Chapter 17: 16. Psychopath

There was a total of ten living creatures in this room, eight humans and two fairies.

Most of them were staring at the system screen in front of them with wide eyes. The consensus was that Chris would win, after hearing Jason claim that he won’t use his class.

“Cocky”, “Arrogant”, and “Conceited”, were words said by the people present in the room.

They thought that Jason was postponing his inevitable defeat by climbing a tree, but their mouths stopped whispering insults when a projectile hit Chris in the head, rendering him unconscious.

What followed was a one-sided display of brutality and insanity, none of them foresaw such an outcome to the battle.

Impossible, many of them thought. Did Jason use his class? What were those items he used?

“Hey Phillian,” said Petra addressing the fairy, “Where did Jason get that brick from?”

The fairy stood frozen, keeping his silence. Her eyes widened when she saw that Phaella was in the same state.

She decided to drop the issue, and keep watching the fight. Chris ended up begging for mercy, only to be buried alive. Jason, on the other hand, made some boastful comments after he finished his ‘performance’.

Phillian disappeared after Chris’ HP dropped to zero. Most of the people panicked, believing him to be gone for good. Marla even started screaming at Phaella, her brows were furrowed and her hair was disheveled.

Suddenly, both fighters appeared in the room. Jason had his usual smile, although it reached his eyes this time. Chris’ body seemed as good as new, but his face was as white as snow. His legs kept shivering and he wrapped his arms around his torso. Some tears escaped from his eyes before he wiped them and mumbled, “I am… back… death… please no…”. He then started walking and stood against one of the room’s corners, facing it.

Finn and Taylor couldn’t contain their laughter, but Chris kept whispering words to himself, oblivious to his surroundings.

“Congratulations! You’re the first host in this group to respawn!” said Phaella addressing the broken man, “You’ll get a corresponding title when you’re out of the tutorial!”

Her smile disappeared when her taunt didn’t work on its target.

After everyone got bored with Chris, they turned to Jason, only to find him picking his nose with a huge grin on his face.

*

[System Notice]
Congratulations, Host! You won your battle in the second phase of the tutorial!
Would you like to: […]
[Double your current Tutorial Points]	[Take the same amount that your defeated enemy had before]

“I would like to double my current points,” I said, I didn’t want to take any chances with the system misinterpreting my orders.

[Host gained 1168900 tutorial points]

 

I grinned, as my current amount of tutorial points was already enough to place me within the top ten rankers.

However, it wasn’t enough. I planned on gaining more in the third phase of the tutorial.

My nose started itching badly, I felt something wiggling deep within.

Oh god, I thought. This is so itchy; it might be a bug that got stuck inside.

I felt that someone was watching me, so I looked up. Some people lowered their eyebrows and squinted their eyes. Others were smiling, their eyes bright with curiosity.

I realized that they were concerned about my nasal health, so I opened my mouth.

“What?” I said, “I am thankful for your concern, but I guess we don’t have an ORL doctor in our group.”

No one laughed at my joke, I thought. It’s not that bad, y’know?

My mood plummeted, I closed my mouth and kept a cold expression on my face for a while. A chilling atmosphere filled the room, everyone kept their distance away from me, except for Petra.

“I have some important questions for you,” she said.

“If you want some pointers on hand-to-hand combat, then I guess Rodrigo would be a better teacher,” I replied, “however, if you aim to improve your gaming skills, then Finn and his clique would fit the bill.”

“No,” she said, “I want to know about those items you used, especially the brick and lens.”

“I’ll tell you later,” I said “I am a bit busy right now.”

I could’ve told her outright that I wouldn’t answer, but I would be indirectly confirming the importance of the information that she was asking for. Implying that I got them from somewhere else, not from Vulpinus, nor the dungeons.

I decided to wait until the third phase to tell her about some of my least important secrets, hiding everything would only fuel her curiosity.

“Alright!” said Phillian, “It’s time for the third battle! To those who are concerned, advance please!”

Both Leon and Rodrigo advanced. Their eyes sparkled as they walked with slow, but large steps.

They have the same number of points, I thought. I guess they’ll both go in without their classes.

Phillian teleported them to their designated locations. They didn’t take a long while to find each other, as neither of them seemed intent on hiding or preparing an ambush.

Soon, a physical fight started. Rodrigo took the initiative, attacking quickly with the form of a boxer. Leon held his ground for a while, managing to deflect many jabs. He even evaded two straight punches, only to get hit by a strong low kick to his left leg.

He started panting after the last attack, his face reddening and his left leg shaking.

That must’ve been a direct hit to the tibia, I thought. Rodrigo might’ve fractured it.

After that, the fight became completely one-sided. A couple of straight punches to the jaw, and Leon was on the ground panting. Rodrigo said something, to which Leon nodded slowly, then they both disappeared.

The system screen went from displaying the battle, to this.

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[Battle Three result: Loser surrendered.
Winner: Rodrigo	Loser: Leon

 

It must be a bad feeling, I thought. The system calling you a loser, besides depriving you of your tutorial points.

