Chapter 1: Tournament, Begin – translated by Ka (1/2)

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Wearing the Blood Tiara that the team had given me, my heart was overwhelmed with emotion and I hardened my resolve. We will create a legend together, a legend that belongs to us. I closed my eyes and gathered my focus, calming down before I gradually reopened them. With self-confidence and determination etched in my expression, I gave the rest of Odd Squad a smile and took the first step in the journey to creating our legend, the first step onto the stage where we would perform, the first step into…the tournament arena.

Within the arena, the announcer loudly introduced himself. “Hello everyone, I’m your commentator for today, Xiao Li. Let us begin by introducing the two teams who will be fighting in this match! First, coming out from the west entrance is the Perfect Princess Team! The Perfect Princess Team is led by Perfect Princess, a mage of the elf race. Their five other members are a beastman warrior, a human warrior, an elf archer, a human archer and an angel priest.”

I walked over to stand at the very front of our squad. Judging by the thunderous cheers filling the stadium, it seemed that our opponents had already stepped out into the arena. Don’t tell me that the Perfect Princess Team is that famous? Looks like I’m really out of the loop, seeing as I’ve never even heard of them. It doesn’t matter anyway, since Odd Squad will definitely defeat them and become renowned throughout the whole of ‘Second Life’!

Mic in hand, the tournament’s commentator loudly introduced the next team to enter the arena. “Now, coming in from the east entrance is Odd Squad! Odd Squad has an extremely peculiar team composition consisting of an elf warrior, an elf thief, a beastman priest, an angel necromancer, a demon bard and a human mage!”

Murmurs began to run through the crowd immediately. “What a weird team!”, “Extreme Squad?1 What a weird name!”, and other similar comments could clearly be heard.

“If this team isn’t the lousiest team around, then they’ll have to be one of the best…” Perfect Princess Team’s strategist, the angel priest, muttered quietly to himself.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of team they are. You guys will obtain victory for me, right?” the eye-catching beauty, Perfect Princess, asked sweetly as she addressed her team members – though to me, it seemed more like she was cajoling her suitors! The five guys immediately nodded fervently.

Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, I slowly stepped into the tournament arena. As usual, wherever I went I was met with a stunned silence. My looks usually possessed a lot of devastating power, but now, coupled with a tiara that could only greatly increase my attractiveness, that destructive power immediately jumped from 100% to 200%! I ignored the crowd’s stares (Sigh, after being stared at for so long, I’ve already become accustomed to it…) and instead looked directly at our opponents for today: the Perfect Princess Team.

Initially, I’d thought that this team would be made up of six girls. To my surprise, it was made up of only one girl and five guys! In my heart I kept thinking, That girl is acting as though she’s bringing her own Inner Court2 to participate in this tournament and yet her looks aren’t even nearly a match for Lolidragon’s. I’m so envious…! Ah, no…I’m a guy right now; there’s nothing to be envious about!

Setting my envy aside, the other five team members and I each took our places and struck the pose that Lolidragon had spent three days teaching us. I obediently followed her instructions – I was to drop the attitude of an elegant Prince and instead maintain a suave, arrogant, undefeatable image during battle. That way, we could undermine our opponents’ confidence… Although, personally, I felt that guys would only be infuriated by my handsome looks, causing their battle spirits to blaze even more fiercely.

“How can someone be this handsome…?” Perfect Princess stared at my face, mesmerized, while her five team members glared at me, their expressions clearly showing their desire to skin me, rip the flesh off my bones for meat, and then boil my bones to make a stock for soup.

“Prince, Lolidragon, the other team has two archers and two warriors, so prolonging the battle would be nothing but a disadvantage to us. I have a plan though, so listen up…” Wolf-dàgē then proceeded to meticulously explain his plan to us.

After Wolf-dàgē finished giving us our instructions, our squad strode forward, brimming with confidence. There was even a faintly sadistic smile on my face. Lolidragon was the one who taught it to me. (Lolidragon, the nickname “Blood Elf” must have been all because of you…) I looked at the Perfect Princess Team and said coolly, “Shall we begin?”

