Chapter 82-Game Descent: I Am the Sole Player
Chapter 82
Bai Shan closed her Game Panel. Beside her, Lin Huijun also set down the high-powered flashlight, her dazed eyes staring at some point in the void.
"Bai Shan, do you have a way to get to the Southwest Hydropower Station?"
With no one else around, Lin Huijun asked freely, her bright eyes holding an unmistakable expectation.
Bai Shan tilted her head in thought for a moment, then quickly gave her answer. "Before the Light-Seeking Algae problem is resolved, leaving Hai City would be risky for you."
Even if she obtained a long-range movement item, Bai Shan didn't want Lin Huijun taking risks. It wasn't just the Light-Seeking Algae — Hai City was actively trying to prevent every player from leaving. Her account was special enough that Hai City couldn't target her, but she couldn't guarantee anyone else's safety.
"I see." Lin Huijun lowered her eyes with a hint of disappointment. Soon, she pressed her lips together in a smile. "But there's plenty we can do while staying in Hai City, right?"
Beneath the smile, anxiety spread through Lin Huijun's heart. Even though she'd just been able to open her Game Panel, she had a strong feeling that staying in Hai City too long would eventually cost her even the panel — her last connection to the outside world — turning her into a true ordinary person.
Even if she could leave Hai City then, her Talent might never return. She would lose her game eligibility, lose the right to adventure.
At a time like this, Lin Huijun didn't want to spread her negative emotions. Bai Shan had shouldered an even greater responsibility. This wasn't a problem that could be solved quickly — voicing it would only add to Bai Shan's burden.
"Even if you could leave, selfishly, I'd want you to stay in Hai City."
Bai Shan said suddenly.
Lin Huijun looked up, eyes widening slightly.
"Restoring power to Hai City is complicated. It's not as simple as killing the mutant at the Southwest Hydropower Station and flipping a switch."
"Ideally, the Capital sends a professional team. If not, we need to find people who understand electricity — locate the substations, the main control room — and restore these complex facilities while surrounded by mutants. That's the hardest part of the entire plan."
"If you're here in Hai City to coordinate, I'll feel a tiny bit more at ease."
Bai Shan made a gesture small enough to shatter the composure of Korean men.
Lin Huijun laughed genuinely, her anxiety dissipating with the sound. "Bai Shan, you're so sly — always dumping the hard problems on me."
It had been the same back in school. Bai Shan could be completely carefree, but Lin Huijun was the responsible class president who sometimes had to clean up after her willful classmate. She wasn't a saint — she'd resented Bai Shan before, been frustrated by the weight on her shoulders — yet she could never abandon it.
"Those with ability should do more, Class President Lin."
Bai Shan shrugged, a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"I've always been the unlucky one stuck with the work. But you seem to have changed a bit, Bai Shan."
Bai Shan had never been one for group activities. Now she was initiating one. Lin Huijun found it quite remarkable.
Seventh floor. Jiang Yusong finally saw the two bathroom-goers return.
She rushed forward eagerly, eyebrows flying upward, her tone excited as she shared the latest update. "The Capital is sending a professional team — power experts, electricity-type ability users — aiming to complete the power restoration within twelve hours of arriving in Hai City..."
"They said restoring power to the entire city is impossible. They can only light up key areas. Do you think that's okay?"
Jiang Yusong looked expectantly at Bai Shan.
"That's not my call. But I think lighting up our area alone would be enough."
Their area happened to be Hai City's most prosperous district — home to the pearl-like TV tower and the most dazzling night skyline.
The Light-Seeking Algae were mutants themselves. Based on Bai Shan's experience across both game versions, unless a mutant's evolution path specifically enhanced reproduction, most mutants' breeding capabilities were greatly diminished compared to before mutation. Some even lost reproductive ability entirely — especially certain powerful individuals that had evolved so far they were reproductively isolated from their original species.
Hai City's Light-Seeking Algae were numerous, yet they remained confined within city limits — indicating their population was relatively stable.
As long as the light sources were intense enough and sustained long enough, it was entirely possible to kill all existing Light-Seeking Algae. Without these tiny ghosts constantly hovering around, Hai City's rejection response would inevitably weaken.
