This Humble One, Reincarnation Stream Player

Thinking of this, he glanced at the gal who was staring blankly at her manicure while deliberately unbuttoning her shirt.

She was no different from the two pieces of trash by Thomas's side; it was common for most female new players to trade their bodies for safety.

Then there was Mai, who wore a look of vigilance as if everyone were out to take advantage of her. Unlike before, she carried a hidden sense of pride, as if she had transformed from a crow into a phoenix.

That was normal; the unobservable Ego trait was simply too useful.

But neither of those two could have escaped the encirclement—it was Yuki, it could only be Yuki.

"Brother Li, speaking of which, that Thomas guy doesn't seem to be acting up. His technology hasn't evolved at all in the last few hours."

"He's a veteran player, not an idiot. If you can see it, he certainly can too. Do you think something is wrong?" Li Dan looked over with a calm expression.

"No, no, I was just curious. Mr. Thomas has always looked at me with disdain, after all." Yuki gave a dry laugh, turned around, and curled up inside the pipe. "Everyone, try to get some shut-eye. We have to climb again in an hour."

A chorus of sighs followed, and soon snoring filled the air. Everyone was truly exhausted. Li Dan looked at Yuki's back for a full several seconds before lying down fully clothed.

Yuki felt the gaze shift away. He snored with his mouth, but his eyes showed no intention of closing, meeting the clear blue eyes of Hayasaka Ai, who was also wide awake.

He is lying.

Yuki moved his lips, speaking without a sound.

The pipe was deathly silent. Aside from Rich Brother's occasional cough, not even the sound of dripping water could be heard, leaving only a stifling heat like a summer night.

But if one listened closely, there was the rustling of clothes and, after fingers slid across skin, the sound of suppressed, stifled laughter.

Never mind Li Dan, even Rich Brother pricked up his ears, but no one made a move to stop them. In a Reincarnation Game where one could die at any moment, disturbing others' attempts to enjoy themselves was a great way to invite hatred, and in their eyes, this was perfectly normal.

Mai, who played the part of the chaste maiden, was one thing, but that Hayasaka didn't look like a goody-two-shoes. Why should she receive protection without offering some benefits?

As long as it didn't go too far and leave them unable to run later, they let them do as they pleased, since it was all consensual.

Fingers slid across a snow-white abdomen, bringing a sensation as delicate as silk. One more inch upward and they would touch the base of her cleavage. A thigh rested across his hips, her trousers rubbing gently.

The scene made the air feel a few degrees hotter, yet there was not a trace of desire in the eyes of Yuki and Hayasaka Ai—only the rationality and coldness of experts.

"He is lying."

"Yes. About five minutes after I passed the message to him, a group of blue light dots dispersed. This proves they had already surrounded Thomas, yet he chose to flee. That is completely different from the information we heard on the radio earlier."

Fingers slid, the exchange silent. Hayasaka Ai's fingers, resting on his chest, paused, then wrote again:

"Mai told me that when they were discussing Ego traits, Li Dan's gaze became somewhat strange. It just so happens that she is very familiar with that kind of look."

"What kind of look?"

Hayasaka Ai thought for a moment, then, imitating Mai's tone, slowly wrote:

"The kind of look some people have at fan meetings—where they greet you politely while, in their minds, they are indulging in perverted fantasies."

Chapter 28: Take a Guess (Third Update)

Your explanation is certainly blunt enough.

The corners of Yuki's mouth twitched. In plain terms, it was possessiveness. The exchange of information between the three of them after regrouping had been specifically designed by him.

What he said was the truth—after all, he didn't even understand this Ego trait himself. What Hayasaka Ai said was a lie; she had to maintain her useless persona of engaging in "PY trades."

Only Mai had exaggerated, attributing almost all the credit for the successful breakout to herself.

Because Li Dan didn't know that, perhaps due to being in the spotlight for so long, Mai possessed a skill called Good and Evil Perception.

Judging by the information gathered so far, all Ego traits were highly useful, though some were simply ill-suited for the current situation.

Take that Rich Brother, for example. His Ego trait was to replicate money. Regardless of the denomination or material, he could copy it. This was undoubtedly a god-tier skill; in some normal world, he could use money to solve every problem.

Unfortunately, in this world, it was completely useless.

But Mai's Puberty Syndrome was different. In a world where one had to keep fleeing, being able to vanish from the observation of living corpses—how much would that increase one's survival rate?

Not to mention anything else, if not for the rule against acting alone, if she gave this Ego trait to him, he could clear the dungeon while eating hotpot and singing songs.

"Looking at it this way, Li Dan is problematic."

"No kidding. Who in this dungeon isn't problematic? Even the three of us—can we say we trust each other absolutely?" Yuki felt a bit amused. He had never trusted the veteran players to begin with, or rather, this moment was even more tense than the escape itself.

Hayasaka Ai raised an eyebrow, then nodded gently, agreeing that Yuki was right.

The three of them had experienced life and death several times, yet they still held back. How could they expect a veteran player to pour his heart out to them? Did they really think the other party was a saint?

