[1st Bonus Chapter of the Week]
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Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
First Layer of the Supernatural Realm
"Come on, Peter! You're going to win!"
"Jason, you bastard, hold on, damn it! I've put all my silver coins on you."
"Jason, if you lose, your wife Maggie will be mine..."
At the edge of the vast arena, hundreds of people were gathered to watch the fun.
Many gamblers cheered loudly for the players they had bet on. Some had excited expressions, while more had ferocious faces.
And in the ring, two burly men clasped their right hands together and wrestled their arms with each other!
They were arm-wrestling!
This was the local annual "Strongman" competition!
The champion was determined through the "arm-wrestling" sport.
Once you became the final winner, you would not only have the title of "Hercules" for one year but also receive a sum of silver coins as a reward.
When Matthew and Natalie arrived, the competition between the two people in the ring had reached a fever pitch.
However, the fat man on the left still had a calm expression and even had a smug smile on his face.
As for the sturdy man on the right, he looked as though he was struggling, and his face was flushing red; it was clear that he had reached his limit.
The difference between the two was obvious!
Then, the fat man on the left seemed to be tired and suddenly exerted force.
"Bang!"
Not only did he knock his opponent's arm down in an instant, but he also slammed the back of his opponent's hand heavily on the thick wooden table, making a dull sound.
"Ahhh!"
The sturdy man screamed and quickly covered his right hand.
His right hand was bleeding, and it was probably broken.
From this, everyone could see that the fat man before was playing with his opponent.
The gamblers didn't care whether the sturdy man had broken his bones or not; they only cared about their own bets.
Now that the bets were lost, many gamblers shouted angrily and greeted Jason's entire family line.
Some emotional guys even threw rotten vegetables onto the stage to vent their dissatisfaction.
The person in charge of hosting the "Strongman" competition hurried onto the stage.
"The winner is...Peter!"
As the host raised Peter's hand, a burst of cheers erupted from the audience.
The gamblers who bet on Fat Peter were even more excited.
Even the ordinary onlookers were very considerate and applauded.
For a while, the cheers were deafening.
"Peter is such a powerful guy!"
"He has already defeated seven opponents who came to challenge him, right?"
"It looks like this year's Hercules title will be taken away by this fat guy again."
"I wish I could get that generous championship bonus."
"Want the prize? You can go up and challenge Fat Peter. As long as you can win, you can get the prize."
"Forget it! I still need my right hand to feel the beauty's skin, and I don't want it to be ruined here."
…
Many people in the crowd were talking.
Matthew was interested when he heard these discussions.
He pulled Natalie to his side and whispered, "Natalie, if we can beat the fat guy in the arena, we'll get a generous bonus. With the money, we'll have a place to stay tonight!"
At present, no one knew what monsters were or where they were now.
Therefore, finding a place to stay was the priority.
With a house there, at least they could withstand surprise attacks and avoid being ambushed and besieged in an instant.
After hearing what Matthew said, Natalie's pretty face showed embarrassment.
"Matthew, my training last month was mainly focused on mental aspects, and the gains were mostly in my mental attributes. As for my strength, it has only increased slightly. If I compete in strength, I will not be able to beat that fat guy."
When he heard these words, Matthew was stunned.
He immediately understood that the girl had misinterpreted the situation.
Natalie probably thought Matthew wanted her to go up and arm-wrestle with the fat guy.
But he couldn't blame Natalie for thinking this way.
After all, last month at school, Matthew was notoriously "self-destructive" and did not participate in any training.
In normal situations, who would rely on a "useless" person who gave up on himself?
"I'm not asking you to..." Matthew was about to reveal his cards when a voice suddenly sounded beside them.
"Miss Russell, what a coincidence! We meet again."
Then they saw four young men coming together.
These four young men were none other than Natalie's classmates in Class A.
Seeing the four people coming in front of her, Natalie's pretty face returned to its cold, indifferent state.
"What's up?"
The leading young man was a little unhappy with Natalie's behavior, but considering his own interests, he still opened his mouth to invite: "Miss Natalie, we are classmates. Since by fate we were teleported together here, I think we should form an alliance."
"Aren't your team full?" Natalie asked.
"I am not talking about forming a team..." the young man explained, "It's a temporary alliance to fight against the upcoming monsters together."
Upon hearing this, Natalie objected without even pausing to think.
She was not a fool. There were only she and Matthew on her side, while there were four people on the opposite side, which was twice as many people. The overall strength of both sides was not equal.
She would definitely suffer from such a temporary alliance.
Perhaps when they encountered danger, they would be abandoned by the other party and used as a pawn.
Classmate?
When it came to life and death, this kind of weak relationship was utterly unreliable.
The young man on the opposite side seemed to have anticipated that Natalie would object. Before Natalie could speak, he took the lead and said.
"Don't object yet. If you agree to ally with us, I can provide you with accommodation."
Natalie frowned: "What kind of accommodation can you provide?"
"A tavern, or an inn."
"You have money?"
"Not yet..." The young man smiled confidently, "But I will have it soon."
Just at this moment, the host on the stage shouted. "Our 'Strongman' competition will end in a quarter of an hour, and the current winner is still 'Big Man' Peter. Excuse me, is there anyone else who wants to challenge Peter? If you can win successfully, you will be the champion!"
As soon as these words came out.
Countless people in the audience were eager to take action.
However, when they saw the fierce look on the fat man Peter's face, everyone was scared away and did not dare to go on stage at all.
The young man standing in front of Natalie immediately said to his teammate. "Denis, it's your turn!"
The sturdy young man named Denis walked straight toward the ring without saying a word.
"Miss Natalie, as a classmate, you should remember Denis Read, right?"
The leading young man, while looking at Denis Read, who was taking the stage, said to Natalie, "Professor Grant said that Denis's talent would rank him in the top five in the class!"
"His talent is the mutant Colossus Bloodline. Although he can only transform his fists into metal at the moment, his strength is astonishing."
"After last month's training, Denis's strength attribute increased by a full 29 points. Combined with his original initial attribute, his strength attribute now exceeds 40 points."
"Miss Natalie, do you think Denis can defeat that fat guy and win the prize?"
After saying this, the guy showed a smug smile.
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To the 2nd Bonus Chapter of Week: 01/100 Power Stones – You folks can get up to 7 bonus chapters every week by completing the quota. 1 B.Chapter = 100 Power Stones
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You can also read "+2 Free Chapter" at my Spell Merchant P@treon Page as a Free Member.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.30: Let Me Try
Ch.31: Supernatural Item: Glory of Hercules