VR Experience (2)

The crowd went silent as he made the challenge. They all looked behind them to get a view of the chosen opponent while Ian sat there frozen to the spot. He couldn't believe what was happening right now, and he doesn't want to believe it either.

"I told you that your outfit would draw attention to you," Bria sighed. "You look like some veteran fighter in that outfit."

"Um, I'm sorry," Ian said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm just here as a spectator. I'm not interested in fighting anyone."

"Oh, come on!" someone from the crowd groaned. "Don't spoil the fun! Go out there and fight! It's a game anyway! It's not like you would be getting hurt in real life!"

"He is right," Bria added. "That guy has been choosing contestants randomly from the crowd and it's been quite fun seeing the random show of strength. We've seen some impressive and bad opponents. You'll put a damper on the fun if you refuse."

"I'm not obligated to agree either," Ian retorted. "I refuse your challenge."

"I'll wager 100 coins for your participation!" the challenger said.

"What's up with this guy?" Ian thought, but the sound of money was tempting.

"I'm sorry but I have nothing to stake," Ian replied.

"You don't have to," he replied. "As a motivation, you get 50 coins for participating and 100 coins if you win."

"That's some cool money," Bria whistled. "There's nothing to lose."

Ian couldn't help but agree to that.

"What are you hesitating for?" she asked. "Isn't this the reason why you are hiding in the first place? You can do whatever you want in here and no one would know it was you."

Ian thought about it for a few seconds before letting out a deep breath.

"Come out already!" someone in the crowd yelled again.

"Who is he?" Ian asked. "Is he strong?"

"I don't know his actual name but he's known by the username, Stud," she said. "He's among the third years. He's quite strong and I heard a few people say he has a great ability too but he hasn't used any ability until now."

Oh," Ian said, troubled that he knew nothing of the person's ability.

"Hurry and stop dawdling," Bria shoved him lightly. "We're all waiting."

Ian slowly stood up and he could already feel everyone's eyes boring into him. He had attracted everyone's attention here and it was obvious from their eyes that it wasn't in a good way. Many people were annoyed at him for taking too long to come out when he had such a great offer.

Stud watched the person he had picked walk down the stairs to the ring with a smile. He had no special reason for picking this person. He noticed that among everyone cheering him, only this person looked uninterested in his presence. He assumed the reason for this was because the person was strong and unimpressed by his performance so far, unknown to him that Ian only came a few minutes ago. He also thought the outfit looked cool and assumed the person who chose it was also strong and cool.

He was quite simple-minded. He has always believed in brute strength and a healthy body so he proudly showed it off as he only wore white shorts and nothing else, baring his toned muscles.

As Ian got into the ring, he punched his fists which were covered with gauntlets together with a large smile on his face.

"You must be quite strong," he smiled as he saw that even in front of his opponent, Ian's face was calm and expressionless.

Unknown to him, Ian was already regretting his decision to cover the bottom part of his face as it covered his terrified expression. He didn't raise his stats and he never even thought about fighting when he came here.

"Why does my luck suck so much?" Ian thought. "It seems like I get targeted everywhere I go.

*Ding*

The familiar sound rang in his head along with the screen.

[Quest Update: Defeat your opponent.]

[Reward: 5 stat points]

[Additional reward: Instant level up.]

[Additional rewards would only be given if the system is impressed by the host's performance.]

"What?" Ian thought as his eyes widened. "The system works in here too? I didn't think to even try when I came in here." His surprise soon turned into annoyance after reading the conditions for additional reward.

"So I am now a form of entertainment to fogs the system, huh?" he thought.

"Are you ready, Mr Anonymous?" Stud asked in a whisper. "You've been standing there for a little while now. The spectators are getting restless. Let's get this started."

"Oh, yes," Ian said as he tried to focus on the fight. He wasn't just gonna lose. Since he was anonymous, no one would target him after this so he decided to at least try his best. He'll worry about the system later. "Can I use weapons?"

"Of course," Stud replied as he bumped his fists together again. "I'm using gauntlets so it's only fair."

"Okay," Ian said as he brandished his daggers. He doesn't have much experience with weapons but he chose the dagger because he could use them just as easily as his fists and the bladed edges would inflict damage even though his strength is much.

He got in a stance identical to Stud's, with his legs bent for balance and one leg in front of the other. He held the dagger with the blades backwards to help him use his fists freely.

Considering how weak he was, he knew his opponent was definitely faster and stronger than him so he made sure to keep that in mind before charging in.

A loud beep echoed through the arena to signify the start of the fight and they both dashed towards each other, with Stud closing the distance faster before Ian even reached a quarter of the stage.

Stud threw a heavy punch at Ian's head, with his whole body following through with the punch. It was hard enough to knock off Ian's head in one blow, but Ian knew this too. He anticipated the punch and immediately sidestepped, avoiding the punch and giving him enough space to slash upward at Stud's arm, just below his armpit.

He ducked a follow-up swing from Stud at his head and moved in closer to deliver a slash across Stud's stomach. He immediately rolled away to safety, creating some distance between them. He would have liked to keep up the tempo of the fight but he knew that would be his undoing since one punch from Stud could take him out of the fight.

"You're really good," Stud grinned, ignoring his bleeding arm and torso as he charged in again.

This time, he threw a kick at Ian's side expecting him to dodge, but Ian threw him off guard as he ran towards him instead, getting away from his leg's range and closer to his thigh which had less force. As the thigh got closer, he stabbed one dagger into his thigh and the other into his torso, pushing slightly to get him off his balance.

Even though he was off-balance, Stud still threw a punch at Ian's head which Ian had also anticipated and ducked away from, letting go of the dagger in his thigh and dragging the other across his torso again as he created distance between them.

"Stop running around!" Stud yelled, getting frustrated now as he charged in again with the dagger still in his thigh, but he ignored the pain.

Ian did not attempt to dodge as Stud decided to not throw a punch or any attack this time but instead grabbed Ian's shirt to stop him from moving. Ian let him grab him and as he did, he immediately threw another punch at Ian's head, sure that this one would hit this time.

Unknown to him, he fell into Ian's trap as Ian stabbed his fist and immediately pulled out the dagger in his thigh which he drove into his chest.

With the dagger in his chest, his health dropped from 70 to 30, but Ian didn't stop there. He pulled it out again and turned the blade forward this time before driving it into h.m neck. Stud let go of him immediately, staggering backwards as he clawed the dagger away from his throat and threw it to the floor.

Ian followed after him immediately and picked the dagger from floor as he saw that Stud's health still remained 10. He slashed at his thigh, then spun to the side and stabbed him in his obliques, dragging the dagger along it horizontally and stabbing the dagger into his back.

Stud had no time to counter or react as he staggered backwards. Ian grabbed the dagger still lodged in his fist and pulled it in the opposite direction, making it tear through his palm as it freed itself.

He tackled him to the ground quickly and stabbed the dagger in his forehead, bringing Stud's health to 0.

There was silence in the arena as everyone watched the carnage that just took place. They were lost for words as they watched the blue haired avatar who only had half his face open stand above the disappearing body of one of the strongest close combat fighters among the third years.

"Who is he?" was the question on the lips of everyone who watched it.

"Stud didn't even land a hit," some others said as they stated in disbelief.

Among the crowd, the most surprised person was Bria who interacted with him. The person she talked to was scared to fight. He didn't look like he was this good at fighting.

"Who are you?" she said out loud.

[Congratulations. Quest completed.]