Chapter 49: 49: Hit him!
Editor: Noodletown Translations
“Where should I go now?” Mu Fan was a bit troubled, the chubby guy wasn’t online tonight, so should he head to the battle hall?
Mu Fan decided not to overthink it and directly teleported to the nearest battle hall at random.
“Please choose between single or double combat.”
Mu Fan had long decided on single combat since Black wasn’t available, so he would just find an opponent to practice. He’d been working on hand speed and footwork these past few days, but he hadn’t started learning weapon moves yet—only a chop and a straight thrust.
Player “Egg Lord,” please select your mecha for the battle. This was the system prompting Mu Fan to choose a mecha.
“Eh, as expected, the EH01 is gone, there’s only an RX-16 mecha now.” Seeing the light screen in front of him showing only an RX-16 in his Mecha Storage, wasn’t this the one from Base 341?
Well, no choice then, it’ll have to be this one. Mu Fan’s finger pointed towards the mecha.
“Player confirmed, matching will now begin.”
Mu Fan’s figure instantly disappeared from the hall, entering mecha battle matching.
“Ding, match successful, room number 119769S, map: Desert Dunes (small), number of players 2, mode: public.”
The RX-16, holding a red shield and a metal longsword, appeared in the desert. The close combat mecha stood dumbly in the vast desert while across from it was a mecha holding a three-meter-long electromagnetic pulse rifle, with two wings spread out on its back—jet assist devices! With golden streaks of light from top to bottom, standing on the desert like a king, it was the firepower king among fifth-generation mechas—the Winged Snake Mecha, even outfitted with jet wings.
Mu Fan was unaware that he was in the Fantasy Mecha matching area. The opponent’s mecha was clearly modded in the Land Battle Bureau with jet wings—clearly cheating. In the Fantasy match area, if you cheat, I’ll cheat too, that’s fair and fun.
But at this moment, the sand blew relentlessly, leaving a Realistic RX-16 Sword and Shield Mecha standing dumbly in the desert with lowly blue and white paint that looked incredibly outdated. The sand kicked up by the wind added a touch of heroic tragedy to the body!
The pilot of the flashily extravagant golden mecha was dumbstruck. What is the pinnacle of pretentiousness in gaming? Heavy Sword without sharpness, great skill without effort! Who has such taste to modify their mecha like this, probably even the system defaults of Fantasy would be better than this.
“Hahahahaha! This is too funny for Miss Wang,” Wang Nuonuo, who happened to randomly click the public battle spectator mode, appeared in room number 119769S, just in time to see the blue and white Sword and Shield Mecha foolishly holding its sword in the desert. “As expected, there’s so much fun in PO Battle Net.”
Beautiful Girl Nuonuo then watched as that mecha adopted a defensive posture by raising its Alloy Shield and wielding a longsword, with the golden mecha opposite quietly lifting its electromagnetic pulse rifle and daintily stepping towards the RX-16.
Inside the cockpit, Mu Fan was quite nervous. Fortunately, this was the RX-16, the mecha he was most familiar with. He started with trial movements, completely unaware that he was being watched intently by a player with a short and chubby avatar.
Thus, in Miss Wang’s eyes, the Sword and Shield Mecha marked “Egg Lord” took a semi-circle step, moving slightly to the left. It was like a big turtle crawling sideways.
Phew, the desert terrain was manageable, and the mecha’s steps didn’t lose balance.
“Hahaha, even named Egg Lord, this big bear act is too adorable for Miss Wang, is this a newbie just learning to walk?” Watching the bulky Sword and Shield Mecha take another sideways step, Miss Wang was bursting with laughter, staring at the mecha that seemed silly and clumsy in both name and appearance.
The Winged Snake Mecha player was speechless—you could just tell me you didn’t want me to shoot a sitting target, no need to mock me like this. Moving sideways makes it a moving target?
So he stopped, lifted the electromagnetic pulse rifle, and prepared to fire off a volley. At 20 rounds per 2 seconds, with the opponent’s armor so thick, a few more seconds of firing should suffice.
