Chapter 14: Brutal Tyranny

"Oh, by the way." Li Yao turned around again, asking Li Haitao, "Are you sure you want it to be best of three?"

Li Haitao finally broke into a smile and tauntingly replied, "What, you're backing out?"

"You've misunderstood, I'm just double-checking so there's no change to best of five or best of seven later. I don't mind but it wouldn't be fair to let others wait because of us." Li Yao gave a radiant smile, "Don't you think so, leader Li?"

The students watching burst into laughter, causing a commotion.

Li Haitao's smile froze on his face again. He took a few deep breaths to prevent himself from rushing up to PK Li Yao.

"Enough talking, let's start." Li Haitao was verging on exploding.

Although others might not have noticed, Qin Feng Yi's forehead furrowed even tighter. Li Yao had changed so much, he was barely recognizable compared to her old impression of him.

The current Li Yao was less impulsive but exhibited more wisdom and cunning. From the moment they started squaring off, Li Haitao had unintentionally been suppressed.

Li Yao was calm, but was known to be very irritable with Li Haitao.

"Who do you guys think will win this round?" Wang Xiaolei asked.

"Well, it's hard to say..."

If it had been a moment ago, they would have certainly thought that Li Haitao would win; that luxurious gear was just too overwhelming and rumor had it that it cost an average person's salary for two years.

But just now, the formidable Li Haitao couldn't even touch Li Yao's shirt before becoming irritated and turning into a porcupine. Now everyone was hesitating to judge.

Wang Qiang stated loudly,"Is there even a doubt? Haitao will surely win. Just now they couldn't use items, but now that they can, Li Yao is bound to lose."

Zhang Ming also chimed in,"Do you guys know about magic scrolls and speed potions? Hehe, you'll know when you see them. Let's just say, the starting bid for a potion is at least two silver coins."

Wang Xiaolei frowned,"Feng Yi, maybe you can explain for everyone, otherwise everyone will miss out on a lot of the action."

While everyone was discussing, the two of them appeared on the screen again.

Qin Feng Yi pointed at the screen and said,"This time the two appeared in a place similar to the Ancient Roman Colosseum, another field advantage for Li Haitao."

"The PK has started, look, Li Haitao is holding a scroll that is shining a fiery red light, it must contain some kind of fire magic."

Everyone held their breath and listened carefully to Qin Feng Yi's explanation. They didn't expect her to have such a thorough understanding of the game, being able to deduce a lot from small details.

"Currently, everyone's level is below 5. As far as I know, the fire scrolls being sold in the stores are limited to the Fireball Technique Scroll and Strong Fire Scroll."

"The match has started, both of them started to attack simultaneously. Li Haitao tore a scroll, it's the Fireball Technique. Li Yao reacted quickly and used his Shadow Roll to dodge the Fireball Technique."

"Oh no, Li Haitao wants to control the pace. He quickly gulped down a basic speed potion and basic armor potion. For the next ten minutes, Li Haitao's movement speed will increase by 20% and his armor will increase by 20%. With Li Haitao's enhanced green equip, his armor value is horrifyingly high."

The duel turned heated from the start and all the old classmates at the gathering ceased their activities, craning their necks to watch this thrilling battle.

"The game should be over." A cold glint flickered in Li Haitao's eyes.

He flicked his wrist and as the scroll crumbled, a whiff of black smoke flashed past and a skeleton holding a bone scythe rushed at Li Yao from his right side."

At the same time, Li Haitao swifty closed in on Li Yao from the left side, aiming to quickly close the distance for a charge. Thanks to the speed potion, his speed was obviously much faster."

"It's bad, Li Yao is in a pinch now. Whether he attacks the skeleton or Li Haitao, he will get held up. As a hunter, being held up in close combat basically means death."

"Li Yao chose to attack the skeleton while trying to keep a distance from Li Haitao. But Li Haitao is too fast, he will be in charging range in three seconds. If he gets hit, Li Yao will be instantly killed."

