“No need. It’s not my blood.”
Seeing that the man didn’t dare to cause any more trouble, Xu Mo looked away and kicked the dog’s corpse toward him.
“Remember to credit the contribution points to my account.”
After saying that, he turned to look at the crowd below, his eyes locking onto a woman.
Xu Mo knew the game’s plot. This woman was Wan Qianhong, the true person in charge of this Scavenger selection. Qiao Jin was merely a figurehead doing the legwork.
In every previous playthrough of Old Ones’ Awakening, after he killed Qiao Jin, this woman would be the one to arrest him and trigger the subsequent storyline.
He was checking to confirm she was still there. Although he didn’t know why he couldn’t log out of the game, it seemed the key story characters were still following their established roles.
Meanwhile, Wan Qianhong was looking at the wound on the hellhound’s neck with great interest. She marveled at finding such a promising recruit; the technique was incredibly seasoned.
She wasn’t particularly shocked, as there were always talented individuals. However, when Bai Feifei’s eyes swept over her, she suddenly felt the hair on her neck stand on end!
Why did it feel like... she was looking directly at her?
Could she recognize me as a Scavenger? Impossible!
She hadn’t come with the official team this time; she was hiding her identity among the crowd!
Yet, it was clear the girl’s gaze was searching for someone, and there was a high probability it was her.
And what kind of gaze was that?
A profound arrogance was hidden beneath a calm surface, as if she naturally stood above the world. All things were merely ants, and only she was supreme.
As a veteran Scavenger, Wan Qianhong understood the contempt with which those indescribable beings looked down upon the world, but she had never seen a human with such eyes!
Her heart was in turmoil, but by then, Bai Feifei had already looked away, ending the eye contact.
Was it an illusion...?
After confirming Wan Qianhong’s presence, Xu Mo turned around and walked toward the bloodiest portal among the remaining ones.
Sitting at the bottom, Wan Qianhong suddenly spoke up on an impulse, addressing Bai Feifei’s back.
“Young lady, you’ve already passed the basic test. There’s no need to continue.”
“The portal in front of you contains a true Type 1 Aberration. It’s not something an ordinary person can handle. Don’t go in.”
Xu Mo’s footsteps halted. Having played the game so many times, this was the first time Wan Qianhong, the ‘tutorial NPC,’ had taken the initiative to speak. It was quite novel.
Without moving his shoulders, he slightly turned his head and glanced at Wan Qianhong in the crowd.
After that sharp, predatory glance, he didn’t respond to her kindness. Instead, he took a step forward and walked directly into the blood-red gate.
Wan Qianhong was stunned. She hadn’t expected that after glancing at her, the girl would choose to ignore her completely.
Snapping back to her senses, she immediately shouted to Qiao Jin on the stage.
“Quick! Open the water screen immediately!”
Wan Qianhong couldn't help but stand up. Since this eccentric girl insisted on continuing, she naturally wanted to take a closer look at her skills.
The girl’s sword had been too fast earlier, causing her to completely miss the process of killing the mutant dog. This was a perfect opportunity.
Besides, if the girl couldn’t handle it, she would still be in time to rescue her.
Qiao Jin took three steps in two, rushing to the Lotus Seed and hurriedly pulling up the water screen.
Wan Qianhong had more seniority than him and was a higher-ranking Scavenger; he didn’t dare disobey her.
...
“Um... that sister just now seemed to say I already passed the Scavenger test.”
Bai Feifei spoke tremulously in Xu Mo’s mind. Her body was out of her control, and as she stepped into the space containing a Type 1 Aberration, she was still quite panicked.
“I heard her. But this is an opportunity. You’re only level 7 right now—too weak. If there’s a chance, it’s better to kill more.”
“This Type 1 Aberration is a level 15 elite with low health. Killing it should get you to level 10. In your terms, that would make you a Rank 1 Scavenger.”
Xu Mo replied with relative patience. In his previous gaming experience, he would usually kill all nine low-level aberrations in this ‘newbie bonus stage’ to grind levels.
However, he vaguely felt that his control over Bai Feifei’s body was running out again. So, while he still had time, he wanted to kill the ‘elite mob’ first.
Bai Feifei didn’t understand Xu Mo’s gaming terminology; she didn’t know that combat power could be quantified.
But thinking back to the feeling of killing the dog, she figured he meant that killing aberrations could make her stronger.
She didn’t understand the principle behind it at all and simply continued.
“But that sister looked like a senior. Isn’t it inappropriate to ignore a senior’s kindness...?”
“Heh.” Xu Mo couldn’t help but laugh.
“From now on, you don’t need to consider whether your attitude is appropriate. You should let others consider whether their attitude toward you is appropriate.”
Suddenly, the bronze Cognition Filter at Bai Feifei’s waist emitted a crisp sound as a crack appeared on its surface.
“It’s here!”
Xu Mo held the longsword horizontally. The muscle memory developed over countless hours of gameplay allowed him to instantly assume the most comfortable power-generating posture.
The space they were in was very dark, but after Xu Mo adjusted the game brightness, the scene before Bai Feifei’s eyes became exceptionally clear.
