CH 161

Tang Erda thought about what happened between Bai Liu (6) and Hearts in other timelines and showed a complicated and sympathetic expression.

Then he quickly restrained his superfluous feelings and answered Hearts’ question in a succinct manner. “It should be this level 3 game. This is a new game that no one has entered yet.”

Bai Liu (6) had always liked new games, especially when there were opponents. This way, his advantages in new games would be maximized.

“Rose Factory?” Hearts raised her eyes, a smile on her face. “It looks like a very romantic game and it matches your skill and identity. Mr Hunter, I believe that you will surely kill the newcomer who stole my Little Witch in this game.”

Hearts looked at Tang Erda with dark and bright eyes. “Mr Hunter, I will do my best to help you. I believe you can fully feel my sincerity but my only requirement is that Little Witch can’t be hurt, both inside and outside the game.”

Tang Erda was strangely silent for a moment. Liu Jiayi helped Bai Liu (6) block his shot and now her life or death was unknown.

Hearts quickly removed her gaze from Tang Erda’s face. She didn’t probe much into Tang Erda’s silence and said casually, “I heard that my Little Witch had a gunshot wound when entering the game. I hope this type of thing won’t happen again, Mr Hunter.”

She bowed her head and smiled gracefully. “She is the child I raised and she is very important to me. Now she is hurt a bit and it is a harsh rebuke to me for not protecting her. I failed in the happy future I promised her so I don’t want to see her pay the price for following someone she shouldn’t.”

“I don’t want her to be damaged by other people so you can handle the adults who damaged her.”

Tang Erda felt a familiar difficulty.

The extreme protection of this woman called Hearts was really… troublesome.

Liu Jiayi was now a member of her guild and this woman seemed to have a lot of affection for Liu Jiayi. It seemed that Hearts didn’t care at all even if Liu Jiayi betrayed the guild.

The league was about to start and Hearts obviously needed Liu Jiayi as a player. She only needed Liu Jiayi to come back safely. Her attitude was made clear.

If he acted against Liu Jiayi casually, Hearts would definitely try to use her skill to trace his identity background and retaliate against him—this woman already had signs of doing so.

“These three are excellent reserve members of my guild.” Hearts turned sideways and asked the three team members standing behind her to come. Then she briefly introduced them. “They used to accompany Little Witch. They have trained with her so they have a good understanding of her skills and habitual attack methods. They know how to control her without hurting her.”

Hearts raised the brim of her hat. Her eyes at this moment were exactly the same light brown as Su Yang’s eyes. On her charming face, the look in her eyes was so gentle that Tang Erda had the type of heart palpitations he was familiar with. Even her voice was somewhat similar to Su Yang.

“Mr Hunter, I have entrusted everything to you.” She leaned forward slightly, her eyes becoming more and more like Su Yang’s eyes and her voice becoming more masculine.

Hearts stood on tiptoe and whispered into Tang Erda’s ear, “Then please bring back my Little Witch.”

“Captain.”

This voice seemed both fake and real. The ‘captain’ mixed with the smile made Tang Erda wake up violently.

Hearts had already turned and walked away, leaving only a very feminine back and a laugh full of complaints. “Mr Hunter is really wary of me. I can’t completely see the whole face in your heart…”

Tang Erda’s expression darkened for a moment and he didn’t bother talking much nonsense with the team members brought by Hearts. He carefully told them to pay attention to the money passed by Bai Liu (6) and to not make any deals with him. Then the four of them entered the game together.

[The game ‘Rose Factory’ has gathered all the players. The game is about to start…]

Bai Liu opened his eyes in the game. A small TV with a dark screen in the multiplayer area lit up with an electric sound. Bai Liu’s blood-stained profile appeared on it and then five TVs around him lit up at the same time.

The audience saw that the legendary newcomer Bai Liu, who had been discussed on the forum for a long time, had appeared again. They were sluggish for a moment before the audience frantically rushed toward Bai Liu’s small TV.

“Dang! Directly entering a level three game! This level up is too steep!”

“I just saw Hearts surrounding the game entrance. It must be him…”

“Haven’t you seen the forum yet? It is said that Bai Liu entered with the injured Little Witch in his arms! Did he hurt Little Witch? Hearts will definitely want to kill him. This year’s team for the Kings Guild is based on the skills of Little Witch.”

“I saw many prospective players from the Kings Guild but last time, Bai Liu won against the Scavenger. Perhaps this time it is okay!”

Wang Shun’s expression was extremely dark as he looked at the person appearing on the small TV next to Bai Liu’s TV. It was the Rose Hunter!

In terms of combat strength alone, the hunter was more difficult to handle than the three reserve guild members combined.

These ordinary players weren’t familiar with the hunter, a player who had been hidden for a long time. In addition, the hunter hid his panel so the ordinary audience members didn’t know his strength. They were still eagerly looking forward to a wonderful battle. Bai Liu’s previous actions of turning defeat to victory had raised many people’s confidence and expectations.

