Retrograde Gaming - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Things Would Have Been Fine If I’d Done Them This Way

Translator: Henyee Translations

Editor: Henyee Translations

Following a crisp and loud sound, the players lining up behind Li Huailin all took a step back, while the players who were originally vigorously flinging their skills in the practice grounds were all fixed in place.

“What’s the matter?” A player who didn’t know what was going on asked.

“This guy just slapped the Warrior Instructor,” another player responded in a dumbstruck manner.

“What the heck? How’s that possible? Why is he not dead yet?”

“I’ve seen this somewhere… Oh right, I remember now, the forums, it’s on the pinned thread on the forums. It says ‘kickass brother beats newbie village NPC’, don’t tell me this guy is that kickass brother…” Another player suddenly remembered.

The group of players around the area suddenly came to this realization. They were immediately reminded of the video they saw on the pinned thread on the forums. At first, there were quite a few people who assumed that someone created a fake video, in fact, they never expected to be able to see a live broadcast today. Shortly, shocked as they were, many players simultaneously turned on the video recording function.

Li Huailin didn’t really care if there were people recording a video. He simply slapped Ernst again and immediately lifted the latter with one hand, drawing him closer towards him before saying, “How much does it cost to learn a skill?”

“Oh? It’s you, brave warrior? It seems your training has been going on quite well lately. As for learning skills, for the sake of our friendship, I’ll give you a twenty percent discount,” Ernst happily said to Li Huailin.

Li Huailin looked at the skills list, and as expected, the price for all the skills became 80 Silver Coins.

A bead of sweat dripped down the heads of each onlooker—what type of bullsh*t friendship do you have with this guy? The kind of friendship that comes out from being slapped?

“You still dare to sell it for this expensive of a price—you really think this old man won’t dare to beat you into an idiot?” After Li Huailin said this, he fiercely slapped Ernst on the face again.

“How much? Tell me again.”

“For the sake of our friendship, I’ll give you a forty percent discount.” Ernst lowered the price again.

“You really refuse to see the coffin until a tear is shed,” Li Huailin said ferociously.

“Shouldn’t it be ‘not to shed a tear until one sees the coffin’1?” On the side, a player reminded him in a quiet voice.

“Hm?” Li Huailin turned his head and glared boldly at the player. The player immediately felt a murderous spirit rush forth and hurriedly took a step back.

Li Huailin turned back and continued lifting Ernst. “You really refuse to shed a tear until you see the coffin, it looks like I’ll have to be ruthless.”

Moving back his shoulder joints, Li Huailin suddenly erupted in a series of actions, he consecutively slapped Ernst on the face over a dozen times. The loud and clear ‘pa, pa, pa, pa’ sounds made the onlooking players clench their teeth and draw in a breath with a ‘hiss’.

-11, -14, -9, -31 (Critical Hit!)… a long series of numbers rose from Ernst’s head. Since Li Huailin’s attack power increased drastically because of the class change, he could actually land decent blows on this high-level NPC! With each slap, Ernst’s face slowly became redder, his gums were even bleeding and blood slowly dripped from his mouth.

“How did Ernst piss off the kickass brother? He looks awful.” A female player on the side looked away in pity, she couldn’t bear to watch this cruel scene.

“Phew…” After a round of slapping, Li Huailin finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Come, come, come, kickass brother, please cool your temper, don’t be so angry,” two players on the side hurriedly tried to pacify him, “Take it easy, let’s just use words.”

“Take what easy!?” Li Huailin responded ferociously, “This old man rewarded you with over 20 slaps, this can be considered as the grave of a new lease of life! Why don’t you say something if this is truly the case?”

“Yes, great brave warrior, the grace you’ve given me can never be repaid in this lifetime.” Ernst, who had already been slapped to the status of Worship by Li Huailin, said very cooperatively.

Very uniformly, a bead of sweat dripped down from the heads of each of the surrounding players—Ernst had really been slapped into an idiot.

“I’ve done you such a great f*cking favor, you ought to be deeply grateful. This old man will ask you again, do you still dare to ask me for money for learning a skill?” Li Huailin pulled on Ernst as he roared.

“Great brave warrior, your kindness cannot be reciprocated—you don’t have to pay to learn skills from me in the future. This is just a little bit of my gratitude, please kindly accept it dear warrior,” Ernst said this with clear worship written all across his face.

“What? It really won’t cost any money?” Li Huailin’s expression instantly changed.

“Yes, it won’t cost any money.” Ernst nodded in response.

“Sigh, I knew it… things would’ve been fine if I’d done them this way in the first place.” Li Huailin immediately held Ernst by the shoulders, and while he was at it, he learned Rupture and the other three skills—as expected, he didn’t spend a single dime.

“Oh right, I have a special skill passed down from my ancestors, I’ll teach it to you,” Ernst suddenly said.

“Oh? A skill passed down from your ancestors?” Li Huailin was delighted. “Then pass it on to me, I’ll have a look.”

System Notice: Ernst wants to teach you a skill, Morale Burst. Do you accept, Yes or No?

“Yes.”

Morale Burst (No Level): Instantly unleash your own potential, all stats will increase by 30%, continues for 1 minute. Enter a weakened state after use, all attributes decrease by 50%, continues for 10 seconds. Instant cast, No Consumption, 30 minute cooldown.

“Yes, yes, not bad.” Li Huailin nodded, “You see, isn’t it good just to use words? You didn’t have to force my hand.”

“You’re right, great brave warrior,” Ernst responded very cooperatively.

“Okay, now that I’ve learned the skills, I’ll come find you next time,” Li Huailin waved his hand, and after some thought, he said another thing before he left, “Next time I come here, you can’t take my money either.”

“Of course!” Ernst said cheerfully.

Li Huailin dusted off his hands with satisfaction. He glanced at the large onlooking crowd that still hadn’t come back to their senses as he confidently left the Warrior’s Guildhall.

“Oh dang!” A cry of surprise finally woke up the surrounding crowd.

“This… this isn’t logical at all!” Another player could only blurt out these words.

“How lowly does Ernst have to be to become like this? The kickass brother slapped him over 20 times, and yet he’s actually deeply grateful—he even imparted a rare skill…”

“I’m saying that I don’t have enough brain capacity to understand this…” Another player propped his hands on his head to show that he had a headache.

“I want to write the word ‘convinced’ on my face…”

“I’ve finally met kickass brother, now I’ll have something to brag about!” A player shouted happily, “Oh right, I should go ask for his signature!”

No matter what the situation was inside the Warrior’s Guildhall, on the other side, Li Huailin, who had just left there, was currently trying out his skills as he walked. He unexpectedly discovered a divine skill amongst divine skills!

“Defensive Stance, activate.”

Defensive Stance: Physical damage increased by 20%, movement speed increased by 50%

“Oh snap!” After looking at the Defensive Stance in his status bar, Li Huailin couldn’t maintain his composure for a long while. After moving his body about, he felt as if he were as lithe as a sparrow. It was almost as if he could fly.

“This skill is an absolute divine skill! Not only can it increase physical damage, but it can also speed up the time I use on running to kill myself—my choice on being a Warrior is just too wise!” Li Huailin suddenly burned with a sliver of pride as a Warrior.