Chapter 182 : Chapter 182
Chapter 182 – As Everyone Knows, the Guild Receptionist Is Always the Strongest One
“Hey, did you hear? A newbie is going to challenge Miss Annali.”
“I heard Miss Annali’s going to teach a newbie a lesson?”
“Do you know? Someone disturbed Miss Annali, and now she’s going wild in the combat arena!”
“Miss Annali is in a frenzy slaughter!”
News of Miss Annali about to fight a new adventurer in the combat arena spread across Esick City like a gust of wind.
Almost every idle adventurer who caught wind of it gathered at the Adventurer’s Guild’s combat arena within ten minutes, eager to watch the newbie make a fool of himself.
Veteran adventurers in Esick City all knew that although Miss Annali always lazed around at her counter doing seemingly nothing, as the person in charge of adventurer registration and promotion—two crucial positions—her strength was unfathomable.
Almost every greenhorn full of themselves or lucky enough to obtain a Kir Artifact, as well as those trying to level up, had all been thoroughly beaten up by Miss Annali at least once.
According to some of the higher-level adventurers, Miss Annali was a powerful adventurer herself, just one step away from the highest adventurer rank.
She was, in short, someone the lower-ranked adventurers could only look up to for a lifetime.
So they all watched Lu Zheng with a touch of schadenfreude, expecting to see him embarrassed by Miss Annali.
And just as those onlookers around the arena had predicted, Lu Zheng, now standing inside the arena, did indeed seem a little embarrassed.
But not because of Miss Annali’s overwhelming strength—rather, he was wondering how to let Miss Annali lose gracefully without anyone noticing.
As a hero, Lu Zheng never had much of a competitive streak when it came to anything other than fighting evil.
In his mind—Judging from what Miss Annali said earlier, this 1-on-1 format for evaluation seemed a little off-protocol, likely a special allowance granted only because of Lester.
If he beat her too badly in front of everyone, wouldn’t that make things awkward for Lester?
He’d be the one who ruined a perfectly good relationship.
How unfriendly!
That’s right—Lu Zheng never once considered the possibility that he might lose.
He was, after all, the ace of the Hero Association.
If not for his rather unstable superpower, there weren’t many within the Association who could top his strength.
If the Hero Association had a proper S-to-C tier ranking system, Lu Zheng would absolutely be among the S-rankers at the very top.
“Hey!”
Miss Annali walked up onto the arena holding a wooden sword. She tapped the ground with its tip and pointed toward Lu Zheng, who stood unarmed on the platform.
She pointed toward the weapons rack outside the arena, where wooden swords, spears, staffs, and other weapons were neatly arranged.
“Go pick something you’re used to using.”
“No need.”
Lu Zheng shook his head and raised his fists.
“I’m more comfortable using these.”
That wasn’t a lie.
In fact, due to the randomness of his superpower, Lu Zheng occasionally got abilities that required weapons—like something out of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Sect—so he was at least passably familiar with nearly every type of weapon.
But his favorite weapon was still his fists.
The thrill of flesh-on-flesh combat and the satisfaction of an uppercut straight to the chin made Lu Zheng absolutely addicted.
“Fine then.”
Annali only shrugged and didn’t try to talk him out of it.
Adventurers who used fists as weapons weren’t exactly rare.
As an examiner for adventurer promotions, she’d seen more people than she’d eaten loaves of bread—and she’d seen over a hundred so-called Kir Artifacts.
There wasn’t much that could surprise her anymore.
She even remembered a rookie adventurer who came in holding an iron box.
That guy had simply raised the iron box, strapped it to his waist, and with a series of strange noises and bizarre movements, some kind of weird armor had flown onto his body.
Once armored up, that seemingly ordinary guy instantly had the strength of a top-tier adventurer.
Unfortunately, he lacked real combat experience, and she’d beaten him black and blue with just a single sword.
He had ended up crashing into a wall, his armor clattering to pieces all over the floor.
Annali twirled her sword and pointed the tip toward Lu Zheng.
Even if she slacked off all the time, for Lester’s sake, she’d still follow the rules as an examiner.
“Come at me. Don’t hold back. Don’t worry about losing. As long as your performance is good enough, I’ll let you join the Adventurer’s Guild.”
Upon hearing that, Lu Zheng’s brain lit up.
So… I don’t have to win?
That made things easier.
He could just parry a few attacks and make himself look competent.
So he patted his chest.
“Miss Annali, as I said before, I specialize in durability—my body is indestructible, and I’m not great at offense. So let me show off my strengths a little.”
“Heh~”
Annali sneered coldly.
He was actually letting her go first? She’d never heard such a request in her entire life.
“Then here I come.”
She didn’t hold back.
With a quick burst of strength at her feet, she appeared in front of Lu Zheng almost instantly.
“Uh-oh!”
Seeing this, the members of the “Friendly Money-Making” Squad beside Yi Ning showed nervous expressions.
“Mr. Lu Zheng doesn’t know Miss Annali very well and actually let her strike first?”
“I’ve never seen Miss Annali go all out, but based on her usual fighting style, her strength lies in offense. Mr. Lu Zheng might be in for a tough time.”
“She gave me a head full of lumps with that very move back then…”
The “Friendly Money-Making” Squad played their role as commentary side characters to perfection.
Yi Ning looked helplessly at their tense expressions and felt that these alien bumpkins really lacked perspective.
Lu Zheng is someone who can go head-to-head with me. And you nobodies who can’t even leave your own planet think you can beat him?
She patted their shoulders reassuringly.
“You guys don’t know Lu Zheng well enough.”
“Relax—he’s going to win.”
And sure enough, Annali’s first sword strike, so fast it was almost invisible, did absolutely nothing. Lu Zheng easily dodged it with a sidestep.
That surprised Annali slightly.
She curled her lips and showed a bit more interest. Almost immediately after her strike was dodged, she followed up with another slash—this time straight toward Lu Zheng’s face.
If that hit, he’d definitely walk away black and blue.
Too bad Lu Zheng was even faster.
That strike, too, was a miss.
“Ohhh—”
What a fierce battle!
The adventurers watching around the ring couldn’t even follow their movements with their eyes, but that only made them more excited and bloodthirsty.
“How about that? Didn’t I tell you?”
Yi Ning was even more thrilled, pointing at the arena and jumping in excitement.
That’s my eternal nemesis—how could he possibly lose to some hick from the sticks?
Yi Ning even boldly predicted:
“In a few more rounds, Lu Zheng will have that woman kneeling in defeat, claiming the throne of victory!”
But things didn’t go as Yi Ning expected.
After several intense rounds, Lu Zheng seemed to start falling behind. His dodging and defensive maneuvers began to slow down.
Seeing that the fight was about to be decided, the watching adventurers began cheering for who they expected would be the victor.
Only Yi Ning stood frozen to the side.
Yi Ning: “?”
As Lu Zheng’s nemesis, how could she not see that he was holding back?
A flicker of irritation began to burn in the depths of Yi Ning’s heart.
Lu Zheng, you bastard!
When you fought me, you didn’t hold back at all, but now you go easy on some slightly good-looking alien woman?!