Chapter 10: Get Up If You Can
When Fang Qi had free time, he would go into the game and kill monsters; his opponents were still the hunters, and he still fought them with only his dagger!
Death and pain helped him remember the bloody lessons. By practicing again and again, he started becoming used to Chris's combat skills. By choosing Chris in the game, he could get Chris's knowledge and skills, but he wasn't familiar with them.
However, he could now learn and get proficient at each one of Chris's battle techniques at an extreme speed!
At the same time, he remembered each of the attacks that the hunters made!
Wang Tai came in the afternoon; he walked in satisfied, with his toes pointing outwards as he swaggered. Without having to ask, Fang Qi knew what happened.
"Haha, Qi, guess if I passed the exams today!"
Fang Qi couldn't help but laugh. "It's all on your face. Do I really have to guess?"
Wang Tai became embarrassed, but he was still as haughty as ever. "Not only did I pass, I passed by a lot!"
Then, he placed the crystals on the desk, piece by piece; there were a total of ten crystals.
"I'm going to keep killing zombies today!"
"Where did you get so many crystals?" Fang Qi was shocked to see all the crystals on the desk.
He knew how much Wang Tai's family earned. Sure, their restaurant made good money, but the gaming currency was crystals!
This fatty paid more than a dozen crystals yesterday and ten more today! That was a lot!
Wang Tai looked at Fang Qi, his smile was so wide that it almost reached his ears. "After the exam results came out today, my old man was determined to support my quest to become a warrior. You know how much the medicine and herbs required for training cost?"
"You're using that money to play games?"
"Of course!" Wang Tai snorted as if there was nothing wrong with that. "I can play games to level up, and it's much faster than hard training and drinking bitter medicine! Why would I spend money to bring myself pain?"
Wang Tai had a point. Fang Qi was thinking along the same lines! Ever since he got the system, he was training with this black technology.
However, Fang Qi was now at the peak of the Body-Forging Realm.
Then, Wang Tai laughed bitterly, "Qi, can't you bend the rules for me? My old man was really happy today, and that's how I got so many crystals from him. If you don't lower the price, I won't be able to play six hours a day. At most, I would only be able to play three or four hours."
Fang Qi shrugged and replied, "It's not that I don't want to help you, I really can't do anything about it."
"You're such a d*ck." Although he knew Fang Qi would refuse, Wang Tai was still left dejected.
However, since he could still play five hours today, he quickly sat down on a chair and began playing.
…
Fang Qi fought against the hunters in the game like crazy to familiarize himself with the attack patterns of those cold-blooded killers.
At the same time, he learned Chris's sharp and precise combat style.
Although not many people frequented his internet café, he still had customers.
Lingyun Academy's examinations were coming to an end. People who went early, like this fatty, already finished their admission procedures.
"How can this be… Why at this time!" A young girl, about 18 or 19 years old, walked out of Lingyun Academy. She was wearing a delicately-made purple dress, but her brows were furrowed.
Xu Zixin felt like she was about to go crazy; she planned to cultivate in the Martial Arts Tower at Lingyun Academy and level up to the late-stage of the Master Warrior Realm before the Lingyun List was announced in hopes of achieving a high result.
However, she had reached a bottleneck recently. No matter how hard she cultivated, she still failed to reach the late-stage of the Master Warrior Realm. Faster than she expected, the limited amount of time she had saved up to cultivate in the Martial Arts Tower was used up, but her level had not changed at all!
"Is there really no other way?" She was anxious but didn't know what to do about it.
She casually strolled around the city center, hoping to relieve her stress. However, she was disappointed by what she saw.
Jiuhua City is big, but there's nothing exciting to see. It has been years, and nothing has changed.
There really wasn't anything to see in this city. Plus, she was female and couldn't visit the places where men loved to go. Therefore, she could only buy some snacks and walk around at most.
She had lived here for so long that she felt like she was truly bored of this place.
Suddenly, she saw the word 'Origins' in front of her. Confused, thinking that the name was a little arrogant, she muttered to herself, "I've never seen this shop before."
'Origins', the beginning of all. Whoever named this shop must have courage.
