TTAETSC Chapter 18.2: Killing a Player

Translator: Deyonna

Tip me

At that moment, the sound of military boots splashing through puddles grew steadily closer outside.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Zhang Nan turned his head blankly and saw a stream of blood flowing in from the far end of the corridor. Then a pair of black boots stepped in it, splattering it in all directions.

A young man stood at the door, with a small pink octopus perched on his left shoulder.

Bard's screams came to an abrupt halt. He clenched his teeth tightly, afraid his cries would anger the god of death and invite another cut.

Yuan Ye casually flicked the blood off the long knife and coldly scanned his surroundings. His gaze landed on Chen Xinyue, whose face was blank.

"Mm, still alive."

Saved him a lot of trouble.

Ye Yunfan had thought he would find such a bloody killing scene hard to accept, but watching Yuan Ye cut his way in from outside, he felt nothing in particular.

His feelings grew complicated. He seemed to have accepted the cruelty and bloodiness of this world a little too quickly.

"Commander, spare me! Spare me!"

Zhang Nan reacted fast. He scrambled out of the treatment cabin and raised his hands, like a man terrified of losing his head, desperate to switch sides and surrender to save his own life.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I know a lot!"

He knelt on the ground, hands raised high, trembling and forcing a smile.

"Ask, ask, and I'll answer anything! I'll tell you everything! I promise to be completely honest and hold nothing back!"

Yuan Ye glanced at him in surprise, as if he had never seen anyone grovel so shamelessly before.

Meanwhile, Chen Xinyue frowned in open disgust. She glanced at Yuan Ye first, and seeing that he had no intention of speaking, took the initiative and began questioning the man herself.

"Are you a gifted individual? Who sent you here?"

Mutants are humans who have fused parts of otherworldly creatures into their bodies, so their traits are quite distinct. Most physically manifest features of the otherworldly creatures they have fused with.

But this man could change his appearance to look like someone else, which was clearly a gifted individual's ability.

Yuan Ye furrowed his brow slightly. As a former core member of the decontamination organization, he was familiar with the abilities of many gifted individuals, but none matched the ability of the man before him.

"Yes... yes, I'm gifted. My ability is changing my appearance. As for who sent me, I... I don't know either. People like us just follow orders. We do as those above us tell us."

Zhang Nan's tone was anxious and fawning.

"If, if you spare me this time, this lowly one will gladly climb a mountain of blades and plunge into a sea of fire for you*, going through fire and water without hesitation!"

*This phrase means being willing to do anything for someone or for a cause, even at great sacrifice or in the face of danger.

That last part was directed at Yuan Ye.

Ye Yunfan noticed how he referred to himself.

This lowly one...?

Why did that sound like a form of address from ancient dramas???

The actors' lines in those dramas sounded just like this, too.

Chen Xinyue had been watching Yuan Ye's expression closely, and seeing that he still had no intention of speaking, she couldn't help asking more.

"Where is Wang Yuan?!" Chen Xinyue exclaimed. "What happened to the man who was supposed to be lying in the treatment cabin?!"

"He, ah... Captain Chen, you know his... his contamination level was already so high... so it must have... must have..."

Zhang Nan stammered and trailed off. Even without finishing, everyone present already knew the outcome.

Chen Xinyue froze, as if remembering something. She trembled all over, then suddenly turned around and rushed out into the courtyard, oblivious to everything around her.

"Captain?"

Jon ran outside after her.

The little octopus watched the woman's unsteady figure and let out a sigh.

Chen Xinyue had killed the person she most wanted to save, and it would likely cast a shadow over the rest of her life.

"Commander, Commander, although I don't know who my superior is, I have a communicator to contact him."

Zhang Nan raised one hand while the other reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small, compact communicator.

He set the device on the ground, apparently meaning to kick it over.

He did all of this slowly, as if to lower Yuan Ye's guard.

"Don't move."

The young man's tone was icy cold as he raised his long knife and pressed the blade against the man's neck.

"Otherwise, I will chop off your head."

He said it calmly, as if simply stating a fact.

The smile on Zhang Nan's face froze, and he abruptly stopped.

"Okay, okay... I'll do as you say."

As he spoke, he glanced at Bard, signaling him discreetly. Bard's body trembled, and he gritted his teeth.

