Chapter 67-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 67
"An illusion?"
Lin Huijun looked incredulous. She turned to stare at the mall flickering in and out of sight beyond the car window. The longer she looked, the more she realized its position made no sense—and the more unsettling it became.
The engine rumbled back to life. Lin Huijun reversed the RV while asking Bai Shan beside her, "Can mirages even appear in cities?"
Bai Shan answered, "They usually only appear over oceans and deserts."
"That's what I thought too. Cities don't meet the conditions for mirages to form... Could it be some kind of talent ability?"
Lin Huijun analyzed as she pushed the RV to 120 km/h. The seemingly bulky RV became an agile black panther under her control, swaying left and right as it threaded past one wildly overgrown flower tree after another, quickly leaving Yujing City behind.
The pink sea of flowers was left in the rearview. The RV returned to the highway.
At some indeterminate point, the weather had turned overcast.
The sun vanished. Heavy, dark clouds hung so low they seemed about to fall. The gloomy sky merged with the gray road surface, and for a moment there appeared to be no end in sight.
Neither of the two in the car spoke again. Both stared ahead in focused silence.
Half an hour later, the black RV passed beneath the red characters reading "Highway Toll Station" and plunged into a torrential downpour.
Rain hammered against the glass—pitter-patter, pitter-patter. The view ahead turned into a gray blur. The wipers swept back and forth across the windshield. The rain had come at just the right time, washing the pollen off the RV.
After driving a while longer, Bai Shan spotted a tall building standing in the rain in the distance. The dark sky hung so low it nearly rested on the rooftop.
The modern cityscape drew closer and closer, its buildings soaking in the boundless downpour.
"We've arrived in Hai City."
Bai Shan gazed at the buildings sweeping past the car window and spoke calmly.
They had gotten in this easily.
This city, so mythologized by the outside world, was being engulfed in a rainstorm. At first glance, apart from the oppressively gloomy weather and the deserted streets, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The black RV drove onto a bridge. But coming off the other side, it plowed straight into standing water, sending a surge of waves crashing up against the windows.
"The water is so deep!"
Lin Huijun hit the brakes. She surveyed the outside and noticed that the roadside trash cans were already more than half submerged. The water had to be at least 50 centimeters deep!
Fifty centimeters—enough to reach an adult's knees.
Bai Shan studied the flooded road and concluded, "It's been raining in Hai City for a very long time."
She squinted, straining to see through the thick curtain of rain to observe the street. She noticed that quite a few shop doors along both sides were open, letting the floodwater pour in unchecked.
Bai Shan soon spotted a snack shop—a large storefront with a prominent sign, its shelves still visibly stocked with an array of snacks.
Bai Shan's expression turned to one of disbelief.
With this many buildings around, nobody had gone looting?
No matter how civilized a major international city was, people couldn't possibly be this well-behaved during the apocalypse. Or were Hai City residents so well-supplied that they could ride out the end of the world in comfort?
Lin Huijun suddenly tapped her shoulder.
"Bai Shan, if we keep driving, the RV might break down."
The black RV sat deep in the floodwater. Lin Huijun's concern was reasonable—conditions like these could easily cause the engine to take on water, and the braking system could be compromised too.
To protect the RV, the best option was to find a place to park immediately. But most parking garages were underground and probably already flooded—definitely not an option.
Lin Huijun hadn't expected that upon entering Hai City, what greeted them wasn't some super monster, but a very practical problem.
Bai Shan folded her arms and glanced at the RV's health bar, steady at 5%.
"Don't worry too much. This thing is built to last."
In version 1.0, she had driven this RV over mountains, through streams, and across hailstorms. She had encountered similar flooding, and the RV had never once broken down. After all, it was a game item—its performance far exceeded the finest vehicles on this planet.
Hearing this, Lin Huijun nodded reluctantly and started the engine again. "Alright, let's push on a bit further."
She kept the speed very low to avoid splashing water into the engine. The heavy black mass crept through the murky water, leaving waves rippling in its wake.
The RV's low rumble and the waves it stirred echoed along the streets—hard to ignore even amid the thunderous downpour.
Bai Shan closed her eyes. Her left hand gripped her right wrist, which wore the dark green bracer. She used the [Breathing Bracer] to sense signs of life within a hundred meters.
"...No people."
"In the water, outside—something's wrong."
Bai Shan murmured as she opened her eyes. Looking up, her gaze sharpened—the RV's red health bar was flickering.
Something was attacking them?
"What is that!"
Lin Huijun suddenly cried out. She wrenched the steering wheel hard, and the tall RV swerved left. The tires screeched violently against the submerged road as the vehicle swung sideways, kicking up a ferocious spray that crashed over the roof.
Bai Shan's body and line of sight lurched with the motion. Once she steadied herself, she whipped around to look out the window.
The once-wide street showed nothing but endless floodwater and unceasing rain. Not a living thing, not a trace of movement—as if they were the last two people left in the apocalypse.
"Lin Huijun, what did you just see?"
"Bai Shan, what did you mean earlier about something being wrong?"
They stared at each other, both urgently pressing the other for answers, confusion reflected in each other's eyes.
Lin Huijun collected herself and answered first. "I saw something ahead, rushing toward us at high speed. It was about to hit us head-on, so I yanked the wheel to dodge."
Bai Shan's attention had been entirely on the health bar—she hadn't noticed anything moving.
After a pause, Bai Shan said, "Something's wrong with this place. I can sense mutants nearby—quite a few of them, very close."
"What?"
