Tan Xiao scratched his hair, looking slightly dazed, and walked up onto the stage.

The clown stood at the center of the stage and beckoned to him. “Come, come, come~ Sir, please stand here beside me.”

Tan Xiao obediently walked over.

The clown said, “Now, hit me.”

Tan Xiao: “…Huh?”

“Please hit me!” The clown tilted its face up with a broad smile and leaned in closer. “Go on, raise your fist and give me one hit — this is a special situation, so even if you attack the inspector, you won’t be penalized!”

Tan Xiao hesitantly raised his fist.

The clown in front of him was truly very short. Tan Xiao looked it up and down, unsure how to even begin.

The clown urged him on: “Hit me! Hit me~! Anywhere is fine!”

“Since you’re asking so nicely…” Tan Xiao narrowed his eyes with serious focus. “Then I’ll just… Ha!”

He landed a punch right on top of the clown’s head!

The clown’s head was instantly launched into the air!

Tan Xiao jumped in shock. “What the — I didn’t even hit that hard!”

Everyone in the audience seats leapt to their feet in alarm.

The clown’s head was connected to its body by a long spring, which sent it flying seven or eight meters before the body was pulled and toppled over too! That round, pudgy body rolled across the stage, looking uncannily like a ball, while the flat round head bounced up and down on the spring!

But it wasn’t actually a ball, and after rolling two or three times, it finally came to a stop. The clown lay motionless on the ground.

Just as everyone was staring in stunned confusion, a large glowing number appeared above the clown’s body: 10——

Then 10 became 9.

Then 8.

Counting down like a timer: 7, 6, 5, 4…

Until it reached 0!

Ding!

The score on Tan Xiao’s holographic display changed to 1 point!

The clown immediately scrambled up, its spring neck retracting, and laughed heartily: “Well? Well?! Pretty clear and intuitive, isn’t it?”

Its body swayed back and forth like a roly-poly toy, regained its balance, and its voice continued with enthusiasm: “As long as you knock your opponent down and they don’t get up within 10 seconds, that’s a win! Reward: 1 point!”

Silence.

…Just 1 point.

Tan Xiao, curious, asked: “Winning beats one person earns 1 point — doesn’t that mean you’d need to beat 30 people just to reach the passing score?!”

What kind of concept was “winning 30 consecutive matches”?

The sheer physical exertion alone would kill someone!

The clown said with a smile, “Yes, yes — winning 1 earns 1 point. But losing 1 doesn’t necessarily cost 1 point.

Players at 0 points lose no points when defeated.

Players within 10 points lose 1 point.

Players within 20 points lose 5 points.

Players within 30 points lose 10 points.

Players within 50 points lose 20 points!”

The higher the score, the more is lost upon defeat — and the greater the risk.

The audience was speechless with shock. This kind of crushing, exploitative combat style was almost as brutal as a gladiatorial arena! If someone never reached the passing score, would they just have to keep brawling here forever? Never able to leave?!

“No time limit on the whole arena — fight until everyone’s happy!” The clown waved its short, thin arms vigorously at the players. “What’s wrong, everyone? Smile! Smile happily! ——

A sewer was pondering a difficult math problem down in the depths, thought about it for a long time without finding the answer, and muttered in frustration, ‘I can’t figure it out!’ And then it got blocked up!”

Everyone was at a complete loss for words.

This inspector really, truly enjoyed making people laugh. And the way it went about it was… extremely blunt.

Tan Xiao: “Hahahahahaha it got blocked up!”

Everyone: “……”

How in the world could anyone laugh at that???

The clown was thoroughly pleased with Tan Xiao’s reaction, gave a quick wave of its little stubby hand, and Tan Xiao’s score jumped another 5 points — now 6!

“Ladies and gentlemen! Please don’t forget — this is the Joyful Brawl Arena. Joyful. Brawl. Joyful. Brawl. Brawling earns points. Being joyful… also earns points.”

The clown narrowed its eyes as it spoke, its smile slowly widening.

“The inspector holds special point-granting authority. Points granted range from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5. I trust everyone understands now what they should be doing?

Then… let the game begin.”