Screams erupted across the arena.
In the distance, the ghost girl had already slaughtered numerous students.
Among the fleeing students, many had suddenly exploded due to the infection, plunging the arena into chaos.
Nearby, Cui Xu emerged from the shattered wall. A leaf swirled on a branch, and before it could fall, Cui Xu swiftly reached Xie He, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him to the ground.
Thankfully, he had the advantage of being a mole.
In the split second before his brains splattered on the ground, Xie He had completely transformed into a ghost, cracking the ground as he hit it.
Xie He felt his eardrums pounding: "..."
No wonder the game notification said the ghost faction's strength had increased to 800.
If it weren't for the ability to transform into a ghost, he probably would have been killed instantly.
At that moment, Xie He was wondering why the ghost girl, who seemed so easy to deal with, was worth 800 points? Even higher than the level of the mutated mistress from the previous dungeon. Now he knew.
───
The other players around were shocked, but they understood: Xie He, Cui Xu, and Song Gua were either the culprits or the mole.
Xie He and Cui Xu had started fighting amongst themselves, and the trees, walls, and ground near them were shattered—their fighting prowess was unmatched by any of the players present.
The screams and explosions in the distance continued to echo. With less than half a day left before the antibody expired, many students on the playground began to explode one by one, and the players' situation was also dire.
Old Zhang lifted a corner of his shirt to look. The red spots, like layers of forest dyed black, were about to spread to his neck, and the entire area was a dark reddish-black.
—This meant he was about to explode.
Old Zhang was stammering, his face glistening with cold sweat in the sunlight: "What to do, what to do..."
"Don't panic, finding him is the priority." Zhang Langlang used her tracking card and pulled Song Gua, who was hiding in the bushes, out of the water. She stared at Song Gua warily and asked, "What are you doing hiding here?!"
Zhang Langlang saw Song Gua's hands in his pockets and quickly pulled them out, knocking away the card Song Gua had been clutching—a talisman card.
Zhang Langlang: "A sneak attack?"
"None of your business." Song Gua straightened his askew collar and spat out angrily.
Zhang Langlang suddenly noticed Song Gua's smooth skin and swiftly lifted his shirt.
Song Gua: "You!!"
Song Gua quickly covered himself.
Zhang Langlang: "What are you being so coy about, aren't you a man? I'm checking if you've been infected!"
After lifting his shirt, everyone saw that Song Gua's skin was smooth, without a single trace of redness.
He wasn't infected with the ZA virus.
Or rather, his virus had been completely cured.
Zhang Langlang narrowed her eyes, looking at him warily: "What did you do??"
Song Gua's face darkened. "How should I know?"
Zhang Langlang looked towards Xie He and shouted, "Xie He, quickly check if Cui Xu has any red spots!"
Xie He had just thrown Cui Xu away heavily. He went over, squatted down beside Cui Xu, and examined him.
Lifting Cui Xu's clothes, they saw no signs of viral infection on his body.
This indicates that the mole and the ghost can cure this virus.
And his initial presence was most likely due to the absence of an internal mole.
While Xie He was still stunned, Cui Xu had already thrown a punch at his face, the force so great that it twisted Xie He's entire face.
Xie He twisted his neck and turned his head back with a "click, click," casually wiping the blood from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand and gently licking it away.
Xie He kicked Cui Xu, who was clinging to him, into the wall in the distance! "Crack—" The wall shattered instantly.
Suddenly, being a ghost felt so good.
It was like playing Super Mario; with the ghost's perspective activated, he could see his own and the enemy's health bars.
His own health bar, however, was dropping incredibly fast.
The chat jumped out in alarm: [Is this never to end?!]
[No, no, no, look at Cui Xu, he's clearly much stronger than Xie He, okay?]
[Cui Xu used to be a Platinum-level player. This guy's reactions are much slower, ugh. This guy's doomed!]
───
"Tie him up first." On the other side, Zhang Langlang had already tied Song Gua up tightly.
"Why!" Song Gua shouted. "Why are you willing to side with Xie He, yet you're targeting me like this?"
"He didn't attack us, but you—" Zhang Langlang continued, "those three players were killed by your talisman, weren't they?"
Song Gua's talisman inflicted wounds like knife cuts, and the three players clearly had knife-like marks on their bodies.
Song Gua, stung by her words, turned his head and muttered in a low voice, "How could I dare kill them? The game rules state that players can't kill players, unless I wanted to die."
"I only fought them briefly, and in the end, Cui Xu killed them."
