Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 78

Nelson’s name disappeared, replaced by other players in the rankings. The original five sacrifices now only had two trapped here, while the remaining three became the players scattered across different cities. The endless stream of evil spirits stopped gathering and were instead attracted to the other sacrifices.

Amidst the thunderous roar of artillery fire, the entire mountain range trembled. The ghostly presence thinned, and the dark clouds slowly dispersed, revealing the bright moon hanging high in the sky. “Why are the ghosts disappearing?” Lin Qiao mewed to himself, while the black cat looked down, wanting to speak but holding back.

The vanishing ghostly presence meant fewer evil spirits, but why did the ghosts decrease when a player died? Unless the evil spirits, after consuming the sacrifices’ flesh and blood, were appeased and gained energy. However, if a get-out-of-jail-free card was used, wouldn’t the player’s body be at the hub instead? How could their flesh still be here to be devoured by the evil spirits in this game world?

Dao Zhang had drawn talismans on himself to eliminate a large number of evil spirits upon death. Did Nelson, who just died, also have talismans drawn on him? Additionally, the Perfumer didn’t have a get-out-of-jail-free card, yet when she died, some evil spirits were attracted to her, though not many.

Now, with a large number of ghosts vanishing, Lin Qiao had an uneasy premonition. He couldn’t determine what was happening. Could the get-out-of-jail-free card allow players to die and then resurrect? Was this situation normal?

Lin Qiao’s mind raced with details. When the Perfumer died, she had been alone, so many evil spirits chose to continue guarding Lin Qiao and the others, considering them a “tough nut to crack.” This meant that after the Perfumer was devoured, the decrease in the number of evil spirits wasn’t significant.

Dao Zhang’s behavior before using the get-out-of-jail-free card, and his act of drawing talismans to kill evil spirits, seemed to be hiding something. Could it be that Nelson didn’t have a get-out-of-jail-free card and truly died, his flesh consumed by the evil spirits, which would appease them?

After realizing this, Lin Qiao was filled with doubt. Nelson wasn’t the type to selflessly sacrifice himself. He had even tricked the Perfumer into dying. How could such a person sacrifice himself for companions he hadn’t known for a whole month?

Lin Qiao recalled the story Nelson once told and felt a vague connection to himself. But…

Lin Qiao didn’t want this. He didn’t want others to die for him. It felt terrible.

“Can you leave?” Lin Qiao mewed anxiously, scratching at the black cat with his paws. “I don’t want to see anyone sacrifice themselves for me anymore. I can escape on my own.”

The black cat looked somewhat desolate: “Don’t you want me anymore?”

“No,” Lin Qiao said sadly. “I’m useless. I agreed to let you come in because I knew that even if I didn’t agree, you would follow.”

“If something happens to you, I would be very upset.”

“Listen, dying together is indeed a romantic thing. If I were you, I would choose to come in too.”

“But as long as I have a way to survive, I don’t need you to sacrifice yourself for me.”

“I don’t know… I really don’t know why Nelson did this.”

Lin Qiao’s eyes, as a white kitten, were filled with tears. He had many questions left unanswered. For him, it was a very confusing thing. He didn’t mean to blame Nelson; he was just sad.

“Maybe I don’t know why he did it now. If what he said is true and he didn’t mistake anyone, then I might meet him in the future.”

Lin Qiao suddenly felt powerless and desperate. Had things come to this point because he didn’t trust Nelson? Or was it because Nelson had lied too much?

It seemed no one was to blame, and yet no one could escape.

For Lin Qiao, everything had yet to happen, while for Nelson, everything was already a memory of the past. This meant that no matter what Lin Qiao would face in the future, knowing the outcome but being powerless to change it.

The black cat held Lin Qiao, who was crying and convulsing, in a fluster. The little white kitten’s body couldn’t bear such sorrow. The consequence of extreme emotional fluctuations was a shortened decoy time.

Suddenly, the “boom” sound rang out again, shaking the earth. This time it was from the direction of Yatagarasu.

Lin Qiao realized something and became frightened. Would Yatagarasu also choose to die to attract a large number of evil spirits and reduce the burden on him? No, he couldn’t do that.

If it were the usual Lin Qiao, he wouldn’t be so narcissistic. But Lin Qiao at the moment was just too scared. So he stopped crying and, with a trembling voice, explained a plan to the black cat, a plan to save the other players.

The human representative’s combat command center was holding a meeting, and they were very dissatisfied with the outcome of today. In the past, players thrown into this game world were selfish and unscrupulous in their pursuit of the top five spots. Accustomed to seeing these players kill each other, it was rare to see them cooperate. “The Perfumer was tricked and killed by Nelson, the first to be eliminated. Thus, one spot among the top five sacrifices was vacated, and the Horror Game granted it to a player from City Y.”

As they spoke, a set of cameras was activated, and the player who suddenly rose from sixth place to the top five was filled with surprise. His protection value returned to its original amount, and in order to survive, he began hunting animals.

