Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-Yui, Proofreader-Woojoo
After everyone had played five rounds, they all adjusted their items to A or B grades.
Now, the S-grade Nan Zhou had lost his matching partner.
Seeing the question mark Nan Zhou posted on the World Channel, many people felt a twisted sense of satisfaction in their hearts.
… Completely forgetting that they were here to besiege Nan Zhou.
But before they could enjoy it for long, another matchmaking message appeared on the World Channel.
[“Cube Boat – Nan Zhou” and [“Ping An – Chu Xiaogang” successfully matched.]
[“Ping An – Chu Xiaogang”… What the heck?! Why is it me again?]
[“Ping An – Chu Xiaogang” I even chose B-grade items! I’m so damn frustrated—]
Before he could finish his sentence, he was forcibly pulled into the match.
And unsurprisingly, he was kicked out after ten seconds.
The World Channel instantly descended into chaos.
[“Shit!”]
[“Nan Zhou bet on B-grade items! He ran to the B-grade item group!”]
After receiving this news, everyone took action and followed the same understanding.
——Run fast.
As a result, Nan Zhou quickly fled back to the A-grade item group and successfully matched again.
The group of people who couldn’t come up with a solution were both angry and anxious.
Not only that, due to the influx of too many people, the [Colosseum] was not a place for idle people. Those who couldn’t match with Nan Zhou had to fight and struggle with other teams.
Unfortunately, frontline personnel brought back a direct conversation between Nan Zhou and his infuriating teammates.
When he and Nan Zhou appeared in the center of the circular arena at the same time, the girl named Li Yinhang who was with them was still in the safe zone, persuading from afar, “Slow down a bit, at least give them some hope—”
After noticing her presence, the girl immediately fell silent.
A young man with silver hair and a Russian appearance leaned against the cage.
Compared to Nan Zhou, his features had a more romanticized, paper-cut quality.”
With a calm and gentle demeanor, he said, “No need. Giving them a chance to use props will only cause trouble.”
The person who came stubbornly refused to believe in superstitions.
He had already held an S-grade explosive bomb in his palm.
As soon as the match started, without giving Nan Zhou a chance to move, he targeted Nan Zhou and hurled a precisely positioned explosive bomb.
With this throw, he was determined to succeed.
But with just one glance, Nan Zhou saw the explosive bomb heading straight in his direction.
Before he could even comprehend what had happened, a pair of ghostly hands reached out and grabbed his neck.
With the owner dead, the props were ownerless.
The explosive bomb exploded with a loud bang, several meters away from him.
Thousands of silver wires rained down, intertwining at the heart of the ancient and dignified arena, symbolizing the fusion of technology, iron, blood, and death.
——An S-class prop, its ultimate effect is equivalent to putting a firework on one’s death.
He truly understood what it meant to “not give them the chance to use props.”
These ordinary players relied too much on external objects like props. No matter what, it’s not their own strength.
In the single-player arena, Nan Zhou easily crushes everyone with his attributes and abilities.
Everyone was acutely aware that if things continued like this, they would either have to watch Nan Zhou win or helplessly give him props while watching him win.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Someone in the World Channel complained, [“If you’re so capable, why don’t you play in the team matches?”]
Nan Zhou asked, [“Why?”]
……Xbbv defralbc.
The person asking the question was left speechless by these two words, and could only weakly protest, [“Do you think this is fun?”]
Nan Zhou replied, [“Hmm. Your props are quite interesting.”]
Siilqrfr oliifv atf kbgiv mtjccfi.
Rjc Itbe kjr qijslcu klat j gtsatw, ufaalcu jc C-ugjvf qgbq, atfc gfaegclcu ab atf V-ugbeq obg j ktlif, jcv atfc gecclcu ab atf D-ugjvf qgbq jgfj obg j rqlc.
Aera ilxf rtbqqlcu jcv qegmtjrlcu.
Ktf qijsfgr kfgf vglnfc mgjhs ys tlw.
…Cgf sbe tfgvlcu rtffq tfgf?
But to avoid their losses, everyone turned into a group of scattered little lambs, willingly being herded here and there.
[“He went back to A-grade!”]
“[He’s in B-grade! In B-grade!”]
[“…He’s not worthy of that, did he go back to S-grade?”]
[“No, he went to C-grade!”]
Experienced veteran players were busy calming down other anxious players:
[[Colosseum] has a protection mechanism! For regular single and team matches, once a team has played a total of twenty matches, it cannot be played again within 24 hours!]
Someone angrily exclaimed, [Give him twenty matches as punishment?]
But it seemed like there was no better solution at the moment.
Everyone was strongly urging those with powerful long-range items to quickly kill Nan Zhou and show their might.
Unfortunately, the voices were loud, but the raindrops were small.
Everyone had their ulterior motives.
