Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Why Didn’t You Tell Me Sooner
After saying this, Duan Fei hung up, leaving the Lone Ranger stunned, frightened, and uneasy.
As soon as they confirmed the Lone Ranger wanted to eliminate them, Duan Fei and his group immediately left the screening room, took Jack’s car, and fled to Jack’s distant apartment.
Before fleeing, Duan Fei had deliberately found the corpses of those who had troubled Jinghong earlier, changed their names, and tossed them into the screening room.
After all, the Lone Ranger might possess certain Reconnaissance Skills. The extra preparations could be useless, but they could also be the key to turning the tables.
As it turned out, luck was on Duan Fei’s side.
Humming a little tune, Duan Fei watched the Lone Ranger on the screen and sneered, "He’s at least twenty kilometers away. That’s far enough for the Death God to kill him three or four times over. If the Death God fails, the mask’s revival timer should be up, so it can kill him again. That move he just used looked impressive, but based on my years of gaming experience, something like that can’t be sustained. It either has massive side effects or is the type of skill you can’t use again for a while."
Stroking Yan Yuan’s little head, Duan Fei smiled and said, "Lone Ranger, how are you going to make a comeback now?"
Watching Duan Fei’s wild grin, Little Fatty shivered and said to Bald Qiang, "I’m starting to feel like Duan Someone is the real villain here."
"Does that matter?" Bald Qiang asked.
"I’m afraid he’ll get rid of me next."
"Are you important?" Bald Qiang asked again.
After a moment’s pause, Little Fatty suddenly understood. He looked at Bald Qiang and said, "Hey, at least I provided the surveillance system! What about you?"
"...Tch, you found me out!"
"You were just trying to take the moral high ground so you could screw me over when we divide the loot later! You’re a shameless Daoist!"
"Tch..."
Glancing at the two of them—already arguing over loot before the fight was even over—Duan Fei shrugged helplessly and turned his attention back to the Lone Ranger on the screen.
Despite being so thoroughly outmaneuvered, the Lone Ranger on the screen quickly composed himself after his initial panic.
Instead of destroying the camera in the screening room, he stared right into it. "Duan Someone?"
Duan Fei called him. "It’s me."
"I surrender."
"...You’re giving up too easily! Aren’t you going to struggle a bit? I have so many more fun things waiting for you! Oh, right, how about I tell you my location? You can come find me and we can play. I’ve set up plenty of surprises along the way. I guarantee it’ll be a stimulating experience for both your mind and body, and I promise I won’t kill you."
A shiver ran down the Lone Ranger’s spine. He had a strange feeling the man wasn’t just making threats.
’This guy really had made a ton of arrangements along the road.’
Sighing deeply, the Lone Ranger said, "You can control these weirds, you have an intelligent one like Saw on your side, and you have the ability to monitor my every move. No matter how I look at it, I don’t stand a chance of making a comeback."
Little Fatty, who was listening in, looked at the Lone Ranger with pity.
’His analysis sounded so logical, but he didn’t get a single thing right.’
’Is the Lone Ranger really a star player?’
Duan Fei was silent for a moment, then said, "...You know, you could really struggle a bit more. According to my calculations, there’s still a chance you could win. Of course, I’m the one who arranged for that chance to exist. But hey, it’s not like giving it a shot will get you pregnant. Why not try?"
"...Stop beating around the bush. I have a pretty good idea of what you want from me. Let’s make a deal. You don’t dig into my secrets, and I promise to do whatever you say for the rest of this instance. You can record this conversation or screen, whatever you need. I’ll even throw in a Forging Stone as extra compensation."
"A Forging Stone, you say..."
A Forging Stone was a very special type of item.
It could randomly add an affix to a piece of Equipment, with different affixes providing different effects.
For example, on Duan Fei’s [Spiritual Armor], the "Transcendence" affix had caused an earth-shattering change in its effects, proving just how important affixes could be.
However, affixes had only appeared after *Abyss* was updated from version 0.06 to 0.07. The mechanics behind them were extensive and complex; even dedicated Blacksmiths hadn’t fully figured out all their specific effects.
Furthermore, some affixes had purely negative effects, like "Stench," "Howl," "Drowsiness," or "Feral."
A single slip-up could saddle a top-tier piece of Equipment with a negative affix, causing its value to plummet.
However, Duan Fei’s only weapon at the moment was his starting Crowbar, and a rusty one at that.
’All things considered, it’s a worthwhile deal.’
"Alright, it’s a deal."
「Half an hour later, in the hospital’s screening room.」
The Lone Ranger was sitting on a leather sofa watching a movie, a steady supply of beer and snacks at his side.
The Lone Ranger wasn’t a glutton; he was eating because of a hidden mechanic in *Abyss*: consuming food slightly increased one’s all-around recovery rate.
It was only a slight boost, but for an expert, that tiny bit of recovery could sometimes make a life-or-death difference.
Just then, the door to the screening room opened, and the sound of footsteps approached from behind him.
As he turned his head, the Lone Ranger’s Passive Skill, [Eagle’s Eye], activated.
This Skill was similar to Bystander A’s [Reconnaissance], but it was a Passive Skill.
It could passively detect information about an opponent, such as their strength and Level, and because it was passive, it wouldn’t trigger the effects of certain active Skills.
Of course, it did have a chance-based activation rate.
Under the effects of [Eagle’s Eye], the Lone Ranger saw Duan Fei’s stats, and his expression turned uglier than if he’d just eaten shit.
In fact, he would have preferred to be eating shit right now.
The "Duan Someone 2" standing before him was only Level 6.
He was only Level 6!
If the guy had been Level 10 and had unlocked the Professional System, the Lone Ranger could have at least comforted himself, telling himself that he only lost because Duan Fei’s Profession was a special type that countered his own. That would have let him save some face.
But the guy was only Level 6, an Explorer with no Profession. He hadn’t even been to a city yet. He was a complete and utter noob!
’So what does that make me, losing to a total noob?’
’A paramecium? Chlamydia?!’
Staring at Duan Fei, the Lone Ranger felt a surge of killing intent.
Staring coldly at Duan Fei, he sneered, "You actually came here in person? Aren’t you afraid I’ll slaughter you?"
"Nope. My Level is low, so I’m not much of a fighter for the team anyway. Besides, I’ve arranged plenty of contingencies. If you kill me, you sure as hell aren’t walking away from this alive."
After a moment’s hesitation, the Lone Ranger felt that Duan Fei was telling the truth.
Helplessly retracting his killing intent, the Lone Ranger sighed. "You’re really something else. Your plans are so tightly woven, I couldn’t find a single way to break free."
"Actually, the way out was pretty simple. But I figured you wouldn’t think of it."
"...What was it?"
"You could have just logged off. Wait a few hours, and you would’ve been automatically kicked from the instance. As long as you didn’t have to deal with me, you wouldn’t have to worry about your secrets getting out."
The Lone Ranger stared blankly at Duan Fei, and suddenly, tears began to stream down his face.
"Why didn’t you say so earlier?!"
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