Absolute Choice
chapter-76

When Shi Xiaobai heard IAmNoPig's angry words, he took a few moments before he realized what had gone on. He was immediately left at a loss whether to laugh or to cry. His game nickname, "IChooseDogLeading", was an old meme on Earth. DogLeading was "GO DIE" in English, so "IChooseDogLeading" meant "I Choose Death", and did not mean choosing to be led by dogs!

Shi Xiaobai could not be bothered to explain it to "IAmNoPig". Having sat in the corner, just closing his eyes for a moment made him doze back to sleep. He was indeed overly exhausted.

Shi Xiaobai stood up and stretched his body, afraid that he would fall back to sleep if he sat back down.

A strange atmosphere filled the room. The other six people did not know that Shi Xiaobai's in-game nickname was "IChooseDogLeading". Other than Xiao Xiao having guessed the truth to the matter, the other five people were fooled by IAmNoPig's silly talk. Summarizing everything Shi Xiaobai had done the moment he entered the room, they theorized that Shi Xiaobai was an asocial person.

The two-man team naturally did not want to have anything to do with him, while the three-man team scoffed at the idea of recruiting him. As long as Shi Xiaobai did not join the two-man team, it was unlikely to cause them any harm. Having a greater number of people per team was not necessarily the best idea. If a six-person team targeted a single person, they could only assure that they would be in the top six. As for the three-man team, they were currently the strongest faction present. This meant that they had the chance of ensuring themselves to be in the top three.

Hence, in the remaining few minutes, it became a scene that even the two commentators found uninteresting.

Princess Xiao Xiao stood with her back against a wall in silence, giving off a lonely but beautiful imagery.

Shi Xiaobai was similarly leaning against the wall, but his body was moving around oddly, as though he was an irritated ant.

As for the other two teams, they distanced themselves from each other. They began huddling together to discuss their combat tactics and strategy. The seven-person free-for-all clearly became a four faction match with a 3–2–1–1 line up.

In the commentator stands, Biscuit said, "According to my years of experience, the three-man team should be the strongest amongst the four factions. The two-man team should be of comparable strength with Princess Xiao Xiao. As for contestant DogLeading, he is temporarily last in place. However, we know that the beginning of a free-for-all does not determine the ending. The strongest faction might be ganged up against by an alliance formed between the weaker factions. And the weakest contestant, DogLeading, might not be the first to be eliminated. As long as he knows how to hide himself and keep a comfortable distance, he might be able to push himself to the top."

Biscuit's experienced commentary was filled with highlights. What was a baffling negotiation round made the seven-person free-for-all immediately turn clear. What would have easily made the audience lose interest had its interest reignited by Biscuit's commentary. Maybe the other four people would gang up to get rid of the three-man team first? Of course, this was all thanks to the humorous misunderstanding from IChooseDogLeading's nickname. If not, the three-man team would have become a four-man team, and that would indeed have made the competition become even more boring.

Sweets said with a smile, "Dad Biscuit's analysis is quite on point. You still have it in you despite your age. Hehe. Then, it's time for the second round established by Princess Xiao Xiao to stir up something. The second round—declaration before battle—begins right now!"

As if it was to make the commentary appear more effective, Biscuit did not seem to know of the rules prior to this. He said with surprise, "Declaration before the battle? That's interesting. Could the three-man team say something unbridled as a result of a moment of arrogance? It could lead the other four to form an alliance even faster. As a solo contestant, what declaration would Princess Xiao Xiao give to declare her position? What would contestant DogLeading say before the battle to reduce his presence?"

A short commentary from Biscuit highlighted several points of interest. It immediately made what seemed like an uninteresting second round turn exciting.

Sweets was secretly impressed by her father as she took over and said with a giggle, "After the tiny disturbance from before, Contestant DogLeading is probably going to find it difficult to lower his sense of presence."

Biscuit clicked his tongue and said, "That's true. The two-man team is probably the faction that wants to eliminate contestant DogLeading as soon as possible. If I were contestant DogLeading, I would first take advantage of the pre-battle declaration to explain the misunderstanding. Then I would admit that I'm at the third level of the Psionic Mortal Realm, so as to reduce my level of threat. And most importantly of all, it has to alienate the teams from each other without showing the slightest trace. By causing a rift between the three-man team and the two-man team, it will lower his presence to a minimum. It will be a difficult task for contestant DogLeading to accomplish all of this in a short pre-battle declaration!"

