Chapter 296

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Chapter 296: The Poor Child Grows Up Early

"Today’s battle was filled with passion, perseverance, and regret. Many people feel a sense of unfinished business." The host exclaimed, "Those knights who left the arena were truly knights; they just had bad luck and faced stronger opponents."

"I want to ask everyone, is there any regret? Is there someone you don’t want to see leave the arena?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The audience shouted enthusiastically.

"Alright, the main event is here!" The host looked around, "They embark on a journey to seek glory, which is always filled with thorns and various dangers. They wanted to go further, but they stumbled upon bad luck."

"However, they are not alone; the knights protect the nation and everything, and behind them, you are here to support!"

"In total, four hundred eighty knights made it through the first round; today, we have eliminated three hundred sixty."

"Among those three hundred sixty, if there is anyone you wish to keep, they can stay! The eight with the highest votes will be brought back to continue fighting for their honor in this arena."

"Today, we will work overnight to publish a book that features the names, photos, and brief introductions of the four hundred eighty knights."

"The book will be fairly priced, and we will sell it to you at cost!"

"Every book comes with a chance to cast a vote."

"The number of books is equal to the number of audience members, with each person allowed to buy only one. Once purchased, you cannot buy again!"

"Tomorrow, some of the eliminated knights will come up to speak, hoping their stories or determination can touch you, and voting will also take place tomorrow."

"Of course, tomorrow will have more than just this activity; some knights will perform and bring joy to the people!"

"Oh!" The voices of the audience rose and fell, showing how excited they were.

The wealthy who come to watch the performance are rich people from all over the world; they don’t care about money, they care about the feeling of being in control of everything.

Did you see? Even those who have been eliminated can come back to life if we want them to, and continue to compete.

Of course, there are also some who truly want to support their favorite knights.

And the tickets here are not season passes; they are sold by day, with prices varying up and down.

It is clear that the ticket price tomorrow will be very high. If these people want to support someone, they will continue to watch and spend this money.

You could say that the value of this big competition has been calculated very clearly.

"Revival…" Aileen listened to the host and frowned slightly, "When I heard him talk about chasing honor and such, it felt really awkward. He was the one who treated the knights as a joke before."

"That’s normal," Karoso replied.

"However, some knights can indeed keep fighting, but it’s a bit strange. Since they can be eliminated, that means they can’t compete for the championship, right?" Aileen said, "And are the people chosen by these viewers really strong?"

"Who knows?" Karoso shook his head helplessly, "Thinking about champions and non-champions is your perspective. The prize money is different for each level, and many people compete just to survive. The spirit of a knight is important, but it doesn’t put food on the table. If there are legal ways to make money, why not give it a try?"

"Hmm… I see that I was thinking too simply," Aileen suddenly understood.

"It’s okay. You can tell you haven’t been out much. You don’t know much about these people’s living conditions; not all knights can afford huge expenses," Karoso waved his hand.

"Do we have to participate tomorrow?" Aileen quickly changed the topic, "I feel like it doesn’t mean much."

"Yes, we signed a contract. During the competition, as long as we are not eliminated, we have to come every day, or we will have to pay a penalty." Karoso looked at Aileen, "Don’t you ever read the contract?"

"Um…" Aileen admitted that she really didn’t look when she signed.

Just like those long agreements in video games, players always scroll to the end and click agree…

In her memory, such a big event, especially one led by her family, couldn’t have any hidden traps, right?

Actually, even if there were traps, it would still be her family that benefits…

……

When the audience left the venue, their feelings were quite different.

"Damn it, that man who undressed the female knight was too much! I must revive that female knight and teach him a lesson!"

"Yeah, who is that person? I want to know who his next opponent is. He must be taught a good lesson!"

"I am so angry!"

Some competitions have created a conflict between men and women, and I’m sure netizens all know that if there is conflict, there will be topics to discuss, and with topics, there are opportunities to make money.

Some matches can be very stressful, and the audience’s feelings are already heightened, so there is no worry about making money.

"What happened? How did Bob get eliminated? Last time he was in the top four."

"He must have faced someone stronger!"

"It must be that the opponent used some sneaky tricks."

"No way! We have to bring him back!"

Besides those who got eliminated due to the stress, there are also popular contestants who participated last time and are competing again this time.

Let’s not talk about their skills; their number of fans is already impressive.

Losing right from the start, it is unclear whether it was arranged by the event organizers or if these three years of indulgent living have taken away their former charm.

Kirmin listened to the words of the departing audience outside, and her eyes lit up.

She discovered a great business opportunity.

The simple information about the 480 people won’t be sold until midnight; it will be available right at the entrance of the competition.

In fact, the event committee had already prepared this information yesterday, but selling it tomorrow gives the impression that they are working hard.

……

Evening.

The middle-aged knight who was defeated by Karoso received an unexpected visitor.

He had already started packing his bags because he didn’t think anyone would bring someone like him back to life.

"Hello, may I ask if you are Lord Barov?"

A man in a black suit politely looked at the worn-out knight in front of him.

Barov’s situation had fallen into ruin; after a battle, he and his brothers were ambushed, and a group of ordinary men with swords and shields was bombarded by planes.

Luckily, being a professional didn’t come for free; many of them survived.

Unfortunately, many people were left with disabilities from this fight, and quite a few lost their lives far from home.

Although this didn’t directly concern Barov, those people were his brothers in life and death; he did not abandon them but spent all his wealth to get them mechanical arms and similar aid.

The country did provide some assistance, but it was not enough to cover their medical needs.

These people were broken and, some, barely clinging to life; they still needed to support their families.

Now, Barov held only a title of knight, receiving a small monthly allowance that could hardly help anyone; he had no choice but to compete in tournaments.

