Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Chapter 121: "Ticket-Bundling...The number of deaths for the clones was too high.

The number of my own deaths was also too high.

Recently, my mental state had been getting worse and worse...since the Third World, I had felt an almost overwhelming dizziness, and although the discussion with Moli last night had provided some relief, the discomfort persisted, almost pulling me down into indulgence.

It was like being dragged down, that sweeping drowsiness made it very hard for me to concentrate these past few days...but fortunately, I could still think clearly.

I gasped for breath, my vision a sea of red, and the barrage of comments in the top right corner was scrolling madly. Even without looking, I knew the content was either concern or schadenfreude.

I leaned against the wall and slowly stood up.

...There was no turning back.

After all, I didn’t even know if I was still on the right path anymore.

Could it be...that the result would hit me hard, telling me—your wish has already been decided, and this so-called effort of yours is nothing but a decent stage effect.

But what if, what if I still couldn’t achieve that goal in the end, becoming an "Agent" under the Organizers, becoming someone who could dominate Zhai Xing...?

—Wrong.

I violently took out a small knife and slashed hard on my arm; the pain snapped me out of my daze instantly, and it seemed that the dizziness also receded a lot.

My eyes instantly cleared up, and as I stood up from the ground, cold sweat slid slowly from my temples.

...How could I have such thoughts?

Out of nowhere, it was utterly out of nowhere...this thought disgusted me to the core, completely contradictory to my original intention, and just thinking about it made me detest myself.

I didn’t even know myself—why such thoughts would spring up from the depths of my heart.

...Maybe I was about to lose my clarity of mind, and I had to firm up quickly.

Perhaps, in the subsequent stages, I would need to find some props that could stabilize my mental state...

Blood dripped from my arm, my fingers rubbed the number plate, and then, I stared at the red number barrel.

"Woooosh—"

The white light of teleportation flashed.

Su Ming’an returned to the long table; the voting session was over.

The voting information, intact, hovered above the long table, clearly displaying everyone’s voting choices.

A realization flickered in my eyes.

Edward propped his hands on the table, and he stood up in an instant.

The looks on the other players’ faces were filled with fear, except for a few who seemed to understand.

We clearly agreed to collectively abstain from voting, yet someone had cast votes, and it appeared to be quite a few.

...The werewolves had launched a collective voting blitz.

They had anticipated such a situation, but apart from the exiled Andre, the werewolves could only be three at most. Even if they organized a voting blitz, they could still kill off the exposed werewolf.

But... why were there five votes?

At the long table, those who had voted had various expressions. Mizushima Kawa Sora tilted her head, her black hair hiding her profile; Iris diverted her gaze, her fingers unnaturally curled; Lin Jiang still hung her head, but her shoulders no longer shrugged so frequently. Mizushima Haru was all smiles as if she had expected this outcome all along.

Prominent confusion finally appeared on Edward’s face; he looked at the voters and burst out indignantly,

"Didn’t we agree to vote for ourselves, you, you actually—"

Edward was from the good camp.

Just the day before, he had threatened Mizushima Kawa Sora and the other werewolves with his background, demanding that they reveal their identities.

He thought he controlled the game, knew most people’s identities, and could manipulate the voting process as he pleased.

The scenario of betrayal, however, clearly unfolded before him.

The werewolves hadn’t lifted him to power as he told them to.

Instead... they had unhesitatingly pulled in votes from other good players and collectively voted Edward out.

They wanted him to lose... they even collaborated well, to ensure his death today.

"Clear it up, Edward," Noel straightened up, his ocean-blue eyes still profound, as if clear from the beginning. His smile was genuine, seemingly delighted by this interesting game, "This is no longer the Zhai Xing controlled by corporations you know, this is—a brand-new world. Don’t assume your threatening tactics still work on us—the werewolves have kidnapped the vote, dear, you... have already lost."

During the player’s last words, no one else is supposed to interrupt.

But the situation now was clear... the werewolves had kidnapped the vote, werewolves equaled or outnumbered the good people, so no one stopped Noel’s words.

The Mayor stood at the edge of the square, head lowered, while Moli’s gaze seemed somewhat sinister.

