The arena in the human camp drew quite a crowd every day. It was a place where humans could spar and train for combat.
People came here for all sorts of reasons, competing in one-on-one or three-on-three battles to see who would win. It was no different from the PvP system in Infinite Fantasy.
Today, Arena Three was packed with spectators. Even some powerful players and wealthy merchants had quietly come to watch. The stakes in this fight were huge—it was all about a level-30 purple-quality spear!
In a VIP box on the top floor of the arena, a white-haired young man and an adorable white-haired girl sat facing each other, watching the two fighters below. They looked alike—they were siblings.
“Big brother, who do you think will win?” The girl cupped her face in both hands and blinked her bright, dark eyes.
The young man lifted a bottle and poured himself a glass of Misty Wine. It could restore a large amount of mana and cost two thousand World Coins a bottle on the market, but to him, it was no more than an ordinary drink.
He smiled as he answered her. “I don’t think that young man is an idiot, so he must have something to rely on. That spear is a rare find, after all. There’s no reason he’d give it away over some trivial matter.”
To him, sticking up for someone else was a trivial matter. He didn’t care what happened to other people. Of course, nobody was allowed to lay a finger on the little sister he cherished most!
“Kid, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ve been to this arena over a hundred times, and I’ve kept a seventy percent win rate. Even if your level and gear are better than mine, everyone’s stats get balanced out here.” Pang Qian grinned. His class was a Brawler, after all—a class born for PvP!
The arena’s so-called stat balancing adjusted the higher-level player’s stats downward and the lower-level player’s upward. In practice, though, neither adjustment could exceed one hundred percent.
In other words, Han Ming’s stats could only be cut in half at most, while his opponent’s could at most double. Halve stats in the thousands, and they were still in the thousands. Double stats in the dozens, and they’d barely break a hundred.
The arena also had an automatic protection system. Once either fighter was down to one HP, they’d be declared the loser and the PvP match would end. After leaving the arena, both fighters would return to the state they’d been in before the match.
Han Ming smiled faintly without saying a word. He simply crooked a finger at his opponent, inviting him to make the first move.
It was an obvious provocation, and it annoyed Pang Qian. This time, he wasn’t just going to take that purple spear—he was going to humiliate the brat, too!
『Shoulder Charge』! 『Dragon Snare』!
Pang Qian wielded a pair of level-15 copper claws with an extra critical-hit bonus. He used a mobility skill to close the distance to Han Ming in a flash, then tried to catch him with a grab skill.
But to Han Ming, his movements were painfully slow. Han Ming saw right through every move. He only had to take two steps to the side to slip past Pang Qian, leaving the skill to hit nothing but air.
Unwilling to give up, Pang Qian seized the chance to attack again. His copper claws kept slashing as he tried to land a hit, but Han Ming dodged every attack with a few small steps. He didn’t even bother using an evasion skill.
“What happened? You had so much to say earlier. Why’re you chickening out now? If you’re this bad, what’re you doing in PvP? Go home and raise pigs.” Everyone could tell Han Ming was deliberately toying with his opponent, refusing to fight back.
“Hehehe, Big Brother, these two are so funny! Why does that big onion-headed guy always seem to fall just short?” The scene in the arena below was downright comical: Han Ming stood there letting his opponent attack, and the other guy still couldn’t hit him.
Only the white-haired young man narrowed his eyes, spotting what was going on. “There’s a huge gap in their Agility stats. To the Gunner, that Brawler’s speed must look slowed down.”
The white-haired young man was also surprised that he couldn’t see Han Ming’s level. He was already level 24 himself. Was this kid over level 25?
“You little brat, are you even going to fight? What’s with all this dodging?” Pang Qian’s patience was wearing thin. He hadn’t even managed to touch the hem of Han Ming’s clothes, and Han Ming’s mockery only made him angrier.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not deliberately treating you like a monkey.” Han Ming drew his weapon, a blue-quality pistol. “I’m just worried that if I end this too soon, no one will see how you lose.”
『Gunner Skill—Instant-Death Headshot』!
This was a level-30 Gunner skill. It aimed at the opponent’s head and fired a headshot, with a chance of instant death based on the level difference between the two. Han Ming was more than eighty levels above this guy, so the chance of instant death was over eighty percent!
The bullet pierced Pang Qian’s head. His HP bar instantly hit bottom, and he collapsed unconscious, triggering the system’s protection.
“You really are weak.” Han Ming put his weapon away. There was no sense of achievement in beating trash like this. Professional tournaments usually banned players from stomping on weak opponents, since it only dragged down their own skill. But Han Ming wasn’t even sure he could still call himself a pro anymore.
“Wow, it’s over already? That was so fast! I didn’t even see what happened!” The girl pressed herself against the window, practically wishing she could get right up in Han Ming’s face for a better look. Her big brother grabbed her and hauled her back to her seat. “Watch your image, Xing Wu. You’re sixteen already. Why are you still acting like a little kid?”
The girl puffed out her cheeks and stuck her tongue out at him. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You sound just like a nagging mom.”
The young man looked back at Han Ming, seemingly making up his mind. “Xing Wu, go to the appraisal shop right now.”
“Why? I finally have a day off, and you’re trying to squeeze work out of your own little sister? That’s so unfair!” Xing Wu looked furious and refused.
“Stop acting like a kid. You’ll understand when the time comes.” The young man smiled faintly. If he could get ahead of the others, there was a good chance that weapon would end up in his hands.
“Way to go, Brother Ming!” An'an was the first to come out after they left the arena. Seeing Han Ming give that guy a good thrashing had felt so satisfying.
“All right, we’ve got more important things to do. Let’s leave this weapon with the appraiser and have them value it for auction.” He needed some money to keep things moving, and selling this weapon would be the start of it all.
Even though he’d returned to the real world at max level with maxed-out stats, he hadn’t brought his original god-tier gear with him. He’d have to start crafting equipment from scratch, and that would take a lot of time.
……
At a small camp in the ruins of an outlying city, several people lay sprawled across the ground. Each had a small red mark between the brows, clear evidence that a bullet had gone straight through. None showed any signs of life. They were long dead.
“This is so boring. All they’ve got is garbage.” A scantily clad, busty woman rummaged through their inventories. “The Blade-Skull Group, huh? Just a bunch of nobodies.” Most of what she found was low-level green- and white-quality gear, along with a small amount of World Coins. Nothing interested her.
Not far away, a young man silently wiped down the sniper rifle in his hands. It gleamed with a purple glow—clearly a piece of purple-quality gear!
“Bai Quan, these guys said there’s a human camp nearby. How about we go take a look?” The busty woman turned to the young man, asking what he thought.
“Will there be anyone to kill?” The young man’s face remained expressionless. He didn’t even look up from his beloved rifle.
The busty woman smiled. “Of course. It’s only natural for the weak to get eliminated. But the worst part is, these guys had never even heard of the Ashen Wolf Group! What a bunch of frogs in a well. Come on, let’s head somewhere with more people~”
