Chapter 100
Chapter 100
Only after Zone B and Zone C had finished their introductions did Rong Xi finally let out a breath of relief.
When they shook hands, he glanced at Ning Wang, then asked Ning Shuo in confusion, “Brother Ning, is this your long-lost little brother?”
His tone carried the easy familiarity of an old friend, as though their nearly two-year separation had only happened yesterday.
The two faces were identical, yet he could tell them apart at a glance.
The last time Ning Shuo had seen Rong Xi, he still hadn’t grown his hair out.
Ning Shuo smiled. “This is this King’s No. 1 Knight. You can call him your sister-in-law.”
“I remember your standards for a partner being pretty high.”
“People with higher standards in partners are usually more satisfied with themselves.”
After looking back and forth between the two of them, Rong Xi smiled. “Fair enough.”
As they let go, Ning Shuo sighed. “Little Rong, you’ve changed.”
Rong Xi said gravely, “I’ve become steadier than before, right? Even Uncle Fei praised me and said I’m finally handsome in a way that looks human.”
“Yeah. Back then you had such a doglike look, and your eyes were full of pure, clear stupidity.”
“…” Rong Xi said, “Brother Ning, you don’t have to roast me the second you see me.”
Ning Shuo waved a hand. “Just giving you a familiar feeling. Otherwise you might think this King has changed.”
Seeing that a fresh round of sniping was about to begin, Ning Wang tugged at Ning Shuo’s hand and said to Rong Xi, “Hello, little brother. I’m your sister-in-law.”
Rong Xi: “…”
Before he could say anything, Fei Jinnian pulled him back too. “This isn’t the time to catch up. As long as Zone F can make it to the end, there’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
“One last thing.” Rong Xi lifted his chin at Ning Wang. “You over there. We’ll see who’s the little brother once we’re in the arena.”
Ning Wang was surprised. “You already call him Brother Ning, so of course you’re the little brother.”
“…I’m talking about you!”
Ning Wang immediately grew bashful. “What’s his is mine, you know. Little brother, come on, call me sister-in-law.”
Rong Xi was just about to fire back when Fei Jinnian promptly dragged him away. Ning Wang was still sighing on the side, wondering how this kid’s combat power could be so weak, while Ning Shuo sighed as well. “That brat really has changed.”
Ning Wang asked, “Got more arrogant?”
“How did you know?”
“The way he treats you comes with this natural sense of looking up to you. You don’t develop that without getting hammered a few hundred times. After you’ve hammered him that many times, and he’s still trying to usurp the throne from someone with the exact same face as you, his arrogance is visible to the naked eye.”
Thinking back to when they hadn’t known each other well yet, and Rong Xi had stood off to the side watching him learn things at lightning speed with eyes practically going bling-bling, Ning Shuo laughed. “Yeah. Back then, a couple of words were enough to make him run off crying. Unlike now, where he can still stand there and switch targets to keep sniping.”
The arena matches would first narrow six teams down to three. The teams with more veteran players would draw lots to choose their opponents.
Rao Lin, Zhuang Yao, and Qin Genan very mystically attributed their poor ranking last season to bad luck-drawing a strong opponent. Ning Shuo and Ning Wang could also be catastrophically unlucky at times, so the heavy responsibility fell to Song Zhu and Luo Li.
As for Luo Li, it was said that every time she argued with Rao Lin, the group would roll dice to see whether the next dungeon run would be in Luo Li’s room or Rao Lin’s, because neither of them was willing to enter the other’s.
And every time the dice were rolled, the one even less willing was always Luo Li.
So the heavy responsibility of drawing lots fell to Song Zhu.
Z drew at random-and pulled Zone B.
A strange silence fell over the team. Rao Lin comforted him, saying, “At least it wasn’t Zone A.”
Song Zhu had a strong mentality. “If we can’t beat Zone B, we might as well pack up our bedrolls and leave.” After all, their goal was first place. Only first place would let them meet the Main God.
