The girl fired the gun without any hesitation, but the moment she pulled the trigger, a sharp pain shot through her arm, causing the barrel to veer off course.
Almost immediately, an intense ache erupted in her chest...
"You..." she gasped, staring at Qi Xu in horror.
Qi Xu didn’t bother with words. With a swift motion, she delivered the finishing blow, ending the girl’s life. There was no thrill in it—only a numb detachment as the spray of blood misted the air.
The girl had been a good actress, but... she’d moved too quickly.
If someone truly wanted to hide on the top floor, they were either foolish or had ulterior motives.
Why would someone seeking shelter skip scavenging supplies in the lower floors and immediately head up to beg for cooperation? No one with half a brain would do that.
The girl had gotten overconfident after acquiring the pistol, deciding to kill if her deception failed.
Firepower trumped everything—there was no way she could lose.
Against an ordinary person, she might have succeeded. Unfortunately, she’d run into Qi Xu, whose strength surpassed a hundred and whose agility was nearing the same...
That’s why her failure was so anticlimactic. Qi Xu didn’t enjoy killing, but she wasn’t afraid of it either.
Qi Xu glanced at the minimap, quickly looting the body. She recovered a pistol with only five bullets left, three packs of compressed biscuits, and an apple.
Keeping the dagger and pistol in hand, she stuffed the rest into her backpack and began descending floor by floor, searching as she went.
A killer had entered the first floor and was working his way up. Both noticed each other’s movements, but neither slowed their steps.
The empty floors yielded pitifully few supplies—some had nothing at all. Qi Xu managed to scavenge a pack of tissues, a hat, and a small bag of mixed nuts.
Then, she encountered the second survivor.
Unlike the first, this one was cautious, hiding behind a stone pillar, refusing to show himself or make a sound.
Qi Xu didn’t bother engaging and continued downward.
The others in the abandoned building had chosen to flee—the gunshots from the rooftop had been too obvious. No one wanted to share a space with an armed player.
But as she passed the lower floors, the red dots on the map vanished one by one.
Qi Xu was getting closer to the killer. His red marker now displayed the number "8," meaning he’d already taken four lives...
What puzzled Qi Xu was why someone who’d chosen the "blue button" was killing so ruthlessly.
The game had barely started an hour ago—how had he adapted so quickly?
She’d even imagined a scenario where survivors hunted down the killers.
All her questions were answered the moment she saw him.
Damn. His weapon was poison gas grenades, and he was wearing a gas mask.
There was no dodging an area-of-effect attack like that. The instant they locked eyes, Qi Xu spun around and bolted upstairs.
The killer had already thrown the gas bomb, and thick green smoke billowed outward.
He probably hadn’t expected Qi Xu’s speed. After a brief hesitation, he gave chase.
Qi Xu had scouted the perfect ambush spot on her way down. Anticipating his pursuit, she deliberately kept moving, creating just enough noise to lure him in.
The moment he rounded the corner, she hurled her dagger, forcing him to halt. Then—bang—a single shot to the chest. She vaulted over the railing, retrieved her dagger, finished him off, and looted the body.
She recovered four more poison gas grenades but found no other supplies on him. Qi Xu waited for the toxic fog below to dissipate before heading down to explore.
Then, an announcement blared:
[One-hour mark reached! The current top-ranked player has 18 points—they’re on a rampage! Other players, step up your game! The locations of the top ten have been marked on the map! Go, go, go!]
As the broadcast ended, Qi Xu noticed a glaring red light above her. She looked up.
Floating over her head were glowing crimson characters: "I AM THIRD." An electronic voice periodically echoed the declaration, casting an eerie red glow across several square meters.
A survivor who’d been creeping around the corner took one look at the spectacle and immediately turned tail.
Qi Xu checked the leaderboard. The top ten all had five points or more, but only their positions and ranks were displayed—no usernames.
She circled the "spawn point" and realized it was a prime spot—open yet concealed, right in the center of the action.
So she returned, though she didn’t go upstairs. Instead, she camped on the first floor.
The survivor who’d been upstairs earlier was gone. Qi Xu had assumed fellow survivors would leave each other alone, but this one had somehow climbed to third place...
No wonder they’d fled.
Now, Qi Xu had the entire building to herself.
She set up defenses, gathering scattered rubble and steel rods to create makeshift cover.
Something told her this game wouldn’t stay simple.
The current playstyle for survivors—avoiding conflict and just surviving—meant the match could drag on without much chaos.
But if everyone adopted that mindset, the game would never escalate.
So she decided to rest for a while. No rush. With that glaring red marker over her head, only the reckless would dare approach.
Three hourly announcements later, Qi Xu’s rank had dropped from third to twenty-sixth.
Just as she thought the boredom would continue, four red dots closed in from all directions—three survivors and one executioner.
All ranked in the top ten, their movements synchronized. A coordinated squad, likely with prior teamwork.
Qi Xu analyzed the situation in seconds. She lobbed a poison grenade in one direction, then—regardless of the outcome—scaled the nearest wall and escaped.
The player from that flank had already rushed to assist his teammates, leaving his back completely exposed.
A single shot silenced him. Two death notifications echoed in her mind.
The minimap showed the remaining two closing in fast...
Qi Xu didn’t stick around to fight. She fled, weaving through cover, and within minutes, she’d put enough distance between them.
Winning wasn’t the priority—she had no idea how long this game would last.
Taking out four top-ten players would’ve catapulted her to first place.
For now, Qi Xu had no intention of teaming up. A high score wasn’t necessarily good—it painted a target on her back. And with limited ammunition, recklessness would only backfire.
..........
