Pay to win?

As Wine Robber's HP fell to 1, a bright layer appeared and covered his body, protecting him from further damage. It was just like the death preventive measure of the Tower of Heroes; a protective barrier was there to stop the defeated player from dying. The Ranked Battle was after all just a competition. There was no reason for players to lose levels there, but this functionality could be disabled in the Custom Battles if players really wanted to fight to death.

As the barrier appeared, a banner suddenly materialized above Li Wei's head and a loud "Victory" was heard.

Wine Robber was standing there completely shocked. He was defeated so easily. His opponent did not even give him a chance to retaliate. Even though he knew that warriors had an advantage over rogues in this situation, he should have at least been able to bring him down to half health. Yet, his opponent was carelessly standing under the victory banner with more than 75% Health.

"That was a good fight!" said his opponent as he quickly vanished from the Water Temple. Only then did Wine Robber get himself together but he did not have time to answer as his opponent already left. All he could do now was to send a friend request.

...

Upon exiting the Water Temple, Li Wei reappeared in his lobby. "Well, that wasn't too bad! If all fights are like this, a twenty-win streak will be easy," said Li Wei to himself.

A few seconds later, Li Wei pressed the screen in front of him and asked for another challenge. The roulette once again spun and shortly after, it revealed a player's name: Tall and Handsome.

"Huh! What kind of name is that?"

He quickly looked at the profile on the side. Tall and Handsome was a level 12 mage who had already won a match earlier. As such, a ten-minute long video was available for Li Wei to learn about his opponent.

Li Wei sat down on the bench as he took out a health potion to fill his HP bar. At the same time, he pressed the "Play" button of the video.

As the screen started to play, Li Wei was stunned when he saw his future opponent. The man displayed on the screen was completely different from his name. Instead of being tall and handsome, the man was quite short and obese; the thick mage robe made him look like a round ball.

Tall and Handsome looked fairly young, his skin was white and smooth, a clear sign that he lived a comfortable life until now.

Li Wei quietly watched the video. He saw Tall and Handsome openly walk to the center of the map and seconds later, he shouted something. Unfortunately, the video footage Li Wei had access to right now did not have any audio. That was the one downside of the videos in the lobby. All these videos were actually available if one searched the player's profile outside the lobby but once inside, limited footage was available; it was already a huge advantage to be able to watch these videos in the lobby, some limitations had to be implemented.

Tall and Handsome continued to shout at the empty arena in front of him. Li Wei was curious. What could that guy be shouting? Was he not afraid that his opponent would use this to find his location?

However, what happened next surprised Li Wei. Tall and Handsome's opponent, a female ranger came out from her hiding spot and charged at Tall and Handsome. But no matter how he looked at the scene, there was absolutely no reason for the ranger to do this.

Following that, since the ranger was now in sight and running in an open area, Tall and Handsome immediately unleashed all his spells at the ranger. More importantly, the ranger did not even seem to try to dodge. She simply ran in a straight line with her two daggers drawn but her facial expression displayed all the signs of a sane and rational person.

The ranger was eliminated after the whole series of spells of Tall and Handsome.

"Mmmm, what did that guy say for the ranger to act in such a way?" said Li Wei to himself. In the end, the footage was not very helpfu. He immediately declared that he was ready for the fight.

At the same time, his opponent responded and both were teleported to the arena.

"That guy accepted so quickly?" thought Li Wei as he opened his eyes. This time, he found himself in a dark and gloomy environment. He immediately recognized this map, it was the Lost Ruins.

...

[Begin]

As soon as the countdown ended, Li Wei immediately rushed out towards the center of the Lost Ruins. Based on what he saw, he thought that there was a high chance for Tall and Handsome to adopt the same strategy and so, decided to go near the center.

He was extremely curious. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not find anything that could make the ranger act this way. Li Wei walked through the Lost Ruins and finally settled behind a shattered wall. It was a perfect hiding spot in the shadows from where he could watch the open area of the center of the map.

The Lost Ruins was a map that was especially beneficial for rogues. There were a lot of hiding spots and people could easily ambush other players. Furthermore, the map always had a night setting, reducing the visibility of the players.

Li Wei silently waited and finally, he saw the large silhouette of Tall and Handsome appear. The latter looked tired. He was clearly not someone used to heavy exercises but just now, he had to bring his heavy body all the way here.

He panted for a few seconds before shouting:" I know you can hear me! I am here to propose a deal! Will you hear me?"

"A deal? Is that a trap?" thought Li Wei as he observed the fatty for any sign of danger.

The latter was still catching his breath and did not seem to be anxious. "You have probably watched my last fight's video, so you know what happened! My deal is very simple, I shall pay you 10 gold but in exchange, you shall let me kill you, what do you think?" shouted Tall and Handsome at the open area.

"Pay me to surrender? Is that why the ranger did that?" thought Li Wei. Although 10 gold was a decent amount of money, Li Wei was not lacking in gold. What he really needed was the win streak. Besides, there was no way Li Wei was going to accept this obvious bribe. He was not a saint but being someone who lived an honest life at the bottom of the society; one thing he hated was corruption.

"Mr. Seven. You should listen to me before you make your decision. I am Zhou Weiqing! The direct heir of Zhou Corporation! I am sure that you've heard about this company. My father is its sole owner!" shouted Tall and Handsome.

"Zhou Corporation?" thought Li Wei. He naturally knew about that company, it was one of the leading companies in the food industry and had a good reputation.

