Chapter 123: -1st Point! -2nd Point! -3rd Point!

Chapter 123: -1st Point! -2nd Point! -3rd Point!

Have you ever been to one of those crowded family gatherings where the hierarchy is set in stone? The adults monopolize the massive main table while the kids get relegated to the cramped little table in the corner.

That is exactly how James and I look right now, sitting like abandoned children in the corner of the room in the servants' seating area. All of our women are currently congregating in the prime seats, enjoying the high-class atmosphere while the 'boys' are left to rot over here. I let out a low sigh.

James leaned toward me, his expression thoroughly dejected. "Rick, are we completely cast out?"

"Jim, we are indeed nothing more than glorified sperm donors at this exact moment," I replied, taking a slow sip from my drink. "But it is completely fine. They are only talking about pregnancies and babies right now. Do you really want to get dragged into a conversation like that?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

James and I stared over at the spectacular sight of the women chatting across the room. He shook his head in pure disbelief. "A year ago, I would have punched you directly in the face if you told me our lives would end up like this. And I only have two lovers to balance. How the hell do you manage all of this, Rick?"

"What? Am I managing it?" I scoffed, running a hand through my hair. "No, I am barely hanging on by a thread here. Besides, some of those women over there are definitely not my lovers."

Jim and I finished off the last of our food and moved on to drinking some cold beer. His eyes scanned the lively crowd before turning back to me. "So, then, who exactly here is not your lover?"

"Zoe over there is my uncle's personal maid," I explained, pointing them out one by one. "Teacher Kim is just a good friend. Lucy Shen is the computer genius who helps me run my Harem-Chat company. Mei and Mercy are currently becoming my lovers. Jennifer is my personal maid, but we haven't crossed that intimate line yet. And naturally, your girls are completely off-limits."

James turned his head to look at me with intense, narrowing eyes.

"What?" I defended immediately. "I am being completely honest!"

"No," James countered, his voice dripping with suspicion. "You never mentioned Teacher Long just now."

Ah, crap. I always just subconsciously assume she is my wife, so I completely forget about needing to hide it from the rest of the world. My total lack of a quick answer caused Jim's face to split into a massive smile.

"No way," he chuckled, pieces of the puzzle clicking together in his mind. "Actually, it makes perfect sense now. This high-end catering, the exclusive VIP room, the fact that she naturally hangs out with your wives, and you serving as her personal teacher's assistant. So, what is your actual status with her?"

There was absolutely no way I could spin a believable lie to get out of this one. I leaned in close, whispering directly into his ear. "It is a strict secret, so do not say a single word to Ashley, but... she is my first wife."

JamesTong.exe has crashed. Rebooting in progress... 1%... 2%... 3%...

"WHAT?!"

The sudden, shocked yell echoed loudly across the room. Every single person turned to look at the pale, frozen James. I instantly slapped my hand over his mouth to muffle the sound, but the damage was already done. He blinked, quickly realizing he had severely goofed.

He pulled my hand away and lowered his voice to an urgent whisper. "Are you fucking with me right now? Our Teacher Long? Of the main Long family? The exact woman most desired by every single man on earth with a working dick? That Victoria Long actually married you? Did you blackmail her?"

Flick!

I struck his forehead with my finger, delivering a sharp sting to calm the idiot down before he brought any more unwanted attention to our corner. But it was already too late. Lucy Shen was already walking toward the two of us, a dangerous, playful smile playing on her lips.

"Oh, you two young men look to be having some incredibly juicy gossip over here," Lucy purred, her eyes glittering. "Can you tell me what is so good?"

She slid into the open seat right next to me, her sharp gaze scanning our tense faces.

I nudged Jim hard under the table. "Jim, do not trust a single word she says. She will spill the beans to everyone instantly. Mrs. Shen, we are only having some private guy talk. Nothing for you to be concerned with."

"Ufufu," Lucy giggled, leaning in closer. "Rick, were you telling your friend here that you and I are becoming too close?"

James looked back and forth between Lucy and me, his eyes widening. That total bastard was actually buying her blatant bullshit hook, line, and sinker.

"Jim, she is completely messing with us," I corrected sharply, feeling the sweat break out on my neck. "She is a married woman, and there is absolutely nothing going on between us."

Lucy, thoroughly enjoying my panic, placed a delicate hand over her mouth. "But Rick, we have had intimate dinner dates and sat right next to each other a few times already. And I think we all know you have a history of engaging in affairs before."

