NOVEL NEXT XIII – Cheat!
"Don’t eliminate me! I’ll tell you everything you want to know! Really! I don’t want to die!" The man looked at Mu Xuetong with a mix of desperation and fear in his eyes.
She frowned slightly. "When the game ends, it’s not like you’ll actually die. What are you so afraid of? Speak. Tell me everything you know, quickly!"
With her sword pressing against his neck, and his life hanging by a thread, the man didn’t dare resist. Swallowing hard, he began to speak hurriedly.
"It’s... it’s… I’m part of a gang called 'Wild Wolves'. We’ve been around since before this world changed. We used to run illegal businesses… sometimes even… Kill. But when everything shifted, while most people were still confused, our boss was thrilled. He quickly rallied the gang, and suddenly, things that were impossible for us before became achievable in this new world."
"People with value are used, and those without are discarded without mercy. If I’m eliminated now, as soon as I return to real world, my teammates… they’ll make sure to get rid of me"
The man pleaded desperately, and as he spoke, Mu Xuetong began to understand why so many high-level players had appeared so quickly and acted with such organization. There was a hidden force backing all of this…
"But you’re level 20, right? Wouldn’t your boss think it’s a waste to get rid of someone at your level?" she asked, pressing for more information.
The man gritted his teeth, then answered in a way that left Mu Xuetong stunned.
"Level 20? That’s nothing! You might not believe me, but there are already plenty of people at level 30 in the gang. Me, at level 20, I’m just a mid-rank pawn. If you eliminate me, they’ll definitely get rid of me."
Mu Xuetong took a sharp breath. Level 30? How was that even possible? As a professional gamer, she knew that leveling past 20 required an immense amount of experience. How could there already be so many at level 30?
"You’re joking, right?"
"No, no! It’s the truth! The gang already had an arsenal of firearms. In the real world, kills grant massive experience gains. So when this event started, the gang began capturing players and taking them to the high-level members, letting them deliver the final blow to gain more experience."
Mu Xuetong frowned. That was cheating!
She sighed, lowering her head in thought. She didn’t doubt his story, in a world like this, it made sense for powerful organizations like guilds or gangs to exist. These groups knew how to allocate resources strategically, and in the early stages of this transformed world, focusing on leveling high-ranking members was far more effective than spreading resources across lower-level players.
"Looks like this guy is an experienced player too... things are getting complicated" thought Mu Xuetong, clicking her tongue as she assessed the situation. Beside her, the wounded man looked up at her with pleading eyes, repeatedly begging for mercy.
"Alright, I won’t eliminate you. After all, I already got the information I wanted, and I’m not completely heartless either" Mu Xuetong said, shrugging as she sighed.
Just then, as she turned away, the second area scan began, and small orbs descended from the sky, projecting a virtual map.
"Huh? This point seems to be off in a strange direction… Oh, right, I threw him pretty far, but he didn’t actually get hurt that much. So how did he come back nearly dead?" Ye Lan murmured, puzzled.
Unbeknownst to her, the man behind her, now standing with a twisted expression, clenched his fists, eyeing Mu Xuetong's head.
[Explosive Step] + [Meteor Fist]
With one swift movement, he charged at her. "Not everyone can be a monster like that girl. If I hit her head, I could change this situation in an instant!"
Without turning, Mu Xuetong calmly gripped her sword and, in one smooth motion, thrust it backward, piercing through his abdomen with perfect precision.
[—100 HP]
The man froze, disbelief etched on his face. Before he could react, his body disintegrated into glimmering fragments that vanished into the air.
[Magic: Third Eye]
The spell Mu Xuetong had unlocked at level 20. With a 100-second cooldown, it acted similarly to Spider-Man’s spider-sense, allowing her to sense danger before it struck.
"Well, I wanted to ask him a few more questions… Guess I’ll have to investigate on my own" she muttered, pursing her lips before heading toward the nearest point of interest.
With player positions now revealed in this second round, the city's population had drastically thinned, leaving only about a thousand players remaining in what had once been a bustling area.
[Supreme Blaze]
[Whirlwind Sword]
[Armstrong Spin]
The gang members moved across the city like expert hunters, attacking with precision as if the entire event had been crafted for their advantage. Meanwhile, from a distance, Suo Gang’s Group, who had split up from Mu Xue Tong, watched the scene unfold. The gang’s tactics and methods felt unsettlingly familiar.
"These techniques are sophisticated... Rather than brute force, they use traps and decoys, almost as if they’re training someone" one of the team members noted.
"Does this feel familiar to you, Suo Gang?" another asked.
"Familiar, You mean...?" Suo Gang trailed off, understanding the implication but reluctant to voice it.
"Yes… Let’s hope it’s just a false alarm" the teammate replied, looking on warily.
As an elite professional player, They knew that in her competitive environment, identifying other high-level players was not difficult. Sometimes, just observing their strategies was enough to deduce who they were. A growing sense of unease surrounded Suo Gang’s team, fearing that this 'battle royale' might turn out to be even more dangerous than they had anticipated...
Meanwhile, Mu Xuetong was quickly making her way toward the red dot on the virtual map. Ahead of her stood an abandoned building. After a brief pause, she stepped inside decisively.
"I can feel… Xiao Lan’s presence is here" she murmured, her nearly infallible instincts leading her straight to a corner where Yelan lay fast asleep.
Mu Xuetong gazed at the small, softly breathing Yelan. Instead of waking her immediately, a mischievous expression appeared on her face as she stared.
Swallowing with excitement, she licked her lips and raised both hands, wiggling her fingers in anticipation.
"My Xiao Lan… A real beastkin girl, right here, asleep and completely defenseless. She’s so adorable, I just want to take her home as my wife!" she whispered with enthusiasm.
Sensing something strange nearby, Ye Lan slowly opened her eyes, still somewhat drowsy, and the first thing she saw was someone with a dreamy expression, practically drooling in front of her.
With a start, Ye Lan raised her small fist and swung it forward with all her strength.
Her tiny fist just grazed Mu Xuetong’s cheek, but the intense wind it generated was enough to obliterate the wall behind her completely.
A cold bead of sweat slid down Mu Xuetong’s neck, and her smile froze instantly.
"Xiao Lan… You’re terrifying!" she exclaimed, paralyzed with shock.
