Ch. 14 - Campus Horrors (6)

Upon clearing the beginner Instance Dungeon, the game would reward players with a unique talent skill, and Chen Sheng had been granted the talent of superhuman strength.

He had held back from getting his own hands dirty partly out of disdain for Fu Yan, and partly as a tactical move to suss out what talent he was hiding.

Based on his observations, Fu Yan's talent seemed to fall into the speed category. With that in mind, he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Speed talents were decent for running away, but in an actual brawl, they were practically useless.

Judging by Fu Yan's agility, he was, at best, a speed-type player who hit slightly harder than average. There was no way he could stand a chance against him.

It was a bit degrading to lower himself to fight a newbie, but he had no choice since the lackeys he brought this time were completely useless.

Channeling his talent, Chen Sheng poured his full might into a single brutal swing of his fist.

Chen Sheng had heavily invested in upgrading his talent through various means.

Despite being only C-rank overall, his talent's raw output matched that of an A-rank veteran.

An immense, crushing force was packed into his fist. As an F-rank newcomer, getting struck meant Fu Yan would either have his tendons and bones pulverized or simply die on the spot.

[Man, Chen Sheng is ruthless! To think he'd throw his weight around as a strength player to bully newcomers!]

[Ahhhhh! Stop! Not my precious GOAT Fu Yan!]

[OMG! OMG! I can't watch this. What a tragic way to go!]

[Serves him right for insulting our GOAT Chen Sheng!]

[He clears one Instance Dungeon and thinks he's all that. "GOAT Fu Yan"? Oh please, he doesn't deserve that title!]

[Erm... guys, the "Greatest" in the title might actually mean greatest psychopath, though?]

[Faking being a badass with zero ability. Dying is what he deserves!]

[This is what happens when you mess with our guild.]

[@ previous comment, screw you! Fuck your entire bloodline! You're actually fucking proud of this? Your garbage guild only ever preys on the weak and is infamous for it! Have you no shame running your mouth here?!]

[Heh! Look at you malding. What gives? Is Fu Yan your dad or something?]

[I'm your goddamn dad, you brain-dead bastard! Fight me solo in an Instance Dungeon if you dare! I'll wipe the floor with you until you're kneeling and screaming for mercy!]

Huddled in the bathroom, Cui Hao furiously mashed his phone's keyboard, battling it out in the comment section.

His trash-talking skills were unparalleled; dare to slander his idol, and he would roast you alive!

Even as he unleashed his barrage of text, Cui Hao was silently offering up desperate prayers in his mind.

I gambled 50 points on him beating the Instance Dungeon. If I lose this, I'll go completely broke! May God save him! May the Heavens be merciful! I'm begging every god in the sky, please save him! Amitabha!

His prayers concluded, Cui Hao immediately returned to typing insults at breakneck speed.

All of a sudden, an ominous livestream notification box popped up on his screen.

[Warning: User 'Top Dog of the Grassland' has been reported for excessive profanity. This is a final warning; any further violations will result in a 48-hour mute.]

Cui Hao could only blink in silence at the warning.

[Shit! What kind of low-life scum flagged my comment?!]

[**** you! You *******! Go to ***! May your sons be born without an *******! **** you! **** your whole family, you ******! I'll *********************! You piece of ****!]

Meanwhile, back within the Instance Dungeon, Chen Sheng's fist launched forward like a cannonball, aiming directly for Fu Yan's face.

Fu Yan made no attempt to evade; instead, he met the oncoming assault with a fist of his own.

The two fists collided violently with a resounding thud.

Just as the audience braced themselves to see Fu Yan flung away like a ragdoll, the most inconceivable turn of events unfolded before their eyes.

Shockingly, it was Chen Sheng who was blasted backward by Fu Yan's counterattack!

With a sickening crash, he slammed into the floor.

The sleeve of his arm exploded into shreds, completely obliterated, while his arm itself became a mangled mess of exposed flesh and shattered bone shards digging into muscle.

Chen Sheng clamped his jaw shut, refusing to let a scream of agony escape his lips.

As cold sweat beaded down his cheeks and dripped onto the floor, he came to the chilling realization that the arm was permanently crippled.

Folding his arms, Fu Yan perfectly mirrored Chen Sheng's earlier posture, as if enjoying the display.

