Chapter 62-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 62
Early morning. The first rays of sunlight streamed into the cabin. Bai Shan, sleeping in the rear bed, hadn't yet felt the warmth of the sun before her ears were jolted awake first.
"Ahhh! I forgot!"
Thump thump thump—rapid footsteps closed in. Bai Shan was shaken awake, and the moment she opened her eyes, Lin Huijun's anxious face was right in front of her.
"Bai Shan, when you came over yesterday, did you see a little girl? She was in the RV!"
Bai Shan pouted slightly with displeasure, her eyes still hazy. "What little girl... oh, I think I saw her."
"Don't bring strangers into the RV, Lin Huijun."
"That's not the point—she's gone since we came back!"
Lin Huijun tugged at her short buzz-cut hair in frustration. Bai Shan sat bolt upright in bed, her brain slowly booting up.
"Ah, she probably left on her own, or maybe her family came and picked her up."
Bai Shan glanced over—the RV's health bar was still at 5%. There was no way a mutant had broken in and carried the child away.
Lin Huijun had felt a vague sense of having forgotten something when she fell asleep last night. This morning, the memory suddenly hit her, instantly clearing all drowsiness and leaving her frantic with worry.
That was someone she had rescued.
Watching Lin Huijun's self-reproach, Bai Shan yawned and added, "Check the Nanzhou City channel and the new message board. Maybe there's news about the girl."
Lin Huijun paced in front of the bed, then sat down on the cabin sofa, eyes fixed on the game screen ahead. She opened the message board and selected Nanzhou City.
Her fingers kept scrolling down, eyes focused for quite a while, until at a certain moment, Lin Huijun's expression relaxed.
A bright smile returned to her eyes.
[Thank you to the brave Lin Huijun for saving our child. If you see this post, please reply—we would like to repay you to express our gratitude]
She tapped into the post. It had been made at 9 PM last night, after the mutant bird attack had ended. The little girl's family should all be safe.
Scrolling further down, she saw several comments written in a childish tone.
[Lv.6 Ning Yule: Big sister, did you see this?]
[Lv.6 Ning Yule: I posted in the channel and my mom saw it. My family drove over and picked me up]
[Lv.6 Ning Yule: I don't have a pencil, so I couldn't leave you a note]
[Lv.6 Ning Yule: Big sister, are you dead?!]
[Lv.6 Ning Yule: I typed wrong. Mom says: big sister, are you okay?!]
Lin Huijun couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. Confirming the little girl was safe and sound, she felt relieved.
[Lv.16 Lin Huijun: No need for repayment. I hope little Ning grows up happy and safe.]
Lin Huijun posted her reply and exited the thread.
"Bai Shan, the kid was picked up by her family. She's fine."
Bai Shan sat on the bed, her back against the white cabin wall, eyes staring straight ahead. She didn't respond for a moment—Lin Huijun could tell she was also looking at the game screen.
Lin Huijun glanced at Bai Shan, then returned her gaze to her own screen, surprised to find the post had already garnered more than a dozen replies.
[It's actually Lin Huijun—look at me, look at me!]
[Lin-jie, was it Bai Shan and you who dealt with last night's bird disaster, or was it Cheng Yue?]
[Please stay! Nanzhou City needs strong and kind-hearted players like you!]
[Someone said Bai Shan and Cheng Yue were together yesterday—true or false?]
[So nice to see such a heartwarming post first thing in the morning]
[No offense, but rumor has it you guys turned Cheng Yue and brought down the Xu family? They all fled anyway—just tell us!]
Lin Huijun furrowed her brows. She didn't quite understand what these people were saying, only that she and Bai Shan seemed to have become quite famous in Nanzhou City.
Scrolling further through the Nanzhou message board, she belatedly realized that all the trending posts were about her and Bai Shan, Cheng Yue, the Xu family, and last night's mutant bird attack.
[Arrived at Wan'an Mall—successfully found the mutant bird graveyard nearby. Not a rumor]
[Cheng Yue was definitely busy dealing with () last night—it must have been those two outsiders who stepped in]
[Last night's bird disaster was definitely resolved by Cheng Yue. Not because I'm a Cheng Yue fan—just check the leaderboard, it's obvious]
[What's the deal with these outsiders? The Xu family went down as soon as they crossed them?]
[Nanzhou City government to take over the Player Association]
[Will those birds come back? What can we do to prepare?]
[The two outsider big shots should stay—Nanzhou is already one of the safest places around]
"Bai Shan, we seem to be pretty popular."
Seeing so many people discussing her made Lin Huijun feel somewhat uneasy. She had been somewhat well-known in her grade back in school for her academic and athletic performance as class representative, but that kind of small-time fame was nothing compared to this.
