Chapter 10

Chapter 10 You Brat, Better Pray for Your Own Survival!

This was Qin Jue’s first time seeing Ning Rong take out money.

It had to be said, the way she pulled out money looked extremely cool, and the posture of paving the way with money was even more charming.

Under the sunlight, the game coins appeared even more textured. Their obsidian-like color proved that they truly existed.

Sure enough, whether inside the game or outside it, being wealthy was enough to attract others. And if wealth was paired with either handsomeness or beauty, then it was an instant kill.

The moment that stack of game coins was taken out, the thickness of it left Qin Jue speechless. Besides speechlessness, perhaps there was also a trace of envy.

Thinking about it was honestly miserable. He was an old player who had cleared four instances, yet the amount of game coins he could freely use was actually less than that of a complete newbie who had never cleared even once. No one would probably believe it if he told them.

But the truth really was exactly that.

“One Thousand and One Nightmares” distributed rewards according to multiple aspects such as game difficulty, in-game performance, teamwork, and more. Game coins were an extremely important thing inside the game. They could be used to buy items, and they could also buy safe-time duration.

Items could increase survival rate. Safe-time duration could delay the time before a player entered the next game again.

The mall contained so many goods that it dazzled the eyes. If one had enough money, they could even buy youth, beauty, luxury mansions and sports cars in reality, love, and even… lifespan.

But almost no players bought those things.

Because once they died in the game, all of it was nothing more than fleeting prosperity. Everything would disappear completely. Only newcomers would have their eyes dazzled by such things. Veteran players all clearly knew what was truly important.

Only by staying alive could one have a future. Therefore, improving strength was the thing players most needed to do.

As for newcomers who focused their attention on these external possessions, almost all of them were eliminated in the early stages.

If the occasion were different, Qin Jue would already be grabbing Ning Rong’s shoulders and shaking her while asking exactly where she got so many game coins from.

They were all players, so why was the gap between people so huge? He couldn’t even scrape together fifty game coins from his own pockets!

Lu Wen was no longer experiencing the impact of money for the first time, so on the surface he still looked relatively calm. But inwardly, he was far less composed than he appeared.

Who could have imagined that his sis was actually this rich and overbearing?!

That stack of game coins had to be over a thousand, right?

He had cleared two instances and only earned a little over two hundred game coins in total. Part of it had even been used to purchase safe-time duration. His pockets were cleaner than his face!

As expected of his sis! Wealthy! Beautiful! Captivating both men and women!

—

Tempted by money, the village chief slowly widened his mouth. He tried very hard to make a sound, but because he was restrained by the power of certain rules, speaking became extremely difficult for him.

But in front of money, even ghosts could be driven by greed, much less a mere village chief.

In the end, the power of money prevailed.

The village chief struggled to stretch his hand toward that stack of game coins, his eyes filled with greed. “Southeast… escape…”

The moment he finished speaking, the village chief exploded with a bang, completely turning into a cloud of blood mist that gradually dispersed into the air. Ning Rong immediately sensed danger. She subconsciously retreated backward at once, which prevented her from being baptized by this rain of blood.

Lu Wen did not have such good luck.

【???】

【Isn’t this skill way too overpowered? It can even work like this?】

【She directly sent the village chief away?】

【Does this count as her skill activating successfully this time?】

【If this doesn’t count as success, then what does?】

【Never would I have thought that the village chief would actually speak… Although it was vague and only two words, the key information really was there.】

Lu Wen scratched his head, his face full of confusion. “Southeast? What’s there?”

Ning Rong glanced at her now-empty palm. The ten game banknotes she had been holding earlier had already disappeared.

After obtaining such a vague answer, many thoughts flashed through her mind.

If she had more game coins available to use, would she have been able to obtain more specific information?

The description of “Money Makes Even Ghosts Push Millstones” was already straightforward enough.

If you had money, then you could do whatever you wanted.

And the fact that she still couldn’t do whatever she wanted—didn’t that simply mean she still wasn’t rich enough?

Besides this cash, the black card she possessed could only be looked at, not used.

She was like a child sitting atop a mountain of gold. She possessed ownership of the black card, but currently had no right to use it.

Making money, as well as researching the black card, had clearly become the focus of her life going forward.

“No matter what, he still provided us with a direction. Let’s go check it out first.”

Lu Wen and Qin Jue replied, “Alright!”

—

Compared to how smoothly things were progressing on Ning Rong’s side, the situation on “Absolute Kill”’s side was much more severe.

Within a short period of time, four more players had died. In other words, only half a day after the game officially started, six players had already achieved a BE. This was an extremely high death rate.

The veteran player Gu Yu gave a bitter smile and said, “I’d heard long ago that the pace of ‘Absolute Kill’ was very fast and that quite a few teams ended up wiped out. Before, I didn’t really feel it deeply. But now, I truly understand it.”

Players on the forum were always sharing the horror games they had played.

Clearance strategies absolutely could not be shared. But some non-spoiler experiences were still fine.

Gu Yu had seen many posts related to “Absolute Kill.” Every single poster described the horror and despair of this game.

Previously, he had only thought those players were not skilled enough. But now…

There was no trace left of his usual relaxed and carefree demeanor.

As a player sent by the national team to protect Chi Juan, Gu Yu possessed abundant gaming experience. He had cleared three B-rank instances, and the number of C-rank instances he had cleared was so high that both hands weren’t enough to count them.

Compared to C-rank instances, B-rank instances were obviously much more difficult, and their pace was also much faster. They completely lacked the gentleness and slower rhythm of C-rank instances. However, even among B-rank instances, there were different levels.