Some players were considering killing Nan Zhou in single-player matches, hoping to earn rewards from the system. However, if they attempted it, Nan Zhou wouldn’t actually die, and there might be severe repercussions if he decided to retaliate.
Some people thought that powerful items were too rare and should be saved for survival in dungeons.
Everyone’s hearts were not in sync.
Not to mention there were traitors among the people.
In the fifteenth game, Nan Zhou met a young man in his early twenties wearing headphones in the 500 points + B-level props stage.
As soon as he saw Nan Zhou, his eyes lit up and he became inexplicably excited.
Nan Zhou greeted him, “Hello.”
The young man with the headphones enthusiastically replied, “Hello, hello, hello!”
“I’m your fan. I grew up reading your books, even though you didn’t write them. But I just really like you!” The young man eagerly said, “I’m so lucky to be matched with you. Can you give me an autograph?”
Nan Zhou, “…ah?”
Nan Zhou, “Ah.”
He walked up to the young man, who immediately fumbled to take out a pen and turned his back, confidently exposing his back.
Nan Zhou uncapped the pen and found that it was just a regular pen, with no traps.
He inspected the pen by spinning it around.
… It was just a pen.
The young man exposed all of his vulnerabilities, appearing completely defenseless. He had his hands on his knees, his back turned toward him, exuding a youthful and joyful aura.
The feeling of being wholeheartedly trusted by a stranger was quite magical.
He took a step closer and said, “Just signing my name?”
After receiving a definite response, Nan Zhou signed his name meticulously with utmost seriousness.
The young man, having achieved his wish, turned around and enthusiastically gestured, “Can I…”
Seeing him making a hugging motion, Nan Zhou took a step back and said, “Wait a moment.”
As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Jiang Fang.
Jiang Fang, upon meeting his gaze, was momentarily surprised, but then a warm and sweet feeling slowly dawned on him.
…He sought my consent?
In Nan Zhou’s understanding, hugging wasn’t something overly intimate.
But when he started seriously considering someone as a friend, certain special things couldn’t be done with just anyone.
Seeing Jiang Fan subtly nodding while supporting the cage, Nan Zhou finally shifted his gaze toward the young man and silently agreed to the hug.
The young man, filled with joy from hugging his idol, enthusiastically patted Nan Zhou’s shoulder and said, “I’m quitting now! Nan Zhou, goodbye! I believe in you. If you can win, if we can all get out, and if your wish is freedom—then I’ll treat you to a meal!”
After saying that, the young man voluntarily withdrew from the competition, giving up a B-grade item and 500 points.
Nan Zhou stood in the center of the field, momentarily stunned.
He touched his chest.
It seemed that it was because of certain people’s existence that he didn’t completely despise humans.
In the 18th round, with an A-grade item and 500 points, Nan Zhou once again encountered a familiar opponent.
… After not seeing each other for many days, Chen Sufeng’s demeanor quickly became steady and settled.
He had a scar on his brow bone, a band-aid on the corner of his left eye, with a tan and a noticeably stronger physique.
After hearing from Yi Shuige about Chen Sufeng’s open defense of him in the world channel, Nan Zhou didn’t hesitate and greeted him openly, saying, “You’re here?”
Chen Sufeng smiled, revealing a set of beautiful teeth, and said, “Making money to support my family.”
…Even his way of speaking was starting to resemble that of Lawyer Yu.
“I didn’t come after you guys.” Before Nan Zhou could ask, he explained, “I’ve been playing matchmaking matches in the [Colosseum] before you guys arrived. Just now, a bunch of people rushed in, and I played several matches in a row. The intensity was a bit high, and I was thinking about whether to quit when I got assigned here.”
Nan Zhou looked towards the iron cage safety zone behind him.
He asked, “Is Mr. Yu not here?”
“Yeah. He’s resting outside.” Chen Sufeng smiled, “It’s too noisy here, not suitable for him.”
There was a tenderness in his tone that he couldn’t perceive.
After twisting so many heads in a row, Nan Zhou was getting a little tired.
He simply sat down on the spot.
Chen Sufeng also sat down, propping himself up on one knee, and took out two bottles of orange juice from the prop slot, generously handing one to Nan Zhou.
Just as he took a sip of orange juice and was thinking about what to say, Nan Zhou curiously asked, “Do you really like Mr. Yu?”
Chen Sufeng choked on the orange juice.
Wiping off the juice from his lips, Chen Sufeng stared at the remaining orange-flavored juice residue on his hand, saying, “I used to dislike him at first, do you believe that?”
Nan Zhou tilted his head slightly.
“Just found out that my brother is gay when I was in high school. I got really upset when I first heard it.”
“I don’t like gays. I was harassed by a gay guy on the school basketball team before, and it cast a negative impression on me.”
