Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 230 (Patreon)

Chapter 230: Preliminary Selection

After six months of physical training, Luo's physique has drastically changed, now resembling that of a teenager around fifteen or sixteen years old.

However, Buhara's transformation is even more exaggerated. Not only has his height surpassed two meters, but his weight appears to have skyrocketed by at least a hundred kilograms, making him look like an overly fat grizzly bear from a distance.

There were many contestants registering, including quite a few of strong build, so Buhara didn't particularly stand out.

In the long queue, many people glanced at Buhara before quickly shifting their gaze away. Without actual combat, judgments of strength were usually based on physique, and Buhara warranted a bit of attention, but not too much.

"Boss!"

Buhara rushed up to Luo, spreading his arms wide for a bear hug.

"How much weight have you actually gained during this time?" Luo pried Buhara's arms apart, his face expressing speechlessness.

Buhara replied honestly, "Haven't weighed myself."

After speaking, he turned to Sanbica Norton, happily greeting her, then his gaze shifted to Bisky, whom he did not recognize.

Noticing Buhara's attention towards Bisky, Luo took the opportunity to introduce her, "Her name is Bisky, and she's my master."

Hearing Luo's introduction, Buhara was incredibly surprised because Bisky looked even younger than Luo and Sanbica Norton, yet she was Luo's master.

He thought Luo was incredibly powerful, so his master must be even more formidable!

Thinking this, he appeared contemplative.

Bisky also evaluated Buhara, who despite his massive frame covered mostly in fat, did possess considerable hidden strength.

"Big sis!"

After thinking for a while, Buhara finally came up with a suitable address.

"Big sis?" Luo and Sanbica Norton were momentarily stunned.

Bisky twitched the corner of her eye, smiling, "Call me sister."

"Wouldn't that be a bit weird to call you that?" Buhara scratched his head.

Ten minutes later, Buhara had a bump on his head and was following behind Luo and others.

Luo planned to stay in the Heavens Arena for a while until he defeated Antomu.

Buhara knew of Luo's plans and also wanted to register for the competition. His combat experience was similarly lacking, and the Heavens Arena was an excellent place for trials.

Originally, he wanted to register, but the queue was too long, so Luo and the others went looking for food nearby, and once they started, they couldn't stop.

The street and mall restaurants were numerous, and Luo and his group ate from one to another, with each restaurant's cuisine being quite exquisite, satisfying even those accustomed to high-grade ingredients, indicative of the chefs' skills.

With Buhara, a supreme foodie, and a black cat that didn't mind joining, the meal lasted over three hours, and they changed fifteen high-class restaurants.

When they returned to the Heavens Arena, the queue had halved, so Luo and Buhara got in line.

"Buhara, you can eat even more than before," Sanbica Norton observed, looking at Buhara's belly. Today's meal, at least fifty percent of the food went into Buhara's stomach.

"Hehe," Buhara grinned, rubbing his forehead. Since developing his own Nen abilities, he could greatly satisfy his appetite without worrying about his stomach not holding up.

Luo thought about the amount of food Buhara had shown he could consume today. If not for the one billion Jenny that Kenda had given them, which was still largely untouched, he wouldn't be able to afford Buhara's eating habits.

The nearby restaurants were mostly Western-style, expensive, with delicate dishes in small portions. Buhara had eaten the equivalent of about five hundred people's servings, and it seemed he was only seventy to eighty percent full.

Bisky was quite curious about how Buhara's stomach could hold so much food, attributing it to his unusual digestive system.

After about half an hour in line, it was finally Luo and Buhara's turn.

They approached a window where a cute short-haired girl handed them two registration forms, smiling, "Welcome to the Heavens Arena, please fill out these forms."

Luo took the form and glanced at it. The information required wasn't much—just name, gender, age, and a field for years of fighting experience.

"My combat experience is less than two years, right?"

Thinking for a moment, Luo filled in two years for the experience and sixteen for his age, since there was no need for ID verification.

It took less than a minute to complete the form, and then he returned it to the short-haired girl. Buhara also finished soon after and handed his form to her.

The short-haired girl took the forms, briefly scanned

 them, and then rapidly typed on her keyboard. It took her about ten seconds to enter their information into the computer, then she gestured to the right with her hand, smiling, "Please go that way."

Luo looked in the direction the short-haired girl indicated, seeing a long corridor ending with a door.

"Thank you."