"The reason I am here is for me to inherit Zhou Corporation. A few days ago, my father declared that if I was to win all my unranked matches, then I will immediately be declared as the heir of the company! Even though the company no longer exists in reality, we are starting to develop at Algate City and will soon be the 4th guild to rent a store!" continued Tall and Handsome.

"As such, I must succeed! I know that you are already a member of a powerful guild and so, it will be worthless for me to offer you a spot in mine. However, if you do agree to surrender, I shall pay you 20 gold in total. It is only your second match, it will be easy for you, a member of the Fleeting Clouds Sect, to win all your matches! And fear not, I am not a scammer, we can trade now and sign a contract if you agree," shouted Tall and Handsome before sitting down at the center of the plaza to catch his breath.

Tall and Handsome was very confident in himself. He believed that there was no way for Li Wei to refuse 20 gold. Especially since he first proposed 10 gold and dramatically increased it to 20. Such a change would often create a psychological reaction, making the person more likely to say yes. That was one of the few tricks he learned from working under his father.

As for Li Wei, he quickly took out his two swords and silently approached Tall and Handsome. After listening to Tall and Handsome, he already took his decision. What was 20 gold? He would not even accept it if he was offered 200 gold. However, the one thing he appreciated was that Tall and Handsome told him that the Trade System still worked inside the fighting arena. This was a small detail, but it might come in handy in the future.

Tall and Handsome continued to sit down and patiently waited. He was not anxious. He clearly knew that it was not an easy decision to make. It was normal for his opponent to hesitate. 'He is probably testing the trade system to see if it works,' thought Tall and Handsome.

But suddenly, the ring on Tall and Handsome's ring finger suddenly shone brightly as a transparent barrier covered his body. "Boom." Two long swords mercilessly struck the transparent barrier.

"This? Why are you doing that? Are you really going to say no to 20 gold?" asked Tall and Handsome, visibly confused. He was not prepared for battle but fortunately, he purchased a ring containing the spell [Water Barrier] that would automatically activate if he was to take more than 30 damage at once.

Li Wei ignored Tall and Handsome and quickly followed up by swinging a sword towards his right leg and the other towards his neck.

The water barrier shattered from this attack and finally, Tall and Handsome reacted, "You... If 20 gold is not enough, then what about 30 gold? You can easily get a Grade 1 equipment for that!" shouted Tall and Handsome as he activated [Mana Shield] to protect himself.

However, Li Wei seemed to not hear him and spun onto himself before jumping and striking towards Tall and Handsome's head.

[Mana Shield] broke under the attack, forcing Tall and Handsome to take several steps back. "You... Since it's like that, I can only fight back!" shouted Tall and Handsome as he started to cast his [Mana Burst] towards Li Wei.

But the latter did not allow him to complete his casting, [Howl].

"F***" said Tall and Handsome as he took another step back.

[Mana Whip]

A blue whip started to condense in front of Li Wei, but the latter disregarded it and used his Gliding Steps to move to Tall and Handsome's side. Without hesitation, he quickly swung his sword, "-24","-23".

"F*** you. You must be a lackey sent by my brother to prevent me from inheriting the company! I shall not allow this!!! I will tell dad about this!" shouted Tall and Handsome. He lost his cool under the pressure. He never expected Li Wei to sneak attack him this way. Considering the deal he was offering, he could have at least fought him fair and square but now, he was in a predicament.

As a mage, he already knew he was in a very bad position, the number one rule as a mage has always been to keep their distance from melee attackers. But now, Li Wei was swinging his sword merely a few centimeters away from him.

No matter what he tried, Li Wei simply did not let him retreat and constantly attack.

A few seconds later, the protective light of the Colosseum appeared, enveloping Tall and Handsome's body. "You... You... You will regret this!"

Li Wei ignored Tall and Handsome. He was disgusted at that guy's behaviour. "He is probably just one of those good for nothing that just take advantage of their parent's work!" said Li Wei to himself.

...

Two hours later, Li Wei once again appeared in the lobby. "Ahh. I am so tired but now, I am finally ranked!" said Li Wei as he sat on the bench. He has just finished his fifth Ranked Match, that meant that he was now attributed a rank.

As he opened his profile, he quickly noticed a change, the once empty part of his profile now displayed a brownish badge, below it was "Bronze 5".

"Bronze 5? It looks like everyone starts from the very bottom!" Despite winning all his 5 unranked matches, he obtained the lowest rank possible. That could only mean that everyone started from there.

When he looked at the ranking, more than 10000 people were currently at Bronze 5 and that was just for Algate City. Li Wei sighed. He was displeased at himself; while it was rewarding for him to go to Abe's Forest, it was clear that he lost his lead when it came to exp and the ranking. He was now in urgent need of some grinding at the dungeon and he could also take the opportunity to obtain some Goblin blood.

"Let's go to the training center for now, there's still a few hours before dinner, I might as well train some techniques. This way I can sleep early and go hunting early in the morning!"

...

Li Wei thanked the receptionist and left the Colosseum for the Training Center. Both buildings were in the War District. It would not take more than 10 minutes for Li Wei to reach his destination.

At this time of the day, the War District was relatively desolate. But that would completely change in a few hours when all the players would come back from their hunt.

Li Wei was quietly enjoying the calm atmosphere when suddenly he heard heavy footsteps coming from the side.

As he raised his head, he saw Cai Wenji and Bright Sun quickly coming out of an alley and a few seconds later, three other players that Li Wei recognized as members of the Cai Family also appeared.

But what really attracted Li Wei's attention was their facial expression, it was clear that Cai Wenji and Bright Sun were not very happy. The latter even seemed to be on the verge of crying. As for the other three, all Li Wei saw on their face was indifference.