Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter Eight: An Unexpected Challenge

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After conquering his first boss monster in this new life, Rick was abruptly drawn from his loot-fueled stupor by the alarm of one of his mandatory break periods. It was time for his morning trip to the little neighborhood gym. Not that it was in Rick’s neighborhood, but still.

Bright lights poured out of the windowed storefront, and stepping through the door was like entering a different world. Sneakers squeaked against the laminated floors, together with the dull thrum of an overworked air conditioner, and the smell of metal was everpresent. Rick’s single minded routine was already hardwired into his schedule, and he was almost finished for the day before he even noticed. His head was filled only with thoughts of the game, carefully plotting his next move.

“Hey, kid!” a strange voice called out to him.

Something seemed to snap in Rick’s head for a moment, “Kid!? You have the nerve to call the War God a ‘kid?’ Give me three- no! Two years! Two years when this baby fat leaves my face, you won’t dare to call me kid again!”

Of course, Rick wasn’t going to say something like that out loud in a public place. He turned to meet the source of the voice while suppressing his rage and donning a mask of surprise and confusion. There was a slim finger pointed at him. 

“Ah! It’s you,” the person who had spoken seemed to blank the moment they saw Rick’s face.

A few minutes later.

“So that was it…” Rick finally nodded his head in understanding, having finished listening to the rather unexpected explanation.

“Sorry, I was in fault for being too fast,” a small, slender man had an apologetic look on his face, “I thought you were the bad type…”

Rick couldn’t help but sigh. Apparently, this person had been on the lookout for suspicious characters the past few days. Someone had been stalking the women that frequented the gym, and Rick seemed to be the most likely suspect. It really was a baseless accusation, especially considering the fact that Rick had hardly seen a single female soul in the past week. It was currently five in the morning, and most people weren’t even awake yet!

“Your exercise was… half-hearted… always looked so easy,” the bashful expression on the man’s face was enough to drive anyone crazy with rage, “Why else would he come, I thought?”

“Who are you to frown upon these exercises that I learned from trained professionals? Half-hearted? You’re half-hearted! Your whole damn family is half-hearted!”

Rick once again had to stifle the words under a veil of exasperation.

“It’s… it’s fine…” he said.

It wasn’t nice to be mistaken as a shady character, but the guy clearly didn’t mean anything bad by it. The look on his face definitely belonged to one of those justice seeking, hot-blooded types.

What Rick still didn’t understand was why the person immediately came to the conclusion that Rick wasn’t the perpetrator. The man acted as if Rick wasn’t a stranger, but Rick couldn’t recall this person at all. Part of that reason may or may not have been the extra six years of life that he had lived.

Even so, Rick felt that he should be able to recognize a distinctive face like this. Shoulder-length black hair, round face, big eyes, well… to be straight to the point, the person was of East Asian descent. The guy had a pretty pronounced accent when he spoke, and a youthful sounding voice. He was pretty short too, at least a head more so than the average-sized Rick. Everything about this person made them seem like more of a kid than Rick… so why did he have that tough-guy aura about him!?

“But I never expect to meet you at this place, Rick! Never saw you for being the morning type, or the exercise type. Looks like you never sweat!” despite the accent, this person was surprisingly eloquent in all the most damaging ways.

Rick, who had no sense of how to handle a situation like this, simply said, “Um… who are you, again?”

Rather than be offended, the man shook with mirth. That rowdy laughter reminded Rick of the sound of a big, ringing bell. The shining aura around this person seemed to be getting brighter. He thrust out his hand with a such speed that Rick thought he heard the man’s joints snapping into place.

“Bai!” he chirped.

Rick’s face lost a bit of color as he reluctantly shook the man’s sweaty hand, “G-goodbye?” he said awkwardly.

After a moment, an expression of understanding dawned on the man’s face, followed by that characteristic laughter.

“No, no, no, I am Bai!” he said, halfway between humor and apology.

Rick’s expression seemed to crack a bit, “Good for you?” his voice was a bit apprehensive. He wasn’t getting hit on, was he?

This time it took a bit longer for the realization to dawn on his face, and the man actually looked away a bit bashfully before laughing again.

“My name is Bai!” he said loudly and proudly this time.

“Oh! OH!” Rick finally caught on and nodded along, and couldn’t help but add, “that was a name?”

Bai thankfully withdrew the handshake, stifling his own frown at Rick’s words.