Wow. She technically said absolutely no falsehoods there. I did not have a single good excuse to bail myself out. But to my complete surprise, James stepped up.

"Sorry, Mrs. Shen, but Rick won't ever go after another man's woman," James stated firmly, narrowing his eyes at her. "The twins belonged to him long before they ever got married, so I cannot believe your prank. I will trust my brother, even if he sounds guilty as fuck right now."

That last part hit me right in the chest, but Lucy only offered a warm, genuine smile to Jim for backing me up.

"I am truly glad Rick has a loyal friend like you," Lucy said, smoothing down her outfit as she stood up. "But if Rick ever actually pushed this married woman down, I might not have the strength to resist, Ufufu. Bye, boys. The other women are starting to give me some seriously dirty looks."

She turned and glided away, leaving both of us sitting there with our mouths hanging wide open. A sweet, lingering scent of strawberries filled the air around us before fading away.

James turned his head slowly toward me. "Rick, brother, I think you should never be left alone in a room with her. Otherwise, you might actually commit an affair. She straight-up just gave you an open invitation!"

I simply shook my head at Lucy's chaotic antics, completely speechless.

A moment later, Tina, Ashley, Kim, Jennifer, and Mercy all approached our table, ready to head out. When my eyes met Kim's, she shifted on her feet slightly.

"I really want to see you win your match," Kim said, looking at me with a soft expression. "So I will stay with Miss Mu and see it up close from the special seating. Unless... I am not allowed to?"

"What absolute nonsense are you saying?" I replied, offering her a reassuring smile. "Of course you are always welcome to join us. Let's go, everyone."

Tina instantly wrapped herself around my left arm, clinging onto me like a happy koala. Kim walked gracefully along my right side, while Mercy, Jennifer, and the two lovebirds followed closely behind us. After saying my final goodbyes to the rest of the room, we headed downstairs together.

I am no fool. I can easily tell that subconsciously, Kim wants to be emotionally protected from Ralph Colt right now. I have absolutely no problem providing her with that masculine support and supplementation she has desperately lacked during her time away from Eurasia.

I believe that Tina also does not mind the presence of Kim at all, which she already clearly demonstrated by how warmly she treated Hope before. Plus, Kim is our direct neighbor anyway.

The moment we arrived at the University seating section, I noticed that Hope and Scott had already left the area.

Matsuda Tanaka, who had unfortunately lost in the last elimination round, was looking a bit downcast. However, the exact moment his eyes caught the bevy of beauties sitting down with us, his face instantly renewed with life. A wide smile spread across his face. He did not make any outward, aggressive moves, choosing instead to periodically roam his eyes over the group of stunning women. He is a textbook pervert, but at least he is a gentlemanly, hands-off kind of pervert.

Tony Deng, however, looked directly at Kim. I swear I could physically see actual hearts pop into his eyes, looking exactly like a certain love-struck cook from the One Piece anime.

Ralph Colt, on the other hand, looked completely surprised to see Kim Smith sitting there. His eyes locked onto his old rival from America. He completely ignored the fact that she was sitting directly next to me, letting out a loud, mocking sneer.

"Blarney, if it ain't the Runaway Princess of the Smith house!" Ralph barked, his voice carrying over the crowd. "Never thought I would see you hiding out here. I saw that little cheerleader gag you pulled earlier. Gotta say, you still got the looks. If you ever find yourself needing a real man, you can change your name from Smith to Colt, and we can go riding, ha-ha!"

I felt Kim's body tense beside me. Her fist tightened up, and her facial expression turned thoroughly upset. I instantly cut into the conversation before he could go any further.

"Cough, hey Ralph, she did that specific routine for me during my fight," I stated, my voice turning cold. "I have not known you for very long, and I honestly thought maybe you were a nice guy. But right now, I am not seeing you in a very friendly light, picking on my teacher like that. If I was wrong and you are actually attempting to propose marriage to her, maybe you should try doing it more like a gentleman?"

To my surprise, stepping into the line of fire did not make him back down in the slightest. He raised a finger, pointing it aggressively at Kim while glaring directly at me.

"Her?" Ralph laughed mockingly. "She is the ultimate shame of the Smith family. No one back home respects her for breaking her family's sacred word. Worst of all, she never even helped her own family out with the business. She only defected straight to Eurasia, hiding away from her own shame."

