Once the signing was complete, Arlo stood up and showed his shoulder to the man. As the entire crowd gathered around them, the man was even more enthusiastic due to the audience.
"Don't cry after you take the hit, okay?"
"Alright, I won't cry."
"…"
The man fell silent for a moment, then became angry in a way he didn't understand, as if he had punched with all his might but hit cotton.
He frowned and tensed up to punch.
"Let's see if you can still say that after you take the punch."
Then, a loud sound echoed in the area.
Although his body shook from the punch, Arlo felt no pain due to his numbed arm. On the contrary, a warmth coming from his arm spread through his entire body, making him relax.
It was an extremely small amount of energy, but the thing he was trying to do was working after all.
The onlookers were startled by the sound and quickly turned to Arlo, but what they saw surprised them.
Arlo had a smile on his face instead of pain.
"Huh."
"Was that just a noisy punch, I wonder? One of those that sounds powerful but has little effect."
The man who threw the punch "…"
Arlo put the magic stone the man gave him into his pocket as if nothing had happened and sat back down at the table.
"Is there anyone else who wants to bet?"
Crowd "…"
"Is earning money this easy?"
A man in the crowd couldn't help but speak as he watched the scene, and those who heard him agreed.
"A non-ability punch for 1 magic stone? I can understand why this man is smiling."
As the surrounding crowd's chatter grew louder, the face of the man who had just punched was bright red.
"That doesn't count, I didn't hit hard enough. I want to do it again."
The man had not only lost a magic stone but had also been put in an embarrassing situation. Leaving it like this would cause him a great loss.
Arlo looked at the man and smiled.
"Of course, the conditions are the same. Sign the contract and try again."
Although the man was slightly intimidated by Arlo's calm smile, his determination to reclaim his honor overcame this instinct, and he signed the contract, leaving another low-grade magic stone on the table.
Arlo saw this, stood up again, and showed his shoulder to the man, but the man was not careless this time. He slowly swung his arm and pulled back after a small warm-up, then stepped forward and delivered the punch.
"That was stronger than before."
Arlo smiled as he looked at the energy circulating inside him. The energy was slightly more than the previous hit.
Man "…"
' Why is he saying that with a smile? '
The man was getting increasingly angry and finally roared.
"You're cheating!"
But before he could continue, Arlo spoke.
"What am I cheating, then?" "…"
The man hesitated for a moment while trying to find an answer, but the crowd immediately intervened.
"He was acting like a big shot just a moment ago. Is he starting to cry now?"
Upon hearing this, the man turned his head as if he had found a way out and looked at the crowd.
"Who the hell said that? Come out if you dare."
"Sure."
A tall, handsome man with the power of an 8th-Level Apprentice Mage immediately separated from the crowd without hesitation and stepped forward, answering the man.
"I'm out. What are you going to do now?"
"…"
The man who had just roared lost his previous courage when he saw a man two levels higher than himself, looking back and forth. Then, he cursed and ran away from the scene.
Crowd "…"
"If you don't have the strength, why the grand gestures?"
"He must have lost his brain from all that muscle building."
---
A quest has been defined.
Quest Description: A challenge is an area where everyone can grow and develop together in brotherhood.
Quest: Provoke the people around you for a challenge and mock each person you defeat in a different way.
Quest Reward: 10 EXP per person
---
'...'
Arlo wasn't even surprised by these kinds of quests anymore.
"Yes, friends, is there no one to challenge me? Are you really worse than that little monkey who just ran away? Or maybe more cowardly? Though that might be it; not everyone has to be strong or brave, I understand you."
The crowd was surprised by the words suddenly directed at them.
Hadn't they just come to watch the entertainment?
"Since you are staring blankly, you must be poor as well as not being strong or brave, I guess. It's okay, brothers, I am poor too. As you can see, I am risking my life here to earn money. This is all due to extreme poverty. Otherwise, I could have been weak, cowardly, and poor like you, but I decided to take a different path. I strive to be strong, brave, and rich, not weak, cowardly, and poor."
