The Highest Bounty

Pashal was not a fighter with innate combat talents. His current ranking was the result of him working hard climbing the ranks, step by step. Even though his opponent’s ranking was a lot lower than him, he did not let down his guard.

He carefully observed this opponent. At the instant he saw Gu Ding, he knew that this was going to be a tough battle. He had fought no less than five hundred matches in the Virtual Arena, and even though he could not confirm the battle prowess of the opponent at one glance, there were some telltale hints that he could discern from his battle experience.

The opponent looked like he was in high spirits, this probably meant that he had won several battles in a row before this. The opponent’s gaze also telegraphed the fact that he was dangerous.

‘Let’s try something.’ He did not feel too confident about facing this opponent. As a preemptive strike, his body shimmered as he took a few forward steps toward Gu Ding.

Gu Ding stood motionless on the spot. He saw that his opponent’s movements were nimble and his angle of attack was unique. Against an experienced fighter, he thought that staying put in a reactive stance was the best countermeasure.

When the opponent drew near, his fist punched at Gu Ding’s waist, which was countered with Lightning Elbow. Gu Ding pointed a Terminating Finger at the opponent’s heart. His speed was extremely fast, and Pashal barely managed to defend against it. He blocked his heart with his palm but was still pushed back.

Pashal managed to regain his footing after being pushed back several meters. His right hand was already shattered and the ribs on his chest were cracking. That was the sign of sustaining serious damage in the Virtual Arena. He would have been killed if not for that he managed to block it with his palm just in time.

The opponent had inflicted serious damage with only one attack, and that had caused him to be amazed.

‘How can he be this strong? He looks like he’s only about fifteen years of age. Is he some prodigy sponsored by a large corporation?’

‘Looks like I can fight against stronger opponents.” Gu Ding was a little unsure of how strong his powers have grown.

“I yield!” Pashal surrendered after discerning the power level of the opponent. He knew that continuing with the fight was a futile effort.

“That’s disappointing. I didn’t see how truly strong the kid was.” In the control room, the short-haired woman in black leather boots narrowed her eyes. “Get someone in the 200,000s to fight against him.”

“Yes, Young Miss.” The man in the business suit nodded stoically.

Everyone was shocked when they saw a new challenger appear in the ring. The ranking of this new challenger was 200,167. The difference in the power level of the 200,000s and 500,000s were worlds apart. If someone ranked around 500,000 had experienced 500 battles, then one with ranking around 200,000 would have experienced about 2,000. Almost everyone in the 200,000s has awakened special abilities. They were all extremely dangerous.

“What’s so special about this kid that I’m summoned to this fight?” Gu Ding’s opponent this time was a young man in his twenties. He wore a long saber on his waist and he sounded extremely arrogant. In fact, his alias was ‘NoOneIsAsArrogant’. “Hey, kid, there’s still time for you to surrender. Don’t cry when I chop you into eighteen pieces.”

“I wonder who will be the one crying!” Gu Ding smiled.

“Really?” the arrogant man grasped the hilt of his saber and focused power on it.

“Careful. This man uses Batto-Jutsu.” Neptune reminded him. “Batto-Jutsu has incredibly explosive power in a short instant. The longer he gathers power, the more dangerous he becomes. You’ll have to interrupt him as soon as you can.”

Gu Ding took a Silent Step forward and reached in front of the arrogant man in a flash.

The arrogant man unsheathed his sword at the same time. A deadly sharp flash was aimed at Gu Ding’s waist. Gu Ding took a sidestep and dodged the attack, and at the same time, his Terminating Finger pushed at the side of the saber.

The arrogant man felt an immense force push his blade aside and the saber nearly flew from his hands. At the same time, he received a Lightning Elbow on his chest. Following that, Gu Ding leaped upward and kicked his chin with a Fiery Knee.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the arrogant man disappear from the ring.

“Finally, I think I’ve seen something. Looks like it’s a unique style of martial arts.” In the control room, the short-haired woman happily licked her lollipop. “Get someone in the 80,000s to fight.”

“Yes, Young Miss.”

The next opponent appeared in front of Gu Ding. His ranking was 80,958. He was a gunner. His frame was slight and he wore a huge, black backpack. The most distinguishing feature was his face, which was as angular as though someone had carved it with a paring knife. His face was without expression, and it was not hard to guess that he must be a soldier. His alias was ‘IMAGunner’. He was probably humorless as well.

The Gunner class is a relatively new job class compared to the other combat types. Most people who picked this class did not have any special combat abilities. Of course, there were gun enthusiasts that picked this class as well.

The Gunner class was the strongest with its long-range attacks. If someone got close to them, they would have already had one foot in the grave. The perfect counter to this class was someone with high defense and movement with strong close combat attacks.

That man glanced at Gu Ding. Without saying a word, he retrieved a rifle from his backpack. He attached a scope to it and then loaded the rifle with bullets.

In his several years enrolled in the Military Academy, Gu Ding had some experience with guns. His talents in gunmanship was middling. Even so, he could tell from his opponent’s movements that he was an experienced gunner and was on a different level than his classmates. Not only his movements were slick, but the aura he emanated when he wielded the gun was also totally different as if the gun were an extension of his body. Meanwhile, most of his classmates treated guns as mere toys.

When the opponent lifted his gun, Gu Ding started to move. He heard the first gunshot, but he did not stop his moving. With another Silent Step, the second gunshot was heard shortly after.

The gunner’s face started to look grim when he saw the opponent dodge two consecutive shots. He fired another three predictive shots based on Gu Ding’s path.

Gu Ding abruptly changed direction and easily dodged those bullets. He was starting to feel amazed. “This Silent Step is so special. It can even predict where the bullets will land and adjust my path accordingly.”

‘Tut tut’. Two bullets were fired continuously once more. Gu Ding dodged both bullets in a single step. He had only been dodging so far and had not retaliated. He aimed to hone his Silent Step with the opponent’s attacks.

After the gunner reloaded his gun for the eighth time, Gu Ding was already adept with the Silent Step. There was no reason to continue with the battle, and so he changed direction once more and headed straight for the gunner opponent.

The gunner opponent was not the least bit flustered. He continued shooting as he took several backward steps. His trigger finger on his right hand was moving a lot faster than before, emptying an entire clip in about ten seconds. He deftly threw the empty clip away and pulled out a fresh ammo clip from his waist pack but a hand caught his wrist.

“You’ve lost.” Gu Ding pinched the opponent’s wrist in one hand, and with two fingers from the other hand, pierced the left side of his opponent’s chest where his heart was.

The gunner’s body shattered once the finger touched him.

“Looks like I’ve underestimated him again.” In the control room, the short-haired girl crunched on her lollipop. “Get someone in the thousands to fight him.”

Just as she finished speaking, she noticed on the camera that a woman had appeared in the ring where Gu Ding was.

The weird thing was that the woman’s alias was a row of question marks. This was the same for her ranking and battle statistics.

“Find out who this woman is.” The short-haired woman furrowed her brows.

After a while, the man in the business suit opened his mouth. “Young Miss, her authority level is too high. I cannot break through those restrictions.”

“Let me see!” The short-haired woman stood up and snatched the control panel.

[Insufficient permissions. Search failed!]

The same window popped up on the screen.

“What authority does this woman have?” The short-haired woman was exasperated.

“Young Miss, if you cannot search her information with your authority level, then it can only mean that she is of a higher authority level than you,” the man in the business suit reminded, “And all of us know that your authority level in the entire Skyriver Sector…”

“Enough. Whatever happened today, not a word from anyone.” The short-haired woman sat down again. Her face was turning serious.