Chapter 71: Tendou! Are You Going to Ruin My 100% Win Rate?!

Chapter 71: Tendou! Are You Going to Ruin My 100% Win Rate?!

“Hahahaha! No way, Chen Kong—after holding it in for so long, this is what you were cooking?”

“Chen Kong: A Bronze player who accidentally queued into a King-ranked match… I apologize.”

“Good news: Chen Kong’s attitude is very professional. Bad news: It seems only his attitude is professional.”

Seeing Chen Kong on screen going “moves fierce like a tiger, stats read 0/5,” the dimensional audience erupted in laughter.

After all, before he threw, he had that determined expression and those professional movements. But after throwing, he instantly turned into: “As a human being, I am deeply sorry.”

With such a huge contrast, only Gautama could keep a straight face.

And while Chen Kong missed that precious opportunity to attack, Gohn certainly wouldn’t.

He tightened his grip around the shot put. Muscles on his right arm swelled violently, shredding his sleeve and sending fabric scraps flying.

Just that scene alone was far more intimidating than Chen Kong’s earlier flashy-but-useless posturing.

But just as Gohn finished charging up and was about to deliver a heavy blow to Chen Kong, he suddenly realized something horrifying:

Chen Kong—who should have been standing right in the arena—had vanished from his field of vision!

Huh?!

Invisible? Or some other ability?

Since he knew Chen Kong’s Star Origin was Dreamweaver—a Trait Type Star Origin that could copy other people’s abilities—it wasn’t surprising that Chen Kong might have access to invisibility.

After piecing that together, Gohn’s brain immediately started racing.

There were several types of invisibility, but regardless of which one, Gohn was certain of one thing:

Chen Kong was still inside the arena.

Because if Chen Kong weren’t, Gohn’s Star Origin would have instantly notified him that he’d already won.

With that in mind, Gohn made a swift decision.

“You think going invisible can stall for time? Naive!”

Under the stunned gazes of everyone, Gohn entered an unprecedented berserk mode.

He didn’t bother figuring out where Chen Kong was hiding—he simply slammed the shot put into the Red Team’s field over and over again.

In an instant, the hotel lobby floor tiles began to crack. Shards flew like bullets in all directions.

Fortunately, it seemed the dodgeball arena had some sort of invisible barrier at the edges.

Not only did the flying shards stop there—even the shot put rebounded the moment it hit the boundary, as if bouncing off a wall.

And Gohn used that mechanic to instantly retrieve the rebounding shot put and launch the next strike without pause.

Under these continuous bombardments the area Chen Kong had to hide in shrank rapidly.

Because underneath the shattered arena floor was the entire basement level of the resort hotel.

Chen Kong didn’t dare risk falling through—who knew if that would count as leaving the arena and losing instantly?

But if this continued, though he had no idea how long a single round of dodgeball was supposed to last, he was sure he wouldn’t survive until the end.

So Chen Kong gritted his teeth and made a risky decision.

He clearly remembered that in the rules Gohn announced, there was no clause prohibiting direct attacks on the opponent.

He wasn’t fully certain whether that was an unspoken rule or not. But seeing as continuing like this meant certain defeat—he would rather gamble it all.

Chen Kong might be indecisive at times, but he never lacked the courage to bet everything when it truly mattered.

With that thought, he decisively drew Night Dust and moved to the spot in his field closest to Gohn.

Then he poured all of his star energy into the bullet and prepared to unleash his strongest strike at Gohn.

After all, he only had one chance—he absolutely couldn’t afford to waste it.

At the same time, as Gohn continued to shrink Chen Kong’s area of movement, Caroline—although she also couldn’t determine Chen Kong’s exact position or what he was thinking—seemed to understand something after a brief moment of thought.

She instantly shouted:

“Stop, Chen Kong!”

Unfortunately, Caroline’s warning still came one step too late.

Because almost at the exact moment she spoke, a gunshot rang out.

