Chapter 691: Long Time No See
In the empty corridor, the young boy with snow-white eyelashes, skin, and hair walked alone, moving silently through the hall like a shadow.
Buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz.
From his pocket came the continuous buzzing of message notifications.
But the young boy acted as if he didn’t hear it. He kept his eyes downcast and slowly walked forward expressionlessly along the corridor.
Suddenly, without any warning, he stopped in his tracks.
He raised his head. His whirlpool-like, hollow, pitch-black eyes looked up through the gaps of his snow-white eyelashes, drifting to land in midair, seemingly observing some void existence that others couldn’t see.
The next second, from the end of the corridor not far away, a flurry of messy footsteps rang out.
Mixed in were faintly discernible voices of people conversing in deliberately hushed tones.
“……Where’s the red dot?”
“We’re close, it’s just up ahead—”
The dense footsteps were as rapid as drumbeats, quickly approaching in his direction.
Suddenly, without warning, the approaching people slammed to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” someone behind urged. “Why did you suddenly—”
The next second, the voice caught deep in his throat.
The corridor was deep and dead silent. The eerily white young boy stood firmly right in the center. Expressionless and entirely alone, he didn’t seem threatening, but just looking at him sent a wave of chilling coldness shooting straight up their spines.
Without even needing an introduction, everyone present immediately realized who he was.
“……” The few men exchanged a bewildered and uncertain look.
Bai Xue.
A bona fide top ten anchor in Nightmare.
An existence evaluated by everyone with the two words “freakish” and “bizarre.”
They truly hadn’t expected that the red dot they had been tracking would actually be this guy’s location.
“Captain, what do we do?”
They looked at the young boy standing not far away, then at their leader, asking in lowered voices.
“Should we—”
“No choice, we can’t make it to the other locations in time.” The leader’s expression was gloomy. His eyes cautiously scrutinized the young boy not far away as he spoke, syllable by syllable, “Even if we make it, they won’t be in an isolated state anymore.”
And the other choices wouldn’t necessarily be any better than the current one.
“Not to mention it’s a medium all alone. I say, we got lucky.”
The several men conversed without any evasion, seemingly not caring that the subject of their discussion was just a few steps away from them.
Bai Xue quietly kept his eyes downcast, turning a deaf ear to their conversation.
The leader let out a low shout: “Listen to my command, attack together!!!”
Almost the instant his voice fell, the several men leaped up simultaneously!
In a split second, the temperature in the corridor plummeted. Beneath the cold, flickering lights was an intense killing intent that could almost materialize into substance.
They fiercely attacked the target from different directions, different angles, and using different methods—they had considered almost every countermeasure the other could possibly take—no matter how strong a person’s ability was or how rich their combat experience, it was impossible to defend against the attacks of so many people all at once… In this place, the old cliché of ants devouring an elephant was all too common. Countless highly anticipated rising stars had perished in the gutters, and countless wildly famous powerhouses had died tragically at the hands of nameless nobodies.
Furthermore, so what if he was in the top ten? So what if he was freakish? Even if he flipped the heavens, he was still just a medium!
In their rapidly approaching field of vision, the young boy still stood motionless. Expressionless, eyes lowered, he remained indifferent to these lethal moves aimed at taking his life.
Closer!
Watching their hands gradually approach the other’s frail shoulders, while the other still made no move, their hearts couldn’t help but pound violently in their chests. An uncontrollable wave of joy began to rise—even closer!
As long as they caught him, they could—
Suddenly, the young boy, who was now close at hand, raised his eyes.
A pair of black-hole-like, bizarre eyes that seemed able to see through everything looked straight at him.
“!!!”
The attacker’s pupils contracted sharply. He only felt an extremely ominous premonition assault him.
Before he could even start to think about what the other had done, he felt a bizarre chill spread outward from his chest without any warning.
“……”
He subconsciously looked down and saw a snow-bright blade piercing right through the center of his chest. Black-red fresh blood gurgled out, soaking the clothes on his chest in the blink of an eye—this blade tip was so familiar, it looked exactly like—
“How… could this—”
A familiar voice of astonishment came from behind him.
He slowly turned his head. Reflected in his eyes was his teammate’s utterly terrified expression.
It wasn’t until this moment that the sensation of pain finally arrived, fashionably late.
In the massive Live Broadcast Hall, the cold screens flickered. It was as if invisible eyes were looking down from above, silently scrutinizing this bloody and terrifying scene.