Arlo smiled and continued to speak.
"It's not a problem to be weak, cowardly, and poor either. After all, there are many people in this world who don't want to achieve anything and just want to lay around. I respect that. Just lying around and eating other people's money without doing anything also seems like a good life plan. After all, how else can you be weak, cowardly, and poor and still have a good life? By obeying the orders of others, of course."
"…"
The crowd looked at the sudden barrage of insults with a mixture of shock and anger, and one of them involuntarily asked.
"How many times did he say weak, cowardly, and poor?"
"…"
Just as one person in the crowd was about to open their mouth, unable to bear it any longer, another immediately covered his mouth and stopped him.
"Are you crazy? Don't you know who he is?"
With this statement, not just some people in the crowd, but even Arlo looked at the person who spoke.
Had his fame for coming in first in the competition spread or something?
"He's the Steel-Tongued Monster. I heard he made half of the opposing magic school cry just by talking before the competition."
"…"
"I heard that too. It's said he crushed the opposing school so much just by talking that even the Flame Witch showed him respect."
"…"
'Hey, where did these stories come from? I made half of the opposing magic school cry? It was only a few people. And the Flame Witch's respect? What does that have to do with anything?'
Arlo was about to open his mouth and correct all these misunderstandings when a man spoke.
"Brothers, you have the wrong information. I was personally there."
Upon hearing this, the entire crowd turned to him, and Arlo was relieved.
'Finally, someone who will speak the truth.'
"He cursed the opposing magic school so much that by the end of the competition, they were all crying and cursing him back. Even Telo Panr, the leader of the opposing group, had his eyes wide open in fear when he heard his name. I was there. Telo, who is a Peak True Mage, literally looked at the Flame Witch and this man to compare which one was scarier."
"…"
Arlo couldn't help but remain speechless when he heard this man.
How did this man combine truth and lies so masterfully?
First, it was the rabbit man they were cursing at the end of the competition, not him. Although they were the same person, that wasn't the point.
The muscular man's eyes widened because of his score. And it was surprise, not fear. Was this man blind or something?
Moreover, did he look at him and the Flame Witch to compare which one was worse? That was a complete lie. The man was simply surprised.
So, everything this man said was a lie. Or rather, a distortion of the truth with lies.
Well, everything except the cursing part, but that wasn't so important after all.
Also, looking at the result, his school won the competition because of him.
Arlo felt as if he had been wronged. They were doing injustice to a quiet, calm, and good person like him.
System '…'
Arlo finally realized that he needed to take back control of the situation and started speaking.
"These are all exaggerations. Do you really think it's possible for a single person to make so many people cry just by talking?"
With these words, the crowd calmed down for a moment. That sounded logical.
"Exactly, you'd have to be an idiot to believe that. How could people who enter a great magic school like ours believe something like that? You'd have to be extra idiotic for that. The kind of idiocy that makes a hollow sound when you hit your head against a wall. Or maybe the magic school authorities thought that being this idiotic is a talent, and they might have taken these idiots, thinking 'these idiots will do whatever we tell them to.' That's a possibility; otherwise, how could they be so idiotic and still enter a magic school?"
"…"
"Brothers, you don't have to take offense. After all, you're not idiotic enough to believe these idiotic things. You are all talented and intelligent people; the people I'm talking about are the idiots who believe these rumors. Such idiots should even be expelled from school, in my opinion. After all, how can they benefit the school when they are this idiotic? They might accidentally attack their own friends and cause us harm instead. Being this idiotic requires that, after all."
"…"
"How many times did he say idiot?"
Crowd "…"
As the eyes of the majority of the crowd twitched, they looked at the man who was speaking with a smile, and the same thought went through their minds.
'The things said about this man a moment ago don't seem so wrong after all.'