Chapter 34: Don’t Suicide
Rushing all the way to East Cross Street, Wen Xiaoming didn’t see the scene of his boss being beaten to death by angry Zone F players; instead, he saw a sickly-looking Tang Cuo again.
This scene was remarkably similar to when they first met. So this was the one who got sanctioned by Yong Ye City—as expected of the rookie at the bottom of the Blacklist.
Tang Cuo’s symptoms weren’t actually that severe. Because he stood close, he accidentally inhaled a mouthful the instant the smoke dispersed, but he was far from falling into a coma.
Wen Xiaoming said, “The BS101 series virus, its Chinese name is the One Hundred and One Ways to Die. From the looks of those outside whose symptoms are worse than yours, they’re definitely going to have to report to the prison. Furthermore, a virus of this caliber can’t be warded off with simple isolation.”
Wen Xiaoming’s words became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Chi Yan ran in from outside in a burning panic. “This is bad, an infected player just melted into a puddle of pus and disappeared! Several others nearby have also started showing symptoms. It’s too fast, there’s no time to react at all.”
Wen Xiaoming: “And who might this be?”
“Hello, I’m Chi Yan. Chi as in pond, Yan as in flame. The meaning is possessing both water and fire.” Hearing someone ask who he was, Chi Yan’s socialite soul began to burn brightly, but this wasn’t the main point right now. He quickly stopped himself. “Anyway, um, what do we do now?”
Chi Yan blinked his eyes rapidly, and Wen Xiaoming blinked rapidly too, turning his head to look at Jin Cheng: “Boss, your newly recruited lackey?”
Wen Xiaoming had been picked up by Jin Cheng in a Zone F instance the first time Jin Cheng was penalized back to Zone F, hence the question.
However, Chi Yan was at most an unofficial associate right now. Jin Cheng hadn’t decided whether to add him to the team yet, so he bypassed the question and asked, “Does this series have a vaccine?”
Wen Xiaoming answered, “There are a hundred and one variants; some have one, some don’t. There’s a vaccine research institute in Zone C, we can go ask there.”
Jin Cheng: “Officially licensed?”
Wen Xiaoming: “No, set up by a player. That person’s pharmacology is extremely impressive. Rumor has it they’re a solo player, though I don’t know if they’ve been recruited by anyone now.”
Ultimately, Wen Xiaoming and Chi Yan split up. Wen Xiaoming made a trip to Zone C, while Chi Yan was sent to Black Hat’s General Store to try his luck. The items sold there were a mixed bag, so they might have vaccines in stock.
Meanwhile, in Zone A.
Inside a luxurious grand villa identical to Jin Cheng’s, a man walked in holding a piece of paper. Seeing the person sitting on the sofa, he spoke respectfully, yet with a hint of excitement, “Jin Cheng really got hit. The message brought back by Hummingbird says people have already started dying on East Cross Street. It won’t be long before a massive swath of them die off. When the time comes, people will be in a state of panic, and Jin Cheng will be too busy fending for himself. It’s the perfect time to strike, and we can take the opportunity to harvest a wave of points!”
But an opposing opinion rang out in the room, “That man Jin Cheng is insidious and cunning, his mind is deep. How can you be so certain this isn’t a trap?”
The man frowned. “We even used BS101, laying down massive capital. Could it really go wrong? Don’t think of Jin Cheng as too formidable. He’s alone in Zone F; could he really be stronger than all of us combined? I think you’ve all been scared witless by that Blacklist. First place doesn’t mean number one in strength.”
“How many moves do you think you could last against him?”
“Don’t speak so harshly. Do you think I’m a dumbass like Meng Yufei?”
As the two spoke, the smell of gunpowder grew heavy, but the man who voiced the opposing opinion leaned against the window the entire time, his face cold, his tone careless.
There were others in the room; seeing this, they quickly chimed in to mediate.
The tall man sitting on the sofa finally spoke. “BS101 has already been used. There is no logic in backing down now. Jiang He, you have to understand, this is the absolute best time to strike.”
The man by the window was indeed named Jiang He. Hearing this, he said no more.
“I absolutely must obtain the Twelve Movements. Whether it’s Jin Cheng or someone else holding it, whoever blocks my path will die.”
Similar discussions occurred all over the high-level zones. Different people reached different conclusions, and even many in the low-level zones were watching and waiting.
For example, the An Ning squad, who had just ascended to Zone E. Someone pondered this, unable to suppress their temptation, and said, “Why don’t we sneak to East Cross Street to check out the situation? The big shots are fighting; maybe we can fish in troubled waters.”
An Ning furiously kicked him. “Even if you got the Twelve Movements, could you protect it? If you want to die, don’t drag all of us down with you.”
No matter how noisy it was outside, Tang Cuo, currently on East Cross Street, couldn’t hear it.
