Yandere Burst

After the great battle, Feng Shiyi and the others went off to rest, dress their wounds, and prepare for the next fight, leaving Dug and Wang San alone. At this point, there was no longer any point in monitoring them.

Wang San changed into a set of dry clothes, picked up a pastry from the table, and wolfed it down in a few bites. He licked his lips in satisfaction and asked, "Are we really going to assassinate Qiu Yuanlang?"

"Of course." Dug nodded. "You grow, I grow—what's not to like? It's better to eliminate hidden dangers than to be chased into wandering the world."

"Do you know that if the assassination fails, the two of us could very well be eliminated? That's exactly the outcome Feng Zhong wants." Wang San kept stuffing food into his mouth, devouring it ravenously. Everything he did matched the traits Feng Jiu had described of Commoner Academy students. Having eaten too much synthesized food, they instinctively craved the food in the Simulation Arena. Tonight might be his last time here, so he no longer bothered pretending and simply let his taste buds savor every bit of the food's flavor.

"Eliminated? What are you thinking?" Dug glanced at him and chuckled. "If we can't beat them, can't we just join them? We're both Celestial Demons, and we don't bear the mark of any faction. Qiu Yuanlang wouldn't give up two Celestial Demons who are obviously more useful just because a couple of hall masters died, would he? Relax. We won't die."

"..." Wang San's hand froze in midair, pastry still in his grasp. After a long while, he asked, "Is your Keyword really Maintenance?"

"Genuine beyond doubt." Dug smiled.

"Aren't you afraid your attributes will drop if you betray the Feng Family?" Wang San could not help asking. "Judging by how fast you were when you killed people, your attributes must already be pretty high!"

"Why are you so sure we'll lose?" Dug said. "Do you have that little confidence in yourself?"

What do you mean, I lack confidence in myself? There's simply no way we can win, all right?

Wang San grumbled inwardly, suppressing the anger Dug had stirred up in him. "What if?"

"They won't drop much." Dug said. "If it really comes to that, I'll use myself as a bargaining chip and ask Qiu Yuanlang to spare the Feng Family. That way, I can join the Iron Palm Gang openly while also safeguarding the Feng Family, young and old alike." He straightened his back, wearing an expression of righteous grandeur. "Sacrifice for Righteousness—this is Maintenance at its utmost. Maybe the Feng Family will even thank me when the time comes!"

"Fuck!" Wang San opened his mouth, held it in for ages, and finally spat out that single word. Nothing else could describe how he felt right then.

"So, cooperate with me wholeheartedly. Win or lose, we won't be the ones at a loss." Dug pretended not to hear Wang San's praise and smiled.

At this moment, Wang San finally understood the awkwardness Feng Shiyi must have felt when he had been persuaded.

He could sense that Feng Qi's plan was riddled with holes, yet he could not find the slightest flaw in it. And whether it succeeded or failed, it benefited everyone—even his attributes had not dropped...

This was fucking haunted!

Taking a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions, Wang San gave Dug a thumbs-up. "Brother, you're the real deal. Taking Maintenance this far, you might be the first person ever."

Dug merely smiled and said nothing. He had two Keywords, but most of the time, even he could not tell whether what he was doing counted as Maintenance or Backstab. He only knew that his attributes had been growing without pause. That was enough.

Wang San asked, "Seventh Brother, what about Feng Zhong? What are you planning to do with him?"

"We don't even know where he is. We'll deal with him if we run into him. He's just some petty nobody who hides his head and shows his tail; he can't make much of a storm." Dug said. "San, when you do things, stay focused. Don't dwell on this and that. Your energy will all be wasted on internal friction."

"But have you considered that he failed to get rid of us this time, and he's also offended us? To keep us from retaliating, he'll definitely stir up trouble from the shadows. Today it may be the Iron Palm Gang; tomorrow it could be the Beggar Gang; the day after that, the Taishan Sect." Wang San could not stand Dug's indifferent attitude. His attributes were dropping anyway, so he had to say everything on his mind.

