Zhuo Xiaobai perked up in excitement and straightened up in his seat.
"It's like this. If you had to choose between wisdom and money, which one would you choose?"
"Of course it would be money. What kind of question is that?" Chen Mu answered without any hesitation.
"That's not right. If it were up to me, I'd choose wisdom. If I was wise, I could earn more money and become more sophisticated," said Zhuo Xiaobai with a hint of pride dancing at his lips.
"Yeah, that sounds reasonable. People normally choose what they don't have," said Chen Mu lightly.
"Get away from me!" Before Zhuo Xiaobai was able to continue spouting nonsense at Chen Mu, their class started.
Champions that cost four hundred fifty IP were easier to understand. However, for Chen Mu to memorize all of their stats, it was a lot of pressure.
For example, a meager ability had a total of five levels. Its damage, mana cost, and CD were different at each level. There was an entire mountain of stats for him to memorize.
It was a headache to memorize everything because there was so much information that had to be forced into his head. Chen Mu had to admit that gaming was rather tiring. He had to memorize so many things to get stronger; it was way harder than trigonometric functions, Euclidean vectors, exponentiation, or any other math formula.
It was not wrong at all to say that the System was boiling a frog with lukewarm water. In the past, Chen Mu only needed to stretch his memorization muscles when he sat down in class. Now, everything had become more complicated and varied. As a result, a large half of his class time was taken up.
When the recess bell rang, two men—one short and one tall—appeared out of the blue at the door that led to Chen Mu's classroom. They blocked the entrance and demanded to see Chen Mu.
At a glance, the tall, burly man was obviously not a senior schooler. However, Chen Mu recognized the other person who was shorter. It was none other than Shi Xin, the student that he had solo killed at Level 1.
Noticing the hostility in Chen Mu's visitors, Chen Mu's classmates were rather scared to move around. Meanwhile, Shi Xin recognized Chen Mu instantly.
Chen Mu sat in a very obvious spot, the second row of the class. Shi Xin pointed at Chen Mu directly and said, "That's him, Elder Brother."
The tall, young man glanced at Chen Mu, tapped on someone's shoulder, and asked the person to get Chen Mu.
The person he had asked was Lu Ren. Lu Ren felt uneasy as he walked over to Chen Mu. He said, "Chen Mu, someone's waiting for you outside. They don't seem friendly."
Chen Mu raised his head and shifted his gaze toward the door. Why, was that not Shi Xin, the person he had killed in a solo match?
Chen Mu stood up almost instantaneously and walked toward the door. He was not anxious at all—he had fought alone against five other people when he was in Year 2 Junior. Although he had not been involved in any fights throughout the past few years, he was being faced with only two people. Chen Mu was not afraid at all.
"What's up?" Chen Mu asked straightforwardly.
"Come with me, we've got something to ask you," replied the tall, young man next to Shi Xin.
"Okay, sure," Chen Mu answered indifferently.
The classroom broke out into a heated discussion. Why was a good student like Chen Mu being called away?
"He's not going to get beaten up, is he?" someone asked.
"It's possible. I've seen him receive countless love letters! I'm guessing it's a classic case of love turned into hate, and someone wants to destroy him!" someone speculated.
"You read too many damn romance novels. Should we tell the teacher?" someone asked.
Lu Ren kept tugging at Zhuo Xiaobai's forearms as he said, "Wake up, Big Bro Xiaobai!"
Zhuo Xiaobai was sound asleep because he had stayed up the previous night. Having been shaken awake, he was infuriated.
"What now?" huffed Zhuo Xiaobai angrily with a groggy face.
"Chen Mu just got taken away by two strangers. I'm afraid something is going to happen," replied Lu Ren.
"Ah? Did someone take my brother-in-law? Where did they go? Hurry up!" Zhuo Xiaobai urged.
"I… I don't know. I wasn't paying attention," said Lu Ren.
"You're hopeless! Hurry up and find them." Zhuo Xiaobai clambered to his feet hastily after finishing his sentence and headed out the classroom door.
Chen Mu followed Shi Xin and the other man to the field where they finally stopped. The man sized up Chen Mu from head to toe and said, "You look like a well-mannered person. Did you really kill Shi Xin's Ryze in a solo match at Level 1 with Riven?"
"Yep, that's right. Is there a problem?" Chen Mu did not think too highly about it. All the kudos belonged to the Unkillable Demon King's experience trial card, after all.
"How many ELO points do you have?" the tall man asked.
"Why do I have to tell you?" Chen Mu had never once felt comfortable dealing with people with domineering attitudes. Chen Mu was reluctant to tell the tall man that in truth, he had yet reached the maximum level.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't speaking with the right tone just now. I'm Shi Xin's elder brother. I recently put together a team for a cybercafe tournament at the cybercafe but we only have four members for now. If you really did manage to beat my younger brother that easily, I'm more than happy to invite you to join us," said Shi Xin's elder brother.
