Tang Erda did not quite believe him. He frowned.
“Is it that simple? You look in a mirror once, and then you can completely turn into me?”
Su Yang raised his head and smiled.
“It really is that simple. Nothing else is needed. I only have to look into the mirror once, and that’s enough.”
Tang Erda turned to look at the other teammate.
“Su Yang, you’re support. Your attack value is too low. If you act as bait, you won’t even be able to handle a single encounter. Give the item to...”
“It won’t work, Captain.”
Su Yang looked straight at Tang Erda. Something seemed to flicker in his eyes, but the smile on his face was utterly real.
“This item only works if I’m the one who looks in the mirror and turns into you.”
“In the whole world, I’m probably the only one who can use this item this way.”
Tang Erda and Su Yang looked at each other.
Su Yang did not avoid Tang Erda’s gaze at all.
In fact, at that moment, both of them understood very clearly that no matter who became the other decoy, whether their attack value was high or low no longer mattered.
They were destined to lose.
—It was only a question of who would be hit by the Joker Sniper.
Tang Erda hoped that person would be him. At the very least, he hoped it would not be Su Yang.
Su Yang stood up, straightened his back, and saluted Tang Erda.
“Captain! Please allow me, as your Vice-Captain, to support you until the very last moment!”
Under Su Yang’s open, direct gaze, Tang Erda lost miserably. He felt as though his pitiful little selfishness had been seen through completely by Su Yang.
Just as he had been unable to stop Su Yang from stubbornly coming to find him back then, and just as he had been unable to stop Su Yang from following him into the game, he had no way to stop this person from continuing to follow him now.
Su Yang got his wish and became another Tang Erda.
The two of them split into two separate routes, while the other teammate supported them from a distance and observed which decoy the Joker Sniper would choose to attack.
With two decoys present, the Joker could only move around and trap one of them, and he had to choose one to kill. Otherwise, Tang Erda’s firepower would immediately turn back and pressure the Wandering Circus.
Sure enough, the Joker soon made his choice.
When Tang Erda saw that peculiar smiling face approaching him, he even felt a faint breath of relief deep in his heart.
He had become the bait the Joker wanted to eat.
After a fierce exchange, Tang Erda’s mad, suicidal attacks caused the death of Mu Ke from the Wandering Circus, heavily injured Mu Shicheng, and forced Bai Six to lose more than half of his health.
In the end, the Joker Sniper seemed to lose control.
After seeing Bai Six injured, the Joker disobeyed Bai Six’s order. He no longer used his skill as a deterrent. Instead, he raised his gun toward Tang Erda.
A grayish-white flame gathered at the muzzle, forming the shape of a skull.
Tang Erda realized that the opponent was activating a skill.
Soul shattering?
That seemed like a decent ending.
Tang Erda looked at that huge black muzzle and thought somewhat absently.
He even let out a relaxed smile.
At least, for the next fifteen minutes, Su Yang and the other person would be safe.
As long as the match ended within those fifteen minutes, whether they won or lost, they would be fine.
It was just—
In the second before the bullet struck him, Tang Erda inexplicably thought of the way Su Yang had lowered his eyes and softly said that he liked him.
For some reason, his heart missed two beats.
Fortunately, he had not agreed.
Otherwise, if he died, Su Yang would definitely be very sad.
[System Notification: Player Su Yang has activated the skill Ace of Spades Poker Card; Skill (Heart to Heart) has exchanged positions with player Tang Erda.]
Tang Erda might never be able to forget the scene that followed.
His kind and upright Vice-Captain, a man who would even stammer when helping teammates lie to ask for leave, had told the only lie in his life that Tang Erda had failed to see through.
And that one lie was enough for Tang Erda to remember until this very day.
That Heart skill card was not a single card, but a pair.
Su Yang had decided long ago that no matter which decoy the Joker chose, he would block the attack.
That was why Su Yang had been so determined to come with him.
