Chapter 4: Deathmatch

"...What's the real reason you brought her here?"

Min's gaze became suspicious. Fae had always been a trickster in the worst possible ways. She even peeked at him in the shower once!

Plus, he didn't want a slave for both moral and practical reasons. It was cramped enough in his room as is.

"In truth, we ran out of beds in the common quarters. We already have people bunched together there, so they told me to put her with you! Don't make too many babies~"

Fae giggled as she shoved the woman into the room and closed the curtain doors quickly. The curtains swayed due to the force, showing Fae's skipping figure escape.

These curtains never gave Min much privacy, so he rarely used the small TV to the left of the curtain door. He had always been an obedient kid and never made trouble for his parents, so he could entertain himself effectively. Well… never was a strong word.

An awkward silence permeated the room as Min returned to looking at the forum. The woman sat by him on the bed and tensely rested her hands in her lap, giving Min a side-eyed stare.

'Looks like there's only "Wow, Galaxy is here!" posts so far. Ah, there's the Nudity Club. Did they not read the rating for the game? Lewd behavior is banned for the Players! But it's not for me…'

Min laughed lightly to himself before remembering the woman was still there. He went to glance at her, but she spoke up with a puzzled voice before he could.

"Are you busy…?"

Min finished his head turn and met her gaze. Even Min would be confused by a stranger randomly laughing to themself, so he understood where she was coming from.

"Not really. Are you gonna ask me where you're sleeping? 'Cuz you're sitting on it."

Min patted the bed they were both sitting on. It was a twin-sized bed, and it only barely fit Min by himself. Now he had to sleep with a woman? They'd practically be cuddling! Strangers shouldn't be that intimate!

He wasn't like the Great, Venerable Han- he had little experience with women. He did, however, possess discipline- a skill cultivated from both before and after transmigration. The woman looked down at the bed, processed what he said, and replied.

"Oh. Where will you sleep?"

Min pointed at the bed.

"Here. We'll both be sleeping here since this room's basically just a bed."

The woman looked quite bothered by this and her grip on the sheets tightened.

"Oh. Uhm… is there not another way?"

Min was speechless. Did she forget about their situation?

"If you complain, they'll put you on the floor. We're enslaved, remember? You must be new… have they told you what you're going to be doing?"

The woman seemed to remember something. Her entire demeanor changed as she tapped her chin lightly, trying to recall her position.

"Hmm… They said I would be a server, if I remember right. Please forget my concerns about the bed."

Min's eyebrows lightly rose. She was a little too calm in this situation. Even Min was rather flustered when he got captured. Well, that's a misrepresentation. He was very scared at the time.

Seeing this woman act like it was a normal Tuesday caused many possibilities to flash through his head, but he decided to not comment on them for now.

"So, what's your name? Mine's Meng Min, but you can call me Min."

The woman looked back at Min.

"Damira Tursyn."

"Nice to meet you. I have to get to my scheduled battle, so I'll see you around. Oh, I'll get dinner on my way back, so don't worry about that."

Min stood up and made sure she agreed before he left the room. He wasn't thrilled about his new roommate, but it was what it was. She didn't seem bad, but he'd have less room on the bed now.

She also might snoop through his stuff and find that certain item under his bed. It would be an easy thing to explain, though, so Min wasn't worried.

'Hopefully, she can entertain herself like I can. If she is one of those dreaded tablet children, I will cry myself to sleep.'

Min shook his head as he entered the arming room. He opened a cabinet and retrieved his gear. Due to his position, he had been given some decent armor and a better longsword. Both were only Gray in quality, but they were better than his initial gear.

He quickly put the armor on and tied the sword to his hip. The incoming battle was a guaranteed deathmatch, which meant that one fighter couldn't just surrender before they died.

After becoming a real Arena warrior, Min had only killed a few people. The Arena was a business, after all. They wanted to preserve their talents for as long as possible while balancing entertainment value. While waiting for the gate to lift, he warmed up for the fight- both mentally and physically.

The familiar creaking sound harassed Min's ears as he looked up mid-stretch. He hopped to his feet, rested his hand on his sword's handle, and walked out of the gate area.

Min stepped out into the arena grounds and a few people cheered. His dashing good looks and tenacity had attracted a few fans in the audience.

Instead of making him happy, this cheering always made him feel weird.

They realized he wasn't here by choice, right? Maybe they should help their favorite pit fighter escape!

From across the way, a furry man walked out of the north gate. He was a beastman of moderate size- about 1.9 meters tall and decently bulky. He rested the handle of a long battleaxe on his traps and wore a fierce expression.

This beastman was familiar to Min. They had fought a few times before but neither had gone all out like they would today. Min faintly remembered this beastman's stat page and had a general idea of his strength.

However, now that he was level 20, he could definitely see everything.

"Welcome back to the Underground Arena! Today, we have the "Cockroach" Meng Min against the "Fur Lord" Timurid!"

The announcer's annoying voice sounded throughout the arena. The crowd cheered as the two fighters stopped about ten meters away from each other.

