Chapter 113
"Excuse me, could you please move aside?"
Yuki whispered, Pinto waking from a dream, plopped down on the ground, only to see the man step over him.
It's impressive that they managed to hold on until now; at least they were fighting desperately until the very end.
Yuki didn't laugh at him. He looked up slightly and saw that the man and woman inside the room instantly reacted.
"Kill him!"
With a loud shout, the man lunged to grab the gun, while the young woman jumped down the stairs, gripping a kitchen knife and charging straight at him.
It's fast and well-coordinated.
Yuki raised his threat rating, leaned forward slightly, and took a step forward.
Bang.
The floor cracked under his feet. Even a tiger pouncing on a sheep uses its full strength. With an extraordinary physique and excellent Reinforcement Magecraft combined, the swordsman left afterimages.
He lunged forward at Extreme Speed, but the young woman jumped aside with a speed far exceeding human reaction time, landing directly on the wall to avoid Yuki's frontal Yuki. With a spring of her legs, she circled around the wall to his back and stabbed at his vest.
I didn't mean to cut you.
Yuki didn't even look, released his grip, and the long sword spun out.
Puff.
The man's left hand had just gripped the gun handle when the spinning longsword severed it at the root, the spurting blood staining the entire wall red.
Wow, so fast!
The girl saw it clearly, but she didn't just watch the show. She quickly turned her target to aim at the young woman, but the shifting Yuki happened to block her path.
No coordination whatsoever...
Yuki's hand gripped the young woman's forearm, and beneath her coat, blue veins covered her arms.
Her hands were like iron hoops; the young woman had just raised her foot to kick Yuki in the groin when she was sent flying.
Thump!!
With a perfect over-the-shoulder throw, he slammed her hard to the ground. Yuki raised his leg and stomped the young woman's head directly into the floor, breaking her cervical spine, exploding her skull, and freezing her trembling limbs instantly.
He stepped forward, looking at the man who was lunging at him like a mad dog, picked up the long knife stuck in the floor, and slashed it casually.
Puff.
The head spun out of the body, and the headless body took a few steps forward due to inertia before collapsing to its knees with a thud.
In twenty seconds, everything was resolved, leaving the hut silent once more. Yuki stood between the two corpses, sword in hand, head tilted back slightly, and eyes closed.
' The Demon Heart is replenished well. Did I devour these townspeople along with their possessed creatures?'
Yuki didn't open his eyes, but his intuition told him that these souls were not simple, and their very existence was a Transcendental Grade phenomenon.
It's a very versatile bloodline skill. It's almost out of the 'weak' state, but that's okay. Sooner or later, it'll be able to go on a killing spree.
He wasn't in a hurry. Smelling the strong smell of blood, he slowly opened his eyes. When his gaze swept around, he saw that the few remaining players in the room all had tense expressions.
This was a crushing defeat, surpassing any dialogue; Yuki used his sword to show them the vast difference in strength between the two sides.
As a fellow veteran player, Li Dan was incomparable to Moon Bow. The townspeople had almost no chance to fight back against him. In other words, it wouldn't take much effort for this guy to kill me.
Gurgle.
They swallowed hard, wondering what the man was thinking. Fortunately, because he had previously hosted newlyweds, he wasn't too frightening.
'Yes, this is the respect that the strong deserve.'
Yuki was very satisfied with their expressions. In the Demon Hospital, he mostly relied on pretending to be a strongman to fool Curly and Tyrant, but this time he didn't need to pretend at all.
The townspeople are alright, but if they want to kill me, they'd better prepare thirty or forty people first.
"Which of you is the Undercover?" Yuki broke the silence, but no one answered.
Who knows what he's trying to achieve by asking this? What if he's a 'cult member'? Wouldn't we be doomed?
"I am!" Rick raised his hand decisively, knowing that such vicious people didn't have much patience.
"Just you?" Yuki glanced at him sideways and lightly flicked the long sword in his hand.
Against the backdrop of blood-red walls, the sense of oppression was overwhelming. Rick knew that if the other party rushed over, he wouldn't even have a chance to fire a shot, but he still gritted his teeth.
