CSMCDB - Chapter 5
Chapter 5
[Excellent, the atmosphere for a counterattack and face-slapping has been perfectly set. Go get 'em, kiddo~] Detecting that most people in the crowd didn't favor Wen Yuncheng, the System was extremely satisfied. Only in this way would Wen Yuncheng's victory over Wen Ziyu create the most perfect face-slapping moment.
Sensing the System's excitement, Wen Yuncheng had a rough idea of 1947's preferences. But it was normal… After all, it was a Long Aotian Growth System, so it was only natural for it to enjoy this kind of drama. She looked seriously at Wen Ziyu, whose face was dark, knowing that his animosity toward her was likely to increase even more.
"Since you're so eager for a beating…" Wen Ziyu said through gritted teeth, walking step by step toward the dueling stage before leaping onto it. "How could I not oblige?"
Wen Yuncheng took a deep breath and retreated to the other side of the stage, making a "please" gesture. She only had one close-combat skill, a spinning kick, and a stage she couldn't run around on wasn't ideal for it. After all, it had a five-minute cooldown after one use. "You can say when to start."
"Hah, start!" As his voice fell, Wen Ziyu pushed off and closed in on Wen Yuncheng, his right hand forming a fist as Star Power gathered within it. He had already decided to give Wen Yuncheng a harsh beating on the stage and stomp her under his foot, giving her no chance to jump off and surrender herself! Even if Wen Yuncheng were to shout her surrender, Wen Ziyu could just pretend he didn't hear her clearly.
Just as he was thinking this, he saw that person, Wen Yuncheng, suddenly crouch down. In the blink of an eye… the silver cube that had once approached him and suddenly exploded appeared once more. Wen Ziyu's charging figure came to an abrupt halt. He took two steps back, watching as the thing slowly advanced toward where he stood. But its speed was too slow; he could easily dodge it.
Wen Ziyu's retreat caused an uproar from the crowd below. Although they didn't know what Wen Yuncheng had conjured, Wen Ziyu's retreat… He immediately shouted, "Hah, resorting to such unorthodox tricks in a duel. Fight me fair and square if you have the guts!"
"This is my ability." Wen Yuncheng was perfectly calm. "The Star Power I cultivate has mutated. This is why my cultivation and talent vanished. But I never gave up. After these years of exploring, I can finally control this mutated power." Wen Yuncheng spouted nonsense with a straight face. At the end, she even pointed at Wen Ziyu's nose, beckoned with her finger, and smiled sweetly. "Are you even more jealous of me now?"
Snap! Wen Ziyu felt a string in his mind instantly break. Jealous? He was jealous of this waste? What was there to be jealous of? She was just trash he could beat up whenever he wanted! Enraged, Wen Ziyu's entire body surged with Star Power. The palms of his hands began to emit a faint white light, which wasn't obvious in the daylight, but the change in his hands' color was still quite clear.
Someone in the crowd immediately recognized this as the Wen family's unique "Star Cloud Palm" technique. The principle was very simple: infuse Star Power into the palms to enhance their physical hardness, then release the Star Power explosively at the moment of impact to heavily injure the enemy.
"Star Cloud Palm? I learned that thing in a day back then. I can't believe you're still using it," Wen Yuncheng said with a deliberately playful smile. As expected, Wen Ziyu grew even more furious. The moment he charged over, she created another RX-78 Pursuer. The little robot hobbled toward Wen Ziyu, looking utterly adorable. The first Pursuer had already turned from silver to red, and a small signal light on its head was flashing rapidly. The instant Wen Ziyu got close, it didn't even perform its pouncing animation before it exploded directly!
The second Pursuer she made arrived by Wen Ziyu's side after the explosion, struck a pouncing pose, and then exploded with a boom as it fell!
"What's going on?!"
"What is that thing? It actually has such an effect!"
"What a loud explosion! Will Wen Ziyu be okay?"
"He's getting up, he's getting up! Wen Ziyu is fine…"
The discussions below the stage hadn't ceased when Wen Ziyu suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. His clothes had been tattered by the fire-attribute explosion, and his body was covered in soot. Without delaying, he lunged toward Wen Yuncheng at the edge of the stage. Even if he got blown up again, he had to get into close range!
He had figured it out. From the very beginning, Wen Yuncheng had kept her distance from him—so what if her ability had mutated? As long as he got close…
What… was happening?
A sudden pain shot through his jaw and cheek. The world before Wen Ziyu's eyes suddenly swam. The image of Wen Yuncheng in his vision moved downward, replaced by the sky, and then with a "thud," a sharp pain erupted from the back of his head. Before he could even make a sound, the world plunged into darkness.
Only then did Wen Yuncheng stand up straight again. She looked at Wen Ziyu, who had fallen backward and seemed to have lost consciousness, and felt a sense of cathartic relief. She let out a cold laugh. Wen Ziyu had bullied her for so many years. Even a clay figure has its limits, let alone her—she was no saint. Wen Yuncheng kicked his body, sending it rolling off the stage. Her gaze swept across the astonished, gaping faces below as she said coldly, "Who else wants to fight me?"
"…" Everyone who met her gaze looked away evasively. For a moment, no one stepped forward.
At this moment, the clan disciples below the stage and Wen Yuncheng on it all seemed to recall the prodigy from five years ago.
