Chapter 185

"Eight groups of seeds, now only three groups remain." Elk's words silenced all doubts. There is no such thing as match-fixing in this world; very few players can reach the 'Warrior' level.

"But Kevin broke the rules, so he's useless." Abate didn't quite understand the higher-ups' thinking. They would have punished him physically long ago, instead of just giving him a verbal warning.

"Who said it's useless?" Elk glanced at him coldly, a smile appearing in his eyes, "Have you ever heard of the strategy of praising by first criticizing? Even with this completely opposite style, the Apostle can still be useful."

"But the rules..."

"This is an order. If you disagree, challenge the Apostle. If you win, you will become the new rule."

Wearing a golden mask, he exuded intense killing intent. Within the Cult, there was neither explanation nor opposition to questioning.

But that must be debated with swords and blood.

"They were chatting outside the door, but I couldn't hear what they were saying."

Hayasaka Ai stood silently behind Yuki, a hint of regret in her eyes.

"What's so interesting about that? It's nothing more than talking about how to use me." Yuki, ever the bachelor, propped his head up with his hand, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He was afraid the Cult members wouldn't come. Look, after a series of therapeutic talks, he obtained a lot of important information.

"This instance has an absolute advantage in terms of strength; let alone warriors, even the civilian players can't handle it, but—" Yuki pointed to the gate, then nodded his head:

"There's something wrong with them here; it's too easy to get information out of them."

They just left, and you're already calling them an idiot? That's ridiculous.

Hayasaka Ai was amused, but it took her two seconds to regain her seriousness. "Well, it's not that they're unintelligent, it's just, uh..."

"A bunch of clueless straight men, all they think about is fighting and killing. If it were me, I would have tied up the senior girls already. What do I need a red thread for? If they don't obey, I'll just kill the hostages. Hey, I was just kidding, why are you standing so far away?"

Yuki realized that Hayasaka Ai had already run more than three meters away when she started talking, so she quickly called her back.

"Alright, alright, thanks to Elk, I've figured out two key pieces of information." Yuki held up two fingers, his cold expression returning:

"First, the other players aren't in good shape, which is probably related to the difficulty of the dungeon. If I had followed the script, I'd probably be out of my mind by now."

"Secondly, players play an important, even indispensable, role in this instance, and I am both a player and a 'warrior,' so my value is considerable."

Hayasaka Ai nodded repeatedly. She had also noticed this, and as an observer, she even pondered it a little more, "The Cult seems less opposed to your fighting style now. Why is that?"

"Because of the technique of building suspense before escalation, if I could take a few more steps forward and then be defeated by someone else, the scene would definitely be crazy." Yuki crossed his legs and said decisively.

The more intense the suppression, the more frenzied the outburst.

Having personally experienced the battle against the Bull Demon, Hayasaka Ai knew why such a frenzied atmosphere was created and what role the audience played. These questions remained unanswered, but she did understand.

Isn't that the very atmosphere of near-madness that the Cult seeks?

So we--

"Since we have such a rare commodity, let's use it to the fullest." Yuki leaned on the handrail, stood up, and straightened his shirt collar.

"Let's test their limits."

As the plot unfolds, more and more clues emerge like mushrooms after rain.

Elk's 'respect' was genuine. Thanks to Kaguya-sama's personal probing, their team was no longer unable to move an inch, even in non-combat situations.

But this 'respect' is also absurd.

Yuki might not be universally hated in the deathmatch arena, everyone at least hopes for his death. Yet, in the city, Mai Sakurajima and the others move freely without hindrance, which supports the theory of Yuki and Hiyori's 'roles'.

Audience members and ordinary citizens play different roles, and although they are separated by only a wall, their roles are clearly distinct.

"But we can't get into other deathmatch arenas, so we can't contact other player teams."

Shiina Hiyori sat in the car, looking distressed, her chin resting on her hand.

The Cult guards refused entry to all players. The senior student tried to sneak in, but the passage was too narrow and the guards were too close. After weighing the risks, she withdrew.

Hiyori tried using the Void Puppet, but there wasn't enough time, and the Deathmatch Arena didn't have a program or anything like that. Just listening in the corridors, the information she got was really limited.

The audience will only cheer and the Roar, the only difference being that sometimes it's loud and sometimes it's soft.

Due to their limited combat capabilities, they never considered forcing their way in.