Kim snapped back, her voice shaking with an upset, defensive tone. "I did not defect, and I am not hiding from any shame! I moved here because I genuinely love this country. As for my broken engagement, I had my own personal reasons, and it is absolutely none of the Colt family's business. And as for my family's company, I am simply not good at that type of work, which is why my younger brothers are successfully taking it over."

"Reasons, my ass!" Ralph shouted back, completely dismissive. "Your brothers are living in absolute shame because their older sister broke her engagement just because she wasn't able to do what a proper fiancée is supposed to do. Your pathetic excuse is well known back home. The Smith & Wesson company is a total laughing stock because of you, ha-ha!"

"I think the Colt family only raises loud dogs and doesn't actually know how to make quality firearms and ammunition," I interjected, stepping directly into his line of sight. "I have only heard completely retarded things come out of your shit-filled mouth since we sat down. Too bad. I actually thought we could get along during this tournament."

Ralph turned his entire body toward me, his face twisting into a nasty sneer.

"Fuck, who the hell do you think you are?" Ralph roared, spitting the words out. "An adopted, nouveau riche bastard who only got brought into a wealthy family out of pure pity? I know all about your background, Rick Lee. What are you going to do, try to beat me up just for having an opinion? I haven't physically hurt anyone here, I am only talking shit. What, are you going to call your Fire Birds to come harass me? Fuck off. If you choose to hang around with human filth like her, you are just a pathetic licking-dog chasing after a total disgrace!"

Well, the guy technically is not entirely wrong. He has only thrown some heavy verbal insults so far, but he really is exceptionally stupid.

Tina’s face shifted, a sweet smile spreading across her lips as she pointed up toward the massive matching screen hanging high above the arena. "Mr. Colt, I think you should not worry so much about Rick. You just insulted the Fire Birds, right? You have also insulted my fiancé, right? And a tournament match is not beating you up for your words, but rather a completely friendly spar, right? Ufufu."

I know that look. That is Tina's signature 'you done fucked up' face. I instantly shifted my gaze to follow her finger up to the screen, a grin breaking across my own face. Holy fuck. Tina is going to choose absolute mutual destruction.

[Ring: 10, Ralph Colt vs Tina Feng.]

When Ralph looked back down at the two of us, his face drained of color as Tina leaned over and pressed a sweet, affectionate kiss directly onto my cheek.

"Rick dear, please don't watch my shameful match," Tina murmured softly, her eyes glinting with a dangerous light. "It will not be a type of fight that gentlemen should see."

"Um, well, now I absolutely have to watch it," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. "I completely missed what you did to Ronald Di after all. The official news broadcast had way too much mosaic blocking out that thing you did to him."

Before she could answer, Tracy Hong's loud voice yelled across the staging area to all of us. "Those of you still remaining in this stage! They are now only utilizing ten active rings for the final fifty participants! Go straight to your designated rings and line up! Win this for us!"

As everyone stood up to prepare for their respective fights, Kim reached out and gently pulled on my sleeve. A look of deep dejection clouded her features. "I am so sorry, Rick. I have caused you problems again."

I turned around and patted her head reassuringly, offering her a happy smile. "That guy is completely full of shit, and you are awesome. So just smile and cheer for us from the stands. You are my teacher, my neighbor, and my friend, so I will always support you. See ya later."

I joined the crowd of many people looking over toward ring ten, eager to catch the upcoming matchup between Ralph and Tina. Since I am scheduled for the fifth match in my specific ring, I have a decent amount of time to spare. Seeing her fight up close like this is no problem at all.

Both Tina and Ralph marched up and took their exact places on the white starting line. Ralph immediately raised his guards and bounced into a highly professional boxing stance. Tina, on the other hand, merely lowered her center of gravity into a low horse stance, her face completely shifting into a killer, expressionless mask. Yup, she is dead serious. Ralph's ability is close to the advanced tier but not quite there yet, while Tina is already well into the advanced realm.

The referee raised his hand high, then dropped it sharply to signal the beginning of the match.

I have extensively taught Tina how to exploit a boxer who relies heavily on deadly punches. The trick is incredibly simple: just avoid the primary trajectory entirely, and strike from the boxer's blind spots using low-hitting strikes.

Tina sprang forward like a coiled spring and executed a rapid roll across the mats. Using her hands to plant against the floor, she shot upward with an explosive double kick. Ralph reacted quickly, but he only managed to block a single foot. The other heel slammed directly into his chest through the exact gap she had been aiming for.

"Point!" the referee bellowed.

The two fighters immediately reset back to the starting line. The referee dropped his hand once again to restart the action.

