Sword Among Us

In Shanghai, Dihuang Hotel, a beautiful attendant knocked against the door to Room 2109 before she opened it. She then saw a person stand in front of floor-to-ceiling window with his back turned toward her. From the reflection of the window, she could see the anger that had yet to fade away from his face, and there was also a cruel look in his eyes. She shuddered and quickly lowered her head to clean up the shattered silver-white helmet on the floor.

The Sensory Transmitting VR Helmets that served as the game console for World of Martial Arts cost more than 5,000 RMB on the market, and a person could only get one after queuing up for a period of time. She did not expect that this person would crush it…

The attendant did not dare say much. She quietly gathered the shattered parts together and swept the room before bowing and leaving. Her actions were exemplary from the start to the end.

Only when the door closed did the man in front of the floor-to-ceiling window breathe out slowly. He closed his eyes and breathed a few times before he finally calmed himself. A hint of resolution appeared in his long and ruthless eyes.

“Happy, I will find you.”

Once he finished speaking, he brought out his phone and quickly tapped a series of numbers.

“I’m Wan She! Set aside the things you’re doing right now and put in an order of a VR Helmet for me; it’s the one you ordered last time. Yes, once you get it, send it to Room 2109.”

Once he disconnected the call, Wan She turned on the exquisite and brilliant laptop on the writing desk. He typed the address of the official website of World of Martial Arts. He then found South China Martial Arts Ranking Board on the list of websites working together with the official website at the bottom of the page, and he clicked on it.

The website had been successfully updated again.

Ever since he lost, a new web page had been added to South China Martial Arts Ranking Board.

Power Ranking Board!

The powerful players in the University of South China were recorded on it, and a ranking was assigned to them based on their results during the martial arts tournament.

When he saw this, even Wan She had to admit that the Three Lonely Wolves who created the website were not website developers who had hit a lucky streak by jumping on the bandwagon that was World of Martial Arts, found a loophole, and gained fame from it. If they could revise and change the contents of the website within such a short amount of time, it showed that their planning, maintenance, and programming abilities were really good.

When he clicked on the Power Ranking Board, he found his in-game ID on it—Orochimaru.

At second place!

And the one who occupied first place was Happy, who had defeated him. He was the enemy who had given rise to the idea that he could turn the table at the final moment, but who had easily destroyed his plan and crushed his confidence.

Up to that moment, he still could not understand how Happy had known that there were hidden threads made from the silk produced by Japanese oak silkworms on the sword hilts of his swords. He had never used this killing move before, but the masked youth seemed to have predicted this, and he made him embarrass himself by getting hit by his own swords and falling off the stage. When he thought about it now, he was filled with rage once more.

He had nothing to say about this.

The battle had already been uploaded on the forum of South China Martial Arts Ranking Board. In fact, it was already considered as one of the classic battles on the website and was placed in the Classic Battle Replay Collection.

There were countless students from the University of South China who cursed u pa storm at Orochimaru on the forum for his appearance and his actions. Wan She only glanced through them with a cold glare before he continued going through the contents on the website, hoping to figure out Happy’s real identity from it. However, he found to his regret that the people on the forum were also searching for Happy’s real identity all over the place. However, when he ended the battle, Happy did not seem to have any intention to announce his real identity to the public. He had disappeared without a trace, just like Orochimaru.

“Even if you don’t show your face in reality, it doesn’t matter,” Wan She mumbled to himself while deep in thought. “One of these days, I will find you, and at that time. Hmph… Don’t blame me for being ruthless. You’ll have to blame yourself for offending someone you should not have.”

*****

While Wan She searched vigorously for information on Happy on South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, he did not know that Happy had logged off the moment the system announced that he had officially become the champion in the University of South China and had received the recommendation for the national tournament.

He took off his helmet, and his quiet actions immediately caught the Three Lonely Wolves'”fierce” glares. With a loud whoosh, the three of them rushed to the window. Their gazes made them look like rascals who had just seen a naked woman and they were drooling over it. Their strange cackles made Happy feel goosebumps all over his skin.