Lin Huijun's expression turned to shock. She looked out the window. Bai Shan said mutants were nearby, close to them, but all she could see was rain and water. Forget mutants—even the shadow from moments ago had vanished into the rain like a hallucination.
She gripped the steering wheel tight, unable to help muttering, "What kind of place is this?"
No one answered her.
An unsettling sense of crisis silently festered within the cramped cab. Outside, the city's buildings stood mute in the rain. The black RV sat motionless in the water, as though it had become an island.
Bai Shan lowered her gaze in thought. She spoke slowly, breaking the suffocating silence.
"The buildings are intact—no large-scale destruction. Whatever's trapping Hai City isn't some titan-class monster."
"The water is very deep. The rain must have been going on for a long time—possibly since the day the game descended."
"Nobody took the food from the snack shop. That means the nearby residents either evacuated quickly when the game arrived, or they're trapped and simply can't get out."
"Or—they don't dare come out. Because stepping outside would mean something more terrifying than starvation."
Bai Shan lifted her eyelids and looked at the wavering health bar. The 5% was blinking, as if it could drop to 4% at any moment.
"Right now, invisible monsters are all around us!"
A cold, gleaming silver crown appeared in Bai Shan's hand.
[Lord's Crown (S) Effect: Authority is an invisible crown. Don the crown and you shall become the lord of ten square kilometers. Players within the territory gain a 20% trust bonus toward you, and you receive a 1000-point protective shield. Maximum shield range: ten square kilometers.]
Bai Shan was about to activate the [Lord's Crown] when she suddenly sensed something. Her chin snapped upward, dark eyes staring coldly at the ceiling.
The roof shuddered visibly—as if something heavy had slammed down on it.
Both occupants looked up at the ceiling, then exchanged a glance.
Bai Shan made a gesture, signaling Lin Huijun to stay put. She rose from her seat and slipped back into the cabin.
The cabin ceiling could be opened. Bai Shan stood inside, several guns materializing at her sides, all barrels aimed upward. Then she extended her right hand in a pulling motion, and an invisible force wrenched the ceiling hatch open—
The furious patter-patter-patter of rain poured in. Chaotic raindrops leaped into the quiet cabin.
Bang bang bang! The instant the hatch opened, bullets flew mercilessly upward, tearing through the violent rain toward whatever had landed on the roof.
The roof shook violently again. Something alive was darting around up there, dodging bullets, its paws hammering out rapid thud-thud sounds.
Something extremely agile.
Bai Shan stood beneath the hatch, slightly off to the outer edge. Rain had already pooled into a small puddle around her feet. Shell casings clinked into the standing water. Raindrops kept pelting her face, which she found rather annoying. She pulled up the hood of her athletic jacket, then leaped upward!
She landed on the roof. Rain cascaded over her in sheets. The lower half of her face, exposed beneath the hood, was instantly drenched.
Gone?
Bai Shan tugged the hood back a bit and scanned her surroundings. A few bullets lay on the rooftop. Other than that—no sign of any living thing.
Dark clouds churned overhead, and a distant rumble of thunder seemed to be building. Then, in a flash, Bai Shan tilted her chin up slightly, and her body sprang to the roof's edge. The roof jolted hard.
Immediately after, under Bai Shan's watchful gaze, a squat little figure landed heavily right where she had just been standing. The roof groaned again under the impact.
"Woof!"
It barked.
Inside the cab, Lin Huijun sat anxiously in her seat, glancing at the ceiling every few seconds. She had heard Bai Shan's gunfire, then a violent commotion on the roof—the fighting seemed intense. It had gone quiet now.
What kind of mutant had been causing trouble? Had Bai Shan killed it?
Unable to contain herself any longer, Lin Huijun stood up. The moment she stepped into the cabin, a yellow blur shot toward her.
"Woof!"
Caught off guard, Lin Huijun whipped out the [Frozen Tilapia]. Fortunately, she didn't strike in time—because what had pounced at her feet wasn't a monster. It was a... Corgi?
The squat, stocky Corgi didn't even reach her knees. Its big fluffy tail wagged high in the air, large dark eyes gleaming with sass. Its wet nose twitched.
It suddenly shook its whole body, flinging water from its fur all over Lin Huijun's pants.
Lin Huijun didn't care about her wet pants. She stared helplessly at Bai Shan across the cabin. Bai Shan was changing clothes—down to just a sports tank top on her upper body. She rummaged through a cabinet, pulled out a black windbreaker, and threw it on.
Once changed, Bai Shan swept her wet hair back and finally spoke. "That thing on the roof just now? This was it."
"What do you mean? It's the mutant you sensed nearby? It doesn't really look like one..."
"No." Bai Shan explained seriously. "The invisible mutants I sensed aren't this thing. But it is a mutant too."
Lin Huijun looked down at the Corgi, which was curled up scratching an itch. Outwardly, it was indistinguishable from a normal Corgi. And yet it was also a mutant?
Bai Shan said, "Its jumping ability is extraordinary. Not an ordinary dog."
Most animals mutated by growing larger, with sharper claws and teeth. Only a few developed special abilities—just as humans could obtain game talents.
This Corgi had a super-jump ability, allowing it to rocket around like a cannonball.
But this Corgi wasn't the important part.
Bai Shan picked something up from the table and handed it to Lin Huijun.
Lin Huijun took it and found a cute card holder—a collaboration with some adorable character brand. It was damp, but the paper inside was well preserved, the writing still clear.
[Don't go outside]
[Don't keep going]
[Don't turn on lights. Don't open the game panel]
"This was hanging on the Corgi."
Bai Shan stared pensively at the world outside. "I don't think it was meant to harm us."
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