Chapter 22
“Wasn’t I needed here?”
His slightly raised eyebrows and displeased expression conveyed his feelings. He looked down at me, sprawled on the ground in a miserable state.
“And I wasn’t late.”
“……”
“I was checking the map here, just waiting for you all to arrive.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t late. In fact, he had arrived too early, causing issues. Moreover, seeing how he appeared the moment I was in danger, there seemed to be credibility to his claim that he had been monitoring the map and waiting for us.
But right now, that wasn’t the issue.
Typically, teammates take the same position in a scenario. Sharing the same position allows mutual support, and having more numbers is advantageous for survival.
But because Xenon arrived before us… and ended up taking the “Ruler” position… we couldn’t combine forces with him, as we were in the “Evil Spirit” position.
Xenon should have known my frustration wasn’t just because he was late.
His nonchalant expression, as if wondering what the problem was, annoyed me to no end, so I covered my face with my disheveled hair.
Not that it hid anything.
“How unsightly.”
Xenon muttered softly.
“Pathetic, dirty.”
“……”
“And cowardly.”
I cursed him silently. Yeah, I looked ridiculous, all beaten up. So what?
But no matter how much he was displeased with me, to call a teammate pathetic, dirty, and… “cowardly”?
Cowardly?
Is that something you say to someone fighting to survive?!
“You…”
Before I could say more, he walked past me—though he didn’t just pass me by.
“You lucked out in this silly game and got to be the hunter, did that make you feel superior?”
He stopped right in front of Hins.
‘So it wasn’t directed at me.’
I felt a brief relief realizing I wasn’t the target of his harsh words.
But it didn’t last long. A dark, inky aura began to emanate from the sword Xenon was holding.
“With four kids and two weak adults, you thought you could hunt them easily, with no fear of retaliation, right?”
As his sword traced a slow arc, a chilling and sharp energy followed. It seemed as if anything before that blade, whether objects or people, could be cut down in an instant.
The atmosphere was so oppressive that even I, his ally, felt a shiver run through me.
So how must the one facing him feel?
“Hiiik!”
Terrified by the palpable malice, Hins collapsed, his legs giving out. He didn’t make any counterattacks or attempt to fight back; it seemed his skill’s cooldown hadn’t yet expired.
It would take a while before he could use it again.
Gripping a handful of dirt in desperation, he appeared ready to throw it in Xenon’s eyes and make a break for it.
But Xenon wasn’t someone to be easily tricked like that, being quick enough to knock down arrows from a distance.
“That wasn’t hunting you did. It was a massacre.”
Xenon struck Hins’ wrist with the back of his sword, almost like a dancer performing a precise move.
“Aaagh!”
Hins screamed in pain, dropping the dirt he had gathered and rolling on the ground, moaning.
“You… you’re not a Ruler like us?”
Hins’ face contorted with disbelief.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
He was practically shouting that they weren’t supposed to hurt each other, that it was against the rules.
“You’ll be judged by the mighty constellations!”
Seeing Hins rant like a madman with bloodshot eyes, Xenon moved closer without even a snort of derision.
“Who knows?”
Realizing his end was near, Hins muttered in terror, rolling his eyes upward.
“I don’t… I don’t want to die…”
He babbled, his mouth foaming, his eyes bloodshot.
It seemed to be the effect of Xenon’s aura.
Sometimes, a powerful aura can overwhelm and paralyze an opponent’s mind.
“If you want to hunt, the hunter should also be prepared to risk their life.”
Xenon murmured as he pressed his sword to the underside of Hins’ limp neck.
“Especially if they’ve dared to touch my comrades.”
Just as the blade cut deeply into Hins’ neck, slicing through him—
“What is this…?”
Ding!
A notification window suddenly appeared before my eyes. As I read it, I muttered in disbelief.
“…Xenon.”
[Player ‘Xenon’ has become the first Ruler to attack another Ruler.]
[Hidden Mission: If you deal ‘valid damage’ to the traitor Xenon, all players—both Evil Spirits and Rulers—will automatically pass through the gate.]
[Reward: C-rank Armor Chest
*The location of the traitor will be revealed to all in real time.]
“Hah.”
I’ve experienced situations like this before.
Like when I escaped through the portal, evading the transformed Nanny.
Or during the team selection mission when I managed to form a team with mere seconds remaining.
And now, this.
“There he is!”
“I found the traitor!”
“If we take him down, we can escape! We can finally get out of this damned place!”
When all the attention of the survivors turned to us—
To put it politely, we were in for a beating.
Or to use a more common phrase…
“You idiots, run!”
We’re screwed. Really, truly screwed!
***
Xenon, while being a Ruler himself, attacked a fellow Ruler. As a result, he earned the title of “Traitor,” and the system ordered everyone to hunt him down.