They appeared alongside Phillian. Rodrigo had a smile on his face and his chest was raised as he walked with his hands behind his back. Leon lowered his head, he dropped his shoulders and his eyes were red. His steps were fast as he returned to his comrades. They patted him on the back and supported him.

Rodrigo walked back to his usual location, his face now had a smile, unlike before.

“Now, we’re closer than ever to this phase’s climax!” said Phillian, “This is the fourth fight! Get ready!”

Xi Jiang had started walking before the fairy asked him to. His face was deadpan, like always. His limbs were steady, and he was breathing slowly.

On the other hand, Marla was constantly fidgeting as she walked forward. Her head constantly turned in all directions, looking for something. Her mouth twisted and her eyes darkened when she found her target; Chris.

Her shoulders hung low, and she wrapped her right arm around her left shoulder.

Typical Marla, I thought. She only raises her voice when she has sufficient protection, the [Keyboard Warrior] Class would’ve suited her more.

“Who do you think would win?” a voice interrupted my thoughts. I recognized the speaker to be Petra, so I replied, “Marla’s the only person in our group whose class lacks in the offense. She’d have great difficulty against someone like Xi Jiang. I doubt she’d win against him even if he didn’t use his class, regardless of whether she used her own or not.”

“As I thought,” she said, scratching her cheek, “The only thing that her class can help with is the increase in stats, but I doubt she’d manage to match Xi Jiang’s natural prowess even with the increased stats.”

That’s how hopeless Marla was, I thought. Even myself from the past managed to win against her without using the [Dismantler] class.

Phillian teleported them to their locations. As expected, Marla used her class, unlike Xi Jiang. As soon as they were teleported, Marla tried to run away from her pursuer, but he kept chasing her.

It didn’t take long for her to drop to the ground, panting. Xi Jiang caught up with her, without even sweating. Marla started crying and gave up as soon as he displayed the intent of attacking her.

The fight went according to what I imagined, nothing surprising occurred.

They came back to the safe room soon after the fight ended. Marla just went closer to a wall and sat on the ground, closing her eyes and whimpering. She didn’t even bother checking up on Chris.

Xi Jiang had a smirk on his face as he approached his comrade, giving him a high-five. They conversed in a foreign language afterward.

He’s lucky for facing Marla this time, I thought. Chris destroyed him in my past life.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! This is the last fight for today!” Phaella said, “I suppose you know what to do now, right?”

Finn and Zhou Ming both walked slowly toward the fairies. Each of them had a sharp look in their eyes, though Zhou Ming seemed more menacing.

“Good luck Joe!” I told Zhou Ming, “Good luck to you too, Kid!” I told Finn too. Zhou Ming gave me a thumbs up, but the latter didn’t look pleased with the way I called him.

Soon, they got transferred to their destinations.

“I guess those teenagers were unlucky with their matchups.” Petra said, “another hopeless fight, another one bites the dust.”

I understood her meaning, she thought that Finn was about to lose.

“Don’t be so hasty with your judgement.” I said, “That kid has some aces up his sleeves. I am not saying that Joe is weak or anything, it’s just that he got a bad matchup.”

She looked at me with squinted eyes, then she tilted her head and raised her left eyebrow.

“Just watch and you’ll see.” I said, “I can only say that the kid is somewhat crazy, and playing with dangerous tools seems to be one of his hobbies.”

She crossed her arms and kept watching the screens in front of her.

Neither Finn nor Zhou Ming used their classes, which was the same as what happened in my past life.

As soon as they arrived at their locations, they started running toward their opponent.

Finn’s sweatshirt’s sleeves seemed thicker than usual, but it wasn’t that big of a difference to be noticed through a screen.

Suddenly, they met. Zhou Ming brandished his dagger from its sheath on his waist, and engaged Finn in close-quarters combat immediately.

A sensible decision, I thought. His instinct must’ve warned him about the danger in front of him.

Finn kept evading the attacks through simple footwork, even managing to land a jab once in a while.

After a long time, both of them started panting. Zhou Ming decreased his attacking frequency. However, a huge smile appeared on Finn’s face.

He pulled eight knives from his sleeves, holding four in each hand. He started attacking like a maniac, forgoing all safety precautions.

Sometimes, Zhou Ming successfully parried the knives that were thrown at him. Other times, He cried in pain as they penetrated his skin.

What a psychopath, I thought. He’s the kind of person that would thrive in the new world.

Finn kept his distance and pace for a while until Zhou Ming got weaker. Both of them lost a lot of blood, but Zhou Ming didn’t have as many disposable weapons as his opponent. The fight was completely within Finn’s control at this point.

Zhou Ming’s HP hit zero after a while, causing a huge grin to appear on Finn’s bloodied face. Phillian teleported them back soon after.

Many others looked at Finn in a different light. Some were shocked and others were scared.

“You seem very knowledgeable, to predict such an outcome.” Petra said as she looked at me with squinted eyes, “Who the hell are you?”

I shrugged.

“I am Jason Stubbs.” I leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “The truth is, I’ve already died once before.”

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