Chapter 122
'There's nobody left in town now, I hope he'll be alright.'
It has absolutely nothing to do with feelings. If Yuki dies, her chances of survival are less than one percent.
It's clear to anyone with eyes that the cultists have the upper hand, since they're fighting in the enemy's stronghold, which naturally gives them a bonus.
Being an 'Undercover' is manageable; I can disguise myself as a cult member, and as long as the strong ones are convincing enough, other players won't bother testing me. But the 'Judge' are in deep trouble. Not to mention the players, the church within the dungeon is practically at its zenith.
I felt a pang of sympathy for the 'Judge' for a second, carefully observing the details of the plaza, remembering Yuki's words:
You must remain an observer and never become engrossed.
"The one in white must be the saint, but observing him up close gives me a very bad feeling."
"One of the purple-robed priests is missing. Make a note of it."
"The church doors were always open, and nothing seemed amiss, but it was quite large."
"It looks like there's no one guarding it. Could we take this opportunity to sneak in?"
As the saying goes, an outsider's perspective is often clear. Amidst the buzzing chanting of scriptures, Moon Bow did indeed notice quite a few details. Of course, she knew that the church must be the core of the instance, but how could she get in under the watchful eyes of everyone?
Her brain began to analyze the situation, but the girl did not act rashly. Yuki only asked her to be an observer and watch the entire process of the gathering.
There's nothing strange about that. Players enter the instance as tourists, so her behavior is perfectly in line with that role, and no one came to chase her away.
Since communicating with the characters in the instance will only lead to getting bogged down, you should use your own eyes to observe.
Time passed second by second, and Rick and Yuki's voices could be heard communicating through the earpiece from time to time. Just then, the 'buzzing' chanting suddenly stopped.
The saint, dressed in white, stood up and spread his arms as if embracing his followers. Just as the girl was wondering what was going on, a heavily armored guard stepped forward.
He announced loudly, "After the prayers are finished, those who participated in the baptism may enter the church."
Baptism?
Moon Bow glanced at his watch. Wasn't the gathering supposed to last an hour? Only twenty minutes had passed.
Without needing Yuki's knowledge, she obtained information from the townspeople that becoming a true believer required two steps:
The first step is to enter the church and be baptized. The second step is to dedicate your body and soul to God and become a true brother or sister.
"I want to be baptized."
"Me too."
"And me too."
Dozens of people stood up, mostly young men and women. When Moon Bow saw this, her pupils contracted slightly. According to the information she had, only three to five people participated in the baptism each day.
If it reaches this scale, wouldn't the entire town be filled with fanatics?
Wait, what's that guard so surprised and relieved about?
She noticed the change in the guard's expression, and her heart sank, as if she realized that these outsiders, the players, had brought changes to the Yadu Town.
Whether it was the madman or Yuki, they had killed many townspeople. No matter how strange the town was, the security situation had deteriorated, and humans always instinctively seek safety.
Without a police station, they had no choice but to seek help from the church, and to gain asylum they needed to become believers and be baptized.
A chill ran through them; the more they acted, the more fanatical cultists they would face, and the more powerful the evil god behind them would become!
The logic was complete; she remained motionless, watching as dozens of people were led away by the church, following the saints slowly towards the chapel.
The people in the square were abandoned, but things became even more bizarre than before.
Some people still wore smiles, some suddenly relaxed, and some looked around, revealing their true nature like unruly children whose parents had left them.
But no one left, and no one spoke.
Hiss.
The girl suddenly shivered, as if an invisible gaze was sweeping over her, like a human sweeping over ants on the ground and then looking away.
It was something you couldn't look at directly, something you couldn't predict, and something you couldn't even describe; all you could do was hear the bells ringing and the baptism ceremony taking place inside the church.
She thought of the task Yuki had given her, hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth, picked up the stone, and threw it.
Pat-pat.
The stones hit the heads of the people below. Some people seemed oblivious and continued chanting scriptures, while others turned around and glared angrily. They had just gotten up when they sat back down.