The bone whip swung from behind, following closely after the transformed Su Yang. It trembled into a “Z” shape and cut off Su Yang’s escape route.
After realizing that the Joker had fired his skill, Bai Six simply refused to let that shot go to waste.
His reaction was extremely fast. He coordinated with the Joker’s sniper shot and swung the bone whip around Su Yang’s neck, trapping Su Yang in place.
And one second later, the silver bullet pierced Su Yang’s temple.
Blood exploded across Tang Erda’s face before he could even process what had happened.
Su Yang instantly shed Tang Erda’s shell. His eyes emptied, and he returned to his original appearance as he collapsed to the ground.
He died too quickly.
He did not leave Tang Erda a single word.
His hand still gripped the poker card that had released the skill. Inside the heart was Tang Erda’s likeness.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the only remaining teammate was also surrounded and killed by Liu Jiayi and Mu Shicheng.
Only Tang Erda was left on the field, kneeling blankly in front of Su Yang’s corpse.
All the surviving members of the Wandering Circus were rushing toward him.
The outcome had already been decided.
But in Tang Erda’s mind, only the exaggerated commentator’s voice from before the match remained.
—[Soul Shattering Gun! Between this gun and the Hunter’s revolver, which one is actually more powerful?! Of course, the only thing we can know for sure is that the Soul Shattering Gun is definitely more painful. After all, those hit by the Soul Shattering Gun die with hideous expressions, looking like, “Wah-yah, it hurts to the extreme!” Being hit by the Hunter’s revolver wouldn’t produce that kind of expression!]
Tang Erda’s gaze slowly moved downward.
At first, he did not want to look at Su Yang’s face.
But at that moment, it felt wrong not to look.
This was his Vice-Captain.
So he looked.
Strangely, Su Yang’s expression was not hideous.
He wore a peaceful smile. Although there were whip marks on his neck, he looked almost happy lying there in the pool of blood.
In that instant, Tang Erda understood what Su Yang had been thinking.
This man’s thoughts before death had been exactly the same as his own.
Once you think that the other person can survive because of your death, you feel happy for it.
Even the pain of death, even the agony of having your soul shattered, cannot cover up that happiness.
Because that person is the most important person in your heart.
[Being able to stand with the Captain now is my greatest reward!]
[Captain!! You went drinking on leave again!! Even if there aren’t any heretics, you still can’t act like this!]
[Captain is already thirty-six. Why don’t you consider starting a family? ...No thoughts of starting a family? = = With an answer like that, no wonder you’re the one in the team who gets urged to marry the most every year...]
[Me? Why don’t I start a family? ...Probably because... the person I like has no thoughts of starting a family either.]
That had been during a year-end celebration at the Dangerous Heretic Management Bureau.
Tang Erda had taken a sip of alcohol and earnestly advised his seemingly overly pure Vice-Captain:
“You should give up on that kind of person early. They’re just stringing you along. You’re almost thirty, and they still haven’t talked about marriage with you. Most likely, she’s a scumbag.”
The slightly drunk Su Yang leaned against Tang Erda, squinting his eyes and laughing like a child who had been given candy.
“He isn’t stringing me along. He’s just really... too dense.”
Drunk, Su Yang hugged Tang Erda.
“But... it doesn’t matter. You won’t be able to shake me off. I will always, always...”
His eyes gradually closed under the weight of drunkenness.
“—Keep waiting.”
At the boundary line, Bai Six led the Wandering Circus in preparing the final blow against Tang Erda.
In that moment, the Hunter finally raised his gun and aimed it at himself, wearing a happy smile just like Su Yang, who lay on the ground.
Tang Erda closed his eyes and murmured, as though softly speaking to Su Yang:
“I won’t let you keep waiting anymore.”
[System Notification: Player Tang Erda’s core desire has undergone a change—generated a derivative attack skill (Russian Roulette).]
