Nora raised her brows and looked at the man.
He was still smiling at her ingratiatingly.
An amused Nora asked, “You’re acquainted with Big Sister?”
The man nodded. “Not only am I acquainted with Big Sister, but I also know the Irvin School of Martial Arts’ Big Brother! Do you want to meet him?”
Nora: “…”
If not for his previous statement, she might have been fooled by him.
Her lips curled into a smile and she asked, “How are you going to let me meet Big Sister?”
The man enthusiastically explained, “We’ve invited Big Sister over. The Quinn School of Martial Arts has announced that Big Sister will be participating in the tournament, and will take back what belongs to them—the champion title. Since Big Sister is here, we would definitely do our best as a host.”
He looked around, lowered his voice, and pointed to a room nearby. He said, “Big Sister is resting in there! Give me another 3,000 dollars and I’ll let you take a photo with her.”
Nora: “!!”
“It’s not entirely impossible if you also want an autograph…”
Seeing the man going on and on, Nora was about to refuse when she suddenly heard a voice laced with suppressed excitement come behind her. The voice said, “I’ll do it!”
Nora: “?”
She looked behind her to see a fair-skinned, black-clad teenager wearing a black mask walk over.
The young man was a little skinny. He was currently walking over in a hurry as if he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to meet Big Sister if he was too late. He grabbed the man’s arm and said, “If you take me to Big Sister, I’ll give you 15,000!”
The man who was talking to Nora ceaselessly fell quiet after hearing what he said.
After a momentary pause, he said with a smile, “No problem! We have to agree on something first, though—you’re not allowed to talk about the martial arts tournament when you meet Big Sister… Also, Big Sister doesn’t like people getting too close to her. She also doesn’t like talking very much.”
“Then what does she like?” The teen asked.
The man casually made up a lie. “She likes to sleep.”
The teen: “…”
Nora: “…”
The man paid no more attention to Nora. Instead, he led the boy forward and asked, “Have you transferred me the money?”
“Yeah, I have. Where’s Big Sister?”
“…”
So, where did that silly but rich guy actually come from?
Nora shook her head. She turned the corner and walked toward the other side.
She pushed a heavy door open. As soon as she opened it just a crack, the noise from inside reached her. It was so deafening that it made her temples throb.
After she pushed open the big metal door a little and slipped in, the door slowly closed on its own.
It was only then that Nora finally got a clear look at the situation.
It was no exaggeration to say that the place was jam-packed with people. In front of her were a sea of heads with their backs to her. It was hard to tell what kind of material the hall was made out of, but it had excellent sound insulation.
No one would ever think that the basement of an unremarkable office building in New York would holding a martial arts tournament.
The lights were so bright it seemed like daylight.
There were buffet tables with a lot of food around, but just like in tourist destinations, the prices were much more expensive than usual places outside.
Nora looked around and found that there were eight fighting rings in the arena. Matches were in progress in all eight rings at the moment.
While she was looking around, a staff member suddenly came over and asked, “Are you here to spectate, or to compete?”
Nora showed him her wristband and answered, “I’m here to compete.”
The staff member nodded immediately. “Okay, follow me backstage, all the contestants prep there.”
“…Oh,” Nora said.
She followed the staff member and weaved through the crowd. Soon, they arrived backstage. The staff member entered her contestant number into the computer system and said, “You have two matches tonight. The first one is at seven o’clock. After the first match, you’ll have some time to rest before the second one starts. Will you be resting for an hour or?”
Even through the mask, the staff member could tell that she was a woman, and one with a graceful figure at that. Thus, he was exceptionally nice to her.
“… Two minutes, I suppose?” replied Nora.
She just needed to wash her hands after the match, right?
The staff member,:3″??”
After the momentary surprise, he said, “You shouldn’t be overconfident of yourself, young woman!”
Nora asked, “Who will I be fighting?”
Seeing how she was persisting, the staff member didn’t make things difficult for her. He looked at the match schedule and replied, “You’ll be fighting someone named Tired Reno for your first match. He’s in the renovation industry now, but he was also a martial artist in the past.”
“…Oh,” Nora said.
As it turned out, everyone was so casual in their aliases.
She asked, “What about the second match?”
“It’s also a newcomer. Their name is Milk Lover.”
Nora: “…”
She suddenly asked, “How do I get a match with the Big Brother of the Irvin School of Martial Arts?”
As soon as she said that, the staff member was dumbfounded. “How can a little newcomer like you possibly be able to challenge the biggest boss right away?”
Nora was a little confused. “What do you mean?”
The staff member frowned. “Didn’t you look at the tournament rules?”
Nora shook her head.
The staff member held his forehead. But on account of the fact that she was just a young girl, he patiently explained, “All the contestants are split into classes. There are six classes in total, and they go from A to F. People like you who have only just registered belong to Class A. You can only progress to Class B after you win ten matches. After winning another ten matches at Class B, you’ll then progress to Class C, and so on and so forth. By the time you reach Class F, there’ll probably be fewer than twenty people left. Big Brother was the champion ten years ago, so he starts from Class F right away. Those in the second to tenth places ten years ago start from Class E… Also, people are not allowed to challenge anyone beyond their class.”
Nora: “???”
What the f*ck? That meant that she had to fight sixty matches first if she wanted to fight the Irvin School of Martial Arts’ Big Brother?
What a waste of her sleeping time!
Nora was very frustrated, terribly so.
Seeing that she had stopped talking, the staff member advised, “You can eat something to cushion your stomach first, so that you won’t be out of energy when your match starts. Food is free of charge for all contestants. All the best to you.”
“… Alright,” said Nora.
She left backstage and walked over to the dining section at the front.
She had taken a look at the match schedule just now. One was only allowed to fight a maximum of two matches a day. Additionally, victory was determined by taking off the opponent’s mask. They didn’t advocate seriously wounding opponents. One was expected to exercise a martial arts practitioner’s integrity and virtue!
At a rate like that, this meant that it would take at least a month for her to meet the Big Brother of the Irvin School of Martial Arts?
That was too long!
Nora was very displeased. She wanted to eat a few pieces of cake, but when she walked over, she suddenly spotted a familiar-looking tall figure carrying an adorable little girl in the distance. Although they were both wearing masks, how would she possibly not recognize her own child?
They were… Justin and Cherry?
Her brows knitted together.. As soon as she walked over, she saw a staff member suddenly approaching Justin. He called out, “Big Brother…”