The viewers, completely unaffected, chatted and laughed merrily.
[Look, what did I say.]
[I’ve lost count of how many of these non-believers have died at Bai Xue’s hands anyway.]
[When it comes down to it, the title of ‘Number One Medium’ is just too deceptive. Who could have imagined that he’d actually possess the deadliest causality-type talent?]
[I have to say, I never get tired of watching this kind of mutual slaughter under the effect of Bai Xue’s ability. The more ruthless the attacker is, the more tragic their death. It’s a completely different style from the straightforward violence on the other side. It’s simply art.]
In just a few short minutes, everything was already over.
The lights in the corridor spilled down silently, mercilessly illuminating the tragic state below.
Splattered bloodstains trailed all the way from the walls to the ceiling. Severed limbs overlapped on the floor, scattered with minced meat and fragments of internal organs. Those pale faces that had lost all signs of life lay askew in the pools of blood, expressions of disbelief frozen upon them.
Amidst this bloody red, only a cold white remained in the very center.
Bai Xue stood expressionless in the pool of blood.
On the back of the hand hanging by his side, there remained a cut left by a shattered blade passing by. Light pink blood slowly trickled from it.
Compared to before the encounter began, he appeared even paler, as if the very anchors maintaining his existence in this world were fading from his body bit by bit, ultimately leaving only a transparent, pristine colorlessness.
He lifted his leg and stepped over the severed limbs at his feet.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.
The notification sound continued endlessly, showing unrelenting perseverance.
This time, Bai Xue finally took out his phone.
The screen showed 25 missed calls and 136 unopened messages.
“Weird, I heard in other anchors’ rooms that Bai Xue’s advice before entering the instance was ‘don’t go alone’, so why isn’t he grouping up with the others?”
“Did you forget what his passive is…”
Bai Xue lowered his eyes, declined the vibrating incoming call notification, put his phone on silent, and shoved it back into his pocket.
“True. Putting a talent like this in a team is simply a disaster.”
“It’s better to just let him stay alone like this.”
“Gentleman—?!”
Chen Mo stared dead in the direction of Oracle, almost unable to believe his eyes.
How is this possible?
Didn’t Gentleman die in an instance a long time ago?
Not only had his livestream room been completely shut down, his ranking on the leaderboards had also been completely erased. From any angle, he was in a state of absolute death. Yet now, he appeared alive and well right in front of them. What exactly was going on—?
“Arghh!!” Blond’s body was hoisted high into the air. He felt the threads wrapped around his body begin to tighten, pulling in different directions—clearly, this time the other party wasn’t planning on manipulating him to do something like before; he was preparing to directly tear his body into five pieces!!
He gritted his teeth, already tasting the tang of blood in his mouth.
Even so, he used all his strength to activate an item right before his arms were about to be ripped off!!
Before entering the instance, they had already prepared for the possibility of encountering a chaotic free-for-all.
And as one of the few people with zero combat power, possessing a highly targeted visual enhancement talent, Blond would definitely be a prime target in a melee. Precisely because of this, before entering the instance, he had gathered every single life-saving item he could into his backpack, so as not to become a burden to his teammates in this kind of situation.
“Hurry—” Blond’s brows furrowed tightly in pain, squeezing a voice from his throat with difficulty. “I can’t hold on for much longer!”
Chen Mo and Ji Guan had naturally reacted long ago.
To catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader!
Accompanied by a clatter of colliding metal, the white iron chain tore through the air, flying straight forward!
The Oracle anchors reacted very quickly as well. A telekinetic raised his head, a bizarre light flashing in his eyes. The chain was firmly fixed in midair, buzzing and trembling, unable to advance even a single inch.
A ruthless look flashed in Chen Mo’s eyes, and his fingers abruptly clenched. The next second, the iron chain hanging above the heads of the Oracle group swelled drastically. Every single link became two meters long and half a meter thick!!
The struggle of strength was instantly reversed.
“Clang!!!” Accompanied by a massive, heavy crash, the gigantic iron chain broke free from control and smashed down viciously from above. The Oracle group below was forced to retreat to both sides. Like Moses parting the sea, a path was cleared right through the middle almost immediately.
The two didn’t even need to exchange words. They kicked off the ground hard, sprinting forward along the cleared path, charging straight at Gentleman standing at the very back of the Oracle group!
“Stop them!!”
High-pitched, urgent shouts rang in their ears.