Mu Fan’s eyes were fixed on the opposing mecha and suddenly noticed the golden mecha on the combat screen raising its arm. On instinct, Mu Fan’s left hand slid over the control panel while his right quickly shifted the brake lever.
Just as the Winged Snake Mecha raised its gun and pulled the trigger, the bulky opponent surprisingly initiated, surging forward with an unusual gait.
“Whoa, is that a counter-charge, do you think you’re fighting natives on a Primitive Planet?” The Winged Snake Mecha player couldn’t help but quip over the public voice channel.
Puff, the momentarily distracted Miss Wang sprayed out a mouthful of her PO Battle Net virtual soda.
No, I need to give a reward and cheer him on! Such a cute big bear can’t just die like this—it needs a glorious death!
“System prompt: Viewer ‘Beautiful Girl Nuonuo’ rewarded 188 Star Coins, cheering for Player ‘Egg Lord,’ message: ‘Egg Lord mighty, rush and crash into him!'”
In PO Battle Net’s public battle area, if a viewer tips more than 100 Star Coins, it will be played in voice on the battlefield; over 1,000 Star Coins, and a 5-second viewer image will be projected over the battlefield. It was only Miss Wang with her high spirits in this room, getting all riled up watching the grand bear courageously charge. She slapped her thigh—decided to reward, that’s what happened here.
Fully focused while controlling the mecha, Mu Fan was abruptly interrupted by that message, 188 Star Coins! Those words drilled into his ear without warning, distracting him.
A misstep caused the RX-16 to trip over its right foot and fall to the ground.
“Rat-a-tat-tat”—a barrage of bullet impacts sounded. Luckily, the left arm was up, as Mu Fan hadn’t moved the Shield much, keeping it raised in front which ended up blocking most bullets.
“Energy Shield down 8%.” That’s the benefit of a Sword and Shield Mecha; it takes a hit well. Without the Alloy Shield’s physical protection, that hit would have reduced the Energy Shield by over 30%!
“Oh no, Big Egg Man, wrong, Egg Lord, get up quickly, crash into him! Crash into him!” Sipping her drink, Miss Wang watched with wide eyes, feeling anxious and hitting the prompt for another 188 Star Coins to cheer with voice. She wondered afterward if these two were just putting on a play for her, but convinced herself otherwise. If it were this real, she’d still buy it.
The player inside the Winged Snake Mecha was about to cry, “This young lady with such a beautiful name, please tip me, too. That dummy across the way moved sideways twice then fell and already received two sets of 188, that’s not fair! Even enemies need encouragement!”
Feeling unbalanced inside, the Winged Snake player held down the trigger, switching to pulse charging mode. He wanted to take that big fool down in one go, aiming at the head exposed beyond the Shield, to first destroy the imager!Update by n0vgo.co
Hearing the system’s tip alert again, Mu Fan quickly refocused, postponing thoughts about the 188 Star Coins situation. He took a deep breath, adjusting his breathing rapidly into rhythm, becoming as calm as a still lake. A peculiar warm current surged within him, flowing through his limbs and bones, across the senses, and finally pooling into the brain. He began to perceive everything with clarity.
Mu Fan unconsciously activated Dark Breath, not realizing it himself. Reclined in real life, a faint green glow emanated from his limbs, dissipating to blend into the night.
One layer of Dark Breath!
Mu Fan began to discard distractions, his gaze clear.
This was a more reliable Martial Arts Skill, without the hunger and ferocity after using Blood-colored Vision. Mu Fan was as cold as ice at this moment.
His left hand became a gentle breeze, fingers danced like elves across the control panel, five of them pressing precisely on one key after another with an odd rhythm, naturally and endlessly.
His eyes were entirely on the semi-circular distribution of the control panel. Five sets of actions within a second were divided into groups in his mind then corresponded to the control panel, unaware of the quietly recording apm monitor on the side showing fluctuating numbers:
311, 324, 337…
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PS: Thanks to book friends “Yesterday’s Beauty” and “Poetic & Artistic Ren Xiaowei” for the 10 Coin rewards!
Announcing good news: promoted in category strong push next week + Sanjiang potential push! Lige’s progress until now is thanks to reader support, thank you all!