Clearly, the B-rank instances he had entered before were merely ordinary B-rank instances. None of them had been as thrilling and dangerous as “Absolute Kill.”

The biggest problem at present was that the information they had searched out was too limited! Perhaps this was the greatest difference between B-rank and C-rank instances.

In C-rank instances, important clues could easily be found. But B-rank instances required players to exercise far more subjective initiative.

Unfortunately, the initial skills they possessed had very limited usefulness in this game.

If B-rank instances were already this difficult, then what about A-rank instances? Or even the legendary S-rank instances?

Aside from those ancient top experts, could any newly entered players truly still clear S-rank instances?

At that moment, one of the five national-team players suddenly had a complete mental breakdown.

“Damn it! B-rank instances are totally *not* meant for humans to play! I didn’t want to enter this instance! I didn’t want to!”

Unlike Chen Chu, he had absolutely no desire to protect Chi Juan! He also had zero interest in the emotional entanglement between Chi Juan and Zhou Yujing!

He had been sent here by his superiors!

The moment he thought of that madman, a clear trace of fear flashed through Chen Chu’s eyes.

“False Speech.”

That person’s skill.

False and illusory words could deceive both oneself and others.

To a certain extent, this was an extremely powerful skill.

He did not know very clearly what relationship that person had with Chi Juan, but they definitely shared a blood relationship. Otherwise, that person would never have gone to such great lengths to pave the road for Chi Juan.

Aside from the few of them, no one else in this national squad knew that Zhou Yujing had a girlfriend.

Even their teammates did not know, much less ordinary players.

Was it because Zhou Yujing never mentioned it?

Of course not.

He talked about it to everyone he met.

But False Speech caused others to remember only what that person wanted them to remember.

Using skills in reality was a major taboo for the national team. If the national headquarters found out, the lightest punishment would still be lifelong imprisonment.

But that madman had done exactly that…

—

Seeing that the team was beginning to collapse from the inside, Teacher Dan shouted angrily, “We were bound to come into contact with B-rank instances sooner or later! Even if you don’t enter this time, you’ll enter next time!”

A Leng snapped back, “But if I don’t enter this time, then I’ll have more time to grow stronger! And even if I entered a B-rank instance, it wouldn’t necessarily be ‘Absolute Kill’!”

Teacher Dan was both anxious and furious. “Calm down, A Leng! Now isn’t the time to talk about this!”

The player called A Leng suddenly started crying.

He was only nineteen this year, having just become an adult a few days ago. After entering the game “One Thousand and One Nightmares,” his life had gone fairly smoothly. His initial skill was Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Disaster. It was a very practical skill, though unfortunately its cooldown period was too long.

He needed time to grow. Once his skill upgraded to the highest level, the cooldown would shorten to a very brief period.

That madman had resorted to every possible method just to help Chi Juan grow stronger.

But A Leng felt deeply wronged.

Chi Juan was important, but wasn’t he important too? He could also play a role in turning the situation around!

【Tsk tsk, same people, different fates.】

【Clearly he possesses the upper-tier skill “Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Disaster,” yet the player with the lower-tier skill “Intuition” is doing far better. Who wouldn’t be confused by that?】

【What does the barrage above mean?】

【Why can’t I understand what you people are talking about?】

【I just came back from Zhou Yujing’s girlfriend’s livestream room and suddenly got emotional, that’s all.】

【Facts prove that hugging the right thigh is very important.】

【Oh? Hugging the right thigh? Your words have successfully attracted my attention.】

【The difficulty of “Countdown” isn’t much different from “Absolute Kill,” but the situations the players are facing are completely different. Go check out Zhou Yujing’s girlfriend’s livestream room. Investing in it definitely won’t disappoint!】

Hearing the annoying crying sound, Chen Chu said impatiently, “We’re not at a dead end yet, so what are you crying for?”

Juanjuan voluntarily stepped forward and said, “A Leng, don’t worry. I’ll definitely make sure you leave ‘Absolute Kill’ alive.”

Juanjuan’s words were like a shot of adrenaline injected into the hearts of A Leng and the others.

It had to be said that Juanjuan choosing this moment to stabilize the situation was extremely well timed, and it was also very easy for her to win people’s hearts.

【To be fair, Juanjuan really does have some capability.】

【Whether it’s sincere or fake, at least at this moment, these words can unite people and lift the low morale again.】

【Alright alright, the crybaby who just became an adult really is easy to comfort.】

A Leng stopped crying.

Chen Chu cooperated and said, “Sister Juanjuan, I believe you’ll definitely lead all of us out of here alive!” He was absolutely Juanjuan’s most loyal follower, holding an indescribable kind of confidence in her.

Teacher Dan also supported her. “Juanjuan, you have this ability. We’ll be relying on you from here on out!”

The only person who did not participate in this entire conversation from beginning to end was Zhou Yujing.

He lowered his head, his eyes full of worry.

He had entered the game again. Previously, Ning Rong had been angry because he didn’t answer her calls. He had spent a great deal of effort before finally coaxing her successfully. But now, he once again couldn’t answer her video calls.

At this hour, what would Rongrong be doing? Preparing for exams? Drinking coffee with her high school classmates? Or getting angry because she couldn’t contact him?

If the livestream audience could hear his inner thoughts, they would definitely say:

【Your girlfriend is busy coming to catch your cheating ass right now! And she’s already charging over aggressively! She’s just one step away from meeting you face to face! You brat, better pray for your own survival!】