Sweets immediately said with her eyes widened as she joked, "Dad Biscuit, it looks like your beer belly is not filled with beer, but with nefarious wisdom!"

The audience immediately burst into laughter. They gave Biscuit a big thumbs up. They had not placed themselves in DogLeading's shoes at the third level of the Psionic Mortal Realm. The method offered by Biscuit of lowering one's presence under such a situation was indeed ingenious.

Under the two good commentators' guidance, what was a simple and boring pre-battle declaration became something anticipated by all.

...

However, the pre-battle declaration was still extremely boring, especially in the awkward situation of a seven-person free-for-all. Without absolute victory in their grasps, no one placed themselves on a pedestal during the pre-battle declaration.

The first pre-battle declaration was the deep and meaningful "everyone do your best" from Princess Xiao Xiao that concluded immediately. There were many ways to interpret these four words, but in such a situation, it appeared to be a perfunctory pleasantry.

The two-man team kept an even lower profile.

WindWithoutTrace said calmly, "Competition second, friendship first."

IAmNoPig was not good with words, so he spoke candidly, "Everyone, don't target me."

The three-man team was as Biscuit had guessed. In order to prevent the other four people from forming a four-man alliance, they did not dare to appear arrogant despite having a small advantage.

ThatTenderOneShot's declaration was very tender, "Regardless of the outcome, we should not have any bad blood amongst us."

GunfireInTheWorld, who was usually hot tempered, held it in and said calmly, "I will do my best, I hope everyone does not hold back."

DualBladesToTraverseTheWorld was a silent person to begin with, so he said in a deadpan manner, "Let the match be interesting."

After all these superficial pre-battle declarations were said, the viewing hall had turned silent. What sort of pre-battle declaration was this? It was clearly them vying to be the politest person.

The two commentators were also slightly embarrassed. Although they had expected such a boring scene, the way these people kept a low profile was too much. Biscuit sharply sensed the annoyance in the audience, and simultaneously realized that the last person was IChooseDogLeading.

Hence, with a flash of brilliance, he immediately said, "Everyone, the main show is here! After the first six people made such low-profile declarations, everyone's presence is extremely low. This makes it even more difficult for contestant DogLeading to lower his presence. What would he do?"

Indeed, the audience immediately turned alert. The only thing worth watching now was how IChooseDogLeading would ease the situation with his pre-battle declaration. He had to explain the misunderstanding and cause strife, while lowering his own presence. This was fricking difficult!

What sort of pre-battle declaration would IChooseDogLeading deliver?

...

What sort of pre-battle declaration would Shi Xiaobai deliver?

In fact, Shi Xiaobai was also pondering over the same question. From the moment this round began, he had been constantly wrecking his sleepy and heavy brain over what to say.

He had participated in the seven-person free-for-all in the hopes for the six people to attack him. He wanted the immense pressure to allow him to make a breakthrough. Hence, everything depended on the precondition that he attracted the aggression of the six people.

And the pre-battle declaration was a Heaven-given opportunity!

What sort of pre-battle declaration would allow the six people to maniacally fight him?

After a long period of thinking, only when it was finally his turn to give the declaration did he suddenly have an idea. He figured out the best speech possible.

He took a step forward but unlike others, he did not face the camera Instead, he turned to face the six contestants, opened up his arms and raised his head high.

Shi Xiaobai said softly, "A weakling hides his sharpness in a beautiful scabbard, while a true mighty figure will bravely pull out a rusty pig slaughtering knife."

A baffling speech that seemed to sound extremely profound caused the other six contestants to frown. It also caused the two commentators to ponder and the audience to be puzzled. However, Shi Xiaobai did not stop after delivering his strange pre-battle declaration, nor did he wait for their reaction.

He opened his mouth once again.

Then, a shocking speech that made everyone stare aghast—something that the six contestants would never forget and something that was recorded in the "Classics of Shi Xiaobai" in the future—was slowly delivered.

"Don't misunderstand. It's not personal. What I'm saying is everyone present is a spicy chicken (homophone to trash)!" Green has the connotations of being a cuckold in Chinese, especially in 'wearing a green hat'.