In the fog, Tanaka Ning, a challenger from Country R, was heading toward the finish line at a normal pace with her Heroic Spirit, [Kuchisake-onna].
As Tanaka Ning's Heroic Spirit, Kuchisake-onna cleared the way for her Master up ahead, keeping about two meters between them. This was to prevent sudden encounters with ferocious beasts or other dangers from leaving Tanaka Ning no time to react.
She was a Heroic Spirit, after all. Her reflexes, physical abilities, and other attributes were still a little better than those of Tanaka Ning, an ordinary person.
"Damn it! Damn it! Why was I chosen?!"
"Damn game! Why don't you just go die?!"
Tanaka Ning kept muttering inwardly, her negative emotions already at their peak.
On the surface, Tanaka Ning was an eighteen-year-old JK girl with short hair and the image of a well-behaved girl.
But in reality, she had previously been a notorious delinquent girl who smoked, drank, and fought, without missing a single one.
It was only because she had transferred schools that she had cleaned herself up to look like a good student.
Besides, she knew that her every word and action were being broadcast live worldwide, which was why she had not exposed her true nature.
But inwardly, she had long since cursed the whole world to the high heavens!
She felt that she had been chosen by the National Fortune Game because she was so unlucky!
Of course, the main reason was still that she did not want to die.
"I'm so tired! Let's take a break!" Tanaka Ning called to Kuchisake-onna, who was walking ahead.
Kuchisake-onna wore a face mask, had long black hair, and was dressed in a gray coat with a bag in her hand. Hearing the call, she turned around and nodded.
"Thank goodness this is a city. Otherwise..." Tanaka Ning felt immensely fortunate.
She was glad that this game's instance had been set in a city, with enough buildings to shelter her at night and during her daytime breaks, and enough buildings to keep the roaming ferocious beasts at bay!
Had it been somewhere like the wilderness or the plains, it would have been even more despair-inducing. Never mind nighttime-even making progress during the day would have been extremely difficult.
In places like those, there was no cover for the challengers to hide behind. They would be exposed directly to the ferocious beasts and monsters, then hunted down.
Leaning against a wall, Tanaka Ning took water out of the Silver Ring's spatial backpack and began drinking. Then she raised a hand and pounded her thighs, trying to relax her muscles as much as possible.
After walking for most of the day, both her legs already hurt terribly.
For Tanaka Ning, who had hardly endured any hardship, this was simply torture!
While Tanaka Ning rested, her Heroic Spirit, Kuchisake-onna, remained vigilant beside her.
Suddenly, the thick fog parted like a tide. Kuchisake-onna's field of vision widened, revealing a man and a girl approaching from the opposite direction.
The girl was like her Master, Tanaka Ning, but looked younger and prettier.
As for the man, he was incredibly tall, nearly three meters! Simply inhuman!
He had a white coat draped over his shoulders, wore a purple casual outfit underneath, and held a cane to feel out the path. Only then did Kuchisake-onna notice that he was blind.
Looking at the height difference between the two, Kuchisake-onna knew without even thinking that the blind man was undoubtedly the Heroic Spirit.
"Master, someone's coming!"
Kuchisake-onna watched Lin Xiaoran and Yixiao with a grave expression, loudly warning Tanaka Ning behind her, who had yet to notice anything unusual.
"What?!" Tanaka Ning's eyes widened in shock, and she immediately turned to look.
"Damn it! Why am I so unlucky that I've run into another challenger?!" Tanaka Ning cursed inwardly, instantly panicking.
Outside the game.
[Oh no! It's actually Lin Xiaoran!]
[It's over! Tanaka Ning, run!]
[Damn it! Why did they run into each other so soon?! Tanaka Ning could've tried to fight for first place!]
The moment Country R's viewers saw Lin Xiaoran appear on-screen, they plunged straight into despair.
There was no helping it. The abilities Kuchisake-onna had displayed were on an entirely different level from Yixiao's!
Although Kuchisake-onna's scissors gave her considerable attack power, and her nimble, agile movements allowed her to kill an E-rank ferocious beast single-handedly, the gap between her and Yixiao, who had taken out ten E-rank ferocious beasts with one slash, was still far too great!
Kuchisake-onna was no match for him at all!
Unlike Country R's viewers, whose moods were shrouded in dark clouds and bleak gloom, Country L's viewers were thrilled!
[Haha! Great! It's actually Country R's challenger!]
[Oh! Isn't she a JK just like our Student Lin?]
[Our Student Lin already has 500 points. What about your Student Tanaka?]
[Heaven's wheel comes full circle! Haha!]
[Student Lin! Kill, kill, kill!]
[Country R, why aren't you saying anything? Are you scared?!]
Country R's viewers said nothing, unwilling even to put up a defiant front.
The more they said, the harder the slap to their faces would be!
Inside the game instance.
"May I ask who you are?"
Tanaka Ning did not step forward, remaining behind Kuchisake-onna. Looking very polite and well-behaved, she asked Lin Xiaoran's name.
With the game's automatic translation, there was no issue of Lin Xiaoran being unable to understand her. She answered, "Lin Xiaoran, Country L. And you?"
"Lin Xiaoran, the one in first place?!" Tanaka Ning cried out in shock!
"That's me." Lin Xiaoran nodded.
"Damn it, damn it! Why?! Why did I have to run into you?!" Tanaka Ning shouted uncontrollably in fear, completely unable to maintain her image.
As everyone knew, in the National Fortune Survival Game, once one encountered another competitor without a common enemy present, it was essentially a fight to the death. There was absolutely no chance of getting lucky!
So Tanaka Ning, who clearly understood her own strength, already knew what fate awaited her.
Because the other girl was the challenger currently ranked first on the leaderboard! And an absolute powerhouse who towered high above everyone else, in a way none of them could catch up to!
And Tanaka Ning?
She was merely a high school student who knew nothing! The Heroic Spirit she had summoned was also one of the more ordinary ones among urban legends!
She had no chance of winning at all!
Lin Xiaoran was not surprised by Tanaka Ning's emotional breakdown. Her former self would not have been much better.
"So, your name is... never mind. I'll find out anyway."
Lin Xiaoran stopped asking, because there would be a kill notification.
"Uncle Yixiao, sorry for the trouble."
"No problem." Yixiao stepped forward and gripped the Cane Sword's hilt with his right hand.
Opposite him, Kuchisake-onna stood ready, clutching a large pair of scissors tightly in both hands, waiting for his move and then attempting to counterattack.
Yet the instant Yixiao drew his blade, he vanished from where he stood.
Only when Kuchisake-onna's visual nerves registered Yixiao's disappearance did she realize with a shock that her neck seemed to have been severed.
Bang!
The Heroic Spirit Kuchisake-onna turned into a streak of light and disappeared.
Yixiao had instantly killed her with a single slash!
"Next, it's your turn." Yixiao 'looked' toward Tanaka Ning, who was now alone.
"No, no... I don't want to die..."
Facing that incomparably towering figure before her, Tanaka Ning went pale, terrified.
Finally, before Yixiao could act, there was a bang as Tanaka Ning dropped to her knees and cried, "Please! Spare me! I'll do anything! I don't want to die!"
Her kneeling stunned every viewer watching the livestream at that moment, leaving them silent for an instant.
Then Country R's viewers began sending a flood of comments.
[Tanaka Ning! What are you doing?! You idiot!]
[Commit seppuku! You weakling!]
[Ah! You've completely disgraced us!]