She couldn't help but wonder who the owner of the shop was and why he was so brave.
Therefore, she pushed open the door and saw four machines she didn't recognize in the clean shop. Three men sat inside, but Xu Zixin had no idea what they were doing.
"Who's the owner?" she faintly opened her mouth and asked.
Upon seeing that a customer arrived, Fang Qi had no choice but to exit the game. He turned around and saw Xu Zixin standing there gracefully in a purple dress; her eyes sparkled, and her teeth were white; she was a rare beauty.
Before she even opened her mouth, Fang Qi knew what she was going to ask.
"Do you want to know what my shop does?" he asked instead.
She answered, "Of course. Plus, your shop isn't that big, but you named it 'Origins.' Aren't you afraid that you'll be criticized for arrogance?"
Fang Qi didn't respond; instead, he got up, walked over to his blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a few sentences on the bottom, "What does this shop do? Computer games. What are computer games? Please take a look at the other customers."
Xu Zixin couldn't help but look confused upon seeing this. "Game?"
She felt like laughing; she had lived in Jiuhua City for so long, but she hadn't seen anything weird like this. The room wasn't even that big, what games could she play here?
"That should be good enough." Fang Qi then patted the chalk off his hand. "Why would I be scared of criticism? If I didn't have what it takes, my shop would've been smashed into pieces a long time ago."
Then, he added nonchalantly, "But no one who has played here still wants to smash my shop."
"What arrogance!" Xu Zixin was surprised to see how confident the owner was. Then, she glanced at the blackboard again and said, "It's expensive."
"No, it isn't," Fang Qi laughed. "If you don't believe me, ask them."
"No, it isn't." By this time, Liang Shi had already logged out. As soon as he felt that his essence improved, he stopped questioning the prices here. He even thought that it was really cheap!
Just as Liang Shi was about to head out, he saw Fang Qi pointing at him, so he glanced at Xu Zixin and said, "You're also a warrior, aren't you? All I can say is that two crystals an hour is really cheap. This is a magical shop."
"Really?" Xu Zixin laughed doubtfully. Then, her eyes scanned Liang Shi and Fang Qi suspiciously.
Seven crystals were not a small amount, and normal warriors wouldn't be able to afford it. Even warriors with prestigious backgrounds would hesitate before throwing so much away like that.
Therefore, she walked up to Wang Tai. Upon seeing Chris walking around on the screen, she furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "What's this?"
"Here, you can participate in a battle," Liang Shi felt bad about second-guessing this shop before, so he explained the game to the young girl before Fang Qi did. "You can control the people inside the game to fight monsters. If you don't believe me, try for yourself. Then, you'll know why I said that this place isn't expensive."
However, not only did Xu Zixin refuse to listen, she looked at him, more suspicious than ever. He had a feeling that this young woman thought that he was a fake customer Fang Qi hired. Feeling wronged, Liang Shi smiled bitterly. Then, he put his hands together and gestured at Fang Qi. "I'm going to stop talking, or else she's going to think that I have bad intentions."
Fang Qi shrugged as he pointed at the blackboard. "If you think it's expensive, you can leave. But if you don't try for yourself, you can't leave saying that I'm a customer-duping shop owner."
Xu Zixin was so furious that her anger turned into laughter. "Are you trying to provoke me into trying?"
Fang Qi, however, waved his hand at her. Then, he sat back down and went back to playing his game.
"What do you mean by that?" Xu Zixin froze for a second, and Fang Qi replied faintly, "Do whatever you wish."
He wasn't a man who liked to swear, so he decided to kick her out this way.
"You!" Xu Zixin was so furious that her beautiful face twisted. She had never seen a shop owner as arrogant as he was!
"Okay!" She said angrily, "Then, I'll try and see if this game really is as good as that person said!"
Fang Qi looked the pretty girl up and down before asking, "Are you afraid of ghosts?"
"What do you mean?" Xu Zixin was confused by Fang Qi's question. Fang Qi pointed at Wang Tai's screen; he was fighting against two zombies.
Then, Fang Qi said, "There are all kinds of monsters in the game. If you're scared of them, you shouldn't play."
