Chapter 31: The Scheming Tactics of Unscrupulous Merchants

Chu Cheng finished defeating the strange creatures and flopped onto his bed. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, his stamina bar had fully replenished. He even felt more energized than before.

He had noticed earlier that this game not only allowed him to control various heroes from DC and A franchises to fight online, but it also served as a fitness simulator, enhancing his physical strength and overall fitness.

In fact, during his previous visit to the headquarters of the Special Operations Department for testing, Professor Miyazaki was disappointed with the results. He didn't see any outstanding physical advantages of a metahuman in Chu Cheng. However, for Chu Cheng personally, it was a significant breakthrough.

It's true that each person's physique is unique. For example, some people can fight tirelessly through the night without ever falling, while others are more like "I'm up, one shot and I'm gone," leaving their teammates tortured by their impatience.

Yes, you guessed it right. We're talking about playing battle royale games.

If your mind went astray, I suggest copying the core values of idealism a hundred times.

Chu Cheng knew himself well. He understood his own capabilities and limitations. He was a typical "otaku" who excelled only in gaming, lacking any other skills. He embodied the phrase "I'm submissive in real life, but I strike with a heavy blow in the game." Instead of cola, fat flowed through his veins.

To his surprise, the results of his physical fitness test this time turned out to be relatively excellent compared to his peers.

Considering that he had only been online a few times since starting the game, the efficiency of his physical enhancement was quite astonishing.

Of course, Chu Cheng could foresee that the initial improvements would be relatively easy, given his starting point. To put it in terms of high emotional intelligence, his progress potential was enormous, which meant that his enhancement would be rapid.

However, he knew that as he progressed further, the rate of improvement would inevitably slow down.

Moreover, he wasn't sure if relying solely on this method of enhancement would enable him to surpass the limits of the human body, or even join the ranks of those gifted individuals who could twist steel bars with their bare hands or crush boulders with their chests.

It seemed like there might be some strange elements mixed into all of this, but that wasn't important at the moment.

In addition to physical enhancement, the new heroes and equipment rewards obtained through the store using hero points were also crucial.

The new heroes determined the upper limit of the Pokémon, no, I mean, superheroes he could dispatch into battle. If he could quickly obtain someone like Superman or the Hulk, it would greatly boost his confidence.

Chu Cheng got up and freshened up, washing away the sweat and changing out of his sticky clothes. He ordered some takeout and immediately returned to his computer.

Although he felt refreshed after a good night's sleep, his stomach was growling with hunger. He knew that playing games was an intense and strenuous activity, and exercising on an empty stomach was harmful to the body. That's why he decided to order takeout instead of going out again in his superhero costume.

He logged into the game and went straight to the store.

After completing the mission last night, Batman disappeared due to excessive energy consumption, and Chu Cheng himself was also quite drained. After the game ended, he was squeezed dry, not even having the chance to assess the point rewards he obtained from the journey before falling onto the bed.

Now, it was time to carefully evaluate his gains from this adventure.

Last night, he cleared a villain's lair, ganked a dangerous infectious source with Agent Lou, engaged in a high-intensity battle against a giant tentacled monster, and ultimately defeated the infectious source, saving the world despite the repeated deaths inflicted by the Wayne couple.

Completing this wave of mission tasks brought forth point rewards that were incomparable to the previous casual fights with a few street hooligans. Upon logging in, Chu Cheng discovered that he had accumulated over 2,400 hero points and was even gifted a C-grade hero voucher, which could be used in the store for eight single-draw opportunities.

Without hesitation, Chu Cheng got up, repeatedly washed his hands in the bathroom to get rid of any bad luck, and returned to his computer ready to commence the draw.

Although every gacha player may secretly harbor the dream that "everything truly fortunate is an inevitable creation, even in gacha draws," the reality is often disappointing. It seems like the unscrupulous merchants and the goddess of bad luck conspire together, shattering the unrealistic fantasies of players time and time again.

Chu Cheng clicked on the C-grade teleportation gate and, holding his breath, directly activated the first draw. "Thank you for participating."

But it didn't matter. With 50 points, he could make forty-eight draws in the teleportation gate, thanks to his balance of over 2400 points. The failure of the first draw was just a small setback, as the saying goes, a practice blade for the real deal. In the words of a DNF player, it was just a "set-up" that couldn't be considered a shipwreck. The person in question remained emotionally stable for now.

So Chu Cheng continued.

Draw! Thank you for participating!

Draw! Thank you for participating!

Draw! Thank you for participating!

Thirteen consecutive "thank you for participating" messages appeared, and Chu Cheng's face grew darker, his emotions becoming more turbulent. With a hand that was trembling slightly, he moved the cursor towards the draw button for the fourteenth time.

Give me a hero, or even an equipment will do, anything!

Draw!

There's an old saying that says "great strength brings miracles," and Chu Cheng thought that maybe it was because he was clicking the mouse with enough force and intensity that, after thirteen consecutive "thank you for participating" messages, a burst of brilliance finally appeared on the screen.

There's another saying that a man might get overwhelmed by 3D, but he will never get overwhelmed by 36D. The latter perfectly describes the appearance of this new character amidst the brilliance.

The female hero had a figure with curves so impressive that they would seem exaggerated in reality. She flaunted a pair of fair and long legs with perfectly proportioned flesh and bone. In her hands, she wielded a pair of twin iron forks similar to those of Raphael, one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Erika, a Marvel anti-hero character, was the old flame of Matt Murdock, the Daredevil lawyer. A top-tier assassin, a master of combat and stealth, she could be considered at least a third-tier character in the vast Marvel universe filled with countless characters.

