Chapter Eight - Grown-ups, Times Have Changed
Su Ming'an walked up to the round table, facing the drunken gazes of four men.
"Ah, what the hell is wrong with Awang, that piece of trash. To think, to think he even let the guy go..." The man with slightly longer hair let out a huge burp, his eyes red and bloodshot.
"I'll, I'll take care of this..." A man holding an iron rod stood up.
"You shouldn't have chosen this method," Su Ming'an suddenly said, "Intimidating others with force only causes a stronger backlash than simply completing tasks step by step... just like now."
"What did you say?" the man with the iron rod's eyes flashed fiercely, as if he wanted to charge over with his rod, but the buzz-cut man who seemed to have calmed down gave a hand signal, stopping him in his tracks.
"Let me think," the buzz-cut man stared at Su Ming'an, "Awang hasn't come back—you've killed him?"
Their eyes widened in surprise, then they looked uncertainly at the ordinary-looking youth with a student's air standing there.
"Click." The sound of a tin box being struck rang out, a ghostly blue flame lit up between the buzz-cut man's fingers as he exhaled a ring of smoke, his gaze cold, "That useless Awang, completely unguarded, it's better that he's dead than slowing down the team. You did us a favor by getting rid of him, quite fortunate indeed."
"You guessed he might not return?"
"Doesn't matter, it's all under control," smoke from the man's cigarette pointed at Su Ming'an, "including you—just the same."
Su Ming'an looked at him, silent.
"I'm thinking, the reason you dare to provoke us... perhaps the first solo newbie instance gave you a lot of points, and then you acquired a decent skill, so you think you can take us down alone?" The man smoked, white vapors swirling up, "Or maybe, you convinced those cowards being held to pick up weapons and follow you? But it seems I haven't heard any other footsteps."
"Why not give it a try?" Su Ming'an suggested.
"Fine," the man sneered, extinguishing his cigarette, "Let's give it a try."
The next moment, a pitch-black pistol appeared in his hand.
"Bang!"
A gunshot sounded.
Su Ming'an's chest burst open with a vivid spray of blood.
[——HP-450! (Weakness Strike, Penetrating Wound!)]
He collapsed to the ground in an instant, coughing up a copious amount of bright red blood.
"Plunk."
The man's black leather shoes entered his field of vision, followed mercilessly by his sole grinding down on his head.
The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed at his head.
"Is this what you were counting on?" the man said sarcastically, pressing down harder with his shoe.
The others burst into wild laughter, some too drunk, laughing themselves into a mess; bottles crashing to the ground.
"Come on, tell me, what are your last words before dying?" the man heard some sound coming from below and leaned down with a smile, pressing and grinding his sole repeatedly against the other man's head.
"I say..." Su Ming'an uttered an indistinct phrase, his voice still carried an ascending tone, despite the grave danger.
"What?" The man's smile deepened.
"Times have changed," Su Ming'an said.
The man's expression paused imperceptibly.
The next moment, an explosive roar of detonation thundered forth—
...
The self-destruct of the clone dealt considerable damage. When Su Ming'an's true self showed up at the mouth of the alley wielding an iron rod, he saw several figures lying on the ground groaning.
"How... how could you have such a skill..." The buzz-cut man's lower body was nearly blasted away, but his willpower seemed quite admirable. Lying on the ground, spitting blood, his eyes were filled with disbelief.
...What kind of skill was this?
Cloning? Two lives? Dual-line control?
The intensity of such a skill seemed outrageous, unattainable by players at the current stage. He tried to lift his head to look at the youth approaching, while the blood gauge in his vision was continuously dropping.
...Was he going to die?
The buzz-cut man still couldn't believe it. Even as the pain throughout his body gradually turned numb, about to engulf him entirely, the thought of failure kept swirling in his mind.
He had already taken control of a small team, like a deity, dominating the lives of several prey, easily seizing others' points, sustaining himself in immense prosperity—everything had just begun. He had just escaped the mire of that damned society with its capped limits, ahead was a future that could be dominated by violence, shining brightly.
This game was his chance to change his destiny. If he won in the end, he might obtain a reward that could save his terminally ill mother.
