So I'm the Only Noob

When Jiang Cuo heard that Lin Mo was going to attack, his entire body tensed up. He lowered his center of gravity, raising both fists in front of his face.

Lin Mo moved.

His steps, his rhythm—they were exactly the same as Jiang Cuo had used before.

No, to be precise, it was a replication.

"Relax, I won't go all out. I'll use about the same strength as you," Lin Mo said.

With that, Lin Mo stepped forward in the exact same arrow stance Jiang Cuo had taken.

A jab shot forward.

But it was faster.

Even though the movement was identical, when Lin Mo threw it, it was an entirely different beast.

Jiang Cuo's brain was still processing the information when the fist already pressed against his face.

The protective gear absorbed most of the impact, so it didn't hurt much.

But Jiang Cuo's heart skipped a beat. Was this really his own level of strength?

He knew exactly how it felt when he normally punched a heavy bag. This punch was clearly lighter.

Before he could catch his breath, Lin Mo's hook punch followed immediately.

Jiang Cuo instinctively covered his head with both arms and braced for the hit.

A dull thud resonated through the protective gear, making his ear ring.

He held it.

Jiang Cuo's mind raced.

Boxing had offense and defense. Every continuous attack had gaps. He just had to wait for the opening.

But before Jiang Cuo could wait for Lin Mo's next opening, Lin Mo's fist spiraled upward.

The force was still not great.

But the chin was a tricky spot—packed with nerves. Even through the protective gear, his head wobbled.

Jiang Cuo's legs gave out, and he fell backward onto the ring, landing on his rear.

The entire venue went silent for a beat.

Lin Mo withdrew his fist and stood still, his hands hanging loosely at his sides.

"Lin Mo is a beast!"

An Yuexin was the first to explode, shouting at the top of his lungs.

The students from Class Eight went crazy, chanting together, "Lin Mo is a beast!"

A few boys from other classes who had just been watching for fun couldn't help but join in with a couple of shouts.

After all, seeing someone knock down an opponent with the opponent's own move—that was something even textbooks couldn't conjure up.

In a corner offstage, Jiang Yunlu stood with her arms crossed, tilting her head as she watched for a moment, then sighed.

"Ah, this guy is probably going to attract a lot of girls now."

Xie Yuling let out a cold laugh. "He's going abroad for a competition soon. What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid. I just realized he's not really good at saying no to people."

Xie Yuling shook her head. "That's because you've never seen him reject someone."

Xie Yuling recalled last semester when, after school almost every day, girls would block Lin Mo at the school gate.

Some confessed directly, some handed him letters, and others brought their friends along for courage.

Lin Mo had a stash of love letters in his desk drawer. He didn't even open them—just stuffed them into his backpack and took them home.

She had seen Lin Mo turn people down: clean and decisive, leaving no room for false hope.

Especially after the whole forum incident last time.

But the way he rejected them... how should she put it? The girl he turned down went home and cried all night, only to tell her friends the next day, "The way he rejected me was so handsome."

There was just no reasoning with that.

As for what happened to those letters later, Xie Yuling never asked.

Chu Miaomiao, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

"We should try to get into the same school as Lin Mo in the future."

Hearing that, both Jiang Yunlu and Xie Yuling turned to look at Chu Miaomiao.

"I'm controlling my scores. Miss Jiang here is always in the top twenty. Only you need to work harder, Miaomiao," Jiang Yunlu said.

Chu Miaomiao froze for two seconds, and her face went pale instantly.

"Wait... so I'm the only one who's the weak link?!"

Jiang Yunlu patted her on the shoulder, her expression sincere. "We believe in you."

Chu Miaomiao said weakly, "Your expression doesn't look like you believe in me at all!"

Back onstage.

At that point, Lin Mo was watching Jiang Cuo get back up.

The supervising teacher hurried over, crouched down, and checked on him. "You okay? Can you continue?"

The protective gear was still effective, so the actual damage was limited.

But the chin was a special place—a light hit would make you dizzy; a heavy one would knock you out cold.

Jiang Cuo pushed himself up from the ring, rolled his neck a couple of times, then nodded.

The teacher had him do a few simple coordination exercises to make sure nothing was wrong before stepping back to the edge of the ring.

This break actually helped Jiang Cuo.

His head gradually cleared, and he began replaying the punches.

If Lin Mo really had used only about the same strength as him, what did that mean?

It meant the same power, the same technique, coming from Lin Mo's hands, produced completely different results.

Speed, timing, angle—everything was superior.

He wasn't sure if Lin Mo had genuinely held back. If he hadn't, then those punches weren't too bad for him.

But if he had held back, that meant he had just been toyed with.

So Jiang Cuo couldn't help but shout, "Lin Mo! Let me feel your full strength."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.

If he really went all out, Jiang Cuo would be laid out flat.

So Lin Mo only increased his strength ever so slightly before throwing a punch with all the power behind it.

Jiang Cuo's eyes caught the trajectory of the fist, and his hands moved, but his body couldn't keep up.

The fist slammed into the protective gear, and Jiang Cuo left the ground.

That wasn't an exaggeration.

It was real—both feet were off the ring.

Jiang Cuo flew about three meters and landed hard on the soft mat outside the ring.

He had once imagined what it felt like to be hit by a truck.

In that moment, he felt like he finally knew.

The entire audience fell dead silent.

Eyes darted back and forth between Lin Mo on the ring and Jiang Cuo on the ground.

Lin Mo stood there, retracting his fist casually, breathing steadily, without even a bead of sweat on his forehead.

The boxing club members reacted the fastest. A half-dozen or so of them rushed over.

Someone called for the school nurse; someone else dug through the first-aid kit.

Jiang Cuo lay on the ground, took a few seconds to recover, then raised one hand and waved.

"I'm fine. Don't call the doctor. It's embarrassing."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was so quiet around them that everyone heard it.

The whole venue seemed to flip a switch.

A few scattered laughs came first, followed by a massive wave of cheers.

Those who had just been worried Lin might have injured Jiang Cuo, once they confirmed he was okay, let out a collective burst of emotion.

"Holy crap! One punch! Just one punch!"

"He flew! Did you see that? Actually flew!"

"What kind of monster is Lin Mo?"

Lu Xiaochen crouched beside Jiang Cuo and asked softly, "Jiang Cuo, are you really okay?"

Jiang Cuo took off his protective gear, rolled his jaw, and grinned. "It hurts, it hurts, but let me tell you, Lin Mo really didn't put any force into that."

Lu Xiaochen looked baffled.

Jiang Cuo sat up, looking at Lin Mo's back as he was untying his boxing gloves on the ring, and shook his head.

Three meters.

He only added a little bit of strength.

Three meters.

How much had he held back?

In the audience, Su Jiazhen, sitting next to Zhang Yuzhong, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"Good thing we never actually messed with Lin Mo. Otherwise, the grass on our graves might have been three meters tall by now."