Chapter 27: Livestream Tips

They waited and waited.

The match that would decide Baimu's future slowly raised its curtain.

Although Lady Ayana, who was suspected to be the team leader, had shown up last night and told them to sleep early and rise early, hardly anyone could actually fall asleep with peace of mind—after gathering at the venue, thirteen out of fifteen people were dozing off.

Of the remaining two, one had fallen asleep standing up, while the other silently checked his own gear—it was the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Baimu.

"How are you so full of energy?" Otsuka was very surprised.

He had tied on a headband today, with crooked shapes drawn on it, seemingly carrying some kind of meaning of resolve.

"Just made good use of a Pokémon move, that's all."

Baimu glanced at him and continued organizing his gear.

Chansey's Sing was practically a god-tier skill for insomniacs—within just a few notes, it could carry you into dreamland and grant you a night of sweet dreams.

"Huh?" Otsuka was a bit confused, but before he could keep asking, Lady Ayana clapped her hands.

"Alright, perk up for me!"

Her voice wasn't especially loud, yet it was enough to wake the dozing crowd; even the one who had fallen asleep standing opened his eyes.

Lady Ayana looked at everyone and said: "A car will come pick you up shortly. Remember, this match only allows winning, not losing. There's no room for bargaining. Is that clear to all of you?"

"Clear!"

A perfectly synchronized response.

After finishing her lecture, she said nothing more, until a hovering bus arrived and lightly honked twice.

Baimu looked over and saw that the driver was actually a burly, broad-shouldered, powerfully built woman whose arms looked as if horses could gallop across them—if not for the obvious rise and fall of her chest, her buzz cut and rather rugged facial lines would really make it hard to tell.

"Hehehe! Little brats! Ready to head off to hell? Hahaha!"

She let out a wild laugh.

Lady Ayana kicked open the car door and stepped up. "I'm counting on you again this time!"

"Relax! My driving skill couldn't be stopped even if ten Pokémon laid an ambush!" the female driver said boldly, honking the horn. "What are you all standing around for!"

Baimu stepped forward at that, and Otsuka followed suit upon seeing this; the rest followed one after another.

The interior of the bus couldn't be called spacious, but seating their fifteen was more than enough. After the last person boarded, the female driver didn't bother waiting for them to find seats and simply started the vehicle.

The inside immediately began shaking violently.

"This time we're solid."

Otsuka, who had barely steadied himself, said quietly: "Last time the Sand Group went out for a match, the one driving us was this lady too. We'll definitely reach the venue safely."

Baimu beside him: "???"

Seeing him completely lost, Otsuka quickly added: "You probably don't know, but in the past there have been cases where participating forces were attacked mid-route—and every single one of them had an accident.

"It got to the point that every time they held this kind of match, forces would set up ambushes along the way. A few years back the boss went out and got a verbal peace pact going, and the situation eased up a bit. But those scumbags from the Hound Gang might very well launch a sneak attack!"

"For real? For you, Otsuka, to call someone scumbags, what kind of trash must they be?"

Baimu feigned shock.

"..."

Otsuka looked like a goose with its throat gripped; his fervent desire to chat vanished entirely. His face showed dejection and embarrassment, and he turned his head away without a word.

Baimu, meanwhile, wore his usual expression, even watching the former with a slight smile.

From thinking bullying the weak was a matter of course, to feeling shame and embarrassment at related mockery, and subconsciously considering such tactics low-class—even if it was just a face-saving reaction, he felt it was a tremendous improvement.

He wasn't the first person Otsuka had bullied, but he hoped he could be the last.

One must accommodate and care for the bullied, but also not let the bullies off the hook, lest more victims appear.

Whether through physical grinding or consciousness reshaping, Baimu was currently tentatively experimenting with the latter, relying on the fact that Otsuka owed him over a million and thus didn't dare turn hostile on a whim.

Mm, the one who owes money is the real boss.

On the other hand, Baimu had long heard of the Hound Gang's reputation. As another second-rate force in Huang Tie Town, the Quicksand Team had long-standing grudges with them, and the two sides had clashed with their Pokémon countless times.

Even now, a mine the Quicksand Team owns was seized from them.

The two sides also refused to back down in their war of public opinion. The Quicksand Team denounced the Hound Gang's members as inhuman scum who wouldn't even spare the labor of ten-year-old children, driving them down into mine shafts to dig.

