"Good morning to all our viewers tuning in to our show. As for those who aren’t watching, whatever I say about them won’t be heard by them, so let’s save the insults. It’s their loss to miss such a fantastic program."
At this point, the trendy-dressed host suddenly burst into laughter and flicked a small flower with his prosthetic right index finger, "Sorry, just kidding. Actually, this episode isn’t that fantastic, and if anyone plans to keep watching, I can only apologize in advance and give you a little red flower. Hey, let’s get back to the point and do a proper introduction—Hello, I’m your dearest host, ’Chatterbox’ Rom, here to conduct pre-competition interviews for the bi-annual Hunter Skills Contest as usual.
"The control room should have switched to our feed by now (whispering), right? As you can see, sitting next to me is the last contestant of this year’s competition. He’s participating on his own. Send in your comments to show our new friend your enthusiasm, and welcome the newcomer from Crimson No.2—Yan Luo!"
As his name was announced to a tight drumroll, Yan Luo’s expression didn’t change by even a pixel. He calmly looked at the camera, gave a slight nod, and casually greeted, "Hello."
The dark-skinned host spread his hands, shrugged, and pulled a wry face, saying, "Alright, it seems our new friend is a bit shy, but that’s okay. I will liven up the mood to show you what real chatterbox is all about!"
The host looked towards Yan Luo, flashed a grin, and asked, "Yan Luo, it’s said you haven’t been a hunter for even half a year. As a rookie, why did you want to participate in the Hunter Skills Contest? You must know your opponents are all seniors with at least three years of experience."
Yan Luo nodded and said, "I indeed haven’t been a hunter for half a year. As for why I’m entering the contest, the reason is simple—I can’t stand those clowns’ performances. Their over-the-top desire to perform is an insult to the hunter profession. Real hunters who battle demons in the Abyss aren’t like them at all."
These shocking words almost twisted the host’s expressions.
How could he dare to say such a thing?!
The host roared inwardly, using considerable effort to maintain his facial composure.
"Provocation, I mean provocation!"
The host racked his brain, trying to smooth over Yan Luo’s words, and with animated gestures, laughed dryly, "Oh, your provocation is fantastic! Even I couldn’t think of a more flavorful taunt than this."
Yan Luo looked towards the host and seriously said, "I’m telling the truth."
"Of course, everyone knows that’s the truth," the host laughed boisterously, pointing both index fingers at Yan Luo, with a small flower dangling from one finger, "’Yan Luo Never Lies,’ my friend, I know!"
Before Yan Luo could retort, the host swiftly changed the topic, "Alright, folks, it seems Chatterbox Rom’s predictions weren’t accurate enough. This interview’s turning out to be quite explosive. I can already see people cursing Yan Luo in the comments. Honestly, be careful not to trigger any banned words; otherwise, your curses won’t get through, and you’ll feel even worse."
Yan Luo glanced at the host, unsure whether he wanted to quell tensions or stir the pot further.
"Serious questions aside for now," the host rubbed his hands eagerly, as if he hadn’t just said anything, and switched topics, "Everyone can see that Yan Luo is quite handsome and tall and strong—a person like you must be very popular. Can you share with the audience your past love stories?"
"None," Yan Luo ended the topic.
The host froze for a moment, hesitantly saying, "What did you just say? I think I didn’t hear it clearly... None?"
Yan Luo repeated his previous answer, "None."
"Oh my God!" The host exclaimed in shock, "I didn’t expect our Yan Luo to be such an innocent boy! I suspect there’ll be a lot of people wanting to get Yan Luo’s contact information once this episode airs. Hey, you folks behind the camera, don’t you dare leak his contact details, or he’ll be in big trouble."
This round of banter made the atmosphere much more relaxed. The host then asked, "Yan Luo, can you tell us how you usually hunt?"
"Find the demon’s tracks, follow the trail and kill the demon, or encounter the demon by chance and then kill it," Yan Luo succinctly summarized Abyssal hunting.
The host was not satisfied with this answer, as the show finally had a real hunter on, not those boasting actors. He needed Yan Luo to reveal more to enhance the show’s depth.
Under the host’s persistent questioning, Yan Luo had to provide some personal experiences as examples.
But it was still the same routine.
Find the demon’s tracks, follow the trail, and kill the demon.
The host, however, seized the opportunity, "Hey, folks, you should all have heard, right? According to the information we found, Yan Luo has the nicknames ’Mobile Library’ and ’Walking Database’ on Crimson No.2. He knows every kind of demon information in the Abyss, which is his greatest weapon. Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier, Yan Luo has an extremely low magic power adaptability and can’t perform engravings. That means that from the time he became a hunter to now, he has remained an ordinary human, using the same strength as us to battle demons!
"His strength is incredibly formidable. Despite being an ordinary human, he has independently killed deadly-level demons twice and once commanded the killing of a deadly-level demon. The number of dangerous-level demons that have died at his hands is countless! He’s a legend who deserves to be known by everyone!"
The first time the host read this information from Yan Luo’s file, he couldn’t help but feel amazed, followed by an indescribable complex emotion.
Yan Luo is an ordinary person, just like him—an ordinary person.
Compared to those engravers with special abilities, Yan Luo, relying only on his intelligence and long-practiced combat skills, could stand against those terrifying demons, a substantial encouragement to most people in the world.
Many have magic power adaptability, and people like Yan Luo, with extremely low adaptability, are rare.
But due to the high costs of engravings, compatibility, and other reasons, the majority of the world’s population remains ordinary people.
The audience attending the Hunter Skills Contest is almost entirely ordinary people, not hunters.
Once the host pointed out Yan Luo’s unique traits, it almost exploded the scene.
All the audience sending comments were amazed that an ordinary person could fight demons?
As predicted by the upper echelons of the Hunter’s Guild, Yan Luo’s identity was a breakthrough point that immediately captured the attention of many.
The criticism towards Yan Luo has ceased or rather been overwhelmed by more comments.
People felt puzzled, curious, and excited.
The audience was eager to hear more stories about Yan Luo, preferably narrated by himself.
The host, pleased with the audience’s reaction, turned to Yan Luo and asked, "Yan Luo, in this competition, what position do you expect to achieve?"
"First," Yan Luo again used a brief answer.
Surprised, the host raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, "I didn’t expect you to have so much confidence in yourself, aiming for first place on your first try. Do you even know who your opponents are? They are renowned hunters!"
"No matter who they are, I have to get first place."
Yan Luo said calmly yet firmly, "With me here, others can only compete for second!"