And the instant he heard that gunshot, Gohn immediately stripped off his dodgeball-specific vest, revealing the black-and-green referee uniform underneath.

Bang!

Although Chen Kong’s Void Mark bullet was unbelievably fast, it ultimately froze in midair—hovering one step in front of Gohn’s body.

Seeing this, Chen Kong’s pupils instantly contracted.

Because this was the first time he had ever seen his Void Mark bullet fail to erase an enemy’s star energy effect.

“How is this possible? My bullet even worked on Yong Amsan…”

“Amsan?”

“He’s just a mere first-order Starbearer. How could he possibly compare to me?”

Gohn chuckled as he picked up the Void Mark bullet from the floor, examining it like a rare antique.

“A bullet that can erase star energy effects… no matter how many times I see it, it still feels incredible.”

“Although I don’t know the exact principle behind how your bullet nullifies star energy, there is one thing I’m absolutely certain about.”

“And that is: no matter how mysterious a Star Origin ability or Stellar Technique may be, all of them must be supported by basic star energy.”

“Kid, I’ve watched the footage of you attacking Yong Amsan—frame by frame—and I discovered that your bullet’s nullification effect seems to have a very obvious upper limit.”

“And that limit… is simply the amount of basic star energy stored inside the bullet.”

“Once that basic star energy runs out, your bullet becomes no different from an ordinary piece of ammo.”

Saying that, Gohn—now in his referee uniform—walked straight up to Chen Kong, towering over him.

Even though he was still wearing that ridiculous mascot headgear, the oppressive aura radiating from him was overwhelming.

Chen Kong felt a clear sense of impending death. 

His body trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing this reaction, Gohn laughed softly.

“Kid, remember what I’m about to tell you.”

“When you face a Starbearer you know nothing about—especially a Starbearer from the Association—you must be alert with everything you’ve got.”

“Because the Association holds the most complete star energy cultivation system in the world, and we have the deepest experience in dealing with every kind of Starbearer.”

“Dreamweaver? Other people might not know how to handle that Star Origin, but the Association sure does.”

“When dealing with a Dreamweaver, there are two optimal strategies.”

“One: Know all his trump cards and prepare countermeasures for every one of them.”

“Two: Force him into a situation where he can only use the trump cards you already know about.”

“But almost no one can achieve the first method. So throughout the history of the Starbearer Association, our method for handling Dreamweavers has always been the second one.”

“Well, that’s all I needed to say.”

“And since you’ve already made your move… Now—it's my turn.”

“Red Team member Chen Kong—malicious attack on the referee. One yellow card!”

As Gohn raised the yellow card high, a strange force immediately descended upon Chen Kong.

Since Chen Kong had just poured all his star energy into Night Dust, he now had no remaining star energy to activate Void Mark and cancel the yellow card penalty.

And from that very moment onward, Chen Kong’s defeat was already sealed.

Gohn put his dodgeball athlete vest back on, symbolizing his return to “player” status, and smiled at the despairing Chen Kong.

“Come now, relax. Don’t look like you’re about to die.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.”

“Sure, I took some under-the-table money, but I still won’t casually violate the Association’s rules. I know exactly where the line is—and how to walk it perfectly.”

“So, surrender. Because if you don’t, then I’ll have no choice but to personally send you off the field.”

“And in that scenario, I can’t guarantee you’ll walk away without injuries.”

Hearing this, Chen Kong didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he turned toward Caroline outside the arena.

She was biting her nails, her eyes flickering with torrents of data—clearly running calculations at full speed.

But only a moment later, Caroline hopelessly abandoned her analysis.

Because once she realized Gohn could freely switch between “athlete” and “referee,” their chances of winning collapsed completely.

Chen Kong’s surrender was already a guaranteed outcome. And after losing the first match, even if she and Chen Xing dragged the remaining matches into draws, they still wouldn’t be able to win the overall competition.

In other words, from the moment she sent Chen Kong onto the field, they were already doomed.

But none of this was truly Caroline’s fault—with the limited information and conditions she had, her analysis had already been exceptional.

