Chapter 10-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
"By the way, Lin Huijun—why are you driving out here all alone?"
The question made Lin Huijun's expression turn hesitant. She was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm going to find my mom."
"Huh?"
If Lin Huijun's mother had been an ordinary middle-aged woman working alone in another city, Bai Shan could have understood. But as far as she knew, Lin Huijun's mother was an active-duty military officer. She absolutely didn't need Lin Huijun worrying about her—if anything, it should be the other way around.
Bai Shan said, "Your mom is definitely safer than you right now."
"Yes, but I..." Lin Huijun hedged, "there are things I have to go find her about."
Bai Shan looked somewhat exasperated. "Fine. But your family is okay with this?"
"My grandma and the others hadn't been feeling well lately and insisted on going back to the countryside to recuperate. My dad went to pick them up. I told the neighbors I was leaving and left a note." And took one of the cars.
Lin Huijun clearly knew this sounded willful and absurd, but that was all she could say.
Bai Shan didn't press further. She looked at Lin Huijun with a contemplative expression.
"You mentioned before that your mom was transferred up north a few months ago. Where exactly?"
"Five months ago, she went to Songjiang Province."
Hearing this conveniently coincidental answer, Bai Shan wasn't surprised.
In the Tomorrow's Dominator 1.0 game storyline, research by various nations had identified a suspected life form in the Arctic as the cause of global mutations, and Songjiang Province was the domestic province closest to the Arctic.
Lin Huijun's mother being suddenly transferred to Songjiang Province five months ago could only mean one thing: the authorities had discovered the anomaly even earlier.
And the game Tomorrow's Dominator had appeared on her computer four months ago.
Bai Shan didn't yet know what all these pieces of information meant. It was like she'd picked up a few small puzzle pieces—not nearly enough to complete the full picture.
"What a coincidence—I'm also heading to Songjiang Province."
Bai Shan offered a friendly smile. Lin Huijun looked surprised.
"...Why are you going there too?"
"Because my mom is working there too."
Lin Huijun asked quietly, "I thought your mom was a lawyer. Does she need to travel that far for work?"
"My mom is a non-litigation lawyer. That kind of work requires frequent business trips."
"I see." Lin Huijun nodded, though something still felt a bit off. Maybe it was because Bai Shan didn't seem like the... filial type?
"Yeah, I've always felt bad for her. So how about we team u—move!"
The two had been leaning against a garishly decorated egg waffle snack cart while talking. A fat, slimy catfish suddenly lunged at them with its gaping mouth. Bai Shan yanked Lin Huijun to her side.
Almost simultaneously, the van-sized snack cart's wheels suddenly rolled, slamming sideways into the two-meter-long catfish. Its body hit the glass window of the café across the way with a wet splat, then slid slimily down the floor-to-ceiling glass to the ground.
Second Talent Skill, [Tyrannical Command]: can manipulate any object touched by the right hand within a 10-meter diameter.
The snack cart now stood between them like a shield. Bai Shan had just let out a breath of relief when a dripping wet catfish slithered out from under the cart!
Lin Huijun reacted instantly, delivering a fierce kick. The catfish skidded a meter across the ground, then suddenly burst into flames. It thrashed its tail against the pavement, struggling, but the fire only grew fiercer—as if it wouldn't stop until the fish was burned to nothing.
For a split second, Lin Huijun's expression contorted. She bit her lower lip until it went white. The flames on the catfish quickly died out. It had stopped moving.
Bai Shan faintly caught the aroma of grilled fish and only then remembered she'd rushed out without eating lunch.
The remaining catfish seemed to realize these two were tough targets. They stopped approaching and went back to lounging in the sun as if nothing had happened.
Perhaps her proficiency wasn't high enough yet—that last move had been a bit strenuous. Bai Shan could clearly feel that controlling the snack cart had drained some of her stamina.
Lin Huijun, for some reason, seemed even more drained. She was half-leaning against Bai Shan. Both were over 170 centimeters tall, but Lin Huijun had a larger frame, and her body was genuinely heavy.
