Chapter 68: Association Starbearer Referee

Chapter 68: Association Starbearer Referee

“Tch, I originally thought the reason you survived until the end was because you were the strongest among them. But it turns out it’s just because you’re the most timid and the weakest, so you didn’t dare go first.”

On the glowing beach, Tendou looked at Visel’s beast-form body—now swollen to three meters tall—with an expression full of speechless disappointment.

Because Visel was the last survivor among the 4 Dark Starbearer, Tendou had assumed this guy was either the strongest of the group, or the one with the darkest, most scheming mind.

After all, in the original story, Visel was also the only one in the 4 Dark Starbearer who didn’t die.

But the reality…

Tendou had no idea whether Visel was mentally twisted or not.

What he did know was that purely in terms of strength, this guy was absolutely the weakest among the four.

Visel’s Star Origin ability allowed him to create lots of special medicines through medical techniques, and even perform certain levels of augmentation on his own body.

But that kind of ability, in a certain sense, was nothing more than a low-budget version of Children of the Stars.

And not even the real Children of the Stars could beat Tendou.

Let alone a cheap knock-off.

Visel surviving until now had nothing to do with strength or strategy.

It was pure dumb luck!

Meanwhile, dimensional viewers stared at the screen showing Tendou’s arrogant, bored expression.

“Bro, hear me out—what if he’s not weak… what if YOU are just too strong?”

“RIGGED! I’m reporting this. This is absolutely production team bias! If Tendou wasn’t basically a main character, these four could easily fight for two to three episodes. How did they get wiped in ONE episode!?”

“Little hater in front, your slip is showing! If these four chickens could fight for 2–3 episodes, Tendou’s ‘strongest’ setting would collapse instantly!”

“Tendou is so awesome!!”

While the chaotic barrage kept going, the anime scene cut to the vacation hotel.

Time rewound to one minute earlier.

Unlike Tendou’s flashy one-versus-four domination on the glowing beach—full king-level posture, practically grabbing the MVP title—things inside the hotel were a lot more tragic for Chen Kong’s group.

Because Tendou stole the spotlight unexpectedly, the hotel storyline began deviating from the original plot.

In the original version, Yong Amsan and the other Dark Starbearers acted separately, each taking turns to deal with Chen Kong’s group of three.

The only one who didn’t fight—Lina Cho, the Shadow Weaver—hid in the dark and quietly kidnapped Isabelle.

This setup created a dramatic “the princess is in danger” moment.

And just like in many anime clichés—“Princess in peril,” “Prince Charming arrives to save her”—right as Isabelle, the “princess,” faced danger, Chen Kong, the “prince,” appeared.

Originally, Chen Kong should have been held off by Yong Amsan, but at the critical moment, he had a sudden burst of power and quickly killed Yong Amsan.

Then, when Isabelle was already trapped inside Lina’s shadow prison, he arrived in time. Using his Void Mark, he shattered the prison and pulled her out of the darkness.

Not only was this a genuine hero-saves-beauty moment, it also left a deep impression on Isabelle, setting the stage for their future relationship development.

But all of this collapsed after Tendou hijacked the plot.

Because the 4 Dark Starbearer, who were originally supposed to separately deal with Chen Kong’s group, had now shamelessly decided to gang up and surround Tendou instead.

They hadn’t even managed to stall Tendou for a single minute. Instead, the four of them were like ordinary low-level mobs that suddenly spawned on the roadside—kicked to death by Tendou without any effort at all. Completely failing to show the dignity a group of villains should have.

The Dark Starbearer clowns may have exited at light speed, but the consequence of this changed storyline was that the main character, Chen Kong—who was supposed to have a glorious highlight moment—had once again begun another round of suffering.

Because in this altered script, the production team had insanely thrown in a second-order Starbearer!

And this second-order Starbearer wasn’t some random no-name thug.

He was a proper, fully certified member of the Starbearer Association!

. . .

One minute earlier, outside the glowing beach—at the resort hotel.

“Kong, take Isabelle and leave first.”

Inside the resort lobby, Chen Xing looked around at the now-empty surroundings, immediately drawing her blade and assuming a guarded stance.

Just moments ago, countless tourists and students from Trilan Junior High had rushed into the resort hotel, fleeing from the ocean-type Starbeasts controlled by Visel.

Because of that, the first-floor lobby—normally spacious—had become unusually crowded.

But at some unknown point, the once jam-packed lobby was now left with only the four of them.

This was undeniably a very abnormal situation.

And shortly after Chen Xing finished speaking, a light chuckle echoed from the center of the lobby.

“Dear outstanding athletes, why don’t you slow down and stay a bit longer?”

“After all, the special match prepared just for you is about to begin.”

Hearing this unfamiliar voice, Chen Xing didn’t hesitate—she struck first.

A slash of blazing sword energy swept toward the source of the voice, carving a bright crimson trail through the air and engulfing the figure suddenly standing in the middle of the lobby.

But Chen Xing’s expression darkened.

Her flame sword aura had not dealt even the slightest bit of damage.

Because before it could even reach him, an invisible force completely dispersed the flames.

Amid the residual embers, a man in a black-and-green referee uniform—wearing a ridiculous husky mascot head—walked toward them while casually spinning a yellow card between his fingers.

When he reached Chen Xing, the face beneath the husky mask revealed a smug smile, as if his scheme had succeeded.

“Unprovoked attack on a referee. One yellow-card warning.”

The husky-headed man raised the yellow card high at Chen Xing.

The next second, Chen Xing felt something invisible press down on her body.

This mysterious force didn’t just suddenly make her body feel heavy—even the star energy within her seemed to sink into mud, sluggish and restricted.

By conservative estimate, that single “yellow card” had reduced her overall combat strength by at least one-third. An absolutely outrageous effect.

