Lu Yi stepped forward, his gaze drawn past the tree line to the distant plain. The two temples were disintegrating at an unbelievable speed.

  Taking the loot, he sprinted toward the center. The night was still high. It was necessary he reached a safe space before someone recognized him—and he got absolutely bombarded left and right.

  There was a tree ahead. To the left of this tree was the stream that flowed through the middle. He decided to hide there. It was a great spot.

  …

  On the opposite side of the shrinking battlefield,

  Haah... haah...

  Xun Tu exhaled in deep, ragged breaths. He was bleeding from multiple wounds across his body. Arms sliced open, back riddled with holes, the legs trembling from the weight of his own body, all while his muscles screamed of exhaustion.

  Scrambling desperately, he burst into an abandoned house and immediately dashed toward the second floor, taking stairs two at a time despite his injuries. He discovered a room and threw himself inside, quickly slamming the door shut behind him and leaning against it heavily.

  His eyes swept the sparse interior. There was only a simple bed and a diminutive nightstand beside it. Not much to work with.

  His hand reached instinctively toward his waist. His eyes widened in shock as his fingers found nothing.

  "No, no, no!" He frantically searched his robes, patting down every pocket and fold, desperately seeking at least something useful. Yet he couldn't locate even a single helpful item. Everything had been expended or lost during the chase.

  "Damnit!" He bit his lip hard.

  The pursuer following Xun Tu also entered and cautiously looked around. "Curses!” the hunter muttered under the breath; frustration evident. “I gave him time to get away. I hope he doesn't have any more healing pills."

  Meanwhile, Xun Tu racked his brains for something, anything that might save him. He needed something—anything. "Is there really nothing more I can do?" He frowned—collapsing onto his haunches, his back pressed against the door to keep it secured.

  However, even in despair, a flash of a face passed his mind. Her face, beautiful, haunting, the reason he had entered this game in the first place. "No! I'll definitely save her! I must become an Awakened!" He clenched his jaw and steeled his resolve.

  He hadn't looked at the survivor count, if he had, then he would have realized that he had already made it to the top 50. His goal had already been achieved.

  The pursuer was carefully observing everything, and one room appeared out of place. This was the same room Xun Tu had chosen to hide inside. The door was closed but a small rivulet of blood flowed from beneath it, painting an obvious trail.

  The pursuer pulled out a long blade and stabbed it straight through the door, the blade piercing the wood like butter. The blade felt like it stabbed something hard. It was stuck, wedged deep into the wood.

  Suddenly, Xun Tu appeared behind the pursuer. His hands shot forward like striking serpents, wrapping around the enemy's neck with desperate strength. Within a single heartbeat, the enemy was trapped in a crushing headlock.

  "Gah!" The pursuer, startled by the ambush, released the embedded blade and instead drew a concealed dagger, stabbing backward blindly.

  "Aargh!" Xun Tu cried—but didn't let go—and instead tightened the grip to the extreme, intending to break the enemy's neck.

  Soon, the trapped face turned blue, the lack of air turning the skin purple, the mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land.

  However, at the last moment, just a few seconds before the enemy would be dead, Xun Tu felt his grip loosen. He opened his eyes to determine what had happened. There was nothing except clothes between his hands.

  The next instant, something grabbed his face from behind.

  Crack!

  The grab forced him to look back 180 degrees, the vertebrae in his neck snapping like dry twigs. And all he saw was a face—a beautiful face. With short brown hair that barely reached her shoulder, tousled, soft, and slightly messy, framing delicate features.

  With the neck broken, Xun Tu died immediately, turning into another ordinary chest.

  All Xun Tu saw was her face, otherwise, if he'd seen her entirely, he would have seen her standing there stark naked.

  "Phew—" The girl, Yin Mei, fell and lay there on the ground, her chest heaving with exhaustion. "I'm exhausted. Uwah… why is my gift so much consuming?" She slowly grabbed her clothes and wore them while lying on the ground.

  Opening the map, she observed the next safe zone.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  …

  Zhang Ling, Hua Yong, and the others moved swiftly through the scattered houses, attempting to accumulate as many fragment points as circumstances permitted.

  Alas, all these surviving Unawakened proved remarkably obstinate. They had already secured positions within the top fifty, and actual death wasn't possible within the game. Thus, they feared nothing. Not even the authority, because if even in a win-win scenario, a scion wants to use their authority, it would be a shame for the scion.

  However—this wasn't what was shameless—what actually pissed Hua Yong and others off, was the fact that these Unawakened didn't allow anyone to take fragment points for killing them. Most of them would just kill themselves, than let anyone else have it.

  "Damnit, this is the third time!" Zhu Yan complained as a wooden chest appeared in place of the female Unawakened in front of her.

  Zhang Ling looked at the survivor count:

  [39/500]

  Ever since the survivor count reached fifty, the Unawakened had gotten more active, the survivor count fell faster than before but there was still no news of the monster.

  A glance at the safe zone showed the white circle shrinking to a much smaller area. The small area encompassed a part of the stream in the middle. Aside from the stream and a few trees, there was nothing else. An open vast plain of nothing.

  Zhang Ling doubted that there would be another circle next time. The next phase would likely be the final, all-consuming wave. His decision was made.

