LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 27
27
As the beating went on, Gelmu’s face swelled into a bear-like shape, his human features transforming into a grotesque bear visage, his speech unclear as he began to plead.
“Mercy… please… I beg… mercy…”
Although not fatal, being slapped with a brick as a fifth-tier player is still immensely painful and humiliating. Just look at Gelmu now, his words whistle through his teeth when he speaks.
Seeing that Gelmu finally got the message, Gu Ming shook his sore hands, tossed the cold weapon to the side, and started to rifle through Gelmu’s possessions for money. As for his equipment, Gu Ming had no interest in it, though scraping together some junk to sell was no issue. There were a few magical items, among them noticeably a mirror.
After finishing the looting, Gu Ming simply walked away, seeing no further need to humiliate him.
The main reason was that killing him brought no benefits and would only attract trouble.
As long as he spared his life, the forces behind him wouldn’t dare to confront the academy head-on to avenge Gu Ming. Let’s not even mention seeking revenge from Critte’s domain. after all, waging war between domains required the emperor’s decree. You couldn’t just go to war because I humiliated your heir, right? That wouldn’t happen.
What about the Moore brothers, you ask? They saw the tide turning and ran at the first chance. Gu Ming didn’t bother with them either, nor did he check Gelmu’s stats during their fight; he simply thought little of such minor characters. In the original plot, Gelmu was just a minor villain who got slapped by the hero. a mere footnote.
But what Gu Ming didn’t realize was that by overlooking this, he had missed a big opportunity.
…
As Gu Ming left, Gelmu, lying on the ground, furiously pounded the earth. Having always had things his way, the humiliation he suffered at Gu Ming’s hands filled him with rage, hate, and most of all, fear. a profound fear of Gu Ming’s strength, which he was powerless against.
“Ah! Why! Why! How could I lose! How could I… lose? Am I really so weak?”
Note: Only the owner can activate my teleportation card, nobody else can tamper with it.
Gelmu gripped the teleportation card tightly, filled with reluctance and self-doubt.
At that moment of self-reckoning within Gelmu, it was as if the demon residing in him experienced the ecstasy of a lifetime, excitedly emerging from within him as wisps of black energy slowly formed a human shape. On closer inspection, it bore an uncanny resemblance to Gelmu, particularly the sinister smile playing at the corners of its mouth.
“Do you desire power,” it whispered, “the power to dominate everything?”
Hearing the sound, Gerwood slowly lifted his head, gazing at the shadow that was no different from himself. Seeing its pitch-black form, his body couldn’t stop trembling. His feet hurriedly pushed back several meters, distancing himself from the shadow.
“What are you?”
Deep in his eyes lay a profound fear of this unknown creature.
The shadow wasn’t annoyed by his actions. It squatted down, its black eyes fixating on his, and with a hoarse voice, it replied,
“Me? I am your shadow, Fulbright Gerwood. I am the embodiment of all your expectations.”
“The embodiment of my expectations?”
“That’s right. I am you, and you are me. Accept me, embrace this unparalleled power.”
The raspy voice echoed continuously in Gerwood’s mind.
Under the devil’s relentless temptation, Gerwood, who had never faced much adversity, couldn’t accept his own failure. Recalling how he was just pinned to the ground, rubbed frantically like a clown, veins bulging on his face, he couldn’t suppress the hatred and rage.
Gradually, his will crumbled, no longer able to muster even a sliver of resistance, his expression turning somewhat maniacal.
“Power, I need power, the power to make everyone grovel at my feet, I want that person, dead.”
Gerwood, somewhat delirious, raised his right hand and slowly reached out towards the shadow.
Seeing his extended hand, the shadow’s heart leapt with joy, and it moved towards him.
“Heh heh heh, come, merge with me.”
The shadow and Gerwood’s figures slowly overlapped. Minutes later, a black light flickered in Gerwood’s eyes. He turned around on his own and walked in a direction different from Gu Ming’s.
…
“Brother Mo, isn’t it bad that we just ran off and left our cousin behind?”
Mo’er slapped him on the head.
“Ouch, Brother Mo, why did you hit me again?”
“Why did you hit me? Don’t you have any idea why?”
Giles scratched the back of his head, pondering from side to side but still couldn’t figure it out, and asked, “Why?”
Then another heavy blow met him as he was angrily scolded, “Idiot! Were we running away? That was a strategic retreat. What escape? I did that so as not to cause trouble for our cousin; it was a necessary action.”
Rubbing his head and muttering discontentedly, Giles retorted, “Isn’t that just the same as running?”
Moore caught on to his mumbling and glared at him. “What are you grumbling about?”
Feeling guilty, Giles quickly shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Hmph! You need to understand that a strategic retreat and running away are two different concepts. If we had stayed there under those circumstances, tell me what use would it have been? Not only would it be useless but also could have interfered with my cousin’s performance. Only by us safely pulling back could my cousin fully trust not to accidentally harm us and unleash his true Level 5 strength. Do you understand now?”
After such persuasion mixed with analysis from Moore, Giles suddenly felt there might indeed be some truth in those words; he grew even more admiring of Moore.
“Moore bro, I finally understand your good intentions now; little Giles feels ashamed for doubting you earlier. I really deserve to die.”
This flattery made even Moore himself feel somewhat embarrassed; he quickly waved his hand to cut off the self-praise.
“Cough cough… Alright then if you understand that’s good enough. it wasn’t in vain explaining all this painstakingly.”
“It’s all thanks to your wise guidance boss!”
“Mm-hmm,” Moore nodded satisfactorily. After finishing praising himself beside him, Giles continued asking,
“So boss do we go back for our cousin?”
Moore instantly evoked the miserable state of Gerwood at that time, his body shuddering as he quickly shook his head and said,
“I would rather die… than go back.”
No sooner had he spoken these words than Moore felt it was somewhat inappropriate. Just as he was about to rectify his character portrayal, Jace admiringly said,
“Boss, you really are far-sighted. You must mean that by the time we return, that kid might already be dead. Going back now would be useless and might even earn us a scolding from Cousin Gerwood. It’s better to stay here, farm monsters for points, and wait for cousin to come back, right?”
Watching his subordinate make such astute leaps in logic almost made Moore feel like it was absurdly off-script. so much so that he began to doubt whether he truly had a natural talent for teaching. He even started contemplating whether or not he should secure a stable job at a school in the future.
Fortunately, his thoughts did not wander too far before he unhesitatingly replied,
“Exactly, that’s what I was thinking. You’re finally showing some growth; very good. Keep it up and don’t get cocky.”
Hearing Moore praise him for the first time like this sounded heavenly to Jace who eagerly promised,
“Yes! I will definitely live up to your teachings!”
“Mm-hmm,” nodded Moore contentedly as they approached the lake monster ahead.
“Let’s go farm those monsters.”
The two figures quietly moved towards a third-tier crab monster napping nearby.
—