This Humble One, Reincarnation Stream Player

"If you don't want to say it, then don't come crying later."

Time ticked away second by second, and footsteps echoed from the distance. Yuki, who had been busy observing the terrain, turned his head to see Li Dan leading Mai Sakurajima and Hayasaka Ai as they caught up.

Their journey had been anything but peaceful; it was either falling debris from the heights or bumping into trouble at every corner. Consequently, the two girls kept a certain distance from Li Dan, and they certainly weren't about to lead the way.

He had been incredibly unlucky lately, which seemed to be a side effect of a Chaos Item, though it was unclear which one.

Li Dan didn't say, but Yuki had guessed it long ago. These Chaos Items weren't picky about their users and their effects were excellent, but their side effects were bizarre and varied.

"Pack up your guns, we're crossing the railway line." Yuki patted the fat man on the back and stood up on his own.

A railway line running almost parallel to the canal cut across the city, guarded by fences on both sides. Once over, they would reach the highway, and after crossing that, they would arrive at the old district where the buildings were shorter.

The critical issue was that the railway and the highway ran side-by-side, leaving a hundred-meter-wide open space in between with no cover, making it easy for Living Corpses to spot them and trigger an endless pursuit.

"Move at your fastest speed, and try your best not to trigger a horde," Li Dan's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"What if we do trigger one?"

"Then run for the overpass. I've lent the grappling gun to Robert; use the height difference to jump down, and I'll cover you." Li Dan's tone left no room for negotiation, and he added, "Mai's ability is still on cooldown, and the two of them can't run fast. I'm currently in a state of side effects, so I have to rely on you two."

He sounded sincere, and this was indeed the best way to ensure everyone's survival. You couldn't exactly ask two weak girls to handle the danger.

The fat man's cheeks twitched, itching to argue about gender equality and why he should be the one taking the risks, but Yuki grabbed his hand and shook his head slightly, signaling that now was not the time to haggle.

"We're fully equipped and have the highest survival rate. Li's plan is fine."

"I haven't taken advantage of those two women!"

"You're fighting for your own life, why overthink it?" Yuki couldn't be bothered with nonsense. He confirmed his six magazines were full and adjusted his helmet.

He walked in front, passing through an intersection piled with corpses, quietly cut a hole in the chain-link fence, and stepped his military boots onto the gravel-strewn tracks before crouching to slip through.

Under the Crimson Moon, shadows flickered. Not far away, Living Corpses were wandering back and forth. Yuki reached out to press down the muzzle of the fat man's gun, which had instinctively risen, and crept forward on tiptoe.

Hrr... hrr...

The whimpering grew clearer. Perhaps they had caught a scent, for the Living Corpse turned rapidly, only to see the blade's light expand in its vision.

Swish.

Two slashes back and forth neatly severed the head. Yuki then grabbed the corpse by the collar and, ignoring the spurting blood, gently laid it back on the ground as if it were a piece of precious cargo. This left the fat man behind him looking astonished.

He could handle shooting people from afar, but close-quarters decapitation was beyond him—let alone doing it without a hint of panic while covered in blood.

"How are you not afraid at all? Were you faking it before?"

"I'm afraid. I'm scared to death right now, but have you ever heard of self-deception?"

Robert had never heard of it. Before he could ponder it, Yuki had already moved to the other side of the tracks. He hurried to follow, reaching out to take the wire cutters thrown his way.

"You do it this time. Be quick; these Living Corpses have sharp noses and have definitely smelled the blood."

The fat man froze, turned to look at both sides, and saw hundreds of black shadows slowly approaching, causing him to shudder.

Click, click.

Wire by wire, the thick steel was cut until a hole was finally made. Robert ducked through, only to find Yuki still lingering behind.

"Hey, what are you doing? Run!"

"They haven't arrived yet. Don't forget our mission." Yuki pointed ahead. Li Dan was leading the two women across the railway. Under the moonlight, they had nowhere to hide, and the horde was already slowly accelerating.

"Leave it for Li to cover! At least he can take one person with him!"

Yuki didn't speak. He was actually wary of that very point. If something went wrong, there was no need to ask who Li Dan would abandon; he wouldn't dare bet on Li ensuring everyone's safety.

But we are a three-party alliance, and I won't follow his arrangements blindly.

The whimpering of the Living Corpses grew closer, and the three of them moved faster. Perhaps Li Dan was still suffering from his side effects, for before they had taken two steps, a "bang" of a gunshot rang out.

Damn it, being this careful and the Chaos Item just misfires on its own?

Yuki's scalp tingled. He finally understood how bizarre the price of a Chaos Item was; when it came to this kind of bad luck, it was simply unavoidable.

The gunshot echoed in the night sky, and the whimpering instantly turned into a frenzy, followed by the sound of dense footsteps.

