The outcome seemed predetermined even before the match began.
Yes, imagine you’re in a competition, and your opponent just happens to be your dream girl, the one you’re in love with. She’s always looked down on you, but now a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is right in front of you. A chance to leave even the smallest impression in her heart.
Just thinking about it makes your heart race!
Putting yourself in that position, if such a golden opportunity were presented, of course you’d take it!
Not only would you let the goddess win, but you’d make sure she wins beautifully, brilliantly, and fair and square!
Presumably, Lin Luxi thought the same way. But thinking about how this guy, who wasn’t exactly known for good character or talent, had been protected by Yue Xinghe all this time, and now, after supposedly having a long-standing crush on Gao Keyun with no chance before, the opportunity had just landed right in front of him…
This Lin Luxi had way too much luck.
It’s true, comparing people only makes you mad.
A wave of restlessness swept through the audience, soon turning into anger. Once again, they found every reason to dislike Lin Luxi, shouting themselves hoarse, hurling endless insults.
The fervor was so intense that anyone unfamiliar with the situation might have thought Lin Luxi had committed some grievous offense against them.
Given Gao Keyun’s background, she typically mingled with high society or individuals with exceptional talent and potential. To her, Lin Luxi was as insignificant as an ant passing by, someone she wouldn’t normally give a second thought.
However, the original owner had once used Yue Xinghe’s name to exchange love letters with her. Although his deception was quickly exposed by Gao Keyun’s admirers, the fact that it hadn’t been Yue Xinghe expressing his feelings but this gloomy, useless nobody had disgusted her for quite a while. That was why she had remembered him and would go out of her way to avoid him.
If the competition rules didn’t prohibit forfeiting, she would have skipped the match altogether.
Gao Keyun furrowed her delicate brows and scrunched up her face. “Lin Luxi, just give up.”
Lin Luxi: “…”
These words felt oddly familiar.
He paused for a moment, then couldn’t help but remark, “What’s wrong with all you people here? Why does everyone like telling others to give up? Such inflated egos.”
Gao Keyun was too fixated on the phrase “inflated egos” to notice the oddity in his words.
She had been praised for her looks since childhood. Growing up in her social circle, she carried an aura that set her apart from ordinary people. Everyone who saw her showered her with compliments about her beauty and elegance.
Inflated ego? Was Lin Luxi blind?!
“My ego is inflated?” Gao Keyun let out a bitter laugh, nearly shaking with fury. In her anger, a thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. “Oh, I get it. You’re trying to get my attention, aren’t you? Lin Luxi, this tactic of yours is absolutely disgusting!”
Lin Luxi: ???
Gao Keyun completely missed the question marks practically hovering over his head. The more she spoke, the more convinced she became. “You know I could never like you, so you’re going to any lengths to make me notice you. Even if it means I hate you, at least I’ll remember you! How repulsive can you be?”
Her expression was as if she had just come into contact with something unbearably filthy. The surrounding audience, eager to hear what she was saying, gradually quieted down. With Gao Keyun’s voice raised in anger, those near the front rows caught every word.
Just as they thought.
Not long ago, Lin Luxi had been pestering her. He had seemed calmer the past few days, and they thought he had given up, but it turned out he was just scheming something big.
Some looked down on him, yet couldn’t help but envy his luck.
One after another, frustration built up in their chests, the more they thought about it, the more discontent they felt.
Caught up in the reactions of the countless spectators, Gao Keyun wore a smug expression, her words dripping with contempt as she tried to grind Lin Luxi into a filthy, stinking mud pit.
Even Chris, who wasn’t exactly on good terms with the original owner, frowned at her words from the contestant seating area. No matter how bad Lin Luxi was, it wasn’t her place to insult him like that.
Qin Hao had some impression of Gao Keyun. The girl had a crush on their leader and had made her feelings known quite publicly, in a rather clingy way.
He didn’t particularly like her. She acted one way in front of others and another behind their backs. Aside from their leader, she treated everyone else with an air of superiority.
But their leader seemed to fall for it, didn’t he?
Faced with these stunning, incomparably beautiful women, he appeared to have an inherent patience, treating them even more gently and tolerantly than ordinary people.
