Chapter 22: The Audience (2)

Booooommm!!!

The sheer force of the collapsing structure was so overwhelming that even Zhou Yujing, watching through a screen, could feel the pressure bearing down.

“…”

“…”

“Uhh…”

“…”

“Um… hey…”

“…”

“Little Jing…?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got a death grip on my wrist. It’s turning purple.”

“Same here…”

“Ah? Ah! Sorry!”

Only then did Zhou Yujing realize that she’d been clutching both of her best friends’ wrists in a death grip. Her strength had been far too much, and both girls now wore twisted expressions of pain.

She reached up with trembling, nearly numb hands to touch her face, drenched in cold sweat.

It all felt like a dream.

She desperately wished that what she’d just seen on that outdated CRT television was fake; that it was nothing more than a hyper-realistic action film. But it wasn’t. Everything shown on screen had really happened.

It was her brother—her own brother, Zhou Yuhong—battling deadly creatures in another world.

Just moments ago, Zhou Yuhong had emerged victorious from a battle that, no matter how you looked at it, had been horribly one-sided.

Using terrain to his advantage, he’d fled strategically, gradually probing his enemy’s weaknesses. Then, using the monster’s own weapons against it, he lured it into a crumbling tower and baited it into unleashing destructive attacks. He exploited an opening, crippled its limb, and finally buried it beneath a collapsing building.

It was like something out of a movie.

And now, her dear brother was slumped on the ground amid a heap of bricks and debris, panting heavily, not making any move to leave—probably catching his breath or making sure that spring-legged freak was truly dead.

Zhou Yujing found herself unable to watch any longer.

The whole fight had lasted just a few minutes, yet to her, it felt like an endless nightmare. Every time her brother clashed with that spring-legged monster, her heart leapt into her throat. Every time he bled, she’d screamed. And every time he charged in instead of running away—

Aaaahhhhh!!!! Brother, you idiot! You stupid dummy idiot!!!

“Um… Little Tao, Little Su?”

“We’re here!”

“I mean… I didn’t imagine that, right? Brother won? He survived?”

“He did!”

“Ohhh… waaaahhh… aaaaahhhhhhh…”

Zhou Yujing deflated like a popped balloon and nearly collapsed. Little Tao and Little Su hurried to catch her before she hit the floor.

Such drastic emotional swings couldn’t be good for the heart. Zhou Yujing felt like if she had to go through this a few more times, she’d end up with a real heart condition.

“But seriously, your brother was amazing,” Little Tao leaned in, clearly trying to lift her spirits.

“Is now really the time to say that?”

“Still, he was totally cool!”

Little Su had lit up too. Even though the whole viewing had been nerve-wracking, now that Zhou Yuhong had won, all the near-death moments were retroactively turning into brag-worthy highlights.

“At first, I was like, ‘Oh my god, brother Yuhong, you’re such a pushover! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?’ But who knew he’d turn out so dependable!”

“Right? Sure, he looked a little rough around the edges, but that counterattack at the end was awesome!”

“Well, obviously. He is my brother, after all.”

Now that she had recovered a little, Zhou Yujing shrugged with a look of cool pride, as though all that earlier panic had never happened.

“And just so you know, brother Yuhong is already trending again.”

“Ugh…”

Ever since the ‘100,000 people transported to another world’ incident, the usual internet celebrities had completely vanished from the trending charts. The entire world’s attention had shifted to these unfortunate young victims struggling to survive in another realm. Every day, countless eyes were glued to any screen capable of playing video. For the victims’ loved ones, it was a nightmare. But for the general public, it had become the most grand, brutal, and thrilling reality show in human history.

Every move made by these 100,000 was now captivating billions.

“Look, see for yourself.”

Little Su pulled up Weibo and pointed at the trending search bar. Zhou Yuhong’s name stood proudly among several other standout survivors. A quick search showed that his popularity was still climbing. Clips of his fight with the spring-legged freak had already been posted to major video sites with bizarre titles like Top Gaokao Scorer vs. Sentient Spring Monster.

“According to the data released by that so-called god, brother Yuhong is currently ranked 7th.”

“Does that ranking even matter? I’d rather he be lower…”

“And tons of people are keeping score now. Brother Yuhong is officially the 19th person to defeat an elite monster. and only the 3rd person to do it solo!” Little Tao added.

“Eh…? He wasn’t the first?”

Zhou Yujing glanced at Little Tao’s phone. On the odd little ranking list, first place was a handsome man with a faintly sinister vibe. Second was a dashing blonde woman. And third was a calm, clear-eyed young man with a slightly melancholic face.

Her very own big brother.

Scrolling down, she saw the comments—nearly ten thousand already!? And almost every one read something like “Lazell is so hot,” “Elya is amazing,” or “I love you, brother Yuhong.”

Tch. So disgustingly cringe.

“Mumble mumble mumble… Who gave you all permission to ogle someone else’s brother? All this ‘love you’ nonsense. Tch. You’re just in it for the drama, you pack of thirsty pigs… (mutter mutter mutter)”

“Oh, look, it’s happening. Little Jing’s big-bro obsession strikes again~”

“No wonder she constantly brainwashes him with ‘You’re not handsome at all, no girl would like you.’”

“She won’t even let us talk to him when we visit.”

“The one and only Legendary Brother-Complex Queen, Miss Jing!!”

“Aaahhh, shut up! Early romance is wrong, okay!? I was just making sure he focused on his studies in high school, what’s wrong with that!?”

“Little Jing’s so scary~”

As Yujing flailed at the two with mock punches— Beep beep beep beep beep.

“Huh?”

An ominous sound blared from the television.

When she looked up at the text now displayed on-screen, Zhou Yujing could hardly believe her eyes. Her two friends were also frozen in shock.

~~~~~

Zhou Yuhong & Felice Tispara & Booker Winter & Rena Dubois
vs
Gatekeeper Aldrich

Fight