# LUO YU WILL DEFINITELY SAVE HER
Even though Sun Heng had been wary of the monsters from the start, he never expected them to move this fast. One never does, you know; it is the nature of surprises to be surprising, and these monsters had made a special study of it. Using the eerie fog of the Small Woods as cover, they roamed freely through the trees—and the Player Team was completely annihilated.
Sun Heng stared at the familiar faces surrounding him, at the malice twisting every expression he once knew. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, which is a thing that happens to brave men as well as cowards, though the cowards are usually more honest about it.
He had underestimated them. He'd thought that since this was only the third day of the Game, the monsters' movements would still be restricted. He never imagined that in the blink of an eye—and blinks, as everyone knows, can be very quick indeed—he'd be the only normal person left on the Player Team.
"This world's difficulty is just too high," Sun Heng muttered, his voice tight as a drum-skin. "The monsters have the element of surprise; the players are out in the open. Worst of all, monsters can kill a player, take their form, and infiltrate the group piece by piece—until the entire team is devoured from within."
Sun Heng had never encountered anything like this in his previous Games. He had seen many things, you understand, but not this particular thing. There is always something new in the world, and it is almost never pleasant.
Truth be told, if Luo Yu hadn't spotted the pattern, he might have gone to his death never suspecting the people beside him. Ah… Luo Yu. He wondered if she was still alive. It is a strange thing to wonder about someone when you are about to die yourself, but the human mind is a strange thing altogether.
"Intruder. Your time is up."
At Fatty's command, the monsters swarmed.
Though they still wore human skin, they no longer bothered to keep up appearances. Their movements were all four-limbed, twisted, crawling—grotesque and horrifying. One might say they moved like animals, but that would be unfair to animals, who generally have better manners.
Sun Heng braced himself and swung his weapon to fight back. In this crisis, he had no time left to worry about anyone else's life or death. A man fighting for his own life cannot spare a thought for others, and no one blames him for it.
At the edge of the Swamp.
Yang Tian gasped as she struggled to push herself up from the carpet of dead leaves. Her entire body was now covered in blue markings, making her look no different from the withered foliage around her. She had become, in a word, a part of the scenery—and not the pretty part.
She no longer felt the itching. In its place was the gnawing of burrowing insects—an ache seeping through every inch of her skin. It is a terrible thing to be eaten from the inside out, and Yang Tian was learning just how terrible.
The blue curse hadn't let her go. After eating through her outer layers, it pushed deeper—into her blood, her nerves, her organs.
Yang Tian could feel herself fading. Rotting.
Just like this rotting swamp.
"No, no, no, no…"
She touched her withered cheeks, felt the ruin of her once-beautiful face. One's face, you see, is often one's fortune, and Yang Tian's fortune had run out.
Even without a mirror, she knew from the rough texture—she had become a shriveled, hideous old woman. If that was the case, even if she survived… No. She couldn't think like that. To think like that was to give up, and giving up is a luxury that only the already-lost can afford.
Yang Tian forced herself upright through the agony.
She had to live. She had to survive this Game! Once she got back to the Player Center, maybe her injuries could still be treated! Perhaps, she told herself, this was the sort of thing that could be reversed. Perhaps. One lives on perhapses, or one does not live at all.
For that one faint, fragile chance, she pulled herself together.
The Swamp was still shrouded in fog. The wind rustled the leaves with a whispery rattle—and besides that, silence.
She was alone.
Sun Heng had abandoned her.
The thought dimmed her for a moment, but she let it go. She wasn't surprised. Or rather—from the very first time she'd thrown in with Sun Heng, she'd known she'd be left behind eventually. Some people are the sort who stay, and some are the sort who leave; Yang Tian had always known which sort Sun Heng was.
That was fine. She still had the items he'd given her.
Yang Tian reached inside her clothes and pulled out something like a compass. This was the Escape Compass—when you were trapped, the needle pointed toward the safest direction. A useful thing, compasses, if you trust them. But trusting a compass, like trusting a person, is always a gamble.