[System Notification: Player Tang Erda’s skill lock target is himself; because the skill lock target already includes the player himself, repeating the lock on oneself is prohibited. The lock target automatically changes to the player with the strongest killing intent—Player Bai Six.]
[System Notification: The roulette begins to spin...]
The bullet passed through the Hunter’s skull and theatrically struck the enemy captain.
The Wandering Circus collectively exited the game.
And thus, Tang Erda absurdly won this game’s victory, a victory that had cost him everything.
—A victory for one person.
Those people did not care about the victory of the game at all.
That was why they could give it up so easily.
They were simply relying on opponents they had toyed with to gain pleasure from the game.
This match, which had been unbearably tragic for Tang Erda, was nothing more than a game the Wandering Circus had enjoyed playing.
The God asked what his wish was.
The Hunter, who had won everything, raised his head with an empty gaze and made a wish that could no longer be stopped.
[I want everyone, especially Su Yang, to survive this game.]
The God asked him:
[For this, are you willing to pay any price?]
Tang Erda closed his eyes.
Tears fell silently down his cheeks.
[Yes.]
Tang Erda lay on the ground, staring blankly at the top of the corridor.
His soul seemed to have drifted to a place very, very far away. He had to think for a very long time before he could hear Bai Liu’s words, and before he could answer them.
Bai Liu asked him, “Is there still any meaning in saving these Su Yangs? The Su Yang you originally wanted to save wasn’t them, was he?”
“I know...”
Tang Erda’s dry lips opened and closed. His voice was choked and hoarse.
“I know there’s no way to save him anymore, but I’m just unwilling. I’m unwilling because I haven’t been able to save Su Yang from your hands even once.”
“I’m unwilling because every time, you get to torment him!!!”
Tang Erda struggled to prop himself up from the ground.
His face was covered in tears as he knelt there, holding a flickering silver gun and aiming it straight at Bai Liu.
This man’s hand was shaking. His body was trembling.
Liu Jiayi had checked just now. Tang Erda had probably blown away half of his own brain, yet he could actually still stand up and forcibly summon a skill against Bai Liu.
In every sense, this man’s willpower was truly extraordinary.
“As—as long as I’m still alive.”
Because a large portion of his brain had been blown away, Tang Erda’s eyes had already begun to turn gray. At present, he was blind most of the time and could not aim at Bai Liu at all.
He could only fire wildly like a headless fly, roaring in collapse:
“You definitely won’t be able to easily cross me and harm a single innocent person!”
“Bang—bang—bang—!”
Bai Liu stood up.
He looked down from above, calmly watching Tang Erda kneel and crawl on the ground, staggering and fumbling as he fired. Then he watched Tang Erda exhaust his strength and fall helplessly to the ground, his body convulsing and struggling.
The gun landed a short distance in front of Tang Erda’s fingers, flickering as if it were about to disappear. But Tang Erda reached around blindly for it and could not find it no matter how hard he tried.
A hunter without a gun.
A wounded beast with a broken head.
Bai Liu walked to Tang Erda’s side, knelt on one knee, picked up the gun, and placed it in Tang Erda’s palm.
Then he held Tang Erda’s hand, raised the gun, pointed it at his own forehead, and said in a tone that was neither cold nor warm:
“If you want to kill me, you can do it now.”
A bewildered expression appeared on Tang Erda’s face.
“I understand that you don’t trust me, and I won’t trust you either. But from the information I’ve gathered, we should be two people standing in the same camp.”
Bai Liu looked up and explained to Tang Erda with clear, detailed logic:
“I’m not sure about the other world lines, but at least in this world line, I have no additional interest in tormenting your Vice-Captain. Someone set a trap to force me into doing what he thinks I should do.”
“But unfortunately, I’m a rather rebellious person. I’m not very willing to follow someone else’s lead.”
Bai Liu lifted his eyelids.