"Teach me the rules? But my rules are the rules."

[Holy shit! An F-rank rookie managed to parry a C-rank player's lethal strike! What kind of power fantasy is this?!]

[Did the system's rank evaluation glitch out?!]

[Woooow! GOAT Fu Yan is so freaking cool!]

[Holy ****! My idol is ****ing badass!]

[That line is so edgy and cringey, yet when GOAT Fu Yan says it, it's overwhelmingly cool!]

[@ previous comment, please switch off your stan-tinted lenses.]

[Ahhhhhhhh! Crazy for GOAT Fu Yan! Rabid for GOAT Fu Yan! Smashing my head into a wall for GOAT Fu Yan!]

[@ previous comment, do me a favor and delete that so I can repost it: Ahhhhhhhh! Crazy for GOAT Fu Yan! Rabid for GOAT Fu Yan! Smashing my head into a wall for GOAT Fu Yan!]

[So does this mean GOAT Fu Yan possesses a strength-based talent as well?]

[But his speed is incredibly fast too!]

[Could it be that he has dual talents in both strength and speed?]

[Who knows? The player info section lists Fu Yan's talent as 'Unknown' though.]

[Wait, is it some special variant of a talent?! That's just too strange!]

[If it were anyone else, sure, it'd be weird. But if we're talking about Fu Yan, it all makes perfect sense. After all, this is a man who is still alive and kicking with 0 Sanity.]

Right before leaving, Fu Yan cast a deep glance at the woman squatting beside her boyfriend to inspect his wounds.

"Create a teaching policy that keeps you safe, do your duty as a teacher, and you won't be eaten."

Having said his piece, Fu Yan turned and sauntered away with He Shuyang in tow.

It wasn't out of the goodness of his heart; he just didn't want his afternoon clue hunt interrupted by having to go back and physically punish—wait, no—educate the students.

Time flowed at a completely different pace inside the Instance Dungeon compared to the outside world.

While it was still broad daylight in the community, it was already lights-out on their end.

Once curfew began, students were barred from leaving their dormitories, whereas the players were tasked with patrolling the campus grounds.

Though they were supposed to patrol, the players hadn't been assigned any designated routes or locations, so Fu Yan brought He Shuyang along for a second visit to the library.

"Didn't we already check the library during the day? We found nothing," He Shuyang pointed out.

"There are certain things that only show themselves at night."

Dropping his voice to a cautious whisper, He Shuyang asked, "Like what?"

"A spicy midnight rendezvous."

Fu Yan smirked frivolously, rendering He Shuyang speechless.

Can someone keep this man in check?!

Fu Yan and He Shuyang navigated their way through rows upon rows of bookshelves until they reached the newspaper section.

"Didn't we already go through these today?" He Shuyang questioned.

Fu Yan completely ignored the question, instead asking something totally out of left field.

"How are you recovering?"

"Doing alright."

He only had five health points left, but his backlash debuff had worn off, meaning his combat capability was mostly intact.

Fu Yan nodded.

"Good."

With that, he reached into his pocket and whipped out a candle and a lighter.

He Shuyang stared at him in sheer terror.

"What are you trying to d—"

Before he could even finish the word "do," Fu Yan flicked the lighter and instantly lit the candle.

The very next second, the grating skreeeech of fingernails clawing against the walls erupted around them, a noise painfully distinct in the dead silence of the library.

Through the gloom, He Shuyang could faintly make out countless elongated dark silhouettes lurking in the shadows, glaring at them like predators eyeing their prey.

"Big bro, what on earth are you doing?!"

He Shuyang's voice wavered.

They were explicitly banned from using open flames, yet this guy was doing exactly that right now!

Had he known the man was completely unhinged, he wouldn't have entered the Instance Dungeon with him even at the cost of his life.

Watching the dark silhouettes gradually close in on them, He Shuyang drew his dagger and held it defensively in front of his chest.

"What do we do now?"

Fu Yan's striking features flickered ominously under the candlelight.

"It's not 'what do we do,' it's 'what do you do.'"

"Huh?"

Capitalizing on He Shuyang's moment of stunned confusion, Fu Yan forcefully shoved him right out into the open.

"Ah!!! Fuck!"

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