"What about Cui Xu? Did he also join the traitor's camp?" Zhang Langlang asked.
Seeing that Song Gua didn't react, she tightened the rope binding him, narrowing her eyes dangerously, and uttered a soft "Hmm?"
Song Gua's face turned pale, and he stammered, "Cui... Cui Xu... he's long dead!! That day I used the teleportation card to enter the archives..."
That day in the archives—
The air still seemed to carry the scent of dust, and the room was dimly lit. Ghost Song Gua had killed the female player who had come to search the files; crimson blood gushed across the floor.
Cui Xu never expected this scene. He knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, pleading, "My lord. Please, let me join the traitor's camp, I will—"
But before he could finish, ghost Song Gua swept his sleeve and killed him, blood splattering across Song Gua's face.
Song Gua: "W-why?!"
"The more players I kill, the stronger I become—" He bent down, his cold fingers wiping the blood from Song Gua's face, a smile playing on his lips. "Don't look so scared. I won't kill you. I am you."
The more players killed, the stronger the ghost becomes.
Song Gua could almost foresee their future path—a path inevitably stained with blood.
His tears flowed down ghost Song Gua's fingers, tasting sweet and metallic.
In his line of sight, ghost Song Gua slowly removed Cui Xu's face and placed it on himself. The man, backlit, was tall and aloof, like a wolf in the dead of winter, inspiring fear and causing him to huddle in a corner, shivering.
...
On the playground.
Even with the sunlight on them, Zhang Langlang's eyes darkened, and the other players present were deathly pale.
The opponent was too powerful, a severe challenge even for the players...
Cui Xu was now an opponent they couldn't withstand, and Xie He was clearly losing ground.
"What are you waiting for! Save me!" Song Gua shouted, interrupting their thoughts, "We're on the same side now."
The three dead players suddenly twitched their fingertips. Then their backs straightened abruptly, "Click, click." Their twisted fingers and surrounding structures began to stretch strangely. Then, their heads returned to normal.
Zhang Langlang thought to herself, "Damn it!"
She hadn't expected Song Gua to start causing trouble.
"Bang—!!"
At the same time, Xie He was thrown aside by Cui Xu, slamming heavily onto the ground very close to Zhang Langlang and the others.
Several of Xie He's ribs were broken, protruding from his skin, and he curled up in a heap.
He braced himself on his arms. Just as he tried to sit up, he coughed uncontrollably, and as he bent over slightly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, which dripped onto the ground.
Cui Xu stood in front of him, looking down at him defiantly, his voice taunting: "Are you really that weak, Xie He? Get up! Keep going!"
Xie He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips haphazardly with the back of his hand.
Because he was a ghost, his bones began to heal, and his injuries gradually began to regenerate.
Zhang Langlang, ignoring Song Gua's situation, anxiously said, "Xie He, how about I transfer my power-enhancing card to you first? Even though it might still be no match for Cui Xu, it's better than you stubbornly trying to withstand it like this..."
"I'll win even without your card," Xie He casually licked his back teeth, his eyes narrowing. "I have a way."
Zhang Langlang: "?"
Although the boy was thin, she felt as if there was an endless, ruthless power within him.
Even in tattered clothes, he would still live a vibrant life.
Xie He silently pinched the [Beer Bottle Cap Card], conjuring a beer bottle cap.
Xie He looked at her against the light: "Zhang Langlang, do you trust me?"
Zhang Langlang nodded decisively.
Then, Xie He used the bottle cap to cleanly slit her neck. Zhang Langlang collapsed.
"Old Zhang..." Xie He looked at Old Zhang.
Old Zhang shook his head frantically, shouting, "I don't believe it!!"
"Okay." Xie He had already slit his throat.
Old Zhang clutched his neck and collapsed.
Finally, a girl trembled as she looked at Xie He.
Xie He: "No need, we still need..."
The girl's eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Xie He: "..." One more needs to be left.
Cui Xu: "???" Unable to figure out what Xie He was up to, he quickly grabbed Xie He by the collar.
The man and the ghost continued their fight, leaving rubble everywhere.
───
In the game lobby, the lights from the dome shone down, and countless light spheres flew high in the sky, refracting a dazzling array of colors.
On countless screens in the lobby, scenes from different dungeons were being projected. Players were either huddled in corners trembling, or suddenly blood splattered on the screen, like tomatoes exploding instantly, juice flying everywhere!
The audience was eating foie gras and sipping red wine, watching the scenes unfold before them.
In the upper right corner of the "Extra Students in the Graduation Photo" instance, the remaining numbers of each faction were clearly displayed.
