Chapter 324: There’s Air Conditioning in the Hotel
In Xiang Wei Xuan restaurant, a group of people sat around a large table. Song Han ordered some food and grinned while saying, “It really wasn’t easy but three people in our Zhan Long Studio actually entered the top 32 rankings of the Rise of the Heroes Tournament. We got really lucky!”
Lin Wan Er smiled faintly, showing her dimples as she said, “I’m not trying to demean you guys but we were truly lucky, especially for Song Han and Old K. Throughout the tournament, you guys haven’t encountered any opponents that were truly strong or else you guys would’ve probably been eliminated in the top 64……”
Matcha held up a cup of tea and smiled, “Compared to that, Boss’s journey through the Rise of the Heroes tournament was much more awe-inspiring. He overcame many obstacles and defeated strong experts throughout the compet.i.tion, such as Dawn Hero, Don’t be Foolish, Babel Buddha, Jian Tan, and Bai Li Ruofeng; each stronger than the last. You can honestly say that Boss had really fought his way to the top 32, especially in that last battle against Bai Li Ruofeng. When he activated that Archer [Combo], I was so sure Boss would lose but I would never have imagined that Boss would trick him so beautifully by using [Great Realm of Desolation] to kill his pet first. The battle tactics used were really clear-cut. Surprisingly, Bai Li Ruofeng didn’t choose to command his pet to stun Boss and kill him while Boss couldn’t move; he must have felt so regretful about that mistake….”
Dong Cheng Yue raised her drink with a wide grin, “Here here, let’s make a toast for cla.s.smate Xiao Yao Zi Zai’s great kills! Let’s also toast the fact that five people from this table actually made it into the top 32…”
Old K smiled and said, “Let’s not, what’s the point of drinking juice? Here, how about we switch to some liquor?”
Dong Cheng Yue was stunned, saying, “Eh, can we not drink beer? I’ll get fat…”
Old K said, “Don’t worry, we don’t celebrate like this all the time……”
Lin Wan Er smiled and said, “Alright, then Dong Cheng and I will drink a bit…”
Song Han waved his hand and said, “Waiter, get us two packs of beer!”
The waitress hesitated for a second, then went to bring some beer. Soon, the table was filled with beer bottles, causing me to realize that tonight, there might be a few people who would drink themselves unconscious.
……
After pouring out a gla.s.s of beer, Dong Cheng Yue stood up and laughed, “Here! For our first toast, let’s… let’s make it for, Hmm, I’ve forgotten……”
Lin Wan Er whispered to her, “For the top 32, idiot…”
Dong Cheng Yue lightly smiled and said, “Alright, cheers to our heroes who have killed their way to the 2018 World Cup’s top 32…”
I facepalmed and said, “Dong Cheng, you’re not drunk yet! Don’t spout nonsense!”
After that, everyone rose to knock their cups together in a toast and proceeded to chug the beer down. The girls modestly sipped at it, whereas Dong Cheng Yue downed it in two gulps. Lin Wan Er took three long sips and finished her cup. Normally, they didn’t drink that much.
As I still had some responsibilities to fulfill, I didn’t dare to drink too much and only downed half the cup. Glancing at the astounding beauty clad in a floor-length dress sitting beside me, I was even more sure of the decision to stay sober in order to protect her. Although drinking seven or eight bottles would not get me completely drunk, it was still best to be as clear-headed and sober as possible.
Dong Cheng Yue downed a cup, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. She took out her phone and touched the screen a few times, “That… The Chinese Rise of the Heroes Tournament’s Top 32 have already been announced… Wu, and our Brother Xiao Yao has been put into the A group. Your luck really is good. A group… d.a.m.n, isn’t that the group of death? Mu Xuan, Yan Zhao Warrior, Jian Feng Han, Q-Sword, and now a Xiao Yao Zi Zai, it’s the group of death, isn’t it?”
I shivered and said, “What’s the situation?”
“Here, look…..”