“My name is too much of mouthful, so everyone will just call me Bai!”

Rick was wondering if going for the simple option in this case was any less confusing, but then who was he to judge? He had three first names!

“My name is Rick,” he finally said.

Bai nodded.

“I met you before,” he said through his shining teeth, “from school.”

School? Did Rick ever go to school with someone like this? He had dropped out of class after his first year, after all. It had already been almost seven years since then. Only a few months for Bai, though...

As if it would somehow jog his memory, Bai took a step back and kicked his leg in the air. It struck out so fast. The movement was so quick it actually pushed a few locks of hair into Rick’s eyes. Without his years of experience in Dream World Online, it might have even knocked him off his feet in surprise. As it was, the kick couldn’t really move his heart.

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Maybe go toe-to-toe with a Demon Prince and his Infernal Pain Blade before you try to show off something like this!

Seeing the lukewarm reaction, Bai appeared to be equal parts impressed and disappointed. Rick figured the guy was hoping for a bigger reaction. Was he somehow connected to this person through kicking? Rick wasn’t much for fighting outside of the game…

At that moment, a deeply repressed memory finally resurfaced in Rick’s head, “Kung-fu kid!” Rick blurted out.

This bastard! It was kung-fu kid who had dared to appear before him! Because of this person…

Bai on the other hand looked as if he would fall on the floor in laughter. It seemed like Rick’s words were far more devastating than the previous the kick had been

“K-kung f-fu kid!?” Bai chortled loudly, though the few other gym goers had already decided to ignore this conversation by now.

This guy was a student who had come from overseas to study back when Rick was in college.

Some guys who were less than welcoming had tried to pick on the new kid back then, and Rick wasn’t going to just stand by and watch it happen. He tried to stand up for the little guy, but who would have thought that the tiny asian guy in a baggy tee shirt and jeans would suddenly start doing flips and kicks and flying all over the place?

Rick could do those sorts of things inside the game, back in the day, but in real life? He wanted to know where the wire was hidden! In the end, those punks had been totally scared off, but all the blame for the incident had somehow fallen on Rick’s head. He was forced to spend his whole afternoon explaining things to a very disbelieving campus security guard.

“Wushu!” Bai said, still chuckling.

The short man reached out and firmly patted Rick on the shoulder. “Wushu! All for show. Real martial art…” Bai’s hand flew out like a bullet, fingers snapping opening into a claw shape and seemingly grabbing something from thin air, before he pulled it back slowly.

“Real martial art is for killing.”

Rick felt like he was supposed to be intimidated by this action, but there was only one word going through his head.

“Nerd…” Rick said unabashedly.

Bai was a genuine martial arts nerd, one of those people hopelessly obsessed with fighting even in this day and age. Bai’s eyes shook when he heard this, and his mouth snapped open as if he was about to throw a barrage of curses Ricks way. Fortunately, he seemed to realize that Rick would have no idea what he was saying and altered his choice of words.

“I can still be in school now, unlike Rick. You are gone from all classes!”

Well that was true...

“Wasting your time with joke training. Want to be a big man, Rick? Flirt with pretty girls?” Bai retorted proudly.

School was one thing, but Rick couldn’t help but enter a conflict with someone who insulted the training program he crafted with his blood and tears. He didn’t back down at all from the small, admittedly dangerous, and stubborn man.

“My workout is for loosening stiff muscles and easing blood flow! It’s a workout for a professional gamer!” he barked.

Of course Rick wasn’t trying to put on muscle! What good would a bunch of extra weight do him in a virtual world? Not to mention, building muscle required a lot of calories! If he ate like that and hung out in bed all day, he would just be wasting money and turning fat.

Bai seemed to back down upon hearing this, a hint of intrigue flashing in his big dark eyes.

“Does that work, really?” he asked suspiciously.

Why did this expression remind Rick of Mary Ann somehow?

“It does!” Rick’s pride as a gamer had been kindled.

“Show me!” Bai’s voice was totally free of hesitation.

“E-eh?” Rick’s stance immediately broke.

“That workout for the gamer! Show me!” Bai repeated.

Rick wasn’t very good at reading people under normal circumstances, but he could sniff out anything to do with Dream World Online from over a mile away.

“You started playing Dream World Online, didn’t you?”

Rick didn’t need to hear an answer, as the look on Bai’s face gave it all away immediately. This guy wasn’t particularly good at lying, was he? Before the man could give an answer, Rick followed up with a combo attack.