"I'd love for him to be that capable!" Dug laughed. "If he can throw the martial world into chaos all by himself, and I then quell the fighting and preserve peace in the martial world, I don't even dare imagine how far I'll grow."

Just who gave you that confidence? Are Elite Academy students all this insane?

All the words in Wang San's stomach were forced back down again. He hemmed and hawed for a long time before saying, "You used the Feng Family to spread the news about the Celestial Demons because you wanted to throw the martial world into chaos, then maintain order amid it?"

If I'd known the Simulation Arena's rules, I wouldn't have done that even if you beat me to death! Recalling how that loophole-ridden Celestial Demon plan had forced him into opposition against all the players, Dug's face grew faintly hot. But he would never admit to such childish behavior, so he nodded. "More or less! Feng Zhong was an accident, but also within expectations."

Wang San fell silent. He looked at Dug and said seriously, "All right. I'm convinced. I'll follow you. This time, for real."

Dug smiled and continued, "Since it's for real, tell me what skill you awakened. Partners need to be honest so they can bring each other's abilities to their fullest."

Wang San was aghast. "How did you know?"

Dug pointed to his eyes, then to his head, and smiled. "I saw your little movements and microexpressions at the time."

"..." Wang San was completely won over. After a pause, he said, "Yandere Burst: When someone I like is harmed, I can unleash ten times my attack power."

"What a great skill!" Dug's eyes lit up.

"It's not much use for now. My personal attributes are too low. After talking to you for this long, they've dropped quite a bit more. Even ten times my attack power wouldn't be all that impressive." Wang San shook his head and habitually stuffed another pastry into his mouth. "Just like how you need to maintain peace throughout the entire martial world, I probably need my yandere traits to affect more people before my attributes can grow by leaps and bounds!"

"After tonight, once your reputation spreads through the Iron Palm Gang, it should be about enough." Dug said.

"Maybe!" Wang San said bitterly. "But my Yandere isn't like your Maintenance, which makes more people lower their guard around you and want to recruit you. Once my reputation spreads and they realize how terrifying I am, I'm afraid even more people will want to get rid of me to uproot the trouble once and for all.

"Just now, there were two Celestial Demons at the scene, yet that Iron Palm Gang hall master's first thought was to eliminate me, not you. Feng Shiyi was even willing to sacrifice himself for you. My Keyword will never receive that kind of treatment..."

Dug glanced at Wang San, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. With a powerful support like me protecting you, no one will be able to take you out."

"I hope so!" Wang San sighed, thinking to himself, If I hadn't already been exposed, if I had any other road left to take, only an idiot would be willing to follow you in causing this kind of havoc...

He paused, then asked, "Seventh Brother, you said cooperation requires honesty, but I still don't know your skill! If I'm eliminated today, I can't die without ever understanding anything, can I?"

"I already told you: Sacrifice for Righteousness." Dug watched Wang San's expression and calmly altered the description of his advanced skill. "While maintaining others, any injuries I suffer will heal at double speed."

Wang San's expression did not change. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. "No wonder you recovered so quickly after getting hurt. This advanced skill is practically a perfect match for your Keyword. If you use it well, it's an Immortal Body. No wonder you dare to be so reckless..."

As expected.

Advanced skills were not fixed; they emerged randomly according to a person's actions. It really was a humanized game. Dug finally felt reassured and sighed. "That may be true, but it still hurts!"

"If I could recover that quickly, I'd be willing to hurt too!" Wang San smiled, then continued, "Brother, you're so formidable—you must have awakened a second skill too, right?"

Dug shook his head. "No. I've killed so many people, yet I still haven't awakened a second skill. I can't find the trigger."

"Maintenance and killing people conflict with each other. If you could awaken a new skill that way, that would be the strange thing." Wang San did not doubt him at all and instead offered Dug advice. "If you want to awaken a second skill, you'll have to start with Maintenance itself..."