Moreover, Bai Shan suspected that above the clouds formed by the algae, something else was blocking sunlight from reaching Hai City. Otherwise, the Light-Seeking Algae couldn't possibly remain drifting in the sky for so long.
She intended to literally part the clouds and reveal the sun.
"While my abilities still work, I'm going out to scout Hai City's situation again."
Bai Shan addressed this specifically to Jiang Yusong.
Jiang Yusong looked disapproving. "The Capital is about to send more people. When they arrive, we can act together. Running around now is too dangerous — and you just went out. You should rest."
"When the Capital's team arrives, can you tell them what Hai City's substations look like? What mutants are nearby? How many survivors there are?"
Bai Shan's questions struck Jiang Yusong's sore spot directly. Her already pale face grew even worse. As a Hai City native, she knew nothing about the city's power infrastructure — let alone where any substation was. She felt immediate shame. She was the one on the official team — she should have been figuring these things out before the new team arrived.
"I — I know there's a tentacle monster hiding in the buildings near the financial center. Very dangerous. Best to avoid it."
Jiang Yusong desperately scraped together one useful piece of information — intelligence her teammates had paid for with their lives.
Bai Shan snapped her fingers. "Good. I'll remember that."
She would definitely go there.
Jiang Yusong hesitated a moment, then recalled her determined resolve when she'd first set out. For an instant, courage overpowered the residual fear in her heart.
"My ability still works. I'll go with you — the Capital's team won't arrive for at least another day or two anyway."
She didn't like this girl who somehow got under her skin. Yet Jiang Yusong didn't dare examine why — certain qualities in the other girl stung her. Before entering Hai City, she'd believed she possessed those same qualities.
Bai Shan had seen through Jiang Yusong's timidity, which was why she'd deliberately provoked her. She hadn't expected to overdo it — the woman had actually mustered the courage to volunteer to come along.
Lin Huijun quickly grabbed Jiang Yusong's hand. "Sis, you can't get hurt. We need you to maintain contact with the Capital's team. And the people in the mall need to be taken care of — I can't handle it all alone."
"Uh, I'm actually not great at that stuff either..."
"Then we can work on it together!"
Lin Huijun managed to hold Jiang Yusong back. Without another word, Bai Shan donned the Transparent Raincoat and passed through the floor-to-ceiling glass window.
Plunging into the downpour once more, Bai Shan felt far more confident than the first time. She leaped across the city skyline, her silhouette streaking like a wisp of mist — so fast she seemed like a hallucination in the rain. Before long, she stood atop the Hai City TV Tower.
The Hai City TV Tower was nearly five hundred meters tall, three spherical structures strung together. Bai Shan stood at the topmost observation deck — a spot that normally cost several hundred yuan for a ticket.
Hai City bristled with skyscrapers. Even from this height, her field of vision was somewhat limited.
Bai Shan took one look, then leaped higher still. She stepped onto one building, vaulted over a financial center tower, and finally stood atop Hai City's tallest central building.
This was the tallest building in China — six hundred meters, over a hundred floors.
A full 360-degree, unobstructed view of Hai City. Unfortunately, the weather was too terrible. Bai Shan couldn't appreciate the city's grandeur — all she felt was the oppressive gray sky pressing down as if about to collapse.
A flash of silver-white radiance suddenly slashed through the dreary curtain of rain. A silver longbow appeared in Bai Shan's hand, a cold arrow already nocked on the string.
The silver bow resembled a powerful deer antler under moonlight, emanating a fine luster. The silver arrow was extraordinarily long and thin — light yet incomparably sharp.
[Hunting Arrow (SS-tier)
Effect: The God of the Hunt often roams through the night with a silver bow. The radiance is piercing, impossible to gaze upon directly. A single arrow flies a hundred li in an instant — no prey can escape.]
This was a weapon Bai Shan had frequently used in the game's later stages. Touching it for the first time in reality, it was heavier than she'd imagined.
That weight made her feel grounded. Every inch seemed to contain immeasurable power — worthy of a weapon named after a deity.
This was an item requiring Level 80 to wield. Unlocking [Hunting Arrow] early in Hai City was an unexpected bonus. She didn't know whether the Game Panel would revert after leaving Hai City — she'd rather this bug persisted.
Bai Shan stepped her right leg back, one hand gripping the silver bow, the other drawing back. The ice-cold string grazed past her straight lips, the poised silver arrow aimed into the boundless curtain of rain.
