Chapter 7

Huang Mao barely managed to react, thanks to his Physical Fitness Doubling.

His body instinctively recoiled and lurched to the side, desperate to dodge the blade.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

If his physical stats hadn’t been doubled, Muse’s strike—aimed directly at his heart—would have certainly claimed his life!

But in that moment, Muse didn’t follow up with another attack.

Instead, she suddenly retracted her blade and spun half a turn, narrowly avoiding Huang Mao’s body.

Her leather shoes kicked off the doorframe as she broke into a sprint, bolting down one end of the Mine Tunnel.

“Dammit!”

“Survivors cannot attack the Killer!”

Huang Mao watched Muse escape the enclosed room before the rules of the game finally clicked in his mind, causing him to shout in frustration.

In truth, he knew the rules; he hadn’t forgotten them.

It was just that when a dagger suddenly lunges toward your heart at extreme speed, the human instinct for survival triggers a subconscious dodge.

‘As expected… she’s a major threat…’

Huang Mao snapped out of it two seconds later and began to sprint through the jagged Mine Tunnel, chasing after Muse.

But the longer he gave chase, the more alarmed he became.

Muse’s figure was incredibly agile within the dim Mine Tunnel.

Her speed was immense, only slightly slower than his own.

That small gap in speed was actually being compensated for by her precision.

Every time her feet landed, she chose a perfectly stable spot, allowing her to run as if she were on level ground.

Though he stayed right behind her, he simply couldn’t bridge the final gap to catch her!

Huang Mao reasoned that no matter how nimble her footwork was, she was still a woman.

Her physical endurance surely couldn’t match his in a long-distance race.

He didn’t give up; instead, he laughed mockingly as he ran.

“Hahaha… Run all you want!”

“Once I catch you, I’ll make sure you experience the most painful death possible!”

“You’re good, really good…”

“Have you played a dozen rounds, or was it twenty?”

“You must have gone through a lot to become this skilled, right?”

“Hahaha… It’s okay… It’s fine…”

“Soon, you won’t have to struggle like this anymore…”

“Killing a high-level player feels so much better than killing ten noobs… so much better…”

“Hahaha…”

While Huang Mao spoke, his focus never wavered.

He wanted to use conversation to make her lower her guard.

Even a slight mistake on her part would be fatal.

But…

Muse remained completely unmoved!

Her silence forced Huang Mao to keep up his act of enjoyment, even though he was feeling increasingly annoyed.

However, it didn’t matter.

He noticed that Muse’s speed was finally starting to drop!

Up ahead, the Mine Tunnel branched into a fork.

Muse didn’t hesitate, suddenly veering into the left path.

Fearing he would lose her, Huang Mao exhaled sharply and accelerated, rushing after her.

He made sure to remind himself: he couldn’t let his instinctive fear allow him to fall for her tricks again!

Well…

This time, Muse didn’t attempt an ambush.

The tunnel on the left side of the fork was less than ten meters long.

It was a pitch-black dead end!

Standing in the darkness, Muse held her hand over her chest, gasping for breath.

Sweat caused several strands of her pink hair to stick to her forehead.

The fatigue from her all-out sprint made her legs tremble slightly.

“Oh?”

“Nowhere left to run?”

Clatter — !

The sound of Huang Mao dragging his blade across the ground was piercing in the quiet environment.

The red glow in his eyes was eerie and terrifying.

When he was three meters away from Muse, Huang Mao sized her up.

The more he looked at her, the more beautiful he found her.

He made a tisk-tisk sound, teasing her.

“Yo… it’s a dead end.”

“How do you want to die?”

Huang Mao could have struck at any moment, but he wasn’t in a hurry.

While there was a high probability that Muse didn’t have an Exorcism Talisman after running so desperately, he didn’t mind talking a bit more to confirm it.

Regardless, if there was no Exorcism Talisman, he was guaranteed victory as long as he locked onto his target in a game with no time limit!

However, to his surprise, the girl pulled a golden wooden token from the pocket of her JK uniform.

She looked at Huang Mao coldly and said, “You… can’t kill me.”

Wait, what…??

Huang Mao was stunned.

“Dammit, if you have an Exorcism Talisman, why the hell were you running so hard!!!”

“Are you insane?”

“If you had just hidden it, I might have actually been fooled by a bitch like you!”

“Heh… Whatever, be a psycho then. It would’ve been a bit creepy otherwise.”

“I’ll kill you later!”

Even though Huang Mao’s stamina had been doubled, it didn’t mean he didn’t get tired!

After being pushed to the brink of rage, he actually found it funny.

After all, he had almost been played by this girl named Muse!

Sigh…

He’d go find someone else first.

That was what Huang Mao thought, but Muse was looking at him as if he were a dead man.

She put the token back in her pocket and pulled out a Metal Lighter.

With a flick of the wheel, a faint flame illuminated her face.

Huang Mao’s reflection was mirrored in her crimson pupils, looking as if he were trapped in an abyss.

“Survivors cannot attack the Killer.”