It was normal for two veteran players to have a connection. Don't let their poor relationship fool you; when the critical moment came, their power would always be far greater than a newcomer's. But there were two key points:

First, why did Li Dan lie? At least on the surface, Yuki was clever, capable, and honest; he should have been treated with sincerity.

Second, how deep was the relationship between Thomas and Li Dan? Could they be acting as well?

"Don't be nervous. Mai has already demonstrated her value, enough to make him unable to do without us. If he wants to turn Mai against us, we can prepare in advance."

"The more valuable Mai is, the safer we are. After all, winning her over doesn't conflict with using us." Hayasaka Ai felt slightly relieved. Having spent so much time together, she at least believed Mai wasn't the type to easily switch sides.

"But I always feel Li Dan's attitude toward me is strange. He wants to use me, but he's also on guard."

"Because of the Ego trait?" Hayasaka Ai was curious, as she knew the 'Akina Mountain Racer' thing was a lie—she was the one who had actually been driving.

"That shouldn't be it. Traits cannot be stolen. Without a game prompt, there is no reward for killing each other."

"Then why is he on guard against you? Is there anyone among the three of us who isn't acting well?"

Yuki stopped his hand. He didn't know the answer to this question either, just like in the corridor of the ancient castle; his intuition had told him Li Dan would pull the trigger, and the latter had indeed hesitated for a moment before firing at the zombie.

Did he remind him of some bad memory? Impossible. Li Dan was a veteran schemer, and veteran schemers only cared about profit and logic.

"It has nothing to do with acting. There must be a deeper reason. Perhaps he also discovered that the difficulty spiked after leaving the castle."

"So he suspects that we, or Thomas and his group, obtained something that affects the game's difficulty?" Hayasaka Ai was startled, suddenly remembering that Yuki had acted alone, and her gaze turned suspicious: "You wouldn't have actually picked up some kind of divine artifact and kept it to yourself, would you?"

"How could that be? It was so urgent back then, would I dare hold back?" Yuki wanted to laugh, but couldn't, because he had indeed encountered something strange and dared not tell the truth. "Even if there were a divine artifact, it couldn't possibly affect the game's difficulty. Don't overthink it; we just need to stay on guard."

"How do we guard against him? We don't even know how many instances he's cleared or how many trump cards he has."

This was exactly what Yuki found most agonizing: having to clear the instance while simultaneously guarding against his own teammates, the latter being even more difficult.

The zombies looked terrifying, but the two veteran players had killed over a hundred of them. Furthermore, since their identities were the same, whatever Yuki had, the others had as well—and likely even more.

"We have trump cards too, even if we have fewer." Yuki adjusted his breathing, his fingers slowly sliding toward the deep crevice. "Let's do it. I'm ready."

The sensation transmitted through her skin grew increasingly strange; Hayasaka Ai twisted her shoulders, and her expression shifted for a brief moment.

Professionalism was professionalism, and composure was composure, but she wasn't a robot. The physical feedback made her breathing grow heavy; this time, no matter how one looked at it, it didn't seem like an act.

"Hey, I'm doing this for real."

These words brought Hayasaka Ai back to reality in an instant. Her gaze was not only cold but filled with a hint of irritation as she placed her hand on Yuki's lower abdomen and pinched hard.

"Hiss, ah—"

A sound, suppressed to the extreme yet pleasurable to the extreme, rang out, waking those who had been feigning sleep in the pipe.

They were finally finishing? Did these young people have no sense of time or place?

Li Dan instantly flipped over and sat up, checking the time: "That's enough. Everyone, let's get moving. Hayasaka, take a look at the enemy's layout."

"But I still want to sleep, and there's no signal here, how am I supposed to look?" Hayasaka Ai rubbed her eyes as she sat up, calmly buttoning her shirt and pressing her palms together: "Brother Li, let me sleep for another ten minutes—no, five minutes, please."

Now she knew she was tired?

Li Dan glanced at the smug-looking Yuki, signaling him to keep his woman in check. Hayasaka Ai was the first person he had ruled out as a suspect, simply because she was too foolish.

He turned his head to look at Mai Sakurajima, whose cheeks were slightly flushed and who also hadn't slept well.

"Miss Mai, if you're not comfortable, would you like to follow behind me?"

"No need, I'm fine following Hayasaka." Mai shook her head firmly, moving toward Hayasaka Ai with some reluctance.

She seemed to despise the other woman, but in a group of three men and two women, she felt that someone of the same gender was more reliable.

They couldn't even understand a hint; that was why these half-grown kids were the most troublesome. When others were busy making back-alley deals, why did they have to join in?

Li Dan felt a bit helpless. With only five people, the web of relationships was exceptionally complex. Even that Rich Brother was deliberately getting close to Yuki, as if he were hedging his bets.

He looked at Yuki and Rich Brother, who were chatting happily, and was just about to interrupt them when his expression tightened, and he made a gesture for silence.

The pipe went instantly quiet. Aside from the sound of breathing, a "zzzt" cutting sound drifted in from far away, scaring the fat on Rich Brother's face into a tremor as he coughed repeatedly.