Bai Shan stared intently ahead, seemingly looking at something. She nodded somewhat dismissively and replied, "Yeah, I've always been quite famous."
Bai Shan had already scanned the Nanzhou City channel and message board. Thanks to her formidable strength and Lin Huijun's kindhearted deeds, the two had essentially become City Guardians 2.0 in the eyes of Nanzhou's residents.
Since the Xu family had only just fallen yesterday and still retained some lingering authority, and because Bai Shan had clashed with Cheng Yue when she first arrived, very few people dared to mention them by name—afraid of offending the Xu family and Cheng Yue. Hence the exclusive nickname: "the outsiders."
The new message board was great for human players—questions could be discussed collectively. But for Bai Shan, it was less than ideal.
She was browsing the world message board.
[What do we actually know about the Tyrant? Feel free to add!]
[Harper Brown, who killed a Level 50 mutant despite the massive level gap—could she beat the Tyrant?]
[Daily Tyrant appreciation check-in!]
[The leaderboard keeps shifting—how much longer can the Tyrant hold the top spot?]
Bai Shan got a taste of what it meant to be a top celebrity. Even without revealing the slightest hint about herself, people managed to discuss her with great enthusiasm, spinning off all sorts of bizarre topics.
If it had been the Tyrant rather than Harper Brown in that broadcast, given the dual attention on both Bai Shan and the Tyrant, she might have woken up this morning to find herself exposed on the world message board.
Bai Shan sighed softly. She sluggishly got out of bed, washed up, and sat down with Lin Huijun for breakfast.
"Bai Shan, are we going to stay in Nanzhou City?"
Lin Huijun finished a piece of bread, wiped her mouth, and asked.
She had already surpassed her pre-trip goal of Level 15, reaching Level 16. She should have been happy, but she didn't feel as thrilled as she'd imagined.
"I need to see Cheng Yue one more time today. There are things I haven't asked about yet." Bai Shan swallowed her food and spoke slowly. "Once I'm done, we'll head out."
The unexpected mutant bird attack had interrupted Bai Shan's original plans. After obtaining Xu Hao's Replication Furnace, she had intended to find somewhere to talk with Cheng Yue about her Position Swap battle and the mysterious Camila.
She had come to Nanzhou for two reasons: first, to acquire talents and items; second, to gather intelligence about how human organizations were dealing with the second-phase rule that only allowed eighty million people to advance.
The first objective was complete. As for the second, with the Xu family's fall, Nanzhou's power structure would need time to reorganize. She might as well check the next city.
Hearing Bai Shan's answer, Lin Huijun didn't ask further. She gave an OK sign.
She wanted to leave too.
Although Nanzhou was a remarkably rare place—relatively safe, with order and resources—and they had somehow gained a bit of prestige here.
Lin Huijun felt a strong sense that their challenges in Nanzhou were over.
For the next challenge, and to see her mother sooner, Lin Huijun was eager to set off again.
After breakfast, Lin Huijun immediately took the driver's seat, intending to take Bai Shan to find Cheng Yue. But the moment her hand touched the steering wheel, she remembered—they had no idea where Cheng Yue was.
So she turned and asked, "Bai Shan, do you know where Cheng Yue is?"
"Hmm, why don't you ask on the Nanzhou channel and message board?"
"Don't be so lazy, Bai Shan. You ask yourself."
Bai Shan changed her tune. "She's probably at Huang Yuci's place. After all, that was my suggestion."
Lin Huijun knew where Huang Yuci lived. She hit the gas, and the black RV rolled toward the rising sun.
The iconic black RV cruised down the wide streets, drawing looks from every passerby—whistles and cheers occasionally drifted into the cab, while the game screen rapidly refreshed with discussions about the RV's owners.
Half an hour later, the black RV stopped outside an old residential building.
The two got out and found their way to Huang Yuci's apartment with familiar ease. Lin Huijun knocked three times, and the door opened quickly.
"Yuci, good morning!"
"We wanted to ask if Cheng Yue—"
Huang Yuci poked her head out from behind the door, quickly made a shushing gesture, and pulled them inside.
"Keep it down—it'll be trouble if people find out Cheng Yue is here."
Cheng Yue had killed several high-profile members of the Xu family yesterday. While most of the remaining members had scattered like monkeys when the tree fell, there were certainly plenty who harbored grudges against Cheng Yue. Besides, she had made quite a few enemies while working for the Xu family before.
Last night, Huang Yuci and her roommate had been forced to relocate by the mutant birds. Once the flocks all retreated and it was confirmed safe, they moved back.
Upon returning, they found a dark figure standing in the living room—nearly scaring Huang Yuci to death.
Her roommate was still resting in the other room. Huang Yuci led the two into her own room, where the young woman was staring out the window in a daze.