"You've worked hard. At least we know Adam is in the V Arena III, and he does have a problem." Mai Sakurajima gently patted the girl's back. She knew that having your five senses split for a long time was very painful, Hiyori had already taken several Comfort Pills.

They spent half a day visiting five deathmatch arenas, and then found Adam at VIII. They didn't need any plan; as soon as they entered the gate, they could hear the Roar of a mountain collapsing.

"Adam! Adam! Adam!"

This is the complete opposite of Yuki; one could say it's fanaticism taken to the Limit.

Wasn't it said that once you become a warrior, no one will challenge you? Could it be that Adam hasn't been promoted to warrior yet?

Whether he's a player or a story character with the same name is too risky to force contact; we can only guess.

Mai Sakurajima lowered her head and thought for a moment, then looked inside the car.

Kaguya in the back seat was withdrawn, muttering to herself, "Why is it always me?" Hiyori next to her was forcing herself to look at the bustling street, her eyes bloodshot.

"Everyone's pretty tired, do you want to take a break?"

Of course they were tired. They had just left the raging storm and immediately entered this strange, blood-red city.

"Senior, I've noticed the frequency of fights on the street seems to be increasing. This isn't a good sign." Hiyori didn't even blink; only she could handle this kind of big data analysis. "There's also a red sedan; the driver is secretly observing us."

Mai Sakurajima was interested in the first half of the sentence, but when she heard the second half, she was stunned. She knew that she absolutely could not turn her head to look at it at this time.

She glanced behind her and saw that Kaguya, who had been muttering to herself, had sat up at some point, holding an arrow in her hand.

"That shouldn't be the case. There's never been any surveillance on this instance, not even when we go to those black buildings, we're not tracked," Mai Sakurajima said, puzzled.

"That's right. The people in this instance are too obsessed with violence. They're not afraid of us spying on them at all. Anyway, we have to force our way through the important places." Hiyori glanced at the rearview mirror every few seconds and whispered, "This person is rather thin, and his eyes don't look fierce. We can't see his face clearly, so he must be wearing a disguise."

"That's the player who saw through hint 5." Mai Sakurajima lowered her voice, a hint of excitement in it.

She had prepared for two scenarios this time. Since she couldn't enter the deathmatch arena, why not wait for someone else to come looking for her?

Any player with a modicum of common sense should know that this championship is not worth fighting for.

"That car is coming," Kaguya whispered a reminder, and sure enough, the red sedan drove up.

It crossed the entire street, and the raging traffic stopped in its tracks—clearly a sign of 'respect'.

Having confirmed that it was indeed a player, Mai Sakurajima reached out and pressed down on the longbow in Kaguya's hand. "Don't rush, we don't yet know if the deathmatch rules apply between players."

Kaguya immediately lowered her bow. The deathmatch couldn't be interfered with, and she didn't want to fight a complete stranger one-on-one.

Escaping by car was too late, but the three people inside remained calm and waited for the red sedan to arrive.

Just as Hiyori observed, there was only a boy in the car. He wasn't strong, had his hair in a bun, and wore black sunglasses.

The windows of both cars rolled down simultaneously. The boy turned his head and looked over, asking with a hint of curiosity, "When did you notice I was following you?"

His tone was relaxed, clearly indicating he was thinking things through.

"Even though you changed cars three times, you didn't disguise your face. You're underestimating us." Hiyori a smile, which made the boy a little annoyed.

Don't underestimate it. With such heavy traffic, how could a normal driver notice something unusual about another driver?

"Observation-based Transcendental Grade skills?"

How could Shiina Hiyori possibly tell him? She offered a polite smile, while simultaneously sketching out a mental image of the character:

Outgoing personality, mentally sound, and fearless.

The boy wasn't annoyed. He lowered his head slightly, took off his sunglasses, and scanned the car with his dark eyes, his gaze turning to one of amazement.

Arriving in this godforsaken place full of musclemen, I was surprised to see three beautiful girls sitting in a car. Even with the interference of props, my intuition told me that these three girls were definitely very pretty.

In addition, his intuition told him that the three posed no threat.

Why aren't you three running away?

"Why run?" Mai Sakurajima asked back, appearing poised and confident.

Of course, it's because your combat strength is not strong enough, making you seem out of place in this instance.

