57 Pay to win? (1/2)

As Wine Robber's HP fell to 1, a bright layer immediately appeared and covered his body, protecting him from further damage. It was just like the death preventive measure of the Tower of Heroes; a protective barrier was there to stop the defeated player from dying. The Ranked Battle was after all just a competition, there was no reason for players to lose levels there but this functionality could be disabled in the Custom Battles if players really wanted to fight to death.

As the barrier appeared, a banner suddenly materialized above Li Wei's head and a loud ”Victory” was heard.

Wine Robber was standing there completely shocked. He was defeated so easily; his opponent did not even give him a chance to retaliate, even though he knew that warriors had an advantage over rogues in this situation, he should have at least been able to bring him down to half health. Yet, his opponent was carelessly standing under the victory banner with more than 75% Health.

”That was a good fight!” said his opponent as he quickly vanished from the Water Temple. Only then did Wine Robber get himself together but he did not have time to answer as his opponent already left. All he could do now was to send a friend request.

...

Upon exiting the Water Temple, Li Wei reappeared in his lobby. ”Well, that wasn't too bad! If all fights are like this, a twenty win streak will be easy” said Li Wei to himself.

A few seconds later, Li Wei pressed the screen in front of him and asked for another challenge. The roulette once again spun and shortly after, it revealed a player's name: Tall and Handsome.

”Huh! What kind of name is that?”

He quickly looked at the profile on the side, Tall and Handsome was a level 12 mage who had already won a match earlier. As such, a ten-minute long video was available for Li Wei to learn about his opponent.

Li Wei sat down on the bench as he took out a health potion to fill his HP bar. At the same time, he pressed the ”Play” button of the video.

As the screen started to play, Li Wei suddenly froze as he saw his future opponent. The man displayed on the screen was completely different from his name. Instead of being tall and handsome, the man was actually quite short and obese; the thick mage robe made him look like a round ball.

Tall and Handsome looked fairly young, his skin was white and smooth, a clear sign that he lived a comfortable life until now.

Li Wei quietly watched the video; he saw Tall and Handsome openly walk to the center of the map and seconds later, he shouted something. Unfortunately, the video footage Li Wei had access to right now did not have any audio. That was the one downside of the videos in the lobby; all these videos were actually available if one searched the player's profile outside the lobby but once inside, limited footage was available; it was already a huge advantage to be able to watch these videos in the lobby, some limitations had to be implemented.

Tall and Handsome continued to shout at the empty arena in front of him. Li Wei was curious, what could that guy be shouting? Was he not afraid that his opponent would use this to find his location?

However, what happened next surprised Li Wei. Tall and Handsome's opponent, a female ranger came out from her hiding spot and charged at Tall and Handsome. But no matter how he looked at the scene, there was absolutely no reason for the ranger to do this.

Following that, since the ranger was now in sight and running in an open area, Tall and Handsome immediately unleashed all his spells at the ranger. More importantly, the ranger did not even seem to try to dodge, she simply ran in a straight line with her two daggers drawn but her facial expression was not that of someone angry.

Just like that, the ranger was eliminated after the whole series of spells of Tall and Handsome.

”Mmmm, what did that guy say for the ranger to act in such a way?” said Li Wei to himself. In the end, the footage was not very helpful and so, he immediately declared that he was ready for the fight.

At the same time, his opponent responded and both were teleported to the arena.

”That guy accepted so quickly?” thought Li Wei as he opened his eyes. This time, he found himself in a dark and gloomy environment, he immediately recognized this map, it was the Lost Ruins.

...

[Begin]

As soon as the countdown ended, Li Wei immediately rushed out towards the center of the Lost Ruins. Based on what he saw, he thought that there was a high chance for Tall and Handsome to adopt the same strategy and so, decided to go near the center.

He was extremely curious, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not find anything that could make the ranger act this way. Li Wei walked through the Lost Ruins and finally settled behind a shattered wall. It was a perfect hiding spot in the shadows from where he could watch the open area of the center of the map.

The Lost Ruins was a map that was especially beneficial for rogues. There was a lot of hiding spots and people could easily ambush other players. Furthermore, the map always had a night setting, reducing the visibility of the players.

Li Wei silently waited and finally, he saw the large silhouette of Tall and Handsome appear. The latter looked tired, he was clearly not someone used to heavy exercises but just now, he had to bring his heavy body all the way here.

He panted for a few seconds before shouting:” I know you can hear me! I am here to propose a deal! Will you hear me?”

”A deal? Is that a trap? ” thought Li Wei as he observed the fatty for any sign of danger.

The latter was still catching his breath and did not seem to be anxious. ”You have probably watched my last fight's video so you know what happened! My deal is very simple, I shall pay you 5 gold but in exchange, you shall let me kill you, what do you think?” shouted Tall and Handsome at the open area.

”Pay me to surrender? Is that why the ranger did that?” thought Li Wei. Although 5 gold was a decent amount of money, right now, he was not lacking in gold. What he really needed was the 20 win streak. Besides, there was no way Li Wei was going to accept this obvious bribe, he was not a saint, but being someone who lived an honest life, one thing he hated was corruption.

”Mr. Seven, you should listen to me before you make your decision. I am Zhou Weiqing! The direct heir of Zhou Corporation! I am sure that you've heard about this company, my father is its sole owner!” shouted Tall and Handsome.

”Zhou Corporation?” thought Li Wei. He naturally knew about that company, it was one of the leading companies in the food industry and had a good reputation.