A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 381 - 296: Formidable Enemy_1

Chapter 381 -296: Formidable Enemy_1

“Ahhhh!!!”

Accompanied by the screams of the boxer, he fell off the stage and subsequently spat out foam, falling to the ground, motionless. Seeing this, the referee raised both hands.

“KO!”

“Phew… Done.”

Duanmu Huai clenched his fists, staring at the boxer below. After returning to Duel City, Duanmu Huai and Lorena separated and challenged other participants everywhere to earn duel points.

It was not difficult to find opponents; there were more martial arts and boxing gyms in Duel City than convenience stores. There were four or five on a single street. Duanmu just walked in and challenged the masters one by one. He easily defeated them and earned quite a few duel points.

“Wow… so impressive!”

Just then, a voice came from below the stage. Duanmu Huai turned his head and saw a young girl watching him, her eyes sparkling. The girl had orange hair with a small ponytail tied on the left side. She was actually quite beautiful. She wore a short-sleeved T-shirt and jean shorts, and a purple glove on her right hand.

Hmm, she seemed more suited to singing, dancing, and being an idol, rather than fighting on a stage.

“What’s up? You want to fight too?”

Duanmu Huai stared at the girl and asked. Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s question, a glint of excitement appeared in the girl’s eyes.

“Really? Then… here I come!”

As she spoke, the girl jumped onto the stage. Seeing someone willing to challenge, the audience below began cheering loudly. Then, the girl bowed to Duanmu Huai.

“My name is Honoka, I look forward to learning from you, Uncle!”

“My name is Duanmu Huai. For the record, I’m not old enough to be called Uncle.”

Duanmu Huai twitched the corner of his eye as he responded. Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, Honoka was stunned for a second, then she bowed again.

“Ah, I’m sorry! Mr. Duanmu!”

With Honoka’s movement, the cow pattern on her t-shirt also bobbed along.

Well… how to say it, the pattern really suits her.

Duanmu Huai drew his gaze away from the cow pattern and focused on Honoka, clenching both of his fists.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Yes!”

On the other side, Honoka also clenched her fists, taking a fighting stance.

“Here I come!”

“ROUND ONE! READY——GO!”

Following the referee’s command, Honoka darted toward Duanmu Huai.

“Haaaaaa!!!”

“Take this!!!”

Facing Honoka, Duanmu shouted, his clenched fist shot out like a raging wave, aiming straight at Honoka’s head. However, Honoka’s reaction was quick. When Duanmu’s punch came, she suddenly crouched to avoid his attack. Then she reached out with both hands, grabbing Duanmu’s arm, and leaned upwards.

“Hey —— take this!! Huh?”

In Honoka’s mind, this counter-attack should have been able to shift Duanmu’s center of gravity and knock him to the ground. But when she pressed against him, she realized something was wrong. His arm was as solid as iron, not budging an inch, regardless of how hard Honoka tried. She turned her head and was met with Duanmu’s cold yet menacing smile.

That’s not good!

At this moment, Honoka sensed trouble and quickly let go, trying to put some distance between her and Duanmu. However, as soon as she released her hands, Duanmu grabbed her neck and forcefully smashed her to the ground!

“Bam!!!”

The girl’s head collided heavily with the ground. If it were an ordinary person, they would have instantly died. But Honoka gritted her teeth, kicked Duanmu in the chest, and forcibly put distance between them.

“How about it? Want to continue?”

Duanmu stared at Honoka, who had rolled over and stood up again, and asked. In fact, Duanmu was clear about what kind of character the girl in front of him was. After all, in the player’s mouth, she was the Great Demon, the “Copycat Ninja Honoka”, and the “Final Boss of Duel City”… They were not empty titles.

Yes, the girl in front of him was the Great Demon that all players in Duel City feared— but not for now.

Actually, in the beginning, in the eyes of the players, Honoka was just an ordinary NPC. She loved to hang out at various duel arenas, watching others compete or competing herself. Of course, she wasn’t strong at first, so she was called the “point giver” by the players. There were even players who specifically sought to challenge her to earn duel points.

But later on, players discovered something deadly about Honoka.

That is, she could learn the techniques of other characters and players!

Since Honoka has so many moves, the players can’t predict her attacks at all!