Dong Cheng Yue put the phone in front of me and took the chance to lean her sweet-smelling shoulder onto my chest; is she taking advantage of me? I didn’t pay too much attention since I was focused on the pairings for Group A. Looking at it made my heart beat faster –
Rise of the Heroes Tournament 32 Strongest
[Group A] Xiao Yao Zi Zai Vs Mu Xuan
Fushen Thousand Blade Vs Yan Zhao Warrior
Lu Dong Bin Vs Jian Feng Han
Fallen Wolf Vs Q-Sword
……
Lin Wan Er squinted her beautiful eyes and looked at the pairings, then looked at me and pursed her lips. Mischievously, she said, “Brother Xiao Yao, I feel so sorry for you, you had to face Bai Li Ruofeng in the top 64 and now in the top 32 you have to face Queen Mu Xuan. Your life is so hard. This round is basically set-up to be the epic opening for Rise of the Heroes’ top 32…..”
Without another word, I began tearing up. Raising a cup and gulping down the contents, I begrudgingly said, “It’s just too unjust. Why can’t I just go against Fallen Wolf or Lu Dong Bing? Even Fushen Thousand Blade would be better than this……”
Lin Wan Er lightly smiled and pushed her shoulder against my chest. She sweetly murmured, “It’s alright. To be honest, you can take the initiative to defeat Mu Xuan then Yan Zhao Warrior and finally kill either Q-Sword or Jian Feng Han. If you manage to, you’ll be all the rage and everyone will know the weight behind your ranking as one of the top 4……”
I was speechless, and continued drinking. Finally, I said, “I’m very upset tonight, can Wan Er drink and keep me company…”
“Alright, don’t be sad. Let’s look at the last three teams……”
“Sure!”
Everyone took out their phones to look. The last three groups appeared to be normal –
[Group B] Fang Ge Que Vs General Li Mu
Yue Qing Qian vs Xuan Yuan Feng
Cang Yue Vs Han Bei Song
Death’s Contract Vs Soaring Dragon
[Group C] Cang Tong Vs Lu Chun Yang
Simple VS Not So Ordinary
Sword Tears Vs Cang Cheng
Ye Lai Vs Misty Clouds
[Group D] Yue Wei Liang Vs Blazing Sun
Drunken Spear Vs General w.a.n.g Jian
Hero Ran Min Vs The Seventh Tang
Wolf’s Totem Vs Heaven’s Hero
……
Dong Cheng Yue squinted her beautiful eyes and said, “Eh, in our B Group, there’s a Fang Ge Que. Don’t you guys think that my group is a death match too?”
Song Han said, “At least you can easily kill Han Bei Song and Death’s Contract, securing your spot in the top 8…….”
Lin Wan Er said, “I’m in the C group, which appears to have strong experts… Wu, my first opponent is Lu Chun Yang, reputed to have perfect control over his sword mastery…… There’s also Simple who’s really strong. That Ye Lai is [Judgement]’s Guild Master and rumored to be extremely strong at close combat . I have quite a few obstacles this time around……”
“The D group has the most love……” Matcha lightly smiled, “Four of the people in the D group are from [Zhan Long]. Shouldn’t we call it the [Zhan Long] Group now? At least we’ll definitely get a member into the top 4?”
Fox shook his head and said, “Not necessarily. Yue Wei Liang, w.a.n.g Jian, Old K and Wolf being in the same group actually decreases our chances of getting into the top 4. Blazing Sun and Heaven’s Hero are ok but Drunken Spear and The Seventh Son of Tang changes things up a lot……”
“Don’t worry so much, let’s eat first……” I said as I picked up my chopsticks. The waitress had already begun serving the dishes.
Dong Cheng Yue then said, “There’s more. The rewards for the Rise of the Heroes Tournament have been released…..”
I questioned, “Oh? What are they?”
Dong Cheng Yue smiled and nodded. Then, with the voice of a talk show host, said, “First, all players ranked between 513-1024, get Charm+1 and Exp+20%. Secondly, all players between 257-512 get Charm+1, Exp+40%. Thirdly, all players between 65-256 get Charm+1 and Exp+60%. Lastly, all players between 33-64 get Charm+2 and Exp+80%!”
Matcha smiled and said, “Not bad, I got that Charm+1……”
Lin Wan Er said, “Hurry, what are the rewards for the top 32? That’s what’s most important…..”