Besides, their opponent was an experienced, veteran Starbearer from the Association—someone who specialized in crushing newbies.

Caroline, after all, was only a fourteen-year-old girl just stepping into this world.

When it came to experience, she could never hope to match someone like Gohn.

With that realization, Caroline said dejectedly:

“Surrender, Chen Kong. Do as he says. Because… we can’t win anymore.”

Hearing even Caroline say that, Chen Kong finally felt true despair.

He tried to say something—anything —but even as he opened his mouth, no words came out.

In the end, forced by the crushing reality before him,

Chen Kong lowered his head and reluctantly spoke the two words he hated most:

“…I surrender.”

The moment he heard those words, Gohn happily patted him on the shoulder.

“A wise man knows when to yield. You don’t need to feel too bad about it—losing to a second-order Association Starbearer isn’t shameful. And besides—”

But before Gohn could finish his sentence, a voice he never expected suddenly echoed through the hall.

“Who said we lost?”

Gohn froze. 

He slowly turned toward the direction of the voice.

Standing at the main entrance of the hotel lobby, Tendou walked in with a confident smile.

His appearance stunned not only Gohn—Chen Kong’s expression instantly lit up with joy.

“Tendou!”

With everyone turning their eyes toward him, Tendou swaggered forward with that trademark “I fear nothing” gait, stopping beside Caroline as he teased her with a grin:

“What, I left for only a little while, and you guys already let the enemy wipe you out completely?”

“Caroline, your performance is kinda lame, y’know.”

Caroline did not protest his teasing. Because realistically speaking, as long as Gohn refused to “go easy,” in a match where he could be both the referee and a player, they truly had zero chance of winning.

“How did you even get in here? My Rift Prism shouldn’t have failed.”

To this, Tendou pushed up his sunglasses and said, “Don’t worry about how I got in. Point is, I’m here.”

“……”

Staring at Tendou’s blatantly arrogant expression, a cluster of black veins popped up on Gohn’s forehead.

What Gohn didn’t know was that Tendou wasn’t refusing to answe—he literally couldn’t answer.

He couldn’t exactly say that after watching the dimensional feed, he realized Caroline and the others were trapped inside the hotel’s subspace, so he activated Star-Eclipse Eye at full power, found the Rift Prism’s subspace entrance hidden somewhere on the first floor, and just walked in.

Otherwise, how could he possibly determine whether Caroline and the others had simply been teleported somewhere far from the hotel, or pulled into a special dimensional space?

That explanation simply wouldn’t make sense.

And while Gohn didn’t know how Tendou had entered, he did know one thing for sure:

Tendou showing up was definitely bad news for him.

Because Tendou’s Vector Control was simply too perfect for dodgeball.

And Tendou was obviously aware of that too.

So without hesitation, he waved at Chen Kong.

“Come on, Kong, hand me your vest. I’m taking this round.”

“No! New participants are not allowed to suddenly join mid-match!”

Tendou gave him a disdainful look.

“Oh please. That kind of nonsense might fool a simple-minded kid like Chen Kong, but you really think you can trick me?”

“This so-called ‘match’ you created is basically just a Stellar Technique.”

“And I checked, nowhere in the technique formation you laid around this place is there a clause that prohibits new players from joining.”

“……”

Gohn fell silent again.

But this time, his silence lasted much longer than each previous moment when Caroline exposed his hidden rules.

Because at least Caroline’s deductions were based on careful logic.

But Tendou?

He just looked directly at the technique structure.

What kind of eyes did this guy have?!

How could he even see the internal structure of a Stellar Technique?!

How was this not blatant cheating?!

Tell him—how was this any different from hacking?!!

And the dimensional audience was equally stunned.

“Bro, turn it off. There’s no point watching anymore.”

“Tendou: You guys solve problems by analyzing. I solve them by… reading the answer key!”

“He keeps getting buffs! The Peak is still getting buffed! How much does the dev team love this golden child? At this rate, he really will be untouchable, heaven and earth!”

