Chapter 19 (2/2)

Whoosh! A strange sound popped up beside Mu Fan’s ear before he could think more about it.

It’s on the left now, Mu Fan thought as he quickly turned around with alertness.

So dirty and vicious! Mu Fan saw a short metal staff coming at him with his peripheral vision, and he instant exerted force and bent down with both hands on the ground. Then, he pushed with his legs and jumped towards the attacker while throwing his fists.

However, Mu Fan seemed to have forgotten that he was on the PO Battle Network, and he hadn’t gotten used to the fact that his power had decreased in the virtual world compared to reality. So, he watched as the short metal staff changed direction smoothly in mid-air and enlarged in his vision endlessly as it approached him.

Pang! Mu Fan could feel his skull cracking and his consciousness scattering after being struck by the metal staff forcefully. His brain’s involuntary response of fear toward death shattered all of his senses, and he felt powerless as he lost control of his body and felt an endless desire to live.

At that moment, the huge impact on his consciousness had overcome the pain of his skull cracking open and brain matter flying out. Is this death? Did I die, just like that?

Eh? Why is my consciousness still around? Isn’t that me lying on the ground there? Suddenly, a small whirlwind wrapped up Mu Fan’s ‘corpse’ before breaking it apart into light dots. Then, the light dots reassembled as Mu Fan felt another force pulling him out of the darkness and into the light.

Was that death? Mu Fan looked down at his intact body and touched his head to make sure that he was fine, and he felt extremely afraid, now thinking back.

Good thing that this is only in the virtual world.

“How did death feel like?”

Mu Fan felt a chill running down his body, making his body hair stand on end when he heard a voice coming from behind him. However, he purposely restrained himself from turning around, stopping his subconscious behavior.

“Tsk tsk, you have this reaction when this is only your first time,” the faint voice praised Mu Fan in a slightly mocking tone.

Mu Fan only turned around after he was sure that his body didn’t feel any danger.

A figure appeared in the darkness, and it was an even darker shade of black than the night.

He approached Mu Fan slowly step by step, and his control over his leg muscles had reached the point that Mu Fan couldn’t hear any sound from his footsteps.

The figure who was covered in black stopped when he was at the edge of the darkness, millimeters away from the light. Even though he was closer now, Mu Fan had a harder time seeing how this person looked like. When this figure looked up, Mu Fan could only see the pair of green eyes hidden under the hood of his cloak.

“Little guy, welcome to the rookie training camp. I’m the instructor here, so relax, Newbie.” He introduced himself with that indifferent tone again as if he was drinking a cup of water.

Phew, Mu Fan almost forgot that he was in the virtual world again.

“Hello, Instructor,” Mu Fan greeted this figure with respect; he was always respectful toward instructors and teachers.

“Uhm.”

This PO Battle Network is so real that even the NPC has a tone matching their personality!

“Is this the Rookie Training Camp?” Mu Fan felt like something was strange and off.

“Yes.”

“And you’re my combat instructor?”

“Yes.”

“How should I address you?”

“Gladiator,” the figure answered as he waved his hand casually in boredom.

“Instructor Gladiator?”

“Uhm.”

“What training are we going to do next?” Mu Fan put aside his questions and decided that training was more important.

“We’ll do it again. Remember to come here tomorrow too after you log on.”

Mu Fan didn’t even get to reply when the figure swung his left arm towards Mu Fan, creating a series of afterimages. Then, the familiar short staff swinging noises sounded, followed by the sound of bones-breaking.

“So… dirty.” Mu Fan used his arms to block again, but he could barely speak due to the excruciating pain from his oddly twisted arm and collapsed rib cage.

“Today’s training is over,” said the instructor as he swung his arms again. “Come again tomorrow.”

Then, that familiar feeling hit Mu Fan again along with the powerless feeling of him being unable to dodge. Mu Fan felt the pain of his bones breaking under heavy impact once more.

The figure watched Mu Fan disappear into the light as if he had just easily killed a fly.

The combat instructor grinned under his cloak as his green eyes disappeared into the dark along with his faint murmur.

“Ha, Gladiator… Interesting…”