Bang bang bang.
Dull gunshots echoed in the corridor, causing Yuuki’s pupils to contract.
Just a moment ago, he thought Ryan was going to kill him.
At such close range, firing continuously, wasn’t he afraid of friendly fire?
But he quickly realized that the other party was completely in control.
The remaining two Lickers immediately had their brains burst open.
He could even hear the whistling sound of bullets passing by his ears.
The bullets seemed to have eyes.
The Licker that had already grabbed Mai’s legs had its head explode, causing her to stumble as she ran.
The tide of Lickers surging into the corridor also paused, and the heads of the first few exploded simultaneously.
‘Shooting skills.
Not even an Olympic champion could be this fast, this accurate.’
A thought flashed through his mind, but he didn’t dare to overthink.
He grabbed Mai behind him and dragged her towards the stairs with all his might.
“Thanks, Brother Li!”
“Don’t talk, hurry up and rest.”
Ryan really wanted to ask how these three newcomers had gotten here, and even more, he wanted to go down and see.
Even as an old player, he found it incredible.
Also, why did I just think that…
But the surging tide of Lickers interrupted his thoughts; even his rapid firing couldn’t hold them back.
“Thomas, help quickly! Do you want to die together?!” he yelled upwards, veins bulging on his forehead in urgency.
“Alright, remember you owe me a favor.”
The band member’s logic made people laugh in exasperation, but he moved quickly.
A blur flashed down the stairs, and the greatsword in his hand made a ‘woo woo’ sound.
Hum—
As his arm swung, the saw teeth cut through the floor like tofu, actually digging a large pit in the building, and the running horde of Lickers immediately fell to the lower floor.
This wasn’t all.
He then retreated towards the rooftop, swinging his greatsword back and forth.
In no time, he had cut up all the stairs.
From the rooftop to the fifth floor was over ten meters high; even forming a human ladder would take some effort.
Is this the strength of an old player??
Yuuki had already run back to the rooftop but didn’t lie on the ground like the two women playing dead.
Instead, he poked his head down to look and immediately saw the gap between them.
Effortless.
If he wanted to clear out all the Lickers in the entire corridor, it wouldn’t be difficult.
Not only was that Chainsaw Sword much stronger than his mutated long knife, but his physical attributes were also a level higher.
‘Is the gap between new and old players so huge?’
He glanced at Ai and Mai, who were like corpses except for the rise and fall of their chests.
He finally understood the meaning of those ‘hints’.
If it was just pure slaughter, the threat to old players would be too small.
Even if this made it very difficult for new players to survive, what fairness could one expect in the Reincarnation Game?
‘To survive this game, you have to fight for your life.
Without fighting for my life the first two times, I would still be an Ordinary Person now.
They would have already torn down the stairs.’
Yuuki exhaled a turbid breath.
He had never thought of himself as a good person.
In this game, every player was measured by their value, Mai included, and he was no exception.
Bang.
The steel floor panel was covered, and Thomas moved some heavy boxes to press on it, ensuring the Lickers below couldn’t push it open.
Only then did he cast a sinister gaze around, quickly settling on Yuuki’s face.
“You actually managed to survive and get here? Oh, did your knife mutate?”
“Yes, after killing the Licker, I received a gift from the Red Moon.” Yuuki gripped his knife, his face filled with lingering fear.
Before the other party could speak, he continued to speak to himself:
“That monster was too terrifying. It killed the college student. The three of us set a trap, used a hanging piano to crush it, and then cut off its head with a knife.”
“Lies!
That thing couldn’t be crushed; it would just disappear into the moonlight!” Thomas immediately interrupted, his face fierce: “Tell the truth, or I’ll send you down to feed the Lickers.”
“Really, at first I could only run, but as I ran, I found that in dimly lit moonlight areas, its speed of merging into the moonlight would slow down. So I ran into the basement, I had no other choice.”
Yuuki was still shaken.
He hadn’t lied, he had simply slain the Licker head-on.
Thomas’s gaze became suspicious.
As an old player, he had, of course, discovered this clue.
But was this good luck, or keen observation skills?
He didn’t know, but one thing was very clear: he had been fooled by this scoundrel before.
Someone who dared to carry a knife and fight from the first floor to the rooftop was definitely not an Ordinary Person.
“So you were forced to unleash your potential?”
“What else? I couldn’t just obediently die, could I?” Yuuki looked innocent.
This was stating the obvious.
Then he started muttering to himself: “It’s like on a battlefield, those who aren’t afraid of death often receive the favor of Lady Luck. I felt like I went crazy just now, no, I was seeing red. Is this the effect of adrenaline?”
His speech became incoherent, and he shivered constantly as if frozen.
Coupled with his ragged clothes, he looked quite pathetic.
When people are pushed to their limits, they unleash terrifying power.
Old players know this better than anyone, because that’s how they survived.
