The Hunter’s Gamble

The problem wasn’t whether it smelled good or not. If one couldn’t survive, everything else was meaningless.

“It’s really you.”

Xiang Qi’s lips curved into a smile. The wind tousled her beautiful hair, and her white dress billowed, outlining the graceful curves of the young woman. It was a sight that made it impossible to look away.

For a moment, the blue-haired youth was taken aback. But he quickly recovered, a few drops of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.

‘This woman was dangerous!’

“Honestly, I never expected it to be you,” he admitted, realizing his misjudgment. Even with victory seemingly in his grasp, a sense of unease gnawed at him, as if death itself loomed.

Truth be told, the blue-haired youth had originally harbored other intentions for this beautiful girl. Now, however, all such thoughts had vanished, replaced by a singular desire to end her life and conclude this round.

Prettier girls were often more deceptive, and falling into a trap wasn’t uncommon. While there might be those who let down their guard in the face of death, Liu Zhengxuan was certainly not one of them.

He knew his chances of winning were overwhelmingly high; an accident was almost impossible. Yet, things were rarely absolute. To be ensnared here by lust for beauty would be truly humiliating.

“Miss Xia, you hide your true strength well,” the blue-haired youth said, his eyes narrowing, his tone laced with mockery. “Who would have thought the weakest member of the team was actually the most deeply hidden?”

‘It seems he‘s already guessed what I’ve done.’ Xiang Qi pondered, her expression betraying no hint of her thoughts. She was trying to figure out how to deal with this man.

Direct physical confrontation was out of the question; with her current physique, she‘d only be serving herself up on a platter. If her suspicions were correct, he, too, likely possessed items obtained from the system.

Otherwise, there was no explaining why the blue-haired youth would resort to murder. It was probable that both of them harbored the same intentions.

‘Damn it, I can’t find a way to defeat him. This is tricky.’

At this point, she could only take things one step at a time, adapting to whatever came her way.

“How about this? You play with me for a while, and I’ll let you go, not kill you. What do you say?”

The blue-haired youth deliberately emphasized the word ‘play,’ overtly expressing his meaning.

While he had no intention of truly letting Xiang Qi go, there was no harm in speaking. If he actually managed to deceive her, it would be a bonus, wouldn’t it?

“Huh?”

His offer was met only with Xiang Qi’s gaze, as if she were looking at an idiot. She truly couldn’t fathom why she would seem like such an easily deceived woman.

‘We’re both old foxes, so why are you trying to spin me a ghost story?’

To be fair, this blue-haired youth was indeed the strongest opponent Xiang Qi had encountered since her ‘debut.’ Previously, she had mostly bullied peers, or at most, outwitted a few older individuals. In a direct clash of hard strength, aside from her vigilance and premonition of schemes, she didn’t have much to rely on.

Even her most proficient skill, hacking knowledge, was useless here.

As mentioned before, Xiang Qi merely possessed a bit of cleverness. She was still a level below a true strategist who could control the entire situation.

Now, she seemed truly helpless.

‘Rejected?’ Liu Zhengxuan was somewhat surprised. Although it was reasonable, as his initial goal wasn’t truly focused there, being rejected still felt irritating.

When he was irritated, he killed.

The dark muzzle of a gun rose, pointing mercilessly at Xiang Qi’s head as he flashed a brilliant smile.

“Farewell.”

He said.

“Bang!” The gun fired, a bullet tearing into flesh, splattering blood.

Xiang Qi died just like that, and the book ended… Ahem, of course, that wasn’t what happened.

The bullet went astray. It didn’t pierce Xiang Qi’s heart as planned. Instead, it struck the girl’s right arm. Even though she clutched her shoulder tightly, blood still streamed down her arm like an unstoppable rivulet.

It hurt, truly excruciatingly. Xiang Qi had never experienced such pain in her life. The bullet was lodged in her bone, a torment that made it almost impossible to breathe. Her body trembled, and she could barely stand upright. She didn’t want to cry, yet crystal tears flowed ceaselessly.