  "All of you are free to do whatever you want, we've already done our part for the guardians. From now onwards, the next moment we see each other, we are enemies." Zhang Ling said calmly.

  "What?" All of them were surprised by his sudden shift.

  "But don't we need to kill the monster?" Hua Yong asked, confusion and concern warring in his expression.

  "I never said I needed your help to kill anything.” Zhang Ling replied. “Your purpose was to let the guardian secure their position, and that's done. We are no longer allied now. It's a survival game. I'd suggest you also cease allying with each other as well. Fight and kill the next moment you see each other. But that's just a suggestion. As I said earlier, you are free to do whatever you want. Now go, or don't say that I didn't give you enough time." He paused and looked to his right. "You too, Jin Qing."

  Jin Qing didn't attempt to argue or retaliate, he simply nodded and ran toward the left direction.

  The others similarly refrained from protest. They gave each other a slight nod and ran in different directions.

  Though the entire region was a plain, there were still a few houses and trees spread throughout. It gave them some leeway to not get easily spotted by each other. There were also some areas with long grass, which also provided some high-level cover.

  Meanwhile, Zhang Ling didn't move. He settled onto the ground cross-legged, allowing the others substantial time to distance themselves before he would begin.

  …

  Jin Qing ran for a long time before he spotted the stream. The water level of the stream had fallen considerably, the water receding like a tide in reverse, the channel narrowing with each passing moment. It was not a surprise that it happened. Both ends of the stream had already disintegrated causing it to lose water.

  Feeling a deep, midnight thirst parch his throat, he unhooked the empty waterskin from his belt. He approached the stream's muddy bank.

  Suddenly, he halted mid-step, his eyes struggling to process what he was observing.

  The moon's reflection on the surface made it hard to ascertain but there was something at the bottom.

  Slosh… Slosh…

  The figure rose, hands raised upward into the air, then moving to sweep wet hair backward from its face. White hair, pitch-black face, pupilless eyes, and human hands. The description matched perfectly with the monster in Jin Qing's mind.

  'I can breathe underwater too.' Lu Yi walked forward with the thought still lingering in his mind. That was kind of helpful, if not now, then he was sure that it'd be helpful in the future.

  Their gazes met, silence stretching between them like a bowstring pulled taut. Without saying anything, Jin Qing surged forward, his hand flowing to his sword hilt and drawing the blade in a single fluid motion as he closed the distance with explosive speed.

  Slash!

  A cut from top to bottom.

  Lu Yi jumped to the left side. His hands were already working, using Massless and taking out the weapons.

  Immediately, Jin Qing followed with a horizontal slash, the blade cutting through the air with a whistle. Only a single second was spared, yet it was enough for Lu Yi to form an arrow.

  Swoosh—

  Dodged again. This time flipping into midair, flawlessly following the trajectory of the sword as his foot landed precisely onto the blade's flat, pinning the weapon to the ground.

  Lu Yi's hand, gripping the arrow like a dagger, stabbed toward Jin Qing's exposed wrist.

  Jin Qing wrenched his sword, somehow pulling it free, but it sent himself tumbling backward.

  Lu Yi took advantage of this moment, and retreated several steps, using the respite to materialize a spear from his storage.

  'So strong…' Jin Qing thought—as he gathered his strength and marched forward once again.

  Though he knew that he was at a disadvantage, he still fought regardless. When else would he get a chance to fight a monster alone? That too without worrying about the results.

  This time, Lu Yi took the offensive. He attacked aggressively. Advancing steadily, he used small slashes to attack Jin Qing's legs. The whole battle was just a one-sided domination.

  Jin Qing's sword struggled to reach Lu Yi, while Lu Yi continued his life-threatening onslaught, forcing Jin Qing to only block, and thus remain completely passive.

  After a few minutes of back and forth, Lu Yi saw an opening and slashed horizontally at the chest. This time however Jin Qing's parry was weak, it couldn't stop the attack properly. A deep gash opened, stunning him momentarily, the blood spraying across the ground like wine from a shattered bottle.

  Thwack!

  The next instance, the spear pierced Jin Qing's head.

  [Ding! You have…]

  A sound chimed in Lu Yi's head. He checked the chest for something useful. There was not even an explosive artifact inside it, so he discarded the chest and once again went back into the stream, submerging himself in the cooling water. Though the water level was going down, it was still a very good hiding spot.

  …

  Cai Hong ran as fast as he could. His smile was barely contained. He'd made it. Soon he would become an Awakened. Although the prestige of an Awakened was not nearly the same as a Ranked, it still held considerable potential. He couldn't help but think what his parents' reaction would be when they hear about the news. They would definitely be screaming in joy. The pride in their eyes, the celebration that would follow…

  As he was thinking, Hu Jian appeared right in front of him, blocking his path.

  "Let's finish our fight." He gave Cai Hong the time to take out his weapons.

  They fought for a long time, blades clashing, blood flowing, muscles screaming, still none of them stopped. Cai Hong was at a slight disadvantage throughout the battle. He was nearly defeated at the end.

  "You lost, just die now!" Hu Jian grabbed Cai Hong's throat while pinning him to the ground, sitting astride his chest. Both were covered in blood, yet even when lost, Cai Hong only smiled.

  Clink.

  Hu Jian realized the sound a second too late.

  Boom!

  The explosion killed both of them at the same time.