Wen Yuncheng didn't know what others were thinking, but she truly felt a sense of melancholy. And she truly found it all boring.
In this family, or rather, since coming to this other world, she had never felt the warmth of kinship.
Strength was respected, talent was respected. As long as you were strong enough, everyone would fawn over you, everyone would flock to you and want to be your friend. But when you lost your strength, you lost your value. You would even attract those who were once jealous to drag you deeper into the mire, wishing you would never see the light of day again.
Wen Yuncheng gave a bitter smile. The only thing she could say was… at least they were just kids? At least they were all from the same family. If that weren't the case, from this day forward, Wen Ziyu would probably start plotting to kill her, right? Although the thought was somewhat absurd, Wen Yuncheng was genuinely worried.
Thankfully, clan members couldn't kill each other…
She had gained 2 points. The mission settlement required her to leave the stage. Right now, she had only defeated Wen Ziyu, so she had only received the daily points for defeating a hater.
Wen Yuncheng looked at the heads in the crowd, waiting for the next challenger.
Her display had been so high-profile that even though she had defeated Wen Ziyu, not everyone believed they were weaker than him. Moreover, those people had already seen her skills and thought they could handle them perfectly. Defeating her now would not only prove their own strength but also allow them to subtly rise by stepping on Wen Ziyu's name. In the end, some were tempted.
Wen Yuncheng remained on the stage until evening, finally rubbing her long-empty stomach. She jumped off the stage and left quietly.
The moment she jumped down, the crowd that had been gathered around the stage parted to make a path for her, which made Wen Yuncheng pause for a moment. Then, a slightly bitter smile appeared on her face as she walked toward the kitchen.
Tomorrow… she had to go buy some food like steamed buns and dried meat that could be stored in her ring. Eight cubic meters could hold steel blocks and clothes, but it could also store some food and water.
Suddenly having money and a storage ring, Wen Yuncheng, who had been poor for so long, didn't even know what else she could buy. Today, she had guarded the stage because she couldn't bear to miss out on the mission rewards, but it had made her terribly hungry and taught her a lesson about what to prepare next time.
Of course, the System had said she could buy food with points. But Wen Yuncheng was not willing to do that. Points were hard-earned, even rarer than Star Stones! And one point for a single steamed bun? She would rather starve.
However, after guarding the stage for so long, including Wen Ziyu, she had only fought six people.
She had gained 60 EXP and 12 points.
Host: Wen Yuncheng
Race: Human
Age: 15
Class: Mechanical Master
Level: 5
Experience: 15/80
Points: 16
Star Apostle… Second Layer.
Wen Yuncheng was filled with emotion. This was even faster than her original cultivation. But she also knew it was because the EXP bar was small at the beginning. 5/10/20/40/80, the next would be 160. Each level was harder than the last.
[Missions with higher difficulty will also grant more EXP and points. The host need not worry.] 1947 explained in a serious tone. It didn't want to scare its host. Compared to its previous hosts, 1947 was extremely kind to Wen Yuncheng, as she was the first female host it had ever contracted.
"I know. Thank you." Wen Yuncheng smiled. If 1947 had never appeared, she would have remained a waste forever, with no chance to change. Although her becoming a waste was not unrelated to 1947, Wen Yuncheng didn't want to dwell on it too much.
After all, it was something that had already happened and couldn't be changed. Sometimes, it was more important to accept the facts and move forward with determination.
1947 watched as Wen Yuncheng snuck into the kitchen and wolfed down a cold, hard steamed bun, and for some reason, its electronic heart felt a stir.
…Those were the leftovers of the Wen family's servants.
It glanced at the hot, white, fluffy steamed buns in the shop, which cost one point each. It directly deducted two points from Wen Yuncheng and placed the buns in her hand.
[Ding! Purchased Steamed Bun *2]
Wen Yuncheng stared at the hot buns that had suddenly appeared in her hands, a look of confusion on her face. "1947? Are these a gift from you?"
The response she received was 1947 opening her character panel, where the glaring number "14" was displayed in the points column.
"…I'll kill you, you spendthrift system!"
"This is a forced purchase, it's illegal! I'm going to sue you, I'm going to file a complaint!!!"
"Wuwuwu, one point for a steamed bun, are you a rip-off store! I bet if you didn't force-sell them, no host would ever be willing to buy food from your shop!"
After complaining for a long time, 1947 remained silent. Wen Yuncheng also stopped talking. She glanced at the half-eaten hard bun in her hand and put it into her storage ring. Then she took a bite of the bun the system had forced her to buy.
It was hot and fluffy. With one bite, the flour seemed to melt on her tongue, followed by a rich, milky aroma that was clean and pure. As she continued to chew, the sweet flavor spread throughout her mouth.
In just a minute, Wen Yuncheng had devoured the bun, almost swallowing her tongue along with it. She thought she must have been starving to find even a plain steamed bun so delicious. Now that she was half-full, the remaining one probably wouldn't taste as good.
With that thought, Wen Yuncheng picked up the remaining bun and took a small bite. It was immediately followed by another large one. 1947 watched its host finish the second bun in two or three bites before speaking:
[System products are guaranteed to be of the highest quality.]
[Even if it's just a steamed bun, it's a delicacy the likes of which has never been seen on this entire continent.]
Author's Notes
1947: Look at this pitiful low-plane host, can't even afford a steamed bun.
Comments
Post a Comment