Followed by the sound of the firewood knife’s blade clattering against stone.
The Firewood Knife, nearly 1 meter long, was heavy and thick!
Seeing that it was Twilight who had survived, Solo Stan suddenly mocked, “Oho, dying under the peony flowers… even as a ghost, it’s a romantic way to go.”
“Heh, but I still prefer the 2D world. Even if you have pink hair and red eyes, you don’t hit my niche!”
Looking extremely cocky, he patted Yi Mo on the shoulder and said, “Brother Kirito, I was right from the start, wasn’t I?”
“Once this woman picks up a blade, she’s fiercer than anyone!”
At that moment, Yi Mo was sizing up Twilight.
He hadn’t personally seen how the previous players were killed, so he didn’t have a real sense of the situation yet.
He wanted to try and persuade her.
However, he felt that persuading her would be useless.
Coupled with the meaningful look Twilight was giving him, he really didn’t dare to act as smug as Solo Stan.
“Hey, now there are only three of us left. Why don’t you guess who has the Exorcism Talisman?”
“It’s a one-half chance. Guess wrong and you die!”
Solo Stan appeared arrogant, but he was actually quite nervous, as evidenced by the sweat on his forehead.
His plan was simple: deliberately act smug to draw the Killer’s hatred, making her think the Exorcism Talisman was on him so she would target the quiet Yi Mo instead.
***
Furthermore, for Twilight to have survived until now, she definitely wasn’t simple.
She might have already seen through his thoughts.
But… even if she did, wouldn’t she be confused?
Wouldn’t she wonder if he was acting smug on purpose to make her think he didn’t have the Exorcism Talisman?
Against a simple-minded person, it might not work well.
But for a suspicious, clever person, this kind of simple psychological game was exceptionally fatal!
Once the mind is in turmoil and hesitation sets in, death is not far away!
That was what Solo Stan thought.
But Twilight ignored him entirely. Her gaze remained fixed on Yi Mo as she walked toward them, step by step.
As she got closer, Solo Stan grew more nervous.
The initiative was in her hands, after all.
He really didn’t want to gamble on a fifty-fifty choice!
The pressure from her silent, unhurried attitude was far too great!
Finally, when Twilight was 5 meters away from the two, she suddenly spoke to Yi Mo.
“My… hehe… Exorcism Talisman is with you, isn’t it!”
At Twilight’s words, both Yi Mo and Solo Stan were stunned.
How… how did she know!
Twilight didn’t actually know, but after seeing their instantaneous, subconscious reactions, she made her judgment.
She leapt forward, raising the Firewood Knife to slash at Solo Stan.
“Dammit!”
Solo Stan’s reaction was extremely fast.
He cursed loudly and suddenly gave Yi Mo a shove from behind.
Yi Mo never expected that Solo Stan would suddenly push him at a time like this.
He subconsciously fell toward Twilight, right in the path of the gleaming Firewood Knife!
The man’s strength was greater than imagined!
Twilight was forced to dodge Yi Mo as he fell toward her.
She sidestepped and pulled back her blade, immediately chasing after Solo Stan, who had already run several meters away.
She was incredibly agile; there was no way Solo Stan could lose her!
What about Solo Stan?
Knowing he couldn’t outrun her, he suddenly spun around, ripped the Exorcism Talisman from his neck, and screamed, “SR CARD ACTIVATED: COPY!”
“I CHOOSE THE ONLY ITEM IN THIS GAME, EXORCISM TALISMAN!!!”
As he roared with wild laughter, another wooden tag identical to the Exorcism Talisman appeared in his hand.
He faced Twilight, who was now less than 2 meters away, and shouted, “I have good luck! No matter who you hack today, you’re dead!!!”
“I didn’t want to waste a card on you, but you’re too powerful!!!”
“Hehehe… I’ll survive! I’ll be the only one to clear this game!!!!”
Twilight looked at him and let out a soft snort.
Without a hint of hesitation, she swung the blade directly into Solo Stan’s neck.
“You… ah!!!!”
Solo Stan was about to say “You’re finished,” but he suddenly felt a wave of icy coldness and sharp pain.
Immediately following that, something began to gush from his body.
His vision tilted sideways, his body lost all strength, and he collapsed toward the ground.
*Thud…*
Two Exorcism Talismans fell.
One hit the ground, while the other remained clutched tightly in his hand.
Even now, his eyes, which were slowly losing their light, were filled with confusion.
He could no longer speak.
“The Exorcism Talisman has no effect at all. The only thing that works is being the Survivor chosen by the System.”
