"Eat! Eat! Eat!"
"I'll eat until I drop!"
"More!"
"Gah!"
Following March 7th's suggestion, Pei Guang decided to play fair this ti, avoiding any kind of cheating. With her joining in and the two other contestants refusing to be intimidated, Pei Guang's fighting spirit was fully ignited.
However, he seed to have forgotten one critical thing: while so gas allow endless eating, many others include a satiety chanic. And given that this fully imrsive world replicated reality to such a degree, natural physiological reactions were inevitable.
Pei Guang, fully convinced of his impending victory, began devouring buns at an alarming rate. While most participants ate one bun at a ti, Pei Guang stuffed three at once into his mouth.
The buns, each the size of a clenched fist, were no match for Pei Guang's resolve. He shoveled them in as though his life depended on it. To him, players don't need cheats to win—they just need sheer determination!
Watching Pei Guang go all out, Stelle was equally fired up, joining him in consuming at an insane pace.
March 7th, anwhile, didn't push herself too hard. She knew her appetite couldn't compare to these two, but she enjoyed participating for the fun of it.
But as she calmly worked through her portion, she noticed sothing was off about her companions. No matter how unpredictable Pei Guang and Stelle could be, she hadn't expected anything to go wrong with simply eating.
What happened next completely shattered her composure. Both Pei Guang and Stelle stopped moving, their eyes losing focus.
The other two contestants in the eating contest stared wide-eyed at them, utterly dumbfounded.
There's a saying: the fearless fear those who have nothing to lose. But this was the first ti they had witnessed soone literally eating themselves into a stupor during a Competitive Eater Championship.
Yes, Pei Guang and Stelle had pushed their bodies to the point of activating a self-protective chanism—passing out. Even in their unconscious state, though, they stubbornly clutched the buns, trying to stuff more into their mouths.
"Ah Guang! Stelle! Stop it! Don't eat anymore!" March 7th cried in a panic.
…
Half an hour later, aboard the Astral Express, Hiko listened to March 7th recount their bizarre experience. Glancing at Pei Guang and Stelle lying unconscious in their beds, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"So you're saying they passed out from overeating during a Competitive Eater Championship? Hmm… that's very on-brand for them."
Hiko, who had always regarded the pair with a mixture of care and concern, wasn't entirely surprised. Although they had proven themselves capable of fighting mara-struck soldiers and even taking on a Lord Ravager, their antics often bordered on the absurd.
"They're ridiculous, honestly," Hiko added with a smirk. "I wouldn't be surprised if that Lord Ravager regrets ever crossing paths with Ah Guang after seeing this."
Elsewhere, Phantylia, bound and immobilized, watched the incident unfold on a small screen. For the first ti, she began questioning what kind of being she had chosen to oppose.
Soone capable of besting her in battle—only to later pass out from eating too many buns?
It was embarrassing. In fact, it was beyond embarrassing.
Yet as she brooded, she consoled herself with one thought: at least she wasn't the most humiliated one here. That dubious honor belonged to the other Emanator, who had been beaten down and dragged into captivity through a virtual connection.
The other Emanator also had similar thoughts. "Sure, I was captured through the network, but at least I fought back," it mused. "Phantylia? What a disgrace. Taken down and almost cooked by soone who faints from overeating? Pathetic."
As the scene transitions, Pei Guang and Stelle, both possessing remarkable constitutions, were administered digestion-aiding dicine by Hiko after returning to the Astral Express. They were then sent to their respective rooms to rest.
After resting for about half a day, Pei Guang finally woke up.
Opening his eyes to the familiar ceiling, he blinked a few tis. "A familiar ceiling… Did I really… eat myself unconscious?"
Pei Guang glanced at the system log and confird that his overindulgence had indeed caused him to faint.
Still, it wasn't all bad. At the very least, the system notified him that he'd earned a new achievent:
"Utter Defeat."
Yes, he and Stelle had both lost the Competitive Eater Championship. March 7th, noticing sothing was wrong, had quickly transported both of them back to the Astral Express for treatnt.
But Pei Guang wasn't particularly upset about the loss, mainly because Stelle didn't win either!
With that thought, his mood instantly brightened. Glancing at the minimap, he noticed that Stelle was still resting in her room, seemingly fast asleep.
It made sense: after playing through the Simulation Universe and exhausting themselves, a deep slumber was only natural.
With nothing pressing to do, he decided to check his ssages and organize his inventory.
As soon as he opened his phone, he saw a ssage from Asta:
Asta: "Ah Guang~ Your star system is all set! Here are the coordinates. You can teleport there directly using your Star Destroyer ship. Also, the mobile construction vehicle has been completed! We had the materials here at the space station, so I had it built for you~"
Reading the coordinates, Pei Guang couldn't contain his excitent.
"It looks like this main story trigger has unlocked a ho-building system as a bonus. Let's see…"
He noted that his teleportation cooldown had already refreshed since his last use.
Checking on Stelle and March 7th's status, both seed soundly asleep in their rooms. Pei Guang figured that if they were going to join him, he'd need to prepare a little first.
With that thought, he replied to Asta: "Got it, thanks! I'll head there now, grab the vehicle, and start setting things up on the planet."
Asta's reply ca almost instantly: "Go ahead~ I'll leave a little surprise for you there!"
If Asta was preparing a surprise, Pei Guang decided he'd prepare one for Stelle and March 7th as well.
March 7th often ntioned not having a place to stay long-term. Pei Guang thought, Why not build one for her? Once the main story ended and free exploration began, if she regained her mories and needed a place to settle, this planet could serve as her ho.
Building an entire planet's infrastructure would naturally require everyone's help, but for now, Pei Guang figured he could at least scout the area and set up a base. Once Stelle and March 7th woke up, they could teleport to him and help out.
With that plan in mind, he wasted no ti.
A whole star system with nurous habitable planets awaited him. On a monitor, it might not seem too impressive, but here, in this imrsive reality, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to see it firsthand.
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