Chapter 234 Analysis
Previously, Auditorium Six had just been showing a group of cultivators running the Qixi Festival dungeon instance and not many were that interested since the story was more or less fixed to the theme. Despite the System’s effort to showcase its ability to create a dungeon instance, it was not as flashy or flexible as Jin’s dungeons so the novelty of Qixi wore off when regular customers got used to it.
However, a random arena battle was suddenly being shown and some people started to get interested for Auditorium Six. The main appeal of that mode was that monsters of any dungeon instance could appear to fight against the cultivators. It was a learning platform for many which made a number of customers chase after such dungeon runs to learn more about the monsters.
Especially the Nettoflix alike subscription based video app platform, that Jin created, also dubbed Pandaflix by his customers.
What made Auditorium Six even more crowded was that a gorgeous female cultivator was fighting alongside a hooded male against the werecats. Unlike in a fight featuring a member of the Elite Pandawans, which was the way the regulars such as Bu Dong, Bin Yong, Xiong Da etc. had been dubbed, the werecats were a menace for everyone else and troublesome to fight against.
This became notably obvious when Jin had increased the difficulty for the Bank Heist Raid by providing the werejackals and werecats with new equipment. Jin thought that it was easy enough for most customers but he had forgotten that the customers who complained were the minority while the majority still had had trouble fighting against them.
Some even abandoned the idea of splitting up the team to confront the werejackals and werecats separately. Hence, they took on other strategies such as concentrating on fighting indoors, especially in corridors without any windows. This helped them eliminate the werejackals, without the werecat snipers being able to provide support. Others purposely conducted a crossfire fight against the werecat snipers from the bank to the apartment building they were in.
Overall, Jin was quite happy to see such scenarios taking place as compared to previous fights. The reason being that the cultivators were more active in finding alternative solutions to triumph over the monsters with their new equipment.
Hence, Jin’s dungeons were not just all about brawns but brains were involved as well, allowing the cultivators to experience a full blown experience against these intelligent monsters. It was also a joy for him to see many people posting their achievements on the forum in the Pandamonium App, and start theorycrafting on how to beat the dungeon instance, after the increase in difficulty.
Jin sometimes wondered if he could conduct military or police exercises, to improve teamwork and operations. It could definitely be part of a venture that might earn him big bucks if done right.
“Hey, isn’t that Boss Jin?” A customer who was casually watching the random arena battle fight in the Auditorium Six suddenly shouted out after Jin had pulled his broken hood down to concentrate on the fight against Nyanmi. The sudden shouting spurred the customers to scrutinise a bit and some began to wonder if it was really true or if it was just someone similar in appearance.
A customer near the back of the auditorium jumped up and ran to the Bar Island to check for Pandula Jin but there was no sign of him. The customer immediately came back to tell the rest and the announcers, who were busy at another auditorium were distracted by it.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems that we have received some exciting news, that our very own Boss is fighting in a random arena battle with a friend of his! The broadcast of the dungeon run is currently in Auditorium Six!” Mr Patsu confirmed the existence of his Boss in battle and announced the news.
Every single customer in the five other auditoriums immediately jumped up from their seats just to gather towards Auditorium Six to see Boss Jin in action. “Is it really Boss Jin? Is it really Boss Jin!?!?!” Some of the customers even ran up to the upper floors of the Shop Level One instance to have a better view of the dungeon run in Auditorium Six.
“Why is Boss Jin running a dungeon without telling us?” A customer questioned curiously.
“I too did not notice it was him, and thought it was just a pretty girl and her cultivator friend in the hoodie! I did not expect that guy to be Boss Jin!” Another customer replied.
“I wonder what Boss Jin’s current grade and powers are!” A female customer said excitedly.
“Hmm, but Boss Jin seems to have a bit of difficulty against the werecat Nyanmi.” An astute customer who was assessing the battlefield commented.
“But I remember him defeating Lai Fu, the owner of the General Store Fresh Price, on the streets once!” An old time customer shouted upon hearing the comments.
