Lu Yuan's body shuddered violently as he staggered several steps back.
The middle-aged man who had kicked him also recoiled, forced back by the impact.
However, the man performed a graceful backward somersault, landing smoothly on the hood of the van behind him.
From his elevated position, he regarded Lu Yuan with an indifferent gaze.
Even with his legs, he's only my equal; his Strength should be around ten points.
Also, there's absolutely no pain in battles within the Consciousness Space!
Lu Yuan assessed the middle-aged man's strength value after their brief exchange.
Gently shaking the forearm he'd used to block the kick, Lu Yuan looked up into the heavy rain.
He had just locked onto his opponent's figure and was considering his next move when a cloud of water vapor suddenly exploded before him. The man on the van's hood raised his leg, viciously kicking at Lu Yuan's face.
Lu Yuan's pupils contracted. For a fraction of a second, the world before him seemed to slow.
He could clearly see the man's leg rising, the tip of his black leather shoe shattering raindrops as it hurtled toward him.
SWOOSH—
Lu Yuan sidestepped, perfectly evading the middle-aged man's straight kick.
The advantage of his ten points in Agility was evident at this moment.
Previously, Lu Yuan's reaction speed wouldn't have been sufficient for such a swift evasion.
"Get down!"
After dodging the kick, Lu Yuan immediately countered with a sweep kick aimed at the man's legs.
His opponent reacted quickly, stepping back and leaping onto the roof of the van.
Lu Yuan stepped onto the van's front bumper, used it to launch himself onto the hood, and threw a hard right punch at the man's face.
Fists and feet met, and they exchanged several rapid blows.
Lu Yuan's assault was ferocious, and he soon forced the middle-aged man from the van's roof down to the rain-slicked street.
The fight began to deviate entirely from what had happened in reality.
With his enhanced Strength and Agility, as well as improvements to his four basic fighting techniques, Lu Yuan felt significantly stronger. He believed he could quickly take down the middle-aged man.
But, ironically, the Imaginary Enemy—constructed from Lu Yuan's memories, stripped of all emotion, and possessing only pure combat instinct and techniques—displayed far greater strength than Lu Yuan had anticipated.
After just a few exchanges, Lu Yuan was completely forced onto the defensive, struggling to keep up with his opponent's rhythm.
How did he suddenly become so strong?
Or is this his true power?
The middle-aged man's Leg Skill was extremely refined and formidable. Brutal, deadly.
Each kick seemed to carry the thick scent of blood.
His legs moved in rotation, like whips lashing at Lu Yuan.
His kicks were lightning-fast, a torrential storm that left Lu Yuan gasping for breath.
Although Lu Yuan was clearly stronger, he was constantly forced to block and dodge.
He couldn't find a suitable opportunity to strike back.
On the rare occasions he managed to counterattack, his opponent was as slippery as an eel, quickly creating distance only to bide his time and strike again.
It was incredibly frustrating!
The confidence he'd felt before the fight now seemed like a cruel joke.
If this continues, I might be kicked to death!
His kicking techniques haven't deviated from Basic Leg Skill, but his level seems quite high. Has it reached Lv. 6? Lv. 7?
The skill gap is too large, and he has far more combat experience than I do...
How can I win this fight?
To be thrashed in the Consciousness Space by an opponent he'd defeated in reality would be utterly humiliating.
Lu Yuan was determined to win this fight, no matter what.
While he was contemplating, his left arm took another heavy blow.
The tremendous impact of the kick sent a violent tremor through his entire body.
Although there was no pain in the Consciousness Space, being constantly beaten back left Lu Yuan feeling suffocated.
After taking this kick, he could no longer hold back and suddenly resolved to fight recklessly.
A surge of hot blood rushed through him. As the middle-aged man's next kick came, Lu Yuan met it head-on with a kick of his own!
BANG!
The impact was extremely powerful.
Both of them staggered backward.
Lu Yuan felt his right foot grow somewhat numb.