As if they had heard the dinner bell, all the wandering Living Corpses surged over, their numbers increasing at a visible rate. Li Dan seemed to have been prepared, for he took off running the moment he heard it.

Rat-tat-tat.

Yuki raised his gun and fired, dropping the nearest Living Corpse instantly, then kicked the fat man's backside.

"What are you staring at? Get through and provide covering fire!"

"Oh, right!" Robert, desperate to move, scrambled through the hole and fired to the right from behind the fence. His marksmanship was more accurate than Yuki's; with rhythmic short bursts, the heads of the Living Corpses popped one by one, at least slowing their charge.

The thirty rounds were soon spent. Li Dan rushed over, not bothering to check the situation behind him, and was the first to dive through the hole.

Just as he was crawling through, Mai Sakurajima and Hayasaka Ai arrived. But because the hole was too small, the two of them collided in their scramble and rolled on the ground in a heap.

By the time Li Dan turned to look, Yuki had already helped them up and was whispering words of comfort.

"Don't panic, one by one."

"Mai, come over first!" Li Dan didn't waste words, reaching out to drag Mai through the gap, but he didn't spare a second for Hayasaka Ai. He straightened his body quickly, his speech equally rapid:

"The plan has changed. Robert, give the grappling gun to him. Death Knell is still unusable—you lead the way!"

"Yuki, you continue with the lure mission. We'll meet at the designated location!"

Dropping those two sentences, he grabbed Mai Sakurajima and turned to leave. Living Corpses were being drawn in by the gunfire from every direction, and the chaotic situation made it difficult for anyone to react.

But Robert reacted, even faster than he usually did.

He immediately threw his Cable Gun over the top of the chain-link fence, swapped in a new magazine, and began firing left and right as he ran ahead to clear a path for the two of them.

At this moment, the fat man seemed possessed by a god of war; his shots were fast and steady, and over a dozen Living Corpses had their heads blown off before they could even get close.

In a mere few seconds, by the time Yuki turned to look, the three of them had already reached the middle of the highway. Mai Sakurajima looked back, but her hand was gripped tightly by Li Dan, forcing her to follow them as they ran further away, soon disappearing over the road embankment.

No cover, no room for doubt, and not even a moment given for objection.

Yuki was clearly stunned for a moment, bowing his head slightly just in time to lock eyes with Hayasaka Ai as she climbed through the hole.

Neither of them panicked, but their gazes sharpened.

This Li Dan, he's a wolf!

Chapter 40: Instance Dungeon, The Truth Revealed (Second Update)

Decisive, ruthless, yet impossible to find fault with.

When facing danger, one must naturally prioritize the interests of the majority of the team and rescue the most valuable assets.

Therefore, taking Mai Sakurajima and leaving behind the dead weight that was Hayasaka Ai was logical, and having Yuki—who was already tasked with the lure mission—continue to fight was the safest strategy.

With Living Corpses everywhere, how could one afford to be indecisive? Even if these two were sacrificed, it was still better than the entire team being wiped out.

But I've suspected you for a long time. Copying my playbook, are you?

Yuki truly couldn't find a flaw in the logic, but the coincidence and the reasoning were the biggest problems of all; the timing of the gunshots was too perfect, leaving him with no choice but to take one person and fill in the "correct" answer.

Rat-tat-tat.

As the last few bullets were fired and the stench of rot reached his face, Yuki didn't have time to overthink. He leaned forward to pass through the hole, pressed his palm against the isolation fence, and the glow of Reinforcement Magecraft flashed.

Bang—

Dozens of Living Corpses slammed into the isolation fence, causing the thumb-thick wires to bend slightly. Separated by only a single step, they clawed frantically at the mesh.

Yuki glanced at the dense mass of hideous faces, stepped back half a pace with a blank expression, and grabbed Hayasaka Ai's wrist.

"Move!"

The Living Corpses inside the rail line were temporarily blocked, but more were swarming onto the highway. Robert had clearly stopped firing, leaving the Living Corpses to focus all their attention on Yuki.

"Where are we running?"

"To the bridge. At the very least, that bastard Li Dan gave me the escape tool." Yuki sprinted along the embankment, dragging Hayasaka Ai with one hand while reloading his rifle with the other, though he knew this wasn't an act of kindness.

If he didn't leave a way out, what would happen if he tried to follow them? And what would Mai Sakurajima, who had been 'rescued' by him, think?

He slung his rifle over his back, drew his blade, and severed a blocking Living Corpse in two. He ran up the bridge deck, his head swiveling as his racing heart finally began to steady.

Even if the Ancient Castle kept spawning monsters, it was impossible to fill the city in just a few hours. The bridge was packed with abandoned cars, and Living Corpses wandered between them in small groups; a full-blown horde had not yet formed.

