Chapter 147 Only the Strong Deserve to Have a Partner

"It's nothing. I just shouldn't have come to this place, and I shouldn't have met you."

Chen Fan thought about it for a moment, ultimately swallowing back the words he originally intended to say. He reached out to rub his face—it was still warm—then cupped his chin and slowly pushed his dropped jaw back into place.

Seria wore a shy expression and even batted her eyelashes playfully. "Warrior, am I really that good-looking? If you stare at me so intently like this, I'll blush."

"Hahaha~ Intently." Chen Fan forced out a couple of dry laughs, vigorously shaking his head with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Has she bloated up? Or should I say, she's grown exponentially wider." Chen Fan's tone was exaggerated. Where was that beautiful, sweet-voiced mature woman? Her image as a flawless goddess had completely collapsed, shattered into dust without a single trace left.

"I've just been eating a little too much lately. My legs are tired, can you give me a piggyback ride back?" Seria blinked her eyes pleadingly.

When Chen Fan looked at her current build, it looked less like an adventurer and more like a human boulder rolling through the mountains. He shook his head repeatedly, his tone turning much colder. "Miss Seria, life lies in movement. Walking more on your own is good for weight loss."

"But my legs just won't work anymore."

Lowering her head, Seria even began to act coquettishly. Taking advantage of Chen Fan's momentary lapse in attention, she lunged forward like a human cannonball, pressing down heavily and firmly onto his back.

A crisp, cracking sound echoed through the air, followed by a chain reaction of popping joints. Under a domino effect, Chen Fan felt as though the entire skeletal structure of his body had been brutally re-engineered.

"Is it heavy?" Seria asked, riding on Chen Fan's back while constantly shifting back and forth.

"What do you think... Can you get down first so we can talk..." Chen Fan said cautiously, terrified that any sudden movement would cause another fracture somewhere in his body.

"I won't! I'm exhausted. Hurry up and walk, just past that stone gate is our destination."

"I carry the hopes of all mankind on my shoulders..." Chen Fan constantly encouraged himself onward through mental victory, moving forward with agonizing difficulty.

With great difficulty, he managed to reach the stone tablet, only to discover another problem: there was no "up" key in this game, so how on earth was he supposed to return to town?

"Don't worry, leave the rest to me." Seria gave a small hop into the air and then crashed down heavily onto Chen Fan once more. The two of them vanished right into the middle of a vast, boundless grassland.

Elvengard, Main Street

"Seria, you're back," Linus the blacksmith greeted warmly.

Seria lifted the hem of her skirt and approached with short, dainty steps. "Yes, I got hungry and went out to grab a bite, just getting back now."

"Hey, who's that fellow behind you?" The blacksmith pointed at Chen Fan.

"Oh, he's a warrior I met out in the wilderness who even carried me all the way back," Seria said with a wide grin.

Chen Fan's face was deathly pale, his body completely twisted and deformed. He crawled forward on the ground like a reptile.

The blacksmith sighed sympathetically. "He sure went through a lot."

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

Seria thumped her pillow-thick chest, took a stride toward Chen Fan, and effortlessly hoisted him up into the air.

"Spare me, I still want to stay alive and play games..." Chen Fan begged bitterly.

"I am merely helping you, warrior. Accept Seria's blessing." The moment she finished speaking, her gigantic, pancake-flat face slammed right into him.

...

"Hey, are you alright?" The Asura beside him nudged Chen Fan with his elbow.

Chen Fan took a moment to collect his wits. In the blink of an eye, amidst the amnesia-inducing chaos, he had somehow been transported straight into the gaming arena. Still, that was fine—it saved him from ever having to lay eyes on the bloated Seria again. He turned his head and said, "I'm fine, exceptionally fine."

The Wanderer at the corner of the table was the first to fly into a rage. "My first kiss was actually stolen by a huge, fat hag in VR! No, a giant sow! Oh god, her facial features don't even look human. Give me back my Goddess Seria, or I'll uninstall this game the moment I get back."

The Exorcist uncle scratched his head, his neck still bearing a few clear lipstick marks. "Sigh, a massive miscalculation. I'm definitely going to report this dungeon once I get out. I originally wanted to play some exciting, risqué games, but I never expected..."

"Right, we must report it!" The Blood Mage jumped up excitedly, though his voice sounded somewhat too shrill and raspy.

"Everyone calm down. We're in the middle of a match right now; save your complaints for after it's over," spoke the aloof Street Fighter, crossing her arms. Yet, her face looked strangely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"Shen Gongbao, I'm very glad we meet again," Zhao Gongming recognized Chen Fan first.

"I'm very glad too," Chen Fan forced out a couple of smiles, though they looked entirely unnatural.

"The aggro level in this dungeon is higher than a Republican-era police station. I'd rather play every perverted game in existence with the inspector than stay here another second." Chen Fan raised his lightsaber, angrily carving a deep slash into the mahogany table.

"Respected warriors, have you all received Seria's blessing?" Dressed in a gorgeous forest-style dancer's robe, Seria enthusiastically greeted the twelve contestants.

"Good grief, she's actually the judge? I choose to end my life right now..." Chen Fan pressed his lips tightly together, wanting to bite down and end it all.

"Ahem~ I'm not that young anymore, and it's about time I settled down and got married. Now, I must choose a lucky soul from among you twelve warriors, and he shall receive my eternal blessing."

Seria swept her gaze across the room, eyeing the fine crop of young talent she had carefully selected for herself. For a moment, she found it difficult to choose. "You are all warriors of the Arad Continent. Shortly, we shall determine the victor through a gaming competition, and then the winner will select the ultimate warrior to marry me."

"This is setting up the MVP to be thrown straight into a fiery pit—truly the most tragic MVP in history."

Chen Fan maintained an expressionless face, knowing he had to keep self-awareness of his own limits. After all, with his level of skill, winning MVP twice in a row was already a recipe for a total meltdown.

"Alright, tomorrow during the day, you will first nominate the strongest fighter. By then, he will dictate the order of your games. I shall only be responsible for looking at you all with tender affection as you fight and strive for my hand. Oh, seeing you get hurt actually makes my heart ache a little."

"It doesn't matter. For the sake of love in my heart, I will bless you all. Keep it up, muah!" Seria finished her Mary Sue inner monologue.

"A giant sow choosing a groom?" Chen Fan sat in a daze for a long while before remembering he needed to attend to his own business.

There was zero information available on the first day, and guards typically didn't blindly guard on the outer positions. That left only two choices: either a blank guard or a self-guard.

"My guts are plenty big, and I'm not scared. Watch me." Chen Fan first delivered an impassioned, grandiose speech before following the system prompts to execute a self-guard maneuver.

"Mountain Crashing Mountain... Arcane Flash... Thrust... Upper Slash..." After finishing the standard set of motions, Chen Fan muttered in complaint, "Having to execute combo moves just to guard someone—anyone watching would think I was playing some kind of humiliating game with myself."

"The body is the capital of the revolution; staying alive is the greatest wealth," Chen Fan declared brazenly and without a trace of shame.