Free Web NovelThat final lash completely emptied Bai Liu’s stamina bar.
The high-level item, the fishbone whip, devoured the last of his strength in an instant. He sucked in a sharp breath, his knees buckling as he dropped heavily onto the roof of the carriage. His face had gone corpse-pale, sweat soaking through his shirt until the fabric clung tightly to his skin.
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu has lost 80 Stamina from using the item (Siren’s Bone). Player Bai Liu, please replenish your Stamina immediately! Avoid entering an immobilized state after complete Stamina depletion!]
The passenger Bai Liu had struck let out a shrill, inhuman howl. Its scorched optic nerves twitched violently as its eyes rolled inside their sockets. Then, almost immediately, it twisted around and lunged toward Bai Liu on all fours.
Bai Liu tilted his head back and drained an entire bottle of stamina supplement in one swallow. Without even turning fully around, he snapped the whip backward again, striking another [Passenger] at the exact instant it tried to pounce on Mu Shicheng.
His voice was rough with exhaustion.
“Second one. Three left.”
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu used (Siren’s Bone) to strike a passenger. Aggro has shifted. The target has chosen to pursue Bai Liu...]
Again and again, the whip cracked through the air.
Most of the time, Bai Liu still had a stamina bottle clenched between his teeth while relying entirely on peripheral vision to target the passengers. The endless cycle of depletion and forced recovery was visibly wrecking his body.
His face was white as frost. Cold sweat streamed down his temples. The hand gripping the whip trembled violently. He could barely remain standing atop the carriage, held in place only by the safety belt wrapped around his ankle.
And yet—
—even in a condition resembling someone on the verge of collapse, Bai Liu’s aim never faltered once.
Every strike landed precisely on the back of a [Passenger’s] hand at the exact moment they attempted to attack Mu Shicheng.
To maintain consistency, Bai Liu even seemed to deliberately strike the exact same point every single time.
Du Sanying stared blankly.
Too monstrous...
Were new players seriously this terrifying now?!
He genuinely wanted to know how Bai Liu could still maintain such inhuman accuracy. The man’s stats were already plummeting, his stamina repeatedly crashing to zero, and yet—
—his focus on Mu Shicheng never wavered for even a fraction of a second.
“The fifth.”
Bai Liu looked as though he had just been dragged from the sea. Damp strands of hair clung to his forehead, and beneath them his eyes appeared darker than before, reflecting only Mu Shicheng.
He let out a slow breath and smiled.
“Keep going, Mu Shicheng. The strategy works. Continue.”
The moment he finished speaking, his stamina emptied again.
His legs gave out. Slick with sweat, he nearly slid right off the carriage roof. Du Sanying reacted instantly, grabbing Bai Liu by the ankle and hauling him back up.
Bai Liu sprawled flat against the roof, breathing hard as he forced down another bottle of stamina supplement.
Du Sanying drove the bumper car in frantic circles through the carriage, kiting the five [Passengers] pursuing them. He glanced anxiously at Bai Liu, whose condition was visibly deteriorating.
“Bai Liu, your body can’t take much more of this! Do you want to rest for a bit?!”
“No. The train’s about to depart.”
Bai Liu’s command sounded almost cruel—to himself as much as to Mu Shicheng.
Bracing himself against the roof, he forced himself upright again, gaze steady despite the trembling in his limbs.
“Continue. Mu Shicheng, stop grabbing every passenger you see. Your HP is dropping too quickly that way. Find the ones carrying mirror shards.”
“As if I want to do this?!” Mu Shicheng snapped irritably.
Every time he grabbed one, the flames burned away 1 HP. There were far too many passengers for him to check all of them individually. Doing that would be suicide.
“But I can’t tell who has a shard!”
All the passengers were charred black masses wrapped in flames. How the hell was anyone supposed to locate a shard only a few carats wide in that chaos?
“Aren’t thieves supposed to excel at finding stolen goods?” Bai Liu still had the energy to tease him.
As he spoke, Bai Liu finally shifted his gaze away from Mu Shicheng and swept it rapidly across the burning crowd.
Heat distortion, smoke, and drifting ash ruined visibility. Even Bai Liu couldn’t directly identify which passengers carried shards.
So instead, he reversed the logic.
His eyes narrowed toward the five [Passengers] currently pursuing the bumper car. Mu Shicheng had already stolen a shard from one of them earlier.