However, Wang Shun had seen the Rose Hunter in the league.

Why did these guilds pay a high price to hire the hunter to participate in the league? It was because this person had never lost in a single person game. It was a tough, almost god given strength.

Two years ago, the audience also consisted of players who hadn’t witnessed the hunter. The moment the Rose Hunter’s bullet was fired, the audience started to cheer for his victory. This was a top level league player whose combat power made people surrender. He wasn’t someone the current Bai Liu could fight against.

If it was the league then Bai Liu would undoubtedly die when he encountered the hunter.

Yet in the game, there was still a chance. It was because there was the store system in the game. Bai Liu could buy items with a lot of points. These items could disrupt or balance the attack rhythm of the hunter and he could find a way to clear the game.

The cost might be high but this was the only method that Bai Liu could use at present.

He just didn’t know if Bai Liu’s points could hold up…

Wang Shun stood in front of Bai Liu’s small TV. He was just about to charge Bai Liu’s small TV when Hearts suddenly entered Bai Liu’s viewing area with a group of people.

The crowd dispersed wildly, giving up a spot in front of Bai Liu’s small TV to Hearts who suddenly arrived.

Wang Shun changed to a vigilant appearance. He pulled up his hood and retreated to the back of the crowd. However, he didn’t run away. He stood in the distance and acted like he was enjoying Bai Liu’s small TV.

The queen’s very interested expression toward Bai Liu gave Wang Shun a familiar, ominous feeling.

Hearts turned around and smiled as she bowed slightly to all the audience members. She gave a very polite salute. “I might disturb everyone’s viewing from now on but Bai Liu has been officially designated as the number one enemy of the Kings Guild. I forbid everyone to like, charge or bookmark his TV. I hope you understand.”

“I will let the members of the Kings Guild stand by Bai Liu’s small TV until he falls into the nameless zone. I believe that no one wants to get involved in the dispute between me and him. Then I hope you enjoy watching the other players’ small TV.”

Hearts smiled and waved her hand. The members behind her followed and lined up on the edges of Bai Liu’s viewing area, forming a human wall defense line.

The members of the Kings Guild stood with their hands behind their backs, their faces expressionless. The intermediate and senior members of the guild were extremely intimidating to ordinary players. Even if they couldn’t hurt each other in the central hall, it was difficult for these ordinary audience members to have the courage to go beyond this wall of people to like and charge Bai Liu’s small TV.

As for the league players who were really interested in Bai Liu, it obviously wasn’t very rational behavior to risk offending the biggest guild in the game to give Bai Liu a like when Hearts was present and the league was still two months away.

Wang Shun, who was repelled outside of Bai Liu’s small TV area by the human wall, stood there with an ugly expression. He removed the hood that covered his face and looked at Queen of Hearts from a distance. Bai Liu’s small TV was guarded and no one could touch it.

This was really bad…

Not having sufficient points for the game was a secondary matter. Hearts wanted Bai Liu to fall directly into the nameless zone. This was directly killing Bai Liu’s game life…

All the small TVs in the nameless zone were bad and the TV screens were basically static. The players couldn’t see them clearly and it was hard to tell who was who. This was why there wasn’t a single audience member in the nameless zone. No one cared about the players on the TVs at all.

Thus, this place was called the nameless zone. Anyone who fell to this place lost their name and became just one of the thousands of ordinary players without a name who were struggling to death.

If Bai Liu’s small TV fell into the nameless zone where the abandoned small TVs were piled up, the audience wouldn’t be able to find Bai Liu’s small TV among the thousands of abandoned ones even if they wanted to give Bai Liu a like or a recharge. Without any likes, recharges or bookmarks, Bai Liu’s small TV wouldn’t be able to come out of the nameless zone.

This entered a dead end loop. Once a player fell into the nameless zone, the next game would still start in the nameless zone. Once a player fell into the nameless zone, they could only struggle forever on this abandoned screen with no one watching until they became monsters or died.

It was a very simple matter for a large guild to use resources to block powerful newcomers. This was why so many powerful newcomers chose to join a guild and be exploited rather than develop by themselves.

Wang Shun was one of the key middle-level personnel who had been helping the Kings Guild screen out information and new recruits. He actually resented this type of oppression and monopoly in his heart. It was because he was also forced to join the guild this way. After learning of his skill he was threatened and lured into the Kings Guild.

Yet no matter how much he disliked this type of thing, Wang Shun had to admit that the current situation was unsolvable unless a guild of the same level as the Kings Guild was willing to come out and fight the Kings Guild for Bai Liu’s sake. Otherwise, Bai Liu would definitely fall into the nameless zone and enter an infinite loop that no one cared about.

Unfortunately, the guild owned by Bai Liu was at least one league championship away from developing into a large guild on the level of the Kings Guild.

Wang Shun changed his face again. He put on a mask and looked deeply to a place behind the hall.

He knew a guild leader who might be interested in Bai Liu in this situation.

The richest guild in the game, the fifth ranked guild—the Gamblers League.