“Heh… God’s Blessing… it’s laughably lethal…”
“Clearly a demon, yet calling itself a god…”
Twilight didn’t bother with Yi Mo behind her.
With a mocking tone, she raised the Firewood Knife again and brought it down toward the unconscious Solo Stan…
***
With the appearance of Rule 6, the game had shifted from a battle of wits and mutual deception to a pure game of survival.
3 minutes to run, then survive for 15 minutes without being killed by the Killer.
Was it simple?
No, it was incredibly difficult!
Facing that crazy woman—his supposed girlfriend—was impossible!
The physical gap was just too large!
Yi Mo knew this better than anyone.
With a 3-minute head start, the opponent would probably catch up in less than 1 minute!
After thinking this through and running for 2 minutes, Yi Mo opened the door to a random room and quietly closed it behind him.
*Slide—!*
He turned around and saw a beautiful scene.
It was a Classroom. Before his eyes were neatly arranged desks and stools, and some math problems were still written on the blackboard.
He could infer it was a high school classroom.
That wasn’t what mattered.
It was the dazzling sunset outside the window, paired with the branches and leaves of several large maple trees.
Under the late autumn breeze, they swayed gently and rhythmically, making a *rustling* sound.
It was truly beautiful!
It formed a stark contrast to the dark, haunted Mine from before!
Yi Mo stared blankly for a moment before suddenly covering his face with his right hand.
He clutched the Small Jade Pendant Solo Stan had given him and couldn’t help but lean over, laughing loudly.
“Hahaha… how ironic!”
“To let someone who never went to high school see this sight before they die!”
“What a sick sense of humor!”
“Are you trying to stir up my will to live?”
“Heh… I’ll survive… I definitely will…”
Yi Mo looked far from normal.
After a few fits of chuunibyou-like laughter, he scanned the classroom and finally hid inside a storage locker in the corner.
To put it bluntly, hiding was all he could do for now.
Inside this pitch-black, cramped environment.
Waiting quietly for death.
He had tried to see if he could exit through the window, but unfortunately, he couldn’t, so this was his only option.
He opened the System game rules page, looked at it, closed it, and then watched the countdown in the upper right corner of his vision.
The hunt had… begun!
*Thump… Thump…*
In such a narrow space, the body’s five senses were infinitely magnified.
Compared to the *rustling* of the maple leaves outside, Yi Mo heard his own heartbeat much more clearly.
He… was still alive.
In a Death Game he had been mysteriously dragged into, out of eight players, he was one of the only two remaining.
No.
If that crazy woman with the knife was a ghost, then he was the sole Survivor!
Just like his faction!
At this moment, his heart was filled with constant prayers and repentance.
Praying that he wouldn’t be found by that crazy woman.
Repenting for the mistakes he had committed out of a selfish desire to survive!
It was very quiet outside.
With the door closed, the sound between the room and the Mine Tunnel was completely isolated, as if they were two different dimensions.
Just 15 minutes!
Just 15 minutes would be enough!
Hide until the timer hits zero!
Yi Mo looked up at the time in the upper right corner from time to time, constantly checking.
But… time, which usually passed in the blink of an eye, was moving incredibly slowly now.
It was passing even slower than the most hated class he had ever sat through in this Classroom!
*Tick…*
The countdown finally dropped from two digits to one!
There were still 9 minutes 59 seconds!
Yi Mo kept mentally chanting, ‘Don’t come in, don’t come in!!!’
*Creak—*
However, the things one wants to happen the least are often the most likely to occur under the heartless hand of fate.
The sound of the room door opening reached Yi Mo’s ears.
“There are still nine minutes left~”
“Let me guess… is the man who inexplicably became my boyfriend in this room?”
A voice carrying a sickly, charming laugh echoed through the room.
*Scrape— Screeee—*
Then came the sound of a Firewood Knife dragging across the floor tiles.
It hammered against Yi Mo’s heart, as if urging it to run even harder.
*Gulp—*
But humans have limits.
Yi Mo didn’t know what his heart rate was now, but it was still beating.
Covering his mouth, his throat couldn’t help but twitch.
“Eh? …Eh-heh?”
“It seems like he’s not in this room…”
*Scrape… Scrape…*
The sound of the Firewood Knife would get closer one moment and move further away the next.
Listening to the young woman’s puzzled voice, Yi Mo felt like an ant in a frying pan, suffering through the torment.
He looked at the System countdown in the upper right corner.
8 minutes left!
Yi Mo frowned.
He suspected that he had been discovered and was being deliberately tortured by that crazy woman.
The kind of torture that teetered on the edge of life and death!!!