The black jacket soaked in different people's blood had been changed out. She wore a sky-blue baseball jacket—clearly Huang Yuci's style.
Cheng Yue turned and saw Bai Shan. She was momentarily puzzled, but the instant she met Bai Shan's eyes, she suddenly understood why Bai Shan had come looking for her.
"Where should we talk?"
Cheng Yue cut straight to the point. This topic might touch on Bai Shan's other identity—it wasn't something to discuss here.
"The [Reverse World]."
Cheng Yue smiled knowingly. Under Huang Yuci's bewildered gaze, the two suddenly vanished from where they stood, and the cramped room instantly felt more spacious.
The room spun wildly, and an intense sense of weightlessness struck. Bai Shan calmly controlled her body, adjusted her position, and almost instantly dropped from the ceiling to land steadily on the floor.
Looking at Bai Shan standing shoulder to shoulder with her, Cheng Yue saw yet another suspicion confirmed in her mind.
Bai Shan's control ability was likely her first skill, with a talent-copying ability as her second.
...No, perhaps more than just the second. The Tyrant, who stood at the pinnacle of the human leaderboard, might well have unlocked a third skill.
For a moment, Cheng Yue was immensely grateful she hadn't made an enemy of such a person.
The [Reverse World] was an independent subspace. Bai Shan's desire to learn the details of Cheng Yue's Position Swap with Camila was mainly out of curiosity—hardly something requiring extreme secrecy.
But Bai Shan had chosen the absolutely concealed [Reverse World] to discuss it. She instinctively felt this matter warranted that level of confidentiality.
"What was Camila's ability?"
Bai Shan asked directly.
Cheng Yue hesitated for a moment. "It seemed to be corpse manipulation? For three full days, I was being chased by an army of the dead. But when I finally found Camila, she used some kind of blood-control ability..."
"What kind of place were you transported to?"
"Did you encounter anyone else?"
"Where did you find Camila?"
...
Bai Shan threw out question after question. Cheng Yue recalled those three days, visible pain crossing her features, yet she still tried to think through every detail.
It wasn't until Cheng Yue told Bai Shan Camila's final words that the questioning finally ended.
"There are bad people outside. Be careful..."
Bai Shan mulled it over for a while. As expected, Camila had been cornered by someone else and had initiated the Position Swap as a last resort. From this information alone, it was of course impossible to deduce who Camila's "bad people" were.
But if one more crucial piece of information were added, a rough outline of the "bad people" might emerge.
"Cheng Yue, did Camila tell you why she chose you?"
Cheng Yue shook her head blankly. At the time, Camila's condition was too dire—she hadn't had time to say much before leaving this world.
Camila was ranked 80th. To maximize her chances of winning, she shouldn't have chosen the 62nd-ranked Cheng Yue.
This was the point that puzzled Bai Shan most. Was it really just coincidence—Camila simply finding Cheng Yue's name appealing?
She blinked, her gaze catching the sky-blue jacket Cheng Yue was wearing.
Bai Shan suddenly recalled Huang Yuci's earlier analysis.
[Cheng Yue is an Eastern name. Generally, people tend to pay more attention to those similar to themselves.]
[The 75th-ranked Wolf is a globally famous athlete whose information has been dug up completely...]
[There's no reason Cheng Yue would have offended any foreigners. Nobody abroad watches her TV shows...]
Bai Shan's gaze slowly froze. She recalled the leaderboard at the time—from rank 80 upward to Cheng Yue at rank 62, every name in between was in Latin script. For Camila, what made Cheng Yue stand out the most was her Eastern name!
And what did an Eastern name represent?
It meant being geographically far enough away.
It meant... being unlikely to belong to the "bad people" faction.
"There's one more thing, Bai Shan. It wasn't me who killed Camila. The fatal damage was dealt by the people who had been hunting her. I... I couldn't bring myself to finish her off."
Cheng Yue's voice trembled slightly. Bai Shan snapped her head around, her gaze slowly passing through Cheng Yue to somewhere far beyond.
Someone else had killed Camila, yet that person gained Camila's experience and items without entering the leaderboard.
That meant their strength was far from leaderboard level. But such a person couldn't possibly have killed the 80th-ranked player single-handedly. Most likely, a group of people had been hunting Camila.
Those who hunted Camila were probably acting under someone's orders—some organization—and that organization's reach was enormous.
Out of nowhere, Charlie Anderson's dying, desperate face flashed before Bai Shan's eyes.
[I dare say this secret rivals the Tyrant's true name. Miss this Position Swap, and you may never get another chance to hear her real name.]
The information was overwhelming. Bai Shan rubbed her temples. These two matters might not be connected, yet she couldn't help but think about them together.
*
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