“Brat, you’d best tell us honestly. Did you run into some kind of miraculous meeting with someone or something in the game?”

“You became so strong in just a little over a month; you must have some kind of secret! Tell us!”

“We’ll be lenient if you confess, but if you don’t, we’re going to torture you!”

Happy was immediately rendered speechless. “Does entering the Murong Clan count as a fortuitous event?”

“Nope.”

“Then does working hard to push my hidden weapon technique and lightness skill to Grandmaster Realm count as a secret?”

“There’s room for debate for that one.” Qi Ci sensed that there was something in Happy’s words with his extremely sensitive instincts.

“There’s nothing to debate about this.” Happy rolled his eyes and said, “Go buy a hidden weapons manual, get yourself a bag of hidden weapons, search for an NPC in Gate Realm, and practice for three days and three nights, and you’re guaranteed to enter Grandmaster Realm.

“It’s even easier for lightness skill. With a high-tier qi cultivation technique, you just have to run for three days and three nights as well as…” The trio listened until they had dumbfounded looks on their faces. When Happy saw this, he pushed them away with a rather resigned look.

“I don’t know whether there are any shortcuts in the game, but I haven’t run into them, if that’s what you’re asking.”

While he spoke, he told them honestly how he had, by a stroke of luck, killed Third Tomb Robber during the tomb robber quest. He also told them that he had obtained a manual, a Universe Bag, and a rather large amount of money. He then finished with how he used the money to train his hidden weapons.

The three then instantly came to a realization.

If they had hidden weapons, their lethality would increase by leaps and bounds, and they would have practically no pressure in handling NPCs in Gate Realm. With some tricks, they could even handle Black Wind Mountain.

The more Happy spoke, the more he drew the trio’s attention away from his nigh perfect sword technique and fist technique. Instead, their attention moved toward the seemingly even more astonishing lancet knives and lightness skill. Then, once he provided some explanations, they felt that whatever Happy said was plausible. Even though they felt that it was unbelievable, they were no longer as shocked as before.

“By the way, the champion this time will get 3,000 RMB as prize money, right?”

Happy shifted the trio’s attention again.

“Yup.” Bai Lang nudged his glasses up and looked at him. “How do you intend to use it?”

“How else am I supposed to use it?” There was no way Happy would not know the three evil wolves’ thoughts. He sighed and said once he accepted his fate, “To protect my secret, I’ll first have to seal your mouths.”

But even though he said this, Happy knew very well that those who were paying attention to this issue some day or another would notice or guess who he was. He could delay the inevitable, but it was impossible for him to keep his secret for long.

“Smart boy.”

The Three Lonely Wolves simultaneously gave him a thumbs up.

“Tonight, we’ll go to a high class hotel and eat. We’ll also invite Xu Xin. If you want the money for a room, come to me,” Chen Fan said with a cheeky grin while quirking an eyebrow at Happy.

“Go away!”

Happy rolled his eyes at Chen Fan in annoyance.

Xu Xin was now their comrade in their “revolution”, and he only shared a pure relationship with her as his comrade. Chen Fan was the only one who had dirty thoughts in his mind.

Besides, what bothered Happy even more was whether “she” would link Chen Kaixin with Happy and come to him again.

If she came to him, what should he do?

Should he act like in his previous life?

Or should he?

When he thought about this in depth, his thoughts became chaotic.

He immediately cast the Three Lonely Wolves aside and walked out of his dorm. He went to the balcony that was near the university’s main corridor, but the moment he showed his face, he regretted his decision. The sun at noon burned brightly, but the fire in his heart burned even hotter. In his irritation, he was about to turn away, but to his surprise, a voice from below called out to him.

“Chen Kaixin!”

Xu Xin stood under the scorching sun and under his dorm in all her beautiful glory. Her face was red, though no one knew whether it was because of the sun or because she was too excited. She stared at Happy who stood on the balcony, causing a few boys on the path to continuously cast the two of them complicated looks that had envy mixed in them.