Immediately after, a rotting iron door plastered with yellow talismans blocked their path without any warning. The two heavy doors slowly closed together—The large, green-faced, fanged malicious ghost on Ji Guan’s body paled. He turned his head, his eyes with “Spirit Vision” activated sweeping rapidly through the crowd, suddenly locking onto a target.
He let out a sneer and bit his lip. Fresh blood gurgled out, feeding into the bared-fangs, brandishing-claws tattoo.
The next second, the bluish-black malicious ghost materialized, brandishing its claws and bearing its fangs. Its pitch-black eyes were hollow and cold, carrying an aura of death. In just a few moments, it leaped into the air, charging straight toward the target!!
Accompanied by an ear-piercing scream, scorching scarlet blood sprayed out.
The iron door with yellow talismans in front of them swayed twice. The slowly closing iron doors seemed to have been stopped by some kind of force, forcibly stuck halfway.
Chen Mo didn’t even turn his head, turning a deaf ear to Ji Guan’s battle over there. His pace quickened, and before the iron doors could close together, he turned sideways and nimbly slipped inside.
Gentleman was just three steps away!!
One step.
His lips pressed tightly together, his eyes locked dead on that hooded figure. Adrenaline spiked madly within a few short seconds, yet his brain remained exceptionally calm.
Two steps.
—Three steps!
The heavy iron chain flew out rapidly, accurately locking onto the other’s head, and then—
“Bang!”
Without the slightest deviation, it smashed down heavily!!!
This strike was enough to snap a living person’s neck completely, shatter their skull, and make their red and white brains splatter out like a crushed watermelon.
Chen Mo hit his mark; he succeeded.
Accompanied by a terrifying, teeth-aching sound of cracking bone, the other’s head had been completely twisted to face backward. No one could survive an injury like this.
Creak… creak-creak… creak.
The sound of grinding bones rang out again.
“……?!” Chen Mo widened his eyes in astonishment, looking at the scene before him in disbelief.
Gentleman’s head just… cranked back around, notch by notch, degree by degree.
His face was a ghastly sight to behold. One half still maintained its original handsome, neat appearance, while the other half was a complete mess, deeply caved in from the eye socket, the bones beneath the flesh completely smashed to pieces. Yet he showed no reaction to this. The uninjured side of his face was cold and pale, exuding an aura of death.
And then…
An even more unbelievable scene occurred.
Under Chen Mo’s helpless gaze, the shattered bones began to restore themselves, and the split skin began to heal.
In just a single breath, it had completely recovered to its original state.
“!!!” Chen Mo stared at this scene in shock, involuntarily taking a half-step back, his expression nearly losing control.
This wasn’t Gentleman… this wasn’t even a living person!!
Then, what exactly was this “thing” standing in front of him right now?
“No, no—” Blond’s utterly terrified voice came from not far behind.
Indeed, his body was protected by an item and couldn’t be damaged. However, the threads capable of manipulating his actions hadn’t disappeared. Seemingly realizing it couldn’t directly execute him, “Gentleman” changed his strategy.
Blond’s arms and legs moved out of control, beginning to launch attacks at Ji Guan not far away.
The items couldn’t defend against teammates, and the malicious ghost that had tasted blood was already beyond control.
In order not to hurt Blond, Ji Guan had no choice but to reverse his state. On his tense, bulging skin dripping with cold sweat, the bluish-black tattoo bulged outwards, as if something beneath was struggling to burst out, but was firmly pressed back into place by its master’s willpower.
Having lost the protection of his ghost form, the Oracle group immediately seized the opportunity.
“Ah—!” Ji Guan stumbled forward, a gash splitting open his chest, a miserable scream escaping his throat involuntarily.
On the other side, Chen Mo was struggling to hold on under the siege, but he couldn’t hold out alone and couldn’t split himself. Not only could he not go and support them, he couldn’t even protect himself.
Everything had spun out of control.
The defeat of their three-man squad was right before their eyes.
Just at this moment, suddenly, one of the Oracle members raised his head for no apparent reason, staring intently at the end of the corridor. A dark light flickered in his eyes, clearly showing his talent was in an active state.
He turned his head and whispered a few words to the companion beside him.
“But—” A look of struggle surfaced in the companion’s eyes.
But finally, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and said: “Go!”
Oracle’s departure was just like their appearance—swift and silent.
In the blink of an eye, the large group retreated like the tide, and that hooded figure disappeared along with them, leaving only a messy battlefield covered in blood.
Blond, who had lost the thread’s control, collapsed to the ground. He scrambled up, stumbling and rushing forward in a panic:
“Ji, Ji Guan!”