Jin Cheng was peeling an apple again. He peeled apples in a single unbroken cut; the peel didn’t break from start to finish, staying as long as possible. Tang Cuo sat opposite him, feeling that the apple was like his own head, constantly at risk of being peeled off.
“Aren’t you going to make preparations?” Tang Cuo asked.
“I am,” Jin Cheng smiled. “I plan to poison them to death with an apple.”
“…”
“Scared?”
I’m so scared, Tang Cuo thought, face devoid of expression.
Jin Cheng really didn’t know what to do with him. At the end of the day, Tang Cuo getting infected was somewhat a result of being dragged down by him. Standing up, Jin Cheng tossed the peeled apple into Tang Cuo’s hand and finally went out to take care of real business.
Just before leaving, he turned his head to warn: “Don’t you dare throw it away.”
The door closed. Tang Cuo curled his lip and took a bite with a crunch—it was sweet.
Time slowly ticked away. Tang Cuo slumped in his chair, slowly transforming from a sub-healthy patient into a corpse that was still breathing. When Chi Yan rushed back frantically from Black Hat’s General Store, he pushed open the door and jumped in fright.
“Ge, what’s wrong with you, Ge!” With that, he reached out to check Tang Cuo’s breathing. Tang Cuo gave him a look to let him figure it out himself, but Chi Yan lacked that level of tacit understanding with him and couldn’t figure it out.
Your Ge rapidly switched from energy-saving mode to irritable mode.
“I’m not dead yet.” Tang Cuo sat up.
“Oh, oh. The general store doesn’t sell the vaccine either. This general store isn’t very good, oh. It’s totally unlike how badass the rumors make it sound. It’s quite advanced though, self-service shopping, the boss wasn’t even there,” Chi Yan said.
If the boss was there, you might’ve been beaten to death.
Tang Cuo opened his character panel and glanced at his health. The cap had dropped to 63%, but he could still live. He actually wasn’t worried at all; even if he died, it was just a trip to the prison. When soldiers come, block them with generals; when water comes, dam it with earth.
Chi Yan completely treated him as a patient, pouring him water and asking if he felt uncomfortable. After a while, he went out for a lap to check the situation, returning to relay it to Tang Cuo in excruciating detail.
“It’s only been a bit over half an hour, and the earliest infected have all died. Dozens more were infected subsequently, the numbers are growing. It’s too terrifying.” As Chi Yan spoke, his body couldn’t help but tremble. Although those people just went to the prison and it didn’t count as a true death, dying by melting into a puddle of pus was far more terrifying than being killed by a knife.
Many players had been educated on the horrors of the prison. They didn’t dare stay on East Cross Street any longer and wanted to leave. But at a time like this, who would dare let them out?
Openly and secretly, many more people had gathered at all the intersections of East Cross Street. Some held gleaming knives in their hands; anyone who dared to leave would likely face immediate death.
Panic gradually bred and spread wantonly.
“If I’d known, I would have gone and done that whatever mission. Even being inside an instance would be better than this, right?”
“I can’t take it anymore. Why did I have to come to such a godforsaken place? It would be better if I just died!”
“I’m a person, not some player. Who can tell me if this is just a nightmare or not?”
“I want to go home, boohoo… I want to go home…”
“…”
Amidst the countless suppressed whimpers, someone finally leaped down from a building above. With a bang, they turned into a puddle of blood on the ground.
This time, it was a real jump.
“Ahhhhh!” Someone covered their mouth and screamed.
The sudden death intensified the panic on East Cross Street. The players outside the street watched this scene from afar, their expressions darkening slightly, but they weren’t overly shocked.
New players mostly lacked strong psychological endurance. Especially on East Cross Street, jumping off buildings was normal, and it often caused a chain reaction.
Jumping, slitting wrists, hanging themselves—there was always a way to die.
But was it really that simple?
Some sneered, some maintained their silence.
Hearing the screams, Chi Yan pushed open the window to look out. Seeing the corpse and blood on the ground, his expression suddenly turned to utter horror. He abruptly remembered what Jin Cheng had told him the night they first met.
In an instant, his hands and feet went ice cold.
“Don’t commit suicide! Don’t commit suicide!” He immediately pulled out the megaphone and shouted, leaning so far out he practically squeezed his upper body out the window. “Suicide is worse than death. Believe me, don’t commit suicide!”
Yong Ye City’s First Law: Survival is Justice.
In Yong Ye City, which so heavily emphasized survival, the option of suicide was the greatest sin of all sins.
Chi Yan’s earth-shattering roar startled the young girl who was standing on a windowsill, about to jump. She stared blankly in the direction of the voice, her pale face covered in tear tracks.