With this, she could make it out of the Small Woods.
Then it was just a matter of surviving the full seven days—or escaping along with everyone else if another player found a way to break the Game. One way or another, she told herself. One way or another.
She staggered forward, using tree trunks for support. Trees, at least, do not abandon you. They merely stand there, indifferent, which is a different thing entirely.
She didn't run into any other players along the way—or any monsters, for that matter. One might have thought this a good thing, but Yang Tian found it unsettling. When you are in danger, the absence of danger can be its own kind of danger.
She felt forgotten. Abandoned. Like a drifting ghost in these woods. The thought gave her the eerie feeling that she'd be trapped here forever. Her body ached worse and worse. Her vision was blurring, too. There is a certain point at which pain becomes so constant that you forget what it was like not to feel it; Yang Tian had reached that point.
"You don't have to come with me, you know," said a voice from ahead.
"Sorry, but I need to keep the Student safe," replied another. "And honestly, sneaking you in was already a breach of duty. I can't just let you wander around by yourself."
"Tch…"
Yang Tian heard voices. Human voices.
Players? Allies?
Her heart leaped. She hurried forward a few steps—but her frail, withered body caught on a vine, and she crashed heavily to the ground. It is a sad thing when one's own body betrays one, but it happens to us all eventually.
Through the gaps between a few tall trees, she saw them—walking side by side on a relatively level path. A graceful woman and a man in a black uniform.
That was—
Luo Yu. Luo Yu!
Even through the blur, she recognized her instantly. That beautiful hair. That cool, aloof demeanor. That clueless, deliberately obedient act… How could she forget?
She had been reduced to this hideous, half-dead thing—but Luo Yu was still there, leaning sweetly against some man, smiling… strolling through this deadly forest like it was a picnic!
Damn it!
Why hadn't the strange white fog swallowed her up? Why hadn't she stumbled into a man-eating patch of swamp? There is no justice in the world, Yang Tian reflected bitterly, and if there were, it would not be on her side.
Envy. Resentment. Rage.
If she could still move, Yang Tian would have lunged at Luo Yu and sunk her teeth into her neck—and maybe, just maybe, she could infect her too. Make her suffer the same slow decay. Watch her shrivel and rot. Misery, as they say, loves company, and Yang Tian was feeling particularly miserable.
She wondered if Luo Yu would still look so composed then…
Yang Tian imagined Luo Yu screaming and crying—and her cracked lips curled into a grin, her blue, wrinkled face twisting into something like a witch's smirk. It was not a pleasant expression, but it was the only one she had left.
Yes… she'd follow them. Bite down on Luo Yu's neck…
Lost in her fantasy, she tried to push herself up on her elbows—and immediately realized something was wrong.
Her legs. She couldn't feel them.
No matter how hard she tried, the two limbs dragging behind her lay completely still, like dead sticks with no life in them. It is one thing to lose a leg; it is quite another to lose both without noticing.
The shock snapped her out of her delusion.
She struck her legs with her fists—but she couldn't even feel the pain. A curious sensation, to hit oneself and feel nothing. She had always thought it would be liberating; it was not.
No. No, this was bad.
Fear clawed her back to clarity. Attacking Luo Yu wasn't the move anymore—she needed to beg for help!
Luo Yu would save her. Luo Yu would definitely save her.
All she had to do was cry a little, apologize, make Sun Heng out to be the villain who'd abandoned her—and Luo Yu would soften. She knew it. She knew Luo Yu had a good heart. Some people, she had observed, have hearts that cannot bear to see suffering. It is a weakness, perhaps, but it is a useful weakness when you are the one suffering.
Yang Tian dragged herself forward a few feet and shrieked through her ruined throat: "Lu—"
Her voice cut off abruptly. She coughed—and vomited black blood, a piece of her tongue mixed in.
What?! How could this be?!
Luo Yu was about to leave. No—she couldn't leave!
Turn around! Look back! Please!
