Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
"Remember this well," Cui Ming said, "It's fine. Senior brother, there's no need to chase him anymore. He's already run far away and won't dare to show up again. Let's find something to eat while we wait for Beiyue."
Li Qing responded with an "Oh," as he flew down from the rooftop and asked, "Is there anything edible in this city?"
"Leave it to me," Cui Ming replied, pulling out a boiled egg he had saved from breakfast. He tossed one to each of them, and the three began peeling their eggs in the park outside the hospital. Passersby numbly ignored the scene.
At that moment, Dina's voice came through, "There is food in the city. Our staff distributes food at specific locations. If you find them, you can get food and water."
Cui Ming remarked, "Dina is quite pretty."
Mi Xiaonan, while eating her egg, chimed in, "But she doesn't have much of a chest."
"Nonsense! She's got a nice figure!" Cui Ming mimicked Dina's voice, saying, "Foul play, foul play... Haha..."
Mi Xiaonan quickly added, "I was just joking... Cui Ming, she's the examiner..."
Cui Ming continued, "Our team has Ding Ze; we've already offended the Ding Family. Hmph! This Ghoul is as strong as any of us. If he wants to blend into this city with his speed and our unfamiliarity with the terrain, there's no way we could find him in twelve hours."
Just then, a male voice interrupted, "Number 49, please do not slander. I am the President. A Ghoul must consume a corpse every hour; this is a strict requirement. Corpses can only be obtained from funeral homes and hospitals and cannot be deliberately created."
"Thank you for the reminder," Cui Ming replied with a chuckle. "Beiyue and the others have already burned all the corpses at the funeral home. Now that Ghoul can only return to the Morgue to feed on corpses. As long as we secure the Morgue, our mission will be complete." He wrote on Li Qing's hand: "That guy is listening to us in the hospital. Besides the Morgue, there's another place with corpses. Next, we'll do this, this, and this..."
Twenty minutes later, Beiyue and Ding Ze arrived at the hospital. Cui Ming asked, "Beiyue, have all the corpses been burned?"
Beiyue looked at Ding Ze, who lazily replied, "It should be about right."
"What do you mean by 'about right'?" Cui Ming asked, dissatisfied. Checking the time, he continued, "It's been fifty minutes since we saw the Ghoul. Assuming it just devoured a corpse before encountering us, it must head to the Morgue within ten minutes. Mi Xiaonan and Li Qing are guarding it now and haven't noticed anything. If the Ghoul doesn't show up in ten minutes, then it must have gone to the crematorium."
Ding Ze was taken aback. "So I would become a historical sinner?"
"Not necessarily," Cui Ming pondered for a moment. "If the Ghoul doesn't appear in ten minutes, you three should head straight to the crematorium and incinerate all the corpses. Then we can return to the hospital to keep watch."
Time passed quickly, and the Ghoul still hadn't appeared. Cui Ming picked up the walkie-talkie. "The Ghoul is no longer near the hospital. Li Qing, Mi Xiaonan, Ding Ze, you three go to the crematorium. If you can't find the Ghoul, burn all the bodies. Beiyue, you go to the Morgue to prepare the corpses. When the Ghoul returns from the crematorium, if it doesn't find Mi Xiaonan and the others, it will definitely head to the hospital Morgue in search of food."
Beiyue protested, "Hey, I'm the captain."
"Uh... Captain, please go ahead."
Beiyue grabbed the walkie-talkie and said, "Let's do as Cui Ming suggested. But Cui Ming, what are you doing?"
"I'm disguising as a zombie." Cui Ming extinguished his Force and changed into a doctor's outfit. Putting on a mask, he blended into the dazed crowd. He spoke into the walkie-talkie again: "If I spot the Ghoul, I'll report immediately. But from my perspective, this guy isn't very smart. He won't notice me. Alright, brothers, let's get to work."
...
Beiyue went down to the Morgue while the other three headed to the crematorium. Cui Ming sat on a park bench next to an expressionless beautiful patient. Wearing a mask, he sat stiffly beside her like an NPC.
The Ghoul appeared; it jumped down from the sixth floor. Besides the Morgue in the hospital, there was another place with food—an operating room. Although there wasn't much food available, there were still one or two corpses. The Ghoul didn't break any game rules; it had been listening intently from the sixth floor.
It emerged before Cui Ming. His eyes widened and his pupils shrank as he continued to play dead. The Ghoul extended its claws and pulled off Cui Ming's mask, grinning at him. Cui Ming let out a hollow laugh and said, "What a coincidence!"
The Ghoul replied, "I can give you a chance to draw a card."
Cui Ming shook his head. "Brother, here's the situation: you're dead for sure, but you could take me out with you. Why bother? If I die, our team loses points, which means nothing to you. Let's make a deal. If you don't kill me, my brothers will finish this quickly. If you do kill me, I'll have my guys make sure you end up in a bad way before we’re done. Think about it."
Ghoul looked around. Li Qing emerged from the park's pond, while Beiyue appeared from the trunk of a car. Ding Ze and Mi Xiaonan were positioned high up on two buildings. Ghoul asked, "Do you know where I am?"