“Look, the corpse hasn’t disappeared.” Chi Yan tried his best to stay calm, but when he saw the changes in the corpse, his voice couldn’t help but tremble. “He’ll turn into a monster, he can’t go to prison to start over, and he won’t really die either…”
He couldn’t go on, because the player who jumped had already turned into a monster. His bloodstained back bulged, and a scythe-like claw burst through the skin, followed closely by a second one. His face began to contort, his teeth grew sharp, his mouth split open to the base of his ears, and low, beast-like growls emanated from his throat.
Blood dripped relentlessly. In just a dozen seconds, he transformed into something else under everyone’s watchful eyes.
“Ahhhhh!” The young girl covered her mouth and screamed, shaking her head desperately. But in a moment of carelessness, she slipped and plummeted from the windowsill.
Everyone’s breath hitched.
A figure suddenly leaped down from the rooftop, darting to the girl’s side with even greater speed and snatching her by the waist. Swish, a rope instantly pulled taut. Only then did the person slowly release his grip, bringing the girl safely to the ground.
It was none other than Jin Cheng.
“This is why I hate you, 79081. Why must you insist on saving them?” Mr. Crow’s characteristically arrogant voice echoed from afar. The crowd looked up in unison to search for him, spotting him standing at the top of a tower. He spread his black wings as if a human spreading out their arms, and behind him was one of the giant orbs that served as a light source for Yong Ye City.
Jin Cheng looked over as well. Meeting his gaze, Mr. Crow tilted his head and suddenly grew delighted. “Let’s fight monsters together! Whoever can kill that monster on East Cross Street will receive a generous reward!”
He laughed and took flight, circling above East Cross Street to admire the ugly displays of the players one by one.
“Wow, there’s one over there too! And another one over there. Tsk tsk, four monsters, four treasures. Which of you will get your hands on them?”
The one who made a move was still Jin Cheng.
The hearts of all East Cross Street were tormented in raging flames. Not even being able to commit suicide—this was absolutely the greatest sorrow in the mortal realm. Some broke down, some despaired, and some had eyes sharp as knives.
Four monsters in a row. Jin Cheng slaughtered them with maximum speed, without a sliver of pause in between. Once a monster died, a black hole appeared beneath it, swallowing the corpse.
They disappeared, but those terrifying figures remained forever in the hearts of the players present.
Mr. Crow flapped his wings, finding it rather dull. He wanted to say something, but seeing the players below looking as if they’d lost their souls, he immediately lost interest in talking. With a strange cackle, he vanished.
And the exact moment he vanished, Jin Cheng’s body suddenly swayed, and he violently spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was deathly pale. When he lifted his eyes, his gaze was chilling, terrifying the surrounding players.
The young girl was even more frightened, taking a step back.
Jin Cheng said nothing. He caught his breath, casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and climbed back through the window into the room where Tang Cuo was. His series of actions were, of course, just acting. Closing the window, he turned around and met Tang Cuo’s starkly clear black and white eyes. “Did they enter the Karma Clearing Process?”
“Yes and no. In a normal Karma Clearing Process, players forget who they are. Even if they are killed over and over again, they won’t remember a thing. But for those few just now, they went to a special instance, maintaining their consciousness through the pain but unable to escape. Do you know what this is called?”
Jin Cheng asked and answered himself: “It’s called—a fate worse than death.”
Hearing it again, Chi Yan still felt a chill in his heart. The coldness seeped up from the soles of his feet in waves, making him too afraid to even look at the four items on the table. He couldn’t help but wonder what a cruel scene it would have been if Jin Cheng hadn’t intervened and the players had swarmed up to kill them instead.
Yong Ye City’s rules would gradually obliterate humanity. Killing players who turned into monsters for the sake of treasures—the person who succeeded would probably even laugh out loud.
In the ensuing struggles, more people would die. Death would continuously breed more death.
How naive.
Chi Yan thought of his past self. What kind of place had he really come to? Had he truly seen it clearly?
“We’re out of time. If those people want to kill me, they should be coming over soon.” Jin Cheng turned and swept another glance out the window, frowning slightly. Wen Xiaoming hadn’t returned yet; who knew if his trip went smoothly.
He really didn’t want Tang Cuo to go to the prison. If some punishments could be avoided, they should be avoided; there was no need for it.
At this moment, Tang Cuo’s maximum health cap was down to 44%, a rather unlucky number.
“Huh? Why is it getting foggy outside?” Chi Yan rubbed his eyes, abruptly thought of something, and took a step back. “This isn’t another poison… poison gas, is it?”
“No.” Jin Cheng’s tone was certain. “The strategist of Zone A’s elite squad ‘Tianzhi’—the Shadow Fog Assassin, Jiang He.”
Tang Cuo: “Not the one who’s a Puppet Master?”
Jin Cheng: “That’s another one.”
Tang Cuo: “Oh.”
Jin Cheng: “I told you, I really have a lot of enemies.”
