Chapter 88: A Single Choice for a Lifetime

Yes, Guan Junyuan had leveled up.

From four-star Harmony to five-star Indestructibility.

The process of an ability upgrade, and of a Hallowed Weapon growing steadily stronger, was in essence the process of gradually replacing the weapon’s real material with willpower, or rather psychic force, thereby increasing the degree to which it had become imaginary.

It was rather like a writer plagiarizing—no, borrowing—from others, or even from himself: first the outline, then the setting; after that the plot, then the details, until the palette was completely filled.

At first, the inscription had not completed the transformation into imagination at all. It merely branded the real material with a unique mark, making it easier to track, repair, and control. For a three-star Hallowed Weapon, the degree of imaginary transformation was often only around ten percent.

But a truly one-hundred-percent imaginary weapon was a five-star Indestructible one.

At that level, unless it encountered a stronger power, or possessed an internal setting of its own, the Hallowed Weapon could not be damaged by any real substance, nor by any force below five stars—even a single atom would be unable to harm it.

That was why it was called Indestructible.

So long as the person remained, the weapon remained. Neither worn away nor extinguished.

Yet no one, not even the program itself, had expected the special effect of five-star Indestructibility in hyperspace to look like this: after Guan Junyuan leveled up, his Hallowed Weapon, Little Sun, actually shattered through the void and plunged straight from the real world into hyperspace.

It was just like a character in a comic breaking through the boundary of dimensions and running out into reality...

Or a person from reality crossing into a work of fiction in a two-dimensional world.

Because what had been false had become true, Misaka Mikoto’s railgun and Accelerator’s attack both came to nothing.

If the level was not enough, if the ability was not enough, then no matter how powerful the attack, not the slightest bit of Indestructibility could be broken.

But the shattering of the void clearly brought far more than merely rendering the two level fives’ attacks ineffective.

In that instant, the entire hyperspace trembled.

The earth shook and the mountains swayed; the sun and moon were darkened.

This was no exaggeration. Everyone felt that vibration and impact, as though an earthquake or volcanic eruption had struck.

Though the foundation of hyperspace remained fairly stable, being pierced inevitably brought about a shock.

Even a balloon, a beach ball, or a girl would make some noise when struck...

Hyperspace was only more exaggerated than that. The shaking was so severe that even the combatants forgot this was a virtual world and not the real one. Some drove their abilities to resist the impact; others hurried to find places to hide.

As for Ye Chao, he had once again, yet again, fallen unconscious.

Inside Alpha Girl’s mind there was only one sentence, over and over:

Damn it.

To be fair, during these days she had deliberately made things difficult for, targeted, and teased the Jiangcheng Team. On the one hand, it was amusing; on the other, she also wanted to help them grow stronger more quickly.

She had never expected it would happen through leveling up, and that leveling up would produce such changes.

"Hahahaha..."

Holding aloft the five-star Little Sun as though he were brandishing a Spirit Bomb, Guan Junyuan was in high spirits and burning with fighting spirit.

He had leveled up!

He really had leveled up! As expected, he really had leveled up!

The feeling these past two days had not been wrong; he truly was about to level up, even if it was only in this virtual battlefield...

This trip had not been in vain, even taking the risk to contact that senior and specially arrange this match!

"Hahaha, why did you stop? Don’t stop, keep going! If you’re a man, come at me for another few hundred rounds!"

Laughing triumphantly, he caused the three Little Suns above him to swell once more. Firelight and heat surged like waves, the temperature so fierce it seemed capable of melting iron and refining gold, yet there was no way to stop it.

The railgun could not break an Indestructible weapon.

If he turned toward the forest, great billows of steam rose at once. Leaves and branches dried and withered in an instant, then thin smoke drifted upward. A few seconds later, with a sudden roar, flames erupted violently, shooting into the sky until wind and fire consumed the whole city.

If he turned toward Team 404, then every character was instantly lit so brightly they were dizzy and blind, unable to see clearly; above their heads, great numbers of damage figures rose one after another, like clouds steaming into rosy mists.

Yet Guan Junyuan’s smugness lasted only a few seconds.

With a sudden crack of thunder, a torrential downpour came crashing from the sky, extinguishing the fire in an instant, along with Guan Junyuan’s swelling pride, soaking him into a drenched chicken.

Fortunately, being bald had one advantage: even as a drenched chicken, it was impossible to tell.

Alpha Girl’s figure appeared in midair. Her slender brows shot upward, and she snapped angrily, "What is there to keep fighting about? Does having that thing make a man impressive? I have mine too, and mine is fierce! Have I ever boasted about it?"

"So what if it’s five-star? Do you know how many stars this Queen’s strongest king has? Do you know how much work it takes for me to reset the whole battlefield?"

As she spoke, she kicked Guan Junyuan straight out of hyperspace.

"This place only receives people below five stars. Five stars and above, please voluntarily curl up into a ball and leave in a rounded, proper manner! Didn’t you read the membership agreement when you registered?"

Of course no one read that sort of thing. Who would? Not even she herself read it.

Besides, that clause had not even been in the agreement; she had added it on the spot.

In any case, she had kicked Guan Junyuan out in such an overbearing, impossible-to-argue-with way.

In truth, she did not dare let him stay any longer, because she might not be able to beat him.

Yes, she might lose—not to those avatars, but to the original body.

Though hyperspace was a space of mathematics and code, in essence it was still a space founded on thought and ability, not truly the domain of a Seven-Star Expert or higher; otherwise Guan Junyuan would not have been able to pierce it open.

Now that Guan Junyuan had advanced to five stars, Little Sun had become the embodiment of his absolute will. Alpha Girl might be able to control everything in hyperspace, but she could not interfere with Little Sun.

In terms of the range she controlled, she won.

In terms of willpower, five-star Guan Junyuan might very well win...

The key was that a five-star Guan Junyuan might be able to break the walls and floor she had set as indestructible. Then he would discover that the Quality Plaza was right next to the Spring, the big data center was right next to the Quality Plaza, and there were all those recycling lines and production lines, as well as Ye Chao’s laboratory and Alpha Girl’s palace...

Everything was connected, with no mystery whatsoever.

She was a grand and magnificent ancient maiden, a master of hyperspace, impossibly formidable. If people saw through all that, how was she supposed to keep her standing in the future?

So if she could not beat him, she would pull the plug—no hesitation whatsoever.

And so Guan Junyuan was kicked out.

Yet the bald department director did not fly into a rage, nor did he descend into hysteria. Instead, he remained quietly within the helmet. If one had to describe it, the difference was only that he had originally thought he had gone without protection, only to find that he had protection after all...

With or without protection, the sage’s time of reflection could not be avoided.

After all, he was a middle-aged balding man, unlike a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth. If anything, he might even be secretly relieved.

Five stars.

At last, five stars.

Though it seemed to be only one level, in truth it was a tremendous leap.

The cigarette tip brightened and dimmed from time to time, casting light on Guan Junyuan’s bald head in the one-room apartment like an aviation warning beacon. Yet the knock he had expected never came.

Only the cockatoo leaning in the corner grumbled in dissatisfaction: "Guan Junyuan, what are you doing? Smoking in the middle of the night—are you trying to keep a bird from sleeping?"