Chapter 39: Epiphany (2/2)

”You truly lost the fight when you gave up. I look forward to fighting with you in real life!” Wang Tong declared candidly.

Wang Ben was shocked by the words for a brief moment, then he gritted his teeth and uttered a word out of his mouth: ”Alright.

”Having failed once, does it also mean that I will fail the next time?

”Although the odds of opening the mind in the second try are slim, I’ll never know if I give up.

”I will lose the fight when I give up...”

The words echoed in Wang Ben's mind. He clenched his fists allowing the memories of that day to come rushing back to him. He saw his mother crying and heard his father's disappointed sigh. Among the blurred memories, he found a moment of epiphany. He had never cried before, not even during that devastating moment, but now tears poured out of his eyes for the first time in his life, and also for the very last time. He knew he would rise again; he had to.

It had been such a devastating blow to someone under so much attention and expectation. Everyone had felt for him as the news of his failure spread. However, it still shocked many people to find him in the IPA league.

”What a shame, what a pity, the poor boy had learned the fist of the racing tiger by rote, but... bah!”

”General, every cloud has its silver lining. Although we have lost Wang Ben, haven't you noticed the other boy? Wang Ben had the virtual EMF up his sleeve; his attack ought to be unstoppable, yet, the other fighter has defeated him with brute force.”

As General Hu Ben's friend and competitor, General Oto, the ”Last Castle” had felt great regret for Wang Ben's misfortune. He had hoped that both Wang Ben and his already mind-opened son would be able to carry on their fathers' healthy competition. He had felt great disappointment after learning that Wang Ben had failed his operation.

Though not conscious of the effort, General Oto's attention had been drawn toward Wang Ben while he had almost ignored Wang Tong.

Despite the fact that Wang Ben's vengeful attack had exposed himself to danger on multiple fronts, the immense power and the weight it carried was undeniable. However, the opponent had been confronted head-on with Wang Ben's attack and won the battle without any side maneuvers. As far as General Oto could think of, there might be only a few people who could achieve that, and all of them must have been from the House Li.

”Hehe, it must be one of the Lis poking fun at the poor lad.”

”We discussed it with the Lis, it was negative, sir. I don't think they were lying. Furthermore, I have looked up the records of one of his previous fights, and he didn't come off as a member of the Great Houses.”

”Interesting… Keep an eye on him.”

”Yes, Sir.”

Although Wang Tong's previous fights might have been considered unusual to most audiences, they had been quickly forgotten due to the numerous other, equally-unusual matches. However, due to the publicity of Wang Ben, Wang Tong's username, Einherjar Wannabe, also started to surface into the view of the public.

It had been dubbed as the battle between the Fist of the Racing Tiger and the Steel Fist of Nobody. A no-account TPA player had defeated Wang Ben who was wearing the stealth METAL suit, Wraith III. The outcome of the match had left many viewers dumbfounded.

The public had quickly sniffed out the scent of something extraordinary, but no one dared to acknowledge it. People had learned to keep their expectations low after countless letdowns, and they came to concede the fact that some legends in history were not meant to be repeated no matter how hard they wished for it.

The journalists didn't get a chance to interview Wang Ben since both he and his father were busy with other, more important matters. But they had crammed as much speculation into the news as possible.

DREAM would have been more than happy to presume the return of the legend purely for the sake of their profit. But many overreactions in the past had also made them prudent about what went out to the public, and to steer clear of bold claims.

Although no one had publicly made any connections to the event, most players who had watched the news had planted a seed in their hearts.