'A tournament? That advanced?' Chen Mu was surprised. He had not expected the solo match he played with Shi Xin to summon the opportunity for him to participate in a tournament.
At first, Shi Xin's elder brother had invited Shi Xin to participate in the cybercafe tournament. However, Shi Xin asked his elder brother how he could defeat Riven with Ryze.
Shi Xin's elder brother was aware that Shi Xin was a good Ryze player and thus, taught Shi Xin to play aggressively even at Level 1. Nevertheless, Shi Xin informed him later on that he suffered an instant kill at Level 1.
After learning about the whole event that had transpired, Shi Xin's elder brother was very intrigued by Chen Mu. The ability to kill someone at Level 1 in a solo match was something rarely heard of. It was something that occasionally happened among the level of pro players who streamed.
An example would be a streamer that had around two thousand and three hundred ELO points, who mostly played
Nevertheless, a Level 1 Riven landing a solo kill on a ranged enemy? It was the first time he had heard about it. Additionally, his younger brother was a player who had a thousand and seven hundred ELO points. Shi Xin was not a horrible player at all.
Frankly put, there were only so many players in Chuzhou No.9 High School who were above a thousand and eight hundred ELO points. Even for him who always spent his time messing around in cybercafes because he had stopped going to school after graduating from senior high school, he was barely able to hit one thousand and nine hundred ELO points. He was unable to progress any further than that.
Chen Mu was eager to turn down his offer. Having played the game himself throughout the past few days, Chen Mu had become aware of how terrifying the effects of the Unkillable Demon King's experience trial card were. Shi Xin's Ryze died way too fast; it did not take Chen Mu two seconds before he ended him, perhaps even less.
Instantly killing a champion in under two seconds when the champion was positioned near a turret was something Chen Mu could not achieve despite having played so many matches. It seemed like he had never witnessed anyone else do it either. In the match Chen Mu had played with Shi Xin, the game ended way before the first minion could die from the attacks it suffered.
Needless to say, the Unkillable Demon King's experience trial card packed great, formidable strength. It was without a doubt a shocking experience.
"Ding! The Host has encountered an opportunity to join a tournament and should definitely not miss the chance. Mission triggered: Lead the brotherly duo, Shi Geng and Shi Xin, to become the champions of the cybercafe tournament. Success will grant you five hundred points and the same amount will be deducted for failure."
The System's prompt was apt in its timing. It was within Chen Mu's expectations. If the System had made Chen Mu play a solo match against Shi Xin, the System would not miss a good tournament.
However, what tickled Chen Mu's funny bones was the name, Shi Geng. He assumed that Shi Geng's parents must have struggled with their skills in naming him.
Certain names should be avoided at all costs. A few names in that category include
All the other names before his could be attributed to the parents being irresponsible. Could they not have asked around a bit before naming their children? They slapped such names on their children's
"What do we get if we win?" asked Chen Mu.
"You get a thousand bucks as the prize if you become the champion. Since there are five people in the team, each person will get two hundred bucks," replied Shi Geng.
"Two hundred!" exclaimed Chen Mu in shock. If Chen Mu could earn two hundred bucks from gaming, would it not be much more worth than making money from Zhuo Xiaobai who paid him for exam answers?
Shi Geng misunderstood Chen Mu's response. Shi Geng thought an expert like Chen Mu would not put a lot of thought into two hundred bucks. After contemplating for a while, it made sense to Shi Geng that a player who could kill a 1700 ELO point player instantly probably had to have around two thousand and one hundred ELO points. As a result, it would not be less than two hundred bucks if he chose to boost people a little bit.
"Okay, how about this? If we win, my brother and I will take a hundred bucks each while you get four hundred," Shi Geng offered. Money was not his top priority—he was more concerned about his fame in the cybercafe.
People who became champions in cybercafe tournaments would receive many boosting requests. In comparison, a player who had a thousand and nine hundred ELO points would not receive a lot of boosting requests. It has to be said that boosting was Shi Geng's source of income.
"Deal. When is the tournament? I'm ready." Chen Mu agreed to Shi Geng's proposal immediately. 'My gosh, all the good food I can buy with four hundred bucks.'
"The tournament will be held at night next weekend. I'll contact you by then. Let's exchange contacts," Shi Geng said.
Chen Mu gave Shi Geng his phone number. As Chen Mu watched the duo walk away, he nearly burst out in excitement. It was the rhythm of a man who was about to strike a jackpot!
"There's no way for the Host to become the champion with his current strength. You should give up the idea." The System appeared out of the blue and crushed Chen Mu's hopes and dreams.
"Damn it, don't I have you here with me? If you let me draw a few experience trial cards, won't it be a breeze for me in the tournament?" asked Chen Mu.
"The Host is overthinking about it. You aren't allowed to use experience trial cards in any form of competition. The Host is required to depend on his own strength in every competition."
"..." What Chen Mu would do just to flash the System the middle finger.