Chapter 7: A Battle Without Regrets – translated by K00st3r and Erialis (1/2)

Online

Despite having completed our final training session the previous night, I continued to be plagued by a feeling of guilt – a feeling that I still wasn’t strong enough. Thus, I decided to apply for medical leave and stay home to train in secret.

To be honest, although we’d fought so many rounds in the tournament, I’d never given a thought to the possibility of us losing a particular match. However, I hadn’t expected that we would come this far in the tournament, either.

Am I really that strong? I couldn’t help but feel a little worried. All I could think of was fighting more mobs and gaining more levels. Will I be able to survive in the midst of six hundred people with my current level of sixty-two? I have no idea! However, the thought “I will lose” still did not cross my mind.

With a horizontal slash, I defeated the last monster and brushed my sweat-soaked hair back from my forehead. It was only then that I noticed that someone had approached.

“Gui?”

“Yeah.” Gui approached me, and there was a melancholic air about him.

“You’re able to come online this early today?” I asked. In my head I wondered, did the professor skip classes too?

“Yeah. I usually have more time on Fridays. On the other hand, this seems to be the first time you’re online on a Friday morning,” said Gui, a faint smile on his lips.

Huh… Well, that’s because I have other classes to attend! I retorted acerbically in my head. “Yeah, that’s right, haha.”

Gui continued to smile, but he could not conceal the forlorn look in the depths of his eyes.

That forlorn look shouldn’t be appearing on Gui’s face. This isn’t the Gui I know; I don’t want to see him like this!

“I don’t like to see you like this, Gui. I much prefer you the way you were before, always cheekily calling me ‘Noble Lord Prince’.” As I finished speaking, I raised my dao and stalked towards a freshly-spawned batch of mobs.

“Really? But I…” Gui’s eyebrows creased together as he exclaimed in a emotional voice, “I need your answer. Only then can Icarry on!”

“Huh? Don’t I always answer you by beating you up?” I replied. I was immersed in the thrill of swinging my blade to kill monsters – sprinting, leaping, and dodging.

“What sort of answer is that…”

Gui watched me intently, clearly mesmerized. His eyes followed my ceaselessly moving form, noting the light dancing off my blade, and that exhilarated and slightly bloodthirsty smile of mine.

“You really do like fighting very much, Prince,” Gui observed.

I laughed heartily as I continued to fight. “Yep, I like it more than anything else. Swinging my dao, kicking, dodging… Don’t you find it exhilarating?”

“I find it far more exhilarating to see your smile,” Gui murmured. Then he said, “Do you really like me the way I was before?”

“Yeah!” I ducked to evade an attack, but just as I raised my head, a translucent arrow whizzed by my ear. Turning my head to look at the arrow, I saw it protruding from the forehead of a random mob that was about to land a sneak attack on me. I gave a low whistle and offered Gui a thumbs up.

Gui brushed back his hair with one hand and deliberately struck a graceful pose. “In order to rescue Noble Lord Prince, Gui is a one-hundred-percent-accurate shot!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gui was sent sprawling by the Meatbun that I’d lobbed at him. With a smug smile, I retorted, “I told you, don’t call me ‘Lord Prince’! Also, in order to beat you up, I am also a one-hundred-percent-accurate shot!”

Just then, Lolidragon’s voice came over the team channel. “Wah! Who’s online? You’re even earlier than me.”

“It’s me and Lord Prince,” Gui replied.

I, on the other hand, remarked doubtfully, “Is anyone on this earth not more diligent than you?”

“Whoa! Prince-gēge is also online?” Doll’s startled voice came over the channel as well.

“Looks like everyone’s arrived,” Yu Lian-dàsăo added, sounding amused. “Right now, I’m breakfasting with a wolf that skipped work!”

“Yu Lian…” Wolf-dàgē’s voice carried a hint of embarrassment as it came over the channel.

A playful notion struck me, and I exclaimed, “Quick, quick! Everyone assemble at the breakfast shop, so that we can be a five-hundred watt light bulb!”1 With that, I set off at lightning speed for the city, dragging Gui along behind me.

“Prince,” said Wolf-dàgē to me helplessly, “I know you’re here to be a light bulb, but do you have to stare so at me and Yu Lian?”

In a stern voice, I replied, “Wolf-dàgē, I’m afraid that I will fail to fulfill my duties as a light bulb if I don’t.”

“…”

“Prince, do you have the confidence that we will win?” Yu Lian-dàsăo asked in her gentle voice.

“None whatsoever,” I replied honestly, but seeing how the members of Odd Squad immediately became a little nervous, I added, “But I have no intention of losing, either.”

“No confidence that we will win, but no intention of losing, either? As expected, that’s something you would say,” Lolidragon said, and then broke out laughing.