‘Why did he do that?’
Even as Xenon pulled me along in our frantic escape, questions filled my mind, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
There was one possible explanation. Perhaps the system was angry because he refused to play by their rules and introduced an unexpected twist. Or maybe this had been planned all along.
But there were no “Traitors” in the original story, so the latter couldn’t be true.
In the original, both Evil Spirits and Rulers diligently followed the missions, evading or eliminating each other. As a result, more than half of the participants died in the first stage.
It was the stage with the highest number of casualties across all stages, and it led to the emergence of many Awakened.
Awakened were those whose original abilities had grown abnormally due to the trauma of the stage. Some even developed new skills entirely.
In rare cases, they could even undergo changes in appearance or gender.
Lyria also chose the “Ruler” position during the first stage. She survived by killing innocent people, which left her filled with self-loathing, leading to her awakening.
And that’s how she gained the skill, Nonviolence Gauge.
It worked by accumulating the gauge with each hit she took. Once the gauge filled up to a certain point, she could reflect up to 50% of the damage back—an overpowered skill!
Of course, not every attack could contribute to the Nonviolence Gauge. Only attacks that carried clear hostility would fill the gauge.
But even with that condition, it was an incredibly powerful skill.
In the later stages, Lyria’s achievements were nothing short of remarkable.
She filled up the gauge and infiltrated enemy bases, taking hits to protect her teammates—it was so moving that it brought tears to my eyes…
“Ouch!”
“What are you thinking about while running?”
Whoops, I must have let my thoughts wander for a moment. I was tracing the reasons why things turned out this way and got lost in thought…
Awkwardly scratching the back of my head, I tried to play it off.
“I was thinking about how to get out of this mess.”
“So, did you come up with something?”
“No.”
“……”
“We’re doomed.”
Seeing my confident expression, Xenon’s mouth twitched in disbelief.
“I’m the fool for expecting anything.”
[Constellation, the Master Healer, insists on giving you acupuncture for your head.]
[Constellation, The Hearth of the Cosmos, is intrigued by your delusions.]
It had been a while since I’d seen these indirect messages. Normally, they wouldn’t be very welcome, but…
Being chased like this, for some reason, they made me feel a little more at ease.
Even though direct gifts like coins or items were prohibited in the early stages, indirect assistance was allowed.
They could provide buffs, heal, or offer small aids like that.
So, just knowing that they were watching over me brought a sense of relief.
After all, if I managed to gain enough favor with the constellations, they might lend a hand in a critical moment.
“Hmm…”
But we couldn’t keep running like this forever. Right now, we were lucky to hide in the bushes, but…
Running around for too long would drain our stamina quickly.
And to make matters worse…
[A traitor has been detected in your team. The ‘Wendy Porcelain’ team is now disbanded.]
[error: The location of the disbanded team members cannot be tracked!]
Because of the traitor situation, I couldn’t even track my teammates’ positions.
‘What should I do?’
I needed to reconnect with my scattered teammates as soon as possible.
With everyone targeting Xenon, there was no guarantee that our former teammates would remain safe.
—Owen (dowxxx): Why is this novel always so stressful?
ㄴYellow Duck (yeoxxxx): Seriously lol, as soon as you feel relieved, everyone’s about to die.
—Never Stop (lakxxxx): Wendy, you’ve been through so much.
—Mint Choco Spaghetti (imixxxx): I seriously thought she was going to die.
—Goddess (aiuxxxx): Don’t die ㅠㅠ
—Explorer12 (tamxxxx): I missed my subway stop by two stations reading this
…
[You have earned favor from 35 observers.]
[Accumulated favor: 35]
Huh, come to think of it, I have my constellations, don’t I?
“……”
Wait, that’s right. I have my constellations!
‘Why didn’t I think of this before?’
Unlike other constellations, which can only stay in one area, my constellations are not confined to a single place.
They are the Observers Beyond the World, able to see everything in this realm.
They exist nowhere yet everywhere.
So, like this—
“Oh, no. I need to find Lyria and the others…”
All I had to do was drop a hint and wait.
“I wonder how scared she must be… I’m so worried about Lyria. But I have no idea where she is~.”
“……”
“I wish someone from the sky would just appear and tell me…”
“…Have you lost your mind?”
Xenon grimaced as I performed my little monologue, oblivious to the hints I was dropping.
—ChickenLover (chixxx): Didn’t Lyria’s group go there first?
ㄴAllDieEnding (dagxxxx): Yeah, they went up near that cliff.
ㄴWaitForIt (gidxxxx): But why is Wendy suddenly talking to herself? Kinda creepy…
ㄴOctopusOctopus (luvxxxx): This is standard for these kinds of novels. Monologues are a must.
‘Nice.’
The bait was taken.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment