Because Xun Yin was not a normal system like those found in typical power-fantasy novels—and because he frequently stirred up trouble—his bound host, Xin Ye, often forgot that he even had someone to turn to for help.
Fortunately, this "author" would occasionally appear like a stern headteacher to clarify the plot's direction.
【Let it stay. Its tiny proboscis can’t swallow a whole living person like you,】 Xun Yin said, deeply aware that a lack of information could cause intense anxiety. 【You’ll need the butterfly to explore this place later. Don’t even think about getting rid of it.】
Xin Ye’s hand twitched, releasing the butterfly’s wings. Thinking he had agreed, the little creature circled him joyfully twice before settling steadily on his shoulder.
It looked quite friendly and well-behaved.
Chen Anyang had unconsciously changed how he addressed Xin Ye. "Boss, we’re letting the butterflies stay?"
"Stay," Xin Ye replied, pretending his previous hand twitch had been intentional. "If they really wanted to kill us, they could have done it outside the barrier. We can keep them close for now."
After relaying the known information to his teammates, Xin Ye was surprised to find that the location-sharing function had been restored.
"It seems the center area tests team coordination." Xin Ye shared his location with Leng Xianye and the others, then paused, turning slowly toward Chen Anyang.
Chen Anyang quickly typed out a message and took off his multi-function watch to show Xin Ye. "I swear, our two teams definitely won't be enemies with yours."
Xin Ye nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Since location sharing is back, let’s part ways here."
"Also, what I fed you yesterday wasn't poison—it was a cookie. If you liked the taste, you can buy some after the competition ends."
"Huh?! Really? Wait—hey! Don't go! Boss, take me with you a bit longer—"
Before Chen Anyang could finish, Xin Ye had already bolted with his Mirror Image.
With no one else around, Xin Ye’s expression gradually turned indifferent as he returned to his own mission rhythm. "I’ve agreed with Leng Xianye to meet up toward the east. It’s closer to them. We’ll clear the path on our way to prevent any accidents while they’re looking for me."
The Mirror Image gripped his gun and gave a slight nod. "Understood."
On the other side, hearing the change in Xin Ye’s tone, Xun Yin’s breathing hitched slightly.
Over these past few days, he felt that Xin Ye possessed qualities that weren't in his original character setting documents.
【There’s a deer-type mutant up ahead, along with a small body of water containing fish and amphibian mutants. Be careful.】
Xin Ye gave a brief acknowledgment and had the Mirror Image activate visual sharing.
The center area was exactly as Xun Yin had described: everything had been stuffed into it.
Just thirty minutes of travel showed Xin Ye that the terrain here was a synthesis of the north, south, east, and west regions, with many additional rocky mountains. He had previously wondered how contestants would survive seven whole days in a place like the desert with no food or shelter.
Now it was clear: the game was forcing them into the center area. If you couldn't make it here, you were eliminated.
The area featured weapon caches from the Battlefield Ruins, abandoned residential buildings from the Flooded City, and water sources from the Forest. Xin Ye finally understood the different advantages of the starting locations.
As for the group assigned to the desert, they probably just had terrible luck; the only thing they could utilize there was likely the cacti.
There were also many fruit trees not found in the forest, offering a lifeline to those who didn't want to eat roasted mutants.
In terms of mutant density, the concentration here was terrifyingly high.
After killing the sixth mutant to lunge at him, Xin Ye wiped the blood from his face and opened the map.
The map automatically recorded the contestants' exploration tracks in the center area. Currently, an orange line marked Xin Ye’s path from the west toward the east.
"There are too many... it's as if..." Having just finished a battle, Xin Ye struggled to steady his breathing. "As if all the mutants from the four outer regions have been locked in here."
"Am I right, Butterfly?"
Xin Ye glanced at the butterfly on his shoulder. It shuffled two steps closer to his neck and fluttered its wings.
It was playing dumb.
Furthermore, there was another issue: he hadn't seen any other butterflies here.
Xin Ye snorted coldly and continued clearing the way.
The terrain they were currently in was a small patch of sandy ground. There were few obstacles, and visibility was clear. The Mirror Image had been eyeing a small mountain ahead for a long time, so he asked Xin Ye, "Do you not plan to check that area out?"
"Valleys are unique terrain for the center area. I don't believe for a second there isn't something inside," Xin Ye replied. He had noticed it too and had already made up his mind. "We'll go together once everyone arrives."
But there was another reason Xin Ye didn't mention.
The valley reminded him of the dream he had the night before the competition.
His watch beeped twice. It was a voice call request initiated by Leng Xianye in the group chat. Xin Ye pulled out a small silver earpiece hidden next to the watch and hooked it over his ear.