Daylight sprinkled onto the dragon head cane in his hand, the gold and red hues glimmering.

"Hmm... I see." Su Ming’an nodded as he watched this unfold, "So the werewolves are Noel, Mizushima Kawa Sora, Iris, Lin Jiang, and... Mizushima Haru? Five werewolves? I remember Mizushima Haru was the good person I verified; were you coerced?"

"No—you’re wrong, Su Ming’an."

Mizushima Haru suddenly interrupted him.

Her smile was radiant, eyes twinkling like stars, "There was never any coercion—in this game, in fact, there exists a most beautiful love—that of myself, deeply adoring dear sister!"

She spread her hands, looking somewhat manic, "I must follow the camp where my dear sister resides forever! Even if I’m a good person and sister is a werewolf, whatever place my dear sister is, I must follow—"

"... So you voted with her, and it doesn’t matter if you lose?" Su Ming’an looked at her.

Mizushima Haru’s gaze turned dark, and she licked her lips, seemingly impatient, "You self-centered people will never comprehend... Su Ming’an, you damned, peeping at sister, I’ve had my eyes on you for a long time... it’s a wonder you haven’t died in two nights... but, no matter, we’ve seen through all your tricks, it doesn’t matter even if you swapped identities with Lv Shu... the werewolves have kidnapped the vote, so much for the Number One Player—no one believes a Prophet."

"Ah." Lv Shu finally spoke up, his voice somewhat heavy: "Su Ming’an... it turns out you really are the Prophet."

"I’d said so all along, I always was," Su Ming’an tapped the table with his fingers, "If it weren’t for Edward making the first move against me with a verification on the first day, I wouldn’t have had to work so hard."

While they were conversing, Adolf, on the side, clenched his fist slowly.

"Andre... wasn’t a werewolf?"

He murmured, then suddenly looked over and stood up like a mountain, knocking over his chair and charging towards Su Ming’an, his eyes filled with intense hatred, "—you, what kind of Number One Player are you! As a Prophet, you wrongly accused a good person; you wronged Andre and had him eliminated—you deserve to die—!"

Lv Shu immediately stepped forward to block Adolf’s punch, elbowing him in the chest and forcibly pushing him back half a step.

A mantis leaped onto his shoulder with a cold breeze, as he firmly shielded Su Ming’an, a solid wall.

"... However."

As tensions flared, Su Ming’an was still fixated on Lin Jiang across from him, "... I didn’t expect you to be in the werewolf’s camp... should I say that laying low is the true path to victory? You really can’t tell a book by its cover..."

With that, he laughed lightly: "... Anyway, it’s not important."

... His suspicions were not far off, Mizushima Kawa Sora, Iris, and Noel were within his calculations, but Lin Jiang was indeed unexpected; he had thought this timid-looking girl might be a Guard.

The red candle on the table was about to burn out.

Edward came back to his senses from the anger of being deceived; he realized the time for the final words was about to end.

A faint ticking sound appeared on his body, as if a clock had started ticking, but an invisible force instantly bound him.

"Mizushima Kawa Sora, well done, well done," he said through gritted teeth, "I see that you have no regard for..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Mizushima Kawa Sora understood what he left unsaid.

But for now... she didn’t want to think about those things outside the game anymore.

She didn’t want those things... to affect her judgment.

"Stop talking." Mizushima Kawa Sora turned her head away, "As for the future, we’ll talk about that later. In the game, this is my choice, I only respect the outcome of the match."

"Very well... what about you, Lin Jiang?" Edward turned his head, looking coldly at the girl who was shrinking in place like a little rabbit.

In the face of this, he seemed to have not lost his composure like Andre had. His spine was still straight, and his eyes showed nothing but hatred and rage, "...feigning innocence, you’re quite good at acting, huh? Wait till this instance is over—you’ll all wait for me."

Lin Jiang shrank even more, nearly burying her entire head on the table, daring not to lift her eyes.

"Alright, Edward." Mizushima Haru cocked her head, her oddly shaped earrings jingling, and she spread her hands with a grin, "To be honest, even if we teamed up, we couldn’t beat you—but luckily, you’re stupid, stupid enough to give us a chance to vote you out... Now, it’s five against five, don’t think your good side still has a chance...