Before Chen Xing could process what was happening, Isabelle exclaimed in disbelief:

“Match… yellow card… referee… Association second-order Starbearer, Gohn Petar, the Referee! Why are you here!”

Hearing Isabelle say his name, Gohn didn’t look surprised.

After all, the number of second-order Starbearers in Deep Blue Metropolis could be counted on one hand, and each of them was a known figure.

Not to mention, his Star Origin ability—Arena Referee—was extremely recognizable. Anyone could identify it with one glance.

So Isabelle recognizing him instantly wasn’t strange.

But facing her accusation, Gohn pretended to be clueless:

“Young lady, who is this ‘Gohn Petar’? I’ve never heard of him. I’m just a professional referee who happened to pass by.”

“That’s impossible, you’re definitely—"

“Spectator, please remain silent. Loud disturbances are prohibited during the match.”

Before Isabelle could finish her words, the husky-headed Gohn immediately issued a warning.

And his words seemed to carry some kind of magical force—Isabelle actually couldn’t make a sound anymore.

Fortunately, Isabelle wasn’t the only one here who knew information about Gohn.

Caroline stared at Gohn, and streams of data flowed rapidly through her electronic cat eyes, as if she were browsing through a database.

Moments later, she spoke on Isabelle’s behalf:

“Association Level-2 Starbearer, Gohn Petar, known as the Referee. Trait Type Star Origin: Arena Referee.”

“According to public intel, once the Referee activates his Star Origin, he can designate a specific area as a special competition arena.”

“After dividing individuals inside the area into three categories—spectators, participants, and coaches—he can forcibly eject everyone unrelated.”

“As for whether his Star Origin allows him to freely create match rules, modify match conditions, or arbitrarily add or reduce match duration—those details remain undisclosed and cannot be confirmed.”

“Oho? Didn’t expect this intelligent cat to be so cautious. You managed to dig up that much information on me immediately? Looks like you prepared ahead of time. Not bad. You’ve got good potential to work as a dealer in a gambling den.”

Even though Caroline had exposed part of his Star Origin’s effect, Gohn remained completely unfazed.

Because his Star Origin was special—it was an absolute-edge skill for bullying weaker opponents, and he didn’t mind others knowing about it.

Why was it so effective at bullying weaker opponents?

Because any Starbearer whose rank was lower than his must strictly follow the rules of the arena he created.

Anyone who violated them would be punished—just like Chen Xing, who had just received a yellow card.

If Gohn encountered a Starbearer of the same rank, then both sides compared their base star energy values.

If the opponent’s base star energy was lower, they also had to obey his arena rules completely.

If the opponent’s base star energy was higher, that person received a customized arena privilege.

But if Gohn ran into a Starbearer of higher rank…

Too bad.

All Gohn could keep was the right to designate a battleground.

All other rights would automatically shift to the higher-ranked Starbearer.

Why did such rules exist?

Because while a referee can influence the outcome of a match, when compared to the “capital” that controls things outside the arena, a referee’s authority could easily be overshadowed.

Because of that, unless absolutely necessary, Gohn would never drag someone with higher rank or star energy than himself into his “arena.”

And thanks to this shameless philosophy of “only bullying newbies and avoiding high-level matches,” Gohn was currently one of the very few members of the Starbearer Association with a 100% mission completion rate.

People even gave him a nickname—

The Weak Slayer.

Although the nickname didn’t sound very flattering, Gohn himself loved it.

After all, with the miserable dead-end salary of the Starbearer Association, why would he risk his life for anything?

“Gohn,” Caroline said coldly, “as a Starbearer of the Association, you’re willingly interfering in the power struggles of local factions. Aren’t you afraid that once the higher-ups find out, they’ll launch a strict internal investigation against you?”

Hearing this, Gohn laughed.

“Afraid? If I were afraid, I wouldn’t be taking bribes in the first place.”

“Besides, without dirty money, how is a referee supposed to make a living? This job is as bland as boiled cabbage—there’s no fat to chew on unless you make some.”

Wearing his silly husky mask, Gohn didn’t shy away from Caroline’s accusation at all. On the contrary, he looked proud of it. As if being a corrupt referee wasn’t something shameful at all, but rather something glorious.

Besides Tendou, she had never seen anyone with a face this thick.

But today, she had finally met another one.

Meanwhile, unlike Caroline and the others—who were either silent, worried, or tense—the cross-dimensional audience was absolutely delighted.

Because despite being a villain, Gohn’s bizarre personality carried an inexplicable comedic charm.

That goofy husky mascot head, paired with his dark-humored lines, gave him a kind of pure, almost innocent stupidity.

The comedic effect was off the charts.

“HAHAHA! Openly admitting he’s a corrupt referee? Gohn, I salute you—your shamelessness is on par with Tendou’s!”

“You may be a villain, but compared to those four clownish idiots earlier, you’re way more entertaining.”

“Bro, our national football league desperately needs a referee like you!”

“He could’ve announced the match result directly, but he still insists on going through the motions himself? Gohn, you’re surprisingly dedicated.”

“Tendou: Hang in there, team. The head coach is warming up. He’ll be on the field soon!”

Even though Chen Kong and the others were in a bad situation, the cross-dimensional viewers weren’t worried at all.

Because although Gohn’s scene was happening simultaneously with Tendou’s fight, Tendou had already finished his battle early.

Which meant he would soon arrive at the hotel and join this shamelessly rigged “special match.”

And as long as Tendou appeared, Chen Kong’s crisis would definitely be resolved.

This wasn’t blind optimism; it was the result of Tendou repeatedly proving himself.

But until the “head coach” showed up, the protagonist Chen Kong would almost certainly suffer first.

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