"Hello? You're through the barrier?"
"Yeah. I see your dot through location sharing. I’m heading to meet you with Qiuqiu now."
Leng Xianye’s voice came through from the other side, sounding like he was in decent shape.
Neither side suggested hanging up, so they simply listened to the sounds coming from the other's end.
The two dots drew closer. The status bar at the bottom indicated they would meet in about twenty minutes.
Xin Ye felt a somewhat parental concern for his teammates. He spoke first: "What terrain are you on? Have you encountered any mutants?"
"What... mutants?"
Leng Xianye was clearly stunned. "Aren't there no other mutants here besides the butterflies...?"
Suddenly, Tang Qiuqiu’s cry of alarm erupted from the other end of the call.
Xin Ye cut the audio, checked Leng Xianye’s coordinates, and switched from walking to a full sprint.
***
The water here wasn't as deep as in the Flooded City, only reaching their waists.
Tang Qiuqiu and Leng Xianye moved forward slowly, accompanied by their butterflies.
The simulated environment replicated various physical sensations to the greatest extent possible. This had its pros and cons; the pro was that everyone’s abilities and weapons felt natural during combat, but the con was that Tang Qiuqiu was currently miserable due to the freezing water and the heavy weight of his soaked uniform.
They had sustained some injuries while clashing with other ability users in the Battlefield Ruins, and now Tang Qiuqiu’s wounds were beginning to throb from being submerged.
But at the thought of reuniting with his teammate soon, he felt this discomfort was nothing.
While Leng Xianye was on the call with Xin Ye up ahead, Tang Qiuqiu, walking behind, received a message from Lian Muyun.
Lian Muyun: Qiu—qiu—are you guys inside the barrier? Encountered any mutants yet?
Tang Qiuqiu: Not yet. Aren't there no other mutants here besides the butterflies?
Tang Qiuqiu: Are you inside the barrier yet?
Lian Muyun didn't reply for several minutes. Tang Qiuqiu worried if something had happened. Two minutes later, his watch finally received a response.
Lian Muyun: Open a private location share with me. Quick.
Tang Qiuqiu: What’s wrong? We already have it open in the group?
Lian Muyun: The map details in the private share are more detailed than the group one. You’ll see when you try it.
After Tang Qiuqiu opened the private location share, Lian Muyun stopped messaging him.
He wanted to mention this to Leng Xianye, but Xin Ye had suddenly started talking to Leng Xianye.
"Yeah, I see your dot through location sharing... What... mutants?"
Hearing this, it wasn't just Leng Xianye who froze; Tang Qiuqiu, walking behind, did as well.
Lian Muyun had asked about mutants too, right? Was there a problem?
"Aren't there no other mutants here besides the butterflies...?"
He anxiously reached forward to grab Leng Xianye’s sleeve, wanting him to stop because something might be wrong. However, before he could speak, a tightening sensation around his legs crushed his words into a scream.
Leng Xianye looked down to see a bundle of black-and-yellow objects coiling around him underwater, slowly moving upward and about to break the surface.
And there seemed to be even more things at his feet...
Why hadn't he sensed them at all?
Tang Qiuqiu felt the same confusion.
His ability granted him extremely high perception, yet he only reacted now that these aquatic mutants were already crawling onto him.
Both had found guns in the Battlefield Ruins. Leng Xianye immediately reached for the pistol holstered at his lower back, but he felt nothing. Instead, he was bitten.
He saw the true form of the thing coiling around him.
A mutated water snake with several heads.
One of the snake's heads clamped onto Leng Xianye’s gun and flung it into the water, while another bit his hand.
Deprived of his weapon, Leng Xianye immediately activated his ability. A "Black Box" swallowed the snake's vital section, severing the heads from the body. The dead snake twitched twice before sinking, adding a cloud of red to the already murky water.
But there wasn't just one snake in the water. As the first one died, more immediately coiled around them.
To escape the constriction, Tang Qiuqiu immediately transformed into a cat. Though he was naturally afraid of water like most cats, his instructor had specifically helped him overcome this during training.
He paddled a few times to put some distance between himself and the snakes, then shifted back into human form, manifesting sharp claws to sever two multi-headed snakes swimming toward him.
Except for special-type abilities like Xin Ye’s, most abilities were quite physically taxing to use. After killing several more snakes with his "Black Box," Leng Xianye knew that staying here was not a viable strategy. He shouted to Tang Qiuqiu, "We need to get to land!"
They had chosen a straight path to meet Xin Ye faster, and in reality, they had already waded through most of this water. The sandy ground bordering the area was within sight. Leng Xianye thought the snakes might not follow them onto land, and even if they did, solid ground was a better battlefield for him and Tang Qiuqiu.
