Fighting Spirit

They said all fear came from the unknown.

But if everything was known, would people still be afraid?

Lu Xiu could not speak for other things.

But right now, she was a little afraid... Even though she knew what Mia would do next and what she herself should do, she was still afraid.

She was not afraid of Mia's transformation, but of fighting.

Ever since she had transmigrated and first seen herself in the mirror.

Lu Xiu had always resisted fighting. Even in a gamified world, she resisted it.

She really was not suited for it... Looking at the beautiful young woman in the mirror, with her clear eyes and delicate features, Lu Xiu was even afraid that if she threw a full-force punch, it would turn into some pervert's excited punch.

That really was preconceived bias, but she could not be blamed for it. She had not looked like this at all in her previous life.

That was also why she had not ventured into the system's dungeons.

But now, fighting was unavoidable...

Lu Xiu actually regretted moving all those intense battles from the game into the dungeon.

After all, Ethan had it too rough. Across both games, aside from the beginning of the second one, he had not enjoyed a single good day.

Just thinking about what was about to happen.

Lu Xiu almost wanted to turn around and leave, but unless she triggered the combat sequence, there was absolutely no other way for the dungeon to progress.

She herself had blocked off every other path when she designed the dungeon.

So, as always, being depressed and running away would not solve anything.

Lu Xiu took a deep breath. Once she felt she had mentally prepared herself, she slowly reached out and twisted open the door leading to the basement.

Click—

The lock turned.

Lu Xiu slowly pushed the door open. A staircase stretched downward, but she could barely make out four or five steps. Below that was complete darkness, and nothing could be seen.

It was like the gaping maw of an abyss waiting to devour someone.

Lu Xiu steeled herself once more before gathering her courage and taking several steps forward.

Unsettling noises kept coming from below.

Before she had even descended several steps.

The sound of something alive crawling emerged.

Out of the darkness.

Mia crawled up the stairs like an animal, slowly appearing before Lu Xiu.

Lu Xiu's eyes widened.

Then, accompanied by a roar.

Mia suddenly sped up and rose to her feet. Her twisted, horrifying face nearly pressed against Lu Xiu's.

She grabbed Lu Xiu by the collar and violently hurled her backward.

Before Lu Xiu could react, tremendous force struck her, sending her flying.

The wind howled past her ears.

The first thing Lu Xiu thought of was the feeling of being hit by a truck.

Bang—

Lu Xiu slammed hard onto the ground. Intense pain shot through her entire body, as if her bones had been shattered.

But she had not lost her senses. Enduring the pain, she hurriedly scrambled to her feet.

Sure enough.

Mia had already charged in front of her, a knife clutched in her right hand.

The moment Lu Xiu got up.

Mia grabbed her collar with one hand, raised the knife with the other, and roared as she forced Lu Xiu back onto the floor before driving the blade down.

She did not give her even a moment to breathe.

Lu Xiu's heart nearly stopped.

Without thinking, Lu Xiu immediately raised both hands in front of herself, using her arms to brace Mia's wrist and stop her from stabbing downward.

Though she succeeded, the descending blade still sliced across her palm.

Pain shot through Lu Xiu, and she briefly lost her rhythm, beginning to resist wildly.

Mia took the opportunity to knock her hands aside, raised the knife, and stabbed again.

Seeing this.

Lu Xiu had no time to think about the sequence. Her eyes widened as she raised her left hand.

Pfft—

The descending blade pierced straight through her left palm.

"Mmgh—"

Agonizing pain surged through her.

Lu Xiu's pretty face twisted with pain, while Mia continued pressing downward. The knife tip drew closer and closer to her face.

It hurt so much...

Warm blood dripped onto her face.

Lu Xiu smelled the blood and stared at the blade piercing through her palm. Adrenaline flooded her body. Gritting her teeth, she instinctively raised her leg and kicked Mia hard in the stomach before hurriedly getting up.

But she had barely risen and had no time to catch her breath before Mia scrambled back up and stabbed at her again.

Lu Xiu quickly backed away several steps. As Mia closed in, her memory of the sequence finally came into play.

Seizing the chance, she endured the pain and grabbed Mia's knife-wielding right hand with one hand, while using the other to press against her face and keep her from getting any closer.

Then she suddenly exerted force and shoved Mia stumbling backward.

Mia staggered back two steps.

But the next second, Mia charged forward again and slashed at Lu Xiu's face.

Lu Xiu watched the knife tip suddenly rush toward her... and raised both hands almost instinctively.

"!!!!"

At the critical moment.

Lu Xiu caught the blade with her bare hands, but the pain made her cry out, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.

The sharp blade cut through her palms, splitting open flesh and skin. Warm blood flowed out again, running down her palms to her wrists.

The pain pierced straight into her heart.

And Mia was still pressing forward, trying to drive the blade into Lu Xiu's face.

Pain, fear.

Lu Xiu had never experienced anything like this before. Even when running through the sequence, it had been Ethan she controlled who grabbed the knife.

