The Worst Possible Start

The refined- Glasses Man did not receive everyone's approval for his suggestion.

"Oh."

The burly man chuckled, his fierce gaze sweeping over everyone. "Cooperation? Who knows how many of you are Replicant? I can't trust you."

The remaining fighter was also a young man, but he had deep nasolabial folds on his face and looked rather unapproachable.

As expected, his opening remarks were immediately confrontational.

"So what are you going to do? Just have a go right here? And then be locked up in jail the whole time, waiting for someone to come and kill you?"

Lu Bai did not participate in their discussion, but simply looked at the titles above each of their heads with a gratified expression.

Starting in the fourth round, every deathmatch participant with a title will be forced to wear their main title.

Finally, he's no longer the only one wandering around with that title.

A middle-aged man with Khorne's Fanatic (One Star)].

Glasses Man, [Gloomy Head Collector (Two Star)].

Strongman, [Violent Bone Crusher (One Star)].

A young man with nasolabial folds, [Rainy Night Murderer (One Star)].

Lu Bai, [Innocent Smile (Two Star)].

Leaving aside Lu Bai, the titles of the other four deathmatch fighters all carry a hint of bloodshed.

I have a feeling that if the natives saw their title, they would probably be scared half to death.

It's no wonder he was locked up.

"Then I'm definitely going to give it a try."

Chew Bone stood up abruptly, leaning forward, which, combined with his imposing physique, created a rather intimidating presence.

The murderer, however, showed no fear, glaring back and making his already prominent nasolabial folds even deeper.

"Interesting. You're in such a hurry to cause trouble, could you actually be Replicant?"

Upon hearing this, both the Collector and the Fanatic immediately turned their attention to Chew Bone.

Upon hearing this question, Chew Bone's face flushed red with anger. "Bullshit!"

Admittedly, as hunters, Replicant are generally stronger than deathmatchers, with clear advantages in both physical attributes and combat skills.

But those who become Formal Deathmatch Participant are not pushovers.

A Replicant trying to fight off several death warriors on its own is simply not up to the task.

Especially in such a confined environment, the disadvantages are all too obvious.

Even if there were Replicant among them, they dared not reveal their identities.

That's enough.

The collector adjusted his glasses and smiled, trying to smooth things over. "If you ask me, everyone here is a real person; there are no Replicant."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The prison gate suddenly emitted a series of loud noises, as if it were being violently struck by something.

Wow~

The small window on the door was pulled down, and a Prison Guard- looking man leaned in and yelled, "All of you, shut the hell up and get some sleep!"

After saying that, the Prison Guard closed the small window again, and the sound of his footsteps gradually faded away.

The people present exchanged glances and tacitly lowered their voices.

The collector finally turned his attention to Lu Bai: "What are your thoughts, Smiling Face Brother?"

Realizing that reaching a consensus would be difficult, he quickly changed his approach, at least ensuring that he was on the majority side.

Lu Bai wore a harmless smile, making him appear completely unafraid of attack.

He said softly, "No matter what, everyone's first thought is definitely to get out of this prison."

The collector nodded. "That's right. Since we all share the same goal, there's a basis for cooperation."

"That might not be so easy."

The fanatic reached up and rubbed his buzz cut, looking somewhat naive. "You can see this Ability Pool for this round."

Upon hearing this, Lu Bai immediately opened the Ability Pool selection interface.

[Underwater Breathing (Silver): After acquiring this ability, you will have the ability to Underwater Breathing, but only through your navel.]

[I Seem to Have Seen You Somewhere (Gin): Can call out the name of the girl he likes.]

[Shaving Head in January Means Uncle Dies (silver): If you cut your hair in the first month of the lunar calendar, your maternal uncle will die.]

As expected, the level of the Ability Pool in this first round was far from ideal.

Even he has Silver level Ability Pool; the other deathmatch fighters will obviously only obtain white-level abilities.

Lu Bai silently chose [Shave Head and Kill Uncle].

Silver Ability are unlikely to produce any remarkable effects when used alone. With [Save/Load] at his disposal, he would prefer to choose this ability, which has a more rule-based effect.

"Ha, this is truly a disastrous start."

The murderer walked alone to the large communal bed against the wall, sat down, and crossed his legs.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

As a prisoner, my Ability Pool are not very useful in the first round.

Fortunately, there were five deathmatchers present; if there had only been one, they would probably have mentally collapsed.

The collector breathed a sigh of relief, dispelling some of his inner frustration.

He lowered his voice and said, "Gentlemen, only by working together can we possibly get out of this prison. I hope everyone can honestly disclose their abilities."

As he spoke, he conjured a Handheld Electric Drill out of thin air.

"This is my selection ability in this round; perhaps it will be of some use."

White-level abilities will not possess any supernatural effects.

This electric drill is, of course, just an ordinary construction tool.

Chew Bone sneered, "What do you mean? You're planning to use this thing to escape from prison?"

The others noticed the power cord trailing beneath the drill, and their expressions turned rather grim.

Putting aside the question of whether it's realistic to dig through the prison with a drill, where are you going to find a power strip in this dump?

"I chose a carton of cigarettes."

The fanatic scratched his head sheepishly. "I'm a heavy smoker, could anyone lend me a light?"

On the other side of the communal bed, the murderer had already lay down. "I'm definitely not going to get out anytime soon, so I might as well get some sleep and recharge."

"Damn it, what kind of discouraging things have you been saying!"

Chew Bone and cursed loudly; he had disliked this guy with obvious nasolabial folds from the very beginning.

"What? Is there a problem with what I said?" The murderer rolled over on the communal bed, his expression turning cold.

"Don't say that, what you both say makes sense."

Seeing that the two were about to argue again, the collector quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

He turned to look at Lu Bai and the middle-aged man with the buzz cut.

The fanatic seemed indifferent, rubbing his buzz cut the whole time.

Lu Bai, on the other hand, watched the spectacle with great interest.

The collector couldn't help but sigh; leading this team was going to be tough.

But since things had come to this, he clapped his hands and said, "Everyone, let's get a good night's sleep tonight and see how things go tomorrow. Even prisoners need some fresh air, right?"

That made sense, and none of the people present refuted him.

Lu Bai chuckled and walked to the corner of the wall.

"Let's go to sleep now, everyone. Goodnight."

The remaining people each found a spot to rest.

In theory, with a little squeezing, the large dormitory-style bed could comfortably accommodate six people.

However, the fighters present remained wary of each other, but out of consideration for the need for close cooperation, they refrained from speaking openly about it.

Perhaps not wanting to appear cowardly, Chew Bone, who had previously argued with the murderer, casually went to lie down on the communal bed.

The people had only met by chance, so there was nothing to chat about, and the cell quickly returned to silence.

The next day,

Or rather, a few hours later.

It was around three or four in the morning.

A soft call startled the others from their light sleep.

Lu Bai opened his eyes and looked around, taking advantage of the faint light filtering in through the crack in the door.

One could barely notice that on the communal bed, Chew Bone's neck was twisted into an exaggerated arc, and he died silently.