The huge beastman warrior immediately gave his enormous axe a couple of swings. Unfortunately for him, he was shorter than Wolf-dàgē by a couple of hand spans, plus he lacked the intimidating and powerful aura that Dàgē possessed. The human warrior walked up toward us and replied coldly, “No problem. Let’s begin then!”

The referee standing on one side saw that we were prepared and, with a wave of his flag, the battle commenced.

Normally, battles would begin with both teams’ priests casting buffs and bolstering their teammates’ defense. Only after this was done would the competition truly begin. However, Lolidragon and I went against this norm and, making use of our high agility, we charged forward the moment the judge announced the start of the battle. Before the enemy team’s warriors could even react, I had already darted past them, my targets being the two archers… Next, with a swift movement, I grabbed Meatbun and used my sword to bat it with all of my strength.

“Meatbun, Double Kill.” Meatbun immediately flew towards those two archers, who had yet to figure out what was going on, and began smacking back and forth between them like a ball in a pinball machine.

Given that archers tended to have low HP, this attack was more than enough to keep them both occupied. With my Black Dao in hand, I rushed towards the human archer, whose health was probably higher than the elf archer’s.Reaching him, I called out, “One of the Five Ultimate Techniques, Dragon Whirlwind Strike!”3

I lifted my sword over my head as my legs pushed, propelling my body off the ground. Twisting my body in mid air so that I was flying parallel to the earth, my Black Dao cleanly stabbed into the human archer’s abdomen. The speed of my attack left even the agility-oriented archer unable to dodge in time. Although it wasn’t a fatal attack, the move Dragon Whirlwind Strike could severely injure enemies with just the surrounding air pressure alone, even if it didn’t land a direct hit. The unlucky human archer’s left arm was immediately broken by my twisting attack. The moment my feet touched the ground, I executed a reverse sweep of my blade, sending him flying back to the rebirth point to contemplate his mistakes in his “past” life.

While everyone’s eyes were glued on me, Lolidragon, whose agility was so high that her every action seemed to come out of nowhere, had long since crept up behind the elf archer with a dagger in each hand. Now she pressed one of them against the elf’s neck and gave a savage slash across his throat. It would have been a fatal blow if not for the fact that Lolidragon’s strength was too low and thus was unable to directly kill the elf archer.

Just when it seemed that the opposing priest – who had started to chant a healing spell – would be able to heal the archer, Lolidragon’s lips curled into a cruel smile. Unseen by everyone else, the dagger in her other hand was already placed against the elf’s back, pointing directly at his heart. Now she gave a vicious stab and the priest could only watch helplessly as the archer died.

At this point in time, Perfect Princess Team’s warriors were being kept busy by Doll’s super scary Hell’s Inferno Armored Skeletons. In addition, their agility had been lowered by Gui’s Sheng-ge Entrancement Technique. The skeletons alone were nearly enough to KO them; there was no possibility of them helping the rest of their team!

Perfect Princess, who’d been busy admiring my face initially, finally realized that something was wrong and immediately cast a spell to destroy one of Doll’s skeletons. However, Lolidragon and I had already finished off the two archers by this time, so I charged straight at the warriors, providing support for Doll’s skeletons. Lolidragon, on the other hand, employed an ability that she had created after studying Japan’s ninjutsu: Burrowing. (This technique had not come easy to anyone, because whenever she failed, the entire squad had to organize an excavation, in order to dig Lolidragon out from the earth that she was trapped in.) Using it, she stealthily snuck up behind the mage, Perfect Princess…

“Princess, be careful!” The priest hurriedly shoved Perfect Princess – who was about to have her throat slit by Lolidragon – to one side.

As for Lolidragon, she simply took in the change in situation and immediately changed her target. Two fatally dangerous daggers flashed through the air as she slashed at the priest. His face quickly paled as he tried his best to replenish his health even as he yelled for the warriors to come over and help.

Warriors? I scoffed; the supposedly nimble human could barely land a hit on me, let alone the muscle-for-brains beastman whose goal seemed to be imitating a tortoise’s speed. They mouthed off angrily at the priest, yelling at him for not healing their health. It’d be a shock if they could find the time to go and save their teammates!

