Sword Among Us

Among a series of food stalls near the cafeteria in the University of South China were four very fashionably dressed men. They picked vegetables and ate them with great appetite. They drank some wine while they talked about the hottest story in World of Martial Arts. When they were halfway through, one of the people closer to the wall raised his head and saw two people walk in. One of them was plump, and the other thin. A smile instantly bloomed on his face. With a tone showing his familiarity with the person, he greeted the duo.

“Puffy, Rascal, have you guys eaten?”

“Wow, you’re even drinking? You sure are in the mood.”

The duo came over with smiles on their faces. They went to the table where the four people sat. Three of them quickly got up and respectfully greeted the duo by calling them brother before they moved to another table.

“We’ve eaten. We have something up, that’s why we came over to talk to you.”

The two of them were not bothered by what happened and just sat down.

Naturally, they were two people who thrived on South China Martial Arts Ranking Board. One of them was Puffy God, who was in second place, and the other was now ranked in third place and had overtaken Butt Shaker, NotaRascal. This plump and thin duo never left each other’s side. They looked like two sculpted fierce-looking gods who were usually painted on doors or temple gates.

The fashionable man who greeted them earlier was the great player Brother Tea Words. His fame in the University of South China was great, and he constantly occupied the top spot on the ranking board!

Brother Tea Words’ real name was Yu Cha. He was a very good gamer. He was a pro when it came to Counter Strike, and once he entered World of Martial Arts, he could not help himself but be attracted by the content and martial arts in the game. Hence, he switched his focus to World of Martial Arts!

Puffy God and NotaRascal were people he got to know when he played other games in the past. Their relationship was not very deep, and they were at best acquaintances. Only when South China Martial Arts Ranking Board appeared did their impression of each other became deeper.

“What is it?”

When Yu Cha heard that the duo had intentionally come searching for him, he could not help but be curious.

“Did the developers of South China Martial Arts Ranking Board come to you?”

“… Yes?”

Yu Cha quickly understood their intentions. He nodded and cast them a profound glance. “They did. It’s because of the martial arts tournament, right? By the looks of it, they also came to you two, but you didn’t agree to it.”

“Yup, ‘course not.” Puffy God smiled like a Maitreya Buddha. “Those three guys are indeed smart, but they don’t know how to do things at all! We never thought about anything when we registered as members, but the offline trading system they suddenly launched a few days ago will take 5% from the money traded as usage fee when we conduct a trade, and the both of us are not excluded as well. They’re clearly just using us as employees.”

“That’s right.”

Rascal took over the conversation, and he spoke in a similarly displeased tone. “If we didn’t hold the fort for them in that South China Martial Arts Ranking Board of theirs, would they have this fame right now? We gave them popularity and prestige, but look at them, once they gained their benefits, they don’t regard us as anyone important anymore.”

Once he finished speaking, he looked very angry. “The martial arts tournament they conduct doesn’t even have any rewards. I reckon that they’ll get a large share of the profit and all the benefits, that’s why we wanted to ask whether you joined that thing. You mustn’t get duped.”

Once he finished listening to their complaints, Tea Words chuckled. “Well, I can’t really say. I’m quite familiar with the Three Lonely Wolves, and I know that they run themselves to the ground every day for this website. They’re quite exhausted by it. I’m participating in it this time to help them.”

He might have said that, but he already regarded the duo in disdain…

‘You never provided any help when they created the website, and you relied on the ranking on their website to become famous in the university. Now you want to get a portion of their money through their fee collection system? Aren’t you shameless?’

Once he finished speaking, he picked up some food and ate it. Since he had already showed his stance in this matter, he did not want to continue talking to them.

“If that’s the case, then we won’t bother you anymore. But we have to warn you, you should keep a clear head and know when you’re fooled. Alright, bye!”

“Have a safe trip to wherever you’re going.”

The moment the duo turned around, Brother Tea Words looked up again and cast a glance at their figures that left behind a deep impression on others. He smiled and continued eating.

In truth, even though the fee collection system South China Martial Arts Ranking Board had launched benefited everyone, there were quite a lot of people who coveted the gains. They were jealous of the Three Lonely Wolves who had created it.

It was especially so for celebrities like Fatty. They consistently ranked before the Three Lonely Wolves, and they never regarded the trio as anyone important. However, as South China Martial Artists Ranking Board was revised, they felt as if the relationship between them had changed, and they immediately felt that things were unfair for them.

Puffy God and NotaRascal were extremely displeased with the idea of having to look up to people who were ranked below them, which was why they got the idea to destroy Three Lonely Wolves’ martial arts tournament.

Before they met up with Brother Tea Words, they had already contacted quite a number of people who were famous celebrities on the ranking board and made sure that they would not join. Once those influential people did not enter the tournament, those who were not powerful would not waste their time either.

However, what they did not expect was that while they contacted the people in secret, South China Martial Arts Ranking Board suddenly gave an additional announcement.

[South China Martial Arts Ranking Board intends to use the profit gained from the fee collection system to launch a major event that will benefit its members—the University of South China Martial Arts Assembly!

[The martial arts assembly will be organized to choose the strongest martial artist in the University of South China! All the members in South China Martial Arts Ranking Board are welcome to join!

[The results post battle will be shown on another tournament ranking board.

[The fee collection system has already collected 10,000 RMB. However, the results and the distribution of rewards will be monitored by all of you to ensure fairness! We will set and divide the money as follows:

[Champion. He or she will receive 3,000 RMB and will be recommended to World of Martial Arts to fight against all the powerful players in the country.

[Two Runner-up Scholars. They will each receive 2,000 RMB.

[Three Flower Snatchers [1]. They will each receive 1,000 RMB.]

The rewards were not great, but to students, this was very attractive!

Once the board made this announcement, all the members instantly received the news, and the University of South China immediately boiled with excitement! The news not only dispelled many of the students’ jealousy toward South China Martial Arts Ranking Board, it even forced a smidgen of admiration to rise from the bottom of their hearts.

In less than half an hour, the number of people who joined South China Martial Arts Ranking Board increased by leaps and bounds, and the people who registered for the martial arts tournament went over five hundred very soon!

The influential players who originally wanted to observe the development of the situation all let go of their restraints and doubts. One hundred or so Gate Realm players handed in their registration forms one after another.

The tournament started showing signs of rising in popularity.

In fact, some of the students in the universities nearby also heard of the news and wanted to join the tournament by taking advantage of the situation! Those people were naturally not after the rewards, but joining such a grand martial arts tournament.

In the end, the first wave of publicity for the tournament by South China Martial Arts Ranking Board was a success. Even Puffy God and NotaRascal, who had been persuading the other influential players to not join the tournament, could not resist the temptation and registered their names.

Their attention was not really on the rewards…

What they cared about was the combat ranking board South China Martial Arts Ranking Board had launched!

It would not record the strength of everyone’s qi and martial arts, but the true ranks of the powerful in the University of South China.

They were young, and they cared very much about reputation. They did not want others to say that they did not dare face the other powerful players from the University of South China later and had avoided fighting against them.

In the boys’ dorm, the Three Lonely Wolves, Happy, and Xu Xin, who had rushed into their dorm, watched the numbers skyrocketing on the registration list for their website, and the five of them clenched their fists in high-spirits.

They made it!

Translator’s Note:

[1] Champion, Runner-up Scholar, Flower Snatcher: Respectively, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the imperial examinations in Imperial China. You might remember a Flower Snatcher in chapter 30 being mentioned.