“But let me tell you about my brother. He is not a romantic guy. He likes racing in his spare time and his main job is geological research. Their research institute is full of old academics and is very conservative. If his secret got out, it could jeopardize his future.”
“I thought he was dating some social butterfly somewhere, the kind of young coquettish 0 scratching one's head and posing. My brother said he wanted to bring him back, so I made preparations in advance and tried my best to embarrass him.”
At this point, Chen Sufeng paused, as if mocking his misjudgment, “When I saw Brother Yu, I became dumbfounded.”
“I thought to myself, ‘How am I supposed to handle this?’ It was clear that my brother was serious about building a life with him.”
Nan Zhou, “But you still don’t like him.”
“How could I possibly like him? I was just being difficult with him. He has such a good temper that no matter how I tease him or act strange, he never gets angry. Not only does he not get angry, but he also casually retorts back at me. Every time, it makes me explode with anger, while he just calmly sits there, looking at me through those gold-rimmed glasses. It’s infuriating.”
With just a few words, Nan Zhou vividly imagined a scene where Yu Tuisi effortlessly infuriated 16 or 17-year-old Chen Sufeng, making him jump with anger.
“But I didn’t understand anything better,” Chen Sufeng said, his voice becoming low.
“…If it weren’t for my brother trying to improve our relationship, he wouldn’t have planned that trip.”
Nan Zhou seemed to have a realization. “…Yu Tuisi’s leg?”
Chen Sufeng answered with some difficulty, “Yes.”
The driver who drove tiredly during that trip took Chen Suye’s life and Yu Tuisi’s leg.
However, almost as if it were destined, Chen Sufeng in the back seat only suffered from mild concussion and soft tissue injuries, making it fair to say that he escaped serious harm.
“Yu Ge and I don’t have any relatives, so I took responsibility for taking care of him. But in reality, neither of us can be considered family.”
Chen Sufeng looked up and let out a bitter smile.
“We are such a strange-life community, aren’t we?”
“After the incident, Brother Yu rarely spoke.”
“So, I’m quite grateful for this damn game. With ‘Universal Gravity,’ Brother Yu has become more lively.”
These words, Chen Sufeng suppressed for too long, with nowhere to say them, no one to say them to.
He didn’t expect that on this special occasion, in front of this special listener, he would be able to spit out the secret that was weighing on his heart.
Chen Sufeng grinned and laughed brightly, “I know, Brother Yu’s wish is for my brother.”
“I have always kept my wish, and I planned to use it for Brother Yu’s legs.”
“But I know, even if I die in the [Colosseum], fighting to the death, our chances of winning the championship are very slim. No matter how smart Brother Yu is, his physical condition is also a factor here, we can’t always be running dungeons.”
“So, I have a request.”
As he spoke, he looked towards Nan Zhou, “This time, I concede and withdraw. If in the future, you can achieve first place in the team rankings, can you let me and brother Yu join your team?”
He looked towards the other two in the safe zone and said, “You still have two seats, right?”
Nan Zhou’s intuition was not wrong.
Sure enough, Chen Sufeng’s cautious and meticulous demeanor now resembled Yu Tuisi.
He voluntarily confessed to himself that by spending another A-grade item + 500 points, he wanted to reserve the remaining two seats in Nan Zhou’s team and give himself extra insurance.
Nan Zhou thought for a moment and said, “I need to discuss this with my teammates.”
Chen Sufeng was not in a hurry either.
He stood up neatly, brushed off the dust behind him, and nodded solemnly, “Regardless, I want to thank you in advance.”
After saying that, he bowed deeply and his figure faded away in the arena.
Before leaving, he kindly reminded them, “You need to be careful about one thing.”
“You’ve been playing PvE all this time, and you might not have seen some of the high-level curse-type items that some people possess. They probably won’t use them now, but it’s hard to say whether they’ll use them in future team matches or even in the 99-player matches.”
Chen Sufeng still lost.
However, in the eyes of outsiders, Chen Sufeng was a strong man who stood up to Nan Zhou for five minutes and could be called a hero.
As soon as he came out, the World Channel erupted in chatter.
[“Damn, that was impressive, bro. You held on for so long?”]
[“Tell us, how did you deal with him?”]
But soon, a player sarcastically remarked, [“He’s been on a team with Nan Zhou and even defended him. They’re old acquaintances, why not show some respect and catch up?”]
Chen Sufeng chuckled lightly and, after saying [“Jealous?”] he confidently turned around and left, exiting the [Colosseum].
The World Channel was filled with curses and insults.
But after giving away the remaining two cabbages, they could finally participate in team matches!
Finally, they wouldn’t feel so frustrated anymore!
—————————————
The author has something to say:
Nan Zhou: Change the game, change the game
Thank you for the chapter~