The number of the good faction members was rapidly decreasing.
The viewers watched, furiously typing on their keyboards: [Hahaha, this instance is doomed! Look at the good faction, their numbers are all decreasing. They're doomed!!]
[Good faction remaining: 6, 5... 3, 2, 1! Hahaha, it's over! Only 1 left!!]
The system notification stated: [Due to the imbalance in the proportion of players on the three sides, the good faction's abilities are now being strengthened, and their main quest completion rate is being increased.]
The chat exclaimed in surprise: [Wait? What's that?!]
The next second, the number of good faction members began to rise rapidly.
[+1, +2... +2003...]
The number of good faction players increased rapidly. After passing through the traitor's camp, the red marks on their bodies disappeared, and the students who had previously been faceless regained their true appearances.
This was an inspiration Xie He had received from Cui Xu.
Since killing these people could passively turn them into traitors, they should kill Zhang Langlang and the other players first.
Once they became traitors and their red marks disappeared, they could then be made to join the remaining girl in the last good camp.
"Cough cough cough—"
Unfortunately, Xie He was ragged and covered in wounds from the fight, his throat throbbing with a metallic taste of blood several times.
Cui Xu continued to relentlessly attack his weaknesses.
Under the brutal fighting style of both sides, both were severely injured. Xie He was no match for Cui Xu, who was already a Platinum-level player, and was at a disadvantage.
He was quickly thrown into a pile of rubble by Cui Xu, a piece of steel piercing through his straight calf.
The viewers in the live chat were all holding their breath: [Waaaaah, baby, hug!]
[This fighting style is too cruel! I can't bear to watch!]
[As expected, the real ghost is more powerful!! Ghost Song Gua is too strong, the players are doomed this time!]
Xie He swayed slightly as he stood up, casually pulling out the steel bar that had pierced his body; the wound healed rapidly.
Then, seemingly unintentionally, he pointed at Cui Xu, his tone calm: "I want his head to do a spinning ballet."
As soon as he finished speaking, a card in his pocket spun in an arc.
"Bang!!" Cui Xu's expression was one of utter astonishment. The ghost head spun rapidly, crashing to the ground with a thud and rolling away!
The comments section erupted with excitement: [!!!!!!]
[???? Cards can be used like this??]
[??? Holy crap! Is this going to be a plot twist?! I almost thought making Song Gua do a ballet was the ultimate feat, this is amazing, bro, I'm cheering for you!]
[Kill them!!]
[This is infuriating!!! Get it back!!!]
[Speechless. I don't know what they were so excited about. They can't kill ghosts anyway, it's just a waste of time.]
Song Gua, watching all this from the corner, turned deathly pale and trembled uncontrollably.
Xie He rubbed his slightly sore shoulders, finally feeling his strength returning.
Ghost Song Gua's head was gone; the wound would take a while to heal. Zhang Langlang instinctively bound it tightly.
"As expected, you still love to lie." Xie He walked towards Song Gua, looking down at him, narrowing his eyes. "Ghost Song Gua must have told you he would help you kill me, right—"
Song Gua curled up to the side, his pupils constricted, his whole body trembling.
Xie He casually lifted his chin and continued, "But he'll take your face first."
Song Gua: "!!!"
Xie He, he guessed it all!
Actually, Song Gua lied. That day—
After killing the female player, ghost Song Gua was extremely dissatisfied with the new face, which is why he began slaughtering Cui Xu.
"Aaaaaaahh..."
“So, you killed those three players with a talisman when they weren’t looking,” Xie He said calmly on the playground.
“—I’ve been thinking about it. Why did you do that?”
Xie He gently scratched his brow, his tone calm: “You found a clue, didn’t you? You wanted those three players to join the mole’s camp, but you changed your methods, using talismans to refine them into puppets, trying to make them truly obey you—”
“Those three players are really dead, killed by your hand. Became your stiff, lifeless puppets.”
Song Gua listened to Xie He’s calm words, gritting his teeth as his whole body began to tremble.
At this moment, black bubbles began to gurgle from the severed head of ghost Song Gua, and a faceless head emerged from within.
Xie He threw Song Gua in front of it.
A sense of foreboding rose in Song Gua’s heart, and his whole body trembled.
Xie He stood lazily to the side, dragging out his words to ghost Song Gua, "This is the face that suits you best, why don't you try it?"
Ghost Song Gua's faceless head turned.
With a "click," it aimed at Song Gua!
Song Gua's face turned completely pale. His legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.
Comments
Post a Comment