Tang Qiuqiu shouted back in agreement and moved toward the shore with Leng Xianye.
Aquatic combat was a mandatory course during training, but classroom instruction was far gentler than practice.
At first, the water snakes lunged to fight them, but they gradually grew smarter. They stopped surfacing and instead chose to coil around the pair's feet to drag them down, constantly trying to bite through their specially-made trousers to wound their legs.
No matter how expensive the pants were, they would eventually tear after enough bites.
Tang Qiuqiu felt his legs going numb and his steps becoming unsteady. But seeing the sand not far ahead, he gritted his teeth and pushed forward.
They were almost at the shore.
Just when he thought he saw hope, several small grey-black dots suddenly appeared on the distant sand.
Those dots were moving fast. Soon, Tang Qiuqiu saw what they were.
A wolf pack.
Facing a pincer attack from front and back, Tang Qiuqiu felt like he was about to black out.
Leng Xianye naturally saw the mutated wolves charging toward the water. His face turned pale, but he didn't slow down.
"Qiuqiu, get ready! Once we’re on land, deal with the wolves first to stay alive, then figure out how to shake off the snakes—they have lower attack power."
Tang Qiuqiu snapped a snake trying to swim up and endured the discomfort, keeping his voice as steady as possible. "Okay."
The wolf pack drew closer. Tang Qiuqiu’s vision blurred for a moment, and the question he had forced aside for so long began to reclaim his mind.
There were so many mutants nearby—why hadn't he sensed them at all?
The surface beneath their feet began to slope upward; they were about to reach the shore.
The wolves suddenly accelerated as a group, lunging at the two of them.
Another "Black Box" manifested in Leng Xianye’s hand, which he hurled at the lead wolf.
But Leng Xianye’s arm had lost its strength. The small black sphere grazed the alpha’s fur and vanished into the pack.
At the same time, the water snakes realized their prey was reaching the shore—about to return to a domain unfavorable for them—and made a desperate final climb.
Seeing the alpha wolf about to pounce on Leng Xianye, Tang Qiuqiu tried to use his body to block the attack, but a snake snagged his foot, causing him to collapse.
Water washed over the sand, grinding into the leg wounds through the tears in his pants. Tang Qiuqiu watched the wolf’s claws get closer and closer to Leng Xianye, despair filling his eyes.
He knew this wasn't a real environment. Even if they were killed by mutants, they would only receive a poor score and wake up in the safety of reality. Yet the suffocating feeling spreading from his chest felt entirely real, making him want to weep.
He didn't want Leng Xianye to die, even if it wasn't real.
In the blink of an eye, Tang Qiuqiu felt a warm liquid splash across his face.
Was it Leng Xianye’s blood? So, simulated blood was warm too.
...
Wait.
There was a gunshot.
It wasn't just his face that was bloody; his side was too.
When Tang Qiuqiu opened his eyes and his vision stabilized, he saw two familiar figures. One of them was propping up Leng Xianye, while the alpha wolf’s head had been blown apart by a dagger.
Tang Qiuqiu was dazed. He looked at his side again.
A wolf carcass lay at his feet, blood pouring from a bullet hole in its head.
The Mirror Image fired again, killing another wolf about to pounce.
Xin Ye looked back at the dazed, kneeling Tang Qiuqiu and sighed. "Focus on dealing with the snakes on your legs. We’ll handle the rest."
Tang Qiuqiu finally snapped out of it. Tears welled up in his eyes for some reason as he began tearing the snakes off his legs.
He kept his head down, not noticing something emerging from the water...
Another gunshot rang out, startling Tang Qiuqiu so much he threw the snake he had just grabbed.
Before him lay a giant water snake, shot through its vital point.
The gunshot hadn't come from behind him, meaning the shooter wasn't Xin Ye or the Mirror Image. Tang Qiuqiu looked around frantically and finally spotted the shooter on a ruined half-building on the other side of the sandy shore.
Lian Muyun was prone on a platform, reloading his sniper rifle. After re-aiming at the still-twitching snake, he fired a finishing shot.
A purple butterfly rested on the muzzle of his gun, its wings fluttering as if ready to take flight.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 多头蛇 | Multi-headed snake | A mutated aquatic snake with multiple heads. |
| 变异狼 | Mutated wolf | Wolves found in the center area of the competition. |
| 黑盒 | Black Box | Leng Xianye's ability, which seems to swallow or disintegrate matter. |
| 狙击枪 | Sniper rifle | The weapon used by Lian Muyun. |
| 你们要输了对不队 | Team "You're Gonna Lose, Right?" | The humorous/provocative name of Xin Ye's team. |