“He is suppressing his abilities.” A fairly middle aged man spoke which made everyone go silent. Unsurprisingly, it was none other than Mr Know-It-All sitting on a corner of the sofa with his notebook and his bottle of homemade Oolong Tea. Every customer who has been to Jin’s store a few times knew of him. His battle guides in the Pandamonium forums made him noticeably famous in Dungeons and Pandas.
Mr Know-It-All’s words of advice were gold and many used his guides to win against the dungeon instances, but of course he did put a disclaimer that he could only provide an overview on what to expect. Especially in the Bank Heist Raid where the werejackals and werecats were given brand new equipment, changing the entire game plan that Mr Know-It-All previously suggested.
“Why do you think so Master Know-It-All?” A customer respectfully asked.
“I have seen his abilities in action before, so a monster like Nyanmi should not pose any threat against him. Not even with her new weapon and especially not since she seemed to lack the experience in using it, which I found it to be unbelievably real. I am guessing he is suppressing his abilities, presumably because of either of two possible scenarios:
One, he is training himself up against a new unconventional weapon like Nyanmi’s Sniper Whip. At least that was the name which was revealed to me by Boss Jin. She has the capability to create a defensive bubble if an enemy gets too close. It also provides long attacking arcs, which a katana user will definitely have difficulty entering. Not to mention her rifle mode also poses a big problem towards a close range user. Therefore, Jin could probably be using her as a training tool like how you cultivators come here not just to have fun but also to train.” Mr Know-It-All explained his analysis, not minding the nickname used by others to refer to him.
“Two, he does not wish to show himself as someone overly powerful, so that his friend could have a chance of fighting an opponent or Boss Jin is hiding something that he does not wish to reveal to his friend. However, for the latter reason, I think I may be overthinking it a little too much. It most probably is option one.” Mr Know-It-All further clarified his stance and everyone somehow agreed with his opinion and continued watching Jin fight.
“Still, I must say, that friend of his is putting up a good fight against Meomi and her gun knuckles.” A customer shifted the conversation and many continued to agreed.
“Indeed, her fighting style is a bit crude, probably because she had not fought for quite some time, but it shows that she has accumulated plenty of experience from running dungeons in the past.” Mr Know-It-All commented and many nodded their heads.
“ARGGHHH this is so irritating!” Qiu Yue shouted as she barely missed once more against Meomi, with the werecat gracefully dodging the attack. Meomi then aimed her gun knuckle at Qiu Yue and fired another blast of miniature explosion to cause Qiu Yue to lower her guard.
But Qiu Yue was not that gullible as she had already learnt the attack pattern of Meomi. Instead of dodging the knuckle explosive, Qiu Yue forcefully took the hit and charged towards Meomi, who had lowered her defenses due to pride. “Katana Art! Slash of the Red Panda!” A red streak of light passed through Meomi as the onlookers saw Qiu Yue flash past her.
A direct hit was scored and Meomi was injured. However, instead of fighting to the brutal end, Meomi stopped and clapped. “You have passed.” Qiu Yue looked at her a bit surprised, as she breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. What seemed to be a short battle for Meomi was actually the longest battle for Qiu Yue.
The only thing that made her fight to her hardest was because she had noticed Jin was also fighting with all his might against the other werecat. How could she lose to a person with no noticeable cultivation? Throughout the entire fight, Qiu Yue could only sense her own chi but not Jin’s. He was not even pushing out any chi but using just his skills as a fighter to pit himself against the ferocious werecat.
“Why are you looking so worried? Do you want to help him?” Meomi threw her hands up into the air, showing that she would not attack anymore, as she approached Qiu Yue.
“I would like to. No, I would really love to join in on the fun. But I know that if I help him out, he would never figure out his own life.” Qiu Yue said with some guilt in her voice as she continued to look at Jin struggling against the werecat.
“Don’t worry too much, he will make it. He is after all our benefactor.” Meomi walked away and jumped off the floating platform as she replied to Qiu Yue which made her confused.
“Huh? Benefactor?” Qiu Yue suddenly heard a loud clash that temporarily made her forget what she was thinking as she turned her head to focus on the battle.