Chapter 35

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

Grizzlybear Andy is one of the few contestants among the Killing Gauntlet Reality Show that joined by applying to the show directly.

Nobody knows where he came from. When he became famous he has already been an underground boxer in an underground gambling den. Since his appearance, he has managed to secure the championship year after year. There have been powerful people who have tried to force him to lose his competitions in fixed matches, but he is unrestrained and disobedient. He not only did not listen, but he even beat his opponent to death in that match. When the person tried to get his revenge, he came directly to the show. Others think it is to escape his predicament, but Bright thinks it is just something that has caught his attention.

This is all that Bright knows about the enemy in front of him.

Before facing Andy directly, he predicted the other person to only be living for slaughter and battle. When facing him right now, he is certain in his judgement. He certainly lives up to the name of Grizzlybear. Just him standing there is emanating an invisible pressure like he is equipped with a torrent as his background.

His aura is too strong. It’s almost like if you happen to sneak an accidental peek at him, your line of sight will be bent because of his mass. If space is like a piece of fabric laid flat, then where he is would be sinking into the ground. It is heavy. Heavy enough that nobody can ignore him.

Right now, Andy’s fighting spirit has kicked in. He offers to duel Bright, “I’ve fought with Beast before, and I snapped his left leg. You took care of him in an instant which means you are powerful. You have the capability to fight with me.”

Bright is laughing bitterly inside, and says, “I have no reason to fight with you.”

Andy finds this reaction interesting. His lips stretch open, “I am going to kill you, is that enough of a reason?”

Bright remains silent for a while, “yes, it is.”

He tells Wolfie to keep watch with a look, just in case other enemies might attack from the shadows. Then he straightens his posture and walks towards Andy.

Andy licks his lips excitedly. He notices that Bright has turned from walking to running. Then he uses his right hand to grab onto the lion fur on his shoulder, throwing it towards the man with great power. The flying piece of fur conceals Bright’s gaze on him. In the blink of an eye he has disappeared and made his way to the side of Bright. Using the momentary visual blindspot, he curls his hand into a claw and lunges towards the eye of the man.

The wind of the claw blows past Bright’s eyelashes. A chill climbs onto Bright’s back; he almost became a one-eyed pirate. He retaliates, unwilling to be written off like this. His fists are quick and ruthless, a dozen punches in the blink of an eye. Andy stiffens his muscles, blocking as he retreats.

The one who is taking the punches is having a hard time, but so is the one punching. Bright feels as if he is hitting a steel plate with each punch. The bones on his fist are hurting. His hands are almost numb from the reaction.

Dust flies up all around them, forming a kind of smoky fog. Small animals that are sensitive to danger flee far from the site, not daring to stay for long.

Wolfie is looking firmly at the fighting between the two people, impressed by the height of the pinnacle humans can reach.

He has fought with Bright so he thought he should have an easy time defeating Andy. What is hard is how to do it while conserving his strength. He does a bit of self-evaluation and discovers to his dismay that he himself is not strong enough to fight Andy either. He is an experienced fighter.

Bright is feeling first-hand how tough the enemy is to handle.

Andy is extremely strong. He can’t tell if he is mutated or if he has been modified. His forearms carry a great strength when swang forward. Each of its swings carries a gust with it, heavy as if it were a metallic weight. Bright has to dodge and counter with all he can muster just to avoid his vital organs being wounded. The opponent’s body is also very agile and dexterous, completely unlike what his body shape would suggest. Bright’s attacks at him are mostly dodged or blocked from his prejudgement. He would even use the mistakes Bright makes when attacking with his full power in order to counter and threaten Bright.

Besides that, Andy’s strength is also reflected in his mind for battle and his experience. His adaptability, strategic flexibility and willpower to fight far surpasses that of Bright, who is relying solely on the talent and advantage his body carries with it to fight evenly with him. In the mind of Bright, he has already lost. Before Andy he is like a child who is just learning to walk, and has not lost the upper hand when fighting with a true expert only because of a cheat.

He manages to force Andy onto the ground while getting out of the way of his bear claws clawing at his heart. Then Bright, who has jumped upwards, lets his body fall towards him holding his elbow in front of him, trying to fight using the gravity and impulse from his descent.

Right this time, the horn that signals the end of the competition resounds. Bright’s body is still in the air, so he twists his body awkwardly with his own power and lands 2 metres away from Grizzlybear.

Wolfie curses, “shit! Only ringing out right this moment instead of earlier or later!”

“Bummer…” Surprisingly, Grizzlybear Andy also has the same reaction as Wolfie. He spits out a blotch of blood, jumps up from the ground, then smacks his lips, yet to be satisfied.

Bright wipes the back of his hand at the wound at the corner of his lips, breathing haggardly, still looking alert at Andy, to preemptively defend against him if he suddenly comes at him. The fight just now took a lot out of him, especially the midair turning just now; it was as if his waist is going to snap. He seems to have stretched his muscles too much and it is convulsing. Since he has not managed to deal with this bear once and for all, he can already see himself being actively sought by this battle maniac after this. He’ll be having a hard time.

Grizzlybear picks up his trophy, that lion fur, from the ground. He brushes down the dirt on it and puts it back onto himself.

The staff of the show watched the fight between the two with amazement, and has already come up with the title for the fifth episode, ‘VS: The Bear and the Tiger.’

“It’s too bad nobody won. Without a winner the audience will be complaining.”

