Trinh Duc's punch whistled through the air, so fast you could even hear it cutting the wind.
Trinh Duc's sudden move also startled the other contestants.
"This guy is really brave, daring to attack without any prior calculation," a nearby male contestant with curly hair commented.
But it was a good thing. He hadn't dared to make a move until now because he couldn't probe Lam Minh's true strength. This Trinh Duc guy daring to attack would help the others understand Lam Minh better.
The stands were now suppressed by an invisible atmosphere; everyone fell silent before Trinh Duc's attack.
They were all waiting, waiting for the performance of the one who had yet to fight in the arena.
Even the MC held his breath at this punch.
The punch was so fast that Lam Minh couldn't even see it; his face could only feel the incoming gale force.
With no time to react much, he activated his Wind Walking at full power.
Collecting 144 proficiency points for this technique made him even more skilled in it than Thai Vi was. To be precise, Thai Vi's proficiency in this technique was only around 80 points.
His body felt as light as a feather after activating the technique. Before the punch could reach his handsome face, in that split second, he had shifted his body 0.3 meter to the left.
His right hand channeled the Crippling Wind Fist.
The kinetic force from 362 blood essence points made the veins in his arm bulge.
He threw a punch in response to Trinh Duc, tracing along Trinh Duc's punching arm and landing squarely on his opponent's ribs.
Thump! A sound rang out, and Trinh Duc's body was knocked backward by the powerful force of the punch.
Trinh Duc felt an intense pain from his intercostal muscles shoot to his brain, causing him to grimace in pain.
Just as Trinh Duc's back fell backward and he was sent flying, he managed to twist his body in mid-air and unleash a kick towards Lam Minh's head.
More than 600 blood essence points exploded. Before Lam Minh could understand what was happening, he was struck by a devastating blow to his temple.
Boom!
Lam Minh was hit by the kick. He flew several meters, crashed into the arena's light cage, and was knocked unconscious.
His tongue lolled out to one side.
…
The entire hall was silent for a few seconds.
Then for a few dozen seconds.
Trinh Duc was stunned.
The other contestants were stunned.
The entire student body was stunned.
"Hahaha, so he was just a paper tiger," a student sitting closest to the arena couldn't help but clutch his stomach and laugh hysterically.
Immediately, laughter erupted everywhere. "Oh my god, I'm dying of laughter. He put on such a big show, and in the end, he couldn't even take one kick."
Le Dao Khuc's eyes widened, and he couldn't hold back his laughter either. "This is the Lam Minh I know. I thought he'd been possessed for a second, hahaha."
To Quyen watched Lam Minh get teleported out of the arena, sprawled out, and covered her face in embarrassment. "Oh my god, I thought he was so strong," she thought to herself and turned to her friend with a look of resignation.
The MC finally composed himself. "Another victory for our contestant Trinh Duc! Let's give him a round of applause!"
After the MC's words, applause rang out everywhere, along with countless jeers aimed at Lam Minh.
The main gist was: "A good-for-nothing who likes to show off is really just a paper tiger."
It was predicted that after today, the hottest topic in the entire school would be: "School's laughingstock, Lam Minh of class 11A10. Thought he was a master lost in a flock of sheep, but no, this master couldn't even take one kick."
Lam Minh was teleported to a position outside the arena.
A few rather beautiful female classmates who had long had a crush on Lam Minh stood up from the stands, intending to go down and help him up and take care of him.
But just as the group of girls moved with sympathetic looks on their faces, they suddenly saw a figure run as fast as a rabbit, leap from the stands, and rush straight to Lam Minh's position.
He hoisted him up and ran away, disappearing from the hall before everyone's astonished eyes.
That person was Le Dao Khuc. He couldn't stand seeing his friend being laughed at by so many people.
The best thing to do right now was to grab him and run as fast as possible to escape the gossip.
"You dog, weak yet still showing off. Let's see where you'll show your face after today," Le cursed as he carried Lam Minh and ran.
….
Twenty minutes after the "powerhouse" was instantly annihilated.
At a clinic near the school.
"He's just stunned from a heavy blow to the temple. The CT scan shows no internal injuries or bleeding. You can go home. The CT scan fee is 900,000 VND, please pay."
Le scanned the QR code to pay, fuming. He glanced at Lam Minh, who was giggling on the examination bed.
"Let's go! Are you planning to lie there and play the victim?" Le continued to curse at Lam Minh.
He was truly pissed off at Lam Minh. If you know you're not as good as others, then stay home and cultivate in secret.
Why stick your head out to compete just to get beaten like that? So frustrating.
But Le was also a little happy because his friend had perhaps become much braver and stronger than before.
"Help me up, I'm aching all over," Lam Minh said in an extremely weak voice.
Le clicked his tongue, walked over, and carried his friend on his back out of the clinic.
