With all of them being toughened up by the Chashu Ramen in Red Snapper Broth, Bu Dong’s group exited the Restaurant Train of Delicacy to the main shop lobby and bought the tickets to the new dungeon that Jin released earlier in the evening.
“Where is Boss Jin?” Bu Dong asked Yun who was at the Bar Island and a penguin waiter who helped serve drinks.
“Apparently he is making some prototype contraption to present to a business dealer tomorrow. More new things to play with! Hahahaha!” Yun informed them as she curled her hair up at the side and all the boys and girls were smitten by her beauty.
“Man, the boss sure has a good taste to hire such a beautiful employee like you.” Katerine did not hold back her praises for Yun which made her giggle.
“Enjoy your new dungeon!” Yun told them as she busied herself by entertaining the next customer.
“What does this dungeon entail?” Xing Li decided to ask Yue Han, but he was suddenly distracted by Katerine’s squeal at the auditoriums showing off the dungeon fights.
“Are we going to fight and they are gonna broadcast us?!” Katerine pulled Yue Han’s hand away from Xing Li and he unhesitatingly blushed at her initiative.
“Erm…that’s the Bank Heist Raid. We are going for the Shaolin Football Instance. Only the best instances are being shown but chances of us being broadcast is high because of Bu Dong.” Yue Han managed to answer with a little stutter. Bu Dong noticed that Xing Li was a bit frustrated by Katerine’s move and decided to attempt to bring Katerine away from Yue Han.
“Katerine, come here. Let me show you how to enter the instance.” Bu Dong beckoned for her, but she was absorbed in her own world, pulling Yue Han wherever she went and ultimately ignored Bu Dong. Xing Li did not care much and decided to enter the instance first. Yue Han eventually saw Bu Dong signalling him and he pulled Katerine with him to the Dungeon instance entrance machine.
Bu Dong managed to teach Katerine and she went in second. There was sufficient time lag to speak a sentence or two and Bu Dong decided to discipline Yue Han. “Don’t get over your head! Katerine is leaving us in less than a week’s time. Since when were you a playboy, thinking you can have both her and Xing Li?!”
“What are you talking about, I never even dreamt of something like that?!” Yue Han tried to defend himself, though suddenly they all heard a bat screech. Yue Han sighed. “Look, I just enjoyed myself for a moment. This is the first time in my life I feel wanted okay?! I did not think I ever could become so popular all of a sudden!”
“Popular my ass!” Bu Dong sneered and Kong Xian laughed as he entered the instance to give some more time for the two good brothers to settle their differences. “Fine, you know what? If you don’t want to use the chance to get with Xing Li, I will just use it myself. Don’t blame me for stealing her under your nose!” Bu Dong tried to intimidate Yue Han and it seemed to be working.
“…Try me!” Yue Han tried to put up a brave front in front of Bu Dong… but it was not working. Bu Dong had been using the Angry Ape cultivation for years causing Bu Dong not to be afraid of the little scare the bat tried to give him.
“Just get in already.” Bu Dong scanned their tickets and pushed Yue Han in before getting in himself.
———-
When the group entered, they found themselves in a locker room with a Panda figure entering, slamming the door and blowing his whistle. “LISTEN UP! This is the preliminary tryout round! We Pandaz are fortunate enough to get a chance to participate in the upcoming Inter World Football Cup. Either you blow your chance now, or you pull up your socks and get a win for the Pandaz!” Coach Panda Hui shouted. (Well at least that was the name the sticker said, which was badly pasted onto his shirt.)
“We are going to fight with just five people?” Bu Dong asked and he was given the death stare by Panda Hui.
“Problem?” Panda Hui asked, and Bu Dong did not say anything else. “Good. Change into the jerseys. Be glad, your opponents this time around are just mere robots.” Panda Hui banged the door and left the locker room.
“Wow, that kind of attitude really reminds me of my coach at my old school,” Katerine commented as she saw a locker with her name on it. She opened it to find a black and white spots shirt with matching shorts inside. Giggling at the absurdity of the shirt Katerine went to the ladies bathroom to change.
“What sports is this going to be? Regular football? I am going to suck at it.” Xing Li complained as she naturally turned to Yue Han for assurance. “Nah, if we know one thing about Boss Jin, it’s that he wouldn’t be so kind as to present us with some simple football game.” Yue Han patted her back and went to change.