Qin Feng Yi didn't realise that she was noticeably starting to worry for Li Yao.

"This is bad, Li Yao got close to the skeleton, but Li Haitao can already charge and he charged."

Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen. Almost everyone knew the match was over when they saw Li Haitao charging ahead.

Wang Qiang and Zhang Ming even let out excited roars.

Zhao Lei had already closed his eyes, but he heard an incredulous gasp in his ear.

"This can't be, the game must be bugged." Wang Yan screamed loudly.

"That's impossible." Li Haitao, who had collided with his own skeleton, roared furiously.

"I demand a review, halt the match." Li Haitao shouted.

The match paused and Qin Feng Yi brought up the replay, selecting slow-motion. A screen popped up in front of Li Yao and Li Haitao, displaying the previous footage.

Everything happened too quickly just now. Everyone thought that Li Yao was doomed, but somehow Li Haitao's charged attack hit his own summoned skeleton warrior instead of Li Yao.

But they clearly saw his target was Li Yao. The warrior's charge was considered a lock-on skill, it is impossible to dodge once the charge is launched, even in free mode.

"So that's what happened." Qin Feng Yi replayed the footage again and explained to the still baffled crowd, "Look, Li Haitao's target was indeed Li Yao, but we all forgot that while the charge is fast, taking less than half a second from initiation to collision, it still has a time difference."

Seeing that everyone was still confused, Qin Feng Yi looked at the nonchalant Li Yao and said again, "You guys forgot, they're both in free mode, and there's no absolute lock-on in free mode. Look, Li Haitao's charge path is not a straight line, but a curve. This curve happened because Li Yao used a Shadow Roll when Li Haitao was charging."

"Look, as Li Yao's position changes with his Shadow Roll, Li Haitao's charge path also bends accordingly. As Li Yao got behind the skeleton with his Shadow Roll, Li Haitao's charge arrived. This skill is a lock-on, true, and under enough distance it can change direction, following the path. But the issue is, at such speed and distance, Li Haitao's charge can't possibly perform a half-circle to avoid the skeleton warrior and still hit Li Yao. So the result is what we all saw."

"That's possible? Li Yao is too lucky." Zhang Ming said begrudgingly.

"That's damn lucky, he still doesn't die." Wang Yan complained resentfully.

Although no one responded, they all thought it was luck.

However, a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of Qin Feng Yi's mouth, and she said again, "Perhaps you all think this was luck for Li Yao, but on the contrary, it's not luck, it was Li Yao's calculated plan."

"That's impossible, even if you were Li Yao's girlfriend you shouldn't side with him." Wang Qiang retorted.

"Just like family indeed," Wang Yan sighed.

"Right? No one should be able to react so quickly, should they?"

However, Feng Yi responded with a faint smile, saying, "You're missing something," as she replayed the scene for a third time.

You're missing something? The crowd was baffled. In slow motion, they thought they saw everything clearly.

"Yes, you're missing something. You thought you saw everything, but did you really? The charge takes less than half a second, yet we are watching it in slow motion, fooling ourselves into thinking we understand. The reality is, everything happened within half a second."

Even Li Yao's best friend, Zhao Lei, was puzzled. "What exactly have we missed? Stop beating around the bush."

"I'm not. Like I said, you've disregarded a critical point. It takes less than half a second for a charge to hit its target. It's so fast it could rival the wind or lightning, but did you realize—if Li Yao activated his Shadow Roll just slightly earlier, considering how fast it is, even if Li Yao reached behind the skeleton, and then Haitao initiated the charge, what would happen?"

Feng Yi drew an arc, and everyone suddenly understood. If Li Yao had activated Shadow Roll a bit earlier, the several yards of distance would allow enough time for the charge to steer clear of the skeleton.

"What if Li Yao activated Shadow Roll a bit later?" inquired Zhao Lei.

Feng Yi chuckled lightly, "A bit later? Even if Haitao initiated the charge, it would take less than half a second to hit Li Yao. What do you think would happen if he was late?"

