CHAPTER 316: CHAPTER 316: BUILDING MOMENTUM

Accept?

Reject?

Both choices are very unfavorable for Ji You at present. Her goal is to break into the top ten of the Alliance, but time is running out, and she must increase her win rate to over 80% quickly; otherwise, she cannot even qualify, let alone reach the top ten of the Alliance.

Ji You has her own thoughts and plans for her upcoming matches, but this "Hero King" move is completely putting her on the spot.

Reject?

She guesses the other party wants her to reject so that they can mock and belittle her.

Accept?

Once accepted, swayed by public opinion, if Ji You can’t find the right approach, she’ll have to engage in 10 matches with the opponent. Given that this person can rank 99th in the East District, they must be quite strong. Ji You can’t guarantee absolute victory and it will inevitably take up a lot of her time, possibly taking all night to finish 10 matches.

She is pressed for time and doesn’t have the luxury to get tangled up with someone.

Ji You raises her hand and touches her chin.

Then, she clicks "Accept".

Since this person is determined to have a go at her, wanting to climb up by stepping on her, Ji You will of course oblige. Furthermore, dragging it on won’t do Ji You any good as she wouldn’t find opponents to spar with—so she opts for a quick and decisive battle.

The moment Ji You accepts, people who hear the news rush to spread it, and "Rag Queen has accepted Hero King’s challenge" is broadcasted everywhere...

In an instant, less than 5 seconds, a million spectator seats are filled to bursting, with countless others left outside.

Those who couldn’t squeeze into the live event have flocked to forums, camping out for the live stream.

Arena.

Hero King stands to one side, watching the unfolding events with great satisfaction, especially as his fans zealously build momentum. As soon as the Rag Queen accepts his challenge, they spread the word tumultuously, reaching every corner of the East District, and spreading to the West District, North District, and South District...

The news travels fast; within less than 10 seconds, virtually the entire Alliance University intranet is aware of the match. Many are perplexed, lowerclassmen somewhat, but many second, third, and fourth-year students are completely baffled:

Rag Queen?

Who’s that?

Never heard of her.

Hero King?

Who’s that?

Seem vaguely familiar, isn’t he a freshman at the First Military Academy?

...

This freshman has managed to make the entire Alliance University intranet aware of his stunt, demonstrating impressive capability. Many upperclassmen became intrigued and wanted to find out what was going on.

After all, freshmen, in the eyes of those in higher grades, are just novices at mechs, and their matches are nothing more than squabbles, completely uninteresting.

But—

100,000 points?

Antique mech?

These two gimmicks are indeed somewhat impressive, enticing many upperclassmen to take an interest in the match. Unable to enter the arena, they turn to forums to follow the live broadcast.

...

Hero King looks at the figures of these upperclassmen and senior students emerging, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Objective achieved.

After this battle, his name "Hero King" will be on everyone’s lips, and he will surely catch the attention of some strong upperclassmen and senior students. With some luck, he might even get recommended to join a strong club, or even get scouted by a Legion...

The fame this hype brings him is beyond imagination. Hero King is well aware that even if he competes properly and makes it into the top ten of the East District, his influence can’t compare to this publicity stunt.

Numerous thoughts flash through his mind.

Hero King looks up at his opponent—the Rag Queen, with her fiery red hair, tall figure, and deep, dark eyes like the night. This woman, he wonders who she really is in real life?

But——

No matter who it was, they could only serve as a stepping stone for Hero King.

Hero King looked at his opponent and felt good, smiled slightly, and said, "Rag Queen, I’m glad that you accepted my challenge. Allow me to introduce myself..."

He was halfway through his sentence when Ji You suddenly raised a hand and interrupted him, saying somewhat impatiently, "I’m not interested in your introduction. Waste of time! Let’s get started!"

These words were truly rude. Hero King’s heart skipped a beat, and his face darkened slightly. But he quickly covered it up, the shift in his expression almost imperceptible. After taking a deep breath, his face was still smiling as he looked at Ji You and said, "Alright then."

As soon as he finished speaking—

Boom—

A cannon shell shot straight towards Hero King.

Indeed.

The first to open fire wasn’t Hero King; it was Ji You.

The audience on site all craned their necks, looking on with surprise: "Rag Queen fired the first shot, that’s quite unorthodox. Could it be—she’s confident in taking down Hero King with a single shot?"

Many speculated this.

But—

Ji You’s shot had not yet approached the opponent when it was quickly intercepted by Hero King. Right after intercepting it, he fired several shells toward Ji You.

Ji You turned and ran.

However—

Just a few meters out, whoosh whoosh whoosh—the barrage of artillery fire chased after her.

Boom—

A blinding explosion followed, swiftly consuming the Rag Queen along with her mech...

second later.

System: [Hero King wins this match.]

Everyone: "???"

The audience all widened their eyes in disbelief. In fact, many were still stretching their necks, waiting for the Rag Queen to burst through the smoke, considering her past performances of miraculous recoveries.

Now, had she perished?

Had she been defeated?

So quickly?

Was it even 3 seconds?

...

How could this be?

Some people simply couldn’t believe it, but as the system kept on notifying, they had no choice but to accept that the reality was—Rag Queen had lost, and her defeat had been exceedingly swift, just like a tornado!

"Hahaha... too weak! Couldn’t withstand a single blow."

"In the presence of the Great Hero, what Rag Queen, Trash Queen, Scavenger Queen, all are just weaklings."

"Great Hero is mighty!"

The fans of Hero King, upon seeing this scene, were ecstatic, wishing they could beat the drums and set off fireworks to celebrate. Indeed, this match’s easy victory for Hero King was promoted by these fans until the whole intranet knew about it.

On this side.

Ji You had lost one round and her expression was unwavering, neither disappointed nor annoyed. Soon, she received another challenge for the second round from Hero King, which caused her to frown slightly.

Before accepting, Ji You quickly made a purchase in the marketplace, buying 100 Ordinary Particle Cannons. Initially, she wanted to buy 500 all at once, but after seeing the price, she had to painfully settle for 100.

Looking at the points spent, Ji You’s brow was truly furrowed tight enough to kill a fly.