The darkness was incredibly thick, breeding countless shadows that seemed boundless, instilling a sense of endless danger and oppression.
Su Xiaozhen looked at the man sitting against the wall, her
pupils shrinking, trembling uncontrollably, even her lips quivering.
She tried to speak, but it was as if her voice had
disappeared, unable to utter a single word for a while.
It was the fear that came from being targeted by the grim
reaper, a fear that made one’s whole body shudder, unable to summon any
resistance.
She... was going to die.
Looking at the man’s gaze, as if looking at an ant, Su
Xiaozhen was acutely aware of this fact.
Although Ruan Qing was still a novice player, he was already
quite familiar with this near-death danger, so he wasn’t completely scared.
He glanced at the chilling chainsaw.
The chainsaw was large, deeply embedded, and it would be
unlikely for him to pull it out instantly with his strength.
After realizing that he couldn’t snatch it, Ruan Qing quickly
stood up, pulled Su Xiaozhen, who hadn’t come to her senses, and turned to run
into the alley.
Not even a second was wasted.
Fortunately, Su Xiaozhen regained her senses when Ruan Qing
pulled her, so she didn’t need him to lead her as they frantically ran forward.
Afraid of being caught by the man.
Because once they were caught, it would mean death.
The prey had escaped, but the man in the delivery uniform
seemed unhurried, sitting on the wall humming a cheerful tune.
A radiant smile adorned his face, appearing very pleased.
However, the melody he hummed had a somewhat eerie tone,
sounding chilling on this night.
After leisurely humming a song, he gracefully hopped down,
effortlessly picking up the chainsaw from the ground.
***
Although they had been running for about three or four
minutes, it felt as if the man was still following closely behind.
The chainsaw had been activated, emitting a piercing sound
that sent shivers down their spines.
Furthermore, the sound persisted, always just a short
distance behind them, following them like a shadow.
No matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t shake off the
sound, as if maggots clung to their bones.
Ruan Qing’s physical stamina was extremely poor. After
running for a short distance, he began gasping for breath and could barely keep
up with Su Xiaozhen.
They had been running for a long time but still hadn’t
reached a populated street.
They also couldn’t shake off the man chasing them.
The man calmly followed from behind, toying with them like a
cat chasing a mouse, cruelly toying with their hopes and plunging them into
despair.
This couldn’t go on any longer. If they continued running,
Ruan Qing would be the first to have an accident.
Moreover, Ruan Qing wasn’t skilled in a chase, so they needed
to find a place to hide.
Ruan Qing looked at Su Xiaozhen, gasping for breath as he
intermittently spoke, “Split up... run separately.”
That man seemed to be hunting him, and if Su Xiaozhen didn’t
follow him, she would probably be much safer.
Furthermore, if Su Xiaozhen stayed with him, they would only
drag each other down, and they might end up dead even faster.
Su Xiaozhen hesitated and didn’t immediately agree, saying,
“But...”
Ruan Qing didn’t have time to listen to Su Xiaozhen’s
concerns anymore. He glanced at the figure of the man appearing at the corner
behind them, struggling to breathe as he warned, “Don’t... go to the hospital.”
Without waiting to see if Su Xiaozhen heard him, he ran
directly into the small alley to the right, not running forward with Su
Xiaozhen anymore.
Su Xiaozhen widened her eyes at the sight, but she was
already too late to follow the young boy because the demon chasing them had
caught up with a chainsaw in hand.
Su Xiaozhen could only hold back her tears, grit her teeth,
and continue running forward.
The alley Ruan Qing chose was an even more secluded path,
with no streetlights along the way.
The familiar sound of a chainsaw rang out behind him.
Ruan Qing wasn’t surprised at all. It seemed that he was
indeed the target.
Ruan Qing ran while trying to calm his rapid breathing and
heartbeat.
Before leaving the apartment building, Ruan Qing had already
familiarized himself with the surroundings. His memory was excellent, and he
had a clear mental map of the area in his mind.
He wasn’t far from the main street now, just three more turns
away. But he was certain that he wouldn’t have a chance to make it to the main
street.
The hunter wouldn’t give him that opportunity.
He could only try to shake off the man first...
Ruan Qing took a deep breath, tightened the strap of his
shoulder bag, and gradually slowed down his pace.
Even as the sound of the chainsaw grew closer, Ruan Qing
remained calm and continued to slow down until the footsteps disappeared
completely.
The entire alley was pitch black, almost impossible to see
anything, with only the sound of the chainsaw echoing.
Apart from the man’s footsteps and the sound of the chainsaw,
there were no other signs of another person’s presence.
However, soon the sound of the chainsaw also stopped, leaving
only the man’s unhurried footsteps.
