Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Firepower Magic Orb King
Guo Shuai stood at the entrance to the Skinning Locker Room, feeling the surge of fresh power within his left eye.
That was the inheritance the old geezer Albert had left him before falling into slumber.
【New Ability: Learn and Apply】
【Source】: A fusion product derived from the A-Grade ability "Elemental Resonance" and the analysis capabilities of the "Eye of Calamity."
【Effect】: Can analyze the principles behind others' techniques and forcibly "pirate" a low-spec version using elemental force.
【Currently Loaded】: Wind Force Heavy Pressure (pirated from Jiang Nan).
【Rating】: Although it's pirated, although the principle is different, but... the upside is that it's cheap!
"Heh heh..."
The corners of Guo Shuai's mouth curved upward, his eyes burning with fanaticism.
"Like boss, like underling."
"Since the boss can make rain kneel, it's only reasonable that I make this pack of zombies kneel too, right?"
He straightened his ill-fitting black school uniform, mimicking the nonchalant posture he remembered from Jiang Nan.
Both hands shoved into his pockets, chin slightly raised, he strode out the door with a gait that acknowledged no one.
Behind him, Wang Meng followed, belly jutting out, arm guards made from wardrobe doors strapped on, wearing an expression of brazen arrogance.
The two of them walked one in front, one behind.
If there were BGM at this moment, it would have to be the deployment anthem from Pacific Rim—the kind with built-in heavy bass.
Hrrgh?
In the corridor, the pack of Wandering Corpses mid-feast heard the commotion, stopped their gnawing one by one, and turned their blood-soaked mouths around.
Fixing their gaze on these 2 transfer students who had no idea what they were walking into.
Over a dozen pairs of cloudy eyeballs radiated a bloodthirsty hunger.
"Hmph."
Guo Shuai let out a cold snort, slowly raised his right hand to cover his right eye, leaving only his left eye—the one radiating red light—exposed.
The pose was supremely edgy, and utterly self-important.
"Kneel!!"
He snapped his 5 fingers open and pressed them down into the void toward the mass of Wandering Corpses ahead.
"Wind Force Heavy Pressure!!"
Boom!
It didn't have Jiang Nan's terrifying scale where even the ground caved in.
But a violently turbulent air current, visible to the naked eye, detonated instantly within the narrow corridor!
As though an invisible giant hand had slammed down hard on the heads of the pack of Wandering Corpses!
Crack! Crack!
The sound of shattering bone rang out in rapid succession.
The dozen-plus ferocious Wandering Corpses didn't even have time to let out a scream!
Their kneecaps shattered instantly, and they dropped to the floor in unison!
The floor tiles were cracked from the impact!
"That's insane!!"
Wang Meng behind him stood slack-jawed, unable to stop himself from giving a thumbs-up.
"Guo Shuai! You've got some moves, kid! Didn't know you had that up your sleeve—it's practically identical to the boss!"
"I..."
Guo Shuai held that cool pose, but his eyes had gone red.
He was on the verge of tears.
Ever since arriving in the Savage Realm, he had been eating nothing but losses.
Scared to the point of wetting himself by the Scarecrow, possessed by Albert, used as bait by his teammates...
Even his 1 and only major victory had been won lying on the ground like a maggot.
It was utterly humiliating!
And now...
Looking at the pack of monsters kneeling before him, he finally tasted the flavor of a true combat victory!
The taste of the strong!
"Sniff... sniff... sniff... Yang Wei, can you see this? I've made something of myself..."
Guo Shuai was so moved he was practically in tears.
However.
Cool—genuinely cool.
The side effects—genuinely massive.
The pack of Wandering Corpses had broken legs, but they weren't fully dead.
As creatures that feel no pain, they exchanged a glance with one another.
Hrrgh!
Several powerful Wandering Corpses suddenly grabbed the arms of the ones beside them, like athletes readying a shot put throw.
They hurled 2 Wandering Corpses straight at the still-moved Guo Shuai!
"Watch out!!"
Wang Meng's eyes and hands moved in a flash—he grabbed Guo Shuai's collar from behind and yanked him back hard.
Thud!
The two Wandering Corpses crashed into the spot where Guo Shuai had just been standing, their sharp claws reaching forward and catching exactly on the arm guards—failing to penetrate.
"Guo Shuai! Stop spacing out! Finish them off!"
Wang Meng shouted.
"I... I'm done..."
Guo Shuai's complexion went deathly pale, his legs trembling, as he said weakly.
That Wind Force Heavy Pressure just now—pirated though it was—for someone with only an F-Grade physique...
It was as if it had drained every last drop of his Mana Bar in a single use.