Chen Mo also hurried over, staggering. Ignoring his own injuries, he gritted his teeth, his expression grave: “Quick, stop his bleeding!”
In the livestream room, the viewers were greatly disappointed by this outcome.
“Ah? That’s it?”
“No, why did it just end?”
“Speaking of which, what exactly is going on with Gentleman? Didn’t he die?”
“He isn’t resurrected now either. I checked his livestream room, it hasn’t been open for a long time. Whatever is acting right now, I don’t know what it is. But who cares, as long as it’s strong. The way it recovered little by little just now was too badass, it gave me a thrill of excitement, so good!”
“But why did Oracle run away? If they had just dragged it out a little longer, those guys would have been completely wiped out.”
Just as the viewers were enthusiastically discussing, suddenly, on the screen, Blond seemed to have felt something. He froze slightly, subconsciously withdrawing the hand pressing on Ji Guan’s wound. Where his fingers moved away, the knife wound that had just been dripping with blood, its edges rolling outwards, was rapidly healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just the blink of an eye, it was already smooth and even, restored to its original state.
“……It’s healed?” Ji Guan propped himself up on the ground with one hand, sitting straight. With his other blood-stained hand, he touched his uninjured chest in disbelief, almost unable to trust his senses. “Wha-what’s going on?”
Chen Mo seemed to have realized the same thing. He looked down at the wound on his own body.
Unsurprisingly, his wound had also healed, just like Ji Guan’s.
“What kind of healing item is this? This is too overpowered.”
“Impossible, there’s no item of this type!” a viewer said very affirmatively. “Nightmare would never release something that breaks the game balance so severely.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Before the viewers could discuss a conclusion, the camera in front of them, which had originally been focused on the three, abruptly lifted without warning, turning its direction.
Countless lenses pointed straight at the end of the corridor.
In the depths of the corridor swallowed by darkness, the silhouette of a human figure gradually emerged.
As the distance closed, the mist-like darkness parted around him, stepped on and crushed by an even pace. Orange-yellow light spilled down from above, like some sort of silent welcome, illuminating the newcomer’s face bit by bit.
That gentle, highly deceptive face, and those eyes that always carried a light smile.
The moment the young man’s face appeared on the screen, all the viewers watching the livestream instantly boiled over.
[Ahhhhhhhhhhh!]
[Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit!!!!]
[Am I seeing this right?! Am I really seeing this right!!]
[Pinocchio Pinocchio!!! It’s Pinocchio ahhhhhhh!]
[“Integrity First” livestream room online, livestream signal reconnecting…]
In the waiting area of the livestream room, the number of online viewers skyrocketed madly, doubling, tripling, quadrupling—even having reached this level, the upward trend of the numbers showed no intention of stopping, shooting up like a straight line.
So this was why Oracle had to retreat early.
Their squad members excelled at “Precognition.”
When they realized this attack would bear no fruit, in order to prevent losses, they naturally sounded the retreat.
Suddenly, some excited viewers seemed to have noticed something.
“Wait a minute, who is the person following beside Pinocchio?”
That’s right.
Pinocchio didn’t appear alone.
Beside him followed a tall man with black hair and golden eyes.
He didn’t dodge, hide, or conceal himself, simply walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Wen Jianyan just like that. His long hair fell to his shoulders, his cuffs were rolled up slightly, and bizarre curse marks snaked across his pale, robust forearms.
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. His golden eyes abruptly shifted, his gaze locking onto the empty air.
“—!!!”
In that instant, all the viewers who had their attention focused on the livestream room felt a chill run down their backs. Those cold, molten-gold-like eyes stared at them from the screen, as if there were no barrier between them. The sensation of trembling climbed up their spines like a snake.
He lowered his eyes, withdrew his gaze, and whispered a few words into Wen Jianyan’s ear.
“……”
The young man raised an eyebrow and looked up.
He raised his eyes toward the void, his eyes curving with a smile. With a careless smile hanging on his lips, he raised his hand and lightly waved his slender five fingers.
As if saying, long time no see.
The next second, a sharp, explosive bzzzt— sound rang out. The sound echoed in the massive space, nearly piercing the eardrums of every listener. Immediately following, the screen that had just lit up went black once again.
[Livestream room signal reconnection failed]
The cold, repetitive mechanical voice rang out, mixed with intermittent bizarre noises.
[Livestream room image lost, close again—clo-clo-clo-clo-closing]