This is even stranger. They're clearly angry, and they haven't lost their ability to move, so why are they gathered in the square? Why aren't there any unusual phenomena?
God's gaze was not fixed on the square, but rather...
"Mr. Li, I think I've discovered something."
"Good thing. I've always said that the opposite of the Bystander Is Blind is that an outsider can see things clearly. Following the rules of the game is never wrong." Yuki stood by the window of another house and saw a skinny stray dog running past in the distance, carrying something in its mouth.
The red cylinder is exactly the kind of Coca-Cola can you would never see in a small town.
Even knowing that Yuki had planned a lot and that the enemy was stronger than them, the girl was still extremely worried and asked, "Can it really work?"
Call.
Stubbornly stubbed out his cigarette, Yuki drew his dark hunting rifle.
"Don't worry, I'll break this deadlock."
Chapter Seventeen: The True Colors Revealed (6K)
"Rick, should we try to break out?"
Inside the cabin, Pinto paced back and forth anxiously; he had had enough of Yadu Town.
He can't go out at night, and during the day, he has to hold back from the enthusiastic residents all the time. Even when he needs to use the toilet, if someone knocks on the door, he doesn't dare to say "someone's here."
It's really hard to be a bystander; you even have to change your lifestyle. Around noon, all the townspeople gather in the square, and the silence is eerily quiet.
Now he misses those enthusiastic residents; with them around, at least the players don't dare to make a move.
"Where can we break out? We can't get out of the town, and we only have twenty-five hours left in the instance." Rick said, a cigarette dangling from his lips, looking completely unconcerned.
"We can't just sit here and wait to die!"
"No, no, it's not that bad. With Miss Moon Bow and Mr. Li protecting us, we're safe at least for now."
"You really think I don't know? They're using us as bait!" Pinto's voice rose, his face filled with struggle. "If we stay here, the other players will come knocking sooner or later. How are we supposed to fight back?"
Rick paused as he flicked the ash from his cigarette, clearly realizing this as well; his earlier words seemed more like self-deception.
Most of the facts have now been ascertained; the players on the church's side are more numerous and stronger. But after a while, he still slowly shook his head.
"As the weaker party, we have no choice but to obey; perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope for survival."
But we can struggle to survive!
Rick was taken aback by the somewhat hysterical screams and turned to stare at his unusually agitated teammates.
His lips moved, but in the end, he just shrugged like a coward. "Aren't we just struggling to survive?"
As an exposed 'Undercover,' he had no choice but to switch sides. Ultimately, compared to Moon Bow and Li Dan, the other players were even less trustworthy, with less than a one percent chance of survival.
He looked at Pinto, who seemed somewhat dejected. Pinto was a companion who had fought his way through the beginner's guide, and he still cared about him a lot.
"Alright, tell me, how are we supposed to struggle?"
"We can't just sit here and wait to die, and we can't pin our hopes on others." The young man grabbed a cigarette, lit it, and blew smoke rings as he said, "Let's go to the landfill. The terrain there is complicated; we might be able to hide there and survive for 25 hours."
Using the clue from the 'Undercover' informant, Rick knew the town's terrain better than anyone else, since he had personally visited the site and shared the information with everyone.
Landfill?
He squinted, recalling the mountains of garbage and the ruins of burned buildings. He thought that if he dug a hole and hid inside, he might actually be able to survive.
"Why not go to the cemetery? Communication is impossible there."
"We're on the south side of town, closer to the landfill," Pinto replied matter-of-factly.
"Mr. Li won't agree; he's definitely keeping an eye on us." Rick shook his head again.
"Doesn't this prove he's using us as cannon fodder?" Seeing him waver, Pinto breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't worry, my special ability will allow us to sneak away."
"Wait, didn't you say the special ability was 'Fierce Strike'?"
"I'm not stupid, why would I reveal this trump card to them? Luckily, that person was too arrogant and didn't take me seriously." Pinto revealed a smug smile.
Since the three parties parted ways, Yuki has only ever given him a second glance, except when he first asked him to clean. If anything goes wrong, he'll definitely be the first one abandoned.
