Death?

Death?

"This body... really felt awful."

"I'd rested for so long without missing any sleep... How far had I even walked? My body was already clearly giving out."

Countdown: 8 hours.

As he walked along the mountain path, Han Dong needed to rest for a few seconds every five steps or so... His lungs could not take in enough oxygen, while his legs trembled slightly from his usual lack of exercise and essential vitamin deficiencies.

Even Akaman, the believer traveling with him, had better stamina than Han Dong.

She clutched a cross throughout the journey. Heavy dark circles hung beneath her eyes, and there was barely any "light of hope" left in her gaze. She followed closely beside Han Dong at all times.

Though Han Dong's body did not seem particularly worth relying on.

Han Dong spotted a building marker on the map. "There should be a farmhouse up ahead. Shall we go inside and take shelter?"

Before long, the flashlight illuminated a stone-and-brick house built halfway up the mountain.

It was a single-story structure, with many cracks in its walls. It had clearly been abandoned for a long time.

Han Dong truly could not walk any farther. If he kept forcing himself onward, his body might collapse completely... No matter how shabby the building was, he had to go inside and rest.

The moment they entered the abandoned building—

Boom!

Lightning tore across the sky, followed by rolling thunder.

The rain came pouring down.

Fortunately, the roof tiles had been laid tightly, and there were no leaks... Otherwise, if someone with Han Dong's frail body got soaked in the rain and caught a cold during the final few hours, everything would be over.

The two sat against the wall in the main hall.

Han Dong quickly pulled out some high-calorie food from his backpack, along with a bottle of Banlangen herbal drink he had prepared in advance. He replenished his energy while trying to prevent himself from falling ill...

Compared with Han Dong, Akaman, seated across from him, was rather calm.

She neither ate anything nor voiced any complaints. She merely gripped the cross and stared blankly ahead.

The two sat silently, listening to the torrential rain batter against the roof tiles for around five minutes.

Then Akaman suddenly spoke.

"Did you know? The church basement is a lot like this place—dark and damp... Every day after I finished volunteer work, the priest would make me stay down there for a while."

"Mm..." Han Dong sensed something strange.

"Even though I didn't want to... there was nothing I could do about it."

"If I didn't bring money home, my father would beat me. And he hit harder than the priest did. I had to obey him. As long as I behaved, I could bring money home."

The more Akaman spoke, the more agitated she became. She even began scraping forcefully at the dirt floor with her fingernails.

"Did you know... I only had to hold on for a few more months before I could become an official employee at the church, with a fixed monthly salary! I would be able to meet more and more people, and my life would return to normal."

"But then, at this very moment!"

"My father actually refused to let me continue working at the church. He owed too many debts and needed to sell me to repay them."

"No... I couldn't accept that! I 'dealt with' my father. With nowhere else to go, I could only seek help from the priest at the church."

"But the priest, who had always been so 'kind' to me, suddenly changed his face. He refused to let me stay and work at the church. He even wanted someone to come and take me away!"

"I really didn't want this. I really... only wanted a simple life."

"Can you understand how I feel!?"

For a moment—

Crack, crack, crack!

A series of strange twisting sounds came from Akaman's Joints as her sitting posture shifted into a crawling stance.

At once, Han Dong used the "prison" connection to establish contact with Chen Li and pass along an extremely important message... Whether it succeeded would determine whether Han Dong could survive.

Whoosh!

Akaman's black hair floated through the air as she crawled.

Han Dong's guess had been completely correct. The true evil spirit had been hiding among the six of them.

She moved so fast that Han Dong could barely see her. All ten fingers had already pressed against both sides of his face.

The familiar sensation of death.

It was very similar to that moment when he had lain in a hospital bed, dying of respiratory failure... Only this time, death might come even faster.

"Wait... Can you let me end myself? This body of mine wasn't going to live much longer anyway."

As Han Dong spoke, he drew a short blade he had prepared long ago and held it to his own neck.

His words and actions caused the evil spirit "Akaman" to pause.

Han Dong's reaction was completely different from the previous two... There was none of the fear others showed before death in his eyes.

She had watched Han Dong's physical condition throughout the journey.

Someone so frail could never escape, much less survive.

In Akaman's eyes, this young man named "Nicholas" suddenly became interesting.

"...I'll give you one minute."

Han Dong revealed a helpless smile. "Thank you. Before I die, I have a question."

"Why didn't you kill most of us on the first night?"

"After all, the memories of the dead would be erased from the memories of the people involved in the event, right? There wouldn't be any disadvantage to you."

As Han Dong asked, the knife in his hand had already cut into his flesh.

Akaman was completely on guard. Interested in Han Dong and certain that he could not possibly survive, she answered his final question.

"In the first few days, I could only kill one person per day! And I could only act at night."

"Only during the final twelve hours of this game would those restrictions gradually lessen... Understand? Over these last few hours, I'll kill every one of you."

"Don't worry. Someone will come to accompany you soon."

Han Dong's guess was confirmed once again.

The "restrictions" really did exist.

"Thank you."

Han Dong did not hesitate any longer.

The blade swept across his throat, cutting deep enough to be fatal...

His frail body could not possibly endure such a severe wound. The light gradually faded from his eyes, and he died there, slumped against the wall.

Not long afterward.

Akaman received a system notification that belonged solely to her.

Due to a Survivor's death, the cooldown has been reset to 4 hours... Current number of Survivors: 2.

With that, Akaman did not linger. She crawled out of the abandoned house like a spider and rapidly pursued Edward and the other person down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain.

Inside the courtyard of an abandoned farmhouse.

The blonde Monica stared wide-eyed, filled with resentment as she looked at the cold-faced captain before her—Edward.

Her abdomen had already been pierced by a steam-powered arm.

"Why..." Monica had never imagined that she would not be killed by the evil spirit, but by the "lifeline" she had wanted to rely on.

"Because of her!"

Edward cast a sidelong glance at the Woman in Red Robe standing quietly in the woods outside the farmhouse.

"You lowly commoners were destined to become 'bait' from the moment you entered Destiny Space."

"The only purpose of your existence was to buy time for me."

Edward's image as a good person instantly crumbled.

As Monica fell, the Woman in Red Robe, who had been wandering through the woods, left as well...

Seeing this, Edward let out a long breath.

"Who would have thought my luck would be this bad? The evil spirit actually came after me first... I have to reunite with the weakest pair immediately and keep making use of their 'time.'"

After resting briefly, Edward immediately headed back up the mountain!