"Highway Terror": There Was No Way He'd Act Until a Critical Moment

Xu Xi had no idea the bullet comments also regarded him as their greatest hope.

The tunnel was pitch-black, and the headlights barely lit up a small patch of road ahead.

Li Kang had been restless the entire way, and Xu Xi could sense his anxiety and agitation.

They had been driving through the tunnel for over ten minutes and had yet to encounter anything troublesome.

Yet Li Kang remained uneasy.

[Did this guy get the wrong feeling? There's nothing here. It's so peaceful.]

[Could be the last calm before the storm.]

[Holy crap, look! Something's coming!]

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared ahead, standing out starkly in the dark tunnel.

As the two sides drew closer, everyone saw that another black sedan was approaching. It looked exactly like theirs, except it had markings and a license plate.

Li Kang clutched the hem of his clothes, his entire body seemingly screaming of danger.

"Watch out!!!"

As the cry rang out, the sedan coming toward them drove straight at them.

Fortunately, Tan Xingyun reacted quickly and jerked the steering wheel to avoid it, though he couldn't avoid crashing into the stone wall to the side.

All four were wearing seat belts and weren't badly hurt.

Still shaken, they looked toward the other sedan, only to see someone stumble out of it. His familiar face left them stunned.

It was another Li Kang!

"How is that possible!" Li Kang's face went deathly pale, and he nearly lost his voice.

The Li Kang across from them shouted, "Get away from that guy! He's a fake!!"

"I'm the real one! He's the fake!" The Li Kang in the car looked at his teammates in panic, hoping they would believe him. "Don't believe him! I, I've been with you the whole time. How could I be a fake?"

Xu Xi pressed his back against the car door. He hadn't expected a real-versus-fake teammate scenario to play out. He wanted to get away from the Li Kang beside him, but there was only so much room in the back seat, so he couldn't get very far.

"Don't panic. We didn't say we didn't believe you," Xu Xiuman said softly, trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, and the timing of that guy's appearance is a little too deliberate." Tan Xingyun spoke calmly, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized the other "Li Kang."

They hadn't known Li Kang for long and weren't familiar with his personal habits, but they had been through most of the instance together. Li Kang had never once left their sight, so there was no chance he could have been replaced without anyone noticing.

Surely the Li Kang they had met at the start couldn't have been a fake.

Xu Xi had also thought of that and felt a little relieved.

He, too, was inclined to believe that the Li Kang beside him was the real one.

[Well, well, real and fake Li Kang, huh?]

[So this is what Li Kang's premonition was about. I thought it was the car crash.]

[I still trust the Li Kang in the car. That fake Li Kang's acting is terrible.]

"You say the Li Kang with us is a fake. What proof do you have?" Tan Xingyun shouted at the other "Li Kang."

"Li Kang" looked so anxious he was almost in tears. "I, I don't know how to prove it, but he's really a fake! Come with me in my car. Only my car can get out of this tunnel!"

The Li Kang in their car brightened when he heard this and hurriedly said, "I can prove I'm real. Ask me anything, and I can definitely answer!"

Tan Xingyun casually asked, "When's your birthday, then?"

Li Kang had thought he would ask about something that had happened in the instance, not his birthday, but he still blurted out, "June 11th!"

Tan Xingyun nodded and asked the other "Li Kang" the same question.

"Li Kang" answered just as quickly. "June 11th!"

Tan Xingyun asked again, "What's your dad's name, then?"

"Li Kang": "..."

He remained silent and didn't answer.

Tan Xingyun turned to the Li Kang in the car. "What's your dad's name?"

Li Kang said excitedly, "Li Deping! My dad's name is Li Deping!"

Tan Xingyun asked the other "Li Kang" the same question again.

This time, "Li Kang" answered him quickly. "My dad's name is Li Deping!"

Li Kang finally realized why Tan Xingyun had asked him about things outside the instance.

[Holy crap, this fake Li Kang probably only knows what happened inside the instance. He doesn't know anything about Li Kang's life outside it.]

[I'm going to follow this uncle with the beer belly. He's genuinely smart.]

[Xu Xi, my big shot, show us what you can do too, boo-hoo. I came here especially for you.]

[He went back to keeping a low profile after meeting the woman in the red dress. Looks like there's no way he'll act until a critical moment.]

[Is it really not because he doesn't have the ability to show off?]

[No way, no way. This instance has been going on for so long, and there are still people who think Xu Xi's a noob?]

[Stop arguing and focus on the livestream. Watch him in a few more instances and won't you know whether he lives up to his reputation? What's the point of arguing back and forth now?]

Xu Xi, who really was a noob, also learned that the Li Kang beside him was real after Tan Xingyun's questions and answers.

Xu Xiuman said, "Looks like there's no need to doubt him anymore. Also, did you notice that guy just keeps standing there shouting at us? He hasn't come near us at all."

"He's probably trying to get us into his car." After speaking, Tan Xingyun glanced at Li Kang, whose face was full of relief after proving he was real, and added the words he hadn't spoken aloud in his head.

And leave this young man behind.

Xu Xiuman didn't really believe the fake Li Kang's story either. "Then let's just go. Can the car still run?"

"Yes."

As Tan Xingyun restarted the car, he kept a wary eye on the fake Li Kang, afraid he might crash into them again.

But the fake Li Kang just stood there, repeating, "If you don't believe me, you'll die... If you don't believe me, you'll die..."

The repetition sent chills down their spines.

None of them wanted to pay him any more attention.

After leaving the fake Li Kang and his car far behind, Li Kang's pounding heart gradually settled down. What had just happened had been utterly harrowing for him.

He didn't dare imagine what would have happened to him if his teammates hadn't believed him.

Even though everyone seemed friendly, he knew that was only because their lives hadn't been threatened.

The tunnel wasn't long, and soon after getting away from the fake Li Kang, they saw the exit.

When Xu Xi's senses returned, he heard someone say, "My dad's name is Li Deping."

He hurriedly looked over and found himself back at the moment when the real and fake Li Kang were facing off.

He was back again.

Why again? Because this was the third time he had returned to this point.

The first time, they had chosen to leave, but just as they were about to exit the tunnel, the car had suddenly exploded. All he had felt was a wave of heat rushing toward him before it swallowed him up.