"That's right, it's me..."
"And me." The girl's cool voice interrupted halfway through.
Yuki his head in surprise. He hadn't expected this policeman to be so loyal, daring to take responsibility when friend or foe was unknown. He raised his opinion of him a few points.
Having experienced the Tyrant's ordeal, he knew that adults could be reliable as well. As for the girl, she was quite clever and knew that she couldn't be fooled, so she might as well just admit it.
How can this be proven?
Feeling watched, the girl took a deep breath, calming her racing heart, before answering, "There are secret codes between Undercover to confirm each other's identities, and there are punishments for the death of someone of the same kind."
"That makes sense. No wonder you won't give up on them. But who is he?" Yuki looked at Pinto, causing the latter to jump up in surprise.
"I am an ordinary person with the greatest freedom. I can join a cult or Undercover at my own will. Once I decide, I must assist the other party, but I must be careful of the bewitching of evil gods."
He simply explained most of the clues, with a clear logical chain, which also aligned with Yuki's self-perception of an 'ordinary person'.
Two Undercover and one ordinary person. The Undercover are a bit more complicated, while the ordinary person is much simpler.
"Are you the Judge?" the girl asked.
In the past, to ensure fairness, intelligence would definitely be exchanged on an equal footing, but that's no longer necessary.
"My identity is unimportant." Yuki sheathed his sword and said calmly, "What matters is that I saved your lives, and I haven't killed you yet."
One sentence left people speechless, somewhat arrogant, yet impossible to refute.
Even if he's a 'believer,' any normal person could choose between the future dangers and immediate death. So the girl gripped her longbow tightly, feeling very unhappy, but unable to retaliate.
"Man is the butcher, I am the fish on the chopping block"—this is the eternal Truth of the Reincarnation Game. As long as others are stronger, besides being careful, you still have to hold your nose and endure it.
"You, clean this up." Yuki pointed at Pinto, stepped onto the blood-stained carpet, sat on the sofa, and leaned on his sword with both hands. "What are you two standing there for? Don't be shy, come and sit down too."
The girl and Rick exchanged a glance and had no choice but to sit down. As long as the other party didn't go too far, there was no need to resist.
They had barely sat down when a pair of earplugs were thrown at them. The two of them immediately understood what Yuki was up to.
He needed to know the clues about the 'Undercover,' and coincidentally, both Undercover were present, allowing them to mutually verify each other's identities.
"Moon Bow, you say it first, and then you repeat it. Is there a problem?"
Of course there's a problem. Player identities are very important intelligence. What if the other side finds out and takes action?
"Mr. Li, I think we could perhaps postpone this matter a bit," Rick, licking his lips as if rubbing them together like a fly rubbing its hands, seeing the girl remain silent.
"Hmm?" Yuki didn't waste any words, pushing the knife forward an inch with his thumb, the snow-white blade reflecting the light.
The officer immediately hung his head. This was like escaping one tiger's den only to fall into another. He couldn't object, and the dead Undercover held no secrets. The clues weren't important.
'He's most likely not a 'cultist,' because cultists only need to kill us; they wouldn't need to know the hints. This is pointless except to satisfy curiosity.'
While Rick was feeling awkward, the girl had already analyzed some issues. She remained calm and kept observing Yuki's movements.
At least at this moment, there is no murderous intent whatsoever. The confirmation prompt is most likely to ascertain our stance.
Seeing that Rick had already put on his earplugs, Moon Bow was about 70% sure of surviving; as for the remaining 30%, he would have to rely on Self-Hypnosis.
"Okay, I'll tell you now."
Chapter Eight: The Clown (Second Update)
[Undercover Tip]
[1: There are two people in total, and they have a unique code word for each other]
[2: If a comrade dies while on the same side, they will be punished.]
[3: Those who are hostile to believers and fanatics must not attack people of other identities, otherwise they will be punished.]
[4: Investigating church information requires you to find the truth, but not necessarily to resolve it.]
[5: The Church will do everything in its power to find you and kill you, so please be careful.]