The boy really wanted to answer that way, his ears twitched slightly, and he quickly turned his head away.

Ten meters away on the street, a man sat on a bench, leaning forward, flicking and then closing the long knife in his hand, making a clinking sound.

He didn't speak, nor did he get up. When he noticed the boy's gaze, he merely raised his head slightly and returned a polite smile.

Gurgle.

The boy swallowed hard, sensing the results would arrive soon:

Deadly threat.

Chapter Fifteen: Two-Gun Zhang (4K)

The reason why Mai Sakurajima and the others did not flee is obvious.

Yuki sat quietly not far away, silently watching over them to prevent any hostile behavior from certain brainless players.

Since there was no prior contact between the two parties, there was no cause and effect, so the boy had no chance to notice anything.

True fishing is about being in sync with the bait; Mai Sakurajima never intended to run away from the very beginning.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked with a smile, just as she had at the beginning.

The boy immediately suppressed his desire to perform. He could use his special ability to sense whether he had been discovered, but just seconds before, he hadn't felt the slightest threat.

Coincidence? Even they didn't know their companions had caught up?

This could only be explained by coincidence, and the boy's smile turned ugly, "Uh, can I say I was just passing by?"

"Sure, but you have to talk to him first." Mai Sakurajima pointed to Yuki not far away; she had already realized that the boy meant her no harm.

If he did, he wouldn't even be able to get to him.

"No need, it's a small matter. Let us underlings discuss it."

The boy was quite straightforward, subtly mentioning that he also had someone behind him, only to find that it was useless.

The man heard it, but his cold gaze remained unchanged. At least at this moment, no matter how strong the person behind him was, they couldn't save him.

I was careless. Fortunately, these women aren't too strong. If he really killed me, we would all have an equal chance of revenge.

In the 'Calamity of Blood', Mai Sakurajima and the others are undoubtedly weaknesses, but it is precisely because they are weaknesses that the boy dares to show himself.

Just as Yuki had predicted, they weren't the only player team in the instance. The boy's team had also discovered the secret of clue 5 and was gathering information through various means.

Lacking Hiyori's observational skills, the boy mainly wandered around the streets, using his special ability to identify the player's presence, and he actually managed to find them.

'His intuition-like traits mean that his daring to approach his seniors so openly must mean he's found them to be no threat at all.'

Yuki did not participate in the conversation, but listened to the entire conversation using the Spirit Particle Communicator.

I've been in the instance for two days now, and this is the first other player I've encountered.

The boy's goal was simple: to seek cooperation and exchange information. He clearly realized that he couldn't win the championship, and of course, he also had the idea of testing the waters. But this test hit a brick wall.

Mai Sakurajima is in charge of the conversation, Hiyori observes the details of facial expressions, and occasionally asks a couple of tricky questions, while Kaguya continues to act like an ice sculpture, putting constant mental pressure on the audience.

It's too difficult for this combination to beat around the bush. After a few rounds, the boy became more open and honest, Yuki listened carefully, becoming interested in several things.

Is 'Two-Gun Zhang' behind him?

It's a common tactic to subtly remind those behind you of your presence, just like how the "Day" characters don't shy away from revealing their identities when in danger, which is a way of reminding other players, "Touch me and you'll pay the price."

Since they were in the same instance, the possibility of bragging was almost nonexistent. Yuki had never met this player, but the latter was the kind of person who made a name for himself on the forums.

A seasoned player, his skills are definitely not weak. Tyrant once collaborated with him and even joked that it was cosplay.

Yuki didn't quite understand why she needed something as useless as 'reputation' before, but now she realizes it has meaning.

A person's name is like a tree's shadow; if my senior were to mention my name, I wouldn't feel any intimidation at all.

This Brother Zhang realized there was a problem with continuing the fight, but he was in a bind and had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep going. He also keenly noticed how to use hint 5.

The characters in the story never accept defeat; they only have the concept of 'win or die' in their minds.

Therefore, it's not hard to see that the chance of defeat only applies between players; by signing a contract, one can ensure a dignified exit from the storyline.

As for how the Cult would react to the defeat without death, the boy didn't reveal anything, but Yuki guessed that the team of players possessed concealment items that allowed them to hide.

"Senior, use the Soil-Offering Contract to make him tell the truth, then ask him what he can get if I agree to cooperate."