In fact, the moment the two archers – who had posed the greatest threat to our plan – died, the opposing team’s fate had been sealed. At this thought, the corners of my mouth rose to form an evil grin, scaring the opposing warriors into thinking that I was about to use that move Dragon Whirlwind Strike again. I smiled coldly and used… ten continuous strikes to finish off the human warrior instead. What a joke; you think Dragon Whirlwind Strike can be used so many times in a row? Using it that often will leave me dizzy, okay?

In this fashion, Lolidragon and Gui kept the priest and the mage at bay while the skeletons and I gave the remaining beastman warrior a free ride back to the rebirth point. Moments later, the priest was dead as well.

The six of us converged upon the mage, Perfect Princess, who had backed away into a corner. Walking at the head of the group, I smiled coldly at her and asked, “Surrender?”

Perfect Princess lifted her head slowly. As she looked at my face, the fear written all over her face melted away and was replaced by a coquettish expression, and she even dared to sweet-talk me. “Surrender, I surrender! Since I lost to you, I’ll be your girlfriend, okay?”

I gazed icily at this girl, whose beauty lost to Lolidragon, who was not as cute as Doll, who was not as elegant as Yu Lian-dàsăo, and felt extremely put off.And she has the audacity to plaster herself all over me like some sort of invertebrate now?! Catching a whiff of her disgustingly over-powering perfume, I thought, I am still a woman—just because I look like a guy doesn’t mean I need to be like one and appreciate feminine beauty, do I?!

I slowly raised my Black Dao and, still smiling faintly, drove it through the body of the woman in front of me. It’s your fault for being prettier than the female “me”! Not to mention stringing along five somewhat handsome guys… Clearly you are trying to trigger my envy! To enrage me into killing you!

I watched with satisfaction as Perfect Princess flew away with a look of resentment and disbelief on her face. I swung my Black Dao lightly a few times, trying to shake off the nauseating blood on it, but suddenly I realized that the entire arena was silent and everyone was staring at me with an odd look in their eyes.

“Lolidragon, is something wrong?” My countenance remained serene, but secretly I was PMing Lolidragon with some trepidation.

“…It’s probably because you were covered in blood and smiling as you stabbed a beautiful woman to death, before nonchalantly flinging away the blood. It’s just too handsome, too cool, and too bloody! That’s why everyone is stunned!” Lolidragon said with a helpless shrug.

I just got slightly carried away with my jealousy, I thought, feeling misunderstood.

“Odd Squad, victory,” the judge, who had finally snapped out of his shocked stupor, announced belatedly.

Emitting a frosty aura, I stood on the bloody arena, a glacial look in my eyes as my sword rose and fell. As I cut down the last enemy, I could hear the crowd beginning to cheer. However, I turned and scrutinized the entire audience with emotionless, icy eyes, until the last person fell silent. It was only when I was satisfied that I smiled an evil, bloodthirsty smile, and then led Odd Squad out of the arena as the judge declared our victory.

Why had I become like this? It wasn’t like I was a willing party to this. I had no idea when it began, but recently, the area outside the stadium would always be packed with my fans after each match. Initially, this was a problem that plagued only me. However, on one occasion, I was walking behind my team members when we were leaving the arena. My fans, who were standing outside the stadium, trampled over my teammates in order to get to me. After that incident, the matter became a squad-wide issue.

After that, Lolidragon came up with the “Blood Elf” strategy. With five votes to one, I was forced into the terrifying role of a remorseless, cold-blooded killer, just to discourage those fans from getting too close. Unfortunately, the strategy was an unexpected success, for while my fans continued to admire me, they no longer dared to even come within ten meters of me… After all, I was the one who had mercilessly cut down the beautiful Perfect Princess, so anyone who had eyes could see that I did not know what the words “feminine” and “charm” meant.

Taking the point guard, I walked at the very front of the squad (no one dares to walk ahead of me anymore…) with an impassive look on my face. My left hand rested on the hilt of my Black Dao out of habit, as though I was ready to kill someone at a moment’s notice. However, what I was actually thinking was, Sigh, I’m so hungry! Why haven’t we reached the restaurant yet?

