Chapter 27: The Green Snake’s Counter-Kill

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: The Green Snake’s Counter-Kill

"Never. It’s every man for himself."

Whether in a game or in reality, human beings—social creatures that they are—still live by the law of the jungle.

Those who adapt, thrive. Those who don’t, quietly fade away.

At three in the morning, when drowsiness was at its peak, a thin mist began to rise from the woods.

Outside the window, the players huddled together in terror. Those who had been splashed with lava were now charred corpses, embers of magma still glowing within their remains.

Brimming with energy, Shi Zhile unleashed fifty portions of lava with a wave of her hand. The magma devoured the earth and the players alike, and their horrific screams pierced the heavens.

The drowsy players were jolted wide awake. The quick-witted ones frantically tore off their clothes, but for those who reacted too slowly, the magma had already seared their flesh, inflicting a pain worse than death.

The magma consumed men and women, young and old, at the exact same speed.

’The goal is to kill, not to torture. But with so many enemies, none of whom will stand still and let you kill them, you can’t afford to worry about being cruel. As long as they end up dead, that’s all that matters.’

Some, unable to bear the pain, chose to end their own lives by smashing their heads against a wall. Others sprinted frantically into the woods, desperately searching for water to douse the flames.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, the players scattered across the ground had grown numb to the pain.

They lay curled up on the ground, their eyes vacant and lifeless.

Why?

Why did they have to be the ones to die?

Why wasn’t it the people inside that room?

From the moment they developed malicious intent, they were already dead in the eyes of the powerful.

As long as it didn’t rain, their deaths were inevitable.

Jiang Yuxing picked up an axe, cracking his knuckles. "We fight our way out. There are bound to be other players hiding in the rooms. The rules say only one person can survive, which means we have to kill them all. Otherwise, we’ll never get out of this town."

Shi Zhile pulled out her axe as well. She took a deep breath and removed the stone barricading the door.

"Kick them while they’re down. It’s either them or me."

The moment she stepped outside, her axe rose and fell, cleanly dispatching a middle-aged man who lunged at her.

[Kill x1]

[Kill x2]

[Kill x3]

The system notifications followed.

’Once you get used to the smell of blood, the psychological burden of killing gets lighter and lighter.’

’I’m just helping them end their suffering.’

At the same time, Jiang Yu and her two companions also charged out of their room.

A thick stench of blood enveloped the small town. Today, rivers of blood would flow through its streets.

The five of them regrouped, covered in blood.

A few rooms still held hiding players. Most of them were the old, weak, sick, or infirm. They either refused to fight or were too afraid to face death.

The moment our group left the town, these people would die anyway.

As they headed toward the woods, Shi Zhile paused. She took a few bottles of water from her backpack and left them outside one of the doors.

’No one enjoys killing if they aren’t forced into it.’

’It’s every man for himself, but they should at least get to taste what water in this game is like before they die.’

A thick fog washed over them. The five linked hands as they walked, and an hour later, they found themselves back at the edge of the town.

The water Shi Zhile had left was still there, but all the bodies and bloodstains in the town had vanished.

Wang Peng clutched his dagger tightly. "We’re back where we started. Is it because we didn’t kill all the other players?"

’As someone who was raised in a civilized society, this infighting is agonizing.’

No one answered him, because in the blink of an eye, hundreds of new players materialized in the town.

Their faces were all different, which meant these weren’t the same players as before. They stared at their panels in confusion, then charged toward the group of five in unison.

"If we kill them, we can get out of the game!"

"All together now!"

Jiang Yuxing gripped his axe and took the lead, casting a spray of magma forward. Immediately after, Shi Zhile hurled a torch into the crowd.

The two combined, and a massive fire erupted. The tightly packed players were set ablaze, leaving nothing behind but their agonized screams.

The temperature skyrocketed around them. The five used their weapons to carve a path as they ran for the nearest room.

As the sun began to set, the commotion outside the room finally died down.

The noise was gone, but the players outside hadn’t vanished. They were hiding in the shadows, waiting for the group to come out.

For the time being, the group of five wasn’t short on food or water. Two days passed in a cycle of sunsets and sunrises, and the number of players outside actually began to decrease.

This meant the players respawned based on the number of deaths, not on a daily cycle.

It also meant that without food, the other players would starve to death.

They had tried to leave the town, only to discover it was impossible without killing every last player.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate. The group of five had attempted to break through, but the moment the number of enemy players dropped below one hundred, their ranks were instantly replenished.

It was an endless cycle. The instance was designed to wear them down to death.

At eleven o’clock at night, a system notification sounded.

[Novice Period Notice: The countdown for the Novice Protection Period has begun.]

A countdown began, and the voice continued.

[The protection period is about to end. Player deaths within the instance will now be permanent. The three days following the instance will be a hunting period.

Players who die outside of an instance will have one chance to be resurrected. A Dead Player who kills someone can take their place, exit the instance, and continue the game.

The roster of Dead Players will be updated at irregular intervals.

Special Reminder: Beware of the flora and fauna.]

When the last sentence rang out, Shi Zhile was sorely tempted to get rid of her Green Snake.

’Are the plants and animals going to mutate too? Give me a break!’

None of the five were in good spirits. The world chat, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly exploded with activity.

[GiveMeABreak: Dammit, what kind of bullshit instance is this? It’s supposed to be about hunting the top ten on the leaderboard, but the whole place is crawling with bugs and snakes. The item descriptions on the panel don’t even work anymore, so I ended up eating a poisonous fruit. I’m just gonna kill myself. I’m done with this game.]

[UpstairsButtPoker: I thought instances were for stocking up on supplies, but all I’ve done is burn through mine. I’m out too. Peace!]

[HelpMeUp: Hey, you guys, don’t kill yourselves yet. Are you sure suicide even gets you out of the instance?]

[ICanStillFight: I’m trapped by Dead Players! To all you top-rankers on the leaderboard, please, I’m begging you! I’m about to starve to death! Spare some supplies!]

There were too many people begging for supplies. The avatars of the players who had threatened suicide turned gray, indicating that they were now dead.

Wang Peng sounded dejected. "If we keep dragging this out, I’ll have no supplies left even if I do survive. The novice period is over, and who knows what the island is like now."

Shi Zhile was also running low on supplies. Her shoulder had taken a heavy blow during their breakout attempt, and the pain was still intense even after she used medicine.

"Maybe there’s a way to make all the players outside die at once."

Jiang Yuxing was leaning against the wall. "What could we... The snake!"

He shot upright, his eyes fixed on the Green Snake coiled around Shi Zhile’s wrist.

"We have Snake Poison. We need to find a way to poison them."

Shi Zhile’s eyes lit up. ’Using Snake Poison would be such a waste.’

She took out a bird’s egg and placed it in her palm. "XiaoQing, can you bring other snakes here? Have them bite all the people outside to death. If you succeed, this egg is yours."

The Green Snake lazily raised its head, reared up to swallow the bird’s egg in one gulp, and then unhurriedly slithered out through the crack under the door.

"You’d better be quick," she called after it. "I’ve got another egg. Come back soon and it’s yours."

WHOOSH. The Green Snake’s shadow vanished through the crack.

About ten minutes later, a rustling sound carried through the air, clearly audible even to those inside the room.

Peeking through the crack under the door, they saw a swarm of snakes, led by the Green Snake, surging toward the dozing players.