One of the five was noticeably slower than the others. The flames covering its body had weakened too, and it staggered around aimlessly like a decapitated insect.
That was the passenger Mu Shicheng had robbed earlier.
But Bai Liu distinctly remembered that before losing its shard, that passenger had moved far faster.
“Mu Shicheng!” Bai Liu spoke rapidly. “The mirror shards are their weak point! The shards seem to strengthen them somehow. Look for passengers moving faster or burning more intensely. From your angle, can you tell who’s faster or whose flames are brighter?”
“No!” Mu Shicheng hung upside down from the overhead straps by his tail, squinting through the smoke and ash below.
“All I see is one giant fire and a pile of corpses mashed together! Earlier I was grabbing blindly!”
Even as he said it, Mu Shicheng abruptly lowered himself deeper into the flames, gritting his teeth as he seized another passenger.
[System Notification: Player Mu Shicheng has been burned by fire. HP -1, SAN -1]
“Stop, Mu Shicheng. You can’t keep doing this. Your HP loss is already too severe. If you keep grabbing blindly, you’ll die. Besides, earlier you only succeeded once out of five attempts. That’s a twenty percent success rate. This one will most likely—”
Almost the instant Mu Shicheng withdrew his claws, Bai Liu’s whip tore through the air, blasting away the passenger lunging for him.
Mu Shicheng grinned and raised the second mirror shard between his fingers.
“Sorry. This one worked.”
[System Notification: Player Mu Shicheng obtained Mirror Shard (2/???)]
Bai Liu immediately looked up.
“So you can distinguish them?”
“Only after diving into the middle of the crowd.” Mu Shicheng wiped soot from his face and flashed Bai Liu a confident grin. “Your whip’s accurate enough. Otherwise I’d never risk this. Once I steal something, it’s way too easy to get swarmed by the passengers locked onto me.”
“I won’t miss.”
Bai Liu raised the whip slightly and smiled.
“Keep going.”
Again and again, Mu Shicheng swung from the overhead straps by his tail and plunged into the blazing sea of corpses like a monkey scooping the moon from water.
Passengers snapped at him from every direction, driven mad by aggro.
Sometimes blackened jaws opened inches from his face, flames erupting from their throats hot enough to scorch his skin—
—but before fear could even fully surface, a bone-white whip would always slash through the fire and smash the grotesque mouth aside before it could bite into him.
This was theft without consequences.
By the later stages, Mu Shicheng stopped holding back entirely. He stole from two, three, even four passengers at once, completely ignoring the fact they would immediately turn and attack him.
And just as he had promised, Bai Liu never missed once.
Every strike landed with terrifying precision, effortlessly covering the upper limits of Mu Shicheng’s recklessness. No matter how many passengers Mu Shicheng provoked simultaneously, Bai Liu calmly swept them aside, creating a perfectly safe environment for him to steal in.
That overwhelming reliability gradually pulled all of Mu Shicheng’s focus onto a single objective:
[Steal Mirror Shards.]
At some point, Mu Shicheng had completely forgotten that the person protecting his back—the one he had entrusted his life to—was merely an F-rank player in his second game.
Every swing of Bai Liu’s whip consumed sixty percent of his stamina.
Meanwhile, all the passengers Mu Shicheng had robbed were now fixated on Bai Liu’s bumper car instead. The pressure on Mu Shicheng dropped sharply, making the thefts easier and easier.
But in exchange, the burden on Du Sanying increased dramatically.
His bumper car moved absurdly fast and could even drive along the walls thanks to the [Luck Buff]. Most collisions narrowly missed them.
Even so, Du Sanying’s face had gone completely pale.
Behind them stretched a writhing chain of charred corpses. Some moved so quickly they nearly grabbed the vehicle outright before Bai Liu’s whip sent them flying away amid Du Sanying’s terrified screams.
“B-Bai Liu...” Du Sanying glanced back at the monstrous line of corpses pursuing them, their twisted faces overflowing with hatred. The clustered mass only intensified the flames further, the heat already beginning to melt the rear of the bumper car.
His voice shook violently.
“W-We can’t keep kiting them like this! If we pull any more monsters, we’re dead!”
“No matter who dies, it won’t be you.”
Bai Liu didn’t even glance at him as he continued clearing paths for Mu Shicheng.
His tone was almost complimentary.
“Have more faith in yourself. Your luck is absolute.”
