Hidden behind a snow-covered pine, Cheng Fei thought.
What was this supposed to be?
Was the System arranging a heroic rescue so he could save a beauty?
Cheng Fei had visited the Frozen Sea before.
It was a lake covered in extremely thick ice.
A gigantic serpentine rogue machine lurked beneath the water and would smash through the ice to attack.
Truthfully, even Cheng Fei couldn’t guarantee he could defeat that boss.
The mission difficulty being listed as “HAHAHAHA” was equally incomprehensible.
Maybe the System itself couldn’t judge the difficulty and had simply given up.
Fortunately, it didn’t require him to kill the boss.
Only rescue the girl.
If that was all, grabbing her and running might work.
He checked his item inventory.
Beside the Tri-Bladed Dagger was a new icon.
A quartz bottle filled with swirling runes.
Focusing on it revealed the description.
[Bottled Word of Power: Don’t Die]
[Magic sealed through Corridor technology.]
[It is said that loudly shouting the incantation can rescue a life on the verge of death.]
[Usable once per day.]
Cheng Fei decided to gamble on it.
Ten thousand points was worth attempting.
If the situation turned bad, he could simply abandon the mission.
As for the possible consequences of exchanging real names…
At this moment, the boy who believed he was living an easygoing school-life story did not worry much about it.
That decision would become something he regretted for a very long time.
Although many years later, when looking back on this moment, he would also admit that a life with a few more twists and turns wasn’t necessarily bad.
Regardless—
Cheng Fei headed toward the frozen lake.
The boy climbed a high snowy slope and crossed a silent pine forest.
A long trail of footprints remained behind him like those of a solitary traveler crossing an endless wilderness.
Almost no players had ever entered the Fifth Layer.
Here, the biting wind alone significantly hindered movement.
Prolonged exposure to the cold could even drain health.
The environment was so hostile that even rogue machines were uncommon.
As Cheng Fei approached the Frozen Sea, he immediately heard a deafening mechanical hum.
Then came the sharp cracking of breaking ice.
He ran toward the lakeshore.
A group of players stood near the center of the frozen lake.
Their equipment was uniformly red and black.
Clearly members of the same guild.
Cheng Fei had always suspected he couldn’t possibly be the only player to reach the Fifth Layer.
Apparently he had been right.
At this moment, the ice beneath the unknown guild was already shattered.
Although the slabs remained thick enough to stand on even after breaking apart, unstable, separated footholds were deadly.
Especially with a giant monster swimming beneath them.
A streamlined mechanical serpent violently erupted from the water.
Then crashed back down.
It shattered the ice holding several players.
At the same time, armor plates along its back opened.
Blinding beams erupted outward, slicing apart more ice as easily as a hot knife through butter.
Players concentrated fire on its head.
Every shot ricocheted harmlessly from the smooth armor.
A single sweep of its tail was enough to crush players who had nowhere to flee.
During the short time Cheng Fei spent observing, more than a dozen players were reduced to only a handful.
Soon—
Only one remained standing.
A girl with striking blood-red hair.
Facing the hideous mechanical serpent, she dodged rapidly and emptied her magazine.
Then she drew a short blade from her lower back and leapt high.
However, while still in midair, a beam swept directly across her tiny figure.
Splash.
She fell into the water.
Having eliminated the girl, the mechanical serpent circled once.
Finding no remaining resistance, it submerged and vanished.
Cold wind howled.
Everything returned to stillness.
Only bodies bobbing in the icy water and traces of smoke remained as evidence that a battle had ever occurred.
Cheng Fei decided to try rescuing her.
He sprinted across the ice toward where the girl had fallen.
He removed his coat.
Stabbed the Tri-Bladed Dagger into the ice.
Then jumped.
Bone-piercing cold instantly surrounded him.
The sensation almost made him forcefully break out of full-dive on the spot.
The icy blue underwater world resembled another dimension.
The girl in a tight combat suit slowly sank below.
Blackened scorch marks covered parts of her body.
Her crimson hair spread through the water like blood.
When she saw Cheng Fei, she weakly opened her eyes.
He made it!
Cheng Fei kicked desperately through the water toward her and extended one hand.
The girl struggled to reach toward him as well.
In the profound silence beneath the lake, the distance between their hands steadily shrank—
Then—
A silver-gray spike pierced straight through the girl’s chest.
Cheng Fei’s heart jolted.
A long tail extended from the darkness deep below.
With ridiculous ease, it erased the girl’s final remaining health.
The spike withdrew.
Dark blood erupted outward, mingling with her floating crimson hair.
Cheng Fei grabbed her freezing hand.
The girl’s lips curled into a self-mocking smile.
She silently shook her head at him.
Then slowly closed her eyes.
