Chapter 72-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player

Chapter 72

"It wasn't me... Zhao Yi was standing on the raft when something underwater suddenly attacked it. She grabbed onto the rope, but I couldn't pull her up in time..."

"The rope was too heavy and too slippery! Zhao Yi was taller and bigger than me. I'm just an ordinary person — I couldn't budge her! I tried to reach for her hand... and when I came to my senses, all that was left was one of her arms."

Forced by Bai Shan's questioning to relive the most agonizing scene, Yan An insisted — Zhao Yi was not killed by her! But if only she'd been a bit stronger, if only she'd noticed the lurking creature sooner, everything might have turned out differently.

After pulling the arm up, her memories became a blur. In a daze, Yan An had kept the blood-soaked arm, placed it in a suitcase, and then sat in the apartment staring at nothing. At night, unable to sleep, she dug through the trash and pulled out the pamphlets and posters left by the self-proclaimed Omniscient God Cult.

Words she had once found absurd, sentences that sounded deranged — suddenly they seemed believable.

In the beginning, both of them had scoffed at this strange, fanatical cult. Sacrifice one person to gain abilities? It sounded like a textbook cult.

But if she hadn't wavered, hadn't entertained even a sliver of that thought, why would she have kept those materials? Looking back on Zhao Yi's death, Yan An even suspected there had been a moment — however brief — when she had felt relieved.

The world had become unrecognizable. Yan An desperately needed an explanation, but Zhao Yi was gone, and all she had left was a booklet of insidious doctrine.

Life in the building had been hard but not hopeless before, with everyone looking out for one another. Then, several days ago, five outsiders barged in, and everyone had kindly taken them in.

At first, they seemed friendly enough, just talked strangely — game this, panel that, special abilities, Leaderboard. Everyone assumed they'd been driven mad by the apocalypse, lost in delusions.

Yan An and Zhao Yi were both small-town girls who had come to Hai City to make their way. Years of scraping by had made them cautious. They kept their distance from the newcomers, especially after noticing their odd behavior.

But soon they discovered these people were telling the truth.

The mutants lurking in the floodwater were like minor game enemies to them. Some could tear a water creature apart with their bare hands; others could punch holes in mutants from a distance. Everyone in the building was left gaping, wondering if they were hallucinating.

One man with glasses was particularly formidable — "world-shaking" wouldn't be an exaggeration. He could whip up hurricanes to shred every creature hiding beneath the water.

"His companions said he was a Leaderboard player. They even gave us a lecture about how powerful Leaderboard players were — how the number-one player could wipe out an entire city with a single move..."

Bai Shan had been expressionless, but at this she made a peculiar face and muttered under her breath, "It's not that extreme."

She did have [Bloodshed Resonance] as a Talent. If there happened to be a heavy military installation nearby, leveling a city wasn't out of the question — but under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult.

That glasses-wearing Leaderboard player probably didn't rank very high; otherwise, his companions wouldn't need to name-drop her, the number-one player, to brag.

"Once they found out we were ordinary people and Hai City had no game, they turned on us instantly. They drove out everyone on the fourth floor and claimed it for themselves."

Yan An spoke through gritted teeth.

Bai Shan only had to think for a moment to understand the sudden change. When first arriving somewhere, even a Leaderboard player — as long as they weren't inhuman psychopaths like the Bad Boys Alliance — would at least show some restraint, wary of local power structures and strong locals.

But the moment they discovered that everyone in Hai City was a powerless ordinary person, would these people — wielding extraordinary abilities and hardened by the game's brutal rules — still see Hai City's residents as fellow human beings?

Yan An and the others had been reduced to lambs awaiting slaughter overnight.

For Hai City's people, the one silver lining was that outsiders also lost their abilities after entering the city.

"The satisfying thing was — the very first night they arrived, two of them dropped dead."

Yan An said with a cold laugh.

That night, Yan An had listened from upstairs as the people below shouted about "opening the Game Panel" and "Brother Shen's rank went up." Then suddenly, screams erupted from the fourth floor — yelling about "an attack" and "enemies."

"They never found any enemies. The one surnamed Shen was sharper — he realized the two who died had both opened their Game Panels, and ordered everyone else not to open theirs."

"But the next day, they suddenly went on a looting and killing spree."

"Even though only three of them were left, the power they'd demonstrated the day before was utterly demoralizing. Zhao Yi and I hid in our room, listening to the crying and begging from downstairs. Hardly anyone dared resist."

