Hands braced against the ground, back arching against a mass of wolves, each weighing hundreds of pounds, Han Xiao strained, barely creating a gap. He scrambled away, grabbing a grenade from his waist and shoving it beneath the pack.

"Boom!"

A muffled explosion, shrapnel and fire erupted, the wolves howled, torn and bloodied. Han Xiao's armor was splashed with crimson. With a kip-up, he drew a folding combat knife from his waist, a custom, heavily reinforced model.

Han Xiao darted through the wolves, the dark blade flashing, painting the ground red. The purple-scaled pythons' corrosive venom couldn't keep up. With a flash, he severed a head, the cut clean as a mirror, blood spurting as the headless body convulsed on the ground.

All the beasts swarmed him, but with the speed of his electromagnetic hover shoes, the defense of his magnetic-controlled armor, and his stat advantage, he alone slaughtered the horde. The players were left idle, watching in amazement as Han Xiao went on a rampage.

*Mech users can brawl?*

The players were captivated by Han Xiao's fluid movements. They wanted to criticize, but couldn't deny how cool the melee combat was, shattering their preconceptions of the mech class!

So ranged attacks weren't the only way to be a mech user. Melee was viable, with a distinct style unlike the martial arts classes.

Kuang Dao Nu Jian finally logged in, arriving at the town limits, panting, to witness the beast tide. It was the first time he'd seen Han Xiao in action. In that instant, he felt he'd found his guiding light. This was the fighting style he loved! His ID said it all!

"Choosing to follow Han Xiao was the right decision!" Kuang Dao Nu Jian could barely contain his excitement. He'd made the right choice!

It wasn't just Kuang Dao Nu Jian. Many players who had been swayed by forum opinions and were hesitant to choose the mech class had their interest reignited.

After killing countless wolves and snakes, Han Xiao suddenly had an open field of vision. The remaining wolves retreated, whimpering, and the purple-scaled pythons slithered away, leaving a battlefield of corpses, the soil soaked red.

He caught his breath, wiping blood from his armor. With his stats, these low-level beasts were nothing, but he was down to two-fifths of his stamina.

Mech users rarely engaged in melee. Once in a while, it felt good to be reckless, physically and mentally refreshing. Compared to the one-shot-kill assassin style, this close-quarters combat was a better way to vent.

The Green Valley Town guards came out to clear the battlefield, hauling the carcasses back to town as provisions. Han Xiao refused Ba Sha's renewed invitation and, under the players' excited gazes, returned to his original spot, feigning sleep.

The system notification confirmed the mission was complete. He'd killed over a hundred beasts, earning more than 20,000 experience points. His level was too high compared to the targets, so the experience was significantly reduced, but every little bit helped. Han the Great Technician wasn't picky. The main reason for his intervention was to test his current skills, to get a clear understanding of his physical condition so he could pay attention to details and act according to his capabilities in future battles. Another reason was to showcase the strength of the mech class. He'd noticed the esper players had been shining, while the newbie mech users had faded into the background, which would probably lead to more doubts. He wanted to shift the players' focus through his own performance.

Opening the forums, Han Xiao saw a player had uploaded a recording of the battle, with a clickbait title: "Shocking! Mech Users Can Fight Like This!"

The video showed Han Xiao single-handedly dealing with a beast tide, a striking image. He'd previously focused on sniping, one-shot kills, and deploying turrets and robots to unleash firepower, without showing his individual combat prowess. This time, he'd filled that gap. The comments and replies were mostly amazed.

But he found that a reply at the bottom of the post had been manually pinned. It was Luo Si Men again, with a hostile tone.

"Black Phantom is strong, I won't deny that. But the mech class is trash. Look at the beginning of the video. Espers are the backbone of the fight against the beasts, while the mech users can only take potshots from the side, completely useless. This video was probably recorded by a mech user. Only the mech class, who can only paddle, have the time to do this during a fight...

Also, stop posting Black Phantom's videos. That bastard is trying to trick me into playing mech class again!"

Looking down, the replies were split between support and opposition, and the arguments began.

Han Xiao clicked his tongue, a little annoyed. Luo Si Men was harping on the same point, affecting his business. The players' attention was being diverted by the debate, diminishing the impact of his performance. With his years of experience on the forums, Han Xiao could tell that Luo Si Men was a troll, posting everywhere with a sarcastic tone.

