[2/100000]
Since his return, he only posted one picture of Him on the Regional Channel and then remained silent. The precipitous drop in the number of people in the region began from that moment.
When He looks upon you, you will become Him.
When you look at Him, He also looks at you.
His photos are everywhere in forums and Regional Channels; those who casually browse them are either already dead or have become a part of Him.
Every minute, every second felt like walking a tightrope over a bottomless Abyss.
Jefferson gritted his teeth and sent private messages to the other four people:
[Remember the plan! As long as we survive the fifth wave, and then all five of us give up on the remaining challenges, we'll be safe!]
[If we make a mistake, we'll all die!]
Three replies arrived simultaneously: [Received!]
Then, a message arrived a little later: [I'll try my best.]
At this moment, only 30 seconds remain until day 36.
Jefferson felt his bladder was about to burst, like it was on fire.
[...]
[3. Wave Structure: The Monster Tide attacks in multiple waves, with each wave increasing in strength. The basic condition for clearing the level is successfully defending against the first five waves.]
[4. Attack Interval: There is a 10-minute rest period after each wave, which can be used to repair and adjust tactics]
[...]
[Monster Tide Has Begun]
[The first wave of attack is about to arrive]
[All Survivors, please prepare to engage]
The first three waves of Monster Tide were barely overcome under intense pressure.
Just as Jefferson was about to catch his breath, half a minute before the fourth wave of attacks was announced, a private message popped up from the ally who had replied "try your best."
[I can't take it anymore. I could die at any moment if I stay here. I need to go into the Trial Instance to survive for another month.]
Jefferson's blood went cold instantly.
[Jefferson: What are we going to do if you leave?! We don't have [Class Change Certificates ]! We have nowhere to run!]
[Jefferson: If we can survive the fifth wave, we can give up together and not attract His attention, and we can survive!]
[Feel sorry.]
[Jefferson: Even for the sake of the four of us! Please, wait until the Monster Tide is over before going in! Okay? This fourth and fifth wave of Monster Tide is just a Monster Tide of your hand for you!]
[Jefferson: I beg you! I beg you!]
[Excuse me... I feel... something's not right, I need to leave immediately.]
As mentioned before, Monster Tide have a higher priority than temporary teleportation items and Dungeons, Trial Instance have a higher priority than Monster Tide.
In theory, Survivors can use [Class Change Certificate] to avoid Monster Tide, but there's no need to do it specifically.
Su Luo and Song Shige were in the same situation; during the second Monster Tide, both of them happened to be in the Trial Instance.
Professionals don't need to face Monster Tides, and subsequent Monster Tides are irrelevant to them. Therefore, the two of them only experienced one Monster Tide in total, which is also true for most of the world's top experts.
Now, the person who was privately chatting with Jefferson, unable to Suppression his fear, is about to use the [Class Change Certificate] to escape.
Jefferson relaxed his hands, staring blankly into the thick darkness outside the Sanctuary, his heart filled with a deathly stillness.
It's over.
The message box popped up; that person had sent a final message:
[I'm leaving, sorry.]
Don't you think you're being selfish...?
Jefferson felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He dared not speak on the Regional Channel; it was like throwing lambs to the wolves.
I don't want to send any more messages to the remaining three survivors, because the outcome is already decided.
A strong sense of resentment and a desire to confide surged within him.
He hated his own weakness. If he were a professional, at least he could have let out a final, mournful cry on the World Channel, letting others see their despair...
Time slipped away, neither a minute more nor a minute less, in despair.
The rest period ended, and the system's voice sounded like a death knell:
[The fourth wave of attack is about to arrive]
[Survivors prepare for an attack]
[The number of challengers has dropped below 5. Livestream System activated.]
[Number of Livestream Rooms: 4]
It seems the Survivor with the [Class Change Certificate] has already left.
They've arrived.
The thing I feared most still happened.
After the cold system notification, a prominent live stream entry will appear at the top of the Plane for all Survivors in Zone 34679.
This is why Jefferson begged the man from before to stay.
If the total number of participants in a Monster Tide challenge is less than five, the challenge will be broadcast live.
Jefferson stared blankly and desperately into the distance.
"They're doomed."
His puppet, the Forbidden Class who had already been controlled, could also see the remaining four people through the Livestream Room.
That would be equivalent to Him watching over the four survivors.
To gaze is to dominate; to gaze is to die.
The region is about to be wiped out.
Jefferson's mind went blank; he just sat there, dazed, even the roars of the fourth wave of monsters outside the shelter seemed distant.
He was waiting, waiting for the expected, inevitable end.
However, death did not come instantly.
"... Could it be?"
A faint glimmer of hope, one that even he himself didn't believe, rose like a fire in the darkness.
With trembling fingers, he clicked on the Livestream Room Plane of another person that the system had forcibly opened.
There were no intense battle scenes as I had imagined, no screams, not even any sound.
There is only one face in the picture.
A deathly pale, bloodless face, as if it had been soaked in formaldehyde for years.
It occupied the entire live broadcast screen, its pair of empty, Godless eyes staring unblinkingly, as if piercing through the screen and staring directly at Jefferson.
Jefferson suffered a cardiac arrest and frantically switched to a second Livestream Room. The same pale face, different features, but the same empty and direct "gaze."
The third one...
Three Livestream Rooms, three different, pale, lifeless faces. Their only commonality is that frozen, all-encompassing "gaze."
Jefferson's hand fell limply to his side.
All luck, all hope, was utterly shattered at this moment.
A burst of laughter rang out from Jefferson's mouth, who was trembling all over and overflowing with excrement and urine.
"Hehe, so... so the three of you had already become 'He' all along, haha, haha!"
"Ha ha!"
From the very beginning, there were no other survivors in this area; thanks to the dissemination of information through forums and Regional Channels, He had already "watched" everyone.
Apart from Jefferson and the person who escaped using the [Class Change Certificate], they were all complete lone wolves with few friends.
Jefferson considered the three equally fortunate survivors he contacted to be merely a part of what He controlled.
He was teasing him.
Whether it was Jefferson encouraging each other or the temporary alliance for survival they formed, there were only three people from beginning to end.
The one who fled, Jefferson, He.
"This is so much fun! Hehe!"
Amidst his desperate, manic laughter.
A certain being descended upon Jefferson "before" through this omnipresent "gaze" itself.
To gaze is to exist.
To gaze upon, that is, to dominate.
To gaze is to end.
He descended.
His game is over.
[2/100000]