Chapter 118: The Kidnapping Case

“Completed the rooftop survival task, earned two Eerie Points as reward…”

“Damn it! Is this really testing intelligence?” Lü Yang cursed out loud. His nerves had been strained to the limit, and now he felt extremely tired.

Surviving the first round of the game could be credited to his own skills, but surviving the second round was pure luck! If a rope hanging from the helicopter hadn’t happened to swing right next to Lü Yang, he might have ended up in the mouth of that Tyrannosaurus Rex…

Intelligence? What did these two rounds have to do with testing intelligence?

…

After the second round officially ended, Lü Yang and the other survivors—five men and one woman—returned to the computer screens in the Internet Cafe.

The once bustling Internet Cafe was now deathly quiet. Out of more than forty people, only seven remained. The others had turned into corpses in their seats or on the floor, each dying in different ways but all sharing the same gruesome and bloody end. This made the atmosphere in the Internet Cafe incredibly oppressive.

None of the seven survivors from the near-death experience in the second round spoke a word. They all sat blankly in front of their computer screens, as if still in shock from barely making it out alive.

“Congratulations on advancing to the third round. The third round will begin in thirty seconds.” An emotionless Electronic Voice sounded from above the Internet Cafe.

“Respected Internet Cafe manager, can you tell us how many rounds there are in total?” One player couldn’t resist shouting the question into the air, being careful to sound as respectful as possible to avoid the heavy machine gun from the ceiling targeting him.

“The third round is the final round. If you survive it, you may return to the Real world.” This time, the Electronic Voice actually answered the player’s question.

“Could you tell us what this place really is?” Hearing that the Electronic Voice was willing to answer, another player immediately spoke up to ask.

The Electronic Voice did not answer this question.

“Still too scared to face me directly? What exactly do you want!?” Lü Yang yelled toward the ceiling. Unlike the other players, he wasn’t just here to survive. If these rounds kept going one after another, he still wouldn’t have a chance to find the Death Killer and rescue Yi Ya.

Could the Electronic Voice represent the Death Killer? Lü Yang’s Creation Card didn’t seem to have that kind of function.

The Electronic Voice seemed to have vanished. No matter what the players asked, it didn’t respond anymore.

“Damn it!”

Lü Yang cursed again, then leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

What did the Death Killer want? Why set up these rounds of games? Just to enjoy watching these innocent people struggle to survive?

The Eerie Computer couldn’t be activated, and he had no idea how Yi Ya was doing now.

The thirty seconds passed quickly. The screen showed a demo for the third round. From the cutscene, it looked like a third-person shooter game set in a dark forest.

After experiencing the realistic second round, Lü Yang guessed the third round would also be in a realistic setting. Judging by the dark forest, the difficulty was likely higher than the previous two rounds.

“Game rules: The third round has four levels. Each level has one Task. After completing each level’s Task, there will be a large Safe Point at the end. Large Safe Points offer healing and supplies…” The emotionless Electronic Voice sounded again above the Internet Cafe.

“Between large Safe Points, there will be a few street lamps. The lit areas under the street lamps are small Safe Points…”

“Once you leave a Safe Point, do not stay in one place for too long. Otherwise, a large number of enemies will appear, and you won’t be able to leave that place…”

“…”

After choosing to start the game, the light and shadows around Lü Yang shifted wildly, and soon he found himself in a dark forest. Without a doubt, the third round was also a realistic game.

After a moment of adjusting to the darkness in the game, Lü Yang couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Where was this? Why did it feel… somewhat familiar?

Could it be Donkey Head Mountain?

Soon, Lü Yang confirmed his guess. This was indeed Donkey Head Mountain, and it was very close to the abandoned construction site where he had rescued Liu Hui last time!

Oh, come on!

A 3D video clip appeared in front of Lü Yang and every player who entered the game. Lü Yang was very familiar with this video—it was clearly the scene from last time after Liu Hui was kidnapped.

A memory was replaying!

In the room where Lü Yang had been shot, Liu Hui was tied to a large wooden chair fixed to the ground, with transparent tape over her mouth. Several men stood near her, muttering quietly to each other.

The only difference from the real kidnapping was that Lü Yang’s unconscious body wasn’t on the floor.

Suddenly, the lights in the room in the video went out. The screen turned completely dark, and the kidnappers’ expressions turned vicious…

As the video played, an electronic prompt sounded in the ears of Lü Yang and all the players: “Level 1 Task: Successfully rescue the kidnapped girl; Time limit: one hour; Task fails if all players die; All players die if the Task is not completed within one hour…”

After confirming this was Donkey Head Mountain and recognizing Liu Hui’s kidnapping case, Lü Yang was almost certain that this so-called third round was actually a Mysterious Domain created by the Death Killer based on Lü Yang’s memories. The four-level Task announced by the Electronic Voice was probably a decoy; the real Path of Survival was likely hidden within these four Tasks.

After understanding the Task, Lü Yang looked at the ‘weapon’ in his hand. Only then did he realize what he held wasn’t a weapon at all, but a hand-crank flashlight!

Oh, come on!

The opponents were professional kidnappers with guns! Did they expect to handle them with this disorganized group and flashlights? That was practically suicidal!

Last time in the Real world, after being shot in the head, he could still revive using a Healing Card. This time, inside the Mysterious Domain, if he died, it would be permanent.

Lü Yang examined the hand-crank flashlight in his hand. It had two buttons on the side: one turned the flashlight on to emit light, and the other temporarily boosted the light intensity but quickly drained the battery, causing the light to go out.

Once the flashlight went out, continuously squeezing the hand-crank mechanism at the back would recharge the battery.

…

After receiving the Task, the seven players who entered the third round automatically gathered together and started discussing noisily.

“Do you all only have a flashlight?” Lü Yang showed his flashlight and checked with the other players.

“Yeah, I only have this.”

“Me too.”

“…”

“I don’t have a flashlight. I have a gun.”

A skinny man pulled a Handgun from his clothes and showed it to the group. Then he stood up and moved away, apparently afraid someone might try to take the only gun. Showing the gun was also a warning to others not to try anything.

“To complete the Task and successfully pass the third round, we need a unified leader. I’ve been through this kind of Task before. I can guarantee your safety and lead you out of here. Who’s willing to follow me?” Lü Yang ignored the guy with the gun and asked the others instead.