They had already confirmed that this Lin Luxi was a spy with ill intentions. Between a beautiful woman they had known for a long time and an undercover agent they had only met a few days ago, even a blind person knew who to side with, right?
As Qin Hao thought this, he couldn’t help but glance over at Yue Xinghe’s reaction.
Yue Xinghe gazed into the distance, a gentle smile resting on his lips as usual, his eyes seemingly soft. He held a milk carton in his hand, his thumb slowly tracing its edge.
On the surface, he looked no different from usual, but Qin Hao couldn’t suppress the goosebumps rising on his arms.
As the crowd buzzed with speculation, Lin Luxi suddenly raised a hand in a halting gesture, his expression unusually indifferent as he looked at her with dead-fish eyes. “Lady, I don’t like you, and I wasn’t insulting you earlier. But you’ve certainly opened my eyes. Who would’ve thought someone so pretty could have such a foul mouth?”
Gao Keyun snapped, “Who has a foul mouth?!”
Lin Luxi considered himself someone who appreciated beauty, but his patience was wearing thin. He picked at his ear, feeling thoroughly contaminated. “Are you going to fight or not? If not, forfeit. I don’t want to waste time on this nonsense.”
The previously quiet audience erupted like firecrackers.
They had assumed that given this rare opportunity, Lin Luxi would grovel before his goddess.
Wasn’t he her lapdog? He should be confessing his undying love and then groveling in surrender!
Some wondered if Lin Luxi was taking the opposite approach, with the actual goal still being to win Gao Keyun’s favor.
But the moment someone voiced that thought, it was immediately shot down.
For one thing, there wasn’t a trace of affection in Lin Luxi’s demeanor right now.
When someone truly likes you, it’s impossible to hide.
But looking at Lin Luxi now, his gaze, his expression, his words, all clearly conveyed only one thing: disdain.
Then there was Gao Keyun. Her dignity had been mercilessly trampled underfoot by someone she despised.
She was absolutely furious, her eyes red, her face and neck flushed with anger as she glared at Lin Luxi as if she wanted to tear him apart.
The fight began without warning.
In the blink of an eye, the two disappeared from their starting positions and clashed.
In this novel, aside from the male lead, his companions, and his love interests, no one, except the original owner, was weak. They either had exceptional talent, powerful backgrounds, or both.
After all, the male lead was the ultimate powerhouse in terms of potential and strength. Any character too weak would feel unworthy of him.
As one of the original love interests, Gao Keyun not only held a high status but also ranked among the best in terms of natural talent.
With double A-rank in both mental strength and physique, she was the second most popular female character among readers, just behind Elisa, who had the advantage of her racial traits.
As for her temperament, readers saw it as nothing more than tsundere.
In the world of anime and fiction, tsundere was a highly popular trait.
Her talent was a full rank higher than Lin Luxi’s previous opponent, but when combined with other factors, the gap in overall strength was far greater than a single level.
Moreover, the more privileged one’s background, the harder they had to work.
Her family would never allow her to waste such exceptional talent. Gao Keyun had put in no small amount of sweat and effort, and with the resources available to her, her strength was fundamentally on a different level from the previous opponent.
At the start of the match, the audience had been shouting for Gao Keyun to cripple Lin Luxi and kick him off the stage. But after two minutes, the spectators gradually fell silent.
Their eyes widened in disbelief. Despite Gao Keyun’s relentless, airtight assault, Lin Luxi was handling it with ease.
After all, Gao Keyun’s talent and strength were no joke. Given their history, there was no way she would go easy on him or be bribed.
If there had been whispers of foul play last time, now it was more reasonable to suspect that Gao Keyun had simply let her training slip, causing her strength to decline.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of fists and feet colliding with flesh echoed continuously.
Compared to the spectators, Gao Keyun, facing him directly, felt the impact even more keenly. Her attitude had shifted from initial disdain to genuine seriousness.
Every punch and kick she threw was not only fast but also packed tremendous force.
But whether it was her initial attacks or the increasingly fierce techniques she used as she grew more serious, Lin Luxi either dodged or countered without ever appearing strained.