For the first time in his life, Du Sanying heard someone praise his luck like that.
And all he wanted to do was cry.
“My luck isn’t invincible!” he shouted, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. “I can still die! It only lowers the probability—it doesn’t guarantee anything!”
“No! I can’t keep driving anymore!!”
His face had gone gray-blue.
Just moments earlier, a passenger had nearly bitten through his neck from the side. If instinct hadn’t made him dodge in time, he would already be dead.
“Bai Liu! Take the car! I’m getting off!”
A violent premonition of disaster flooded Du Sanying.
His instincts had always been terrifyingly accurate. That intuition had saved him from countless catastrophes before.
And right now, every nerve in his body screamed the same thing:
Run.
Immediately.
“I said, trust yourself, Du Sanying.”
Bai Liu stood atop the bumper car, looking down at him from above.
When Bai Liu looked at people like that, there was something deeply chilling about him.
His eyes were pitch-black, like charcoal burned down to its final stage, utterly devoid of warmth. Combined with the faintly gentle smile on his face, the contrast was profoundly unsettling.
Bai Liu leaned slightly closer and spoke softly.
“I need you, Du Sanying.”
In that instant, every hair on Du Sanying’s body stood upright.
The warning in his instincts surged to its absolute peak.
Since entering the game, he had never once felt such overwhelming danger—especially not from another player.
Every instinct screamed at him to jump off the car and flee immediately.
But—
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu requires Player Du Sanying’s assistance. Player Du Sanying must provide support to Player Bai Liu. Please cooperate with all of Player Bai Liu’s actions!]
Du Sanying nearly broke down.
“!!! When did you control me?! I’m wearing my [Anti-Control Coat]! Even the [Puppet Master] can’t control me through this! How are you still doing it?!”
“I already told you. I never controlled any of you.”
Bai Liu coughed weakly, wiping away stamina supplement spilling from the corner of his mouth.
“I’m merely a collaborator asking for your help.” He smiled faintly. “I just prepared a little insurance.”
Then his expression sharpened.
“Keep driving.”
Bai Liu looked directly at Du Sanying.
“If you run now, Mu Shicheng and I both die. So stay steady. Understood?”
Du Sanying trembled beneath that gaze.
“Don’t worry.” Bai Liu smiled slightly. “I won’t let Mu Shicheng die. And I won’t let you die either.”
Blood and ash stained his cheeks, turning that originally gentle smile into something almost cruel.
“To me, both of you are extremely valuable.”
————————
“The train is about to depart—passengers wishing to disembark, please line up and exit in an orderly manner—”
The group of charred corpses shuffled out of the blood-smeared carriage in orderly rows, leaving behind three utterly exhausted people slumped together.
Du Sanying lay sprawled inside the wrecked bumper car, eyes vacant, limbs limp, looking moments away from foaming at the mouth.
“I’m never driving again...”
Mu Shicheng sat with one knee raised, head tipped back against the carriage wall. He had already reverted from monkey form back to human form, but his body was covered in burns. The skin at the corners of his lips, across his cheekbones, and over the backs of his hands had been scorched raw, exposing red flesh beneath.
Even the monkey ornament hanging from his headphones looked half-dead, curled into a pitiful ball while emitting weak squeaks, the red glow in its eyes fading dimly.
But among the three of them, Bai Liu was in the worst condition.
Not a trace of color remained in his body. He looked like a doll sculpted from snow. A few coughs escaped him, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Mixed within it were fragments that looked suspiciously like tissue from his internal organs.
Bai Liu casually wiped them away.
His fingertips slowly turned over the mirror shards Mu Shicheng had gathered, now condensed into a crystal-like cluster resembling a diamond.
Repeatedly forcing stamina to empty and refill placed enormous strain on the body. That strain translated directly into HP loss, just as SAN loss reflected mental deterioration.
A drop in SAN meant the mind was deteriorating.
A drop in HP meant the body itself was breaking apart.
Mu Shicheng knew exactly how it felt after draining stamina dry and forcibly replenishing it over and over. It felt like being shoved into a dryer and spun apart alive. Your organs twisted until they felt ready to burst.
Empty stamina bottles surrounded Bai Liu’s feet. Combined with the distant, hollow look in his eyes, he resembled an alcoholic barely conscious after a binge.
Mu Shicheng glanced at the pile of bottles and clicked his tongue, unable to decide what he was even feeling anymore.