“We will suffer losses if this continued. We only wanted to test the strength of Bright with Andy. With how into this Andy got, how he almost got serious there, we can only end it prematurely.”

“I see,” someone seems to be on the side of Grizzlybear, and analyses, “brown bears are the natural enemies of tigers. According to research, many wild tigers have been wounded or killed in encounters with brown bears.”

George is unhappy to hear that, “not necessarily, though? Tigers are the kings of the forest. They’re adept at ambushes. If they used their advantages properly they could even hunt brown bears.”

“Dream on!”

Seeing how the two are about to start fighting, the leader tries to mediate, “alright. Stay focused; make the fight look good.”

The other person exclaims in surprise, “I just discovered that Andy’s eyes are also brown, just a deeper shade than Bright. And with how much killing intent there is it always looks dark.”

“Oh?” This piques the interest of the leader. He orders the employee to take a screenshot and zooms in, “it actually is deep brown.” He tells the employee, “adjust the colour a bit. Here, emphasise Grizzlybear’s eyes. Make the colour a bit more saturated… Good. When the two are looking each other in the eye, make it a close-up… Send it to me when you’re done.”

Then he posts the edited video to the management group of the show, typing, “I have some raw ideas here…”

Bright doesn’t know the show is planning to stir up more trouble with him and Grizzlybear Andy. He’s currently happy that his invitation has been well-received.

Hopkin came to find him. He stopped him when he exited the training room and brought him to the room they slept in before.

“Shower.” Hopkin says indifferently.

He’s a clean freak, so Bright, freshly soaked in sweat from his training, doesn’t say anything, and enters the bathroom immediately.

These few days, Hopkin has always been thinking about the man. He has seen the many contradictory qualities in him. He’s honest yet deceptive. His mind is resolute yet his heart is soft. It is like mixing together fire and ice. Put together, it only emphasises the chilliness of the ice and the hotness of the fire. The two repel each other but also interweave with one another. They show themselves harmoniously on the same person. This is catching his attention and interest more than anyone or anything. Thus, when he saw the fight scene between the man and Grizzlybear, he couldn’t help but look for him in the show.

Hopkin is sensible. The other person does not yet know his true identity, but he wanted to do something as the ‘trainer,’ or he wouldn’t have said that back in the medical room.

Bright is requesting something of him. This is brilliant. If he uses this well he can enjoy the sour and sweetness of the fruit beforehand.

To torture someone does not only mean to play with physical or mental harm. It can also be full of affection and kindness. To dull him with emotional investment, to corrupt him with luxuriousness, to taint his soul with desire, to turn him into something he wants.

Probably with that in mind, Hopkin is especially tolerant of Bright’s actions, including how he exits the bathroom without wiping his body dry, how he sits on the bed without his permission, how he lets the droplets of water on his hair fall onto the bedsheet.

And even when Bright is questioning and analysing his actions, Hopkin has suppressed his rage.

“Do you not like interacting with others?” Bright asks. After the question, there is a single moment of awkwardness in the air, but he continues, “I’m sorry. It was sudden of me to ask, and most certainly rude as well; but I have been here at the show forever. I can only wait for you to come here at your leisure. In the show’s terms, I have to diligently prove my worth so that you can think about me often.”

You’re quite humble. A creation as interesting as you will not be easily forgotten by anyone.

Hopkin thinks in his mind.

“How did you arrive at this conclusion? Is it a wisdom of the Outsider again?”

“Oh, did you try to look up the ‘Three Character Classic’?” Bright’s train of thought has been derailed.

“There are no records of it in the City.” Hopkin answers.

“That’s a shame.” Bright is thinking mournfully. Are the ‘Confucius says’ or the ‘ say’ all also gone? Are the culture from his motherland all wiped out?

Bright recollects his thoughts, then tells Hopkin, “I don’t think you hate me. Not counting this, you’ve met with me three times. The first time you helped me tend my wounds, the second time I saved you when the animal protection groups attacked, the last time you gave me the injection.”

Listening to Bright recounting their encounters, Hopkin wanted to shut his mouth and tell him they have had far more encounters than that. He has seen the man wail and scream. He has seen the man faint and stay unconscious. He has seen the man at his most dishevelled and most vulnerable. Yet he cannot… He lowers his gaze a bit and avoids staring into the man’s eyes.

Bright misunderstands the reason he is dodging his gaze, and his tone of voice shifts to a tender one. He suggests, “do you want to improve your symptoms? I think I can help.”

“How?”

Bright moves close to the gorgeous man. His hand hovers over the hand Hopkin placed on the armrest of his chair, appearing as if they are touching. The other person shudders a bit because of his action. He seems to want to retrieve his hand, but forgets about it after seeing those kind, brown eyes.

“By increasing daily interactions with caressing and touching. Making the patient numb to it and increasingly used to touches of familiarity. It’s a primitive method of treatment.” Hopkin comments. He raises his eyebrows and lifts his chin up slightly, like a prideful goose.

Bright notices his neck is narrow and long, and his skin white. It must feel good to be holding it, so he thinks, and his hand so moves. His left hand stays unmoving over Hopkin’s hand. His other hand climbs onto the back of his neck in a posture as if holding a slippery piece of porcelain art. He is afraid the other person may feel disgust so he does not go further than his. His movements are also light, seemingly trying to make the other person familiarise himself with his own temperature. Their bodies are still separated by a certain distance, but currently, he has already completely immersed Bright in his own aura.

It is like a hug from a safe distance but yet still full of affection.

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