Xu Player, Half a Move Ahead of Heaven

"Run! We'll be safe once we reach East Wolf Village!"

"Ahh!"

"Damn Liang Corporation, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Spare me, I even treated you to a meal once..."

He turned his head and saw seven or eight people with all sorts of messy names above their heads frantically running in his direction.

Behind them, a group of cavalry was giving chase on horseback.

These riders were all mounted on short, stocky horses.

Each wore leather armor, carried javelins, and had the uniform prefix "Liang's*" in their name tags—about twenty of them in total.

They were mercilessly hurling vicious javelins at the fleeing players.

Gao Linzhi had read plenty of novels, so he didn't freeze up at all.

He immediately chose a different direction, putting distance between himself and that group.

"Born of the same root, why rush to devour each other!" an old player who couldn't run anymore collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath and sobbing bitterly.

"Fool, the truth of this world has always been the strong preying on the weak!" A cavalryman rode past the old player and drove his javelin down hard.

"Thud!" A bloody hole appeared in the old player's back.

The old player seemed to have lost all sense of pain, only murmuring: "I was so stupid, truly. I thought even strangers could forge brotherly bonds, could open their hearts..."

"If only I could be reborn, I'd never reveal my real identity again!"

[Ding! Player King Wu of Wei has died. Game qualifications dropped.]

Gao Linzhi, still fleeing, felt a chill run down his spine at the notification.

That guy had just died, silently, without a trace.

For them, this wasn't a game!

This was an otherworld more brutal than reality!

At least he could revive after death, but even so, he couldn't let anyone find out—not until he could stand above everyone else!

Gao Linzhi ran as fast as he could, but how could human legs outrun galloping horses?

After just five or six minutes, he was panting heavily, too exhausted to sprint any further.

He looked back and saw that the mounted players had already finished off the fleeing ones.

It wouldn't be long before they turned to hunt him down.

Sure enough, before long, those "Liang's*" cavalry players on their short horses spurred toward him.

The riders all made throat-slitting gestures at him, laughing loudly.

But the moment they got close to Gao Linzhi, instead of throwing javelins, they swung lassos!

Why didn't they just kill him with a javelin?

Oh, right—he hadn't revealed his real identity yet.

Gao Linzhi understood immediately.

They wanted to capture him, force him to reveal his real identity and real-world location in the game, confirm where the game poster would drop, and then kill him!

Gao Linzhi quickly selected "Exit Game."

He couldn't let them catch him.

The secret of immortality couldn't be exposed this soon—at least not until he could recharge and grow stronger!

[You are currently under attack and cannot exit combat normally. To prevent mental harm to the player, do you wish to Force Quit the game?]

[Force Quit will deduct 50% of your current level's experience.]

Gao Linzhi immediately chose to Force Quit.

As expected, an Ordinary Player's rights were comprehensive—the Game System treated you as a "person."

So, just as a flying lasso was about to snare Gao Linzhi, his game character vanished from the spot.

The cavalry riders froze, then quickly spurred their horses over.

They murmured among themselves, faces full of disbelief.

"How did he disappear?"

"Looks like he quit the game."

"Impossible. We were in combat with him the whole time—how could he quit?"

"Yeah, if he could, the others would've quit long ago instead of waiting for us to kill them."

As the riders talked, a hint of fear crept onto their faces.

They weren't throwaway NPCs—they were real people.

And they all knew the principle: "When something's off, disaster follows."

"We can't let him leave like this!" someone suddenly shouted.

"Damn it, he must have some kind of talent that lets him force-logout mid-combat. That kind of talent is perfect for fighting!"

"We absolutely can't let him grow. Old Thirteen, tell the family head right now—we're going to camp here until he logs back on!" The Cavalry Leader's face shifted as he immediately gave the order.

One cavalryman quickly pulled out a Green Bamboo Talisman, muttered a few words, and the talisman flashed with light...

They weren't about to be stupid cannon fodder, knowing full well the protagonist was strong and letting him develop freely.

"We'll split into three groups of six, take turns lying in ambush nearby. The moment he logs on, we kill him with full force!"

"Yes, Captain!" everyone shouted together.

The Cavalry Leader then divided them into groups of six, hiding in the nearby bushes, taking turns to set the ambush.

Meanwhile.

Gao Linzhi opened his eyes from his bed.

He clenched his fists tightly. Damn it!

It was frustrating without a cheat, and it was still frustrating with one—so what the hell was the point of having it?

He was going to spend money right now!

In other games, spending money bought emotional value, mostly useless.

But in this game, Skyfall, spending money bought life and a future!

The moment this thought crossed his mind, a game prompt appeared:

[Ding! Detected that the player was forced to flee during battle. You may choose the following ways to grow stronger—raise level, learn skills, purchase and upgrade equipment, purchase pets...]

Gao Linzhi had lived two lives and played plenty of games.

The fastest way to get stronger without ruining his account was to buy equipment and pets.

These were external things, replaceable, and at most cost some money.

Levels and skills had more pitfalls.

Once a level was raised, it couldn't be undone. Skills might have a learning cap.

So he thought, [Purchase equipment].

The next moment, a set of novice gear appeared in his mind.

Blades, bows, arrows, and Leather Armor, a leather cap...

[Green Quality Novice Set, valued at 648 Skyfall Stones. Now available at 50% off.]

He thought it over. Even with these, he still couldn't beat the enemy.

He'd need to buy a pet too, to outnumber them.

Another slowly rotating image appeared in his mind:

A brownish-green vine, a Gray Wolf, a Brown Bear.

Clearly, these were the pets he could buy.

[Corpse Vine (Green): Grows by devouring corpses. Value: 6480 Skyfall Stones.]

[Gray Wolf (White): High mobility. 328 Skyfall Stones.]

[Brown Bear (White): Great strength. 648 Skyfall Stones.]

Obviously, the Corpse Vine was the strongest—you got what you paid for.

Charge!

As this thought flashed through Gao Linzhi's mind, the game prompted again:

[Ding! Players can deposit high-value items such as gold, jewelry, and artwork into the game inventory. Click recharge to complete the transaction.]

Gold. Good.

He remembered that, just in case, he had bought 800,000 worth of gold bars.