The alley was dimly lit, and even though Ruan Qing had
adjusted to the darkness, it was still difficult to see everything around him
clearly.
Moreover, this alley wasn’t a dead-end but rather a network
of interconnected paths, with forks everywhere.
Dragging the chainsaw, the man casually looked around, as if
asking someone or muttering to himself, “Where are you hiding?”
Ruan Qing had stopped running long ago. He silently hid at a
corner, observing the man’s movements.
The alley remained dark, and it was nearly impossible to see
anyone. But that didn’t hinder Ruan Qing’s accurate perception of the man’s
location.
Ruan Qing had strong perceptual abilities, and complete
darkness didn’t affect his judgment.
Because he relied not on sight, but on hearing.
However, his perception ability was completely different from
Ji Yan and the others.
Ji Yan and the others had strong perception abilities because
they were already powerful. On the other hand, his strong perception ability
was precisely because he was weak.
It was because he was weak that he must be strong in order to
escape from this group of perverts.
The man in the alley continued searching for someone as he
slowly approached Ruan Qing’s position.
The man searched meticulously, as if searching for a beloved
toy, with a hint of anticipation and undisguised joy.
The man’s figure was getting closer... and closer.
“Are you here?”
The man tilted his head as he looked at the dim corner. “Huh?
Not here.”
“Where did you go?”
The man looked around and spoke with a cheerful and coaxing
tone. “Come out, don’t hide. I’ve already seen you.”
The alley wasn’t completely empty; there were piles of debris
since it was near residential buildings.
Ruan Qing had already left that spot when the man approached.
He huddled in a corner, almost holding his breath.
No matter what the man said, Ruan Qing didn’t move an inch.
The man casually kicked the piled debris, scattering it in
disarray, but he didn’t find any trace of the boy.
Moreover, the man seemed to be growing impatient and angry.
He picked up the chainsaw and directly hacked at the wall.
It seemed like an act of venting frustration.
Even though the wall was thick, at this moment, it seemed as
fragile as paper and was chopped down by the man. Fragments of the wall fell
and scattered in the corner, raising a cloud of dust.
Just as the man was about to continue chopping, faint
rustling sounds came from a distance. Upon careful listening, there were also
hurried breathing and footsteps.
The man effortlessly dragged the heavy chainsaw and turned
around, sprinting towards the source of the sound. His speed was difficult for
a human to achieve.
When the sound of the man’s voice could no longer be heard,
Ruan Qing silently crawled out from the corner, where numerous broken pieces
were scattered.
As he crawled, he rubbed his forehead and head, which had
been hit by the fragments, in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain.
This thrilling chase had not only kept Ruan Qing on edge, but
the viewers in the livestream room were also so tense that they almost forgot
to breathe.
Fortunately, the young man was smart enough and composed
enough. Like a precious gem, he always brought unexpected surprises.
The horror livestream room never failed to display the image
even in darkness, nor did the darkness affect the quality of the stream.
The viewers in the livestream room could clearly see the
young man crawling out from the wall corner, rubbing his reddened forehead with
his hand. His eyes were tinged with redness, staring with a pair of large,
aggrieved eyes.
Due to the pain, his pure eyes became misty, resembling a
little kitten that had been fiercely bullied.
【Wuwuwu, my poor wife, scared and hit again. Let me blow
for my wife, hoo~ hoo~】
【I was so scared! My heart hasn’t been calm today. In just
two days, Qingqing is already covered in injuries. It hurts my heart.】
【You know, he would cry if he hit his knee lightly, but now
he’s covered in injuries. I feel heartbroken too.】
【How dare that scoundrel scare Qingqing! So angry! Get
lost, you jerk!!!】
Ruan Qing didn’t have time to rest because the man would
return soon.
After rubbing his forehead, he quickly stood up and
skillfully turned several corners in the alleyway before finally stepping on
debris and clumsily climbing over the wall.
It seemed like the darkness had no effect on him whatsoever.
On this side of the wall, there was debris to step on, but on
the other side, there wasn’t. Fortunately, the wall wasn’t very high, so Ruan
Qing closed his eyes and jumped down.
After landing, Ruan Qing paid no attention to the pain and
immediately got up, entering the residential building in front of him. He
quickly reached the third floor and turned the corner.
From the corner, he could see the winding alleyway just
perfectly through the window.
Ruan Qing completely hid behind the wall, using his
peripheral vision to observe the situation in the alleyway through the window.
Sure enough, the man returned quickly, holding a mobile phone
in his hand.
It was Ruan Qing’s phone.
In the midst of his escape, he took the opportunity to record
the sound of footsteps and breathing, setting it as his alarm ringtone.
The man held his phone and turned on the flashlight. Once he
confirmed that there was no one around, he revealed a smile.