"In the operating room," Cui Ming replied. "But you're too alert. If we engage, you'll definitely try to escape. You're too fast; we can't keep up with you. Look around; we've got several positions locked down. Even if you break through, you'll be left with half your life. That remaining half won't be enough to outrun their pursuit. Consider my proposal; killing me won't benefit you at all, right?"
"Go to hell," Ghoul snarled.
"Wait," Cui Ming said. "If you don't kill me, I can offer you a chance to turn things around."
"What chance?" Ghoul was intrigued.
Cui Ming continued, "To explain the opportunity, I need to introduce my setup first. When we first met... because you're role-playing, I know you're proud; after all, you're a member of the alliance and being toyed with doesn't sit well with you... I used that mindset to set this trap... How long have I been talking?"
Ghoul interrupted impatiently, "Five minutes! You're so long-winded! Just tell me what opportunity you can give me! Otherwise, I'll just kill you."
"Here's the thing: if I can't draw a good card in five minutes, I'll say six minutes, seven minutes, or even until the end of time..." Cui Ming flicked a Yellow Card between his fingers, freezing Ghoul in place. He turned and ran, shouting, "Take him out!"
"You ugly human! I'm not done yet..." Ghoul roared, but his anger couldn't break free from the immobilization of Strategy. The four skilled fighters quickly closed in and began to beat him mercilessly. Just as the Yellow Card's effect wore off, Mi Xiaonan activated her Paralysis mark and continued the assault... Ghoul struggled hopelessly and died with resentment, glaring at Cui Ming a hundred meters away who was casually eating an egg.
Cui Ming sighed. "Love and hate can cloud one's judgment; why not accept it? It's not worth losing your life over pride. I admit I can't beat you, but I can trick you into losing."
Dina appeared before the five of them. "Mission accomplished; take a break while we wait for scores. In ten hours, we'll enter the next round." With that, the mage transported them out of Sin City.
The five returned to their viewing platform to await the judges' scores. Their base score was effectively perfect; no one had fallen in battle, and the only deduction was for an hour wasted—limited in impact. The base score was fifty points; they were guaranteed forty-five points at least. Next came the judges' impression scores and teamwork points.
If they scored eighty points in the first round, it would conclude the first half of the competition and grant them a chance at a lower difficulty second half. If their total score across three rounds fell below eighty points, they would fail the assessment; if it exceeded eighty but remained below one hundred, they would receive an A+ for second-half tasks. Failing any task in any of the three rounds would result in failure of the assessment altogether. Scoring 140 points in both the first and second rounds would conclude the first half and grant them medium difficulty tasks for the second half.
Now it was time to see the scores.
Beiyue counted on his fingers, "The team score should be full marks; we coordinated very well."
Li Qing replied, "The impression score will be deducted a bit since we harmed some civilians. However, there was no malicious attack, so the deduction will be limited."
Beiyue said, "The individual scores should be fine. Li Qing, you fulfilled your duty of protection, and everyone did their part without any mistakes."
Cui Ming sighed, "You’re too kind. We can’t possibly get eighty points because of one deduction point: the Bone Dragon."
Everyone realized this, and Li Qing nodded, "The Bone Dragon should have been prioritized for attack by the A+ difficulty team. Eliminating the Bone Dragon would lower our mission difficulty by one tier."
The intercom crackled to life with Dina's voice: "Beiyue Team's first round assessment has a base score of 48 points, full marks for teamwork at 10 points, individual scores at 9 points, and an impression score of 8 points. The total score is 75 points. Due to the Bone Dragon's violation, after consulting with the judges, each of the three teams that attacked the Bone Dragon will have 15 points deducted. Therefore, Beiyue Team's final score is 60 points. For the second round assessment task, you may choose between the A+ task with a base score of 50 points or the B-level task with a base score of 30 points. Please respond within one hour."
In the first round, regardless of task level, the base score was always fifty points; now it was time for the team to make a choice. This was also a test for the team, especially for the captain. Everyone was relatively satisfied with the scoring from the first assessment; there were no issues.
Li Qing began calculating: "We need at least 140 points by the end of the second round. If we participate in the third round, our minimum difficulty in the second half will also be medium difficulty." A total score exceeding 140 across three rounds would qualify as medium difficulty; otherwise, they would face high difficulty in the second half.
Beiyue calculated further: "We must score at least 80 points in our next round. Choosing a B-level task is necessary since its base score is too low for us to achieve otherwise. If we choose a B-level task and secure 50 points, then if we get another 40 points in the last round, we would reach 150 points and have medium difficulty in the second half. If we choose A-level tasks, we risk facing low difficulty in the second half but A-level tasks are inherently challenging. No one will help us take down the Bone Dragon next time. I want to hear your opinions on this."
Choosing A difficulty could lead to either low difficulty in the second half or mission failure. Choosing B difficulty guaranteed medium difficulty in the second half but not low difficulty. (To be continued.)
Comment 0 Comment Count