Ye Yunfan suddenly noticed Bard on the ground moving strangely.

The next second, the buzz-cut man snatched the gun from his severed arm, but Yuan Ye was much faster and nailed him to the ground with the knife.

Stab!

At the same moment, Zhang Nan kicked the communicator on the ground toward them.

Its screen flashed with a red countdown.

Be careful!!!

Ye Yunfan's pupils trembled as he shouted in his mind. Yuan Ye's ears twitched slightly, as if he had heard something. He reacted fast and, without even pulling out his knife, dashed decisively out of the ward.

Fortunately, he was very close to the door, and in the blink of an eye he was behind the wall outside.

Boom—!!!

The terrifying explosion drowned out the sound of windows shattering inside. It demolished a large section of wall and shook the whole clinic as if in an earthquake.

Yuan Ye suffered minor injuries; a hint of red seeped through his left sleeve. He shielded his shoulder with one hand to keep flying debris from hurting the "little jellyfish" perched there.

Ye Yunfan was jolted so hard his head spun. The collapsing wall coated him in a layer of dust.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft~"

[Pooh!]

[Pooh pooh pooh!]

The little tentacles disdainfully spat out the dust that had stuck to their suction cups.

Yuan Ye glanced at the dusty "little jellyfish" on his shoulder. It looked like a pink jelly dessert dusted with cocoa powder, a bit wilted and low in spirits.

Vroom vroom vroom—

A motorcycle's engine roared outside.

"..."

The young man stood up without a word, his heterochromatic eyes brimming with chilling frost. He walked over and pulled the long knife out of Bard's lifeless body.

Yuan Ye leaped gracefully onto the roof, his gaze sweeping across until it found the motorcycle speeding away down a narrow alley. He gave chase at once.

The buildings within the supply station were mostly single-story houses, tightly packed together. The roads were narrow and winding.

As a result, the motorcycle couldn't go particularly fast, with all the twists and turns.

Up on the roofs, Yuan Ye pursued in a straight line, at a speed beyond anything Ye Yunfan understood of human running. He moved like a swooping falcon, swift and relentless.

The distance between hunter and prey kept closing. Only a little more, and the motorcycle would be within Yuan Ye's killing range.

---

Zhang Nan was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding madly.

When he got the mission last night, all he had been told was to run an errand: help recover a special asset, with an inside military investigator's cooperation. It was supposed to be a simple, easy, lucrative job.

But to Zhang Nan's shock, he found out only on arrival that the exiled god, personally banished by Her Majesty the Queen three years ago, was there too.

That guy had dared to kill even nobles in the Main City. What chance did he stand?

At that very moment, Zhang Nan's guts were turning green with regret. Just then, he glimpsed Yuan Ye chasing him in the rearview mirror, and Yuan Ye happened to lock eyes with him in it.

That glance laid his murderous intent bare.

Zhang Nan felt as if he had been handed a death notice. In that instant, he made a split-second decision and turned the handlebars toward the nearby cliff edge.

If he had kept going, he would have reached the military investigators' station base. His original plan had been to sneak in, and once he changed his appearance and blended into the crowd, he could escape easily.

But that eye contact had made Zhang Nan realize the man would kill him without hesitation the next moment.

So he simply changed course, looking for a glimmer of hope in the dire situation.

Below the cliff lay the vast sea.

The motorcycle shot off the cliff and sailed into the air. The man flipped off it to free himself and plunged swiftly downward.

Swish—

A silver streak followed close behind, and a long knife pierced the motorcycle.

Boom!

The motorcycle exploded.

One minute later, Yuan Ye reached the cliff edge. He looked down at the surging waves, but there was no trace of the man.

"Damn it."

If that guy hadn't suddenly changed direction, the knife would have pierced his heart.

The dusty little octopus glanced at the young man's furrowed brow, then down at the turbulent waves below.

That man was the only living witness and lead. He couldn't be allowed to escape.

Ye Yunfan quickly made up his mind and jumped without hesitation.

Yuan Ye felt the weight on his shoulder suddenly lighten and saw the little jellyfish curl into a ball and drop into the sea like a wounded bird.

Plop!

A small splash bloomed, then quickly vanished.

It was gone without a trace.

