Bai Zhi Never Holds a Grudge

The cold wind howled, and the snow fell heavily.

Upon finally seeing the light emanating from the villa, Claude entire body was almost frozen stiff, couldn't help but burst into tears.

The snow was now up to his Calf, making trudging through it quite difficult. If he couldn't make it this far, Claude felt he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

So he just couldn't understand it. It was one thing that his body couldn't compare to Abel's, but why couldn't it compare to Victoria, who was Girl? Was his physical ability really that bad?

Judging from how relaxed the two people in front of him were, it was as if they could fly back to the villa at top speed if it weren't for him being a burden...

As they approached, Rohard and Smith, who were guarding the Second Floor window, also noticed them. However, before Claude could wave to them, they saw the two men raising their Hunting Rifle and shouting for them to stop.

"..."

Hearing fragmented words carried on the cold wind, Claude stopped in his tracks, looking utterly bewildered.

... What's around me? What's around me?

Slightly puzzled, Claude shifted his gaze and, using the light reflected from the snowdrift, clearly saw the two deep pits... or rather, handprints, resting at his feet.

In an instant, it felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over his head, and he felt as if his blood had frozen.

He turned around blankly and saw the traces left by the Invisible Monster that had accompanied him all the way and followed him all the way.

At this moment, the tingling, electric-like sensation he had felt in the Small Wooden House returned to his entire body. His body began to go numb, and his movements slowed down. It felt as if several hands were grabbing his feet and dragging him towards the snow.

This series of events happened in an extremely short time, lasting only a few seconds. When Abel and Victoria, who were walking ahead, realized something was wrong and turned around, a sudden increase in Strength came from their ankles, and their figures disappeared silently into the snow.

"..."

Seeing this scene before him, his expression immediately darkened.

He raised his hand to stop Victoria from going forward to investigate, and in an instant walked to the spot where Claude had disappeared, turning his back to Victoria and bending down.

A moment later, he stood up again from the snow.

"The other party has disappeared without a trace."

Turning back to look at Victoria, Abel's face remained expressionless.

"..."

After staring silently at Abel for a while, the other man did not speak.

Ten minutes later, on the Second Floor of the villa.

While expressing regret over the tragic death of the innocent Claude, Rohard and Smith warmly welcomed Abel's return.

--The opponent is very skilled; that alone is enough.

With the return of Abel and Victoria, the number of people in the villa returned to eight.

There are six people on the Second Floor of the villa, and two more in the secluded Basement.

"Victoria? Didn't you hide in the Basement with Mike and the others?"

Seeing Victoria, who looked just as travel-worn as Abel and covered in snowflakes, enter the room, Xia Wen was slightly taken aback.

"The Basement is safe, but I was worried about Abel's safety, so I followed him out."

Victoria turned her head and glanced at Abel, who had walked to the window, before replying with a smile.

"Really? But there's no safe place around this villa until dawn."

Bai Zhi looked up at the other person and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Frankly speaking, in this situation, ensuring one's own safety should be the top priority."

"A towel fell on the floor, so I picked it up, washed it, wrung it out, and hung it back on the rack."

Victoria found a seat next to Xia Wen and began to speak in a seemingly irrelevant manner.

"At the same time, if you can ensure your own safety, protecting innocent people should be a very simple thing, right?"

"Some things may not be as they seem on the surface, because sometimes, letting things take their natural course is actually the best approach."

Bai Zhi looked unconvinced.

"Going with the flow is not the same as ignoring or standing by."

Victoria shook her head.

How do you know that my "letting things take their course" approach is the same as indifference or standing by?

Bai Zhi yawned and rolled his eyes.

"What I saw."

Victoria's eyes remained fixed on him.

"Oh, sorry, you might be blind."

With a pursed lip, Bai Zhi stood up from his chair, trying to end this pointless conversation. However, the other party clearly didn't want to give up and started talking again.

"... Could you please hear me say one more word?"

"What?"

Bai Zhi turned to look at the other person.

Even the deepest darkness can be swallowed by the most murky light, and even the smallest possibility...

Victoria looked up at him, speaking each word clearly.

"It is also hope."

"Hope?"

Bai Zhi waved his hand, turned around, and lazily replied.

"Hope resides in those who believe in it, but you don't even believe in me, so how can you talk about believing in hope?"

"..."

This time, Victoria remained silent.

Never abandon, never give up; while ensuring her own safety, she must do everything in her power to save innocent people—this is the education she received from childhood.

[The Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part], she has lived in a world that is almost hopeless since childhood. In a world where the sun can never be seen and people can only hide underground to survive, tall, enclosed Apartment stand on the earth. Humans are raised by Anomaly, and Player are the products of humans being raised.

The domesticated humans have no right to freedom and are deprived of the inheritance of knowledge and civilization. Just like humans raising livestock, humans are also being raised like livestock by those Anomaly.

But even in that dark world, glimmers of hope still flickered.

The world, which was nearly destroyed in a cataclysmic event, still exists today, and the Player who were almost wiped out in that Final Cataclysm have gradually grown stronger.

--The Final Cataclysm, a cataclysmic disaster that nearly destroyed their world.

