Although the equipment of the beautiful women's team caused a bit of a stir, when it was my turn to go on stage, my grand mage robe made me stand out in the crowd, and the whole place instantly fell silent. Then came a wave of murmurs; even the beautiful women's team seemed a bit nervous, their lovely eyes glancing at me again and again, making Grace want to pinch me. The attention from beauties isn't always so easy to enjoy. The match officially began. This time, our strategy was for Little Henry and the other three to form a group and go after the opposing team's mage, while I played as a free agent. They knew I had the protection of the War God's Compromise, so they weren't worried, but the other side sent all five of their players to focus on me right from the start. It seemed they knew I wasn't using hacks, and that killing anyone else was pointless. I couldn't just tough it out; under the attack of five people, my mana and health plummeted, and even a level 3 shield couldn't last long—the damage from top-tier equipment was just too terrifying. Repel Fire Ring, I dodged, dodged again, then hit them with an Aurora Movie, taking out a string of them at once. Watching the beauties get zapped in an instant, their chests heaving and faces flushed, was truly a sight to behold (Author: Our protagonist is getting more and more perverted, time to give him some punishment). Lily couldn't withstand the relentless assault from Little Henry and his group and finally dropped out of the match—heh, now it's 5 vs 4. At this point, the beauties changed tactics, abandoned me, and started targeting the others. While I was momentarily stunned, Little Henry and Little Sam were sent packing, making it 3 vs 4. Still, they didn't stand much of a chance. The three of us grouped together: Big Sam as the tank, me as the main attacker, and Grace handling healing, defense, and magic resistance. Watch my Thunder God's Descent! In the ensuing chaos, Big Sam and Grace also dropped out, and the other side lost Megan and Lauren. Now it was 1 vs 2: a mage against a warrior and an archer, both classes that counter mages. Lucy fired off five arrows in an instant. "Bang bang~~" Just as my shield was about to shatter, Mood came at me with a blazing sword. "Whoosh~" Another slash, and I lost 50 HP. I was stunned—thank goodness for my precious ring protecting me, or else I would've been finished, if not instantly killed. Mood hadn't expected to only take off that little bit of my health. While they were momentarily distracted, Thunder God's Descent, followed by a lightning bolt—lightning is faster than Thunder God—Lucy was out of the match. Now it was one

to one, and little Little Grace below the stage was unhappy: "Brother, hurry up and beat her! If you lose, don't even think about eating dinner."

"Your little sister is so cute!"

Why does everyone look at me like I'm some kind of perverted lolicon? There shouldn't be any suspense now: Mood, a level 54 tier-3 warrior, versus a level 61 grand mage. I looked at Mood and didn't make a move—after all, as a man, you have to keep your composure and let the lady go first. Then something happened that left everyone stunned:

Mood suddenly walked over to me very casually. I wondered, could she have some secret move? Very likely, extremely likely—I had to be extra careful!

Ah, she's right in front of me now... about to touch my nose. I was so startled I quickly stepped back. Mood followed closely. If Grace misunderstood, I'd be done for!

Just as I was preparing to counterattack, I suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath my feet and fell out of the arena in free fall...

The audience below burst into an uproar, whistles echoing nonstop. What was that all about? I was frustrated. Little Henry and the others didn't blame me, and Grace even gave me a kiss as a reward. Heh, that's worth it. Only Little Grace didn't understand why I was afraid of her. Sigh, that's hard to explain. In the end, Grace settled her down.

The tournament was finally over.

The results:

Champion: Heroine Squad +500 reputation

Runner-up: Guns & Roses Squad +200 reputation

Third place: Return of the King +100 reputation

Of course, things didn't just end there. After the match, we went to New World to celebrate and debrief (New World: the largest restaurant officially opened by the game). While Grace and my darling were interrogating me about my relationship with Mood, the troublemaker herself showed up with her four sisters. This caused a huge commotion—everyone rushed to catch a glimpse of the champion and runner-up teams, scaring us into quickly booking a private room. As soon as we entered—"Zzzzt zzzzt~~~~"—the atmosphere was so intense, sparks were practically flying, especially between Mood and Grace. Suddenly, they both smiled at each other as if on cue. Women are truly unpredictable!

First, Mood spoke: "Sister Xue, it was my fault today. I came to apologize."

"Oh, not at all. A loss is a loss. You did nothing wrong, it's all that guy's fault."

"Yeah, it's all him. Always acting all high and mighty, like he's invincible, and pretending to be mysterious. It's so annoying! I was just confused at the time, so please don't hold it against me, sister."

I didn't really know the details, but apparently, it was all my fault. I'm the bad guy. In no time, the six and a half beauties were getting along like old friends. Mood and her group even gave everyone a top-tier item—except me. Why the double standard? In the end, everyone agreed that after the individual tournament, we'd form a guild together, and the champion's quest would be assigned to me. Little Henry even patted me on the shoulder and said, "Boss, I'm really jealous of you. You're going to be in the spotlight again." I was speechless.