But fighting for your life also requires capital.
Looking at it now, Yuuki’s attributes were good, but not terrifying enough to be truly formidable.
His acting is good enough to be my scene partner.
You weren’t talking about luck so much just now.
Mai secretly glanced at Yuuki, then immediately closed her eyes.
Professionalism told her that playing dead was best right now.
“Enough. A strong newcomer is beneficial to the entire team. They were originally responsible for exploring the underground, so their chances of discovering the truth are higher than ours.” Ryan stepped forward, separating the two tense parties.
Then he smiled, bent down, and patted Yuuki’s shoulder.
“Very good observation skills. In the game, you don’t necessarily have to be a great fighter, but you must be smart. It’s precisely because you discovered the conditions that you had a chance to counter-kill the monster.”
He spoke like a kind mentor imparting experience.
According to Ryan’s analysis, if the Licker could be trapped, even an Ordinary Person might be able to kill it.
“Bah, he just got lucky and happened to go underground,” Thomas cursed, walking away in annoyance.
Yuuki let out a long breath, seemingly wary of the band member, and craned his neck with some difficulty: “Brother Li, I’ve always had good observational skills since I was a child.”
“And his swordsmanship isn’t simple either, his body is very strong. No need to explain, everyone in this game keeps some secrets, but don’t hide them from your true teammates.”
Compared to Thomas, Ryan was certainly more like a teammate.
Yuuki nodded emphatically, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Brother Li, actually, I’m a semi-professional player, a second dan in Kendo. Sorry, I didn’t tell you before.”
“Second dan? No wonder that blade was so fast and accurate. Having a handy weapon can indeed significantly increase combat power.” Ryan looked enlightened, carefully observed Yuuki’s parched lips, and like a magic trick, pulled out several Snickers bars and bottled water.
Ah, this?
Yuuki instantly sat up straight, this time his surprise wasn’t feigned.
“Once you become an Old Player, you’ll have a storage space, but it’s very small. You’ll understand once you complete this instance.” Ryan handed over the food and water, thought for a moment, and then took out a roll of bandages.
“Huh, then why don’t you bring some weapons? Like a rocket launcher or something?”
“That’s a long story. Anyway, remember, don’t do anything extra. The Reincarnation Game is smart, this information is a free gift to you.”
You weren’t so kind just now, you must have seen my value, right?
Yuuki took them with profuse thanks.
He wasn’t stupid, and only blurted out when handing something to Mai: “You were worried we were Old Players before?”
“Smart, but don’t say it out loud next time.
In this game, human hearts are the most terrifying things.” Ryan lectured again, a hint of fear appearing on his face: “In a previous instance, there was an Old Player hidden among the Newbies.
I almost got killed by him.
Sorry, I was testing you all too.”
This goodwill wasn’t unearned; it also completed his persona, making his good-guy image more credible, even making Yuuki feel a bit of goodwill.
You are indeed a big shot, but I’m not a complete newbie either.
Goodwill was goodwill, but Yuuki wasn’t foolish enough to reveal all his trump cards, only nodding heavily: “Mm, I remember.”
“Rest well, things are just beginning. We’ll meet in five minutes to discuss, and then you should hurry up and treat your injuries. To be honest, this instance is a bit too tricky, it’s really strange.” Ryan showed a troubled expression, and Yuuki inadvertently pricked up his ears.
“Doesn’t the game have no difficulty limit?”
“There should still be a range. Thomas and I can barely cope, but it’s too unfriendly to you Newbies. This is very strange.”
Friendly?
Friendly in this damned place?
Yuuki initially found it somewhat ironic, but then he thought he was right.
If this game was specifically designed to kill people, there shouldn’t be Old Players.
Since there are, there must be a range, for example, the limit of these two Old Players’ abilities, allowing them to bring a portion of Newbies to survive.
But with the Red Moon not falling, these two Old Players also had no way out.
“Don’t overthink it, relax. We can still hold on. The Reincarnation Game has a characteristic: once you grasp the pattern, everything becomes clear.”
Ryan reached out and patted Yuuki’s shoulder, looking at him deeply, the earlier scene flashing through his mind.
In the corridor, he aimed his gun at the charging Newbie.
For some reason, he had a desire to kill him.
‘That makes no sense, a genius is beneficial to me.’
He hid the strangeness in his eyes and turned to bicker with Thomas.
Watching his back, Yuuki was thoughtful until a ‘crunch, crunch’ chewing sound reached his ears.
He turned his head and saw Ai and Mai wolfing down food, chugging half a bottle of mineral water in one go.
All etiquette and elegance were thrown to the wind; they probably had never been so disheveled in their lives.
And wasn’t I the same?
Yuuki looked at the Red Moon in the sky, listened to the zombie-like wails, and then at the mineral water bottle in his hand.
Damn, he couldn’t even unscrew the cap.