"Bai Shan, I think I just got zapped. My head is really dizzy and my body feels numb."
"Zapped?" Bai Shan looked toward the café on the other side of the street. That catfish, true to its species' tenacious nature, was still slapping its tail against the ground.
She noticed these mutated catfish had extraordinarily long whiskers—nearly as long as their bodies.
Bai Shan recalled the electric catfish found mainly in Africa. Similar to electric eels, electric catfish could discharge up to 400 volts—enough to knock out an adult human.
The mutated catfish around them were two meters long. In normal times, a two-meter catfish wasn't all that rare—plenty of fishing enthusiasts had boasted about such catches. Two adults could pin one down. They weren't much of a threat.
So these mutated catfish didn't rely on size to feed. They first discharged electricity through their long whiskers or skin. Once the prey was stunned, they could swallow it whole.
In the early game, everyone had limited mana. These catfish probably needed a good rest after each discharge, and factoring in digestion time, that was why they hadn't immediately attacked.
"Wake up, Lin Huijun." Bai Shan patted Lin Huijun's dazed head. "You're pretty strong, you know."
"Do you still have energy? I don't like working with strangers. Let me try to handle those two fish in the river."
Controlling the snack cart was Bai Shan's first time using [Tyrannical Command] in reality. Unlike the effortless [Inspection], [Tyrannical Command] consumed physical stamina. But after that brief use, she was left wanting more.
A single thought could move an object weighing over a ton. It felt even smoother in reality than in the computer game.
It consumed stamina, but fortunately, she had plenty to spare right now!
The two ran to the café across the street to rest for a bit. There was no blood inside—the staff had probably fled elsewhere. Bai Shan rummaged through the back kitchen and found fresh milk and pre-made mini cakes. The two managed to fill their stomachs somewhat.
Four hours had passed since the game's official start. It was now 4 PM, and the sun had passed its peak.
In winter, Rong City's sky darkened around 6 PM. Who knew what monsters would emerge after dark.
The two got back into Lin Huijun's car. Lin Huijun took the driver's seat; Bai Shan sat in the back.
She hit the gas, and the white sedan cruised leisurely onto the cross-river bridge. Bai Shan fixed her eyes on the windshield, all five senses and her concentration at peak intensity.
The car was nearly at the other end of the bridge when suddenly—a splash—something had breached the surface!
"Right side!"
Bai Shan shouted. Lin Huijun instantly spun the steering wheel. The white car swerved hard right, smashing through the center divider and slamming head-on into the giant fish that had rammed toward them!
The truck-sized fish sent the car hurtling toward the bridge railing with tremendous force. Just as it was about to flip over the edge, it suddenly stopped—as if caught at the last second by an invisible force.
The giant fish's forward momentum was halted by the immovable car. Its flat body lost balance and toppled sideways onto the bridge deck.
The car windows shattered. Shards of glass flew outward along with three red darts, piercing precisely into the breathing gills.
The darts destroyed the delicate capillaries inside the gills, prying open the gill covers to expose the red gill filaments beneath, then flew back to Bai Shan and vanished.
Bai Shan gripped the seat in front of her, looking somewhat pale, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.
Outside the car window, the giant fish lay on the bridge deck like an overturned heavy truck, its fins twitching occasionally in feeble struggle.
This time, the impact hadn't sent it back into the river. It was beached.
Bai Shan gathered herself and took a closer look. The fish was absurdly enormous, with a row of sharp, hard spines along its back that gleamed with a terrifying light in the sun.
It had stopped moving now. Its gills rose and fell. Its pointed head and laterally compressed body clearly meant it couldn't survive on land the way those flat-headed catfish on the bank could.
"Lin Huijun, keep driving forward."
Bai Shan could tell it had originally been a tilapia. With its gills destroyed, even if it made it back to the water, it would die from osmotic pressure imbalance.
No matter how much it had mutated, it was still a creature of this planet. Biology knowledge still had its uses.