It was just that Bai Liu couldn’t be killed by the hunter before he found reinforcements.

——-

Meanwhile, the Lalaye Temple.

This was a small island next to the sea. In fact, it shouldn’t be described as an island. It was more like the corner of a huge, abandoned old building that floated ashore from the depths of the seabed.

The neat, tall gray-white stone pillars bent over the deep blue water. Under the swaying waves, fish could be seen devouring the decaying vines on the dark green stone steps.

On the magnificent stone steps of the hall, there was a man with a black hood and a cross-shaped spiral mask. He had been sitting still for a long time only to suddenly move.

This disturbed the ash deposited on his old black hood as well as the seabird of an unknown species that had built a nest on his shoulder.

He slowly took the nest off his shoulder and placed it on the old, dusty stone table in front of him.

The small bird jumped out of the nest and pecked his fingers. Then it hopped onto a card placed face down on the stone table. The bird looked at the statues of the gods sitting at the stone table with its small eyes. 

The masked man was surrounded by eight grotesque and slippery figures with different looks. Their upper bodies had a normal human appearance but there was all types of weirdness on their lower bodies. There were terrifying tentacles, fish tails, mottled bird feathers and parasite-infested plants.

Their holy eyes were closed. They might be mere statues but they seemed inviolable and sacred. There was an ancient and holy luster flowing from the texture that had been corroded by time. It made people not dare to look at them directly. It seemed like one more look at the ugly and terrifying lower bodies would make them fall uncontrollably into madness, make them dedicate their souls to these ancient gods and kill themselves.

The only fortunate thing was that these gods were still asleep. The unfortunate thing was that they seemed like they were sleeping and could wake up at any moment.

The statues were placed on the stone platform with their eyes closed. The lower body of the masked man sitting in the same place also started to turn into stone. His toes were covered with coiled snails, moss and dense, green rhizomes of unknown plants.

He sat around a huge stone table.

The stone table was thick and old. It was full of potholes after being eroded by wind and rain. The bizarre giant octopus tentacled monster carved on it was strangely identical to the symbol of the Dangerous Heretics Handling Bureau.

Opposite the man was another man wearing a hood. This person looked more laid-back and neater than the first man. His face was hidden under a pure black hood and his visible neck was so white that it was transparent. His bony hand reached out to touch the damp cards facing down on the table.

“Prophet.” The man opened his mouth with a seemingly innocent smile. “This is the fourth night of the Werewolf game that we are playing. Whose identity do you want to check?”

The Prophet sitting opposite him was silent. There was only the sound of the mighty waves crashing against the old temple.

“Do you need me to help you review the entire Werewolf game that you have played with me?” The man spoke slowly and his fingers tapped on the cards that had been turned over.

“On the first night, you didn’t verify anything and I sent a merman.” The man tapped slowly on the card of the Siren King with his eyes closed. “No one died on that night. It was Christmas Eve.”

“The second night, you checked a thief and I sent a mirror. On this night, under your guidance, the werewolf killed a guilty puppeteer and a villager who sinned. He punished two ‘criminals’ and it was your victory.”

“On the third night, you sent the ‘Witch’ and ‘Cupid’ and I sent the ‘Blood Ganoderma Lucidum’. On this night, you guided Cupid (i.e. Liu Huai) to connect with the Werewolf and Witch. The Werewolf punished the two ‘criminals’ but the innocent Cupid also died because of the Werewolf. This night was a draw and it was a very nice match.”

The man’s fingertips roamed over the cards on the table. In front of him was the card of a clown smiling wildly.

The inverse cross painted under the clown’s right eye was exactly the same as the pattern on the back of this person’s clothes.

The man’s fingers finally settled on the card of a hunter surrounded by rose vines. He looked at the man opposite him and the sea breeze blew back his black hood.

“The Hunter Card is the last celestial card that can be tested. Prophet, are you going to test him tonight?”

The Prophet, whose lower body was petrified, remained silent for a moment. Then he replied softly, “I want to test him. Is he a human, god or monster?”

The person opposite the Prophet said with a half smile, “This hunter, who was destined to become a god, became a human after being chosen by you. Yet now he is about to become a monster in the endless cycle of reincarnation.”

“Prophet, are you sure you want to play this card? In this round, it doesn’t matter if it is the werewolf or hunter who kills a human. You will lose if you do so. Then on the next night, you will only be left with your own celestial card to play. If the god is polluted, the werewolves will be slaughtered.”

The Prophet closed his eyes. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll send a rose.” The person opposite the Prophet opened the card in front of him and said softly, “I like the smell of it very much. I think it is very suitable for this hunter. There is an air of despair as it is about to wither.”

“—It is like the smell of a monster.”

The card that was turned over was a rose placed in a long cylindrical vessel, with its flower buds drooping. It was like a rose that was about to wither.

TL: More detailed info on the Werewolf game. https://radiichina.com/werewolf-the-game-who-did-you-kill-last-night/

Also, I can’t wait to see all the speculations about the last part of this chapter haha.