, their intersecting pathways finally separated on a particular day twenty years ago, never coming together again.
That day, 25-year-old Thomas lost his right hand while helping out in a meteor storm. He lost his right hand that he was always proud of for its gun-wielding prowess.
And during that meteor shower, 27-year-old Yaris raised his Crab Steps to the "Bold New World" realm and was hailed as an astounding world-class genius.
After that day, Thomas could no longer catch up to Yaris. Very soon, he could not even see his back.
.....
"Have you been well?"
Yaris' light greetings pulled Thomas back from his memories. Thomas could not help but make a bitter smile. Having lost his right hand, other than using his remnant powers at the seventh level of the Psionic Soul Realm to hunt low-level bounty criminals, he could only use the virtual world's experience to falsely satisfy his wish of having a right hand. Was such an existence...good?
"Yea, not bad." Thomas answered softly.
The other end of the line gave a pondering reply and fell into silence.
Thomas lightly breathed out and suddenly said, "The reason why I called you is because I met a young guy...He resembles you."
"Oh? Tell me."
"Yea, his name is Shi Xiaobai and he comes from China. Like you, he uses Crab Steps. Heh, that ridiculous look makes me recall..recall..."
Thomas's throat suddenly choked like there was a fish bone in it. After being at a loss for words for a few moments, he carried on, "He uses Crab Steps just like you. And he said words that you previously said. He said that he likes failure..."
"Then in Unrivaled Heroes. You should have heard of it. Yea, it's a...Nah, it's a boring game...I met him in that game..."
"Yea, you are right. I was a smurf that smurfed noobs for one round...Alright, I admit, I did it many times..."
"Yaris, this isn't the main point. The main point is that this guy, he got his head blown up in one shot...Yeah, I admit that smurfing noobs is no fun, but there's no reason for you to laugh that much, right..."
"Furthermore, the main point isn't the single headshot, but that he did not quit the game...Why? You think he's a fool? That's right, he's a fool...But, he's not just any fool..."
"..."
Time slowly passed. Unknowingly, their conversation over the phone had lasted more than an hour.
Due to various interruptions from Yaris, Thomas went through great difficulty to finish his story of his encounter in Unrivaled Heroes. He finally summarized, "Anyway, I think he is very similar to you. Of course, this might be because 'all funny fools in the world are equally dumb', so it gave me this illusion."
On the other end, Yaris fell into deep thought after hearing this unmalicious teasing.
"Yaris, I went on for so long, you should at least have some thoughts, right?"
Thomas' tone naturally had a grumbling tone. He had spent twenty hours in virtual immersion, and he should have been mentally exhausted, but he felt strangely clear-minded and inexplicably inspired.
"Are you telling me that the young kid named Shi Xiaobai was still full of fighting spirit after failing more than a thousand times?" Yaris suddenly spoke.
"Yea!" Thomas suffused a smile.
"He got viciously reprimanded by you hundreds of times and he still carried on?" Yaris continued asking.
"Yea!" Thomas intensified his tone slightly.
"He got mislead by your scammy theories and was still able to comprehend the essence of the divine crab?" Yaris' voice had a hint of incredulity.
"Yea...What? What do you mean scammy theories? Alright...I admit my theories might not be too realistic...but practice is the sole criterion for testing its truthfulness. Shi Xiaobai proved that I was right." Thomas could not conceal the smiling in his voice.
"Heh heh...Was what you said about him comprehending Crab Phantom Image true?"
"Yea!"
"Was forcing you to use Wraith Surreal Shot true?"
"Yea!"
"That final unbridled monologue was also true?"
"Yea!"
"Alien Thomas, is 'Yea' the language of your planet?"
"Yea!"
After Thomas said that, he immediately realized something was wrong. As a cloud hung over his head, he said in a speechless manner, "Yaris, do you know how old you are now?"
Yaris chuckled and then suddenly fell into silence. Moments later, he said, "Thomas, you said that the child was quite similar to me, is that right?"
Thomas answered softly, "Yes, he reminds me of the past you."
"You are wrong, Thomas."
Thomas was stunned. He was wrong? So it was just wishful thinking on his part?
Yaris suddenly said, "Do you know how many times I failed when challenging our teacher?"
Thomas was stunned. He remembered that it was many, many times, but he did not know how many times Yaris failed miserably under their teacher's hand.
"51 times! Just 51 times!"
Yaris gave the answer himself.
Just 51 times? Compared to the more than 1000 times from that guy, it seemed...
That's not right!
