Chapter 60: My First Match

Chapter 60: My First Match

After parting from the servant boy, I headed to the sect to report in.

I had only just entered the virtual world and was still unfamiliar with it, so I’d been careful at every turn and shielded the consciousness in my head — which meant, of course, that I couldn’t receive the memories left behind by the original host. Lucky for me, I’d run into this servant boy, Liu Tanzhuang, or I’d have understood nothing at all.

Once I took in the original host’s memories, I settled into the role easily enough. So, following Miss Yuan’s reminder, I went to the sect to sign up for the match.

The reason I’d agreed so readily was simple: I was flat broke.

I’d assumed entering virtual spacetime meant pure enjoyment. Turned out, in this world too, life ran on money. No money, no immortal pills. No immortal pills, no way to raise your cultivation or advance in rank — nothing left but hard labor at the bottom for whatever wages you could scrape together. I was a guard, and I still earned less than the maids and servant boys. That did not sit well with me at all.

So even though Uncle had told me my first trip in was only to see the sights, and that I shouldn’t rush after money — how was I supposed to see anything without money? I couldn’t very well settle for being some exhausted wage hand.

I’d just come through the Ziyun Sect’s gate when I saw Eldest Senior Brother Shi Youcheng walking toward me. Seeing me enter, he said, “Miss Yuan’s maid Xiaocui came by just now — said you’d agreed to the match?”

“Yes, Eldest Senior Brother. I agreed. If I don’t fight, the Grandmaster will throw me out of the sect, and paying work isn’t easy to come by right now either. I turned it over and decided to take the chance. Worst case, I lose five achievement points.”

Shi Youcheng lowered his voice. “You’re thinking too simply about this. That rank-three fighter from the Jianghai Gang, surnamed Huang — I know him. He’s actually rank-five ability, but he holds himself back from advancing on purpose. Partly because he likes the taste of beating people. Partly because the Jianghai Gang’s playing a longer game — building big wins out of small ones. Once Huang beats you, he keeps fighting his way up, one man racking up win after win, the points stacking as he goes. But if he advanced in rank, he’d only get to win one match, and everything after would get hard for him — everyone’s got a signature skill or two tucked away. Your record so far hasn’t been good. Without some skill of your own to fall back on, what exactly are you planning to fight with?”

“Thank you for the guidance, Eldest Senior Brother. My martial skills may not amount to much, but I once learned an invisibility technique. I don’t know if it’ll be of any use.”

“Invisibility is the most common technique among elite people. All the other side needs is same-frequency sensing, and they’ll see straight through it. In a match, it’s basically worthless.”

“Then let me ask you something else, Eldest Senior Brother. Do you know of the Sweepers, in the Mundane World? Their purge groups — set against our sect ranks, what would they count as?”

Shi Youcheng considered this. “You actually know about the Sweepers? Good thing I’ve been to the Mundane World myself, served there as a liaison officer once. Their martial skills come from Wisdom Capsules — carefully chosen combat techniques, starting at rank five at the very least, though never higher than rank nine. Mainly because the Sweepers have to face real assassination attempts out there, and the Mundane World has its own real experts, so they need techniques that actually work. The true bodies of elite people, on the other hand, tend to be intellectuals. They use Wisdom Capsules too, but the thing’s no use in the virtual world — all they’ve got is their consciousness’s memory of it, and that leaves them nowhere near as iron-blooded as the Sweepers.”

Rank five as a starting point — that gave me something to hold onto at last. I’d…