I stretched out my right hand and gave everyone a confident smile. They smiled back at me and then stacked their hands on top of mine.

“Odd Squad, win!” I bellowed.

“Odd Squad, WIN!” the members of Odd Squad roared in unison.

“Let’s go, everybody! The final round’s about to start,” I said. As always, I walked towards the tunnel leading to the arena. As always, I felt no fear. As always, I did not think about whether I would lose. As always, my beloved teammates followed silently behind me.

In the instant I stepped into the arena, I hesitated, and then took off my mask and tossed it onto the floor. Turning around to look at my teammates, I saw that they were stunned for a moment. However, upon seeing the unshakeable resolve in my gaze, they smiled before also removing their masks and tossing them to one side.

“It doesn’t matter what the results are, so long as our prowess in battle and our unyielding attitude are engraved into the minds of all those present,” I said, my tone somber as one making a vow.

The teams had gathered at the center of the colosseum-styled arena, standing in loose groups here and there.

“Everyone, a hundred of Second Life’s most outstanding teams will soon be participating in an intense battle for survival. Don’t look away, or you’ll miss seeing this exciting scene. Don’t close your mouths – cheer your hearts out for your favorite team! I am Xiao Li, the commentator who will be reporting this entire life-and-death battle for you all today,” Xiao Li roared, and he went so far as to hop around in a crazed manner as he clutched the microphone.

The atmosphere in the stadium was wild. Banners with the names of various teams hung all around the audience, while the spectators themselves hollered the names of the teams they were supporting.

I stared wide-eyed, noting that the sight of six hundred people was really something out of the ordinary. Worse still, these six hundred people very clearly formed three large camps.

Courageously, confidently, and proudly, I…snuck to a random corner to wait. Don’t kid me! The strength of one’s fighting spirit or the amount of one’s courage doesn’t matter; if you smash an egg against a rock, the result will never change!

I looked at the frontlines of the three camps. There, at the forefront of the three camps, stood their leaders: a tigerman warrior, a human warrior, and a holyman warrior. Each one of them had the presence of a king.

“Hmph. Standing at such an obvious spot, the king should take care not to become the deceased.”2 Who? Who was it who said that this is a case of sour grapes?

At that moment, the members of Dark Emperor filed over to stand next to us.

“What do you think our chances of victory are?” Wicked asked me calmly.

“Hmph, it’s as big as can be, about as big as my chest!” (An A-cup…it hurts to admit!)

I even wounded my own ego when making the analogy. Looks like that abusive streak in me is growing with each passing day, and I’m not even sparing myself.

Ming Huang looked at my chest with derision and said, “That’s one lousy analogy. You’re so flat that you don’t even have any chest muscles to speak of.”

You damn kid; I’m still an A-cup at the very least, okay?

“Be careful, this battle will be very dangerous,” Wicked said. His brow was creased with worry as he looked at me.

“Don’t worry about me; you should watch over Feng Wu Qing carefully instead!” Sigh! I’d originally intended not to think anymore about that heartrending issue, but now that I’ve said it, I guess it’s all right. I hope that Wicked will take good care of my brother.

I turned my head back and glanced worriedly at Wu Qing, but he and Wicked both pretended to look at me uncomprehendingly.

Perhaps they don’t want to let others know? After all, this kind of thing isn’t that common, and not everyone is as open-minded as I am and able to accept this kind of BL relationship.

Good luck, brother! Sister will always be supporting you silently, I thought as I looked at my little brother with tears in my eyes. I threw a sympathetic look Gui’s way as well. It can’t be helped, who asked my brother to fall in love with Wicked! Poor Gui.

Without waiting for the three of them to respond, I beckoned to Yu Lian-dàsăo. “Dàsăo, you should come over here! It looks like the battle’s about to start. As soon as it begins, we’ll have to pay attention to the situation and look for a new spot where we can avoid trouble accordingly.” Yu Lian-dàsăo nodded in acknowledgment.

“Prince, both you and Yu Lian must be careful. Remember, you are both very important, so both of you must survive to the last.” Wolf-dàgē looked at me, and after I gave him the “OK” sign, he turned towards Lolidragon and Doll. “Lolidragon, you must make sure that your enemies are not nearby. If possible, avoid having to sacrifice yourself. Also, Doll will be depending on you, although somehow it seems to me that you’re the one depending on Doll…”

Lolidragon smiled, embarrassed.

“Wolf-dàgē, Gui will be in your care,” said Gui. He looked at Wolf-dàgē, a fragile, gentle, and submissive expression on his face…before one of Yu Lian-dàsăo’s shadow smiles scared him into a corner to repent his actions.

“Battle, begin.” The referee once again shouted those familiar words.

