Boss, I Want to Take Leave

As the completion screen of Resident Evil 2 slowly faded away, the indicator lights on all eight virtual reality helmets switched in perfect unison to the green of standby mode.

"Hiss..." The moment Huo Yuhao removed his helmet, he felt as though needles were stabbing into his head—a side effect of extreme mental exhaustion.

Yet at the same time, an unprecedented clarity washed over him.

His gaze had changed.

If the Huo Yuhao from before had been an unpolished jade, gentle but lacking an edge, then the Huo Yuhao now was like a dagger forged and tempered amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even sitting quietly there, he exuded a chilling presence that made hearts tremble.

"Good! Good! Good!" Xuan Lao had somehow appeared behind them, excitedly waving the half-eaten chicken leg in his hand. "Survive after being driven into a dead end! That final rocket launcher shot showed the spirit of Shrek!"

Looking at these children, whose faces were pale despite everything, Xuan Lao swept out a hand. "Given how much this special training has drained you, I'm granting everyone three days off! Rest well and get yourselves back in shape!"

"Thank you, Xuan Lao..." Xu Sanshi replied weakly, slumping in his chair without the slightest desire to move. "For the next three days, I don't want to see any meat... especially meat with blood in it..."

The group supported one another as they left. Only Huo Yuhao remained seated, seemingly lost in a daze.

"Yuhao!! Yuhao, wake up!! Don't fall asleep!!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was rolling around wildly in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea as if he had been injected with stimulants.

"We've struck it rich! We've really struck it rich this time!" Brother Tianmeng's tiny eyes were wide as he excitedly looked at the incredibly resilient spiritual barrier around them.

"I thought I'd have to wait another year or so for you to cultivate, until you reached rank thirty, before I'd dare take you to the Far North."

"After all, that ice block has a terrible temper. If your spiritual power isn't strong enough, you'll be stunned into an idiot by her pressure the instant you meet her!"

"But..." Brother Tianmeng looked at the strands of golden spiritual rewards above them, earned from clearing the game, and his voice grew feverish. "That Resident Evil is practically a whetstone made just for you!"

"You're now fully qualified to receive that great fortune!"

"Yuhao! Hurry! Don't rest yet!" Brother Tianmeng urged. "Let's leave immediately while you have those three days off! To the Far North! The second martial soul I found for you is already beckoning!"

In reality, Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, determination flashing through his eyes.

He knew what Brother Tianmeng was talking about.

Ultimate ice. His second martial soul.

It was the key to whether he could truly catch up to, or even surpass, those top geniuses in the future tournament.

Huo Yuhao rose to his feet. Instead of returning to the dormitory, he headed straight for the internet café counter.

Behind the counter, Lu Yuan still looked as lazy as ever, holding a cup of cola.

"Boss." Huo Yuhao spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Without even looking up, Lu Yuan turned a page in his book. "Not going to sleep? Aren't you tired after clearing it?"

"I want to take leave." Huo Yuhao looked straight at Lu Yuan, his gaze firm. "I might not be able to come for the next three days. I have some personal matters to deal with."

"Personal matters?" Lu Yuan finally put down his book and looked at him with interest. "Where are you going? Home to visit family?"

"No, I want to go..." Huo Yuhao hesitated before finally saying it. "North."

"The north..." Lu Yuan gently blew on the steam rising from his cup, a meaningful smile curling at his lips. "The north is nice. A thousand miles sealed in ice, ten thousand miles of drifting snow. Especially the core region of the Far North—the scenery there is truly one of a kind."

Huo Yuhao's heart jolted.

How did the boss know I was going to the Far North?

Brother Tianmeng was so startled in his spiritual sea that he shuddered. "Holy shit?! Can this boss hear me? Yuhao, don't look at him! Play dumb!"

Lu Yuan ignored Huo Yuhao's shock and looked him over from head to toe before shaking his head. "Your courage is commendable."

"But Huo Yuhao, although your physical condition has improved a little after being tempered by the T-virus, if you go to the core region of the Far North in your current state..."

Lu Yuan raised a finger and lightly tapped the counter. "You'll die!"

"Not at the hands of soul beasts, but from freezing to death. At seventy degrees below zero, your soul power barrier won't last ten minutes."

Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth. "I have a reason I must go. And... I'll make preparations."

Brother Tianmeng shouted in his mind, "Don't be afraid! With my remains protecting you, you won't freeze to death!"

"Preparations?" Lu Yuan smiled, pulled open a drawer, and took out a new game card with an icy blue cover. "Since you're determined to go throw your life away, why not do a trial run here first?"

The cover showed a snow-covered Iceborne.

A flying wyvern covered in frost, with two enormous fangs like a saber-toothed tiger, roared toward the screen.

"What is this?" Huo Yuhao felt a chill rushing toward him.

"This is what Ma Xiaotao played before." Lu Yuan introduced it calmly. "A frozen world even crueler than the Far North. Here, you won't be facing slow-moving zombies or brainless Tyrants."

Lu Yuan pointed at the monster on the cover. "This is called a Barioth, known as the White Knight. It is three times faster than the Licker you encountered in Resident Evil."

"Huo Yuhao, I want to ask you a question." Lu Yuan leaned forward, his black eyes seeming to see through Huo Yuhao's soul.

"Do you want to go to the Far North as a survivor, begging for power? Or as a hunter... to hunt the empress amid the ice and snow?"

Those words exploded like a thunderbolt in the hearts of both Huo Yuhao and Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.

Hunt... the Ice Empress?!

Brother Tianmeng was dumbfounded. "Has this boss gone insane? That's a four-hundred-thousand-year soul beast! Even a Titled Douluo would be throwing their life away by going there! And he wants to hunt her?"

But Huo Yuhao's eyes slowly began to shine.

"A hunter..." Huo Yuhao looked at the arrogant Barioth on the cover, then recalled the moment in Resident Evil when he had held a rocket launcher and blasted the Tyrant to pieces.

"I don't want to run away anymore." Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked directly at Lu Yuan. "Boss, I want to play this."

"Very good." Lu Yuan nodded in satisfaction. "Our deal is simple."

"The flow of time in the game has been adjusted. One night in reality is equivalent to three days in the game."

"As long as you can survive in this game for three days and successfully kill this Barioth solo..." Lu Yuan took out a silver-white suitcase from beneath the counter. "I'll approve your leave."

"Go." Lu Yuan pointed toward the second floor. "Go learn... the laws of hunting in that Hoarfrost Reach."

Without hesitation, Huo Yuhao grabbed the game card, turned, and rushed toward the second floor.