“Then Nelson and Dao Zhang both chose to expose themselves and be killed, causing the concentration of evil spirits at the encirclement site to decrease. Two-thirds of the evil spirits, after consuming Nelson’s flesh and blood, were appeased and lost their aggressiveness.”

Now, at the encirclement site, there were neither evil spirits continuing to gather nor the ability to continue fighting and kill Yatagarasu and Lin Qiao. There were now two options: first, humans could actively release evil spirits into the area, or second, they could use thermal weapons to directly kill Lin Qiao.

The original deployment of so many fighter jets and artillery fire was mainly to block the way, allowing the top five sacrifices to be devoured by evil spirits at the encirclement site, which would also solve the problem of the human world being overrun by evil spirits. Who would have thought that these players would sacrifice themselves for their companions?

“I suggest using the second method. Look at Yatagarasu in his true form; no matter how the artillery fire strikes him, he shows no intention of fighting back.”

On the screen, Yatagarasu was surrounded by a dense crowd of evil spirits, like vultures waiting to snatch his flesh and blood once the humans killed him. The humans had intended to use the evil spirits to kill the players, but now it seemed the evil spirits were using the humans to kill the sacrifices.

Humans rarely acted as executioners. Moreover, even though Lin Qiao was number one with a high affection value and strong energy, his protection value was also high, and he had the black cat to protect him, making it difficult to attack him. Thus, more and more evil spirits began to gather around Yatagarasu. If the humans chose the first option, it would only lead to Yatagarasu’s quicker death.

The NPCs quickly decided on their combat strategy, and then they noticed that the location representing Lin Qiao was rapidly moving towards the direction of the turret. The NPCs were overjoyed: “Lin Qiao knows our main target is him, so now it’s his turn to sacrifice himself for his companions, right?”

“Great, no need to exert ourselves. As soon as he appears, we’ll order the shot.”

Some human NPCs reminded: “With such a fast movement speed, it’s probably the young master of the Miaomiao Sect. Are you going to kill him too?”

The answer was affirmative, but when the black cat’s figure appeared in the scope, headquarters did not order the shot immediately.

“Wait! He’s not carrying Lin Qiao. Is he coming out to die alone?”

“No! Why is Lin Qiao’s location appearing in the city center?”

“What?!”

The crowd in the human command center was in an uproar, repeatedly checking the location messages. The instrument’s location was “Best Streamer Competition” – equipped, not invented by humans, but given by the Horror Game. It couldn’t be wrong.

In the encirclement area, the “Lin Qiao” disappeared as soon as the black cat walked out of the woods, and then a new “Lin Qiao” appeared in the city center.

The most wanted target was not in the encirclement area. After all this effort, they had been tricked!

“The players must have used props. It must be the reason for the props.”

“What should we do now?”

“Go to the city center to catch people. We can’t let our guard down here either. Lin Qiao’s actions are clearly to help Yatagarasu draw fire.”

Some also thought it was difficult: “Can Lin Qiao teleport? It can’t be a teleportation prop. It can only be a personal skill. How can we catch him then?”

In fact, to ensure fairness, many props cannot be used in such a game.

For example, the hiding prop that the Perfumer used to escape cannot shield the location and evil spirits.

For example, the explosive prop that Nelson once took out cannot be used without limit.

The NPCs have held the Best Streamer Competition so many times and already know what props the players can use and what they cannot.

The artillery fire in the encirclement area stopped, and Yatagarasu looked up in confusion. The black cat was grabbed by the suddenly appearing human NPCs, probably for interrogation.

Soon the humans searched the city center but didn’t find Lin Qiao’s figure. Neither the door-to-door search nor the thorough investigation found Lin Qiao.

Finally, even the paper man of the “Happy SeSe Paper扎Shop” was taken out and burned, but Lin Qiao was still not found.

The human NPCs asked the church for help in the search, but still nothing was found.

Now that things have come to this point, it has been determined that Lin Qiao cannot teleport because the location has not changed, but he is still not found.

Finally, the NPCs had no choice but to review the whole process from the beginning to see where the problem was.

Days passed by, and the number of players decreased. Only Yatagarasu was left.

In order to find Lin Qiao and delay the end of the game, the human NPCs had to ask the church to protect Yatagarasu’s life.

This game has seen something that has never happened before. The player Yatagarasu eats well and drinks well, and he doesn’t have to worry about evil spirits. He spends his days with Xiao Sanhua eating chips.

The NPCs did think of using Yatagarasu to threaten Lin Qiao to come out, but Yatagarasu has a high combat value and cannot be killed.

In the last half hour before the end of the game, Lin Qiao’s location finally began to move.

He first went to see the black cat who was in solitary confinement, then went to see the Doberman in the dormitory, and finally went to see Yatagarasu.

The NPCs followed him to the three places but didn’t catch Lin Qiao because, from beginning to end, whether it was the black cat, the Doberman, or Yatagarasu, there were only themselves in their rooms.

In the last five minutes, the representative of the Wangwang Sect watched the surveillance over and over again and then understood something.

She laughed and said: “When these three saw Lin Qiao, they all chose a relatively dark room.”

[Game Over Countdown: 0.]