Although the battle had begun, everyone stood stock-still and remained quiet. The audience ceased their cheering as well. The atmosphere was such that no one dared to exhale, and a silence had fallen over the entire battleground – the type of silence that came before a storm.

I, too, moved nothing except for my eyes. My gaze darted from the left where the mighty tigerman stood – not bad, his muscles are so oversized that they look kind of disgusting – to the right, where the super cool-looking human warrior was – very good, that cold expression really pisses me off – and lastly to the holyman warrior in the middle. I admired the holyman’s girly beauty for a moment. This guy probably is a gay…right? I speculated.

In the end, it seemed like the beastman warrior couldn’t stand the silence anymore. He stretched both his hands out and made a rude gesture at the human and holyman. The human warrior fixed him with a cold look in reply, while the holyman merely gave an unconcerned smile. The beastman warrior roared, pointing a finger at the human warrior.

“AT THEM!” He roared, shattering the silence in the entire arena. The members of the tigerman’s alliance began to charge.

In contrast, “Kill!” was all that the human warrior said before charging towards the oncoming enemies.

The holyman warrior, however, maintained his relaxed pose. He stretched out a hand to stop the members of his alliance behind him from moving forward to join in the fray. “The clam and the crane quarrel; the fisherman prevails,” he said simply.3

I’ve got to hand it to this guy; he really is a sneaky bastard.

I made my mind up then. After pulling Yu Lian-dàsăo to where I was, I took advantage of the chaos to stealthily slip through the battle zone from behind. While everyone’s attention was on the battle between the humans and beastmen, I snuck up and hid behind the holymen’s alliance. This place should be a safe spot for the time being, I thought.

There was a tap on my shoulder, and I turned my head to look. One, two, three… Ten people. Excellent, the members of Odd Squad and Dark Emperor have all come over to avoid the conflict. Once again, I looked forward at the scene of the grand melee.

It really is a chaotic battle!4 The situation before us could only be described as one completely lacking in technique. Often, individuals couldn’t tell who they were attacking, nor did they know who attacked them. Still, the players couldn’t be blamed for the lack of technique in their fighting. After all, since they were being squeezed together like the meatballs I make, it was already a miracle that they could find the space to swing their weapons around. Technique? Forget it.

Before long, there were already dozens of beams of white light shooting into the sky.

Suddenly, the human warrior discovered that something was wrong. He began to bellow desperately, and it seemed that he was directing members of his alliance to come over and do battle with the members of the holymen’s alliance. I understood what he was shouting about when I saw the battle grew closer and closer to where the holymen were. At the same time, the human warrior led a group of particularly outstanding fighters to charge directly at the holyman warrior leading the alliance. They began to fight!

Finally, now even this side of the arena is no longer safe. I looked over my shoulder at everyone, and said in a low voice, “Each group, take care! Don’t go head-to-head with them; no one is allowed to fly away, you understand me?”

“Understood.” All of them met my gaze steadily.

“Scatter,” I then commanded.

Holding Yu Lian-dàsăo’s hands tightly, I spotted an area behind the main fray which nobody paid much notice to, and we began to make our way over. Although we attracted unwanted attention a number of times along the way, I never retaliated. Instead, I relied on my agility to dodge like mad, or used my dao to block attacks before continuing to run for my life. Luckily for us, the situation on the battlefield was truly chaotic, and I only needed to flee. There wasn’t really anyone who was free to pursue me and Yu Lian-dàsăo, although occasionally there would be someone shouting stuff like “coward” or “lackey” after us. Hmph! This is called “preserve a green mountain and one will not have to fear for lack of firewood to burn”, understand?5

What I don’t get is why all these people are eagerly rushing into the midst of the human meatball as though they are contented just to be able to hack at others a few times? Look, of the three alliance leaders, is any one of them in that crowd?

Ah, can’t talk now, there are blades and swords every which way and fists and legs flying everywhere; I’d best focus on dodging them.

“Members of the audience, look at this chaotic battlefield where all of the participants are busy fighting. According to the latest data, already a hundred and thirty-one…a hundred thirty-five participants have been eliminated, and eleven teams have been completely wiped. Right now, the ones who are garnering the most attention are the three alliance leaders, not one of whom has been eliminated so far. Will one of the teams that they belong to emerge victorious? Or will it be a case of mutual destruction?

“Whoa, whoa, the beastman’s giant axe has once again met with the cold steel of the human warrior’s sword. Which one of them will be defeated in this fight?” Xiao Li was so agitated that he was practically showering saliva everywhere, but thanks to his report I was able to stay on top of the current situation.

Over a hundred people have been eliminated already? No wonder it looks like the sky has been lit with fireworks. If we weren’t so busy fleeing for our lives, I would definitely stop to admire the view, I thought.

