Game Over

Raccoon City Underground Laboratory, escape elevator.

Boom! A flaming claw punched through the elevator ceiling, metal curling like paper as rubble and sparks rained down, battering the exhausted group.

"Get out of the way!!" Huo Yuhao shoved Xiao Xiao aside.

A massive figure jumped into the cramped elevator car. The floor caved in beneath it, and the entire cabin creaked under the unbearable weight. Sparks flew as the lights flickered on and off.

This was the trench-coated gentleman who had been hunting them all along.

But now, he was no longer holding back. The heavy black military coat had been torn apart in the earlier explosion, exposing rock-hard muscles beneath it.

His right hand, once covered by a leather glove, had mutated into a huge Super Tyrant claw burning with orange-red flames. His bald head was missing its signature top hat, and for the first time, tangible killing intent showed in those white eyeballs.

"Th... that's the hat monster?" Xu Sanshi stared at the nearly three-meter-tall creature and swallowed despairingly.

"How are we supposed to fight this? We really don't even have a single bullet left!!"

The previous battle had exhausted all their ammunition and fuel.

All they had now were a few empty guns and several chipped knives. In this narrow elevator shaft, facing a Tyrant with its restrictions removed, death was inevitable.

"Roar----!!" The Super Tyrant unleashed an earth-shaking roar.

He no longer moved at a sluggish pace.

Whoosh! The air exploded as his enormous body burst forth with speed comparable to that of an agility-type Soul Master!

"Move!!" Bei Bei shouted.

The Tyrant's flaming claw swept across the elevator, carving three deep, clean gashes into the metal walls.

The group sprawled across the floor in a miserable scramble, barely dodging the fatal blow. But the Tyrant did not stop. He raised his foot and stomped down hard at the injured Dai Huabin.

"Bastard!!" Dai Huabin gritted his teeth and rolled aside.

Bang! The Tyrant missed, driving his foot straight through the floor and leaving a huge hole.

"We can't run... There's too little room here!" Wang Dong sheltered Xiao Xiao in the corner. Tears nearly spilled from his eyes as he watched the monster rampage.

Inside this sealed iron box, they were like sardines in a can, left to be slaughtered by the Tyrant.

"Don't give up!" Huo Yuhao clutched a combat dagger, his eyes locked on the Tyrant.

"As long as we're still breathing... there's still a chance! Hold him back! Even if you have to bite him with your teeth, hold him back!"

This was a brutal hand-to-hand battle, with no soul power and no weapons.

Relying on instinctive dodges and their refusal to yield, the Shrek Seven Monsters struggled desperately to survive beneath the Tyrant's claws.

Xu Sanshi picked up a fallen elevator door panel as a shield, only to be punched away by the Tyrant. He crashed to the ground, coughing blood.

Bei Bei was struck across the back by the claw while saving Xu Sanshi, blood pouring from the wound.

Huo Yuhao was put in danger several times, his clothes slashed to ribbons.

"Warning: 3 minutes until self-destruction." The electronic voice sounded again.

"We're dead... We're really dead this time..."

Watching their companions collapse one after another, then looking at the still-energetic Tyrant, despair engulfed them all.

Just then.

The elevator suddenly shook violently, seemingly reaching the bottom platform.

Then, an emergency weapons case above the elevator doors sprang open as though triggered by some program. A heavy weapon gleaming with cold metallic light smashed onto the floor before them, accompanied by a message from that mysterious female voice.

"Hey, use this!"

It was an anti-tank rocket launcher with four thick barrels and an absurdly exaggerated design. The instant they saw it, everyone stopped breathing.

"What is that? A soul cannon?!" Xu Sanshi's eyes widened.

"Whatever it is..." Huo Yuhao rushed forward and grabbed the incomparably heavy rocket launcher.

"Get down!!!" Huo Yuhao let out a hysterical roar.

Across from him, the Super Tyrant seemed to sense the lethal threat as well.

"Roar!!!" With a bellow, the flames on his right claw surged, and he charged at Huo Yuhao like a cannonball!

This was his finishing move—Instant-Death Charge.

Huo Yuhao did not dodge. He dropped to one knee and braced the rocket launcher against his shoulder.

There was no scope, no targeting system, only those Spirit Eyes without a trace of soul power fluctuation.

In his vision, the world seemed to slow. The Tyrant's charging path, the flow of the flames, the resistance of the wind... all became a clear trajectory.

"This shot..." Huo Yuhao's finger tightened around the trigger. "...is for all the humiliation we suffered along the way!!"

A rocket trailing flames roared from the barrel. In this cramped space, it hit the Tyrant squarely in the chest from virtually point-blank range.

The immense blast instantly swallowed the entire elevator car. Before the absolute firepower of an anti-tank missile, the Tyrant's indestructible body was like a red balloon filled with water.

Pop! It burst.

His upper body was blasted directly into pieces, spraying Huo Yuhao's face with a bloody storm. Only two thick legs remained, taking two more steps forward from inertia before—dropping to their knees before Huo Yuhao.

As the smoke cleared, Huo Yuhao remained kneeling, the still-smoking rocket launcher on his shoulder. His face was streaked with blood and soot, but he was smiling.

"Ha... hahaha... Awesome!!!"

This was the first time he had experienced such a pure thrill of power without soul power.

What Title Douluo? What hundred-thousand-year soul beast? Before this RPG, all beings were equal!

"We won... We won!!" Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao embraced each other, crying.

Xu Sanshi lay on the ground and gave a thumbs-up. "That was insane... Yuhao, you're fucking insane!"

Dai Huabin stared blankly at the Tyrant's half-remains, muttering to himself, "This is a weapon... This is a real weapon..."

"Warning: 1 minute until self-destruction."

"Move!!" Though Huo Yuhao was reluctant to part with it, he threw away the rocket launcher, pulled everyone up, and rushed out of the ruined elevator.

Ahead lay a long tunnel. A subway train that was starting up stood at the platform, its doors slowly opening. It was an ark leading to life.

"Charge!!" The group unleashed the last of their potential and sprinted with every ounce of strength they had. At the very last second, everyone leaped into the train car.

A massive explosion erupted behind them, and the entire underground laboratory collapsed amid the flames. But that no longer had anything to do with them.

The train howled into the tunnel, leaving the doomed Raccoon City far behind.

Inside the carriage.

They slumped into their seats and looked at one another's ghostly, bedraggled appearances in silence for a long time.

Then, someone suddenly laughed.

Then came a second, then a third.

In the end, all seven of them burst into laughter inside the carriage, their laughter filled with the relief of surviving disaster and the pride of conquering fear.

The real world, Origin Internet Cafe.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi... the eight of them slowly removed their helmets.

Their faces were still pale, and their clothes were soaked through with cold sweat. But the instant they opened their eyes, Lu Yuan saw eight utterly different pairs of eyes.

Lu Yuan smiled and clapped. "Congratulations on clearing the game! Now, you finally look... like real monsters."

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice exploded in Huo Yuhao's mind. "Yuhao!! Your spiritual power is in absolutely perfect condition!! Ask the boss for leave! We're going to the Far North!!"