Unlike his previous match, where his victory had seemed a series of well-timed dodges and lucky accidents, this time, now that he was taking things seriously, his skill in hand-to-hand combat was clearly on par with A-rank physique, regardless of his mental strength.
The spectators who had come expecting to see Lin Luxi humiliated were left dumbfounded, their jaws practically hitting the floor.
“But he’s supposed to be a nobody.”
The entrance test at Alliance University couldn’t be wrong.
“Could it be… did Yue Xinghe train him?”
Somehow, the audience’s thoughts took a sharp turn, landing on Yue Xinghe.
To be blunt, Yue Xinghe was the only person who would ever help Lin Luxi. This must have something to do with him.
No matter how hard they racked their brains, they would never guess that this Lin Luxi was no longer the original.
His original talent naturally no longer applied.
After ten minutes of failing to take Lin Luxi down, Gao Keyun’s fury only grew.
In her eyes, every exchange of fists and feet was just Lin Luxi covertly taking advantage of her, and it disgusted her to no end.
As for Lin Luxi, he could have ended the match earlier, but he hesitated. After all, Gao Keyun was technically one of the male lead’s women. Should he go easy on her?
Mid-fight, Lin Luxi glanced toward the contestants’ seating area. Yue Xinghe was looking his way. The moment their eyes met, Yue Xinghe’s eyes curved into a warm smile, bright as a little sun.
Lin Luxi’s movements faltered for a split second, and only his body’s instinctive reflexes saved him from taking a punch to the face.
Come to think of it, in the original novel, Gao Keyun had started off pursuing the male lead in a relatively normal way. But by the middle and later stages, she had gone mad. Using her family’s influence, she had bought highly addictive, brain-damaging drugs from the black market. Exploiting the original owner’s feelings for her, she had successfully drugged the male lead.
The novel described his withdrawal episodes as excruciating, completely beyond his control. He would claw desperately at the floor, smash his head against walls, his fingers torn to shreds, not a single nail left intact. During the worst episodes, his body would spasm uncontrollably, his eyes rolling back, his whole body cold and stiff, sometimes slipping into unconsciousness.
All because Gao Keyun couldn’t bear the male lead rejecting her feelings. She couldn’t stand things being beyond her control.
If Yue Xinghe didn’t have double S-rank strength, what would he have to refuse her with?
Thinking about that part of the story, Lin Luxi glanced at the male lead, who was still smiling, and felt an indescribable emotion stir within him.
Without another moment’s hesitation, he stopped holding back. In an instant, he seized Gao Keyun’s wrist and landed a punch that snapped her head to the side.
Gao Keyun was momentarily stunned, clutching her rapidly swelling cheek. “You hit me?!”
“Even my father has never hit me! Who do you think you are?!”
Lin Luxi’s expression remained impassive. “Because you have a filthy mouth!”
Gao Keyun’s beautiful features twisted in fury. With a shriek, she grew even more ruthless, her attacks sharper and more vicious, aimed at the most vulnerable angles. She had initially held back, intending only to win the match and be done with it.
Not out of any sense of conscience, she simply didn’t think Lin Luxi was worthy of her full strength.
But now, she would show no mercy.
Lin Luxi had forced her hand.
Burning with rage, Gao Keyun steeled herself. Whatever dignity she had lost, she would make Lin Luxi pay back a hundredfold.
The live stream fell silent for a moment before erupting with heated discussion. The focus had completely shifted.
“Lin Luxi actually dared to hit a goddess in the face? This guy’s a legend!”
“Forget being a legend. Gao Keyun isn’t someone to mess with. Lin Luxi is doomed.”
“He might win this match, but his life at school is about to become hell.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we be more focused on how Lin Luxi’s strength suddenly improved so fast?”
Why else? Because their faces were stinging, especially those who had bet against Lin Luxi. Now, they could only cry in regret.
Their living expenses, half a month’s wages… gone, gone, gone…
The match was nearing its end. Lin Luxi had made up his mind to teach Gao Keyun a proper lesson.
His fists flew at a rate of over ten punches per second, all aimed straight at her face.