A slimy, anomalous sound was masked by the storm. Something was climbing up the smooth high-rise wall — contracting and expanding, scraping against the glass facade with a piercing screech.
Bai Shan held her drawn stance, glancing sideways. On the neighboring building, a flesh-colored tentacle flickered past.
She released. A metallic twang sang by her ear as the silver arrow instantly pierced through the rain!
It shot forward several meters, then abruptly changed direction. The silver arrow hugged the side of the neighboring building and dove downward. Bai Shan stood at the top-floor edge and looked down—
Right there on the financial center building, an enormous flesh-colored mass was moving along the exterior wall. Its entire body clung to the surface. Wherever it passed, the wall corroded — dissolved industrial materials mixed with liquid dripped downward, splashing into the floodwater below and releasing steam.
The fleshy mass looked like it weighed tons, extending several long, thin flesh-colored appendages that scrambled upward.
Bai Shan looked closer and realized the writhing tendrils weren't tentacles — they were eye stalks!
Slender, flexible eye stalks tipped with black-sesame-seed eyes. Dozens of eyes were staring right at her.
It was squirming upward. Its massive body couldn't move nimbly. The incoming silver arrow pierced through several eye stalks and plunged deep into the flesh, embedding halfway before the slender arrow seemed to meet resistance and stopped.
Several eye stalks drooped limply. The remaining dozen or so wriggled cheerfully, the eyeballs atop them rolling around as if taunting her.
Bai Shan looked down at it and smiled — genuine pleasure.
"Surviving the first strike of the Hunting Arrow — your level must be quite high."
"From here on, each arrow hits harder than the last."
Bai Shan conjured another silver arrow from thin air, nocked it on the silver bow, drew the string to its absolute limit, and released!
The second arrow struck the first with pinpoint accuracy. The stalled first arrow was driven forward by the force, instantly disappearing into the flesh mass. From within, a crisp sound rang out — as if some hard shell had shattered.
Two consecutive arrows broke through the hard shell wrapped inside the flesh and pierced its vulnerable organs.
The fleshy mass convulsed and contracted inward, as if desperately withdrawing to protect its interior. The slimy flesh finally receded, revealing a spiral-shaped outer shell.
It was too late. The mutated snail could no longer cling to the building's exterior wall. Its gray shell splashed into the water. Eye stalks bobbed and struggled at the surface, eyeballs bulging as if about to burst — seemingly unable to accept what had just happened.
Before long, all the eye stalks went limp and slipped beneath the water, leaving only the small arc of a gray shell protruding above the surface.
Bai Shan didn't know if it was Level 50. Due to Hai City's special mechanics, mutants here were accustomed to running rampant against humans. Even upon sensing her extraordinary aura, they couldn't resist the greed to tear into the juicy prey.
In every version of the game, human players were the most attractive upgrade material.
If she were only Level 50, killing multiple high-level mutants in quick succession would be exhausting. But at Level 89, she stood a fighting chance even against Dominator-class mutants.
Atop the tallest building in the storm-battered city, Bai Shan stood at the highest, most conspicuous point in all of Hai City — waiting. Waiting for her four Level-50 targets to come to her!
*
Hengxin Shopping Mall, seventh floor.
"She's been gone two hours. You think something happened? Should we go look for her?"
Jiang Yusong had just finished verifying the list of mall survivors. She glanced at the still-ticking clock and couldn't help radiating anxiety at Lin Huijun.
Lin Huijun knew Bai Shan hadn't simply gone to scout Hai City's situation — she'd most likely be gone a day or two. So she hedged: "It's fine. Bai Shan's great at running away. At most she's stuck somewhere. Don't worry."
"Really? She's a speed-type Talent? That kind of ability is perfect for scouting — a lot of teams lack that sort of talent..."
Before Jiang Yusong could finish, a flat, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly rang in her ears.
[Congratulations to player Tyrant for successfully killing 5 Level-50 mutants!]
[Achievement unlocked: "Absolute Dominator"!]
"What? What was that sound just now?"
"What Tyrant — what Dominator?"
The mall fell silent for a moment, then erupted into commotion. This was Hai City — the game had never visited Hai City. Every person here, at this very moment, heard a broadcasted mechanical voice for the first time!
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