He was now so drained it felt like he'd "served as captain" 10 times in a row—without even the strength to lift a hand.
Hrrgh!!
The hurled Wandering Corpse had broken legs, but it used both arms to crawl at terrifying speed, snapping its gaping maw straight at him!
"Damn it!"
Wang Meng raised his arm guard and smashed the Wandering Corpse's head with a single punch, bellowing:
"Run!! If you're out of mana, don't push through!"
Guo Shuai nodded and was about to turn and flee, only to find his legs felt like they'd been filled with lead—he couldn't take a single step.
The pack of Wandering Corpses behind them was crawling forward like a tide.
"Wang Meng... save me!!"
Guo Shuai nearly cried the words out.
Not out of fear of death—but because the invincible image he had just built up had, once again, shattered to pieces.
"Hold tight!!"
Wang Meng didn't say another word—that was true loyalty.
He didn't carry Guo Shuai on his back—instead he grabbed the back collar of Guo Shuai's school uniform with one hand and dragged him in a full sprint toward the staircase!
Hrrgh! Hrrgh! Hrrgh!!
Behind them, the broken-legged pack of Wandering Corpses crawled at frightening speed.
"Come on then! You bunch of legless trash! Come chase your daddy!"
Guo Shuai's body couldn't move, but his mouth was as tough as ever.
Dragged sliding across the floor, he didn't forget to look back and taunt them.
However.
Happy sliding times are always fleeting.
Ahead lay the staircase leading to the 2nd floor.
All sharp-edged marble steps.
"Wang Meng... wait... that's the staircase..."
Guo Shuai realized something was wrong.
But Wang Meng was hot-headed, and a nimble fat man at that.
"Don't be scared! Wang Meng'll make you fly!"
Wang Meng charged up the stairs in a single bound, gripping Guo Shuai's collar tight and heaving him sharply upward!
And so.
Clunk!
A dull, thudding impact rang out with a certain sense of something breaking.
Guo Shuai's lower half slammed into the right-angle edge of the 1st step.
More precisely.
It was his Magic Orbs...
That made close, intimate contact with the hard marble.
"Ahhhhh!!!!"
A scream 10 times more agonized than a pig being slaughtered echoed through the entire stairwell.
"No... nooo!!"
Guo Shuai's face instantly turned the color of pig liver, his features contorting more grotesquely than the Wandering Corpses behind him.
However.
Wang Meng, charging ahead with full effort, misread the meaning due to the wind and the sound of his own footsteps.
"'Don't stop?!'"
Wang Meng glanced back, saw Guo Shuai screaming that loudly, and assumed the Wandering Corpses behind them had caught up.
"Don't worry, Guo Shuai!!"
Wang Meng bellowed, his feet picking up speed.
"Don't let my weight fool you! I'm a nimble fat man! My 50-meter sprint at last year's physical test was 7.8 seconds!!"
"Since you said don't stop—I'm speeding up!!"
"Hold on tight!!"
Wang Meng went full throttle, dragging Guo Shuai up the stairs at full sprint!
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Guo Shuai bounced like keys being hammered on a piano, slamming and scraping against step after step!
"I... that's not what I meant!!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
The Magic Orbs...
Were nearly striking sparks.
Guo Shuai desperately reached out trying to grab the handrail, but Wang Meng's strength was too great—he'd already been dragged into a blurred streak.
Hrrgh......
The pack of Wandering Corpses chased as far as the staircase entrance, watching those two "madmen" disappear in a cloud of dust.
They looked back at their own broken legs and, in the end, could only helplessly abandon the chase.
......
Outside Class 3, Year 3.
“Huff... huff...”
Wang Meng dragged Guo Shuai and rushed to the classroom door in one breath.
He glanced at the countdown on the back of his hand.
【00:39】
【00:38】
"We made it!!"
Wang Meng let out a breath of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and revealed a smile of having survived a disaster.
He turned around to look at the good brother he'd dragged all the way up.
"We're safe! Guo Shuai! Thanks to that Crowd Control move of yours just now—we were really cutting it close!"
"Guo... Guo Shuai?"
Wang Meng's smile froze.
"What happened to you?!"
Guo Shuai was leaning against the wall.
Both hands hanging limply at his sides.
His face wore an expression of serene peace—like a monk ready to achieve nirvana and ascend at any moment.
From the corner of his eye, a single crystal-clear tear slowly slid down.
And on his trousers...
The fabric there had been worn through, exposing the lucky red underneath.
Even...
Faintly, ever so faintly, a thin wisp of blue smoke was still drifting out.
Guo Shuai... had burned out.