"Those three came to the fifth floor last. The one surnamed Shen told me to open the door. He said they were just coming to say hello — and if I didn't open up, they'd force their way in."

Zhao Yi was timid. Terrified, she obediently went to open the door. The moment it opened, a tall man shoved her to the ground. Witnessing this, Yan An pulled out her gun, aimed it at them, and ordered them to leave immediately.

Just the day before, these three had been moving heaven and earth, flaunting their power. Yet the sight of Yan An's gun made them leave at once.

"I only found out later that by then, their abilities had already vanished. But nobody in our building knew that... Over twenty people could have easily overpowered three men!"

"They were afraid that losing their powers would be exposed and we'd turn the tables. So they struck first. Heh — they really were clever."

Since the mutations began, Yan An had been blessed with two strokes of luck: meeting Zhao Yi, who became her partner in survival, and having the quick reflexes to grab the fallen gun at the bank.

Without game-granted abilities, the three men didn't dare go up against a firearm.

After the confrontation, Yan An and Zhao Yi sealed themselves in, rationing food and water more strictly than ever. They grew thinner by the day. Meanwhile, the three outsiders occupied the rest of the building, with resources to spare. But having relied on their abilities since the game's arrival, they quickly ran into trouble on these streets.

"At least one of the three is dead. The raft they stole capsized."

"Someone survived and left. Their car disappeared — I don't know where they went."

After the three vanished, Yan An and Zhao Yi finally dared to resume normal activities. But it wasn't long before another group of strange people found them.

Several people calling themselves believers arrived, armed like soldiers. They forced their way into the building and tried to press Yan An and Zhao Yi into accepting a bizarre religion. They emphasized that anyone willing to worship the Omniscient God, willing to complete a ritual and offer one life, could gain abilities — and those who had lost abilities could regain them.

Yan An pulled out her gun again, bluffing that she was an outsider with powers — claiming her Talent was infinite bullets — trying to scare the fanatical believers away.

They didn't flinch. They insisted on taking the two women. But their leader, the old woman, changed her mind.

She told them that abilities would vanish after twelve hours. If they ever regretted their choice, they could come find her at the center of Hai City. She had come to Hai City on the Omniscient God's orders, she said, to save its people. She would deliver salvation to every last soul.

"Yan An-jie, did you try to kill us because you had regrets?"

Lin Huijun walked over. She showed no anger at having been deceived — her expression was gentle and resigned.

"Regrets about not joining that Omniscient God cult with Zhao Yi?"

Yan An looked up. Her expression had settled back into weary calm. She murmured, "A little, maybe. If we'd actually gone with them, Zhao Yi might still be alive."

"If I killed you two, would that count as completing the ritual the old woman mentioned? Would I gain abilities too? Power over wind and rain, the power to bring back the dead..."

But stronger than her longing for power was the hatred burning inside Yan An.

"Why is this world so unfair? We fought so hard to put down roots in this city, only to be abandoned along with it."

"Every one of you is a chosen one, so why are we the ones trampled like insects?"

"I hate all of you. Why did you have to come to Hai City? Why did you hurt us? Why did you have to let us know... that we're the ones who were thrown away?"

The hatred had fermented into a weary, powerless murmur. Yan An curled up in the corner, her tone flat and exhausted, as though nothing remained of her but a wandering ghost.

"Yan An-jie."

Lin Huijun crouched down. "The game gave us abilities, but it also imposed brutal rules..."

She gave a condensed account of what was happening outside — the traps designed to make people slaughter each other, the evaporation of billions of lives, the second-stage rule allowing only eighty million to advance... Lin Huijun knew suffering shouldn't be compared, but the crushing pressure of the apocalypse combined with the outsiders' rampant abuse had created a chasm of despair wide enough to break anyone's spirit. She wanted to ease Yan An's pain, even just a little.

"Hai City is a special place, but it is absolutely not an abandoned place."

"Bai Shan and I — we came here for Hai City."

Lin Huijun's gentle yet resolute gaze made Yan An look away in shame. A wave of humiliation washed over her.

She would rather these two girls had been ill-intentioned villains, instead of... this. Instead of tossing her heart onto a whole new plane of torment, forcing her to confront, in hindsight, how terrible a thing she had nearly done.

"Woof!"

The stocky dog burrowed its head in. Yan An seized it like a drowning person clutching a life raft.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

She murmured between sobs.