The front of the car was partially caved in, but it could still barely drive. Lin Huijun drove a few meters and stopped. She said suddenly, "There's still one more."
Still one more? Before Bai Shan could speak, she heard a tremendous splash. She immediately snapped into focus, concentrating intensely to prepare another use of [Tyrannical Command] to resist the impact—but then she saw Lin Huijun extend one hand out the car window, suspended beyond the bridge railing.
The outstretched hand burst into flames.
BOOM—
The fire punched outward like a fist!
The surrounding air turned scorching in an instant. Bai Shan's bangs were blown back by the searing wind. She forced her eyes open and looked—all she could see was a roaring inferno that swallowed the view beyond the car window.
Something seemed to surge upward through the blaze, but Bai Shan couldn't make it out.
In the blink of an eye, the suffocating flames vanished. Blue sky and white clouds returned to view.
Bai Shan looked down at the river. A section of the railing the car had been leaning against was burned away. The broad river surface was empty—even the debris that had been floating there had vanished to who knew where.
She hadn't even heard anything heavy hitting the water. The second fish seemed to have been incinerated to ash the instant it leapt up.
Had the entire process lasted more than three seconds?
...Lin Huijun's strength exceeded her expectations. Bai Shan wavered no more and committed to that idea.
Since Lin Huijun could drive and their routes overlapped, Bai Shan didn't need to go out of her way. Though she still wanted to check in on Auntie Zhou—she was already here, after all.
She shook the person in the front seat. "Lin Huijun, come with me to... hm? Are you dead?"
The person in front had her arm dangling out the window, slumped sideways in her seat, completely motionless—as if she'd lost consciousness. If not for the seatbelt, she probably would have slid right off.
"If you're dead, then I'm leaving."
Bai Shan said as she unbuckled her seatbelt, got out, opened the driver's door, and vigorously slapped the other girl's face.
"Bai Shan, I didn't do anything to you... I just need to rest for a moment."
Lin Huijun forced her eyes open. [Scorching Sun Chariot] was an incredibly powerful ability. But perhaps the greater the power, the heavier the burden one was destined to bear—the deeper the pain.
[The blazing flames ascending from the soul can burn all things, so long as you are willing to endure the pain of being burned alongside them.]
Bai Shan recalled Lin Huijun's first Skill, [Scorch]. The greater the power unleashed, the greater the pain the user had to endure.
Seeing her like this, Bai Shan didn't feel comfortable letting her drive. She helped Lin Huijun unbuckle and supported her out of the car.
"You've got good hearing. I didn't hear a thing." Bai Shan complimented.
"Ah, I didn't hear anything either. I only noticed when it burst out of the water," Lin Huijun replied weakly. "I figured there was still one left and it had to be dealt with too, otherwise more people would die here."
Bai Shan: "...What a charitable activity. Don't bring me along next time."
The two supported each other as they walked to the end of the bridge. Bai Shan heard the sound of a vehicle behind them. She turned to see a gray car pull up beside them.
Bai Shan narrowed her eyes slightly, recognizing the car's emblem. A Rolls-Royce.
The doors didn't budge. The window rolled down, and a young woman in the passenger seat waved at them.
"I just saw you two take on those two monsters. Incredible. If it weren't for you, we'd probably be in a fish's belly right now."
The young woman had striking, bold features, but her voice was unexpectedly warm and approachable. Her eyes looked sincere when she spoke.
"Where are you two headed? If it's convenient, we can give you a ride."
Lin Huijun straightened up slightly. Bai Shan let go of her supporting hand, shoved both hands into her pockets out of habit, and glanced at the silent driver's seat before fixing the young woman with a suspicious stare.
"How long were you watching from the other side of the bridge?"
"Don't tell me you knew about the monsters, hid there to observe, and used us as bait to scout the way?"
"I recognize your car."
Bai Shan said bluntly. Under her scrutiny, the young woman's upturned smile stiffened ever so slightly.
Author's Note:
I've decided to update at 10 PM from now on, because I want to be a healthy person who goes to bed early and rises early. You all shouldn't stay up late either.
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