The smile was dazzling, but it also made one’s hair stand on
end, as if they were being stared at by a highly venomous snake.
The man placed his phone in his pocket and slowly walked
away, dragging the chainsaw with him.
Seeing that he managed to shake off the man’s pursuit, Ruan
Qing let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall, feeling a bit weak.
Everything related to the horror game would be blocked, so
Ruan Qing wasn’t worried about the man seeing anything about tasks or missions.
However, the disparity between them was too great, to the
point where he had no advantage at all.
Clever tricks like the one he just used were unlikely to
succeed a second time. After all, in the face of formidable force, strategic
thinking appeared pale and powerless.
At this rate, he wouldn’t survive for more than seven days.
Either he needed to find the owner of the livestream room
or... kill the hunter.
Kill the hunter?
Ruan Qing found the idea somewhat laughable.
Before, he suspected that Wen Li wasn’t human, and now he suspected
that none of them were truly human.
At least not entirely human.
Because whether it was Jiang Sinian or Wen Li, they both
suffered severe fatal injuries but didn’t die.
Even when he deliberately gave one the wrong medicine, he
still didn’t die.
In such a situation, attempting to kill them in return was
simply a pipe dream.
While calming his weakened body, Ruan Qingjian asked in his
mind, ‘System, is the survival rate of players in this instance very low?’
As it didn’t involve specific details of the instance, the
system quickly responded, [Yes, it’s only around 15 percent.]
Fifteen percent...
Not low.
Ruan Qing thought the survival rate would be lower.
Firstly, no one should have used the second method of
clearing the game.
Ruan Qing remembered the system mentioning that after
becoming an official player, one could start live streaming, and any player who
hadn’t entered the instance could watch it.
So if someone found the owner of the live streaming room, it
would mean that almost all players knew about it.
In that case, the instance would no longer be necessary.
Therefore, the fifteen percent of players who cleared the
game must have followed the first method.
The first method of clearing the game was quite intriguing.
Because it actually included two methods.
The first method was to endure for seven days. Just surviving
under the pursuit of the Hunter for seven days would clear the game.
And the second method was... to kill the Hunter.
Ruan Qing felt that fifteen percent was too high, considering
the situation where killing the Hunter was not an option.
It wasn’t easy to survive for seven days against an
invincible and powerful Hunter.
But if the Hunter did have weaknesses, then this survival
rate would make sense.
Weakness...
Ruan Qing lowered his gaze, lost in thought.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed on the stairs, interrupting Ruan
Qing’s contemplation.
Ruan Qing warily looked down from the stairs; it seemed that
a resident had returned.
He immediately left the corner, avoiding others, and went
around to the front door of the residential building.
Mainly because he didn’t have the strength to climb over a
wall again.
The current state he was in was extremely miserable, covered
in dirt and lacking strength. Not only was he physically weak, but his entire
body was in pain.
The fact that he could still walk was already considered
fortunate.
The front entrance of the residential building was a road
that branched off from the main street, designed for the convenience of
residents driving in and out.
Across the road, some dim streetlights illuminated the
darkness on the road, and behind the streetlights seemed to be the neighborhood
park.
At the intersection of the road and the park, several large
trees were planted, blocking the light. The distant park remained pitch black.
Hidden in the darkness, it felt as though a monster could emerge at any moment,
ruthlessly tearing people apart.
Moreover, it was probably too late, as there was no one
entering or exiting the front gate, not even at the main entrance.
Ruan Qing stood in the shadow and carefully observed his
surroundings. After confirming that no one was around, he slowly walked out of
the shadow.
The night was thick, with darkness enveloping the
surroundings. Only the streetlights illuminated the road in front of the gate.
The whole world was eerily quiet.
As Ruan Qing walked, he subconsciously felt that something
was amiss. He tightened his grip on the strap of his messenger bag, and his
hand subtly tightened.
A sense of unease gradually arose in his heart, as if he was
being watched at this moment.
Moreover, that chilling sense of being observed grew stronger
and stronger.
Ruan Qing slowly stopped in his tracks, turned his head to
the side, and looked back.
Somewhere along the road, a man leaned against a tree trunk.
It was... the man wearing a delivery uniform!
As Ruan Qing recognized who the man was, his pupils
contracted, his eyes widened, and his expression froze in an instant. He stood
rigidly in place, his delicate face almost devoid of color.
He pursed his lips and stared intently at the man before him.
When the man saw the young boy looking at him, he tilted his
head and flashed a bright smile at the boy.
Then, dragging the non-operational chainsaw, he took step by
step towards the boy, leaving a cruel mark on the ground.
Watching the man approach slowly, Ruan Qing’s face turned
pale. He couldn’t help but take a step back as the other approached.