This lunatic.
He had drunk so many stamina supplements that he could barely stand after getting off the car, yet the first thing he asked for was the mirror shards.
“Bai Liu, how much HP do you have left?” Mu Shicheng asked.
Bai Liu slowly opened his status panel. His wrist no longer moved properly after the repeated strain of whipping.
[Player Bai Liu’s Personal Panel]
[HP: 21 (Reduced after being attacked by Player Mu Shicheng and burned by fire)]
[Stamina: 31 (Exhausted, currently recovering)]
[SAN: 89 (Slightly contaminated by passenger attacks)]
“Twenty-one.” Bai Liu replied calmly. “That last round took another ten points. Mu Shicheng, what about you?”
Mu Shicheng opened his own panel, expression instantly darkening.
[Player Mu Shicheng’s Personal Panel]
[HP: 70 (Reduced after being burned by fire)]
[Stamina: 59 (Exhausted, currently recovering)]
[SAN: 61 (Slightly contaminated by passenger attacks)]
“Tch. Lost twenty-four HP.” Mu Shicheng’s gaze turned grim. “I was more careful later, so my SAN didn’t drop as badly, but it’s still dangerously low. I need to drift for a while.”
“Forget drifting for now. I need your SAN low for something.”
Bai Liu continued tapping through his panel, checking the monster compendium and quest progress.
[Main Quest—Collect shattered mirror fragments on the final train (20/???)]
[Monster Compendium Updated—Exploding Passenger (1/3)]
[Monster Name: Exploding Passenger]
[Strengths: Extremely high mobility (Movement Speed 1000). Flames provide enhancement effects.]
[Weakness: Mirror Fragment (1/3)]
[Attack Method: Contact with the Exploding Passenger’s flames reduces both HP and SAN.]
“This is bad.” Bai Liu’s expression gradually turned serious. “We’ve run into a major problem...”
The moment those words left his mouth, both Mu Shicheng and Du Sanying tensed instinctively.
Bai Liu rarely spoke like that.
Normally, no matter how bad things became, he always maintained that infuriatingly composed attitude of “difficulties exist to be overcome.” Even earlier, while half-dead from exhaustion, he still looked calm and in control.
Now he was saying there was a major problem?
“What happened?” Mu Shicheng and Du Sanying asked simultaneously.
“I bought eighty bottles of stamina supplement.” Bai Liu’s expression became genuinely pained. “I already used thirty-three. That leaves forty-seven. But there are still several stations left, and forty-seven won’t be enough...”
He paused.
“And I just realized I don’t have enough points to buy more. I’m broke. This is a serious issue.”
[System Notification: Bai Liu’s remaining points balance: 179. Insufficient funds to purchase stamina supplements.]
Bai Liu immediately looked toward the two of them with startling sincerity.
“I need your help.” He clasped his hands together. “Could you donate some points to me? Thank you very much.”
Mu Shicheng and Du Sanying: “...”
This bastard was using them and asking them for money at the same time.
Could he possibly be any more shameless?! ƒreewebɳovel.com
----
[Grave Dancing Area]
The area was unusually crowded.
Nearly all the foot traffic had gathered around a single location. Bai Liu’s small TV was surrounded by a dense wall of viewers, every pair of eyes fixed intently on the screen.
From the second pursuit after the passengers boarded—or rather, the outright war of thefts—to Mu Shicheng being attacked while stealing shards, to Bai Liu redirecting aggro with his whip, to Du Sanying’s near breakdown and attempted rebellion, and finally to Bai Liu seizing complete control of the situation—
—all of it had happened within barely two minutes.
No one blinked.
No one even seemed to breathe.
More and more viewers continued pouring in from every direction, silently joining the crowd gathered before Bai Liu’s screen.
Hardly anyone spoke.
In a battle this intense, discussion before the outcome was decided felt meaningless. This was a gamble orchestrated by Bai Liu, a desperate struggle whose conclusion remained uncertain. Until the victor emerged, every judgment from the audience outside the game remained shallow and incomplete.
Only the final result could determine whether Bai Liu’s madness had been brilliance—or suicide.
And this lunatic...
...had manipulated the third and fourth-ranked players on the New Star List into following his lead.
And he had succeeded.
Standing closest to Bai Liu’s small TV, Wang Shun finally let out a long breath.