...Why did he end up in this state?
"Wait! Wait, please wait..." The man begged, spitting blood, "Killing me won't get you any points! Let me go, and I'll trade all the points I have to you..."
"So, you forced the players who became your prey to give up their points by torturing them?" Su Ming'an stared into the man's desperate eyes, "But points can only be traded through close contact, right?"
The man's eyes stalled.
Having the strength after being blown like that, Su Ming'an guessed the man possessed a skill similar to [Combat Continuation].
He wouldn't get any closer to the man, nor waste more words to give him a chance to turn things around.
Suddenly, a person who had been blasted into a corner stood up with a darkened face and ran towards him, iron rod in hand.
Su Ming'an extended his hand and pointed, and his clone instantly appeared behind the man who was lunging at him, embracing the man's arm with an attitude completely unafraid of death, only to be struck in the head with a club.
"Bang!"
Although there were no wounds on his own body, the intense pain transmitted from the clone gave Su Ming'an the illusion that he himself had been hit; narrowing his eyes, he reached out with the iron club and thrust it straight through the throat of the man in front of him.
[——HP-520! (Fatal injury, piercing wound!)]
…
Su Ming'an discovered the downside of the clone skill as a bug.
Every death of the clone felt like a psychological injury, continually dragging down his mental state. Like the time he detonated himself, the illusionary pain that surged throughout his body nearly made him pass out in the corridor.
[You have acquired equipment (Unrusted Iron Club)]
[Unrusted Iron Club (White Level): It seems to be a decent weapon that can at least crack open a person's skull
Attack Power: 4~10 (Damage enhanced according to the force exerted)
Durability: 6/10
Equipment Requirement: One-Handed Weapon, Strength Requirement of 5 or higher
Special Attributes: Becomes stronger when stained with blood]
[Combat Power 195+6]
…
[You have acquired an item (Guidance Map)]
[Guidance Map: This is an internal map of Central Hospital in X city, it might be helpful for exploration.]
…
Su Ming'an scooped up the items and heard a whooshing sound nearby; he instantly shifted his attention to the clone, seeing a man with slightly long hair picking up a table and smashing it toward him.
He was about to let his half-dead clone die once more when he suddenly heard a faint sound of footsteps behind him.
"Swish——"
A streak of blood light flashed at the edge of his field of view.
A gash opened on the long-haired man's neck, and then, the figure collapsed uncontrollably to the ground.
A handsome young man with an eyelid scar appeared at the mouth of the alley, his fingertips resting a blood-red butterfly poised for flight.
A mantis, emerald green like a gemstone, precisely took the life of a man; the damage that appeared in an instant was in the four digits, overflowing a full double of the player's HP.
After killing another man who was still passed out drunk, it flapped its wings and flew back to land on the young man's shoulder, its blade-like forelegs still dripping with fresh blood from a person's throat.
For a moment, Su Ming'an's gaze met the young man's gloomy eyes, but he quickly looked away, as the crew-cut man who was still in the state of [Combat Continuation] hadn't died yet.
"Swoosh!"
Su Ming'an thrust the iron club into the man's head, causing large swathes of blood to bloom like Spider Lilies from the ground.
[——HP-500! (Fatal injury!)]
The man's eyes were wide open, apparently not expecting that his end would come from being killed by prey that seemed completely under control.
All was silent once more.
…
[You have acquired equipment (Damaged Handgun)]
[Damaged Handgun (Damaged): A valuable basic weapon, you can find a player or NPC with the occupation of (Mechanic) to repair it. Recycling Price: 15 Points]
…
[You have acquired equipment (Roughly Made Protective Clothing)]
[Roughly Made Protective Clothing (White Level): It really looks cheap and might only prevent tetanus from cat scratches?
Defensive Power: 3
Durability: 5/10
Equipment Requirement: None
Special Attributes: None]
…
[You have acquired equipment (Four-Leaf Clover Bracelet)]
[Four-Leaf Clover Bracelet (Green Level): A bracelet that is of no use, the unlucky will always be unlucky and won't change just because of what they wear.
Luck + Half a Level
Equipment Requirement: None
Special Attributes: None]