Dong Cheng Yue nodded, then continued listing out the awards for the top 32. I opened up the official site on my phone and scanned through the list, finding the rewards page –
17-32 Reward: Charm+3, Level+1, 10,000G and has one chance to partic.i.p.ate in a lottery for an S tier skill book. The chances of winning correlates directly with the ranking and charm points of the person.
9-16 Reward: Charm+5, Level+1, 20,000G and has one chance partic.i.p.ate in a lottery for an S tier skill book or a high level Purple Tier equipment. The chances of winning correlates directly with the ranking and charm points of the person.
5-8 Reward: Charm+7, Level+1.2, 50,000G and has one chance to partic.i.p.ate in a lottery for an Emperor Tier equipment or an S tier skillbook. The chances of winning correlates directly with the ranking and charm points of the person.
3-4 Reward: Charm+9, Level+1.5, 100,000G and has one chance to partic.i.p.ate in a lottery for a Valkyrie Tier equipment or an SS tier skill book. The chances of winning correlates directly with the ranking and charm points of the person.
Second place Reward: Charm+12, Level+2, 200,000G, and one chance in a lottery for a Saint Tier equipment or an SS tier skill book. The chances of winning correlates directly with the ranking and charm points of the person.
Champion Reward: Charm+15, Level+3, 500,000G, and the chance to enter a lottery for a Divine Tier equipment or an SSS tier skill book. The chances of winning are directly correlated with the ranking and charm of the person.
……
“How is it? Do you have anything you want to say?” Dong Cheng Yue mischievously asked.
I rubbed my nose and said, “The prize for Second place is incredible…… I need to get to the finals. And who knows, maybe I’ll take away the world’s first Divine Tier equipment.
“Don’t disillusion yourself…” Lin Wan Er smiled, “Try to defeat Mu Xuan first before you talk big. Don’t forget, third advancement Mages can use [Dimensional Leap] 3 times; in other words, a close combat specialist’s worst nightmare. Even though you have long-ranged skills, if you can’t break through her [Mana Shield] then it will all be in vain. So…… hehe, don’t let Mu Xuan get to you and you’ll be fine…..”
I made a fist and said, “Don’t worry. Mu Xuan has no chance of stopping me from getting into the final rounds…”
“The second round could be Uncle Yan Zhao. He’s also really strong!”
“No problem, I never thought of him as my rival. When I’m done with Mu Xuan, my spot in the top 8 will be set…….”
“Mhm!”
……
We continued to eat and drink. The lavish Hunan-styled dinner was delicious and after a few more bottles of beer, Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue’s cheeks were flushed. I wasn’t sure if it was because the food was spicy or if they drank too much, but seeing as their movements were as natural as they were before, the pink flush shouldn’t have come from the alcohol. These two girls have lived lavishly since childhood, and seeing the ‘Ms. Perfect’* temperament of these girls truly made one admire them.
[Editor’s Note: An internet slang referring to fair-skinned, rich and beautiful girls]
In the blink of an eye we feasted until around 8 o’clock. Song Han handed over his credit card to the waitress along with the check. Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue sat on the side, their cheeks extremely pink. Lin Wan Er tilted her head and smiled foolishly, “HI……..”
TL Note: Wan Er says Hi in English
Amused, I replied, “HI, Wan Er……”
Her smile became even sweeter as she wrapped her arm around the chairs back and moved her face closer until she was only 10 centimeters away from my own. She flashed a beautiful smile at me and all of a sudden, drunkenly asked, “Tell me honestly, do you like me?”
“Um………”
My mind went blank and so I stupidly answered “I… I don’t know… probably?”
Lin Wan Er squinted her beautiful crescent eyes at me and smiled, “That’s too half-hearted!”
Behind me, I felt a warm body suddenly pressed against my back. Dong Cheng Yue put her hand on my shoulder and leaned onto my back. Her full 34C b.r.e.a.s.t.s pushed against me as her warm breath breathed into my ear, “Brother Xiao Yao, take Wan Er and I home….. Hurry, Uh, nevermind, take us to a hotel room!”
I was astonished, “Why a hotel room?”
“It’s too hot and hotels have ACs……” She mischievously smiled.
“That’s enough……”
Looking at the two beautiful girls I began feeling dizzy. How could this be appropriate?