After confirming the direction, Luo habitually thanked the short-haired girl, then walked towards the right-side corridor.

Buhara quickly followed, and although Sanbica Norton and Bisky hadn't registered, they could still accompany them.

The short-haired girl watched Luo's retreating back, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. The next second, a burly man impatiently tapped on the counter, urging her to hurry up.

The short-haired girl quickly grabbed a registration form, maintaining a professional smile despite the man's rude demeanor.

Passing through the corridor and through the door, they entered a massive room resembling a sports hall that provided competition venues.

The entrance led directly to the spectator stands, while below were sixteen square platforms.

At that moment, about a thousand people sat in the stands, and on each of the sixteen platforms below, contestants were competing, each platform overseen by a referee dressed in exclusive Heavens Arena uniforms.

Various sounds echoed in the hall, creating a noisy atmosphere.

This was the lowest level of the Heavens Arena, primarily serving as preliminary selection.

Each match lasted three minutes. Winners would advance to higher levels, while losers were eliminated. With sixteen platforms, that meant sixteen contestants were eliminated every three minutes.

"When it's your turn, make it quick and decisive," Bisky glanced at the hormone-fueled chaos inside, seeing the men in the audience yelling frantically, cheering for strangers.

Most of those sitting in the hall were contestants, as this was the lowest level of selection matches, and no spectators were interested in watching such competitions.

Hearing Bisky's words, Luo and Buhara nodded.

They casually found a spot to sit, and people around them frequently glanced over, specifically at Bisky and Sanbica Norton.

The Heavens Arena was a haven for fighters, and most contestants were male, with very few female participants. Hence, the other contestants often stared at Bisky and Sanbica Norton, assuming them to be competitors.

Facing the surrounding gazes, Bisky suddenly remembered her early days at the Heavens Arena, when she was treated like a rare endangered animal, drawing everyone's attention and inevitably subject to some verbal harassment.

It was no wonder, given the rarity of female contestants and considering she felt she was quite cute.

If she still had a need for combat, Bisky would indeed join the fray and register for the matches with Luo.

"You newcomers, no matter how outstanding your performance, can only rise to the fiftieth floor at most," Bisky stated.

"How long will it take to reach the two hundredth floor?" Luo asked.

"After reaching the fiftieth floor, each victory advances you ten floors, and you can only fight two matches a day," Bisky held up two fingers, explaining, "So, it will take you a week to reach the two hundredth floor."

Bisky's conclusion was based on the assumption that Luo and Buhara would win all their matches. Hearing this, the surrounding contestants felt Bisky and her group were quite arrogant, their expressions showing displeasure.

"If we could fight about ten or fifteen matches a day, it would be much simpler," Luo observed the platforms below, noting that participants knowledgeable in Nen were few, mostly ordinary people.

The three-minute match time often failed to determine a winner, leaving the decision in the referee's hands. Matches that could be decided within three minutes were usually one-sided.

After watching for a while, Luo noticed many contestants were severely injured and then carried off by staff.

The competition rules were minimal, with victory achieved by knocking down the opponent, so the contestants spared no effort to achieve this goal.

An hour later, the announcement came: "Please have contestants number 2652 and 2714 proceed to platform F."

Hearing the announcement, Luo, who was almost dozing off, instantly perked up. His number was 2652, and Buhara's was 2653, representing their sequence among the registered contestants.

"I'm going first."

Luo stood up, greeted Bisky and the others, then leisurely walked down.

Every minute, contestants were eliminated, but there were still many people in the spectator stands.

Luo, appearing only about fifteen years old, was among contestants who generally started at the age of twenty, and thus was only seen as a youth.

Most contestants were rough and bulky, with arms thicker than Luo's legs. Many wore tinted glasses, their judgments of strength linked to physique.

At this moment, the contestants in the stands watching Luo head towards the platform did not jeer or mock, but their faces showed disdain.

Luo stepped onto the platform, where contestant number

 2714, a bald man even bulkier than Buhara, had already taken his position. His bushy black beard, untrimmed and wild, resembled a thicket.

Seeing Luo, the bald man squeezed his hands, producing a series of bone-cracking sounds, and sneered, "Looks like my luck has turned, hey kid, this isn't a place for playing house."

Luo ignored him and looked to the referee, waiting for the start of the match.

The contestants sitting in the stands, waiting for their turns, began to notice the situation on platform F, because of the significant difference in physique between Luo and the bald man, and Luo's youthful appearance, which his height couldn't conceal.

