Chapter 100: Holding Back
[I think he had been holding back from the very beginning and made Ije lower his guard. What a shrewd fighter.]
[He was just lucky.]
[I could do the same ]
As everyone whispered and shared their thoughts about my win, I couldn't help but let out an insulting laugh at their reactions. It was like watching a group of conspiracy theorists trying to explain the mysteries of the universe.
They had all seen how Ije fought, and it was clear that deep down, they knew they didn't have a chance in hell against him. Yet, there I was, the underdog, knocking him unconscious. They could call me names, create wild theories, or even blame it on divine intervention, but the fact remained—I had knocked him down.
Without a care in the world, I turned to them, wearing a mischievous grin that practically shouted, "I just won, deal with it."
Then with all the humbleness of a true winner, I boldly declared, "You know what? Fuck you all," while giving them my middle finger.
[Ding +10XP]
[Ding +10XP]
[Ding +10XP]
[Ding +10XP]
[Ding +10XP]
"Hey, do you want a piece of us?" One of the newbies charged at me. but before he could do anything, Obo interjected and kicked him in the stomach.
*BAM!
He let out a groan of pain and stumbled backward, clutching his abdomen.
Obo stood there, his eyes locked on him with a death glare. His message was crystal clear: no one was allowed to attack me under his watch.
"Who told you to attack him?" OBO's voice turned cold as he confronted him. "You're only a newbie, and you think you can just do whatever you want," he berated, his words laced with disapproval.
The newbie, still nursing the pain from OBO's kick, looked down in fear, realizing the gravity of his impulsive actions. It was clear that OBO wasn't going to tolerate such behavior from a newcomer.
"Serves you right," I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched the thug's pitiful state. His overconfidence had certainly led to a humbling experience.
He shot me a glare that could've melted steel beams, as if I'd just run off with his "imaginary" girlfriend, but the moment Obo gave him a stern look, he suddenly became very interested in the ceiling tiles.
"Zuzu, you have some backbone, but you're too hotheaded," Obo scolded me, But honestly, I couldn't care less about his words at that moment.
As he continued to lecture me, I couldn't help but mutter to myself, 'Dumbass, just stop talking and let us go. I'm excited to check my status.'
After a few minutes of talking like a broken record on repeat, Ije finally seemed to snap out of his daze.
I had been bracing myself for a potential beatdown, anticipating an encore of our earlier brawl. But to my surprise, he did something that left me baffled – he simply looked at me, shook his head in a mixture of disbelief and resignation, and then, with a shrug of his shoulders, exited the room.
It was as if he had decided that the sheer absurdity of the situation wasn't worth his time. I couldn't help but wonder if he had decided that enduring Obo's lectures was punishment enough, and adding my potential pummeling to the mix would be an overdose of weirdness for one day.
"How did you do it?"
A voice interrupted my thoughts, and when I turned to see who it was, I spotted a tall man with bright red hair and a black face mask. I remembered him as someone I had beaten before, but his name had slipped my mind completely.
'Mind Eye,' I used my skill.
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Name: Gong Changmin
Age: 18
Level (32)
Overall Stats :??
Strength: ??
Agility: ??
Stamina: ??
Endurance: ??
Intelligence: ??
Charisma: ??
Status : ??
Suggestion Chance :??
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"Level 32?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing on the screen. I remembered defeating this guy much more easily than Ije, but now his stats showed that he was even stronger than him. It didn't add up, and my mind was racing, trying to figure out why.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
'He let me win on purpose,' I muttered to myself. It suddenly made sense – he intentionally lost the fight.
'But why?'
That question echoed in my mind as I mulled over this unexpected revelation. Why would someone intentionally let me win? It didn't make much sense on the surface, but as I thought about it, a few possible explanations started to form in my mind.
'Maybe he had a hidden agenda, some ulterior motive for wanting me to win?,' I pondered silently.
'Or perhaps he wanted to keep a low profile?' Maybe he was trying to avoid drawing too much attention to himself for some reason.
"How did you do it?" he repeated the question .
"Do what?" I asked, genuinely puzzled by his question. I wasn't sure which specific action or event he was referring to, and his question had left me in a state of confusion.
"You're speed doubled in that last punch . That's something humanly impossible," he remarked, raising an eyebrow as if he wanted to uncover my secret.
"Oh, that," I replied, nonchalantly borrowing the explanation I had overheard one of the newbies give earlier. "I was just holding back my speed from the start." I shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Stop lying," he pressed, not buying my explanation. "I could see from the start that you were going all out right from the beginning. It was impossible for you to beat him without that sudden boost in speed."
This guy just wouldn't budge. I wanted to use my skill to shut him up, but then I remembered that my skill doesn't work well on people who are at least 20 levels higher than me. It struck me that I needed to improve my suggestion ability .
"Hey, pal," I leaned in closer to him, speaking in a hushed tone. "We all have our secrets, you know. I said I held back at the start, and that's true. And remember, you held back a lot during our fight too, didn't you? You even let me win," I chuckled, using my UNO reverse card to turn the tables on him.
"You…"
My revelation left him momentarily speechless, as he realized that we were both have our own secrets.