He had been so tense these past two minutes that even his breathing had unconsciously slowed. Now, after suddenly inhaling deeply, his racing heartbeat sent a tingling numbness through his fingertips.
Wang Shun stared dazedly at Bai Liu’s calm expression on the screen, temporarily unable to find a suitable word to describe this newcomer.
Once again, Bai Liu had shattered Wang Shun’s understanding of him.
Collecting mirror shards and completing the monster compendium were standard parts of the game process.
But very few people could maintain Bai Liu’s level of clarity and almost frightening coldness, making decisions without even the slightest hesitation.
Just like Mu Shicheng’s wavering and Du Sanying’s fear, in a game where life and death hung in the balance, it was difficult for human beings to place victory above survival.
The two were connected to some extent, yes—but when death was staring them in the face, very few players could truly cast aside concern for their own lives in pursuit of victory.
But Bai Liu...
From beginning to end, he calculated Mu Shicheng’s survival rate, Du Sanying’s survival rate, and the progression of the game itself.
The only thing he never considered—
—was whether he himself would survive.
His stamina had been emptied and replenished over and over within seconds. His body had begun bleeding from extreme exhaustion. His HP steadily ticked downward. No one even knew how many times he had swung that whip.
By the end, he had been reduced to slumping weakly atop the bumper car, his body swaying back and forth while hanging by a safety belt wrapped around his ankle.
And yet—
—from beginning to end, his whip never lost accuracy.
And the very first thing Bai Liu did after getting off the car was grab Mu Shicheng by the clothes and ask for the mirror shards.
That terrifyingly obsessive determination to win shocked Mu Shicheng and Du Sanying inside the game.
And it shocked every viewer watching outside as well.
People couldn’t stop themselves from gathering in the Grave Dancing Area.
They wanted to see, with their own eyes, just how far this newcomer could go.
“This guy really will do anything to win.”
Wang Shun flexed his numb fingertips, then lowered his head and opened his point wallet.
“After working this hard, losing just because you ran out of points would be way too frustrating.”
Around him, other viewers were whispering among themselves.
“If this player named Bai Liu survives this run, he’s absolutely going to become a future god-tier player.”
“He only has 21 HP left... so why does it still feel like he won’t lose?”
“Terrifying... Thirty-three stamina supplements in two minutes? Isn’t this newcomer’s panel only F-rank?! How is his body still functioning? I’m C-rank, and if my stamina got emptied and refilled three times in a single minute, I’d puke my guts out...”
“...I came from Du Sanying’s stream. I’ve never seen that little parrot work this hard before...”
“...I’m from Mu-ge’s side. I’ve never seen anyone push Mu Shicheng into this kind of state...”
“How does Bai Liu, a newcomer, have this much charisma? The third and fourth ranks on the New Star List are both completely being led around by him...”
Low murmurs spread through the crowd alongside the constant sound of point wallets opening.
Wang Shun turned around and realized that, at some point, an enormous crowd had gathered behind him.
Their faces all carried the same restrained awe.
He sighed softly, emotions tangled somewhere between relief and disbelief.
Someone like Bai Liu...
...could actually claw his way back even after falling into the Grave Dancing Area.
At this point, he was almost comparable to that monster sitting at Rank One on the points leaderboard—
Spades.
[9,706 new viewers liked Bai Liu’s small TV.]
[10,006 new viewers bookmarked Bai Liu’s small TV.]
[7,990 viewers rewarded points to Player Bai Liu.]
[Total rewarded points: 12,081.]
[15,900 new viewers are currently watching Bai Liu’s small TV.]
[You currently possess 99% of the audience share in the Grave Dancing Area.]
[You are now the Grave Small TV Popularity King.]
[To leave the Grave Dancing Area, Player Bai Liu still requires 37,588 additional likes, 40,854 additional bookmarks, and 2,643 more reward points.]
————————
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu has received 12,081 reward points. Would you like to purchase items?]
The corners of Bai Liu’s lips curved upward slightly.
[A bumper harvest. Open the item shop.]
While replying mentally to the system, Bai Liu rapidly scrolled through the shop interface.
Moments earlier, he had shamelessly played weak to squeeze points out of the audience.
Now his fingers suddenly stopped.
[Why are rocket launchers, atomic bombs, fire hydrants, and high-pressure water cannons unavailable for purchase in this instance?]
[System: This game prohibits players from purchasing items that would excessively disrupt balance.]