Xu Zixin glanced at the rotten, disgusting looking zombies. What is there to be afraid of? They are in the screen and won't be able to bite me.
Therefore, she sneered, "What's there to be scared of? Don't tell me that you don't want me to try."
"It's best if you're not scared." Fang Qi began teaching her how to play the game.
Not long afterward, Fang Qi heard a shriek. "Why am I in it!"
It was pitch black everywhere, and the environment was overbearingly oppressing. Plus, entering another world was so weird! It was as if she was looking at a painting and was suddenly sucked into it!
Fang Qi said, "The way to exit is written by the door."
"The way to exit?" She thought about it before finally realizing what the words on the blackboard meant.
Therefore, she immediately exited and asked, "You're saying that I need to kill the monsters in there?"
"Didn't you say that you aren't scared?" Fang Qi looked at her speechlessly.
She was a genius student of Lingyun Academy; she wasn't about to let a shop owner look down upon her! Agitated, she quickly retorted, "I'm not scared, it's just a few monsters! I was looking for a place to show off my skills!"
"Don't worry, even if you die 10,000 times in the game, nothing will happen to you in real life. After all, it's just a game," Fang Qi reminded her.
"Really?" Only then did Xu Zixin calm down; the scene before her was so lifelike and realistic.
"Of course," Fang Qi said. "Or else there will be so many dead people in my shop."
Just then, she saw Wang Tai's character die. The fatty quickly restarted the game as if nothing had happened.
"I see." She let out a sigh of relief. It really was a game!
Although she didn't know how the game did it, it was a world where cultivators existed.
Cultivators were mysterious and unpredictable, so ordinary people could not attempt to understand their power.
Therefore, she followed Fang Qi's hints and went back into the game.
Soon, two options popped out before her:
[1. Jill]
[2. I am a special agent, now meeting up with Alpha Team.]
"I see, so only female players can choose Jill." Fang Qi finally understood what was going on. In the original game, players could choose between Chris and Jill, but in this remake, they couldn't because the system separated the players' genders.
Unlike Chris, who started off with only a dagger, Jill carried a gun from the very start. After choosing Jill, Xu Zixin naturally obtained Jill's gun knowledge.
At the same time, she noticed that she could no longer use the warrior qi inside her body.
Warrior qi could only be controlled by warriors who had reached the pinnacle in their training. It was also a way to distinguish if someone was an official warrior or just a warrior-in-training.
However, she came out to vent her anger, so she wasn't worried that she couldn't use her warrior qi. She looked at the gun in her hands. Although she couldn't use her qi, since she chose Jill, she knew how to use the gun. Therefore, she knew that she didn't have to be afraid of anything.
Soon, she began searching the mansion up and down.
The light in the corridor was dim; after turning a corner, she saw someone squatting there.
"Is this a missing teammate?" She exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "That was fast, this game is so simple!"
Therefore, she quickly walked up to the 'teammate' and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm here to rescue you, come with me."
Suddenly, the 'teammate' slowly turned around, revealing its pale, rotten face, with blood and flesh on the corner of its lips!
If she was mentally prepared, then perhaps she wouldn't have been so scared. However, the person that Xu Zixin thought was a survivor was actually a bloody, murderous zombie! This shock was bound to scare her, no matter how calm and collected she was!
"AH!" Xu Zixin, who was flaunting her bravado just a minute ago, turned around and ran away. Her face was pale with fright!
"I thought you said you weren't scared," Fang Qi laughed.
Only then did Xu Zixin realize that this monster was the one that she thought was 'weak.'
At this thought, she stopped in her footsteps and snickered, trying to sound calm, "Who said I was scared?"
The zombie wasn't that fast, so Xu Zixin was sure that this monster only appeared to be scary.
Therefore, she began shooting it repeatedly.
Soon, the zombie fell to the ground.
Only then did she say proudly, "Look, what's there to be scared of?"
Then, she walked up to the zombie and began stomping on it as if she were venting her anger out on this weak monster that had managed to embarrass her.
"Try to scare me again if you can!" she yelled.