The King's Avatar Chapter 1731 - Side Story: The Expectations of the Mediocre (2)

An apology?

Zhang Yiwei stood frozen. Fang Minghua behaved like he'd committed a serious error, leaving Zhang Yiwei momentarily dumbfounded. He glanced back toward Tong Lin. Tong Lin shrugged his shoulders, showing he had no clue what was going on. As he turned around again, his eyes also spotted Fang Minghua’s computer display. Flashes of light, clashing swords, blazing guns, and crackling lightning exploded across it. The scene buzzed with intense action. Plus, such fierce fights never launched right at the beginning of professional training. Zhang Yiwei examined it closer and saw this wasn’t a practice session. It was obviously a clash in Glory. Fang Minghua had arrived at the training room at the crack of dawn on his rest day to play games.

Sure, they used this game in competitions and practices. But gaming online carried a whole different vibe from training or matches. It clashed hard with what Zhang Yiwei expected from Fang Minghua.

“I shouldn’t have used the training room computer to play online games…” Fang Minghua kept confessing his fault.

“So you came to the training room this early on your day off just for this?” Zhang Yiwei’s face grew icy. The passion that had flared up moments ago got doused by this screen brimming with combat.

“I’m sorry…” Fang Minghua bowed his head, offering no excuses.

“The team might not have spelled it out, but I figured everyone understood—the training room computers aren’t for fun and games,” Zhang Yiwei stated.

“I was wrong,” Fang Minghua replied, darting to the computer. He ignored the game’s status and shut it down right away.

Zhang Yiwei watched Fang Minghua. Truth be told, he wished Fang Minghua would justify himself somehow. Like, maybe he’d come to game in order to hone a skill or snag rare gear and materials for the team. But no such luck. Fang Minghua just kept saying sorry. He was purely here to play.

No wonder everyone stays so average… Zhang Yiwei reflected, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Don’t let it happen again.” He said no more, spun on his heel, and walked away.

As the captain departed, Fang Minghua’s heart still pounded with dread. He shot a aggrieved look at Tong Lin, who hadn’t budged.

“Brother Tong, didn’t you say it’d be fine?” Fang Minghua asked.

“Well, uh…” Tong Lin rubbed his head and replied, “All I can say is it’s a hilarious mix-up.”

“A mix-up? What kind of mix-up?” Fang Minghua appeared baffled.

“Captain figured you were grinding solo training, but actually…” Tong Lin eyed Fang Minghua’s personal account card in the login slot and shrugged.

“Aiyo, damn.” Fang Minghua got it instantly and smacked his forehead. Then he yanked out his account card, brandishing it at Tong Lin. “I’ll grind hard. Next time, I’ll train even more.” With that, he bolted out.

Tong Lin shrugged indifferently and headed to his station. He pulled his account card from his pocket, powered up the PC, and logged in. Destination: Glory Continent’s Heavenly Domain.

“Who’d want to keep losing over and over…” Tong Lin whispered. He pictured Zhang Yiwei’s fired-up face when he’d yelled, “Time to shake things up” and “We can’t squander our days.”

On raw skill, they were just run-of-the-mill pros in the Professional Alliance. No match for those God-level stars. And he was several years older than the Alliance’s top dominators. Improvement potential was slim. Some might say his clock was ticking down.

Yet boosting the team didn’t hinge solely on personal growth.

The interface Tong Lin loaded shifted. Now it showed Glory’s equipment editor. A incomplete pair of revolvers rested there silently, one left, one right.

Tong Lin played a sword-wielding class. Revolvers weren’t for him, but Team Samsara craved them most. Their ace, Cloud Piercer, was a Sharpshooter. Mediocre like the rest, sure—but Tong Lin was convinced Cloud Piercer wouldn’t stay average forever. Someday, he’d shine as a Glory legend, up there with the Battle God and King of Fighters. And this was the shift Tong Lin vowed to deliver for the team.

“I can make it happen.” Tong Lin murmured once more, eyes locked intently on his crafting.

Bursting out from the training room, Fang Minghua didn’t rush to explain things to his captain. He’d already resolved to rise early on his next day off for extra practice. Yet today, some matters remained unresolved. He refused to disappoint his gaming buddies, particularly the one he dreamed of sharing a romantic, storybook ending with.