The five subsequently walked onto the field and realised that they stood at what looked like a carbon copy of the Beijing National Stadium and began to be in awe at the sheer size of it. Even walking on it resulted in them being filled with pride, as if they were now the ones who would compete at the Olympics. At this point, the widescreen TV of the stadium showed the empty result board of Pandaz VS Roboz.
“Can’t Jin think of a flashier name?” Kong Xian shook his head at Jin’s poor naming sense. Not one moment later, they got called over by Coach Hui, sitting at the bench.
“Look, newbies. This is your chance to spread your glory into the Inter World Football Cup. All you have to do is focus and defeat your opponents.” Coach Hui instructed them so vaguely that Bu Dong did not hesitate to put his hand up to ask how to play the game.
“What? You guys do not know how to play the game?” Coach Hui furrowed his eyebrows before he fiddled around his shirt pocket to wear his glasses. “Holy Moly. You guys…are not…” Coach Hui realised that the people in front of him were not his men at all.
“What happened to all of my men? My players?” Coach Hui shouted loudly only for a Panda from the sideline to shout; “WE QUIT YOU LOSER COACH! NO BAMBOO MEANS NO PLAYERS!!!” The Panda booed at him one last time before he ran out of the stadium.
“No! If you all quit, how can I …how can the Pandaz compete in the Inter World Football Cup?!” Coach Hui sat down and started to scratch his head with his two paws. Xing Li then went beside the Coach and comforted him.
“Erm, we can help I guess?” Xing Li rubbed his head a little, and suddenly he stood up with fire in his eyes which scared Xing Li and the rest of the group. It became apparent that he had played the sympathy card to cheat the group even though it was obvious for the entire team..
“THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR! ALRIGHT! Here are the basics!” Coach Hui seemed to radiate his burning passion and started to teach them how to play.
“Two Guardians are standing at the back of the goal posts. Each team will be defending the opposing team’s guardian. You will do so to prevent the opposing team from reaching their own guardian. Your goal in this Inter World Football Cup is to get the magical balls, which will spawn on the centre of the field at the start of the round and to feed your guardian with them. The more magical balls you are able to deliver to your guardian, the stronger your guardian will get.” Coach Hui explained as he entered the field and simulated the area before the actual game started.
“At the end of each round, the two guardians will power up so the one with more magical strength will win when they clash in the end. That is why I said numbers do not matter. It is mostly about teamwork.” Coach Hui explained.
“How do we fight for the magical balls?” Kong Xian questioned and Coach Hui smiled as he was getting to the juicy part.
“Fight and kill your enemy. When an enemy clashes with you, it will trigger a one on one fight for 30 seconds. The field referee will raise an energy barrier to let you guys brawl it out until the time is up. If there is no winner for the ball, it becomes a free for all. Of course, you can pass the magical ball before you clash but whether the ball gets intercepted or not, that is another issue. The field will always have three magical balls for the first two rounds. Should it come to the final round, only one magical golden ball worth four points will be on the field. That one alone is sufficient to turn the tide of battles, and the fight for it is always a free-for-all. In other words, it depends on all of you.” Coach Hui finished his description of the game.
“Will we die if we lose the fight?” Yue Han was a little afraid for losing two members early in the round, mainly Xing Li and Katerine. He wanted them to have fun but it would not be fun if the group lost them in the first round.
“Nah, when you are close to death, you will be automatically withdrawn by the field referee and the Panda Nurses will give you a standard recovery spell. After about 5 minutes, you will be allowed to enter into the fray again…that is if there is even time for you to enter.” Coach Hui pointed at the Panda Nurse who looked like a somewhat shady doctor, as they could see him smoking a cigar at the side of the bench.
“The only time you will get eliminated for good is in the last fifteen minutes when the stakes are raised. That means as soon as the magical golden ball appears, it is all or nothing. So till then, do your best! But first, say hello to our little friend!” Coach Hui grinned widely at them as he introduced the Guardian of Team Pandaz at the end of the field. No doubt. It was a Panda to represent the Team Pandaz and it growled loudly to show its ferocity to the newly joined team members.
A Gigantic Pandajilla. (Actually, it was just big ass giant panda wearing a Godjilla suit with its fluffy face poking out at the neck area.)