Lin Huijun didn't know what else to say. She stood up, and Bai Shan suddenly tapped her shoulder. "Hey — do you still have your abilities?"

Lin Huijun looked into Bai Shan's eyes and shook her head innocently.

Bai Shan sighed. "Then why are you going on about 'coming here for Hai City'? Worry about yourself first, Miss Heroine."

"Oh come on, you gave me a gun! Plus, I still have this!"

Lin Huijun's eyes curved into a grin as she suddenly brandished a frozen fish. Bai Shan flinched and jumped back.

"Last night I saw you sleeping with a gun by your pillow, so I put a weapon by mine too. My abilities are gone, but the [Frozen Tilapia] I took out earlier still works."

Bai Shan asked curiously, "Can you still store it back in your game space?"

Lin Huijun shook her head again. "No. I can't feel the game space anymore."

"It's like I've been completely blocked off."

"Bai Shan, why are you..."

Under Lin Huijun's searching gaze, Bai Shan mimicked her exaggerated head-shake, her fluffy hair bouncing.

"I don't know."

Bai Shan genuinely didn't know.

Her earlier theory was that Hai City had a bug — it was incompatible with Tomorrow's Dominator 2.0. Since her account had been created in the 1.0 version, it still worked for now.

But now this cult leader who was almost certainly Liu Chaoyun had appeared, claiming she could grant abilities to people in Hai City.

Whether it was all smoke and mirrors or the real deal remained to be seen.

Bai Shan had to find out. She had a hunch that in this bizarre place called Hai City, she might uncover some secrets about Tomorrow's Dominator.

The two exchanged a glance, then went back to the room to pack. They grabbed the umbrella, backpacks, and spare clothes, and prepared to leave.

Bai Shan had already figured it out — the things Yan An had collected last night were the cult's promotional materials. The room they'd slept in was probably Yan An's own room all along.

When the psyche is at its most fragile, people are easily manipulated into doing things their former selves could never have imagined.

"You're... leaving?"

Yan An stood in her doorway and asked. Even now she was in a daze, her steps unsteady. She couldn't believe these two were acting as if nothing had happened — arriving like a tempest and leaving with such quiet calm.

Lin Huijun shouldered her backpack. Bai Shan held the red umbrella. The Corgi suddenly darted to her feet.

Bai Shan leaned on the red umbrella like a cane, crouched down, and for the first time reached out to pet the squat little dog. Its fur was silky smooth — not an ounce thinner even in the apocalypse.

Without looking up at Yan An, she said, "I like this dog."

Then Bai Shan stood and left the apartment with Lin Huijun. Lin Huijun smiled and nodded at the person and the little dog inside, then closed the door.

Yan An stared blankly as the door shut. As if all her strength had drained away at once, she collapsed to the floor and began gasping for air — like someone who had been drowning and had finally broken the surface, able to breathe again.

And so she smelled the lingering stench of decay that permeated the air.

She returned to Zhao Yi's room. The suitcase containing the severed limb stood silently beneath the windowsill. She removed the clutter blocking the window, opened it, and pushed the suitcase out into the storm. It sank into the floodwater below.

Next, a bag full of Omniscient God Cult pamphlets followed it into the rain.

Goodnight, Zhao Yi. I'm sorry. I have to move forward now.

The rain continued without end. Yan An gazed at the somber sky and thought — somehow, it looked a little brighter than before.

Bai Shan, Lin Huijun — those two must be quite well-known out in the world. With people like them around, the world beyond couldn't be too terrible.

And now, at last, people carrying that kind of radiant light had come to Hai City.

The black RV floated up from the rooftop, drifting gently down to the flooded street, touching down with a small splash — like a diver scoring a perfect ten.

Without Bai Shan needing to say a word, Lin Huijun set the navigation from the driver's seat to Hengxin Shopping Mall.

The Mirage they had seen in Yujing City was a projection of Hengxin Shopping Mall. Their current location was on the outermost fringe of Hai City, thirty kilometers from the mall's district.

Given the flooded roads and the need to slow down, the trip would take at least an hour.

"Bai Shan, what are you thinking about?"

Lin Huijun noticed Bai Shan in the passenger seat seemed distracted, staring vacantly into space.

Bai Shan snapped back. "I was thinking," she drawled lazily, "running into someone from your hometown while you're abroad — that's usually a sign you're about to get screwed."

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