“LIN XUANQI—!”
“DON’T DIE!”
Cheng Fei shouted underwater.
The runes inside the quartz bottle suddenly exploded.
They transformed into streams of light and surged outward.
The girl’s eyes snapped open.
Disbelief filled them.
Reflected in her pupils, bubbles poured from Cheng Fei’s mouth and desperately rushed toward the surface.
Cheng Fei tightened his grip around her wrist and kicked upward as fast as possible.
They broke the surface.
Cheng Fei coughed up several mouthfuls of water.
Using the dagger he had embedded in the ice earlier, he pulled himself up, then turned and dragged the girl out too.
Without caring that she was still coughing violently, Cheng Fei produced a healing injector and jammed it against her neck.
Green liquid disappeared into her body.
The wound in her chest began closing visibly.
“Run!”
Ignoring the girl’s attempt to speak, Cheng Fei pulled her upright.
The boy and girl sprinted toward shore.
Behind them, the ice began cracking for no apparent reason.
Slabs overturned.
Cracks as wide as a baby’s arm chased after them like living creatures.
Then—
The enormous serpentine body smashed through the ice like a breaching whale.
It soared upward.
A colossal shadow covered the two humans.
Cheng Fei glanced backward.
Seeing disaster coming, he wrapped an arm around the girl and threw them both forward.
They narrowly avoided the attack.
The rogue machine crashed back into the water, unleashing a huge wave that washed over them.
Then it did not surface again.
The boy and girl collapsed on the shore, one above the other.
Both sighed in relief.
Silence returned.
Cheng Fei finally looked properly at the girl beneath him.
Crimson hair framed a naturally flawless face.
Long lashes decorated eyes whose outer corners carried a faint reddish hue.
Even pinned beneath Cheng Fei and soaked from head to toe, she couldn’t conceal the arrogant confidence in her brows.
Somehow, she looked as though she were still the person on top.
Her lips curled mysteriously as she met Cheng Fei’s gaze.
Several seconds passed.
Then she spoke softly in a tone containing neither obvious anger nor amusement.
“Finished looking?”
Cheng Fei returned to himself.
He calmly stood.
At the same time, he spent one hundred points on a Scanner and used it.
[Game ID: Zzzz]
[Name: Lin Xuanqi]
[Strength: 4 — Below Average]
[Perception: 6 — Excellent]
[Stamina: 5 — Average]
[Charm: 9 — Transcendent]
[Intelligence: 8 — Exceptional]
[Agility: 5 — Average]
[Luck: 9 — Transcendent]
[Eligible for online romance.]
Cheng Fei fell silent.
Transcendent Luck?
That was absurd.
Could the System have sent Cheng Fei here specifically because of that?
Otherwise, in a miserable place like the Fifth Layer where birds wouldn’t even bother laying eggs, where would a heroic young man conveniently appear to save someone?
The girl stood and brushed snow from her body with lowered eyes.
Only afterward did she glance at Cheng Fei.
“Who sent you?”
Her tone felt strange to Cheng Fei.
He sensed no gratitude.
It sounded more like an interrogation.
“No one.”
“I happened to pass by.”
“You happened to pass by and knew my name?”
The girl’s smile contained obvious mockery.
“Because I’m your fan.”
“My fan?”
She blinked, suddenly interested.
Cheng Fei shrugged.
“You’re very good at Corridor.”
“I see.”
“Since you managed to investigate my name, surely you should tell me yours.”
The boy remained calm.
“Cheng Fei.”
“Cheng Fei?”
“Very good.”
The girl nodded with satisfaction.
Text refreshed before Cheng Fei.
[Limited-Time Mission Complete.]
[Reward: 10,000 points + Bottled Word of Power: Don’t Die.]
Unexpectedly easy.
The girl tilted her head back and gave a lazy yawn.
“I’m tired.”
“I’m logging off.”
“Goodbye, Cheng Fei.”
“Wait.
Here?”
Cheng Fei looked surprised.
The moment he finished speaking, the girl’s body suddenly lost all support.
She collapsed into the snow, eyes closed.
Life gradually vanished from her expression until she resembled a perfect doll.
She had logged out.
Cheng Fei had nearly died rescuing her.
And she had simply logged out right there.
Did she not care about her equipment at all?
Whatever.
He had received the mission reward.
Cheng Fei was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something Shen Xi had said.
An idea occurred to him.
He stayed where he was and observed.
The player corpses floating in the lake, along with their scattered equipment, were gradually dragged underwater by hunched rogue machines lurking nearby.
However, those creatures seemed wary of Cheng Fei and refused to approach him.
Thus Lin Xuanqi, kneeling motionless before him, remained there even as falling snow gradually covered her body…
[ END 401 Chapter ]
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