Despite the intense pain, at least her life had been saved.

Xiang Qi’s face was deathly pale from blood loss. She shakily straightened up, revealing a mouthful of blood-stained silver teeth.

She had bitten down so hard that her gums were bleeding.

‘Not dead?’

No big deal. The silver gun in the blue-haired youth’s hand dissipated into the wind. He twisted his neck, his knuckles cracking.

He considered it a warm-up. After all, his aim had only begun to improve after acquiring the Phenomenon Armament, so he wasn’t surprised by the result.

He hadn’t lied either; this Phenomenon Armament could only hold three bullets. But that didn’t mean expended bullets couldn’t regenerate.

One bullet regenerated every six hours. However, for now, his bullets were depleted, and he had to wait for them to automatically replenish.

“Why put yourself through this?”

Drawing closer to Xiang Qi, the blue-haired youth sighed, clenching his fist.

‘Wait,’ his pupils contracted. The girl before him was actually smiling.

Yes, Xiang Qi was smiling.

“Do you know? I could have completely dodged your bullet. But I was gambling, gambling on an opportunity. I didn’t want to waste this precious talent.”

She had bet everything she possessed, going all-in. Win, and she gained everything; lose, and she would be utterly shattered. This was the only chance Xiang Qi could conceive of to turn the tables, a desperate gamble with her own life as the stake.

‘This is the last time,’ Xiang Qi warned herself. She would never again allow herself to be pushed to such a point.

Fortunately, she had won this round.

Realizing something was amiss, the blue-haired youth no longer hesitated. His fist swung down fiercely, knocking Xiang Qi to the ground, causing her to cough up a large mouthful of blood.

But it was already too late.

[Mental Shock]

The girl’s skirt had been lifted. Her left hand was touching her right thigh; the card on the outer side of her stocking band had dimmed. The small knife on the inner side was pulled out, and taking advantage of the blue-haired youth’s dazed state, she stabbed upwards, hitting precisely between his legs.

“Ahhh~ Ah~ Ah~!!!” It was an inhuman scream. The tables had turned.

Struggling to her feet, Xiang Qi spat out the bloodied saliva in her mouth, her cold eyes fixed on the writhing figure on the ground. As someone who had once been a man, she understood this pain intimately.

“Serves you right. Karma!”

Xiang Qi’s violet eyes appeared exceptionally beautiful, yet they seemed to conceal an impenetrable block of ice.

The item she had acquired in the music room was this extra talent card, [Mental Shock]. It was at that moment that Xiang Qi finally understood the system’s intention.

The other two extra talent cards must have been on the blue-haired youth. She had gone to numbers three and nine on her way back, but the items there had long been taken. Combining this with her earlier judgment, she reached this conclusion.

The intense warning from her talent made her heart race. Without hesitation, she slashed the blue-haired youth’s neck with the knife.

“This round of the game has entered its third day.”

The system prompt sounded without warning. Xiang Qi looked at Liu Zhengxuan, still struggling on the ground, and raised the knife once more.

It wasn’t enough. Like this, he would definitely still be alive before the rules finished being read. At that point, it would be uncertain who would live and who would die. With this thought, she unhesitatingly plunged the knife down again, this time into his eyeball. The entire hilt disappeared, and Xiang Qi twisted it forcefully several times, ensuring the blue-haired youth was thoroughly dead.

“Beginning distribution of Hunter templates. Holders of extra talent cards will have priority.”

“Hint: You have been selected as a Hunter. Special template acquired: All stats enhanced tenfold, gained extra talents [Relative Displacement], [Wide Area Search], [Mental Shock].”

The cards on her body had vanished.

“Hunter Faction Mission: Kill all Survivors.”

“All Survivors are now dead. Faction mission complete. Hunters win. Entering settlement mode…”

Xiang Qi knew she had won.