Jin had a change of clothes and decided to throw additional sets of clothing into his storage ring quickly but it seemed that his wardrobe was thinning out. “I have to do the laundry again,” The thought of doing housework hit Jin, making him wish that he would be in some fantasy novel that he does not even need to change his clothes regularly.
Regardless, today is not the day for housework as he quickly dashed out of his house to reach the store promptly. There were already some people waiting to enter the store and one of them was Xiong Da.
“Boss! I was worried sick! What happened to you? Are you okay?” Xiong Da asked and Jin nodded his head.
“I was…eh…I overslept.” Jin decided to admit that he overslept and everyone in the queue looked at each other before laughing in unison.
“Boss Boss! If you had something important to do, just say so. No one would blame you!” A customer shouted heartily at Jin.
“Yeah Boss, you do not have act Panda-ish on us.” Another female customer giggled as she commented.
“Haha, Boss, by the way, we really like your new signage. Did not know that it was up, until this morning!” Xiong Da added as he pointed at the top of the store. Jin then realised that the signage that the System promised was already up. It took no chance to immediately hang it up in order to draw more attention.
And attention it did draw.
It was not a majestic sign …it was an overly majestic neon billboard with an innocent looking Panda hugging onto a hoard of equipment like swords, axes and gold coins. However, it looked like it was sleeping while biting onto a bamboo spear. The billboard was overly huge that it nearly covered the entire 2nd and 3rd floor of the traditional storehouse.
Right at the bottom of the billboard, the words “Dungeons and Pandas” was written in a simple, elegant calligraphy that eluded the beauty of the words. Surprisingly, it felt a little poignant but the bittersweet aftertaste of the calligraphy on the thick bamboo sign was overshadowed by the gigantic cute billboard above it.
“The System has no sense of taste, putting such a big billboard neon sign at the middle of nowhere. This is not Osaka where the Gilco Running Man was surrounded with multiple signboards from other shops.” Jin could not help but laugh bitterly as he thought about it.
“You seem a little disappointed, is it not to your liking?” Yun caught up with Jin after leaving the house.
“I have mixed feelings about it,” Jin replied in thought.
“Try activating your Chi to it. You will understand.” Jin did what Yun said and suddenly he was transported to another world.
Scenes of him trying to fight against monsters, capturing monsters, the escape from the zombies from the Shanghai Tower and the recent fight against the Bull Behemoth. They were all rushing into his mind until Jin broke the Chi flow from it.
He immediately felt an adrenaline rush, as if he was pumped up to go for another round of a fight. “I …understand what you meant now.” Jin had really underestimated the powers of the System. To make him feel so excited, so anxious for another fight. This high grade sign board was not to be underestimated.
“Mmmhmm, all the other customers who poured their Chi into the signboard shared similar feelings too. While the new customers do not have experience of the dungeons here, the System made them incite similar incidents and memories that would give them an urge to go for battle.” Yun explained in Jin’s head.
“Boss, why are you in a daze?! Your signboard looks too good that you cannot help but admire your store for a moment?” Xiong Da was being sarcastic but Jin nodded.
“It looks perfect,” Jin said shamelessly which made all the customers laugh at Jin’s boldness to create such a gigantic billboard. It will surely create and attract attention from other people.
Jin subsequently opened his store but he asked Xiong Da to come over to one side and both Yun and Jin decided to tell Xiong Da about the plan they had. However, when Xiong Da heard about the entire plan, he stepped back and bowed.
“Boss. Ms Yun. I respect the both of you for wanting to help me. But I think this is not necessary. I really want to fight fair and square with Ji Ao no matter how dirty or underhanded his methods are.” Xiong Da requested not to do such a thing for him. If they want him to fight against monsters, he would and in fact, he would like to as well, so he can get into the mood for a battle.
“I see, if that’s the case, I am sorry. I thought you were really that desperate to win and that was why you wanted to have the duel over here.” It seemed that both Jin and Yun misinterpreted Xiong Da’s intention.
“Yes and no. Yes, I chose here because I wanted to show you how much I have improved and no matter the outcome, this place had already grown to be something like my second home. Although technically, I own more than 4 apartments… but you get what I mean.” Xiong Da could not help boasting a little although his intentions were clear to Jin.
“No because, in the end, I know that this is all about my selfish ego. I mean, Ruo Ying has her own life. If she cannot be happy, I cannot be happy either. But the selfish me also want myself to be happy by making her mine. However, the more I think about it, the more I feel that by doing so, I am going to be like Ji Ao.” Xiong Da justified himself.
“I was really really tempted to do what you said, but in the end I think, I should just try my best. In this day and age, I doubt doing something so earnest would get you the girl but it’s worth a try.” Xiong Da shrugged his shoulders.
It was at this moment that Jin punched Xiong Da to the floor with a Lazy Panda Swipe. This surprised almost everyone in the store. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING? YOU THINK THIS IS LIKE A DUNGEON INSTANCE?! IT’S OKAY TO LOSE?” Jin shouted so loud that it made the customers stop what they were doing just to see the commotion. Even Zhen Qing was shocked by Jin’s outburst. It was the first time she saw him behaving this way.
“Do not give me that kind of bullshit! You want to save that girl. You save her all the way. You think war and love are fair? No fucking way. You do what you need to get your girl! But you know what? I actually respect you for trying your best to stay righteous but now you are having doubts about yourself! Do not give me this kind of crap! Were all those training sessions for nothing? Do you think the Fishing Instance was easy to set up?!” Jin continued to rage, at which point Yun decided to intervene by pulling Jin back away from Xiong Da.
Meanwhile, Xiong Da was on the ground reflecting on himself. Jin was right since when was the almighty lawyer and the shameless famous food gourmet so scared of a dirty fighter like Lan Ji Ao? He wiped the bit of blood from his nose and stood up with confidence.
“You are right, Boss. I will do what I need to do. No matter what, I will get Ruo Ying by myself even if I brave through the 18 floors of hell and back!” Xiong Da said with assertiveness.
“Then I will create the arena for you.” Jin finally cooled down a bit, unknowingly with the help of Milk via his phone with a calming magic spell.
“Thank you, Boss. I look forward to it.” Xiong Da could not help but hug Jin hard despite what he had done to him.
However, little did he know that, even before all that commotion, someone was watching Xiong Da from the side lines ever since he entered the shop. “Xiong Xiong…” Ruo Ying who hid herself among the crowd whispered his name as she could not help but teared a crystal of joy and relief from her eyes.
Ruo Ying adjusted her jacket and her cap as she walked out of the shop before she got noticed by Xiong Da.
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