Chapter 61
Chapter 61
As Liang Yu’s fist rapidly expanded in his vision, Wang Lei experienced emotions too complicated to describe.
The curses had not only crippled his Strength. His Constitution and Speed had plummeted as well.
Death’s Curse came from the Unique Hidden Class of an unsolvable instance. Beneath Death, all beings were truly equal.
Only an anomaly at the same level as Death or above it–perhaps one originating from another unsolvable instance–could remain immune.
Wang Lei was merely a high school student who had only begun developing his Talent. He had not even studied the Curse Codex yet. His strength was inferior to that of a 1-Star anomaly.
The suppression he suffered was therefore overwhelming.
Strength reduced by ninety percent.
Constitution reduced by ninety percent.
Speed reduced by ninety percent.
In this state, Wang Lei was no different from a talking maggot.
Liang Yu threw an ordinary punch, but he could not even dodge. He could only watch as his face met her fist.
An enormous impact followed, and his vision went black.
Wang Lei did not even have time to feel pain before violent dizziness swallowed him.
His severely reduced Constitution made his body extraordinarily fragile. The punch directly cracked his skull.
Blood burst from his nostrils, and he toppled backward.
“It was actually true…”
Liang Yu stood frozen. The ache in her knuckles repeatedly reminded her that this was no dream.
She had constantly wondered how Qin Lan could guarantee that they would beat their opponents with their own hands.
The reality was far more fantastical than she had imagined.
Wang Lei had charged straight toward her, then frozen in place. His movements became slow as a crawling turtle and so weak that they carried no force at all.
The other students from No. 1 High School stared blankly as their captain fell to a single punch.
Was this some kind of cheat?
They knew exactly how strong Wang Lei became after merging with his elemental spirit. Yet Liang Yu had knocked him unconscious with one punch.
While they remained stunned, Qin Lan’s curses spread across them as well.
Death’s Curse was not a single-target ability. It affected an area.
Every enemy Qin Lan designated within range would suffer its effects, although each additional target consumed more curse energy.
Against these students, however, the energy cost was negligible.
“Now! Get them!”
Zhang Ke reacted first. With an excited shout, he sprang forward like a rabid dog, chose an opponent whose face annoyed him, and drove a fist into it.
At that moment, the students from No. 1 High School fell into despair.
They finally understood what Wang Lei had just experienced.
“My body… No! Why is this happening?!”
“I can’t use any strength! I can’t use any strength at all!”
Cries of alarm erupted one after another. The students from No. 3 High School knocked them down in turn.
This was where Qin Lan’s true treachery revealed itself.
He did not keep the curses active continuously. He switched them on and off.
Once the students, Wang Lei included, had been beaten to the ground, Qin Lan lifted the curses and temporarily restored their original strength.
Then, the moment they tried to fight back, he suddenly cursed them again.
“Ah! What is– Ah!”
Screams filled the corridor.
Wang Lei suffered worst of all.
Whenever the curses lifted, he quickly regained consciousness and struggled to his feet. But as Liang Yu attacked again and he prepared to retaliate, weakness swallowed him once more.
Another punch struck him.
Liang Yu straddled Wang Lei and drove fist after fist into his face, giving him no chance to breathe.
After several rounds of heavy blows, Wang Lei’s consciousness had become hazy.
By then, Qin Lan had already released Death’s Curse: Frailty, the curse targeting Constitution.
He wanted these human punching bags to last longer.
What followed was a completely one-sided beatdown.
The live broadcast delivered just as much of a visual shock to the audience outside.
“Wait, that can’t be right… I remember Wang Lei being pretty strong.”
“Then why is he getting pounded into the ground?”
“Senior! Get up, Senior!”
“Damn. Everyone’s always going on about how amazing No. 1 High School is, but they don’t look like much to me.”
“Exactly. Isn’t Wang Lei just trash? Liang Yu’s Talent isn’t even combat-oriented, and she’s beating him like a dog. This is like watching someone bully a little kid…”
Students from every school discussed the scene animatedly, all of them beginning to question the strength of Wang Lei and No. 1 High School’s other elites.
They could not hear what was being said inside the instance, so no one suspected Qin Lan was responsible. The guy was already lying on the ground playing dead–what else did they expect from him?
A few people did grow suspicious. Based on the strength Qin Lan had shown earlier, he should not have gone down so easily.
But someone quickly arrived at an explanation. “Maybe his Talent boosts his strength for an extremely short burst, and now he’s suffering from the backlash. That’s why he’s so weak.”
There was no other reasonable explanation.
Surely some terrifying expert had not deliberately feigned weakness, collapsed to the ground to watch the show, and attacked from the shadows.
Who could possibly be that bored?
Well… Qin Lan could.
Not only was Qin Lan watching the show and sabotaging the enemy, he was also offering instruction.
“Master Zhang, don’t trade punches with him. Try attacking below the belt… I don’t mean his legs. I mean the other–yes, right there.”
“Yu Tian, be bolder. Put some strength into it… It’s fine. He can take it.”
Qin Lan lay perfectly still, yet his voice came through with crystal clarity as he gave each person precise combat guidance.
The people from No. 1 High School could not hear him.
Qin Lan’s voice was being transmitted through Liang Yu’s Talent, Resonance Chain. Only the members connected by its green threads could receive his messages.
They could even share their vision.
“Liang Yu, that’s about enough.”
“The rest of you, stop too!”
Qin Lan suddenly spoke up, stopping Liang Yu from continuing her assault.
By now, Wang Lei, pinned beneath Liang Yu’s foot, was almost unrecognizable. His face was bruised and swollen, his features nearly mashed together.
His consciousness had grown hazy. He knew only that he was being beaten and no longer had the strength to resist.
Liang Yu’s eyes were bloodshot, and her entire body was trembling.
Panting heavily, she forced herself to stop and calm down.
“I’m sorry, Senior. I got carried away…” Liang Yu turned around with a strained smile. “I lost control of my emotions for a moment, so I–”
Before she could finish, Qin Lan’s voice came through again.
“What are you talking about?”
“I meant that if you keep hitting him like that, he’ll be teleported out of the instance soon.”
“We haven’t had nearly enough fun yet.”
Liang Yu froze. So did Zhang Ke, Yu Tian, and the others.
Right.
The simulated instance had a safety threshold that would forcibly teleport candidates out.
Qin Lan patiently instructed them, “I know a few little tricks that won’t kill anyone but will make them suffer quite a bit…”
“You there, Zhang Ke. Take over for Captain Liang.”
“This is your golden opportunity to bring down the number one target on the bounty board! Come on. Do exactly as I say. Start with his fingers…”
A horrific scream promptly rang out.
“Aaaaargh!”
Yu Tian covered her eyes in terror, but Wang Lei’s agonized howls still made her tremble.
Zhang Ke, meanwhile, looked downright ferocious. “You bastard! That’s what you get for spreading rumors about Goddess Su…”
“You were pursuing her, huh? Rejected her, did you? She sent you selfies, did she…”
Toward the end, Zhang Ke no longer needed Qin Lan’s guidance. On his own initiative, he came up with several moves that even made Qin Lan’s eyes light up.
“Damn, you can do that?”
“This kid… Wow, that works too?”
Qin Lan was deeply gratified.
The kid had promise.