"Cough, cough! It hasn't even been two hours, how did they find us!"

"Keep it down. The time isn't up, but the others aren't idiots. Have you heard the saying 'dig three feet into the ground'?" Li Dan didn't have the energy to manage the team's dynamics and immediately leaned down. "Move fast. If we get blocked in here, we're dead."

Given the style of the Crimson Moon City police, once they were discovered, they would likely be flushed out with grenades; there wouldn't even be a place to hide. At this point, no one cared about the stench in the pipes, and they all crawled forward at top speed.

Li Dan led the way, constantly checking the pipe map on his device. This was something Hayasaka Ai had downloaded after breaking through the local area network's firewall, and it was finally coming in handy.

The pipe system, less than two meters in diameter, wasn't overly complex, nor did it have a multi-layered structure. If the enemy sent in police dogs, they would find them in no time.

Thus, Li Dan chose to climb upward, stopping after about ten minutes beside a hanging iron ladder.

"This is it. I'll go up first, Fatty, you follow."

Yuki saw Rich Brother, who wore a "why me?" expression, climb the ladder as well. His eyes flickered, and he happened to lock gazes with Hayasaka Ai. The latter pursed her lips, the meaning couldn't have been clearer.

"Are we following?"

"We follow. The veteran players have been a threat since the game began; now we must use his strength to resolve the main conflict. By the way, were you a bit heavy-handed earlier?" Yuki curled his body, still in pain.

"The situation is urgent. Please do not discuss topics unrelated to the Reincarnation Game." Hayasaka Ai was expressionless.

"Fine, you win. We'll see about that."

Yuki climbed the ladder decisively, missing the slight curl of Hayasaka Ai's lips and Mai Sakurajima quietly covering her mouth. However, the pace of the game was too fast, and none of them had time to dwell on it.

Back on the surface, Yuki quickly turned his head to scan the surroundings; the pipe map had been correct.

It looked like a village within the city. The doors and windows had been removed and the residents relocated, clearly because the port expansion was intended to annex this village, leaving it in a dilapidated state.

The sun had set, and the Crimson Moon had yet to rise. The lights shining from afar cast the village into a hazy gloom. The remaining people had been scared off by the chaotic scene, and one could only vaguely see two ten-story unfinished buildings in the center of the village, dividing the area into eastern and western sections.

There was no telling which unlucky soul had just bought the land and hadn't even finished building the houses before getting dragged into this.

Yuki noticed the unique terrain of the unfinished buildings and the warning tape wrapped all around them. His expression shifted, and Li Dan gently patted him on the shoulder.

He closed his eyes, carefully feeling the force of the pat, and heard the man's steady voice.

"Let's find a place to hide. The enemy won't give up easily. It's eight o'clock at night; in a little while, the Crimson Moon will rise."

"Brother Li, I want to go into those buildings and take a look." Yuki pointed at the two unfinished buildings and explained: "That information terminal can only track vehicles. The roof is a vantage point; if we climb up, we can see the enemy's general deployment."

It was logical and well-reasoned, so Li Dan couldn't easily object. Just as he was about to push Hayasaka Ai forward to help, Mai Sakurajima took a step forward on her own, gathering her courage:

"I'll go. If there's any real trouble, my trait can help."

"Yes, yes, that place looks terrifying, I definitely don't want to go." Hayasaka Ai froze for a moment, then chimed in while shrinking backward.

Li Dan retracted the index finger he had just extended, his expression suspicious as he waved his hand with a hint of irritation.

"Then go quickly and return quickly."

Yuki hurriedly offered his thanks and reached out to take Mai Sakurajima's hand, but the girl hid hers behind her back in disgust, leaving him to offer a sheepish laugh before ducking under the police tape.

But the moment his back was turned to Li Dan, the corners of his mouth flattened, and not a trace of a smile remained.

"Do you know why I had you come along?"

"You're afraid that Li Dan will try to recruit me." Mai Sakurajima answered casually; she wasn't stupid, and ever since they had exchanged information about their Ego Traits, the veteran player's attitude had clearly shifted.

"Mm, he is a veteran player, after all, more reliable than me. Have you had any thoughts about switching sides?"

Tap, tap.

Following the sound of light footsteps, the girl ran ahead and stepped onto the bare staircase, only then turning around with her hands behind her back, a playful smile gracing her face.

"Heh, take a guess?"

Chapter 29: Studying Makes Me Happy~

The slightly briny sea breeze, the pitch-black village, the abandoned buildings, and the girl appearing and disappearing in the shadows.

These elements combined in Yuki's eyes to form a beautiful picture; he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly made it so beautiful, perhaps it was just that the person in the scenery was too stunning.

As it turned out, there was no need to guess at all; Mai Sakurajima had already made her stance clear through her actions just now, perhaps even too abruptly.

"You were too direct in how you handled Li Dan's recruitment just now."

"My current role is an innocent high school girl who doesn't understand hints and cares more about friendship." Mai spread her hands, her eyes clear and guileless.