On the bluestone floor ahead, a humanoid thing was slumped on the ground in a strange posture. It was hard to tell if it was sitting, standing, or lying down.
But a closer look revealed that the creature’s body was extremely bloated, possessing six arms and six legs! Its entire body was bloody, with raw red muscle exposed to the air.
It looked as if three people had been skinned and then sewn together!
In the game, this thing was called a “Six-Armed Blood Corpse,” a level 15 minor elite monster.
“What... what is that thing!” Bai Feifei’s voice rang out in his mind. In the top left of Xu Mo’s vision, the Sanity level had already begun to drop.
This thing was incomparable to the mutant dog from before. Even with a Cognition Filter, the mental influence still persisted.
Sanity in the game represented the character’s mental state. Once it hit zero, they would directly undergo an aberration and turn into a lunatic.
“Roar!”
The Six-Armed Blood Corpse let out a roar and lunged from the ground. However, Xu Mo, operating Bai Feifei’s body, did not retreat. Instead, he lunged forward to meet it!
Bai Feifei felt her throat tighten as she watched the bloody monster expand in her vision.
In countless midnight dreams, she had dreamed of one day facing these monsters and fighting aberrations. But she never imagined the opportunity would arrive by crashing through the door like this.
At this moment, suppressing her fear and keeping herself from screaming was the only thing she could manage.
Then, she saw the blood corpse’s arms swinging from all directions to attack.
Yet her body found a perfect angle with exquisite precision, crouching to dodge all the attacks. The longsword swung through the air, blood sprayed, and one of the blood corpse’s arms flew into the sky!
Having landed a hit, Xu Mo immediately retreated and spoke to Bai Feifei in her mind.
“Not bad. You’re doing okay. You didn’t scream and mess up my controls. Keep it up.”
He was quite satisfied with Bai Feifei’s silence. He remembered being startled himself the first time he encountered this thing while playing the game.
Xu Mo was very focused now. Ordinarily, he had played this level more times than he could count.
But back then, he was playing a game, so he would just trade health for damage and rush through. Now that he couldn’t log out, the pain synchronization was at a full fifty percent!
If he got hit once, it was probably going to hurt quite a bit...
So, he had to aim for a no-hit run. But a no-hit run wasn't going to be easy.
...
“Excellent swordsmanship!”
In the testing hall, Wan Qianhong couldn't help but blurt out her praise as she watched the water screen.
In her eyes, Bai Feifei’s ability to react instantly in such a dark environment, dodging attacks and counterattacking with maximum speed, was nothing short of miraculous!
Furthermore, this was a legitimate Type 1 Aberration, which definitely possessed mental pollution. To perform so perfectly while under that kind of mental pressure already made her a Scavenger.
And not just any ordinary Scavenger!
Her eyes were full of curiosity and admiration. She stood before the water screen, her eyes fixed on Bai Feifei’s battle without blinking.
“Beautiful, simply beautiful... Where did she learn such exquisite swordsmanship?”
“It’s just that her body seems too weak. With such swordsmanship, why is her physique so poor?”
This was what puzzled Wan Qianhong the most. Bai Feifei’s strikes were precise and ruthless, like a master butcher, but her physical build really was just that of a young girl.
“And so ruthless... this girl’s psychological state is quite extreme.”
...
Xu Mo’s fighting style was very bloody. To ensure a no-hit run, he planned to wear the enemy down by cutting off its arms and legs before finishing it off.
By now, he had already severed two arms and three legs.
Bai Feifei’s Sanity was constantly dropping. Watching “her own” masterful butchery, her vision filled with blood and shredded meat, she had become somewhat numb.
But right then, a sudden change occurred!
The dismembered Six-Armed Blood Corpse seemed to realize it was dying a slow death. At the very moment another arm was severed, it let out a roar, and its other hand smashed toward her, its joints bending backward!
A sharp bone spike pierced into Bai Feifei’s neck with lightning speed, and blood suddenly gushed out.
—It’s over!
Feeling the searing pain in her neck, Bai Feifei’s life flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. Was she really going to die like this, controlled by someone else without ever knowing why...?
Dad, Mom... am I going to see you now?
But after the feeling of despair lingered for a few seconds, Bai Feifei suddenly realized—why was she still able to think?
The blood corpse in front of her was frozen still. The bone spike that had smashed into her neck was also motionless, and the blood droplets flying through the air hung suspended like a still oil painting.
At this moment, it was as if a god in charge of time and space had pressed the pause button on the world.
“Gah!” The “god’s” complaint reached Bai Feifei’s ears. “I guess a no-hit run really is a bit difficult.”
“Whatever. Let’s try again.”
As the god’s voice fell, the world responded to his command.
In Bai Feifei’s ears, she seemed to hear the ticking of the world’s clock, except this time, the clock’s hands began to turn backward!
The blood corpse’s bone spike pulled out of her neck, the torn flesh healed automatically, and the blood droplets flying in the air flew back into her body.
In those few seconds, she witnessed an authority possessed only by an evil god!
Time reversal!
Rate on N.U.