This is really deadly!

It’s true that in Duel City, there are NPCs stronger than Honoka, but their moves are generally fixed—like Kusanagi Kyō, who is as cool as they come. When he makes a move, the player knows it’s going to be a flaky Kusanagi’s juvenile girl attack. Ken, on the other hand, always uses wave + dragon + hurricane and Super Critical Hit combo. Those are his only moves. If you react quickly and memorize his moves, you still stand a chance.

In fact, the top player had once recorded a fight against Kusanagi Kyō while blindfolded, completely relying on the sound of his shouts to determine the moves and dodge without harm.

Although this is partly because NPCs are relatively rigid, it’s also because everyone has consistent moves.

However, this is not the case with Honoka.

When she makes a move, you have no clue what she will strike until it hits you. God forbid you get caught by Honoka because you’ll have no idea how you die. After all, her moves are all over the place, and players can’t respond at all. Some even say that being caught by Honoka is like being thrown into a washing machine—making them dizzy and unable to figure out where they are or what to do…

So, in the latter stage of the game, the players would just steer clear of Honoka. The character described by “early-stage ghost, late-stage Super God” refers to her.

The more moves she has, the harder it is to deal with her.

But what to do now?

Simple—use your brute force!

You might have hundreds of moves, but if you can’t knock me down and I can knock you down with one punch, who’s stronger?

Just like Duanmu Huai, if you can’t hit him or catch him, then Honoka’s moves are basically useless.

“Ugh… here we go again!!”

At this point, Honoka doesn’t have a lot of moves in her arsenal. But her spirit and determination remain unchanged. After shaking her head in response to Duanmu Huai’s inquiry, she tightened her fists and rushed back towards him. This time, she struck first, launching herself into the air mid-way to aim a kick directly at Duanmu Huai’s chest.

However, Duanmu Huai stood firm without dodging. He simply reached out, grabbing Honoka’s legs, and used the momentum to hurl her back onto the ground.

“Boom!!”

“Ugh!!!”

Although you can’t die in Duel City, two consecutive heavy blows left Honoka dazed and breathless on the ground. Just then, a faint shadow flitted across her field of vision. Reacting instinctively, Honoka rolled over just in time for Duanmu Huai’s foot to miss her head and stomp the ground.

However, Duanmu Huai didn’t stop there. When his attack missed, he immediately changed position, spinning on his axis to kick straight at Honoka like a soccer player. Honoka had just rolled back up to her feet, but had no time to dodge, using both hands to shield her abdomen. But even then, she was kicked by Duanmu Huai and sent flying off the stage.

“KO!!”

[You’ve defeated Honoka and earned 1000 duel points]

Indeed, defeating a well-known figure like her gives a different point value. No wonder players in the early stage of the game always liked hanging around her for points.

But the result was the creation of a new Great Demon King, truly a case of self-inflicted disaster.

“Ugh… you’re really strong… Mr. Duanmu.”

By this time, Honoka was back on her feet, looking at Duanmu Huai and speaking.

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

“But, I won’t give up. I’ll challenge you again!”

Having said that, Honoka turned and left. At the same time, Duanmu Huai received another system prompt.

[You have been recognized by Honoka as a formidable rival]

[Your relationship with Ekinoka has improved to Friendly]

“Pfft… really?”

Looking at the system prompt, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes. He knew in Duel City existed a system for rivals, as was common in fighting games—like Ryu and Ken or Kusanagi Kyō and Kusanagi Kyo. Just being really strong and seeing the opponent as a challenge to be overcome didn’t guarantee becoming rivals.

Once the rival relationship has been established, the other party would often challenge you. Each time you defeated them, their fondness for you would increase.

Well… what’s this called?

Rivals by name, friends in reading?

Well, with this, Duanmu Huai won’t have to worry. This would mean that Honoka would actively seek him out in the future. All he had to do was crush her thoroughly, making her completely submissive. Then she would willingly deliver duel points and affection points to him.

What kind of masochist setup is this?

If this wasn’t a side quest, Duanmu Huai would’ve thought this was a devious plot by the God of Lust.

Never mind, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

With that, Duanmu Huai shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

No matter what, today’s duel points were deposited into his account. Next, it was time to rest.