“He wants either you to kill me, or me to kill you. Then I insist on doing the opposite. I insist on saving you and resolving this Rose Perfume matter, just to see what he wants to do.”
“Since you’ve gone through so many world lines with me, you should understand my skills very clearly by now. You may distrust me, but at the very least, you should believe in my deals. Violating a deal won’t end well for me either.”
Bai Liu reached out his hand toward Tang Erda and smiled.
“How about you give me your soul, and I help you fulfill your wish?”
Tang Erda seemed to sense the hand Bai Liu had extended toward him.
He struggled to prop up half his body, then slapped Bai Liu’s hand away with all his strength.
Tang Erda panted heavily. He stared fiercely in the direction of Bai Liu’s breathing, drew his gun back from Bai Liu’s hand, and enunciated each word:
“Bai Six, do you think I’ll believe you just because you say that? Yes, it’s true. The consequences of violating your deal skill are indeed very serious. But it’s not as if you don’t have a way to solve it.”
Bai Liu took half a step back with some regret.
This man really was not so easy to convince.
He was too sharp.
Just as Tang Erda had said, Bai Liu did indeed have a plan prepared for handling a failed deal. He was not completely incapable of dealing with such a result.
It seemed Tang Erda had indeed suffered enough torment from Bai Six to predict even something like this.
Tang Erda laboriously lifted his face.
Only about half of it remained.
With those gray, deathly still blue eyes, he “looked” at Bai Liu. The gun in his hand wavered slightly.
“I will never cooperate with a monster.”
Bai Liu asked softly in return:
“Captain Tang, why are you so sure that I’m a monster? Or rather, a living heretic?”
“Do I look very different from a normal person?”
Tang Erda took a deep breath. He leaned against the wall, panting with difficulty for a few moments before he could continue.
“Of course you’re different. You’re just a monster wearing a normal person’s skin, lurking in ordinary people’s lives!”
“In other world lines, the Dangerous Heretic Management Bureau uses a certain item to distinguish living heretics—monsters that look exactly like normal people on the outside—from ordinary living people.”
A deeply twisted expression appeared on Tang Erda’s face.
“You’re very familiar with this item too. It’s the Murphy’s Law Magic Mirror you just used on me.”
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow.
“Is that so? This is the first time I’ve heard of that mirror being used to distinguish between monsters and living people.”
Tang Erda said, “That mirror allows a person to see the thing they fear most. Monsters have nothing to fear because they have no emotions and no hearts. Their souls are only vessels filled with desire. They only know how to attack and plunder.”
“In almost every world line except this one, we have performed this test on you.”
“You have nothing to fear in any world.”
“When you stand before that mirror, there is nothing in the mirror!”
“Not even yourself!”
Because his emotions were too intense as he spoke, Tang Erda began coughing violently.
His mouth filled with bloody foam, and he slid down along the wall. But the muzzle of the gun remained aimed at Bai Liu.
“We dug the weakness of water out of your past experiences, but to you, water doesn’t even reach the level of fear. At most, it’s only something you dislike.”
“The reason you were able to use two mirrors to create this corridor without being affected is because that mirror is useless against you, isn’t it?”
“Bai Six, you monster who has nothing to fear.”
“I will never make a deal with you.”
Saying this, Tang Erda was about to pull the trigger again.
This time, Bai Liu stood right in front of him and did not dodge.
Instead, he took another step forward, closing the distance until he was almost face-to-face with Tang Erda, then reached out and gripped the muzzle of the gun.
“I do have one.”
Bai Liu lowered his eyelids. His eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.
“Something I fear. I do have it.”
“Do you want to see?”
This time, Tang Erda was truly stunned.
At the same time, Liu Jiayi, standing outside the door, took out that diary again and began flipping through it with her head lowered.
Qi Yifang had been kept outside the door by Liu Jiayi. Seeing her looking through the diary again, he leaned over curiously.
“Little Witch, haven’t you already read it once? Are there still game clues inside?”