[Items that excessively disrupt balance...]
Bai Liu narrowed his eyes.
[Search all purchasable bomb-type and water-type items.]
The system fell silent for a second.
[System: Apologies. Player Bai Liu currently has no purchasable results.]
...As expected.
No wonder Mu Shicheng had chosen to tank the damage earlier instead of simply buying some kind of water-type item to extinguish the passengers’ flames.
Those items couldn’t be purchased at all.
A thought flashed through Bai Liu’s mind.
[Looks like bombs and water can only be obtained locally within the instance...]
“Bai Liu.”
Mu Shicheng’s hoarse voice pulled Bai Liu back to reality.
“You were right. The shards really are inside the passengers. But your strategy is burning through all of us way too fast.”
Mu Shicheng lowered his eyes.
“I lost twenty-four HP at a single station. There’s no way I can survive the remaining eight stations like this. At most, I can endure three more.”
After a brief pause, he added:
“And that includes you. You only have twenty-one HP left. You can survive maybe two more stations at best. At this rate, we’ll never collect all the shards.”
“True.” Bai Liu looked down at the crystal cluster in his hand. “But I never intended to keep relying on your HP to collect shards forever.”
Then, without warning, he tossed the cluster of mirror shards toward Du Sanying, who had been desperately shrinking into the corner to lower his presence.
“You hold onto these, Du Sanying.”
Du Sanying caught them in a panic, staring at Bai Liu in shock.
“Me?! You’re really giving them to me?!”
“I am.”
Before Mu Shicheng could speak, Bai Liu calmly explained:
“Du Sanying, you’re the safest choice. Nobody can easily take them from you—especially not the [Puppet Master].”
Realization flickered across Mu Shicheng’s face.
“...What exactly are you planning now?”
Bai Liu ignored the question.
Instead, he sat down cross-legged and began drawing across the floor with his fingertip, organizing the entire dungeon’s logic as he spoke.
“I just checked the shop. Every water-type and firefighting item is prohibited in this instance.”
“That means the system deliberately prevents players from extinguishing the flames on the [Passengers].”
Bai Liu dipped his fingertip into the black ash covering the floor and wrote two numbers:
[700]
[20]
“I suspect the system is intentionally forcing players to lose HP whenever they obtain shards. That’s likely the true difficulty of this instance.”
“Players must exchange HP for collection items.”
He tapped the number [700].
“There are seven players total. Combined HP pool: seven hundred.”
“According to the instance’s projected death rate of fifty to eighty percent—and assuming one shard roughly corresponds to one HP consumed—then seven hundred multiplied by fifty to eighty percent means the total shard count should fall somewhere between...”
Bai Liu slowly wrote:
[350–560]
Then he circled the number [20].
“At just one station, our group collected twenty shards.”
“Our side occupies roughly half the train car. Puppet Master’s side controls the other half.”
“If we assume Puppet Master’s group collected roughly the same amount, then total shard gain per station is around forty.”
“There are ten stations total.”
“So the total shard count should be approximately four hundred.”
Bai Liu tapped the [350–560] range.
“That estimate falls perfectly within the expected range. I’m inclined to believe four hundred shards is likely the total collection target.”
“Which means...”
“Four hundred HP must be consumed.”
His tone remained completely calm.
“There are currently two viable strategies.”
“First strategy: all seven players cooperate. Everyone voluntarily sacrifices fifty-seven HP in exchange for shards. Everyone survives. Happy ending clear.”
Bai Liu paused.
“Zhang Kui would never agree to that.”
“Which leaves the second strategy.”
His lips curved upward again into that infuriatingly confident smile.
“Sacrifice four players completely in order to clear the instance.”
Silence fell instantly.
“I know both of you only cooperated with me earlier out of necessity.” Bai Liu continued evenly. “But I think you’ve already realized something.”
“I have no intention of letting either of you die easily.”
“You probably don’t want to become part of the four-player sacrifice group either, right?”
He smiled lightly.
“So perhaps we should try genuinely cooperating.”
Mu Shicheng sneered.
“Can’t you just control us? Why bother pretending this is cooperation?”
“In the next phase of the plan, I probably won’t have enough spare mental energy left to control anyone.”
Bai Liu admitted it with complete honesty.
“If you don’t want to cooperate, you’re free to leave now.”
He paused briefly.
“Assuming, of course, that you believe Puppet Master won’t target you and use you as disposable HP for shard collection once you’re alone.”