“Yu Lian-dàsăo, can you still carry on?” I asked worriedly, as she had been dragged along by me as we dashed frantically through the fighting the whole time.

“I’m fine, and it seems like everyone else is fine as well,” said Yu Lian-dàsăo. However, she then added, “What I meant was, all the members of Odd Squad are fine – but it seems like Wicked and Ming Huang are in trouble!”

“What?” My brows furrowed together. “Where are they?”

“To our left. It seems like it was because Ming Huang was unwilling to flee obediently.”

“Damn it!” I should have thought of it. With Ming Huang’s personality, if someone called him a coward or other similar stuff, he would definitely not let the insult slide. There’s an eighty percent chance that he would drag Wicked along into a fight with the other party.

To save or not to save? Isn’t that obvious! I gave my own cheeks a hard pinch, thinking, if I don’t save them, how could we be called allies? Even as I used my dao to deflect the blades of nearby weapons, I asked, “Dàsăo, which group is the closest to us?”

“Wolf and Gui are just behind us.”

“Good.” I abruptly changed directions and immediately spotted Wolf-dàgē and Gui standing not too far away from us. I rushed over to where they were.

“Wolf-dàgē, Gui, you guys protect Dàsăo for a while. I have to go save people,” I said.

Looking in Ming Huang and Wicked’s direction, I saw that they had been surrounded by four players. Wicked was having difficulty defending against three of them by himself.

First, I snuck up behind the enemy. Like a ghost appearing out of nowhere, I slit the throat of the nearest mage, who had been standing at their back. He did not even have the time to cry out before he flew away. Wicked saw me then, and I gave him a look warning him not to say anything. I then proceeded to single out the strongest of the three warriors, and brutally hacked off his arm. Shocked, he spun around to look at me, and with a single thrust I drove my blade through his heart, making him my second kill for today’s battle.

Of the two remaining warriors, one had already turned around to face me. I turned about and retreated, leading him in the direction of Gui and the others. I made a gesture at my forehead to Gui, and Gui gestured back at me to say that it was no problem.

I watched as Gui strummed his guqin, sending a single Supersonic Soul-chasing Arrow in my direction, and then I ducked and rolled forward to avoid the arrow. When I looked back, I saw that Gui had upheld his claim of being a hundred percent accurate shot; the translucent arrow was planted solidly in the forehead of the warrior who had been chasing me.

Wicked had also finished off the remaining warrior by then, and he was looking my way. I gave him a smile and he gave me thumbs up in appreciation.

Returning to Gui and Wolf-dàgē’s side, I grabbed Yu Lian-dàsăo’s hand and, before pulling her away, said, “Guys, continue to work hard and flee for your lives!”

“Prince, you have to be careful of that holyman warrior. I have a feeling that he will be your opponent in the end,” Yu Lian-dàsăo cautioned me thoughtfully.

Yu Lian-dàsăo really isn’t an ordinary person, I thought. She’s being dragged after me as we sprint, yet she can still speak in a stern voice. I’m impressed!

“Right. I’ll be careful, Dàsăo.” But first, we must survive in this remaining crowd. With only two hundred plus players remaining (according to Xiao Li’s report), I was finding it harder and harder to make use of the chaos to run away. Moreover, many of the enemies we encountered would chase us for a long time before they were willing to give up.

“Prince, the beastman warrior has flown away. The alliances of the human and holyman warriors have now surrounded the remainders of the beastman warrior’s allies. It looks like the beastmen’s alliance is about to be completely wiped out. I think the holyman warrior’s alliance will probably be the last one standing out of the three. If you have the chance, you should kill some of the members of the holymen’s alliance; otherwise, they’ll have too many members left at the end. If that happens, it’ll be difficult for us to win even if we combine forces with Dark Emperor,” Yu Lian-dàsăo said, her tone betraying her anxiety.

“Huh… But I have my hands full, with one hand holding Dàsăo’s, and the other hand holding my sword,” I replied helplessly. And my two legs are busy running, so they’re not free to kick anyone either.

“Prince, you can leave me with Lolidragon and Doll!” Yu Lian-dàsăo smiled gently at me. “I think Lolidragon’s enemies probably don’t have the time to hunt her down, plus most male players usually aren’t too keen on attacking girls, so the two of them are pretty relaxed.”

“But our strategy…” I looked at Yu Lian-dàsăo in askance.

“This is a tactic to deceive our enemies.” A broad smile lit up Yu Lian-dàsăo’s face, but…how odd, why am I covered in goosebumps? “Go and help the human warrior right away – and make sure you even the odds between his alliance and the holyman’s. Then, when both of them are heavily injured, it would be best if you could make use of the opportunity to stab them in the back…hehe.”