Of course, compared to these descriptions of abilities, the only unique feature she had for Chu Cheng was her ability to charge.

Top-tier combat skills? Clearly inferior to Batman. Master of stealth? He couldn't be less interested in that.

It was still the same awkward problem as the female hunter—redundancy with Batman's role.

Chu Cheng slowly realized that many heroes in the C-tier pool had similar issues. Because there were quite a few ordinary human heroes in this category, and the old man was the ceiling among them, he could do almost everything that others could do. As a result, the other street-level heroes seemed a bit redundant.

But it didn't matter, he still had plenty of points!

Let's go for another ten draws!

Two inexplicable hero equipment, six "thank you for participating" messages, and two new characters were obtained.

Once again, a new character with a curvaceous figure emerged, her flawless body wrapped in a tight black suit, evoking thoughts of certain latex outfits. Especially the way the tight black suit accentuated her exaggerated headlights, one couldn't help but exclaim that this pair was worthy of a showdown against evil.

What's even more extraordinary is that this girl has silver hair, a hair color that is quite rare in Western comics, to be honest.

Felicia Hardy, codenamed Black Cat, is a thief, an anti-hero, and a member of the superhero organization known as the Defenders Alliance. She is also part of Spider-Man's harem.

With her cat-like agility and thieving abilities, it's easy to see that she is Marvel's version of Catwoman. She even shares the characteristic of being romantically entangled with the main hero.

Of course, we can't call it plagiarism between Marvel and DC, it's more like a mutual understanding. After all, there are countless instances of creative exchange between the two companies. Today, Marvel might create a Justice League rip-off, and tomorrow DC might come up with an Avengers-inspired team. Marvel even came up with the idea of Thunder Agents, and DC coincidentally had the same idea with their Suicide Squad.

In short, it's hard to say who started this love-hate cycle.

As for how useful she'll be, it's hard to say. Her role as a thief is not as redundant with Batman. While Batman is also capable of theft, he is more of a superhero than a professional thief. Black Cat, on the other hand, possesses specialized stealing skills. So if you ever want to engage in some light-fingered activities, she could be a good choice for your team.

However, the appearance of the other new character from this ten-pull leaves people a bit puzzled.

Crowbar?

Chu Cheng's face was filled with confusion.

Does Marvel or DC have a hero like this?

Looking at the image of this hero, a black man with a hairstyle similar to Lex Luthor's, a bulky and muscular physique, dressed in a somewhat comical vest with a Punisher-style skull on the chest.

No, this guy looks more like one of those cannon fodder that Batman takes down while patrolling the streets at night. At best, he's just an elite henchman, neither resembling an important character nor a hero.

And what's with the code name "Crowbar"? Can the scriptwriters be any more casual with character names?

Chu Cheng, bewildered, clicked on the character's introduction, speculating that this guy might have an unremarkable appearance but a tragic and profound backstory. Perhaps "Crowbar" is a code name that hints at a continuous thread of sorrow and clues. After all, comic book writers excel at shaping characters with these elements.

However, that's not the case. Chu Cheng becomes even more confused after reading the character's profile.

The introduction states that this Crowbar character is a villain from DC Comics. Originally, he was just an ordinary gang leader, and the reason he's called Crowbar is that he found it handy to use a crowbar during street fights.

It seems reasonable, but something feels off.

According to the introduction, he was later noticed by a super-villain and recruited into a villainous organization. The new boss of the organization was quite generous and declared, "If you're with me, you'll have a meal to eat and a bowl to wash." Perhaps they felt that their league of super-villains lacked competent henchmen and appeared amateurish, so the boss graciously offered each of them a high-tech weapon.

So the boss asked, "What's your code name and what are your special skills?" Crowbar panicked and blurted out, "I-I'm called Crowbar, and my special skill is being really good with a crowbar."

The boss fell silent upon hearing this. Shortly after, Crowbar received his first and only high-tech weapon, which also granted him the qualification of a "super-powered criminal" — a crowbar that emitted energy waves.

Upon reading this, Chu Cheng thought that perhaps the boss was at a loss and couldn't come up with any super-powered weapon related to a crowbar. So, he randomly grabbed a plasma energy rifle or something similar, shaped it into the form of a crowbar, and handed it to his henchmen, saying, "Take this, it's your new tool."

So, can their character design be any more careless!?

Furthermore, from the introduction, shouldn't this guy be some obscure low-tier villain? Why is he appearing in the roster of super heroes?

Continuing to read further, it becomes clear that he was once a member of the anti-hero organization "Suicide Squad," working for the government. The Suicide Squad is a morally ambiguous group composed of villains, but its members are often recognized as anti-hero characters, similar to Marvel's "Thunderbolts."

Chu Cheng: "."

So, these kind of low-tier anti-hero characters can also appear in the character roster? He started to understand.

It's like when you're scooping food in the cafeteria, and you get a bowl full of green peppers with a few scattered pieces of meat. Unscrupulous vendors also like to throw a few rare cards that you might find useful into a seemingly bottomless gacha pool, and then they try to make up the numbers with a bunch of useless junk that you can't fathom the use of.

He then thought about the countless third-tier, fifth-tier, and obscure heroes that Marvel and DC have churned out relentlessly over the past century. He suddenly felt a chilling sensation, as if he could sense the deep malice emanating from those unscrupulous vendors.