[I hereby officially announce! Tanaka Ning, you have been stripped of your Country R citizenship! You disgrace!!]
[How dare you kneel and beg for mercy!]
None of Country R's viewers had lost their composure when they saw Tanaka Ning encounter Lin Xiaoran. But then Tanaka Ning went big, giving everyone in Country R a surprise!
She actually knelt and begged for mercy!
Simply unforgivable! Unreasonable!
Country R's viewers went red-hot with rage and began hurling abuse!
And to think they had been out there cheering Tanaka Ning on, making excuses for her, and fighting for her!
This was how she repaid them?!
At that moment, Country L's viewers could no longer hold back when they saw Country R's people lose it! They flooded into Country R's livestream together and began taking revenge!
[Hahaha! I'm dying!]
[Well done, Tanaka Ning!]
[Tsk, tsk, is this the Tanaka Ning you initially claimed was better than our Student Lin?]
[Oh my, it isn't even New Year yet. Why are you kneeling to pay your respects already?]
[What a shame. This is the National Fortune Game. Our Student Lin won't go soft on you!]
Although everyone in Country R reviled Tanaka Ning's behavior, that could not change her fear of death.
Besides, Tanaka Ning was not the only one who had begged an opponent for mercy. The National Fortune Game had been around for a year, and every sort of situation had already occurred.
However, such behavior would disgrace one's country and invite ridicule from other nations, turning someone originally chosen as a challenger from a great hero into a rat scurrying across the street, reviled by all. They might even be unilaterally stripped of their citizenship, and their family and friends would be unable to hold their heads up.
Did Tanaka Ning not know this?
She knew, but she did it anyway.
It was purely because the fear of death had occupied her mind and robbed her of reason. Clinging to a one-in-ten-thousand chance, she gambled that Lin Xiaoran would show mercy.
But clearly, Tanaka Ning was destined to be disappointed.
Lin Xiaoran had already steeled herself yesterday.
Whether ferocious beasts or competitors, they were all things Lin Xiaoran had to face. She absolutely could not go soft!
After all, if Lin Xiaoran were in Tanaka Ning's position today, was she supposed to beg for her enemy's generosity like this too?
No. Her enemies would only be even more ruthless than she was!
Do not assume that just because the entire game was livestreamed, nothing hateful or loathsome would happen. The livestream would simply shut itself off when certain things happened, rather than prevent them.
A reasonably attractive girl like Tanaka Ning would meet an even more miserable end if she encountered some ruthless, twisted individual.
Right, something needed to be mentioned here: the Silver Rings bound themselves to humans aged eighteen to sixty across Sky Blue Star. Thus, only people in that age range could watch the livestreams. Everyone else could not see them.
That meant bloody, adults-only scenes were unavoidable. Anyone who could not stomach them could only stop watching the livestreams. There was no other way.
"Please! Spare me just this once, okay!"
Tanaka Ning remained kneeling on the ground with her head lowered, still pleading. Issho stopped and turned to "look" at Lin Xiaoran. "Master, how should we handle this?"
Lin Xiaoran walked over, a fruit knife appearing in her hand. It was a tool she had picked up. "Let me do it. I also want to... get used to it in advance."
The National Fortune Survival Game was incomparably cruel. To survive, Lin Xiaoran would not hesitate even to become an executioner.
Although she had a Heroic Spirit's help and could leave it entirely to him, keeping the Master's hands free of blood, nothing was absolute. If Lin Xiaoran were surrounded one day and her Heroic Spirit was tied down, unable to spare a hand, she would have to fight for herself.
Holding the fruit knife, Lin Xiaoran aimed it at Tanaka Ning and quietly imbued it with gravity power. With a casual flick, the fruit knife flew out and plunged unerringly into Tanaka Ning's heart.
[Announcement: Country L challenger, Master Lin Xiaoran, has killed Country R challenger, Master Tanaka Ning. Points earned: 5.] [Announcement: Country R challenger, Master Tanaka Ning, and her summoned Heroic Spirit, Kuchisake-onna, have both died. Challenge failed. Eliminated!] [Penalties: 1. All residents of Country R will age five years! 2. Ten thousand Kuchisake-onna will be deployed at random throughout the country!]
[Well done, Student Lin!]
[Country R is in for a treat. Ten thousand urban legends are going to appear at random!]
[Tsk, tsk, aging five years takes effect much faster than losing five years of lifespan!]
[Exactly! Will Country R's people even dare look in the mirror? Haha! Careful you don't scare yourselves!]
Country R's viewers.
[Aaah! I don't want to age five years!]
[Damn Tanaka Ning! It's all her fault!]
[Everyone, hurry home! Don't go outside for no reason! The Kuchisake-onna are coming! If they catch you, they'll slash your face!]
The urban legend of Kuchisake-onna was known to practically everyone in Country R. Adults even used the story to frighten disobedient elementary school children who liked running around everywhere.
Reportedly, because of a Kuchisake-onna incident in Country R, an elementary school had once closed for an entire month, keeping its students at home so they would not encounter Kuchisake-onna.
Although Kuchisake-onna was a kind of urban monster, she was actually not particularly strong in combat. Her favorite thing to do was ask children on rainy days whether she was beautiful. If they said yes, she would remove her mask and ask again. If their second answer did not satisfy her, she would kill them with the scissors in her hand.
If a child answered "beautiful," she would slash their face with her scissors, making them as beautiful as she was.
And now, because of the national fortune penalty mechanism, elementary school children would no longer be the only targets of these Kuchisake-onna.
The various countries could already foresee that Country R would definitely descend into chaos for a while. Their best option was to stay behind closed doors until every last Kuchisake-onna had been dealt with.
Inside the game instance.
After striking, Lin Xiaoran immediately turned away, her face somewhat pale and her right hand trembling slightly.
These were all instinctive bodily reactions. Even though Lin Xiaoran kept talking herself through it inwardly, she could not adjust in such a short time.
"Master, are you all right?" Issho asked with some concern.
He sighed, suddenly realizing that although this was a different world, the rules by which it operated did not seem all that different.
Out on the seas, how many people had lost their homes and families to pirates? How many children like Lin Xiaoran had been forced to take up blades and fight pirates, thus setting foot on a road steeped in blood?
Even though Issho wanted to change such things, one person's strength was too insignificant to change the overall tide. That was why he had chosen to join the navy, hoping to use its strength to help the people of the seas as much as possible, and eliminate as many of the pirates wreaking havoc as he could.
Now, the National Fortune Game was the same. He had no choice but to witness Lin Xiaoran's transformation firsthand.
Yet he had descended into this world merely as a Heroic Spirit. The only thing he could do was try his best to counsel Lin Xiaoran.
"I'm fine... I'll be okay after a little rest."
Lin Xiaoran shook her head, trying not to think about what had just happened and diverting her attention.
"Let's keep moving."
"All right."