The Player who knew the inside story of that natural disaster no longer exist. Those who came after them can only piece together some truths about history from the fragments left behind by their predecessors.

In that cataclysmic disaster, the world was originally destined to perish. Everyone except a small group of top Player would have died, and everything would have become nourishment for the birth of the final Anomaly.

Those Players who could have abandoned their world and escaped to stand at the top made a decision at the last moment.

In a desperate move that nearly 99% of the Player sacrificed themselves, they saved the world from destruction at the last moment. As long as there is life, there is hope... even if it is to live in such a humiliating way.

Thus, the world was plunged into utter darkness by the Overlord Anomaly, and the remaining Player could only hide underground, barely surviving, silently waiting for the day when light would once again illuminate the earth and humanity would regain its freedom.

This is the story of their world that she had heard since she was a child.

She was born in the Underground Ark where the Players were holed up after the cataclysm, and it wasn't until she was 12 years old and gained Player Qualification that she saw the Tian Kong for the first time during the Novice Quest.

That was the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful view.

Even though their world was shrouded in darkness and despair, and even with Strength they had accumulated, they still couldn't shake the order established by Anomaly in their world... but she always firmly believed in one thing.

Even the deepest darkness can be swallowed by the darkest light; even the smallest possibility is hope.

--This is a sentence left behind by the strongest person in their world before that unparalleled natural disaster.

The distance between hope and despair is merely a wall, a single word.

Prioritizing personal safety while doing everything possible to save those who can be saved—this is the belief of the Player named [Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part].

In this story called [Monster], she wants to save people after realizing that these people might be innocent humans captured by Anomaly.

But whether it was Bob at the beginning, or Eric and Claude later on... she didn't save any of them because she couldn't expose herself.

Although she is Player from Otherworld, her actual strength is not very high, otherwise she wouldn't have only appeared in the A-Rank Station.

She gained Player Qualification at the age of 12, and now at 17, it has taken her a full five years to barely raise her Level to... level 15.

The strength of the world itself determines the Player's potential and development speed. The two are inherently interdependent: the stronger the world, the stronger the Player, and the stronger the Player, the stronger the world.

... But the world they lived in was shrouded in utter darkness.

Therefore, she envies the people in this world, and she envies the common in this world who can freely enjoy the sunshine.

She had no way to deal with the Monster, but as a Top Player in the First Echelon of this powerful world, she thought the monster must have a way to solve the problem and save those people.

But from beginning to end, the other party didn't do anything at all; they simply let things take their natural course, and everything unfolded according to the story's own progression.

At least at the very beginning, Setsuna intervened to stop the three people who wanted to go out and die. Afterwards, she even actively chased after them to ensure their safety. But... what about the other side?

As the Protagonist of this story, shouldn't he do something? Or is he simply inherently cold-hearted...?

She couldn't understand it.

"Hmm... I think I understand what you guys were talking about now."

With his hands crossed, Xia Wen, sitting to the side, nodded thoughtfully.

Is it a question of whether or not to save lives?

"..."

Victoria did not answer.

"Little sister, listen to me, just trust him!!"

With an air of mature wisdom, Xia Wen patted the other person on the shoulder, his expression earnest and profound.

"I know him quite well, because no matter what, he would never let down those who believe in him. Also, there's one more important point you must remember."

"... What?"

Victoria turned her head, slightly bewildered, but unexpectedly, the other person suddenly grabbed her shoulders with hands, then leaned close with a deep and mysterious expression, speaking in a low, melancholic tone.

"Remember this, you absolutely mustn't speak ill of that guy behind his back, because he's very vengeful. I was once..."

Before Xia Wen could finish her sentence, a plastic bottle was thrown at her, hitting her squarely on the head, and at the same time, someone's voice sounded softly.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not one to hold grudges. This is slander."

The Moonlit Snow, Dark Clouds Part: "..."

"Judging from what you've said, Joshua is most likely in grave danger... What are your thoughts?"

With a slight frown, Bai Zhi turned to Rohard and Smith in front of him and asked them a question.

"Hunting Rifle probably wouldn't be able to harm that Monster. The most important thing is that it's invisible. In fact, judging from what Claude encountered before, that Monster might have already infiltrated this villa..."

"Perfect timing! Let's kill them!!"

Rohard reached out and pulled back the bolt, a sinister grin spreading across his face.

"I'm going to cut that Dog Poop ass off and shove it up his mouth!! That piece of trash!!"

"Impotent rage won't do any good; we need to make some preparations now."

Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly and began to speak.

"As you saw before, the Monster left footprints in the snow, so we need to cover the entire floor of the villa with flour. This will at least prevent it from approaching us silently."

"Flour... there are several bags of it in the kitchen on the first floor, all of it is top-quality flour."

After a moment's thought, Smith raised his hand and handed the Hunting Rifle back to Abel.

He was primarily responsible for collecting the Item for the parties at the villa.

"But the Monster might have entered the villa, maybe it's on the first floor right now... I need Abel to come with me."

"..."

He readjusted the Hunting Rifle in his hand, and nodded expressionlessly in the face of the others' gazes.