The two figures slowly moved away, disappearing into the dark night street.
…
7:13 PM.
At the home of Mr. Dao and Mrs. Mai.
Lam Minh was currently eating as if he were starving. In front of him, Mr. Dao and Mrs. Mai were staring at him, not understanding why their son had such a strangely hearty appetite today.
This was his fifth bowl of rice.
"Big brother, have some beef," his little sister Lam An said, picking up a piece of beef for her brother.
She was also quite embarrassed at the moment.
Just a while ago, she had received a message from a classmate.
It said that the 11th-grade platform defense competition today was spectacular.
Curious, Lam An had looked it up.
It was indeed spectacular. Today's competition wasn't exciting because of the platform defenders or the challengers.
Today, all 8 platform defenders had successfully maintained their positions in the special class.
But a hot topic her friend had sent her was the real centerpiece of the story.
The title of the topic currently going viral in the Tran Hung Dao High School group was: "One Kick, Deciding the Fate of a Powerhouse or a Weakling?"
The article was more enticing than thousands of views, with thousands of likes and countless comments mocking a "show-off" contestant from today.
And she discovered it was her brother.
Quite confusing.
Right now, she didn't know how to comfort her big brother, or whether she should tell this story to her parents.
"Everyone, eat. Why do you keep staring at me?" Lam Minh said, seeing everyone just watching him eat instead of eating themselves.
Looking at the plate of beef in front of him, he was quite moved.
No one else was eating it.
Beef was too expensive, and his parents had saved up to buy it for him to eat for nourishment, hoping he would get into the Combat University later.
His eyes reddened slightly. He used his chopsticks to put beef into everyone's bowls. "Eat, Mom, Dad, little sister. I get a lot of nutritional supplements at school, so I'm not lacking in these things."
As soon as his sister heard him say this, her eyes welled up, and she bowed her head to eat, hiding her tears. "Big brother is having such a hard time. He endures so much hardship at school, yet he still lies when he comes home to put everyone at ease."
"Hey, son, eat up. You need strength to study and train to become someone," Mrs. Mai said, taking the piece of beef from her bowl and putting it back in Lam Minh's.
"Ah, Mom, Dad, this afternoon I met sister Nguyen Trang. She boasted to me that she's going to apply to the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy this year," the little girl Lam An recounted the story with an innocent air.
(PS: The Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy is one of the top medical schools in Vietnam. Getting in requires near-perfect scores and is extremely difficult.)
Hearing this, Mr. Dao smiled. "Oh, you mean Fourth Uncle's daughter Trang, right? I heard she's a very good student. Isn't she in the special knowledge class 11A03 at your school, Minh?"
"That's right, Dad, but I don't interact with her much. Her level is different from ours, Dad," Lam Minh replied.
Of course, he knew Nguyen Trang. A top student in the same grade as To Quyen and also his cousin. The daughter of his Fourth Uncle, his mother's younger brother.
When they were young, the two were very close.
But as they grew up, with the pressure from academics, achievements, and family opinions, a distance grew between them, and they gradually stopped talking to each other.
Sometimes they would bump into each other at school, but it would only be a slight nod as a greeting.
How sad.
"Yeah, that girl is following the path of knowledge and is so talented. I'm really happy for her," Mrs. Mai also chimed in.
Ding! Dong!
Just then, the doorbell of the Lam family's house rang.
"Who could that be? Is someone visiting us today?" Mrs. Mai looked at Mr. Dao and went to open the door.
Talk about speaking of the devil.
Speak, and they shall appear.
Standing at the door was Fourth Uncle's family, including the girl Nguyen Trang who was just being mentioned in their conversation.
"Fourth Uncle, Fourth Auntie," Lam Minh and Lam An greeted politely in unison.
"Ah, I came to visit you today, sister. I brought some meat for your family. I feel so sorry for you, thinking about your hardships. You probably don't get to eat much meat all year round, do you?" Fourth Uncle said, walking into the house without waiting, holding about 100 grams of beef in his hand.
Lam Minh's whole family became awkward.
It was always tiring when Fourth Uncle's family visited.
They always looked down on the poverty of Mr. Dao's family.
All their gifts were very ordinary, but they always used them as a way to mock Lam Minh's family.
And after belittling his family for a while, they would start boasting about their own.
How Trang was a brilliant student, which was true, and everyone found that normal.
But for example, "Our family just went on a one-week trip to Europe, oh the beautiful scenery, oh the luxury."
Meaning, Fourth Uncle's family always found ways to show their superiority.
And what about the listeners? Extremely uncomfortable and helpless.
"Are you having dinner, sister? Take this beef and stir-fry it for Lam Minh. I heard he got knocked out at school today," Fourth Uncle said with a disdainful look at Lam Minh.
The atmosphere was suddenly suppressed after this statement from their dear uncle…