As the barrage of comments flew across the dimensional screen, Tendou put on the dodgeball vest Chen Kong handed him and stepped onto the now fully restored red-team field.

Seeing that he was really about to enter the match, Gohn clenched his teeth and issued a warning:

“Tendou, I am both athlete and referee. Even if your Vector Control is perfect for dodgeball, if you attack me three times, I can give you three yellow cards and send you off the field! Are you sure you want to lay a hand on me?”

Hearing that, Tendou couldn’t help laughing.

“Three times? Look at me. Do you really think I’ll need three?”

Tendou picked up the lead ball from the ground, and before everyone’s stunned eyes, the lead ball began to spin—slowly at first, then faster and faster, until its entire surface was covered in black light.

The ball hadn’t even been thrown yet, but Gohn was already feeling a powerful sense of danger emanating from it.

“Here we go!”

With a baseball pitcher’s motion, Tendou hurled the black sphere with full force.

In that instant, the black sphere shot through the air with a sharp tearing sound and slammed heavily into the arena barrier behind Gohn. 

The barrier that should have been able to bounce the black sphere back was now visibly dented.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the supposedly indestructible barrier was completely shattered by Tendou’s casual throw, and the remaining force continued forward, smashing through one of the hotel’s walls on the spot.

“Now then—do you still think I need three hits to beat you?”

Gohn stared at the smiling Tendou and suddenly snapped.

“Tendou! What the hell are you doing!? Are you trying to destroy my perfect win rate!?”

Tendou, Caroline, Chen Kong, Chen Xing: “……”

Ignoring everyone’s stunned expressions, Gohn clutched his heart and said painfully,

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain a 100% win rate for five consecutive years!?”

“It’s not just about spending tons of effort selecting missions that I can safely take. I also have to stay constantly prepared for inspections from above! If they learn that I can actually break through at any time, I’ll be screwed!”

“It’s only because I put in all this effort that I’ve been able to stay the Deep Blue Branch’s ‘Outstanding Starbearer’ for five straight years, and keep my flawless record until now.”

“And now you want to ruin all of that—are you even human!?”

Tendou scratched his head. “…So what do you want to do?”

“A draw. Today’s match is a draw.”

“Why should I agree?”

“I’ll give you One million Star Origin Coins.”

“Deal!”

Chen Kong and the others were completely stunned as they watched Tendou and Gohn—opponents one second, secret deal-making partners the next.

They had imagined countless possible developments, but absolutely none of them resembled this.

Ding!

“Your bank card has received—”

“My oh my! no need to be polite! If there are more jobs like this in the future, remember to come to me! I may not be good at everything, but I’m great at customizing combat data—quality guaranteed, fair price, no scams!”

“Get lost! I want to avoid you, and you think I’ll go to you for data? You think I’m a leek for you to harvest whenever you want!?”

“I’m leaving, I’m leaving… Sigh… to think that I, the Deep Blue Branch’s ‘wage vampire,’ would actually get sucked dry by someone else… what terrible luck.”

Seeing Gohn’s gloomy expression, Tendou couldn’t help asking, “By the way, why do you care so much about that 100% win rate? It’s not even part of your official Association mission record.”

Gohn shot him a glare.

“What do you know? Once you reach my level you’ll understand. Developing Star Origin abilities is way more troublesome than you think.”

“I see, so there’s some special condition between second-order and third-order.”

“That’s enough. I can’t say more. If the Association finds out, they’ll say I’m breaking protocol.”

Even though he said that, Gohn still stopped walking and turned back, giving Tendou an invitation.

“So? Want to join our Association? I can personally write you a recommendation letter.”

Tendou laughed and refused.

“No need. If I wanted to join, I wouldn’t need your recommendation in the first place.”

“That’s… true.”

“Goodbye then, the only person who’s ever forced me into a draw.”

“Well, can’t say for sure—maybe we’ll meet again?”

“Is that so? Well, that would be truly terrible news for me.”

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