The forceful impact of their shins colliding fractured Lu Yuan's right tibia.
His injured state was perfectly simulated in the Consciousness Space.
Damn it!
Lu Yuan instantly regretted his impulsive move. The injury to his right leg would inevitably affect his evasion, making an already dire situation even worse.
WHOOSH—
The middle-aged man's next kick tore through the curtain of rain with a whistle.
Lu Yuan awkwardly dodged on one leg.
Normally, the man's second and third kicks would have followed like a tempest.
But to his surprise, the middle-aged man's second kick was delayed this time.
And it was aimed in the same direction as the previous one.
Wait!
Lu Yuan raised his arm, barely blocking the kick, his gaze fixed on the middle-aged man.
Seeing the man's clearly unnatural advance, an idea flashed through Lu Yuan's mind like lightning.
In the heavy rain, the youth, somewhat disheveled, protected his head with both hands, continuously blocking his opponent's relentless side kicks.
Rain and sweat flew from his hair, splattering everywhere.
Beneath his drenched hair, a light began to gleam in his dark eyes.
I think... I know the solution.
PHEW—
With a long exhalation, Lu Yuan opened his eyes, withdrawing from the mental battle.
The dry clothes he had changed into after his shower were now slightly damp with sweat.
His first experience with Imaginary Enemy... was over.
In the end, Lu Yuan had won.
But it was an incredibly difficult victory, far harder than in reality—
He had won by trading injury for injury, crippling the middle-aged man's legs, and then relying on his superior Strength to bludgeon him to death on the rain-slicked ground.
It was a far-from-glorious victory.
...If they hadn't dismissed me as a mere high school student with crude fighting techniques, and if I hadn't been surrounded by their group, they might not have maintained such a disdainful and playful attitude.
Combined with my on-the-spot stat increase, my Strength had suddenly surged...
In reality, it would have been nearly impossible for me to deal with him that quickly.
Reflecting on the ferocious ruthlessness the middle-aged man had displayed in the Consciousness Space, Lu Yuan found it incredible that he was now sitting safely in his bedroom with only minor scrapes.
There had been too much luck involved in that fight; if it were to happen again, the outcome might be entirely different.
No matter what, I had the last laugh in the end...
This battle also served as a major wake-up call for Lu Yuan—never underestimate any opponent!
He certainly didn't want to end up like that middle-aged man named Hei.
Despite possessing such dominant and sharp Leg Skills, he had "capsized in the gutter," ultimately having his legs brutally broken with a baseball bat by a "Martial Arts newbie" who'd only been training for a month.
That man... was probably cooling his heels in a police station by now, being questioned.
The effect of Imaginary Enemy is even stronger than I imagined!
Lu Yuan hadn't expected that the Imaginary Enemy, constructed from his memories, would perfectly replicate the man's real-world capabilities in the Consciousness Space.
It wasn't based on his own shallow understanding of the opponent.
Recalling the battle in the Consciousness Space once more, Lu Yuan's expression couldn't help but become complex.
Those incredibly powerful Leg Skills the middle-aged man possessed made him intensely envious.
The man merely repeated a few moves from the Basic Leg Skill. The difficulty wasn't high, but when he executed them, each kick was as sharp as a combat knife.
And that vicious, barbaric, bloody aura around him—heaven knows how many opponents he had crippled to cultivate such skill.
If I had Leg Skill proficiency comparable to his, combined with my Strength advantage, this battle wouldn't have been so arduous...
Wait! What am I envious of? I can learn from him!
Is there any teacher more suitable for combat training than an enemy?
As Lu Yuan thought of this, his eyes lit up. The more he considered it, the more feasible his idea seemed.
He even thought that this...
Perhaps this was the true, correct way to *use* Imaginary Enemy!
With unlimited combat practice against him, I refuse to believe I can't learn the essence of this Leg Skill!
Lu Yuan grew excited and eager, immediately closing his eyes again.
"Skill activated: Imaginary Enemy!"