Qin Wuyao spoke up to support him.
But it didn’t lessen the mockery from the group at all.
The young man leading them said, “Qin Wuyao, I heard you didn’t sign up? What’s wrong? Worried that if a bounty’s placed on you, your little boy toy won’t stand a chance?”
As soon as the words left his mouth—
Qin Wuyao stepped forward in a flash.
Smack!
A hard slap landed right across his face.
Swift and decisive!
Lu Ran’s eyes lit up. He liked Qin Wuyao’s style—act first, talk later. If someone rubs you the wrong way, just do it!
“You…” The young man’s eyes went wide.
Instinctively, he wanted to retaliate.
But Qin Wuyao followed up immediately, “Liu Haitao, even without relying on the Qin family, I can still tear that mouth of yours to shreds. You’re just a measly rare class—what makes you think you can strut around in front of me?”
With that,
her gaze swept over the others.
One look from her, and the group that had been so aggressive moments ago instantly wilted.
Qin Wuyao herself had a hidden class, and her level was higher than theirs. Add the Qin family behind her, and what did they have to compete with her? What could they use to fight her?
The reason they dared to jump out and mock Lu Ran now was because, even though his level was high enough, he was just a regular class—a Necromancer.
But if Qin Wuyao had also signed up,
they wouldn’t have stood a chance at all.
It was precisely because Qin Wuyao had opted out of signing up that these rare class holders even had the right to compete.
Their reason for mocking Lu Ran so much wasn’t really because he was a strong competitor. It was because a regular class user had left them—who’d worked so hard to level up—far behind in the dust.
Their sense of class superiority combined with Lu Ran’s level advantage left them feeling deeply, bitterly unbalanced!
Just then,
Lu Ran walked up too.
The current Lu Ran was no longer the same person he used to be.
He glanced at the few people in front of him
and said flatly, “I know you guys. Back then, your mental strength wasn’t anywhere near mine, but compared to ordinary classmates, it was fairly high.”
Then,
from left to right,
Lu Ran listed them off one by one, “Song Xiaoya, Liu Haitao, Zhu Xudong, Deng Zhijie. I didn’t expect you four to be so desperate for validation that you’d come looking for trouble right in front of me. Well, I won’t beat around the bush either. I’ll just say it—this spot today is mine. No one’s taking it from me.”
They didn’t dare fight back against Qin Wuyao,
but Lu Ran was a different story.
The moment Lu Ran spoke, the four of them instantly sprang to life.
“What big talk! What gives you the right to get the spot?”
“You think just saying something like that makes it yours?”
“Just a Necromancer! So what if your level’s high? In the end, you’re still a trash regular class!”
“You want to fight us for the qualification? Dream on!”
…
Lu Ran couldn’t even be bothered to argue with them.
He waved his hand dismissively and said directly, “Alright, how about this then—let’s make a bet.”
A bet?
The four of them paused, confused.
Lu Ran continued, “Since you’re all so confident, let’s bet on whether this spot goes to me, or to any one of you four.”
Hearing this, the four exchanged glances,
and then, surprisingly, they all nodded in agreement.
“Sure, let’s bet. You’re practically handing yourself to us.”
“This is hilarious. Betting with us now? Trying to scare us off?”
“Haha… just don’t you go back on it when the time comes.”
“Yeah, tell us first, what are we betting?”
…
A slight smirk tugged at the corner of Lu Ran’s mouth.
He looked at the four of them indifferently and said casually, “If we’re going to bet, let’s bet big. Forget money or equipment. Let’s bet our lives directly. If I lose, I die. If you lose, you die.”
Just that simple.
But it scared the four of them half to death.
Good lord, playing this big?
Yet, when they thought about it, it seemed like they had no reason to refuse, right?
In the Hundred Cities League, the class itself was a massive factor. A regular class had almost never appeared.
Even with a high level, a regular class couldn’t gain much of an advantage.
Especially for a magic-based class like the Necromancer—among powerful hidden classes, there were Assassin-type classes with much lower levels but explosive burst damage who could practically one-shot Lu Ran!
“Fine, bet it is. You think we’re scared of you?”
“Betting our lives? Heh… you think that intimidates me?”
“Just make sure you don’t back out. We can afford the bet.”
“What if you lose and refuse to die when the time comes?”
…
The four jeered at Lu Ran as they questioned him,
thinking he was all bluster and no bite, just trying to scare them into backing down to save face.
But they weren’t going to take the bait.
Instead, they kept pressing him harder,
even feeling like this was absolutely brilliant—the perfect way to put Lu Ran in his place.
Now it was up to Lu Ran to respond.
They thought Lu Ran’s plan had been exposed, expecting him to get angry out of embarrassment and slink away.
But to their surprise,
Lu Ran was completely calm instead.
He looked at Qin Wuyao.
Before he could even speak, Qin Wuyao understood what he wanted. She pulled out a few sheets of yellow parchment paper and handed them to him.
Even Lu Ran was a bit taken aback. He looked at Qin Wuyao and said, amused, “A wife knows her husband best. You really do know me.”
A hint of pride flashed across Qin Wuyao’s face.
But she immediately caught the meaning of his words, glaring at him.
Her little fist pounded hard against Lu Ran’s waist.
She scolded, “You’ve got a death wish, talking nonsense like that.”
But she didn’t seem truly angry; instead, her cheeks flushed bright red.
Lu Ran took the yellow parchment in his hand and waved it in front of the four.
“You guys really do talk a lot of nonsense. Since you can afford to bet, let’s get down to business. No one needs to worry about anyone backing out. Here’s a contract. We sign the bet agreement. After the bet is settled, the datafied rules will erase the loser. Trying to stay alive then would be impossible.”
Seeing the yellow parchment contract, the four faces instantly darkened to the extreme.
None of them had expected Lu Ran to actually dare to play this big!
He even pulled out a contract!
This thing—using a contract to set a bet and then signing it—was a product of the world after it became datafied by rules.
If they signed it,
the bet would be officially established.
Once the bet was resolved, the losing side would have the terms enforced automatically by the contract.
If the wager was money or equipment, it would be automatically deducted.
If the bet was life—
the moment the bet was settled, they’d drop dead on the spot!
“Lu Ran, you…” Liu Haitao stammered, staring at him.
Lu Ran looked back at them with cold eyes.
Lu Ran was long past being the person he once was.
They jumped right in his face—if he didn’t give them something fun to play with, how could he just let it slide?
Beat them up?
That wouldn’t be satisfying enough. Let’s go straight to betting our lives!
You want to come mock me? I’ll bet my life against yours. Play if you’ve got the guts, get lost if you don’t. It’s as simple as that!
“What’s wrong? Lost your nerve? Weren’t you all so confident before? You don’t even have this much guts, and you say you can afford to play? If you can’t afford it, then scram. Stop being an eyesore in front of me. You’ve gotten addicted to showing off, haven’t you? Just a bunch of rare classes, don’t know what you’re so cocky about.” Lu Ran cursed them out directly, without any mercy.
The four hadn’t wanted to agree initially.
Because once they signed it,
between the four of them and Lu Ran, one side would absolutely have to die!
Although they were very confident,
still…
if an accident happened, and Lu Ran actually got the spot, then even the gods wouldn’t be able to save them!