Fang Minghua dashed from the club at top speed and reached the closest internet café. Spotting a free machine, he powered it up fast and jumped into the game. Right then, his phone buzzed. Answering it, he saw the caller was his future.

“I’m sorry…” His words tumbled out the instant he connected, his tone far more earnest and careful than when dealing with Captain Zhang Yiwei.

“Hurry, come check this out.” Surprisingly, instead of yelling at him, she urged this instead. Her voice quivered slightly, like she feared whatever was happening.

“What’s going on?” Fang Minghua inquired, eyes glued to the game’s login bar crawling along. He longed to shove it forward himself.

“It’s way too scary,” she replied.

“What’s so scary?” Fang Minghua pressed, just as he finally entered the game.

“See it yourself.” She must’ve spotted his character appear online and ended the call.

The avatar, kicked offline earlier by force, remained right where it had been. Fang Minghua swung the camera around and instantly caught sight of the raging clash ahead. Meanwhile, one, two, three, four... nine figures stood frozen. Those were his teammates. As their healer, he’d been yanked from the game. Unaware, the nine had charged the boss, Night Returner on the Sea. Fang Minghua had braced for a field of bodies or everyone respawning back in town.

But actually, every one of his nine teammates stood unharmed in place. Not a single one joined the brutal fight raging farther off.

While maneuvering his character closer, Fang Minghua slipped on his headphones. He positioned himself smoothly beside his future.

Before he could question what was up, his eyes locked onto the explosive showdown before them.

Just a lone figure battled the Night Returner on the Sea. This savage duel against the latest, mightiest wild boss was a pure solo matchup.

“What’s happening?” Fang Minghua burst out.

Nobody acknowledged him. Except for his future, none even realized the guilty healer had sneaked back in. All stayed rooted, occasionally shifting views just to better observe the savage combat ahead.

Bang bang bang bang!

Gunfire exploded non-stop amid the furious exchange. Though wild bosses typically handled various classes, the Night Returner on the Sea had zero gun knowledge. Those shots could only fire from its foe.

“F*ck! A Sharpshooter?” Fang Minghua yelped in shock once more. The fighter against Night Returner on the Sea turned out to be a Sharpshooter. Yet this gunner didn’t keep range for kiting shots. He darted close then pulled back unpredictably. Only after the blasts did Fang Minghua confirm it was a Sharpshooter.

Now he understood the tremor in his future’s voice over the line. The display was utterly unreal. How could a Sharpshooter battle this way? Only one explanation fit.

Fang Minghua yelled, “This is a physical gun skill!”

“Oh?” At last, that drew his teammates’ eyes to his return.

“Where the f*ck did you go!?” Even amid this impossible fight, some teammate still raged at him. Clearly, Fang Minghua’s abrupt logout had stung deeply.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Emergency came up.” Fang Minghua apologized profusely and clarified. He skipped mentioning his prior “wait for me” that they’d missed.

“What’d you say earlier? A physical gun skill?” As old pals, they let his exit slide fast.

“From that combat style, it has to be a physical gun skill,” Fang Minghua affirmed.

Someone chimed in, “That guy’s gotta be a pro player!”

To countless gamers, physical gun skill marked elite pro territory. Truth was, no skill locked to pros alone. Plenty of players grinded to wield it. Still, even identical moves varied by user. And this Sharpshooter’s version on display…

“Is that Zhang Yiwei?” Right away, the captain from Team Samsara—where Fang Minghua played—was brought up. Though not counted among the top Gods, Zhang Yiwei stood as one of the premier Sharpshooters.

Being part of Team Samsara, Fang Minghua knew their captain and key player's style inside out. Could the figure before him really be their captain?

Fang Minghua stayed silent. He felt certain the one ahead wasn't Captain Zhang Yiwei. Yet he held his tongue. The truth was, this Sharpshooter appeared even more formidable than Zhang Yiwei.

Who could this be?

Names of pro scene Sharpshooters raced through Fang Minghua's thoughts, only to be swiftly dismissed. If any of them handled physical gun skills at this level, gun-type classes wouldn't trail so far behind Zhang Jiale and his Spitfire. That would've made headlines, wouldn't it?

Therefore, this individual…