The Hound Gang, in turn, considered the Quicksand Team a pack of money's running dogs—give them enough cash and they'd wag their tails and beg for mercy like canine Pokémon, even biting their own companions, with no bottom line whatsoever.

Whether any of it was true or not aside, they just cursed each other with whatever was most vicious and called it a day.

Hum—

Amid the low drone, the hovering bus sped into an underground tunnel, and soon re-emerged on the surface. Through the filthy glass stretched a boundless barren desert.

Gray, brown, and crimson were the dominant tones here. Loose rocks, gravel, and massive boulders piled layer upon layer; even drought-resistant plants carried a withered air, eking out a half-dead existence on this land.

At the far end of the line of sight, a few bare cliffs could be seen. The blazing sun hanging overhead made one's throat tighten after just a casual glance, instinctively prompting one to replenish water.

For an ambush in this kind of terrain, you'd have to hide in the sand, right?

Baimu swept his gaze around, one hand gripping a Poké Ball in slight readiness.

At this moment, Lady Ayana, who was sitting at the very front, stood up and said:

"I'll say a few words. Prick up your ears and listen. This match is being livestreamed to the outside world—that means every single thing you do, even going to the bathroom, will be under others' surveillance. But I'm not telling you to restrain yourselves.

"On the contrary, whether it's messing with opponents, helping opponents, or directly attacking the human body—any segment that can interest the audience, you can give it a try. Once you catch the viewers' fancy, you'll receive tips of varying amounts, and the Sand Group only takes seventy percent of those tips."

Livestream tips?

Top donor 666? Otsuka, hurry up and put on a show for the fam?

In a match where both sides want to beat the dog's brains out of each other, adding some dramatic flair can actually make money—this was something Baimu hadn't expected.

Could he rely on putting on flashy acts to earn tips?

No, better to first consider how to safely fight to the end. His strength was far from strong enough to think about how to please the top donor.

"Baimu! Did you hear that? Only seventy percent!"

Otsuka suddenly grabbed his arm excitedly. "Before it was always ninety percent! Now it's only seventy percent! A great chance to make money! You might be able to pay me back soon!"

"Then do you know what the 'audience' likes to watch?" All Baimu doused him with a bucket of cold water. "And compared to tips, what you should pay more attention to is where to go once the match begins."

"Speaking of which, what's the plan you came up with?"

"Plan?" Otsuka froze. "What plan? The two of us charge in one in front and one behind, a hundred meters apart, and if we run into someone we figure out how to wear them down by rotating in. What plan do we need?"

All Baimu: "... A hundred meters?"

Otsuka spread his hands. "That's right. Teaming up is banned, so we just stay about a hundred meters apart. Happening to walk in the same direction doesn't count as teaming up."

"Are you sure that kind of behavior is allowed?"

"I asked people who competed before, and they all did it!" He looked at All Baimu smugly, wearing an expression that said, 'Didn't think of that, did you?'

The latter was about to ask something else when Lady Ayana's gaze suddenly turned their way.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Otsuka reminded me earlier. The rules for this match have been updated. There'll be dedicated Pokémon monitoring to prevent teammates from joining up or setting traps in the early-to-mid stages of the match. They'll tell you how to act, and you just do as they say. If you don't and you get attacked, that's not my problem."

Otsuka's smile froze on his face instantly, and the rest of the group also broke into uneasy murmuring.

The 'audience's' tastes really are picky—they won't even let us rotate in to wear opponents down.

All Baimu patted his shoulder reassuringly, but the 'bad news' wasn't limited to that one. Lady Ayana added another piece of new information about entering the arena.

Namely, the usual staggered departure system was canceled. A 'dedicated person' would randomly drop them somewhere in the arena, entirely at that person's whim. If your luck was bad, it was entirely possible to land with three or four enemies nearby.

The members of the Quicksand Team turned pale with fright at the news.

Someone couldn't help but press if there was any other new information. Lady Ayana thought for a moment, then waved her hand:

"I'll tell you when I remember."

What the—?!

—Do they even want us to win or not?! Such important information and you're only mentioning it now, and not even all at once. How unreliable is that?!

At this point, not just the others—even All Baimu couldn't help sighing along with them.

Having lived his previous life under the constraint of laws, if not for this body's memories, it would truly be hard for him to fit into this environment where the upper-middle ruling class had completely torn off all pretense and ran rampant by virtue of their power.

Truly worthy of being the extreme-ways city where crisis and opportunity coexist, as some merchants put it—Huang Tie Town.

Through the window.

The desert canyon serving as the arena slowly came into view.