Silence settled over the carriage.
Only the whistle of the rushing wind, the metallic rattling of the train, and the faint sound of breathing remained.
Even though Bai Liu had politely phrased it as “consuming HP,” the bloody implications underneath were impossible to hide.
A very long time passed before Mu Shicheng finally spoke expressionlessly.
“...Explain your actual plan.”
Du Sanying bit down on his lower lip.
He was still hesitating.
His luck practically guaranteed he wouldn’t easily become one of the sacrificed four.
But following Bai Liu...
This man’s methods were too insane.
Too extreme.
Du Sanying instinctively recoiled from them.
And worse—
his intuition right now was a chaotic mixture of danger and opportunity, leaving him completely unable to judge whether following Bai Liu was truly the right choice.
Especially after already being manipulated by him once before.
Bai Liu seemed [N O V E L I G H T] to see straight through his thoughts.
He suddenly turned his head and smiled.
“Du Sanying, you don’t seriously believe that if you refuse to cooperate with us, Puppet Master will politely ignore you and let you survive until the end by sheer luck... do you?”
Du Sanying froze.
Bai Liu had hit directly at the center of his thoughts.
“First of all, clearing this game requires four deaths.”
“Even if Puppet Master kills both Mu Shicheng and me, that still isn’t enough.”
Bai Liu lazily raised his eyes toward him.
“So tell me—between sacrificing his own puppet players and sacrificing you, who do you think Puppet Master would choose?”
Du Sanying’s face turned pale.
“And personally?” Bai Liu smiled faintly. “I think you’d be his first target.”
“W-Why me?!” Du Sanying blurted out. “He clearly hates you guys more!”
“Wrong.”
Bai Liu wagged a finger.
“To Puppet Master, Mu Shicheng and I are far more valuable than you are.”
“One of his goals in entering this instance is clearly to capture Mu Shicheng and me as puppets.”
“You, on the other hand, have no value to him.”
“And your absolute luck is actually one of the biggest obstacles preventing him from clearing the game smoothly.”
Bai Liu’s smile grew gentler.
“If I were Puppet Master, I’d sacrifice you first.”
“Then I’d capture Mu Shicheng and me.”
“After turning us into puppets, I could freely sacrifice my own disposable puppet players whenever necessary.”
“And in the end...”
“Puppet Master would clear the instance with maximum profit.”
Bai Liu looked at Du Sanying kindly.
“What do you think?”
Du Sanying lowered his head.
For a very long time, he said nothing.
His lips trembled faintly, fingers curling unconsciously as he processed Bai Liu’s words.
Mu Shicheng glanced once at the terrified Du Sanying before looking back at Bai Liu.
There was irritation in his eyes.
But underneath it—
—a strange darkness as well.
Because this rhetoric...
...it was far too familiar.
This was the exact same method Bai Liu had used on him earlier.
First, establish a shared enemy.
Then gradually corner the other person with layered hypotheticals until every path except cooperation becomes a dead end.
Finally, reveal just enough sincerity and weakness to make the other person trust you.
[Puppet Master has already targeted both of us.]
[If he controls me, you’ll be facing five enemies.]
[You don’t want to fight a crowd-control player alone, do you?]
[I won’t let you die, Mu Shicheng. You have to trust me.]
[You’re my most valuable card.]
His tone had been sincere.
His gaze straightforward and honest.
He displayed weakness and goodwill perfectly.
He looked like a decent human being.
But the moment he started using people—
—he became a completely cold-blooded monster.
This bastard probably ran pyramid schemes in real life.
Mu Shicheng closed his eyes.
Replaying everything carefully, he realized Bai Liu had been laying groundwork for this from the very start of the game.
At this point, Bai Liu had completely tied both him and Du Sanying onto the same boat.
From now onward, the three of them were inseparable.
For the sake of survival, they would continue desperately cooperating with Bai Liu—
—just like earlier during the shard-stealing battle.
Even if neither of them truly wanted to cooperate with him deep down...
Bai Liu had already severed every possible retreat.
There was only one path left now.
Being used by him.
And someone like Du Sanying—
—a harmless little sheep who possessed nothing but luck—
—was nowhere near enough to resist Bai Liu.
Finally, Du Sanying slowly raised his head.
His voice still trembled slightly.
“B-Bai Liu...”
“...What exactly is your plan?”