“Prince!” a delighted voice cried out from not too far away.

Who was it? I furrowed my brows. To think that there is still a girl who dares to call me by my name in this crowd, I thought irritably as I glanced around. The surrounding girls were all silently gloating, thinking, Who is the suicidal person who actually dares to call Prince by his name?

“Prince? What’s wrong?” Upon meeting my frigid gaze, Rose revealed a startled expression, tears nearly leaking from the corners of her eyes.

Rose? Seeing that familiar face, my facial muscles relaxed; it had been a long time since I last saw her.

“It’s been a while, Rose, and everyone in the Rose Team,” I greeted and gave them a brief smile as I looked at Li’l Strong, Legolas, For Healing Only, and Broken Sword, whom I’d only met briefly previously.

“Prince, it’s not good to stay standing here for too long. You can catch up with them over a meal instead!” Lolidragon PMed me, cautioning me about the surrounding fans. Seeing how some of the fans were beginning to move in, Lolidragon thought, if we stay here any longer, the lives of Odd Squad and Rose Team’s members might all be at stake…

“Why don’t we have a meal together? Rose, let’s meet up at the usual restaurant—and make sure you come!” I too was beginning to feel the threat from our surroundings, and so I hurriedly PMed Rose… and fled!

The moment we reached the restaurant and secured a booth on the second floor I dropped my act. As I massaged my face, I apologized to Rose, saying, “I’m really sorry about just now, Rose. About what happened outside – treating you so coldly just now, I didn’t mean it.Actually…”

I proceeded to explain the entire situation to the Rose Team, so as to prevent a misunderstanding from occurring again, the next time we met. After all, I had no intention of losing such good friends.

“Hahaha! To think that being too handsome could cause this much trouble.” Li’l Strong broke into laughter – at my expense – upon hearing the entire story.

“It’s not like I asked for this…” I mumbled under my breath as I scratched my face. Li’l Strong gave me a hearty slap on my back and the lot of them began to laugh.

Apart from Fairsky, whose head had been hanging low all this while, the rest of the party were all chatting happily. Broken Sword and I were particularly lively, since we’d been getting along very well. He told me that he had attended every single one of Odd Squad’s matches and was really interested in the unusual and even bizarre techniques I had executed. Apparently, he too often tried out the moves that he’d come across in wuxia novels. It seems like I’m not the only weird person around here after all! Thus, the two of us found ourselves chatting enthusiastically about my Nine-Headed Dragon Slash and Dragon Whirlwind Strike and his Taichi Strike and Nine Swords of Du Gu.4

“Prince, Lolidragon, about what happened the previous time we met… Well, Fairsky has been feeling really guilty about it…” Rose trailed off and glanced worriedly at Fairsky, who had held her head low and kept silent the entire time.

“Oh, that. I’ve forgotten about that—it was such a long time ago. Don’t fret over it, Fairsky,” I said and turned to look at Lolidragon, “You don’t blame her either, right? Lolidragon?”

“Huh? What happened the previous time?” Lolidragon’s face was covered in confusion. (Your memory really sucks… *sweat*)

“In any case, Lolidragon and I have already put that incident behind us!” I said, but saw Fairsky’s shoulders had suddenly begun trembling. Crap! She’s crying! Waaah, what did I do wrong this time?!

“I’m sorry…” Fairsky darted towards me and started sobbing in my embrace. I patted her on the back comfortingly, thinking, Sigh! Having a sister feels pretty good. A sister would definitely be way cuter than that idiotic brother of mine; nowadays, all he does is brag about Dark Emperor having cleared round X of the tournament. If not for fear of angering my ancestors by killing the only successor of the Feng family, I would have long since used my chopping knife and turned him into a charsiew bun!5

“It’s okay, you’re a good girl, don’t cry…” I said in a gentle voice, trying to console Fairsky.

Fairsky hiccupped, lifted her face, and looked at me with an incomparably pitiable gaze. “May I ask you a question?”

“… Sure!” Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this? Noticing that remaining members of Rose Team were standing on the sidelines as though they were waiting for the show to begin, my sense of foreboding intensified.