"Big guy, you're in luck!"

"Knock that clueless brat off the platform with one punch!"

"Finish him off!"

Noticing platform F, the eager contestants began to incite the bald man to cripple Luo.

The referee ignored the noise from the crowd, stating the usual: "In the first-level matches, we will judge your capabilities based on the outcome. Please try to demonstrate your strength within three minutes."

As soon as he finished speaking, the referee, without delay, raised his hand and announced, "So... begin!"

The bald man, unable to wait any longer, hoped to send Luo flying with one punch, which would significantly boost his evaluation, especially with his previous records in the Heavens Arena, potentially allowing him to directly advance a hundred floors.

"Ha ha, today I'll teach you a lesson."

The bald man quickly approached Luo, laughing maniacally as he swung a full-strength punch.

He had no intention of holding back, as showing strong abilities in the preliminary selection could influence the referee's final judgment.

Watching the bald man's full-strength punch, Luo merely raised his hand and effortlessly caught it, his body not even moving an inch.

Luo hadn't used Nen, relying purely on physical strength to catch the punch.

"Huh?"

With his full-strength punch easily caught, the bald man was stunned. The next second, he was sent flying.

Luo swung his arm, tossing the bald man into the air.

The previously mocking contestants watched this scene, speechlessly shutting their mouths.

They saw the bald man screaming as he was thrown to the entrance of the spectator stands, five floors up. His bulky body heavily crashed against the wall, creating a booming sound as dust quickly spread.

After tossing the bald man, Luo looked towards the referee, who silently stared at the distant entrance engulfed in dust.

After a moment, the referee withdrew his gaze, took out a device resembling a card swiper, and pressed several keys, producing beeping sounds.

Beep!

A paper emerged from the top of the device, and the referee tore it off and handed it to Luo, saying, "2652, you go to the fiftieth floor."

After assigning the floor number, contestants would be identified by their original names rather than just a number.

"Ok."

Luo took the paper, jumped down from the platform, and headed towards the spectator stands.

At this moment, the earlier disdainful contestants' views on Luo underwent a complete reversal.

Luo still ignored these glances, returned to his original seat, and waved the paper in his hand, saying, "Really, it's the fiftieth floor."

He had intentionally thrown the bald man that far to create a more explosive effect, but as Bisky mentioned, regardless of performance, newcomers could only be placed up to the fiftieth floor, then climb ten floors at a time.

"Only on the two hundredth floor will there be opponents worthy of challenge," Bisky looked utterly bored, finding the matches below devoid of any entertainment value, essentially just barbaric brawling.

"Yeah." Luo nodded.

Contestants above the two hundredth floor would use Nen, and only there would true distinctions of strength be evident. Although there were some skillful individuals among the lower-level contestants, without knowledge of Nen, their abilities amounted to nothing.

"Please have contestants number 2653 and 2722 proceed to platform A," the broadcast announced on schedule.

"It's my turn."

Buhara stood up.

"Finish it quickly," Luo said.

Buhara nodded emphatically, then ran to the platform.

Watching Buhara step onto the platform, Luo turned to the quietly watching Sanbica Norton and said, "I think you could also register to gain some combat experience, which is always beneficial."

"I don't like it," Sanbica Norton replied softly.

"Alright."

Luo then looked towards platform A, only to see Buhara had already knocked his opponent off the platform, ending the fight, and was also assigned to the fiftieth floor.

Buhara, holding the paper, returned to the spectator stands.

"After you reach the fiftieth floor, give the paper to the receptionist. She will introduce you to

 the information below the two hundredth floor. Sanbica Norton and I won't follow; it's too boring."

Bisky, uninterested in continuing to stay, mentioned that only the battles above the two hundredth floor were worth watching, and since they weren't contestants, they needed to book a hotel room nearby.

"Okay."

Luo responded.

Then, the four split up, Luo and Buhara heading to the elevator, while Bisky and Sanbica Norton left the Heavens Arena.

Outside, the long queue had already shrunk significantly, but people still joined.

At least four thousand contestants registered daily, a normal occurrence for the Heavens Arena.

"During this time, your Nen abilities have improved significantly, but your combat experience is still weaker than Luo's," Bisky suddenly said as they walked towards the hotel.

Hearing Bisky's words, Sanbica Norton remained silent.

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