This disregard is disheartening, but it also presents an opportunity.
Rick's face became complicated, showing a mixture of doubt, interest, and struggle. Before his teammates could urge him, he suddenly stood up.
"Okay, I'll listen to you. We'll take our Destiny into our own hands."
Decisiveness is necessary when it's time to act decisively. At least Pinto's statement is flawless, and from their perspectives, this approach offers the highest chance of survival.
"This is the Rick I know—sunny, positive, and always full of hope." Pinto somewhat pleased and, without further ado, activated his true abilities.
A mirror appeared, standing in front of the two. Rick was just wondering what was going on when he saw his reflection walk out of the mirror, and he immediately looked like he had seen a ghost.
"What the hell is this?"
"Mirror Person, but can only mimic our appearance for five minutes." Pinto looked at the Transcendental Grade sight, his whole being brimming with excitement.
This was his last trump card. You wouldn't believe it, would you? Even a nobody like me had the strength to fight back.
The Mirror Person had no shadow, a blank expression, and floated around like a balloon, but at least outwardly there was no difference.
How powerful would I be if I could preserve this information for a long time and reflect the full extent of the subject's abilities?
Pinto indulged in a moment of fantasy, but quickly returned to reality. This thing could only last for five minutes, and every second was precious. He hurriedly waved his hand, signaling the two mirror images to walk out through the main entrance, and then held his breath and waited.
If Li Dan intervenes, there's nothing he can do; he can only see if those people have the courage to take forceful action.
One minute, two minutes passed, and then an unhappy voice came from the Walkie-talkie.
Rick, where are you headed?
The officer instinctively picked up the Walkie-talkie, but then noticed his colleague staring intently at him. He chuckled awkwardly and turned the Walkie-talkie off.
Three minutes, four minutes.
No one came to check, Pinto, who had been waiting impatiently, opened the window and growled at Rick looked completely bewildered:
"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
"Alright, let's go." He drew his gun and followed, his face still full of doubt, as if there were some things he simply couldn't understand.
Climbing out the window, the two slipped into the alley. Rick had already scouted the route last night, and now that the streets were deserted, their escape was easy.
Located just south of the town, less than a kilometer away from the Garbage Mountain as the crow flies, the two fled at top speed through the empty streets and soon caught a faint stench.
Behind a barbed wire fence lies a towering Garbage Mountain, filled with the ruins of burned buildings and piled haphazardly with all sorts of household waste, only a hundred meters away from the town itself.
There were absolutely no flies or foul odors, enough to bring tears to the eyes of any environmentalist.
Pinto climbed over the barbed wire in a few steps. Before he could even turn around, he heard a gunshot. His face flushed red instantly, and he even looked somewhat ferocious.
Why did you shoot?!
"Something's chasing us! Run!" Rick yelled back, firing a few more shots into the alley before turning and giving chase.
Li Dan caught up so quickly? Veteran players are indeed not to be underestimated.
"Hurry up and follow!" Pinto jumped off the barbed wire and hurriedly scrambled into the ruins. If Li Dan caught up, he, as a traitor, would surely die.
Fortunately, the terrain here is indeed very complex, with large areas of ruins stretching all the way to the edge of the town, and the discarded refrigerators and wardrobes serving as natural cover.
Pinto didn't hide; instead, he ran deeper into the ruins. Before he knew it, the gunfire had stopped, and he slowed down and turned around.
"Rick, and..."
His mouth suddenly froze because his companion had vanished without a trace. He didn't think much of it; getting lost in such complex terrain was normal. He just angrily kicked away a clump of trash.
Damn it, I still have to go find you.
Rick was a crucial asset, and he had to go find him, but before he could take more than a few steps, he froze.
A huge Caucasian Hound sat perched on top of a discarded television, its long tongue lolling out, saliva dripping from its sharp teeth, tilting its head as it looked at me.
They've arrived.
Pinto's heart tightened. Forcibly suppressing his fear, he held the axe to his neck before opening his withered mouth:
"I've come to see you as agreed. Don't scare me; if I die, you won't get the important information."