Killer vs. Killer

In the darkness, a voice said, "They should be here soon, right? Then let's begin this game!"

At Miss Airport, Heming and Rie hadn't flown in on a private jet this time. They were on leave, after all, and had come as agreed to Miss 7th Street, the location Deng had given them. The commercial district had been built just a year ago and was already one of the world's top ten. What the United States hadn't expected, though, was that the number of foreigners visiting far exceeded the number of locals.

Until Heming asked for leave, he hadn't known that the missions Pitch Black assigned weren't mandatory. Missions were simply a way to earn rewards; anyone who didn't want to go out could stay home and practice the Pitch Black Heart Method...

"Why are there so many police officers? I didn't notice them when we first arrived..." Rie questioned the patrols going back and forth along the street.

Heming smiled. "Haven't you seen the news? Ao City was hit by terrorists. Not many people died, but a lot of buildings were destroyed, all in a single night. So the United States is on edge too. If we hadn't shown our Pitch Black employee IDs when we arrived, we would've gone through at least three rounds of checks!"

Indeed, these days, a terrorist attack anywhere was enough to put the United States on high alert. There were at least six police officers patrolling every street, and anyone they didn't recognize would be stopped and questioned...

After waiting about ten minutes, Deng appeared and slowly walked over.

"Let's go. This event only comes around once every three years, and this is the second one. There are only so many spots, so I signed you up. It'd be a shame not to play!" Deng said as he approached Heming.

"What exactly is it?" Heming was eager to find out.

"Ah, I can't really explain it. You'll see the rules when you get there. The prize this time is a small island, but it's a game—we care about the experience. The prize doesn't matter much to us. Money isn't that important to any of us." Deng finished answering, then motioned for Heming and Rie to follow him.

Miss 8th Street was only a few hundred meters from 7th Street, but it was clearly twice as crowded. Deng led them to an apartment building and said, "This is the venue. We'll stay here until the game ends. Anyone who quits can leave early. Oh, right—are you two okay with sharing a room?"

"Huh? Sharing a room..." Heming was taken aback by Deng's question.

"That's fine!" Rie immediately answered Deng before Heming could finish.

Deng took out a document. "Good. Because of the limited number of spots, I booked you a single room. This is your confirmation form. Hand it to the doorman when you go in. All right, head inside!"

Heming took the document and glanced at it. There wasn't much on it, just a seal.

"You finally made it. They're letting people in now. Go hand in your confirmation form first!" Zeng had apparently been waiting by the entrance for a while. As soon as he saw Heming and the others, he hurried over to greet them.

"Hello. May I see your confirmation forms?" The doorman smiled as he asked Heming and Rie for their forms.

"Ah, here you go!" Heming had been talking to Rie and was startled by the doorman's sudden request, but he quickly handed over the form.

The doorman looked it over carefully. "Welcome, Mr. Guangcheng Heming and Ms. Sanada Rie from Pitch Black. Your room is the second one on the sixth floor. Please enjoy your stay!"

Heming nodded slightly and led Rie upstairs. It was a very ordinary apartment building, much like the dormitories at the university he'd attended. On the fifth floor, he ran into Deng and Zeng.

"Zeng and I are both on the fifth floor. I'm in the sixth room, and he's in the second. You should head to your room. The briefing is about to start." Deng seemed to have been waiting there for Heming.

"Okay. I'm in the second room on the sixth floor. I'll head up, then!" Heming glanced at the fifth-floor layout before continuing upstairs.

The room was decent. There was no separate bedroom; it was like an ordinary hotel room. The bathroom was right by the entrance, and a little farther in was the bed. A computer sat beside it. The room was simply furnished.

"Welcome, adventurers from all over the world, to this round of Killer vs. Killer! I'm your host, Meiling Bell from the Council. Thank you all for supporting the Council's event. Now, let me explain the rules in detail."

"There are a total of [corrupted] participants, assigned to [corrupted] rooms. The most anticipated contestants are last round's champion, Seldon from the Church, and the runner-up, Togawa Ichiki from Japan. Oh, I've just been told that employees from Pitch Black and members of the Hunter Guild are participating this time. That means we've gathered adventurers from nearly every corner of the world! Who will emerge victorious? I can't wait to find out!"

"Next, let me go over some of the basic rules of Killer vs. Killer. Participants may not use cell phones during the game. I'm sure everyone knows about the special restrictions some players have, right? Cheating will get you permanently banned from the game, so please respect this precious opportunity. All the rooms have been specially insulated. No matter what you use, you won't be able to hear anything from outside, so you can all play without worry!"

"Every room is exactly the same!"

"The rules for killing this time are as follows: odd-numbered killers hunt during the day and hide at night; even-numbered killers hunt at night and hide during the day. Odd-numbered players must submit their kill form to the computer by noon and their hiding form by seven in the evening. Even-numbered players must submit their kill form by seven in the evening and their hiding form by noon. We're using a new system this time to make the game more enjoyable. The rule from last time that allowed killers sharing a room to kill each other has been canceled."

"If two killers choose the same room as their target, they can search it together. Of course, they can only search the locations they chose beforehand. If a single killer's three selected targets become the targets of two killers, they won't search six locations, but four. In other words, after searching four locations, the killers must return to their rooms. However, if more than two killers choose the same room, they'll settle it with rock-paper-scissors. Only the two winning killers may proceed with the hunt. The losers must go meekly back to their rooms."

"Players acting as lambs may defend themselves, but they can do so only once every two days. If they use it today, they can't use it again until the day after tomorrow. Self-defense means that when a killer conducts their third search, the lamb can fight back and eliminate the killer. Remember, you can only use it on the killer's third search. If it's their first or second search, then the lamb will..."

"If two killers are conducting their fourth search and find a lamb, the lamb can use self-defense to evade them. In other words, that search will count as a failure."

"If there are several people in one room, you can count them as one person or several. You can hide together or separately. However, when killing, only one person's turn counts. Three times, you know."

"Those are the basic rules. Mornings are free time, so you can do whatever you like. Oh, and meals will be delivered to your rooms."

"Now I declare the Council's second game of Killer vs. Killer officially underway!"

"The first round begins tomorrow at noon. Please be prepared. You'll be confined for the rest of tonight and can't move around freely until tomorrow morning. Have fun!"

After hearing the briefing, Heming and Rie were astonished. They had never encountered a game like this before!

The game seemed simple, but it was actually very complicated.

Choosing a room to kill in wasn't entirely a matter of luck. It took brains—you had to figure out which rooms other people would choose and which they wouldn't.

When choosing where to kill, you first had to consider the places people tended to hide, then pick somewhere more secluded...

Heming looked at Rie. They were both thinking almost exactly the same thing: how should they choose a room?

Normally, the most popular choices would be 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 16, 18, and 20. But if most people were thinking the same way Heming was, then a lot of them might choose numbers outside that list...

"This is a real headache," Heming said, looking at the computer.