"Today is this month's Deathmatch, and we have a great show for you today! Will the Cockroach's explosive output and persistence be able to break the Fur Lord's tempered body? Today, we shall find out! The battle shall begin in 5 seconds. Prepare yourselves, fighters!"

A digital countdown appeared on the massive screens around the arena. Min narrowed his eyes and drew his sword with a reverse grip. Once fully drawn, he smoothly switched to a more orthodox grip.

Min accepted the battle mission presented to him as the timer slowly reached zero. He closed his eyes and reviewed the plan in his head once again. 

Once the timer reached zero, a loud bell rang out through the entire arena. Min's eyes snapped open as Timurid gripped his battle axe and rushed toward him with great power.

Min quickly picked up a nearby pebble and threw it at the approaching Timurid. He knocked the pebble away as it hit him from across the arena, giving Min Timurid's combat information.

—-----------------------------------------------------------

Name: Timurid

Level: 19

Main Class: N.A

Subclass(es):

[Arena Fighter Lv. 9]

[Heavy Axe Warrior Lv. 9]

[Civilian Lv. 1]

Race: Beastman

Attributes: 39 STR, 10 DEX, 34 END, 9 INT, 1 MYS, 5 CHA, 3 LUK

Health: 517/518

Stamina: 640/645

Grade: F

Skills:

[Basic Armed Combat Lv. 6] (Expand/collapse)

[Basic Reflection Lv. 3] (Expand/collapse)

[Basic Movement Technique Lv. 2] (Expand/collapse)

[Grueling Conditioning Lv. 10] - +110 health.

[Axe Proficiency Lv. 9] - +9% damage when using an Axe of any kind.

[Desperate Rampage] - When below 5% health, use all remaining energy to increase STR by 20 for 10 seconds.

[Beastial Body Structure] - Your species has adapted their bodies toward strength rather than intelligence. +5 STR and -5 INT. END:health conversion: 1:2 

—-----------------------------------------------------------

'Damn, that's a lot of HP! A whole 200 more than me and he's not even a Pugilist…' Min frowned while he continued throwing rocks at the rapidly approaching Beastman. He could only throw two more rocks before Timurid came in striking range, after which Min picked up a handful of dirt.

Timurid swung his arms above his head to wind up a strike, and at the right moment, Min threw the dirt at Timurid. But this dirty little trick had been used too many times! Timurid held his breath and closed his eyes while he completed his swing.

Even before re-opening his eyes, panic struck Timurid. His axe had met the dirt, not flesh. Alarmed, he tried to recover, but Min had already struck.

Timurid suddenly felt a pain in his lower back- Min had used the dirt as a diversion to delay and distract Timurid. With his Dex and mobility advantage, Min had moved behind Timurid as the swing was completed.

He used [Basic Internal Circulation] at its maximum output a moment before his attack connected.

—-----------------------------------------------------------

You have landed a blow!

"-60"

Timurid gains the [Light Bleeding] Status Effect, losing 1 hp/s for 10 seconds.

—-----------------------------------------------------------

Min quickly backed away as Timurid pivoted on his feet and kicked toward Min. The kick only grazed Min's stomach as he retreated in time. His armor only lost three durability from the graze. Min reoriented himself and prepared to block.

Now that he had activated [Basic Internal Circulation], finishing the battle quickly was a must. Timurid, angry at Min's dirty trick, rushed toward Min again. They entered in a scuffle, with Min trying to avoid Timurid's dangerous axe and Timurid trying to land hits on Min.

With Min's close dodges, his shoulder-length, messy golden blonde hair was occasionally cut unevenly.

'Crude haircutti- woah!' Min ducked under one of Timurid's swings and the Beastman kicked Min after a short recovery, dealing around 30 damage. Min was launched a few feet back and regained his footing before Timurid could follow up.

Though that mistake cost Min a good amount of HP, Min was the type to reflect on his mistakes mid-battle and do better. He flipped back onto his feet and grabbed his sword with both hands, dashing toward Timurid.

After a short ten seconds of intense exchange, an opportunity showed itself. Min parried a sloppy attack from the Beastman and widened his eyes to the extreme, feeling as if time slowed around him.

In this focused state, he analyzed the best sequence of attacks. This skill had been developed during his childhood while training under his father, but the last 7 months of life-threatening battle had truly unlocked it.

Though he had played games similar to Galaxy in his previous life, none were as realistic. Real experience always won out over simulations, and that was an opportunity transmigration had provided him.

After calculating the path of his strikes, Min sprung into action. During the next five seconds, he completely dominated the beastman. Wounds stacked up on Timurid's body, making his movement more and more sluggish. As Min's energy levels closed in on 30, he found that he had racked up an impressive 400 points of damage.

Seeing that Timurid was close to dead, Min subconsciously relaxed. But before Min could finish his last swing, the blood-drenched Beastman's muscles suddenly flexed.

His eyes flashed and he swiftly swung his axe into Min's armored side!