Chapter 16: Admitting defeat is hard

Shi Fan opened his eyes and can feel a pain sensation behind his back. He couldn't help but say "Ouch" he immediately looked at the wooden wall behind him that's slightly broken from the impact.

"That goddamn old man how dare he bullies me like this" Shi Fan began to look around for the other party's presence. In front of him is a completely broken marble cabinet as if being hit by a wrecking ball.

"Hey old man where are you." Shi Fan shouted after not seeing him after searching in his position.

"I'm here." a soft voice came from the front of the store. Shi Fan stood up and he finally sees the old man. What infuriated him the most is that he still has the mood to have coffee after slapping Shi Fan twice. "It seems you have a lot to pay kid. That marble cabinet almost cost me 17000 credits and the repair of that wall takes 2000 credits."

"Damn it old man, I'm just 23 years old and currently unemployed how much money do you think I have." Shi Fan complained. "How long was I out?"

"Fine fine sit here for a while. Umm, about 7 minutes" the old man then directed him to sit on another chair beside the table. Seeing as there is no whatsoever problem with the chair he simply sits down.

"What do you want old man?" Shi Fan hastily inquired.

"Calm down already. Here have a sip of this tea. It's good for bleeding." the old man began filling up the teapot he casually picked up from the broken cabinet. Shi Fan then casually took a small sip not noticing that he old man that is looking at his head which is actually bleeding.

"What amazing pain tolerance." the old man complimented Shi Fan silently. Even though Shi Fan whimpered slightly he didn't heard anything regarding his bleeding head. "It seems that this guy is really trained by someone"

"Say, kid, do you have a teacher?" the old man placed down his teacup which is almost emptied.

"Oh yes, I do have one." Shi Fan placed down his own teacup and as a respectful individual despite his anger to the old man he still offered to pour him tea.

"It's fine so tell me about your teacher." the old man which is calm just now looked a little excited.

"Oh, My teacher umm she's currently a 7-Star martial artist and currently in Planet Xixi for a conference." as the old man is not asking his teacher's name or anything like an investigator or something he just told him about his basic knowledge of his teacher with enthusiasm and respectful tone.

Martial Artists in the current virtual era is in demand now that they can improve the player's strength in the game with the use of martial techniques. They are graded from 1-Star which is the basic level and up to 10-Star. However currently 10-Star martial artists are so rare they are almost considered extinct as the current martial artist's standards are not up to par with the 10-Star martial artist from before.

"What rank are you?" the old man inquired after seeing his enthusiasm.

Shi Fan opened up his wallet and pulled up a small black card with 2 silver stars on it. "I'm a 2- Star Martial artist. How about you old man? No wait don't bother you just got lucky landing those hits on me. You old swindler."

"What lucky? I'm a strong person you know. I can crush you to a pulp if I want to heh." the old guy spoke with a haughty voice.

"Fine fine I accept your boasting. What about the watch?" Shi Fan almost forgot what he came here for.

"You lost, of course, you have to pay me credits. Come on pay up." the old man held his hand as if taunting Shi Fan

"What pay up. I blacked out back then but I remembered landing a hit on you." Shi Fan argued. 7000 or not everything depends on his argument powers.

"I told you already that I won that bet." the old man slapped the table unlike before this time it is softer.

"No, I told you I'm the one who won it. Okay, fine that's it I won't be buying anymore. Goodbye old man hope we won't meet again" Shi Fan stood up and left after finally having enough of being teased.

"He really doesn't want to admit it. Hehehe. But that kid is good. His teacher might be a very strong individual irrelevant to her rank to be able to teach that young kid good moves."

As much as he want to stop Shi Fan from leaving. He just stood at his seat and began cleaning the rubble from the earlier fight. As he is cleaning with a traditional broomstick he sees something that captures his attention. If Shi Fan was here he will surely recognize this card as it is the same card he has shown to the old man however this one has exactly 10 gold stars embedded on it. "That kid was able to exert 5% of my strength. I'd like to see how far he'll go inside the game. Oh! I forgot to remind him of the bleeding in his head. Well, he's gone now as if I can do anything about it." With that, he continued sweeping the leftover rubbles.