“Let’s go!” Ryan Carter waved his hand, and the two of them hurriedly dragged the leader up from the ground. The man clutched his right eye with one hand, his left eye tightly shut, his whole body trembling in pain, and stammered, “Go... hurry, help me go...” The other two guys were stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped forward to support him as they left. As for the guy who had been guarding the entrance to the alley earlier, he had already disappeared long ago.

　　Frank, who had been hiding at the alley entrance watching the live action, was dumbfounded. It wasn’t until the group had run out of sight that he snapped out of it, rushed into the alley, and looked at Ryan Carter in astonishment, saying, “Teacher, you really know kung fu?”

　　“Of course, I’ve practiced kung fu since I was a child,” Ryan Carter replied, his words no different from what he usually said at school, not even a change in tone or expression.

　　Ryan Carter did indeed know kung fu.

　　He was born into a family of martial artists and had practiced martial arts since childhood. The family members each had their own careers on the outside, but within the family, they all shared a common goal: to pass on and promote Chinese martial arts. But despite what they said, Ryan Carter felt that, aside from himself and his father, no one really cared about this anymore.

　　His uncles and older male relatives still had some skills, but in his own generation, there wasn’t even a single opponent he could spar with. Not only that, but for Ryan Carter, who had devoted himself to martial arts since childhood, they were full of disdain: “What era is it now? The sky is full of airplanes, the streets are full of computers—kung fu? Can kung fu put food on the table?”

　　Ryan Carter wanted to prove them wrong, but the result was only deeper contempt.

　　Reality was harsh. In this era, it really was hard to make a living with kung fu.

　　Ryan Carter tried out the sports world, which seemed like the most natural place to use his skills. Some events he failed at because he couldn’t master the rules and kept breaking them—like raising his leg too high in soccer, or charging into people while dribbling in basketball. Some events, like chess, were simply not suited for kung fu at all. And for others, like swimming and diving, Ryan Carter had an innate disadvantage—he couldn’t swim.

　　Even in martial arts events themselves, Ryan Carter couldn’t make it.

　　The kung fu Ryan Carter practiced focused on self-cultivation and combat skills. This gave him no advantage in performance-based martial arts events, and as for the combat events where he could really shine, his father strictly forbade him from participating.

　　“We practice martial arts to train ourselves and push the limits of the human body, not to be aggressive and combative!” his father said earnestly.

　　“If you break through the limits of the human body, isn’t it just to knock down your opponent more effectively?” Ryan Carter asked, puzzled.

　　“You’re wrong. If you want to knock someone down, the best way is to use a gun!” his father said.

　　“A gun?”

　　His father nodded solemnly. “Yes, a gun!”

　　“But...”

　　Before Ryan Carter could finish, his father responded with his fists. That’s how it is in a martial arts family! If you can’t explain it with words, you settle it with your fists. That year, his father was still in good shape, his skills above Ryan Carter’s, and of course, Ryan Carter couldn’t really fight back against his father, so naturally he ended up getting beaten badly. That day was the very day Ryan Carter came to interview at Yulin...

　　In the end, after being eliminated from every sports event, Ryan Carter barely managed to stay in the sports world—if being a PE teacher counts.

　　And because the scene of his father beating him up outside the school gate was caught on camera and spread around, whenever Ryan Carter tried to promote kung fu at Yulin, he was labeled shameless.

　　Is it really so hard for kung fu to survive in today’s society? Ryan Carter was deeply saddened. Now, he rarely attended family gatherings. In the past, the older generation saw Ryan Carter as a role model for upholding the family’s martial arts tradition and used him as an example for his peers. But now, seeing his peers all dressed smartly and doing well for themselves, while Ryan Carter had fallen so low as to become a PE teacher, even the elders began to hesitate. Except for Ryan Carter’s father, no one still believed that Ryan Carter was the most promising one.

　　And his father’s greatest insistence was still that “kung fu is not for being aggressive and combative.”

　　“I absolutely forbid you from using kung fu to hurt anyone!” his father said firmly.

　　“Not even bad people?” Ryan Carter asked.

　　“No!” his father replied with certainty. “Bad people will be punished by the police and the law!”

　　“Then what’s the point of kung fu?” Ryan Carter was troubled. He hated that he couldn’t see through everything like his father, and was always tangled up about what kung fu was really for.

Chapter 3: Testing His Skills

　　A parallel world! That day in class, when he heard a few boys talking about this soon-to-be-released holographic online game, Ryan Carter suddenly found hope.

　　He knew what holographic technology meant. Since he couldn’t fully use his skills in real life, in the game, there should be no restrictions, right? That very day, Ryan Carter bought a full set of holographic simulation equipment and picked his class: Fighter. “A warrior who flexibly uses every part of their body in combat.” Just from this class description, Ryan Carter was convinced it was the perfect fit for him.

　　Unfortunately, because of a little mix-up by his student Frank, he ended up with the weakest, least suitable class for close combat in the game: Mage.