Charge!

"The monsters in a battle royale actively hunt and kill. Once they spot you, they'll chase you down, and there's no escaping them."

"But being spotted is a rule in itself, isn't it?" Bai Yang said. "So as long as that rule isn't triggered, there's no problem?"

"In theory, that's right," Tao Yuan said.

"If I trigger the rule... will you all die too, since you're with me?"

Tao Yuan confidently patted the enormous pink chainsaw at her waist. "It's hard to say what'll happen before it kills me."

As expected of the protagonist's group. With that kind of confidence, he could rest easy.

Bai Yang let out a long breath. "Um, I just went upstairs. I pulled down a lantern up there and found that it could light up the stairs outside, so I didn't run into that monster that clings to people's shoulders."

"Pretty smart, kid," Tao Yuan said with a smile.

Bai Yang pulled a candy from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth. Under their puzzled gazes, he added, "I also ran into a monster up there, right after the system announcement ended. I ran downstairs, but I'm not sure whether it saw me."

Everyone present fell silent for a moment at Bai Yang's words. The smile froze on Tao Yuan's face.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

The four of them sprang up and ran outside. The instant they pushed the door open, a pair of pitch-black pupils appeared before them without warning.

Inside the pupils was nothing but a pitch-black, sludge-like liquid, constantly squeezing and flowing within eye-shaped frames. An exquisitely gentle breeze brushed past their noses, and pink bubbles seemed to rise in the air, bubbling with waves of dizzying fragrance.

All four froze on the spot.

"Did you... see me?"

It was a pitch-black, long-haired monster with an extremely slender waist, seemingly dressed in a loose black dress. It had no facial features, but its voice was lovely, making people instinctively seek out its source.

At the slightest thought of being drawn to that voice, the eyes in their minds became still more fixed, even though they were nothing but a pool of unknown black matter. Yet under the voice's temptation, even the sludge became extraordinarily enticing.

The familiar sense of being bound by a rule made Qin Rang curse inwardly. They had opened the door right into a monster, and run straight into a certain-death rule!

Although they knew they must not answer the monster's question, and that answering meant certain death, they had met its gaze the moment they opened the door. Their eyes could no longer pull away from its gaze, following it intently, utterly transfixed.

He clenched his teeth, keeping himself from answering her question.

It wasn't just Qin Rang. The others also gritted their teeth, forcing themselves to calm down.

The monster was only a few dozen centimeters away from them, but it too remained motionless, which meant they had not fully triggered the certain-death rule yet.

Being seen by its eyes would cause them to "lose control," but answering the monster's question was what would prove fatal!

They all realized the monster's killing rule at the same time.

They couldn't answer!

An Ying bit down on the corner of his mouth as it moved involuntarily, but the fragrance at the tip of his nose grew stronger and more enticing, and their pupils were slowly being assimilated by the monster...

Qin Rang frowned. They couldn't stay deadlocked like this. Unless he spoke first to draw its fire, then, once his companions were free of its control, they could all attack together and deal with the rule itself before it took effect—

"Tap."

Just as he was about to speak, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him, interrupting him.

A young man suddenly strode through the wall of people blocking the doorway and deftly swiped the weapon from the immobilized Tao Yuan's hand.

It was an enormous pink chainsaw, almost as tall as the young man himself.

Tao Yuan's eyes widened, and a string of curses flew through her mind at the sight of her weapon being snatched away. But the next moment, she saw the young man smile a little shyly and press the switch on the pink chainsaw with an awkward hand.

"Bzzzt—" The piercing sound brought them briefly to their senses.

Bai Yang strained to lift the heavy chainsaw. Its shrill whine rang out, energy surged, and its gears spun rapidly!

[Puppeteer/Bai Yang:

Level: F

Identity: Human

Traits: Frail, loves to perform.

Description: An ordinary person and master craftsman skilled at making dolls and doll accessories. Likes to pretend to be weak and likes killing.]

"Bzzzt—!"

The pink chainsaw split the monster in two from the top of its head, cutting smoothly down the center of its body.

The monster's black form instantly broke into two halves, and a shriek pierced Bai Yang's head. The candy on his tongue released a sweetness that kept him clearheaded.

The monster's control weakened at once after it was gravely injured. Qin Rang was the first to break free of the rule, but before he could act, Bai Yang, carrying the chainsaw, cut into the halved monster once again.

"Bzzzt!"

There was even less resistance this time, and the monster easily broke into more pieces.

Bai Yang was surprised too. The monster was extraordinarily weak. Cutting it was like cutting paper; it was extremely fragile. Its ability seemed to be powerful control, and it wasn't good at defense.

The smile on Bai Yang's lips grew wider as he cut into the monster again and again with the chainsaw, determined to kill it completely.

Watching him frantically cut into the shadowy monster, the others, now able to move again, fell silent.

[Holy crap... what am I seeing?]

[It's like watching Lin Daiyu uproot a weeping willow. (Terrified)]

[Why's he so reckless? He just charged in with a chainsaw!]

[He scared me! This guy was pretending just now, wasn't he? He can kill monsters? He's way too scheming.]

[What are you talking about? It's clearly Sister Tao's weapon that's powerful. He's just benefiting from borrowing it!]

[That was so cool!! Aaaah!]

[Wait, why can he move?]

Only when the monster had been chopped into pieces that couldn't be put back together did Bai Yang stop attacking and prop the chainsaw against the wall. He shook his aching hands, grimacing. "It's so heavy. Sister Tao, you're really strong, being able to run around with this thing on your back."

The chainsaw really was far too heavy for a fragile puppeteer.

Tao Yuan took back her weapon and carefully wiped it down. "Then couldn't you have taken someone else's?" she said irritably.

Bai Yang blinked. "I was afraid something would happen to you, so I didn't think much about it."

"Well, you're pretty impressive." Tao Yuan paused. "You even knew where the switch on my chainsaw was. You really pay attention."

Bai Yang was just about to answer when the monster's corpse suddenly dissolved into a cloud of energy before him. A black-and-white card rose from it.

He took the card and turned it over. On the front was an image of the monster from just now: a black-haired woman with a slender waist, her figure a dark shadow. A "3" was written in the upper right and lower left corners, with a familiar red heart beneath each one.

"The three of hearts? A playing card?"

They exchanged glances, all thinking of the playing cards missing from this floor.

"Could you let us take a look?" An Ying asked.

Bai Yang handed over the card. Qin Rang and Tao Yuan also leaned in to look, while both casting subtle glances at Sheng Qingqiao.