“But if the Killer is accidentally hit by something else that is difficult to resist…”

“Tell me, would they die?”

Hearing Muse’s somewhat sickly voice, Huang Mao froze.

An ominous premonition rose in his heart.

“You bitch, what kind of joke is this!”

Though he spoke defiantly, he had relaxed slightly due to the exhaustion from running.

He quickly scanned his surroundings.

Amidst the heavy scent of dust, he detected a pungent, stinging odor.

Because it was faint, he wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t specifically tried to sniff the air.

Wait… this is…

“Gasoline! What did you do!!!”

Huang Mao roared, looking at Muse, only to see her cold gaze fixed on him as if he were trash.

Then, she tossed the Metal Lighter from her hand, and it landed not far from her feet.

“Before entering the game, I thought to myself: since there’s a Killer in a Mine Tunnel…”

“Then… wouldn’t there be explosives?”

Following the girl’s disdainful voice, a brilliant flame raced toward Huang Mao.

The speed was too fast; there was no time to react!

“You’re crazy! I might not die, but you definitely will!!!”

Huang Mao instinctively took a few steps toward Muse.

He turned his head to watch the fire sweep under his feet, only to see it stop at a dark section of the rock wall about one meter away.

In the next instant.

Rumble — !

Within the cramped space, accompanied by flying debris, scorching tongues of fire surged toward Huang Mao.

The Mine Tunnel shook violently.

Dust rained down from the ceiling, and the explosion site had collapsed significantly.

The exit was on the verge of being buried!

‘It’s fine!!! This must be considered damage caused by a Survivor! As a Killer, I shouldn’t be harmed at all!!!’

Huang Mao was no longer calm.

He prayed fervently in his heart.

Because of the impact from the close-range explosion and the shaking ground, he instinctively backed away, watching the flames surge toward him.

Sizzle — !

He watched as black mist appeared in front of him, blocking the flying rocks and fire from the explosion.

He finally couldn’t help but laugh loudly.

“Hahaha… I’m fine!!!!”

“Are you really fine?”

Just then, Huang Mao heard a mocking voice ring out next to his ear, giving him a massive fright.

He instinctively turned around.

In a momentary lapse of attention, that bitch had actually run over?

‘What is she doing! Is she using me as a shield to survive that terrifying explosion???’

However, just as he had turned halfway and his thoughts were still in a jumble, he saw Muse looking at him with lowered eyes and a mocking expression.

Then, as he turned and his Firewood Knife dragged across the ground…

That girl.

She actually lunged a foot forward and kicked hard toward the blade of the Firewood Knife!

“Dammit!”

Huang Mao realized Muse’s intention and tried to let go of the knife, but how could he react in time to such a sudden development?

Muse’s foot slammed into the blade first.

However, Muse wasn’t injured.

As a golden light enveloped her, a scorching fire began to burn on Huang Mao’s body.

He couldn’t help but clutch his face, screaming in agony.

“Why! Why is this happening!”

“You did all of this just to frame me!?”

“You clearly attacked me first! Why does the System count it as me attacking you!!!”

Muse looked at the dying Huang Mao on the ground.

She casually brushed her light pink hair behind her shoulder and straightened her hair, saying calmly, “I didn’t kick your knife. I simply tripped on a rock while in front of you and happened to collide with the knife you were dragging as you turned.”

“If you had a bit more self-control when you came out of that room—if you hadn’t dodged but countered immediately—it wouldn’t have been this much trouble.”

Huang Mao lay on the ground, his face already unrecognizable.

Before he died, his lips twitched.

“You… how many games have you played…”

“Why… target me like this…”

“Am I… good enough…”

Muse looked at him but didn’t bother to answer.

As the sound of a System notification rang out, she picked up the Firewood Knife from the ground and walked away.

In truth, Muse had brought a gun, a lighter, and other items with her before the game started.

She had even bought things like dynamite from the Game Shop.

However, the only thing she managed to bring inside was the lighter.

As for the gunpowder…

Muse had searched for it in the Mine Tunnel as soon as she left the room and set this trap.

Muse didn’t leave through the collapsed tunnel.

Instead, she walked to the deepest part of the Mine Tunnel and exited through a small path hidden by a cloth coated in black coal.

“It was only intended for the Killer.”

Her somewhat sickly voice echoed through the dark and gloomy Mine Tunnel.

***

The great ups and downs of life are nothing more than being a multi-millionaire about to enjoy his wedding night, only to be slapped awake by his mother and told to get his ass to school.

At least, that was how Dan Tuiren felt—except he didn’t have to go to school; he had to go to work.

The feeling of watching the Exorcism Talisman disappear before it could even get warm in his hand was about the same.

With the Exorcism Talisman gone, Dan Tuiren and Yi Mo became well-behaved again.

They leaned against the steel beams carefully and obediently, their moods complicated.

After a moment of silence, Yi Mo looked at the man beside him.

Dan Tuiren looked relatively kind.

At that moment, Dan Tuiren was gritting his teeth, his crossed legs shaking incessantly as if he were deep in thought.

He was… too nervous…

“Hey, brother.”