The other two Kings were the same. No matter where they lost, they couldn’t lose in momentum.
Ning Shuo said, “Zone B? Perfect warm-up.”
Ning Wang: “Only Zone B?”
Luo Li raised a hand, expressionless. “I suggest the two of them do a 2v7. I hereby apply to watch from the Notary Office.”
Qin Genan chuckled. “Well now, that’s the spirit. In an arena, if you don’t lose your nerve, you might not lose the match.”
Zhuang Yao said, “The current Script-breaking rate is roughly sixty-eight percent. Against Zone B, we can fight.”
Seeing that no one looked afraid, Rao Lin’s fingers curled slightly.
He held out his fist. “Safety first. The match comes second.”
Ning Shuo’s lips curved. “No one’s going to get hurt.”
The people who had been about to bump fists immediately rushed to cover his mouth. Ning Wang said, “…Bro, don’t scare them.”
Ning, God of Poisonous Milk, Shuo said, “I’ll tell you what good thing I found after we enter the Script.”
…
[Welcome, Player Ning Banxian, to the Script Quick, Escape from Senior 3 Class 1.]
[Script Background: A High School, where you study, is the top high school in the city. The class you are in is A High School’s elite class. There is a strange rumor about this class: its key-university admission rate is always one hundred percent.]
[The college entrance exam is approaching. Students, please study hard and prepare seriously.]
Completing the college entrance exam should be the main mission.
Everyone’s main mission seemed to be the same. On the surface, there didn’t seem to be any way to obstruct one another.
But the name of this Script was Quick, Escape from Senior 3 Class 1. In other words, perhaps all the Players were students in the elite class.
As for that one-hundred-percent key-university admission rate…
[You are the study commissary of Senior 3 Class 1. You are usually stern and unsmiling, a ruthless problem-solving machine, and have ranked near the top of the class for years.]
[Unsmiling. Problem-solving machine. Oh, my sweet granny, every single word is deeply hostile to the King.]
[The King won’t be able to improvise freely in this Script.]
[Banxian is almost twenty-five, right? Does he still remember high school material?]
[Your hidden identity: Innocent.]
[Additional Rule: Highly lethal weapons are not allowed in the Backpack, especially swords.]
[Note: This Script is an Arena Match Script. The Clown’s protection during the preparation period will no longer continue. We wish all Players a pleasant game.]
In other words, whether an Accusation succeeded or failed, someone had to die.
Before the visuals arrived, the morning wake-up bell did. Ning Shuo hadn’t even opened his eyes when the blaring bell made his head buzz.
Ning Shuo kept both hands at his sides, hooked the tops of his feet around the bed rail, and sat up with his back ramrod straight. His movements were so mechanical he looked more like an NPC than an NPC.
So when he met the eyes of the other Player in the bed opposite him, Ning Shuo clearly saw the astonishment in the man’s gaze.
A Player from Zone B. His name was Chen Qu’an, codename Chen Feng.
This was a six-person high school dorm, but only five people lived in it. The other three had already climbed out of bed with impressive efficiency. Even though Ning Shuo had never attended high school, he still noticed something suspicious: sleeping in was human nature. Even waking yourself up took time. The bell had only just rung, yet these people had already gotten out of bed with swift, practiced movements.
In the time it took Ning Shuo and Chen Qu’an to exchange a look, they had already changed clothes.
Seeing this, the two of them didn’t waste any more time either, washing up and getting themselves ready as quickly as possible.
After Ning Shuo finished tidying up, he still had some time left, so he rummaged through his own locker. Sure enough, he found a thick stack of test papers and notebooks.
He flipped through them and unexpectedly uncovered several pieces of bread.
Judging from where the bread had been placed, there was no way it was meant as a late-night snack.
Ning Shuo took two. Sure enough, once one of the NPCs finished getting ready, he saw the bread in Ning Shuo’s hand and asked, “Study commissary, you’re skipping the cafeteria for breakfast again?”