The dagger flew from her hand, streaking through the air like a silver flash, its sharp whistle cutting through the silence as it shot straight toward Lin Han, who sat slumped on the ground.
Its speed was so blinding that it left only a faint afterimage in its wake.
Lin Han’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.
That same dagger, which had just been aimed at Liu Yuan’s back, was now hurtling toward him!
The shadow of death instantly engulfed him.
Every hair on his body stood on end as a wave of icy terror drowned him, choking the breath from his lungs.
He wanted to dodge!
He desperately tried to move!
But the earlier impact had been too severe—his body ached, his limbs weak and unresponsive.
All he could do was watch helplessly as that lethal glint rapidly expanded in his vision.
"Referee!"
"Save me!"
"I surrender!"
Lin Han’s scream was shrill, distorted by sheer terror.
He pinned all his hopes on the rules.
According to regulations, if a contestant lost the ability to fight or faced mortal danger, the referee had the authority to intervene and stop the match!
Yet…
The referee below the stage stood frozen, his face twisted with… hesitation?
He had seen Liu Yuan’s movement. He had heard Lin Han’s plea.
But he didn’t act!
Lin Han’s mind screamed in despair.
Why?!
Why won’t you save me?!
Is it because he’s from the capital?
Because you people hate those from the capital and want him dead, is that it?!
The referee’s gaze was conflicted, as if weighing something.
Or perhaps he judged Liu Yuan’s attack wouldn’t be fatal?
But Lin Han couldn’t process any of that in this split second.
Fear, like ice-cold water dumped over his head, shattered his last shred of composure.
A warm, uncontrollable wetness gushed from between his legs.
The damp heat spread rapidly.
On the stage floor, a dark stain expanded outward from beneath him.
He… had pissed himself.
The pungent scent began to permeate the air.
And just as his consciousness teetered on the edge of collapse—
Thunk!
The sound of metal piercing flesh—no, piercing the ground—rang out.
The dagger, hurtling at deadly speed, hadn’t impaled him.
Instead, at an impossibly precise angle, it grazed the inside of his thigh and embedded itself deep into the floor between his legs!
The hilt quivered from the impact, emitting a faint hum.
The cold metallic scent pressed against his skin.
A fraction of an inch more…
Lin Han stiffly lowered his head, staring at the blade mere inches from his most vulnerable spot.
His face was ghostly pale, lips trembling too violently to form words.
Relief at surviving?
No—only deeper terror.
He sat slumped in his own mess, gasping like a fish out of water, his eyes hollow.
The audience stared, stunned, at the shocking scene on stage.
At the contestant who had wet himself in fear, and the dagger planted squarely beneath him.
Liu Yuan, meanwhile, acted as if she’d done nothing noteworthy.
She didn’t even spare Lin Han another glance—the pathetic figure on the ground wasn’t worth her attention.
She picked up her phone again, slender fingers tapping away.
[Liu Yuan: Done. Where should I meet you, brother?]
Finally, the hesitant referee forced a stiff smile and hurried onto the stage.
He carefully sidestepped the dark puddle.
"Lin Han, are you… alright?"
Lin Han didn’t respond.
His mouth hung open, vacant eyes fixed on the ceiling, body still trembling faintly from fear and exhaustion.
The damp stickiness clung to his skin.
Shame and terror intertwined, threatening to shatter his mind completely.
The referee frowned, reaching out to pull him up.
"Nggh—"
Lin Han made a garbled noise, his body limp as a ragdoll even when lifted.
The referee’s expression darkened.
With no other choice, he signaled to the staff below.
Soon, two medics in white uniforms rushed onto the stage with a stretcher.
Their faces flickered with surprise at the sight.
Blood on the stage was common, but a contestant pissing himself from fear? That was a first.
Still, professionalism kicked in, and they swiftly loaded Lin Han onto the stretcher.
As they lifted him, a flicker of awareness returned to his eyes.
He saw the countless stares from the crowd below.
Shame erupted like a volcano.
"AAAGH—!"
A wordless scream tore from his throat as he clawed at his face, thrashing violently on the stretcher as if trying to escape or vent his humiliation.
The medics quickly restrained him and carried him offstage.
Only once the stretcher vanished into the hallway did the referee clear his throat and announce, voice steady:
"This match’s winner—Contestant A-55, Liu Yuan!"
The commentator, obligated by his paycheck, awkwardly chimed in:
"A… tense match comes to an end! Liu Yuan has defeated the capital’s Lin Han with overwhelming skill!"
"Though the, uh, process was unexpected, her strength is undeniable!"
He struggled to steer the narrative away from the unsightly spectacle.
Stagehands quickly mopped up the mess.
The puddle was wiped away, and the dagger—yanked from the floor—was tossed carelessly aside.
Lin Han could retrieve it himself later.
[A-55, Liu Yuan]: 131 - 30 = 101 points (Though the opponent was weak and posed no real threat, playing on her phone was overly disrespectful and showed complacency. Needs improvement.)
[A-102, Lin Han]: 104 - 50 = 54 points (Performance was otherwise decent; defeat wasn’t due to lack of skill. But courage must be honed—currently unfit for serious combat.)
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
