Chapter 23: Wang (The Foolish) Tong (The Big Spender), Don't You Dare Die!

Qian Qi went to the dueling plaza again the next day to set up her stall.

This time, however, she encountered a very generous student who bought all of her hemostatic medicine in one go.

"You're a big spender, boss! May you be wealthy, prosperous, and have great luck—wishing you even more fortune~"

Qian Qi’s face beamed with a radiant smile as she took the opportunity to pitch her "new" product. "Boss~ surely it’s inconvenient to carry all that medicine around? Take a look at this cardboard box I have. Brand new, top-notch quality!"

Qian Qi patted the cardboard box she had scavenged from a trash can the day before and presented it to the generous male student. "Ten bucks. Just say the word, and it’s yours immediately!"

The male student: ???

Was she serious? He had just spent tens of thousands on hemostatic medicine, and she wasn't even willing to throw in a broken cardboard box for free???

"Boss?" Qian Qi patted the box again, urging him. "Do you want it or not? If not, you’re going to have a hard time carrying that pile of medicine away~"

"...I'll take it!" the male student replied, speechless. He had truly never met anyone so stingy. It was a good thing he was just an errand boy and it wasn't his own money he was spending, otherwise, he would have been infuriated to death by Qian Qi.

After the transfer, the student picked up the box full of medicine and hurried away.

Having finished work early, a very happy Qian Qi picked up her small stool and headed toward the plaza to see how the students from the Skills Department fought.

She had heard that they could use elemental powers to unleash attacks involving gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, and that there were even long-range archer types and support types. It sounded incredibly exciting.

"Tell me, System, what are the key movements to trigger elemental skills? Why don't you tell me in secret?" Qian Qi began rubbing her hands together again.

[...None.]

"No way, no way. Does the great System not even have that?" Qian Qi started being sarcastic.

[...Ask again and I’ll slap you. ^_^]

Qian Qi: *Whimper*~ You heartless System~

Meanwhile, on the dueling plaza.

"Go, Old Wang! Don't embarrass our Elemental major!"

"Go get him, Old Sun! If we win, we’re having barbecue tonight!"

The crowd in the stands was rowdy, while on the plaza, young Wang stared at the student across from him, his expression turning slightly serious.

Young Wang was a student in the Elemental major of the Skills Department, capable of unleashing ice-attribute attacks that dealt freezing damage to enemies.

Opposing him in the practice duel was Sun Pingyong from the neighboring Long-Range Shooting major. His skill was "Archery," which allowed him to manifest a bow and arrows to deal physical damage.

Young Wang clenched his hands slightly. After the referee blew the whistle, he took the initiative to close the distance, launching an ice-element attack toward Sun Pingyong.

Sun Pingyong was naturally aware of his own weaknesses and immediately began to widen the gap between them. At the same time, he manifested a brown longbow in his hand, nocked an arrow, and fired it toward young Wang.

*Whoosh—* The arrow let out a sharp, piercing whistle. Young Wang hurriedly dodged, and in doing so, he was forced to widen the distance between them once more.

"Ice Spear Rain!" Seeing this, young Wang opened his palms, and his ice-style skill rained down upon Sun Pingyong.

Icy spears, imbued with a chilling aura, descended like a downpour from above Sun Pingyong. However, because the area of effect was fixed, Sun Pingyong, who had been prepared, raised the shield on his back. After taking a few hits, he moved out of the attack zone.

As the distance between the two closed again, Sun Pingyong used the momentum of his run to fire two consecutive arrows at young Wang.

The arrows were incredibly fast, but fortunately, the distance between them was still relatively large, allowing young Wang to dodge them. While on the move, an ice spear quickly absorbed the surrounding ice elements, solidified in his palm, and was shot toward Sun Pingyong at high speed!

Sun Pingyong pulled his fingers back, firing an arrow straight toward the incoming ice spear, seemingly intending to neutralize the attack. At the same time, both Sun Pingyong and young Wang moved, abandoning their original positions.

The dueling plaza was very large, and a duel against a long-range shooter was undoubtedly a war of attrition, as shooters specifically trained their long-distance running to maintain a distance from danger and create an advantageous environment for firing.

However, young Wang was no pushover. His elemental power was close to D-rank, enough to unleash more ice-style techniques. He could handle this war of attrition.

Just as everyone was watching the duel with nervous excitement, and both young Wang and Sun Pingyong had eyes only for each other's attacks, something completely unexpected happened.

The arrow Sun Pingyong had just fired was supposed to neutralize the ice spear, but because his aim was slightly off, the two grazed each other.

The ice spear, struck by the force, tilted slightly. Because its own speed was so high, it directly knocked the trajectory of the arrow off, sending it spinning away.

And the direction the arrow was heading—was right toward young Wang!

*Squelch—* Before anyone could react, they saw young Wang, who had his back to the arrow, get struck in the neck completely off guard!

"Holy shit! Old Wang!" His classmate exclaimed, immediately jumping off the stands and running frantically toward young Wang. Sun Pingyong was also terrified, shouting in a panic as he ran, "Quick! Call the school doctor!"

The crowd quickly surrounded young Wang. On the ground, he struggled in agony, his mouth uncontrollably coughing up blood. The sudden pain left his brain blank for a moment, and it was only after a dozen seconds that he realized what had happened.

It—it hurt so much!

What now—

Was he going to die—

"What happened?" Qian Qi, who had just arrived at the Skills Plaza, saw the large crowd gathered in the center and curiously squeezed through. "Hey guys, are you done watching? Move aside, let me take a look too~"

The panicked crowd was packed tight. Fortunately, Qian Qi was slim, and she soon drilled into the center of the circle. Just as she prepared to see what had occurred, her pupils constricted!

Holy crap, wasn't this yesterday's big spender—bah, her first little money tree, young Wang!

How did he end up like this!

Qian Qi quickly pushed aside the people blocking her way, slid across the floor, and knelt in front of young Wang, her fingers trembling as she began digging into his pockets.

"Classmate! Classmate, hang in there! Please don't die!" Qian Qi wailed miserably, as if the person lying on the ground were her own brother. The concern in her eyes was enough to move heaven and earth.

Just as everyone was moved by their friendship, Qian Qi howled again, "You still have to spend so much money on my medicine! If you die, where else am I going to find a big spender like you!"

The crowd: ???

I was literally crying, and you tell me this?

Fortunately, the hemostatic medicine young Wang bought yesterday was still on him. Qian Qi’s hands shook as she tore open the medicine bag and looked at the arrow in his neck.

It was said that for shooters who awakened archery skills, the bows, arrows, guns, and bullets they manifested were all energy constructs. Unless they encountered an extremely violent impact, they would automatically dissipate within half an hour, returning to energy conservation.

But right now, young Wang clearly wouldn't last another half hour.

"When is the school doctor getting here?" she turned to ask the nearest student.

"Five minutes at the earliest!"

Qian Qi estimated the blood loss on the ground. "It’s too late."

She took a deep breath and said to young Wang, "Classmate, I’m going to pull the arrow out. Bear with it."

Without waiting for a response, Qian Qi moved with lightning speed, abruptly yanking the arrow from his neck and dumping all the medicinal powder onto the wound.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, young Wang’s struggling, twitching arm went limp, his convulsive throat calmed down, and the harsh, blood-choked coughing gradually faded.

Before long, he stared at the sky with white, glassy eyes, lying completely still.

Everyone looked at young Wang’s motionless body, momentarily at a loss.

Half a minute later.

"He didn't... die, did he?" someone suddenly whispered.

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding area became deathly silent, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. At that moment, everyone couldn't help but look at Qian Qi with strange, piercing gazes.