Tina instantly executed the exact same movements and attack pattern. Seeing it coming, Ralph adjusted his guard to completely shield his torso against both incoming kicks. But he completely miscalculated her intent.

Instead of aiming her two heels into Ralph's heavily guarded torso, she completely broke the boxing rules, the rules of the tournament, and the unwritten rules of all mankind. Both of her heels landed squarely and brutally into his plastic sports cup.

Crack!

"Ah! Hugh~!"

Ralph let out a choked gasp, his eyes bulging. The referee, seeing the clear groin hit, could only make the official call.

"Point Deduction!"

Yes, according to the official tournament rules, only severe eye damage results in an immediate disqualification. A nut shot merely nets you a point deduction. Since she already had a point in the bag, she was completely safe from getting thrown out.

Tina calmly walked back to her starting line, while the referee waved his hand down again to resume the fight.

This time, Tina did not execute a tumble. She charged straight at Ralph instead. As Ralph threw a powerful right straight punch intended to take her head off, she leaped high into the air with her impressive assassin acrobatics. Looking exactly like Black Widow, she fully flipped over his massive body, using his broad shoulders to vault herself directly behind him. Before he could even turn around, she drove her elbow hard into his left rib cage, right near the kidney area.

"Point!"

Now dealing with a throbbing kidney shot on top of his aching balls, Ralph stumbled back to the line. He gazed upon Tina's expressionless face for the first time with actual fear. He shuddered a bit, thinking about how this woman usually flirts and smiles all day long. Right now, he felt like he was locked inside a cramped shark cage with a great white shark.

The executioner's hand dropped to start the match yet again.

Tina immediately zigzagged low across the floor like a striking snake. She spun into a horizontal wheel kick, landing her heel with absolute, surgical accuracy right into Ralph's nuts for a second time. The crisp, echoing sound of high-impact plastic breaking shattered the relative silence of the arena, followed instantly by the sound of many men in the audience audibly gulping in sympathy pain.

"Point Deduction!"

Ralph dropped heavily to his knees, completely unable to form a coherent noise. The referee rushed in to look over him as Ralph finally managed to lift a trembling finger, pointing directly at her.

"S-She is d-doing this on p-purpose!" Ralph wheezed out, tears welling in his eyes. "Make h-her stop!"

Tina calmly walked back to the white line, standing straight as if absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

The referee frowned deeply, looking down at the groveling boxer. "As the rules are currently written, I can only deduct points from her score. But if her score goes into the negatives, she is disqualified. So do your best. Get ready!"

Ralph, seeing that her cold look had not changed a single bit, knew with absolute certainty that she was going to do this to him all day long. He desperately needed three quick points to end the match properly. Or, he could just completely break the rules himself and beat her down street-fighting style.

The referee's hand sliced down again.

Just like the previous times, Tina rushed forward. But this time, when she tumbled low, she did not kick upward. She rapidly shifted her weight to slide directly to his side.

Ralph was absolutely not going to take another low blow. He swung his right arm in a vicious, sweeping uppercut, aiming to force her to move either left or right.

To Ralph's absolute surprise, she nimbly stepped backward instead. The knockout punch missed her jaw by a mere fraction of an inch. Desperate to connect, he threw a heavy left hook, stepping in deep to reach her retreating form. Yet again, his powerful punch merely grazed the tips of her hair.

Just as he felt he was finally gaining momentum to push her completely out of the ring with his next right cross, Tina snapped a sharp kick directly into the kneecap of the leg he was stepping with. The impact instantly halted his forward momentum, breaking his balance for a crucial moment.

Tina leaped inside his guard, grabbing his extended right arm. She thrust her hips roughly into his midsection, executing a flawless over-the-hip throw and slamming him violently onto his back against the mat.

Just as Ralph expected her to score a proper point to keep her sadistic game going, he instead felt his entire lower body go into a violent spasm. Tina brutally planted her heel straight down into his already broken cup, grinding it in and turning Ralph into a literal human shrimp.

Ralph cried out in pure, unadulterated agony. "AUUUUUURGH!"

"Point Deduction!" the referee shouted, waving his arms. "You have lost due to negative points! Winner, contestant number 711!"

Tina instantly donned her usual cheerful smile, victoriously walking off the stage as the technical loser of the match. Meanwhile, Ralph, curled up on the floor as a completely useless, sobbing shrimp, had technically won the bout.

And that is exactly how Star University lost two of its key members at the very beginning of the second half.