Scratching his head, Han Xiao didn't have a good solution. These debates were inevitable, like the savory vs. sweet tofu pudding argument. As long as there was no censorship, you couldn't stop people from exercising their freedom of speech.

"But I'm an NPC now. Even if showing my strength isn't enough to convince more people, I can't overstep. I can't just run up to the players and shout, 'I'm actually a player'..." Han Xiao sighed.

His NPC template was his secret, and he didn't want to reveal it. From a player's perspective, seeing an NPC shout "I'm a player" would just seem novel and amusing. Few would take it seriously, probably thinking it was an easter egg or a character setting, like Deadpool.

And in some unmentionable dating sims, the simulated characters would say they knew about the player, but who would take it seriously? Those who did had long been corrected by Yang Corporation.

The stench of blood still lingered as Kuang Dao Nu Jian, who'd been observing from the sidelines, ran over. His appearance drew attention from the players. *Galaxy Times* had reported on his movements, and Kuang Dao Nu Jian had become somewhat famous, instantly recognized.

The surrounding players whispered, envious.

"Isn't that the professional player they talked about on the show? He was in the trailer."

"He really does have a special relationship with Black Phantom."

"I want to trigger Black Phantom's hidden storyline."

Kuang Dao Nu Jian scurried over to Han Xiao's side.

Han Xiao valued this potential recruit. He still had some conscience. It was okay to embarrass Kuang Dao Nu Jian in front of the NPCs, but he couldn't bring himself to mess with him in front of the players. After all, Kuang Dao Nu Jian was a professional player, and image was important.

Han Xiao randomly assigned some normal quests, and Kuang Dao Nu Jian looked disappointed.

"Gather resources? How boring. I'd rather dance."

Han Xiao's mouth twitched. Habits were scary.

At that moment, a player walked over, his ID reading "Dao Jian Xiao", and called out, "Kuang Dao?"

Kuang Dao Nu Jian's face fell as soon as he saw this person, and he mumbled, "Oh, it's you. You're playing *Galaxy* too? Why aren't you playing *Knight Errant* anymore?"

"Heh, not challenging enough." Dao Jian Xiao's smile didn't reach his eyes.

Some players recognized Dao Jian Xiao.

"Dao Jian Xiao, isn't that the professional player?"

"I heard he was in the top three in *Knight Errant*, won two championships."

Dao Jian Xiao enjoyed the players' amazement, and his gaze towards Kuang Dao Nu Jian held a hint of contempt.

Kuang Dao Nu Jian used to be a professional *Knight Errant* player too, but he'd been defeated by him many times in competitions, and his fame was far less.

Dao Jian Xiao had seen *Galaxy Times*' praise for Kuang Dao Nu Jian and noticed that his old rival was doing better than him. Feeling a little unbalanced, he deliberately came to provoke him. His greeting was insincere. After a few words, he pretended to be casual and said, "Since we've run into each other, let's have a friendly spar. I'm an esper, what class are you?"

"...Mech."

Kuang Dao Nu Jian hesitated. Although he had Han Xiao's support, the early mech skills weren't suitable for combat. He subconsciously wanted to refuse.

Unexpectedly, Dao Jian Xiao suddenly said, "We've known each other for years. Let's have a friendly spar. You wouldn't refuse such a small request, would you? Or do you look down on me?"

Kuang Dao Nu Jian was speechless. He couldn't refuse those words. There was no need to offend a colleague over such a small matter.

Dao Jian Xiao sneered inwardly. He was trying to corner him, afraid that Kuang Dao Nu Jian would refuse. Kuang Dao Nu Jian had gained some popularity in *Galaxy*. He wanted to hitch a ride.

Once you gained fame, you easily became prey in others' eyes.

If he defeated Kuang Dao Nu Jian, he might be able to steal some of his fame. A professional player who'd been on TV, defeated by him, could also become a bit famous.

Dao Jian Xiao was confident. His awakened esper ability was quite good. The beginner application was to gather earth and stone to form armor on his body, which was defense-oriented and not afraid of guns. He thought his chances of winning were high.

Even if he lost, he could test the difference in strength. Since it was just a friendly spar, no one would die. Dao Jian Xiao thought it was a win-win situation.

And... he looked at Black Phantom, his eyes burning.

"Kuang Dao Nu Jian can trigger hidden storylines, I can try too!"