“No more.”
Liu Jiayi continued flipping without raising her head.
“It’s not about the game. I’m confirming the trajectory of that God-grade NPC.”
Qi Yifang fell into confusion again.
“???”
What was this now?
How had this involved a God-grade NPC again?!
Liu Jiayi’s finger rested beneath the handwriting in the diary. Her brows furrowed as she checked the trajectory of the divine statue.
—It had appeared in a seaside town, then been transferred to the welfare home, and finally been purchased for this Rose Factory.
That was right.
The travel path of this statue roughly corresponded to the few games where the God-grade NPC had appeared.
According to the narrative in this diary, the chronological order was “Siren Town,” “Love Welfare Home,” and then this “Rose Factory.”
Liu Jiayi’s expression turned solemn.
But there was one place that did not match.
There was one more game where the God-grade NPC had appeared.
“Jingcheng Explosion Case.”
According to the trajectory given in this diary, it was impossible for the statue to have boarded the subway.
At first, the statue had always stayed in a museum in a remote seaside town. Then it had been transported directly to the welfare home by truck. Later, it had been purchased by this psychotic first-generation factory manager, cut up, and buried in the rose fields.
In other words, if the statue represented the God-grade NPC, then while the subway explosion was happening in Jingcheng, the statue should still have been at the welfare home.
It should not have appeared on the subway at all.
According to the correspondence that the God-grade NPC would only appear in the game if the statue appeared in reality, the God-grade NPC should not have been in “The Last Train to Blast Off” either.
In other words, what had appeared on the subway should not have been the real statue, nor, by extension, the God-grade NPC.
It should simply have been a magic mirror.
Then why had Bai Liu been able to see the God-grade NPC through that mirror in the game?
The ability of that mirror—she remembered it was—
Liu Jiayi abruptly closed the diary.
She turned her head toward the sealed corridor, her expression shocked.
—She knew why Bai Liu had been able to see the God-grade NPC in the mirror of “The Last Train to Blast Off.”
Bai Liu had to be afraid of the God-grade NPC.
After looking into the mirror, he had seen the God-grade NPC he feared through the mirror’s skill.
“That’s not right.”
Liu Jiayi began talking to herself strangely, rubbing her chin.
“That guy Bai Liu doesn’t look like he’s afraid of the God-grade NPC. Then what is he afraid of? And why can he see the God-grade NPC in the mirror?”
“If he isn’t afraid of the God-grade NPC himself, could he be afraid of a certain state of the God-grade NPC?”
Liu Jiayi held her head in both hands and thought hard.
She tried to recall the scenes she had seen in the video.
“I remember, in the video of ‘The Last Train to Blast Off,’ when Bai Liu first saw Tawil, the other party seemed to be floating in water, hair spread out, and the expression on his face was—”
Inside the corridor, an extremely restless emotion was surging in Bai Liu’s eyes.
But strangely, his expression was unbelievably calm.
Tang Erda, who was being approached by this calm Bai Liu, had the illusion that he was being uncontrollably infected by Bai Liu’s emotions.
Tang Erda felt an extremely deep, unmistakably negative emotion from Bai Liu.
It was an emotion he knew very well.
It was the kind of soul-tearing pain and fear he had felt when he saw Su Yang’s corpse.
As that dense, similar emotion approached him, Tang Erda even instinctively wanted to retreat and break free from Bai Liu’s closeness.
But he was too weak.
Bai Liu easily used the web of his right hand to grip Tang Erda’s chin, and with his left hand, he pushed Tang Erda’s gun aside before forcefully pressing close to him.
Bai Liu whispered softly beside Tang Erda’s ear, as if he were telling him a secret.
His tone was as casual as if he were telling a lie.
“Captain Tang, I really do have something I’m very afraid of.”
“Since I was a child, I have been afraid of seeing a certain person close his eyes in front of me and never open them again.”