Then, all became clear to them.

"So, Li Yao only had less than half a second after Haitao began charging to be successful."

"Damn it, this reaction speed is too fast... is he human?"

"You overlooked the beginning, too. Li Yao had planned everything from the start when he charged the Skeleton Warrior."

"Impossible. You're telling me Haitao has been taken for a ride from the very beginning?"

"That's terrifying."

After Feng Yi's explanation, they finally understood, but the clearer they understood, the more they feared Li Yao.

"Your performance should be over too." As the countdown resumed, Li Yao, in the process of bending his bow, said, "That's all the tricks you've got? I'm disappointed."

Haitao, too, heard Feng Yi's commentary. His eyes firmly glued to Li Yao, as if seeing him for the first time.

Once the game resumed, while dodging Li Yao's first arrow with a roll, Haitao consistently rolled in an attempt to widen the distance.

Rather than giving chase, Li Yao crouched to deploy the Exploding Sheep.

Haitao was unfamiliar with the Exploding Sheep. Seeing it close in on him at a swift speed, he instinctively swung his blade at the sheep.

Boom...

A blaze exploded.

-38

With a scream of horror, the explosion sent Haitao flying into the air, rolling on the ground.

Staggered and dazed, Haitao had barely stood up when he saw the second Exploding Sheep advancing frantically towards him.

Haitao was in a blind panic, scrambling to get up and run quickly, but only after a few seconds, two Exploding Sheep were already behind him, and Li Yao was deploying the fourth.

"Li Yao, enough is enough! I will fight you to the death!" Haitao roared, having realized he was doomed if he continued running.

After setting up the fourth Exploding Sheep, Li Yao stood up quickly, immediately releasing a Charged Arrow.

Thwack...

The glowing arrow shaft hit Haitao's knee, knocking him down. For a creature of human size, hitting the center of gravity would cause an immediate fall.

"It would have been better to fight fair and square. You insisted on playing with props. If you had good props, it wouldn't matter. All you have, however, is the junk you bought from the store—no taste at all. Since you like props, I'll play along. I went easy on you during the last match, but you didn't appreciate it. You don't realize that in front of me, you don't even have the right to stand. Such a foolish man who can't read the situation."

Li Yao vented his bottled-up anger, only because ten years had allowed him to forget the petty rivalries among classmates. Despite this, his opponent's continuous provocations and failure to learn his lesson led Li Yao to decide not to spare his feelings any longer.

As he spoke, Li Yao deployed three arrow towers.

Boom, boom, boom...

Thwack, thwack, thwack...

One after another, the Exploding Sheep detonated and Haitao's body rolled around, unable to stand. The arrow tower's constant hits turned him into a human porcupine in no time.

"I'm going to kill you," Haitao screamed, his eyes filled with rage, his face dark and charred from the blasts.

But just as he got up, Li Yao—who was holding his shoulder—shot another arrow, causing Haitao to fall again.

Every time Haitao managed to stand, he'd face an arrow from Li Yao. No matter how much he rolled or struggled, he couldn't evade Li Yao's arrows.

His high health and high defense once were his bragging points, but now, they became the sources of his pain. He felt like a live target.

The audience was dumbstruck. Damn, was this not too brutal? They were speechless. They were outmatched in skill already. Hoping to regain some success using equipment and props, they ended up worse off in their second match. Following a god-like interruption of the charge, there was non-stop rolling, being hit by arrows, struggling back up, falling down, rolling, being hit by arrows—this cycle of torment was terrifying.

Even Feng Yi forgot about the commentary and could only stare stunned at Li Yao, who was deploying the Exploding Sheep and the Arrow Towers.

When the PK ended, Haitao was too embarrassed to show his face.

The crowd, however, gathered around Li Yao, seeking advice on the game. Li Yao tried his best to answer their questions.

Subsequently, during the meal, Li Yao was the center of attention, while Haitao never showed up, not even by the time the gathering ended...