"I am." Barov looked up and down at the man in the black suit.

"I am an official partner of this competition." The man in the black suit showed a work badge, then sat down in front of Barov and smiled, "I would like to buy some information from you. The reward is 100,000 Forged Coins."

"Oh?" Barov’s eyes brightened a bit.

One hundred thousand was not a lot for Barov, but it was still a considerable sum.

"What information?" Barov was not blinded by money; he still asked a question.

"About your battle with Karoso, please describe it in detail." The man in the black suit said seriously, "Especially about his follower; what is the story there?"

Barov paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head, "Revealing his information would be unfair to him; I must refuse."

"You see, only Karoso’s information is worth that much. I hope you do not miss this opportunity." The man in the black suit urged, "Not just you, that lady knight also fought against him. Even if you do not sell his information, she will."

"And how are you sure that is Karoso’s secret? We just want to know some surface details for analysis."

"I must refuse." Barov made a gesture to show the guest out.

"I have looked into your background; it seems you are short on money, and this is a rare chance to earn some," the man in the black suit said with a slight frown. "If you think the money is not enough, we can discuss it further."

"It has nothing to do with money! His opponent knows information about him in advance, but he does not know anything about his opponent. This is unfair to him." Barov shook his head. "This match should be held fairly, not by using such methods."

"We have recordings of your fight. As long as we use a Magic Stone, we can access the recordings for analysis. We just want to be thorough; we don’t necessarily need to speak with you." The man in the suit struggled to keep his temper in check. "Besides, he is a noble. Surely, he can afford to buy information from others. Everyone does this; it’s not unfair."

"How you proceed is your business; I will not betray his information." Barov continued, "Please leave."

"Is there no room for negotiation?"

"There is no room for negotiation."

Upon hearing this, the man in the suit turned and walked away.

Damn it, what kind of society is this, talking about fairness.

A person lacking money holds onto this little stubbornness, what a stubborn old fool!

He thought this was a simple task, but didn’t expect to encounter such a guy.

Barov watched the man in the suit leave his home.

Indeed, many people cannot understand his actions; selling a piece of information, especially the information that got Karoso out of the competition, is something others would also sell.

In theory, he should be earning this money.

But he just doesn’t want to earn this money.

His stubbornness doesn’t need others to understand; he just wants to stay true to his knight’s way.

……

The next day, Karoso arrived at the entrance of the arena and found Kirmin standing there, holding a pile of books and giggling.

He walked up to Kirmin and looked her up and down, "What are you laughing at?"

"Master, you are here," Kirmin said, holding the book in her arms. "I found eleven people and waited a long time to buy it! It costs one hundred Forged Coins each, and I plan to sell it for three thousand Forged Coins!"

"Is anyone bothering you?" Karoso asked with a strange look.

Kirmin pointed to the sign behind her.

Karoso glanced at it and immediately his expression turned serious.

[I am a fourth-grade student at the Kingdom of Persia Marl Academy, and I work part-time as the butler for Karoso Colloa, the son of Grand Duke Osiris of the Kingdom of Persia in Canglang Province.]

"You’re embarrassing yourself in another country," Karoso said, covering his forehead.

"Master, you said before I could use your name for business as long as it wasn’t too much, as a reward for my hard work…" Kirmin looked at Karoso with big, sad eyes, "You won’t be angry with me, right?"

"It’s fine, go ahead and sell it," Karoso waved his hand weakly.

Anyway, she wrote that it was a part-time butler job, not directly using the name of Canglang Province.

From this point of view, Kirmin is quite smart; she does not offend Karoso and can still make money.

"Speaking of which, the person I found only bought these, and they wouldn’t let me buy more." Kirmin sighed, "It seems that there are special brokers for this event."

"Of course, selling these is already giving a face." Karoso flicked Kirmin’s forehead.

[A sly merchant is indeed a sly merchant; they can make anything work.]

[Wow, I didn’t expect there to be black market dealers in another world.]

[This game is so realistic that human nature becomes very real.]

Karoso ignored Kirmin and entered the resting area of the venue, sitting next to Aileen.

A total of three hundred sixty eliminated contestants stood on the competition stage.

There are one hundred twenty-eight seats for resting, and currently, eight of them are still empty.

Karoso and Aileen greeted each other and began to wait together.

At nine o’clock, the host finally appeared on the stage, and the audience was completely full.

"I believe everyone has received the booklet," the host said loudly.

"I got it!"

"I couldn’t buy it!"

"Darn it, didn’t they say each person could only buy one?"

Some audience members were empty-handed, while others had more than ten booklets, ready to cheer for their idol.

"Sorry, this is a mistake on our part. The rule is that each person can only buy one, but we didn’t know who would come to watch the competition, and the books and tickets were sold separately," the host quickly complained. "To be fair, we have to do it this way. If you have any concerns, you can write to the organizing committee, and we will take your feedback seriously. Please forgive us this time!"

After saying this, the host bowed repeatedly and apologized.

The audience’s anger calmed down a lot; they didn’t continue to blame, as they wanted to see their idol come back quickly.

"Alright, since everyone has received the list, please watch closely. We will randomly select some people to come up and share their stories and dreams," the host said loudly, "This will also make it easier for everyone to vote!"

"Now, let’s welcome the first knight…"

Soon, a knight stepped onto the stage.

This young knight was handsome, and although his armor was simple, it highlighted his genuine character.

"Hello everyone, my name is Bill, and I come from a small village. I am not a lord knight but a Professional Knight… My mother always told me that poor children must grow up fast…"

[What? What is this strong vibe of a variety show from Hua Xia?]

[Oh no, are we starting to compare misfortunes?]

[Damn, this Knight Tournament is more exciting than I imagined!]

[This guy is so handsome, I have to turn around for him!]