"No, it's not the same. Every time you challenged our teacher, you would end up seriously injured. As for that guy, he suffered defeat every few seconds. Furthermore, it was in a virtual world. He did not need to endure physical pain...He..."
Thomas immediately attempted to analyze the differences between the virtual reality world and the real world. He was intending to prove that a number itself could not represent the intensity of failure.
"I gave up myself! Thomas, at the 51st time. I chose to give up!"
Yaris suddenly cut Thomas off. He said loudly, "I have always regretted my choice of giving up back then. If I carried on challenging, failing a hundred times, two hundred times. If I could have endured defeat, then I could have cultivated Crab Steps to the 'Bold New World' realm earlier. On that day twenty years ago, I might have been able to...protect your right hand...but I didn't...The truth is, on the 51st failure, I chose to give up!"
"Yaris!"
"Thomas! I once said I like failure...but that isn't true. I hate failure more than anyone else...I could persist up to the 51st failure only because...I desired success more than anyone. However, my limit was just...a mere 51 times!"
"Yaris..."
"Do you understand? Thomas, that kid is different from me. He...is clearly much stronger than me."
"Ya...ris."
"Thomas, do you hate me?"
"Yar..."
Thomas was already choking up so much that he could not complete his words. His left hand was trembling while holding the cellphone to his ear. As he had lost his right hand, he did not have another hand to wipe the tears streaking across his cheek.
"Thomas, come visit me if you have the time. Hey, let's make it tonight. There's no way you can fault my wife's cooking. I'll get her to prepare your favorite red braised pork."
"Yea..."
"Heh heh, Thomas, you are really a Yea-habitant of the Yea Planet."
"Yea."
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Chapter68 There is really such a madman in this world?
Sunday, Sunday, it's Sunday yet again!
"Is there a reason to prevent me from losing my temper this Sunday?"
Xia Lin glanced at the Yang Weiwei beside him. He tried his best to calm his tone, but he could not conceal his rampaging temper.
The arrival of Sunday also meant the arrival of the weekly ranking match for the seven major branches of the Battle Arena Corporation. For [Gaia] branch that had been ranked last for five consecutive weeks, it was like the dawn of a nightmare.
As the general manager of [Gaia] branch, Xia Lin ended up in a terrible mood every Sunday.
Yang Weiwei sighed helplessly in her heart. As a woman, she understood how tough it was during the
few days each month, but why is it as though you have a male period every week? The crux of the issue was, even if you have a male period, why do you always call me into your office...and reprimand for no reason?
Tell me, why do you make it so tough for me?
Yang Weiwei grumbled in her heart as her eyes began to have a glint in them. In the past, she was helpless against Xia Lin's unreasonable demands, and could only silently shoulder the blame, but today, she was no longer the same person as before. She was no longer that ignorant person.
"I heard that Shi Xiaobai actually likes virtual competition very much, but due to certain reasons, he currently isn't in [Gaia]. However, I believe that when he returns to [Gaia], he will definitely come without any solicitation!" Yang Weiwei said a fabricated "I heard that" lie with a poker face.
"Really? Is the news reliable?" Xia Lin's eyes immediately lit up.
"Of course! The news comes from a rookie, Tu Dahei. Shi Xiaobai, Tu Dahei. Think carefully about the two names and compare them. Do you notice something?" Yang Weiwei pretended to ask in a mysterious manner.
"These two names seem...very alike." Xia Lin was slightly startled.
"It's more than similar. The pair of names is essentially a couple name! Do you understand? Shi Xiaobai and Tu Dahei..are ga...Well you know." Yang Weiwei gave an ambiguous smile.
"Are you telling me that Shi Xiaobai and Tu Dahei are gay? Ss...That Tu Dahei..." Xia Lin was somewhat shocked.
"Don't worry Manager Xia. That Tu Dahei is already a loyal customer of our battle arena cafe. He even bought a deluxe package on Monday! Furthermore, Manager Xia, that Tu Dahei is said to be a genius on the same level as Shi Xiaobai!" Yang Weiwei said with a proud smile.
"Nice, very good. You did well!" Xia Lin immediately felt his mood turn for the better and patted Yang Weiwei on the shoulder to show his appreciation.
Yang Weiwei could not help but gloat in her heart. She thought, "Manager Xia O' Manager Xia, you were the one who personally unsealed the Skills of Deception in me. So don't blame this assistant from letting it shine and prosper."
"I happen to be going to the data room to choose the candidate for this week's match. I'll also take the chance to see if this Tu Dahei really lives up to his title of a genius."
Absolute Choice 2 Page 10