The rustling finally caught Luo Yu's attention. She turned her head to glance at the woods beside her—but the man pressed her head back and turned her face forward. A firm hand, that; the sort of hand that knows what it wants.
"Don't look at random things," he said, his tone clipped. "The path's this way."
"I know," Luo Yu replied, frowning slightly. "But… did you hear something? Sounded like someone shouting—"
"You heard wrong," the man cut in smoothly. "There's nothing there."
His words were final. He smiled and guided Luo Yu onward.
Nothing. That was the word he used. Nothing at all. Just a loose tongue that had said too much. And a loose tongue, as anyone who has ever had one knows, is a dangerous thing to possess in a dangerous world.
Summary:
Sun Heng's Player Team is annihilated by monsters who can disguise themselves as victims. Yang Tian struggles through the Swamp, succumbing to a blue curse that transforms her into a decaying hag, while Luo Yu walks through the forest escorted by a mysterious man. Yang Tian spots Luo Yu and is torn between vengeful fantasies and desperate hope for rescue - but her body gives out, and her cry for help goes unheard.
Trivia:
- The monsters can mimic the appearance of players they kill.
- The blue curse spreads from the skin inward, affecting blood, nerves, and organs.
- Yang Tian lost her tongue after coughing up black blood.
- Luo Yu is the first person who identified the monsters' infiltration pattern.
- The Escape Compass points toward the safest direction.
- The Swamp makes players rot from the inside.
- Yang Tian knew Sun Heng would abandon her from the start.
- The black uniform man physically turned Luo Yu's head away from Yang Tian.
Notes:
• A - A student from South Middle School described as an idol who has been recruited into R's high school squad.
• N - A student from East Middle with an eccentric personality who entered National High School due to complex family circumstances and used herself as leverage to negotiate a protective agreement for K.
• R - A first-year student at District 13 High School who has successfully built a squad and added multiple girls, including M and A, into his group.
• S - A first-year student at District 13 High School who has taken B from North Middle into his squad.
• T - A first-year student at District 13 High School who has recruited K and N from East Middle into his group.
• Sun Heng - Scar-faced veteran leader of the main player faction. Pragmatic and calculating, uses other players as disposable assets. Previously had Yang Tian attached, his interest in Luo Yu fuels her jealousy. Subtly predatory toward female players, gave Luo Yu a rules handbook, warns rule-breaking = death. Luo Yu trusts his warning.
• Luo Yu - A female player inserted into the game world. Tasked with uncovering the school's mysteries. Possesses keen observational skills and analytical thinking. Shows empathy but remains pragmatic about survival. At the time of this chapter, she has already encountered a teacher-monster and survived an attack, leading her to understand the game's true threat. A female player trapped in the Escape Game at Qinggang High. Has lost her memory of events prior to her arrival. Must either uncover the school's secret or survive seven days. Physically slender and not particularly strong. A hopeless sucker for beautiful faces, she cannot bring herself to hate someone attractive even when they're trying to kill her. Maintains a self-deprecating, wry sense of humor even in mortal danger. A player who observes rather than leads. She notices the subtleties in group dynamics and feels mildly disgusted by Yang Tian's showy behavior. Quiet and perceptive. Female protagonist trapped in the Escape Game. A high school student with a bold, flirtatious streak, she is drawn to the handsome cashier without understanding why. Currently suffering from memory loss regarding the previous night's events. Appears carefree but is observant of the school's oppressive atmosphere.
• Yang Tian - A beautiful woman who survived two Escape Games by leveraging her looks to attach to powerful players. Aligned with Sun Heng, she shares a class with him and acts as his vocal supporter. Calculating and possessive, she views Luo Yu as a threat, displaying hostility and jealousy. Flirtatious and sharp-tongued, she taunts others to assert her position.
• B - A student originally from North Middle School who was added to S's group.
• M - A first-year student at District 13 High School and the childhood friend of Anonymous Student 0006, described as an atavistic strong-female who looks plain but possesses significant power.