She blocked one, two, three, four, but not all of them. She couldn’t match his speed. And with her head already rattled from several hits, mild concussion slowing her reflexes, her defenses grew even slower.
In the end, she raised both hands to shield her face. Lin Luxi’s next punch, seemingly aimed at her face, changed direction at the last second and slammed into her abdomen with full force.
“Hrk, cough!”
Gao Keyun doubled over, clutching her stomach as she spat out bile.
The audience erupted in shock. The live stream went wild.
Someone timidly brought it up.
“Does anyone remember who Gao Keyun’s father is?”
The barrage of comments went dead silent.
Everyone came to the same conclusion: Lin Luxi was doomed this time.
But Lin Luxi wasn’t overthinking it. Injuries in a match were completely normal. Gao Keyun looked worse off than she actually was. It was just that no one had ever dared to hit her like this. Her pride, her dignity, all of it had been publicly torn apart and trampled into the mud in front of countless eyes.
Simply put, Gao Keyun had never faced real consequences before. With her pride shattered, she couldn’t process it. Her head snapped up, her expression twisted with madness. Suddenly, a blaring alarm echoed around the stage.
Lin Luxi froze for a moment, then felt a sudden, inexplicable unease crawl over him, making his scalp tingle.
He could sense danger, but he couldn’t see it. On full alert, he scanned his surroundings with a confused look. Then, his eyes locked onto Gao Keyun, two meters away, just as her bloodshot gaze met his.
Something unseen shot toward his head. He didn’t know what it was, but his body reacted instinctively, crossing his arms in front of his face.
But the expected impact never came. Instead, a scream rang out. Lin Luxi cautiously opened his eyes to find a cascade of golden hair filling his vision.
Yue Xinghe stood before him. He didn’t spare Gao Keyun, who was clutching her head and wailing on the ground, a single glance. His pale gold eyes were fixed entirely on Lin Luxi.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Do you have a headache?”
Lin Luxi blinked.
Once again, he marveled at how good the male lead was to his friends. Always stepping in at the critical moment.
If he were the original owner, having a brother who would go this far for him, he’d be overjoyed. There’d be no reason for betrayal.
At that moment, a strong desire to be friends with the male lead surged within him.
Lin Luxi smiled and shook his head. “You came just in time. I didn’t get hurt at all.”
The audience was in an uproar. The host flew onto the stage and showed Gao Keyun a red card.
The school’s main purpose for this tournament was to assess the students’ physiques and combat abilities. The use of mental attacks was strictly prohibited. Any violation would result in disqualification and a public reprimand.
Aside from Lin Luxi, who had only recently transferred, every other contestant, including Gao Keyun, was fully aware of this rule.
Thus, Gao Keyun was disqualified and banned from further matches. As the medical team carried her off on a stretcher, she was still glaring at Lin Luxi, blaming him for Yue Xinghe’s indifference toward her.
Just you wait, Lin Luxi. She would make sure he regretted this.
Lin Luxi couldn’t care less about Gao Keyun. He had won this match and advanced to the semifinals, which meant that, as agreed, he was officially a student of Alliance University.
Before the apocalypse, he had been a college freshman too. The apocalypse had cut that short. Now, becoming a freshman again in this world, in a way, it filled a gap he hadn’t even realized was there.
As he made his way back to the contestants’ seating area, countless eyes followed him.
Yue Xinghe, concerned that the attention might affect him, asked, “Do you want to watch the rest of the matches from the rest area?”
Lin Luxi smiled, winked with his right eye, and clenched his fist excitedly. “No need. Aren’t you up next? I want to cheer for you in person!”
Author’s Note:
Xingxing had a terrible experience in his previous life, so he’s deeply suspicious.
Right now, his thoughts are: He wants to be friends with Luxi, but he’s afraid Luxi wants to hurt him. So he’s torn.
Secretly plucking flower petals: “Be friends, don’t be friends, be friends, don’t be friends, be friends… don’t be friends.”
Throwing away the last petal, he grabs another flower and starts plucking again…
PS: This isn’t meant to target female characters specifically. It’s just that, given this is originally a harem-style story, there are naturally more female characters.