TSA Chapter 95

Night Owl stood beside Ran Qi, clad in a black mage’s robe, his cold gaze sweeping over everyone present.

His arrival seemed to place a sudden pause on the battlefield, halting the impending slaughter. Zhang Shuo’s underlings, who had just activated Slaughter Mode and were about to swarm Ran Qi, froze in place.

They had been confident that, with their numbers, they could take Ran Qi down with absolute certainty. But if the target changed to Night Owl, they hesitated. It wasn’t just because Night Owl was the number one player in overall game rankings—it was also because they recognized him as Han Xiao, the top student of the Imperial Military Academy, who had completely crushed Zhang Shuo in the regional tournament.

Back when they followed their school to the capital star for the tournament, they had seen Ran Qi hanging out with Han Xiao and his group at a gaming lounge. At the time, they had suspected Han Xiao and his team might be Night Owl’s squad, but Zhang Shuo had dismissed the idea. Now, however, the truth was undeniable.

The memory of Han Xiao utterly dominating Zhang Shuo on stage had left a deep impression on them. A player’s real-life physical abilities and combat skills could be carried into the game, which explained why Night Owl was so formidable in-game as well.

Ran Qi alone had already been difficult enough to deal with as a healer. Now, with Night Owl and his team backing him up, their chances of winning were nonexistent.

They had activated Slaughter Mode to avenge Zhang Shuo, but now, not only would they fail, they might even get counter-killed instead. Their resolve wavered.

“Brother Shuo… Maybe we should just drop it?” one of them hesitantly suggested.

Night Owl’s team consisted of leaderboard players—high levels, top-tier gear, and exceptional combat skills. If they really fought, the outcome would be disastrous.

Losing a duel was already embarrassing enough. Resorting to a gang fight was even worse. But if they still lost despite ganging up on him, and on top of that suffered the red-name death penalty, losing the expensive gear they had worked so hard to obtain… It just wasn’t worth it.

Zhang Shuo understood this too, but he couldn’t swallow his pride. Rage burned in his chest like an uncontrollable fire.

He desperately wanted to revive and fight Ran Qi again.

But deep down, he knew—he was no match for Ran Qi. Even if he fought again, the result wouldn’t change.

In the end, he chose to log off on the spot.

As Zhang Shuo’s ‘corpse’ suddenly disappeared, along with his avatar going dark on the friends list, his underlings were momentarily stunned before scrambling to log off as well.

“Where’d they go?” Gu Le stared in disbelief at the now-empty space. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, and then he exploded with anger. “Holy shit! They actually logged off?! Running away just because they lost—do they have no shame?!”

Ran Qi chuckled and patted Gu Le on the shoulder. “It’s fine. I won, didn’t I?”

“Hahaha, that’s true! I checked the forums—Zhang Shuo was so confident he would win today that he even live-streamed the match on the school forum. Now that he lost so badly, those cowards won’t have the face to show themselves anymore!” Gu Le laughed. After being bullied by Zhang Shuo at school for so long, finally getting revenge felt amazing. “Let’s go, let’s run a dungeon!”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

***

However, what no one expected was that Bai Ran suddenly became famous.

To humiliate Ran Qi, Zhang Shuo hadn’t just streamed the match on the school forum—he had deliberately chosen the North Gate of Otto City, a busy location with heavy foot traffic, as the PK site.

Many bystanders had witnessed the fight. Initially, they had only glanced from a distance to avoid getting caught up in the battle, but when they realized that one of the competitors was Bai Ran, the number-one priest on the rankings, their curiosity was piqued.

People started calling their friends over to watch, and many even recorded the fight from different angles.

Once these videos hit the forums, Bai Ran went viral.

[Discussion]The Number-One Priest’s PK Video—Godlike Operation!

1L: Oh my god, is this the skill level of the server’s top priest?! This is insane!!!

2L: Bai Ran’s operations are out of this world! He kept casting shields on himself while attacking at the same time. That berserker couldn’t even break through his defenses—he was completely suppressed!

