"You are unnecessarily cruel!"
Tessa shouted.
She already looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Haha, are you guys hearing this ugly girl talk?"
Malik laughed with his friends, then slowly approached Tessa with a smile on his face and towered over her.
"What are you going to do about it, ugly? I don't mind fighting you if you want to embarrass yourself in front of everyone here."
He said with a smile.
Tessa closed her eyes, brimming with tears, and lowered her head, which just gave Malik more satisfaction.
He loved this feeling of superiority over the weak and defenseless.
"Tessa?!"
In that moment, Rosabella came running over, and when she saw Tessa crying, she immediately hugged her tightly.
With an enraged gaze, she looked at Malik, and if looks could kill, he would already be in a grave.
"Oooh, how scary."
Malik grinned, ran his gaze down Rosabella's body, and thought that she had a very mature body, even if she slightly lacked in the looks department.
"And what about you? You have been looking at me for a while now."
Malik turned to look at Fang Raon and had to look slightly up to meet his gaze and felt slightly intimidated at the sight of the tall young man.
"Well?"
He approached Fang Raon, smugly looking at him as if he were beneath him, and smirked as he didn't say a word.
"Why are you quiet, mmh? You aren't going to defend that ugly friend of yours?"
"…You are baiting us to attack you. If we do attack you, we'll be banned from entering the city for a month. You are not worth it."
Fang Raon said coldly.
He happened to study with the help of audiobooks yesterday night, and he learned more about Black Online's "rules," such as the combat rule.
If they attacked someone inside the city, without Mutual Combat Law, they would be banned from entering the city.
The city was important, as it was the only place where they could get missions, purchase equipment, visit blacksmiths to fix their equipment, and sell their stuff over to the merchant.
They would be stuck outside the city, and while that could be alright, their weapons would eventually break, and they would run out of supplies.
However, this combat law was only in "Newbie Floors," so from floors 6 and above, such a thing did not exist.
"You've read the rules. I did not expect that. Many hot-blooded newbies would've already attacked me, haha."
Malik said with an annoying-sounding laugh.
Everybody who heard him laugh would've just wanted to punch him in the face already, as it sounded very obnoxious.
"Mutual Combat Law exists for a reason—I'd like to challenge you to a match unless you, of course, are scared."
Fang Raon said.
"…Scared? Hehe, don't think you can rage-bait me into agreeing to something stupid. Why should I fight you? What do I gain from it?
"I don't think you have anything that I need."
Malik said.
"There is nothing of value in these beginner floors. All we have is our pride, and that's not worth much.
"You can try to prove whether you are just talk or have skill to back it up."
Fang Raon said.
'…He is tall and looks to be in solid shape. I saw him use a sword, so he is Warrior. I am Ranger, and that is advantageous for me.
'I think I managed to hear that he is only learning about skills, so he must be very new in the game, and thus, I doubt he can dodge my arrows.
'Ranger as a class is very strong in player combat in the early game because it takes a while for players to become fast enough and learn to react quickly enough to dodge the arrows.'
Malik thought to himself.
He then smiled, took off his vest, and tossed it inside his inventory.
"Very well, I'll accept, but on one condition, and that is we will fight till death."
Players around the backyard could not believe what they were hearing, and they stopped their training to spectate.
Malik's friends were cheering him on and were shouting insults at Fang Raon.
"Haha, dare to accept the challenge, coward?"
"Fang Raon, it isn't worth it!"
Rosabella shouted, and Tessa wiped her tears off and also tried to get Fang Raon to back off, as it really wasn't worth it.
'If I die, my account gets terminated, which isn't really a big loss. I don't have anything. However, I would need to get a new game card.
'The new game card costs 500 dollars. I can't afford that.
'This guy is shrewder than I thought. He doesn't actually want to fight to death, but he wants to make me reluctant to accept the fight and make me refuse instead so he won't look like a coward.'
Fang Raon thought.
In that moment, he pulled out his wooden broadsword and shield from the inventory and looked at Malik.
"I'll accept."
He said.
"…Tch."
Malik turned around, distanced himself from Fang Raon, and everyone around them moved out of the way, creating a circle around the two fighters.
Lionel watched with his muscular arms crossed.
'…He is Ranger. He will avoid me like the plague and will rain me with arrows. I saw his quiver, and he has twelve arrows. I don't know if he has more in his inventory.
'I have my shield, with which I can block them, and since he is a Ranger, I believe he assigned more points to Speed.
'I will exhaust myself if I try to chase him like a dog. I need to play this smart.'
Fang Raon thought.
He held the wooden broadsword in his right and the shield in his left—a tight grip so neither of the weapons could be easily knocked out of his hands.
[Mutual Combat Law is in effect!]
[Malik Reimsduan vs. Fang Raon]
[Rule: Fight to the death]
A holographic window appeared in the air. It was visible to everyone. And then a health bar appeared above each fighter.
[Malik Reimsduan: 70 HP]
[Fang Raon: 80 HP]
'I have a health advantage!'
Fang Raon put his shield in front of him and pressed it against his chest.
With one hand, Malik pulled out an arrow from his quiver, placed it in the string of the bow, and aimed it directly at Fang Raon's head.
[FIGHT!]