Chapter 2: An Extremely Unlucky Provocation

“Hey! A senior directly challenging a junior to a direct-connect duel?”

“This looks really bad no matter how you see it!”

Heita almost instinctively took a few steps back.

The seniors standing right in front of me did not look like the type who could be peacefully negotiated with through words.

No matter how you looked at it.

Bulging muscles, exaggerated limb proportions, and the oppressive aura cultivated from long immersion in battles — their very existence already constituted an invisible threat.

The student at the very front was toying with a flashy-looking communication device in his hand.

It was a new-model mobile terminal called “fmecrazy.”

Compared to ordinary models used for daily calls, the biggest selling point of this device was its ability to actively search for signal sources over a wider range.

Even if the target was far away, it could directly issue a BHAO direct-connect duel invitation.

From the communication device alone, the outcome already seemed suppressed within an unturnable range.

However, when Heita’s somewhat relaxed gaze — which even faintly showed he had already given up resistance — fell on my face, that “invincible” feeling was further amplified.

“Yoruichi… Yoruichi… did you offend someone?”

“Otherwise, hurry and apologize.”

“Maybe he’ll forgive you…”

I knew very well that Heita was not lying this time.

When he lied, he would subconsciously twist a few strands of hair on his forehead with his middle and index fingers.

Because of this bad habit, his hairstyle always had an indescribable sense of disharmony when viewed from the side.

But right now, he was not doing it.

“No, I’ve never even seen this face before.”

To make the sentence sound more convincing, I raised my right hand and pointed at the tall figure standing at the very front.

“Besides, Heita — how could I possibly want to get involved with such a rotten guy?”

In the direction my finger pointed, the senior wearing black sunglasses and dark skin stood there.

In this era “so peaceful that all that was left was studying every day,” such an appearance could almost be considered a textbook example of a delinquent.

“Hey! Trash!”

He was clearly provoked by my action.

Rather than being stimulated by the nearly accusatory gesture, it was my continuing to talk with Makura Heita right in front of him and completely ignoring him that made him feel humiliated.

“Are you looking down on me?!”

“Oh, sorry, sorry.”

I raised my hand and scratched the back of my head.

This was my usual move when easing embarrassment.

Normally, this action would earn me a few taunts, but things would always end peacefully.

However, this time was clearly not within the scope of “normal.”

“You bastard —”

The senior with sunglasses approached step by step.

His thick arms radiated uncomfortable heat.

“In BHAO you can’t even beat a newbie slime, yet you somehow got Mayne’s attention!”

“While someone like me at Tier 5, she won’t even look at!”

I hadn’t even had time to react before my collar was grabbed by a huge force.

My body was lifted straight up.

A suffocating pressure came from my neck.

But more unpleasant than the restricted breathing was the feeling of completely losing a foothold after my feet left the ground —

This was a thorough insult to my height.

“Look at these powerless arms of yours, and this height that doesn’t lose to a girl’s.”

He sneered.

“Just how did Mayne take a liking to you?”

The moment the words fell, I was ruthlessly thrown to the ground.

The violent impact made my stomach churn.

It almost made me return my breakfast as it was.

My throat burned painfully, and the air suddenly became abnormally thin.

How pathetic.

“You guys are going too far!”

Heita’s footsteps approached urgently.

Then he reached out to gently pat my back.

“Yoruichi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Heita.”

I barely squeezed out a voice.

“Now… it feels much better.”

“Accept my duel, coward.”

The senior looked down at me from above.

“Don’t you receive a thousand free points from The Earth Ring company every month?”

“That’s BHAO’s charity for shut-ins like you!”

That gaze was filled with undisguised contempt.

It was as if he were looking at a rat in a trash can.

“The Earth Ring is still too merciful to people like you.”

“Guys like you don’t deserve to have points in the first place.”

But —

“But I really suck at BHAO.”

I clenched my fists tightly.

Even if I was so angry my teeth were grinding, I could not take out that phone here.

Otherwise, all the hiding I had done for so long would be ruined at this moment.

“Then kneel in front of me.”

He laughed with extreme pleasure.

“While kowtowing, say ‘I really am a useless piece of trash.’”

“If you do that, this great one might consider letting you go.”

“Yoruichi.”

Heita called my name in a low voice.

His tone carried obvious hesitation.

His Tier 2 “Magic Shield Knight” had almost no room to perform in front of a Tier 5.

Being unable to intervene was only natural.

Yet even so, he still stood behind me and said in an almost trembling voice:

“Yoruichi, you actually don’t have to —”

“I really am a useless piece of trash!”

I interrupted him.

My forehead collided with the marble floor of the hallway.

The sound was not as heavy as imagined.

If I controlled the force well, that chill could instead make one a little more awake.

Surprisingly effective for dispelling sleepiness.

“You bastard…”

This scene did not satisfy the other party.

Instead, it completely ignited his anger.

“Because you submit so easily, it makes me even more displeased!”

“There’s no fun at all!”

He took out that pitch-black fmecrazy from his pocket.

“Looks like your only value is the points on you.”

“Forced Command Duel!”

“Wh… what?!”

Heita’s voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth.

“A Forced Command Duel staking ten times the opponent’s points?”

“Yoruichi’s remaining points are 1000… that means this guy has to put up 10000 points to bet?!”

Fear of the strong transformed at this moment into disbelief toward the points themselves.

“You… you’re cheating!”

“Yoruichi clearly already — already apologized!”

“Shut up.”

The senior coldly interrupted him.

“In a world where BHAO is mainstream, the loser will always be the loser.”

“Signal spectrum tuning beginning —”

The top of the fmecrazy shot out a blue beam.

It locked straight onto the old mobile terminal in my shirt pocket.

“Signal pairing successful.”

“OK, duel begin!”

His voice was like a beast’s roar.

Almost at that instant, my vision was swallowed by sky-blue cube-shaped data particles.

They spun at high speed, spliced together, and covered everything like a swarm of blue worker bees under construction.

In the next second, the color beneath my feet changed.

Dark yellow and earthy yellow particles spread out.

They formed a rough yet realistic ground.

Before my eyes, a huge title built from yellow sand and mud slowly rose.

The font design was crude and primitive.

It made one involuntarily think of stone-chiseled and wood-nailed earth-and-stone art from ancient Roman times.

The English on it read:

“welcome to the arena”

The moment I fully saw the text clearly, the title collapsed like a sand pile that had lost its adhesion.

It sank into the ground beneath my feet.

Immediately after, it was scattered by a sudden gust of wild wind.

“Hahaha!”

“This time the field is the ancient Roman arena!”

The voice from the opposite side came.

“I like it — there are so many spectators cheering for me!”

Yellow sand occasionally blocked the view.

Yet even so, I still clearly saw it.

That massive mechanical exoskeleton covering the entire body.

And inside the exoskeleton, a pair of eyes filled with confidence, even nearing intoxication.