“Let me guess? You started playing because you wanted to get into fights, but your level is rising slowly no matter how many monsters you kill!” Rick sucked in a breath and continued, crossing his arms smugly, “So you resolved to put in more hours, however, after playing all night you wake up and your fingers are sore. You’re stiff in the lower back and it feels like your calves are swollen.”

Ricks words seemed to hit the nail on the head, as Bai’s mouth hung open and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. It seemed like he was reconsidering whether Rick was a stalker or not. Of course, Rick wouldn’t waste his precious gaming time on something silly like that, even if he was currently dedicating an unhealthy chunk of his life to revenge now.

Rick could tell that Bai was a very fit and active person normally, and probably had his fair share of exercise during the day. What else would he be doing in a gym at this hour? If it was a normal person, they would hardly notice the strain that playing Dream World Online put on the body. They spent most of the day being still and had subtly gotten used to these kinds of pains. Only someone who kept rigorous track of their physical condition would notice the soreness.

Even if the Lucid Lock simulated the act of sleeping, there were liable to be differences between something biological and something artificial. If you pushed yourself too hard in the game, your hands in the real world would start to clench up. This could slow down circulation not just in the fingers, but throughout the entire body. In situations involving combat, the body would instinctively become more rigid, to keep from rolling around and hurting itself.

The facts were all in the Lucid Lock user manual and terms of service, but nobody really seemed to care. A few sensationalist media sources claimed the system would bring about the end of the world, but Rick didn’t underestimate humanity that much.

Most of these problems would be patched out when the new Lucid Lock V2 released, anyway...

Bai wasn’t stupid, and he could clearly see that Rick spoke with the wisdom and experience of someone who was used to dealing with these problems.

“You play? Your level would be?” Bai posed it as a challenge.

This guy liked to compete too much!

“Secret!” Rick responded immediately, “my workout is a secret too!”

Rick had to hold back from sticking out his tongue as he watched Bai’s humorous expressions. He had forgotten how much fun it was to tease a guy like this. It reminded him of the smack-talk fights back in his competitive years.

Bai was clearly thinking hard about something when he said, “Fight me! In game! If I win, I get the secret!”

Rick raised an eyebrow, though he had partially felt this coming.

This guy had the gall to confidently pick a fight with the world’s greatest on his own turf. Rick had to admire that kind of foolish bravery, even if Bai didn’t have any idea what he was getting himself into. This kind of scenario was too entertaining to feel any ill will towards the other party, so Rick was half considering just giving up the information and going home.

“If Rick has the win, I will teach you how to fight.”

Rick smirked. For someone who was totally confident in their victory, it wasn’t a tempting enough offer to draw him in. He could just look something like that up online if he really wanted.

“Not interested!” said Rick.

“My martial art passed down for generations,” Bai said sharply, his voice hushed, “Is also top secret!”

Rick could feel the pride radiating from practically Bai’s entire being. What a powerful gaming addiction, for him to risk something he considered so precious. Rick felt like something bad would happen to him if he continued trying to refuse the challenge.

“I’m not gonna call you sensei or anything when I win,” Rick replied with no small amount of reluctance.

“Wrong country!” Bai snapped with a bit of a grin, “and if Rick can beat me, it will be me who will call you as big bro!”

“Huh? Why would I want something like that?” Rick asked.

WHAP!

Bai had punched him. Pain! It was only on the arm, though. Still a lot of pain! There’s no way he would end up crying about it. Ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurt!

Rick’s face was clearly contorted in discomfort, but he was trying to hide it. For some reason, it made Bai laugh again. His face was practically glowing.

“Deal!” Bai said, holding out his hand again.

Rubbing his sore arm, Rick also extended a hand. If he was going to do this, he might as well go all out. Who knew, this person could end up being useful to him in his future plans?

Bai seemed to freeze as his hand met Rick’s, as if the appendage had been replaced with a ghostly claw that latched around his fingers. For the first time, the heroic spirit drained from his face as Rick’s generally friendly eyes sharpened like blades. His face was smiling, but it wasn’t the man’s usual, smug expression.

Gulp… Bai might have been feeling a hint of regret at this moment.

These were the eyes of a hungry predator. Rick had become the big bad wolf that watched as the silly little red riding hood happily walked into his mouth!

“Heeheehee…” the peculiar laugh was accompanied by a grin. “It’s a deal, then,” said Rick.