3L: Did you guys see that berserker’s gear? A full Cat Demon set! If I remember correctly, that set boosts attack and critical rate. Normally, a squishy priest would be one-shot in two or three hits, but unfortunately for him, he went up against the number-one priest, Bai Ran! Not only is his level high, but he’s also had a ton of lucky encounters. Those offensive skills he used were from a special inheritance quest—absolutely broken!

4L: That’s not all! Don’t forget the berserker also used three mid-tier scrolls! He went all out!

5L: Am I the only one wondering why that berserker was PKing Bai Ran at the North Gate? Was it an ambush?

6L: Who in their right mind would try to ambush Bai Ran? Do they have a death wish?

7L: It wasn’t an ambush. From what I heard, it was a duel.

8L: A duel? Then why didn’t they go to the arena? Why activate Slaughter Mode in the wild? Do they have a grudge?

………

As soon as the post was published, it sparked heated discussions and was quickly pushed to the forum’s front page, even earning a [hot] tag. Students from Zhang Shuo and Ran Qi’s school who played the game flocked over to join the fun.

146L: There’s definitely bad blood between them. They’re mortal enemies at school. Since fighting isn’t allowed on campus, they just took it to the game.

147L: Yeah, yeah, they’re both from my school. Their families are business rivals, so they became enemies the moment they stepped into school! They’re always at each other’s throats!

148L: At each other’s throats? More like Shuo Jin has been unilaterally bullying Bai Ran! How is a service department student supposed to bully a top-tier mecha major? I’ve always thought Shuo Jin’s bullying was way out of line. Watching this PK was so satisfying!

149L: Exactly! Shuo Jin even set up a livestream for this duel and posted it on our school forum! But in the end, the joke was on him!

150L: Hahaha, I heard they originally agreed to a Level 45 PK, but Bai Ran had already hit Level 55 ages ago! Meanwhile, Shuo Jin had to spend money hiring people to power-level him just to barely reach Level 45!

151L: Is this the world of the rich? I’m so jealous…

………

Despite all the chatter, no one actually leaked their real-life identities. The interstellar world took personal privacy very seriously—gossiping a little was fine, but revealing real-life details like names and addresses was illegal.

674L: Am I the only one who noticed that Bai Ran is really good-looking? This guy’s face is unreal! I heard he’s also a great cook! The food in the Invincible guild’s store has such a huge variety and tastes amazing. I seriously want to join Invincible…

675L: No kidding! Looks are everything! I could stare at him all day!

676L: What’s the big deal about being handsome? Can you eat good looks? Bai Ran is still a total weakling—his physical and mental stats at school are both rated E!

677L: What kind of dumb take is that? So what if he has bad aptitude? Does that mean he doesn’t have the right to exist? Besides, Bai Ran’s family is loaded. He won’t even need to join the military after graduation—he can just go home and inherit his family business. He’s set for life! Who cares about aptitude?

678L: By the way, Night Owl is super handsome too! There’s another video where you can see his side profile! [Link] He only showed up for a few seconds at the end, but that badass entrance and that godly side profile—ugh, I’m dying!

679L: For real?! I need to see this right now!!!

………

1411L: Holy crap, what kind of god-tier visuals are these?! Bai Ran and Night Owl standing together look absolutely perfect!

1412L: Girl, you read my mind! They’re always inseparable—maybe there’s something going on… Hehehe!

1413L: Y’all better stop with the rumors. I recognized Night Owl—he’s the top student at Imperial Academy! He was the champion of the recent regional tournament!

“Are you kidding me? I was right there with the boss when he made his entrance! Why is no one mentioning my name?!” Gu Le, who had logged off to take a break, was scrolling through the forum and couldn’t help but complain.

“Maybe you’re just not as handsome as he is,” Ran Qi teased with a laugh.

“You little traitor! Throwing your friend under the bus for good looks?! Take this!” Gu Le yelled and pounced on Ran Qi, and the two immediately started roughhousing.

After fooling around, Gu Le flopped back onto the sofa and happily continued browsing the forum. Every time he saw someone dissing Zhang Shuo, he gleefully went over to give them a like.