During the daylight segment, this game... will end."

The Werewolves wanted to kill all the good people.

In this daytime.

After exiling Edward.

Without Edward, the good side’s camp, without Mizushima Kawa Sora’s good side... in their eyes, there was hardly any threat left.

Even if they couldn’t win, just hiding, waiting for the next night... the good side would still lose.

In the nighttime segment, the Werewolves are invincible, the good side doesn’t have enough votes.

...what’s more, they had a contingency plan...

"You, you all wait for me. I remember you..." Edward moved his gaze, looking over each one, etching the image of every Werewolf-identified Player in his mind.

"But don’t think... that you’ve won like this..."

Edward’s voice, filled with a bone-chilling coldness, seemed like he wanted to drag others down even in his dying moments, making everyone who met his gaze feel a real sense of wanting to step back.

That gaze was powerful, ice-cold, as if it could pierce through someone.

Like smoldering embers, even when covered with ash, the residual heat remained,

After he had spoken, everyone seated heard an ice-cold prompt:

It seemed as if an invisible wind began to howl, and a faint scent of blood permeated the plaza.

Su Ming’an rubbed his eyes, which were full of bloodshot veins; his hand gradually approached his temple.

...Okay, now he knew who all the Werewolf-identified people were.

Returning to the previous save... he would single them all out.

He closed his eyes, ready for death.

"—Su Ming’an."

Suddenly, just as he was prepared to rewind, he heard Edward’s somewhat low voice beside him.

He turned his head and saw those eyes that still showed spirit, like travelers looking at each other from distant ships, the warm light of the lamps passing through the mist.

"For now, I temporarily believe you are one of the good ones," Edward said, "I have temporarily lost to these despicable beings, the next move is yours."

Su Ming’an smiled, "Actually, you’re not much better than them—there’s no such thing as a despicable or not despicable means to victory."

Edward’s eyes turned cold, but he didn’t argue.

"At least... I still have some things I can do," he said.

The candlelight extinguished.

Although the time for exile had passed, Edward wasn’t dragged away directly.

Behind him, a transparent figure gradually appeared, wearing a cowboy hat, wrapped in a burlap cape, the thick scarf around their body, holding a bright shotgun in hand.

The dark muzzle, as dangerous as a black hole, and Edward extended his hand to take the gun from that spiritual being.

"Reveal your card," he said, raising the gun, his voice cold.

One of the four holy positions, the Hunter.

Their skill is to kill any player on the field before dying.

This is a holy position that can only be activated in death.

The Hunter is not like the Seer, who knows the roots of all at a glance, nor like the Witch, who controls life and death with a mere gesture, and not a Guard, who can protect the innocents from attack at night.

The Hunter’s skill is powerful, straightforward, and not to be contested, carrying a solitary nobility unique to the holy position.

Even if expelled from the game, the Hunter can, just before death, take someone down with him.

Let the others know... kicking out the Hunter isn’t something to be taken lightly, to be relaxed about afterward.

—There’s a price to pay with one’s life.

Everyone on the field went silent.

Mizushima Kawa Sora clenched her fists, Lin Jiang shrank in her seat, Iris turned her head away, and even the always giggling Mizushima Haru reined in her smile.

As if facing judgment, no one could stop the bullet fired from the Hunter’s gun.

Like being in a Russian roulette, the person hit by that real bullet... would surely die.

There’s no escape.

"I choose." Edward spoke, locking eyes with the one also watching him:

"- Take away Number 2, Noel."

Take away the player with the strongest combat power from the Werewolf side, to give the good side a moment to breathe... This was his chosen path.

Noel’s smile didn’t change, facing the dark muzzle swung his way, he sighed slightly, then turned, looking at Mizushima Kawa Sora.

"It’s up to you now?" he asked, tilting his head, still with his childlike smile.

"...I will." Mizushima Kawa Sora nodded solemnly.

Fourth World·Confirmed Identities:

Number 3 Edward (Hunter)

Number 4 Lv Shu (Witch)

Number 5 Mizushima Kawa Sora (Werewolf)