How Do We Play If This Boss Isn't Nerfed?

"We got a match! The fifth one! The last of the placement matches!"

"Holy shit! The opponent’s ranked in the top 50,000! He’s gotta be a badass at Divine Realm Perfection, at least!"

"And look at this ID... Kujo Akiyoshi? He’s from East Japan!"

The moment Dong Dongchen finished speaking, the livestream chat instantly exploded.

"Damn! The system really knows how to put on a show. Giving us a national showdown for the final placement match?"

"Kujo? Isn’t that surname from a top-tier clan over in East Japan?"

"Fuck him up! Dammit, I don’t care what kind of monster he is, just fucking crush him!"

"Show them our nation’s might!"

「After a short loading screen.」

When the scene cleared, Lin Ye found himself in an antique courtyard. White gravel lay under his feet, and not far off were rockeries, flowing water, and falling cherry blossoms.

Across from him stood a young man dressed in an ornate white kariginu, holding a white paper fan.

The young man was handsome, his skin almost unnaturally fair. His narrow, phoenix eyes tilted slightly upward, holding a trace of both effeminacy and arrogance.

He had shoulder-length black hair tied loosely at the back with a purple ribbon. He exuded a classical aura that was out of place among modern Martial Artists, as if he were an Yin Yang Master who had stepped out of an ancient painting.

Divine Realm Perfection.

A smile touched the corners of Lin Ye’s lips.

’Finally, a decent opponent.’

’I hope he can give me a good fight.’

The countdown to the start of the battle had not yet ended.

Across from him, Kujo Akiyoshi suddenly covered the lower half of his face with his fan with a sharp SNAP, revealing only a pair of mocking and contemptuous eyes. In fluent, though slightly accented, Great Xia language, he spoke slowly.

"Yohoho, a... chink."

He enunciated the last word with extreme weight, full of undisguised insult and malice.

The instant the word was spoken.

The faint trace of indifference on Lin Ye’s face vanished.

His expression visibly turned to ice.

The entire stream, with its nearly ten million viewers from Great Xia, fell into a collective, dead silence the moment they heard that word.

It was followed by an eruption of volcanic fury!

"FUCK!!!"

"What did that Jap say?!"

"I’ll fuck your ancestors! You son of a bitch, say that again if you have the guts!"

"Kill him! Fucking kill him!!!"

In the virtual battlefield, the atmosphere seemed to drop to freezing point.

Although the history of this world was vastly different from Earth’s.

The deep-seated, blood-bound hatred between Great Xia and East Japan seemed not to have changed in the slightest.

Kujo Akiyoshi seemed to enjoy the feeling of being the target of millions of people’s fury. He slowly lowered his fan and, facing the expressionless Lin Ye, actually gave a polite little bow, performing a standard, ancient East Japan greeting.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Kujo Akiyoshi. I look forward to our match."

He straightened up and looked at the motionless Lin Ye, a look of feigned, mocking surprise on his face.

"Oh? Why do you not return the gesture? And here I thought you people from Great Xia prided yourselves on being a nation of etiquette. Do you not even know the most basic pre-battle courtesies? How rude."

Though he spoke of rudeness, the sense of lofty superiority in his eyes was practically overflowing.

However, Lin Ye merely stared at him coldly with those abyss-black eyes.

Finally, in the last second before the countdown hit zero, he spoke.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it struck everyone’s heart like a block of ten-thousand-year-old ice.

"Etiquette is for humans."

"You don’t deserve it."

He paused, looking at the smile that had frozen on Kujo Akiyoshi’s face. The mockery and iciness in his tone intensified.

"Besides,"

"This is especially true for a mongrel race that understands petty etiquette but not true righteousness."

Lin Ye’s words were like an invisible slap, striking hard across the fake smile on Kujo Akiyoshi’s face.

The composure and arrogance in his eyes instantly froze.

Kujo Akiyoshi’s handsome face twisted slightly, and the white paper fan in his hand creaked under his grip.

Meanwhile, in Dong Dongchen’s livestream, the atmosphere had already exploded.

Dong Dongchen sat in front of his screen, feeling a rush of hot blood surge to his head.

He burst out, "That hit the spot!"

"’Etiquette is for humans. You don’t deserve it!’ I didn’t know Lin Ye had such a sharp tongue, hahaha, but I love it!"

"The guy from East Japan insulted us first, Lin Ye was just retaliating!"

"But the best part was that last line, ’understands petty etiquette but not true righteousness’! Holy crap, I declare, that is the most accurate summary of the Japs ever!"

Countless comments in the chat echoed his sentiment.

"I’m taking notes! On the surface, they’re all bowing and scraping and being polite, but behind your back, they’ll do every despicable thing imaginable. Isn’t that the perfect definition of ’understands petty etiquette but not true righteousness’?!"

"I always thought they were hypocritical, but Lin Ye’s one sentence just laid it all bare. Awesome!"

In the virtual battlefield, the murderous atmosphere had already climbed to its peak.

The cold countdown began to tick down.

"Hmph... a sharp tongue!"

Kujo Akiyoshi’s expression was so dark it looked like it might drip water. "I know you... Lin Ye, isn’t it?"

"Number one in the Great Xia Martial Arts College Entrance Exam? What a remarkable title."

His fan snapped open with a SHWIP, revealing the Night Parade of Hundred Demons painted on it. A cold, evil aura began to spread from it.

"There must be a lot of people watching this match of yours, right?"

A smile curled on Kujo Akiyoshi’s lips. He paused before continuing, "In that case, I’ll have to show all of them just how Great Xia’s so-called number one gets trampled under my foot like a dog!"