Now that she was grabbing it herself, she finally understood.

It hurt this much.

But the strength to survive that life unleashed in the face of death could not be underestimated.

Even though it hurt so badly she wanted to die, Lu Xiu still gripped the blade tightly and stared Mia down.

The two remained deadlocked for a while.

Mia's expression gradually changed from ferocious to confused. Then, as if waking from a dream, she suddenly dropped the knife.

Then she clutched her head in disbelief, as though someone were commanding her to do this.

"I can hear her... I can feel her crawling back into my body."

"Get out! Stay away from me!"

She roared and repeatedly slammed her head against the wall. Then, after one last look at Lu Xiu, she fell backward, seemingly unconscious.

Lu Xiu panted violently. Without even looking at Mia, her mangled hands trembling, she turned right and entered the bathroom.

Sure enough.

A bottle of first-aid medicine sat beside the sink—the Hand Sanitizer players jokingly called it.

Suppressing the pain, Lu Xiu poured the first-aid medicine over both hands in turn.

"Mm..."

Lu Xiu's beautiful eyes were red. She bit her lip so hard that it bled.

By the time she finally finished applying the medicine.

She was in so much pain that she was nearly collapsing.

Lu Xiu's breaths came faster and faster. Standing where she was, she barely managed to regulate her breathing.

She had cleared this part, but Mia would charge at her again next.

And also...

Lu Xiu raised her head and looked into the mirror before her.

She was playing Ethan, yet the mirror reflected the player's true appearance.

Lu Xiu looked at the lovely oval face reflected in the mirror. Perhaps because the adrenaline was taking effect, her breathing slowly began to calm.

After transmigrating into Lu Xiu, she had almost forgotten... she was not actually that weak and helpless.

She did not lack something like fighting spirit.

So what if she looked like this now?

Why should she let preconceived notions define her?

Lu Xiu looked into the mirror for a long while. Finally, she lowered her head to glance at her mangled hands, then turned and left the bathroom.

Mia was still unconscious in the hallway, blocking the only way forward. As long as the player approached to check on her, she would wake up again.

Lu Xiu walked straight toward her.

Sure enough.

The moment she got close.

Mia sprang up from the floor as if she had no bones, grabbing Lu Xiu's left hand with one hand and clutching her clothes with the other. She shouted and hurled Lu Xiu to one side.

Bang—

Wooden boards shattered.

Lu Xiu's feet left the ground as she was sent flying again, her back slamming into the hallway's wooden wall.

The rotten planks could not withstand the impact and instantly exploded. She crashed straight through the wall, rolling into the next room along with splinters of wood.

And Mia, like a monster now, pulled the knife embedded in the wall free and walked toward Lu Xiu again.

The axe.

Dazed, Lu Xiu saw this and reached to the side almost unconsciously.

The rough texture of an axe handle met her hand.

Lu Xiu held the axe and slowly rose to her feet, panting.

"Ha... ha..."

Lu Xiu looked at Mia's savage face. The hand holding the axe hung naturally at her side, and the breathing she had only just managed to steady became ragged again.

But compared to her initial fear.

What she felt now was more anger.

Why had she been transmigrated into such an absurd world?

Why had she become like this?

The emotions Lu Xiu had accumulated, mixed with the wildly surging adrenaline, awakened the fighting spirit buried within her... and somehow stopped her body from trembling.

"Ah—"

Mia let out an inhuman roar and rushed at Lu Xiu again with the knife.

Lu Xiu staggered one step to the side, barely evading the blade. Then, seeing Mia lean forward and lose her balance, she suddenly raised the axe and hacked it viciously into her shoulder!

Pfft—

The blade sank into flesh. Because she had used too much force, the axe head embedded directly into Mia's body.

This was far bloodier than the game.

Lu Xiu gripped the axe handle with her other hand as well and violently pulled it free.

Then, the instant Mia turned around, she raised the axe with both hands and brought it down viciously on her chest.

Mia staggered from the blow and dropped backward onto the floor.

Seeing Mia fall to the ground, Lu Xiu walked forward several steps expressionlessly. Then she raised the axe high, aimed at Mia's neck, and swung down with all her strength.

Pfft—

The sensation of the axe blade cutting through flesh and sinking into her neck was more disgusting than Lu Xiu had imagined. It was like chopping into a thick, soaked plank of wood—sticky and elastic—accompanied by a faint crack of bone that made her scalp tingle.

Blood burst forth like a fountain.

The axe blade got stuck.

Mia's body stiffened. The ferocity on her face slowly faded, and the madness in her eyes began to disperse.

Her mouth hung open, making gurgling sounds from her throat like a leaking bellows. Dark red blood continued to seep from the gap between the axe blade and her skin, instantly soaking her collar.

She reached out as if she wanted to grab Lu Xiu.

But in the end, she failed to catch her. Swaying unsteadily, she tipped backward and fell to the ground with a bang.