[6: In non-combat state, you have two opportunities to impersonate others and deceive them, lasting for five hours]
It's a very simple hint, and it's been verified by both Moon Bow and Rick. If the two didn't discuss the answers beforehand, its credibility should be very high.
Yuki stroked the hilt of his sword, his gaze gradually turning strange. This hint was completely different from the Judge; it was as if it had been specially prepared for PvE.
'No wonder they dare not interact with players, no wonder they dare not speak their anger towards me, even killing players will result in punishment; it's a classic case of the "Seven Injury Fist" (a martial arts technique that injures oneself in two ways).'
'Hint 4 is likely related to the mission rewards. To get a higher rating, you should disguise yourself as a cult member and infiltrate directly, which involves an operation that takes place three years after three years.'
This is certainly extremely difficult, but looking at it all isn't too challenging; it offers a high degree of flexibility.
"Identifying problems but not solving them—if you just want a C rating and to get through 50 hours of gameplay, you're not comparable to me."
Yuki gently shook his head. The Judge's Tip 1: Eliminate all fanatics, which would exceed the sum of their Gojo.
This involves combat and identification, and even now Yuki only has a very basic understanding of it.
Alright, in general, these two people share the same goal: they'll find the truth, and I'll solve it.
Of course, there's another problem, such as telling other players the code to impersonate Undercover agents and gain my trust, but these two...
Yuki glanced at Rick, who had a bright, sunny smile, and at Moon Bow, whose expression was completely hidden.
They shouldn't be able to handle such a complicated operation. The situation was urgent enough just now. Unless it's a close relationship like mine, my senior's, Hayasaka's, even acting wouldn't go to this extent.
Yuki leaned back on the sofa, relaxing a little. Things were going smoothly; now there was only one problem left.
"What achievements have you made since entering the instance?" Yuki asked.
"I completed 'Actively reuniting with my companions and leading them out of danger,' and I'm rewarded with one enhancement point." The girl didn't hide anything and said immediately. She noticed that Yuki's posture had changed and he relaxed as well.
While it's impossible to be certain whether he was the Judge, he was certainly not the enemy.
"You've only done one instance of dungeon experience, and your last dungeon rating was BA?"
The girl was slightly nervous this time, and nodded somewhat dejectedly. "That's right."
Once she's been seen through, and her qualifications and performance evaluations are known, she won't have any trump cards left.
Slightly Thomas, but about the same.
Yuki had witnessed the opponent's combat skills; most of his abilities lay in archery, while his close-combat skills were within the realm of an average person. According to the Tyrant's intelligence, an A-rank rating would reward one specialization point and one enhancement point, so mastering even one skill would be quite good.
He noticed that the girl's longbow was not Chaos Item, but it was made of excellent materials and must have cost a fortune.
"Use your enhancement points to upgrade the longbow. No matter how much money you spent on this bow, there's a qualitative difference between Chaos Item and Common Grade."
The girl was slightly taken aback, not expecting Yuki to give her guidance, which she considered a gesture of goodwill, and quickly nodded.
She had always intended to do this, just like Rick's pistol with an unlimited magazine, a level that real technology could never reach.
"And you, when did this gun become Chaos Item?" Yuki turned to look at the police officer.
Having witnessed how sharp the veteran player's eye was, Rick dared not hide anything and quickly revealed everything he knew.
The pistol was brought from the real world, but it was enhanced into a level 2 Alienated Grade Chaos Item during the tutorial. It has no side effects and its ability is an unlimited magazine.
It's slightly worse than Hayasaka Ai's original version; you have to change the magazine after firing fifteen bullets, but it's better than nothing.
Yuki immediately lost interest; his hand, which had been stroking the hilt of his sword, paused slightly. So, the question arose:
Neither of them gained any benefit from killing townspeople, so why didn't I receive an achievement notification even after killing four in a row?
Either the quantity or quality is insufficient, or there are no similar achievements in this instance, or--
Yuki looked up at the alley outside. The last rays of sunlight had disappeared, and the town had entered night. Shouts could be heard from afar.
Or, another player beat them to it.
Somewhere in the town, the air was thick with a nauseating, pungent smell of blood.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
It was as if a tap had never been turned off, with the dripping sound continuing incessantly.