But looking back, the isolation fence had been pushed over. The Living Corpses from the rail line and the highway had merged into a dark, dense mass. Like a cafeteria opening for lunch, they sprinted with abandon, spreading across the bridge like a black carpet.

"Stay close to me. Don't worry about the sides."

Yuki released the blonde girl's hand. With a gun in one hand and a blade in the other, he leaped onto the trunk of a sedan and fired.

Pop-pop-pop.

Within a few meters, his pistol landed accurate headshots. Confirming that Hayasaka Ai was following, Yuki jumped onto the roof of the car ahead.

Swish.

His long blade descended, leaving behind a few severed forearms. There was a drop of over a meter between the car roof and the ground; he cut down the Living Corpses before they could climb up. He ignored the ones scrambling up from the sides and kept his head down, pushing forward.

Jump, land, shatter a skull, duck low as a few hideous hands swiped over his head, turn back to sever a few shins, then spring up like a coil, his muzzle pressed almost against a Living Corpse's forehead.

Bang—

Brains splattered, the path ahead cleared. Yuki leaped onto the hood of a truck in front, and while biting his blade to climb onto the higher cargo bed, he reached out and pulled Hayasaka Ai up with him.

This was high ground; the Living Corpses couldn't climb up for the moment, so they simply gathered around, raising their hands like fanatical fans. Yuki looked back again and saw the horde had also reached the bridge.

They swung their arms, running at the speed of an average person, stepping on their own kind to scramble over the cars. From a distance, they looked like rolling, undulating waves.

"Pull the pin, throw it in front of the horde."

Yuki, seemingly accustomed to being hunted, tossed two round grenades to Hayasaka Ai while drawing his Cable Gun, aiming it at the exterior wall of an apartment building on the left side of the bridge.

Hayasaka Ai looked troubled, but she gritted her teeth and pulled the pins.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the black cable fired, the grenades Hayasaka Ai threw exploded, instantly igniting the dense rows of cars and forming a wall of fire.

The horde faltered for a moment, then the burning Living Corpses charged through, triggering a chain reaction on the other side of the bridge.

Explosions and flames, mixed with whimpers and roars, composed a violent tapestry.

Hayasaka Ai's breathing was ragged as she grabbed the cable first; the alien artifact acted like an escalator, whisking her toward their destination.

Yuki was a fraction slower, firing a few more grenades to the left before leaping up to grasp the cable himself.

He did not follow Li Dan's advice to jump off the bridge and find a way to regroup; instead, he utilized the magical properties of this item to climb toward higher ground.

Thud—

A multi-ton truck was flipped over directly by the tide of corpses, and upon discovering their "soaring" prey, the Living Corpses pursued without hesitation.

They trampled over vehicles, smashed through guardrails, and lunged toward the prey in the sky, only to fall heavily under the pull of gravity.

Splat.

The overpass and the apartment building were separated by a dozen meters, creating a canyon-like gap. The Living Corpses fell and had their brains splattered, but those behind them followed in endless waves, creating a spectacle like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Yuki floated in the air and looked down; the ground was already carpeted with a layer of remains. They looked like a pile of smashed watermelons, exuding a nauseating stench. Those with missing limbs were still writhing, only to be crushed into meat patties by the new companions falling from above.

Truly a scroll of hell.

Even Yuki felt a wave of nausea. He hurriedly pressed against the railing, leaped onto the apartment rooftop, and then ran side-by-side with Hayasaka Ai toward the other side.

"Once we disengage from combat and get far enough away from the Living Corpses, we won't be swarmed. After all, this isn't the Ancient Castle; there's much more room to maneuver here."

"And then? Are we going to the coordinates Li Dan gave us?"

"No. The explosion from earlier was enough to gather every Living Corpse within several kilometers. We have a window of safety."

"You aren't going to save her?"

Yuki did not answer. He simply fired a grappling hook toward the opposite rooftop. As he "flew" through the night sky, he scanned his surroundings and, sure enough, not a single Living Corpse was in sight.

The commotion from earlier had been too great, drawing all the Living Corpses away. Even counting the gift from the Crimson Moon, the night was far safer than the day.

Perhaps this is what the normal difficulty should be. As long as new players are willing to use their brains and have the courage to break away from their daily lives, they have a chance to survive.

He pondered to himself. The first dungeon was often about identity recognition; players who could adapt to the game environment would be kept, rather than having veteran players forced into desperate gambles.

There are my factors, but there are your factors as well. Since we all want to return the game's difficulty to a normal value, then let us each rely on our own abilities.

Utilizing their items, Yuki and Hayasaka Ai vaulted across an entire residential complex until they could no longer hear any whimpering, at which point they finally slowed their pace.