Yuan Ye was stunned, blinking slowly. Then, without hesitation, he leaped from the cliff.

Once again, the young man plunged into the sea, but instead of retrieving his long knife first, he searched for his "little jellyfish."

---

Meanwhile, Zhang Nan had already swum more than a hundred meters away. He took out the oxygen fluid he had on him and quickly injected it.

Military investigators' patrol boats were out on last night's battlefield at sea. If he could blend in, he would be safe, or he could take a detour and hide on shore.

Hope gradually rose in Zhang Nan's heart.

But at that moment, he felt something cling to his back.

Ever since eating part of the little monster, Ye Yunfan swam twice as fast, and his sharpened mental power let him pick up the man's trail easily. So he caught up with him fast.

The little octopus didn't intend to kill him; he only wanted to hold him back as long as possible until Yuan Ye arrived.

He scrambled up the man's back and swiftly drilled into the gunshot wound on his shoulder.

"Ah... gurgle…"

The intense pain made Zhang Nan cry out.

At that moment, dread filled him, since he had no idea what was drilling into his wound.

But the man reacted fast, drew his dagger, and tried to dig the thing out. It was too agile, though, and despite his painful spasms, Zhang Nan couldn't dig it out.

The man's gaze turned sinister. He reached behind his waist for a gun and aimed it at his own wound.

Anyway, Chen Xinyue's shot had already gone clean through him, so what was one more... Life mattered more, of course.

If he stayed any longer, that mighty god would most likely catch up to him.

Zhang Nan made up his mind.

Inside, the little octopus wriggled and tore viciously at the wound, trying to cripple him with pain. But in the next second, he heard the trigger being pulled.

"!!!"

Ye Yunfan was startled. He hadn't expected someone so cowardly and afraid of death to be this ruthless with himself.

The little octopus immediately crawled out of the wound onto the man's back. But he was a little too late. Just as he got out, in that instant…

Bang!

[Health Value -120]

[Health Value: 50/510]

[Reminder: Player is now in a severe state of blood loss, with a decrease of 5 health points per minute. Please seek treatment as soon as possible.]

[Ah! It hurts!!!]

[It hurts so much, it hurts so much!!!]

The intense pain made the little tentacles scream and cry.

At the same time, Zhang Nan was in intense pain too. The strong recoil made him lose his grip on the pistol, and it sank into the sea below.

Perhaps because he had already endured being pierced by a glass shard, or perhaps because he had eaten three big meals, Ye Yunfan's pain tolerance had risen noticeably.

So he didn't lose all mobility at once. He gritted through the pain, plugged the wound with a tentacle to stem the bleeding, and swam straight for the sinking gun.

At the same time, Zhang Nan finally got a clear look at the unknown creature.

It was actually an octopus?!

No!

Then he remembered: it was the one that had been on Yuan Ye's shoulder.

Zhang Nan, who had meant to flee at once, changed his mind instantly. He drew his dagger and went after Ye Yunfan.

He had a strong hunch that he had to deal with this little thing.

Seeing the man come at him with a dagger and murder in his eyes, Ye Yunfan sped up. He wrapped one tentacle around the gun, reached for the safety catch with another, and coiled the rest around the trigger.

Ye Yunfan had never fired a gun before, but his work had given him some knowledge of firearms.

Ye Yunfan was so anxious that his heart pounded wildly. The surging seawater badly affected the muzzle's direction, making the pistol, with the little octopus on top, sway back and forth in the current.

He couldn't aim properly at all.

Clearly, Ye Yunfan had only one chance. If he missed, he would have no choice but to flee.

[Health Value -5]

The flashing warning panel only fed Ye Yunfan's anxiety, and the more anxious he got, the harder it was to aim.

Clasp!

At that moment, the man seized the gun.

In the next moment, the little octopus's blue pupils reflected the man's sinister smile and the sharp dagger.

That seemed to be the reflection of death.

But a moment later, the pistol, which had been drifting with the water, finally steadied. The little octopus instantly shifted his body and lined the muzzle up with the man's eyes.

Bang!!!

One shot into the head.

Ye Yunfan was dumbfounded. He hadn't even come to his senses when the familiar notification panel popped up again.

[Reminder: Congratulations on successfully killing player Zhang Nan!]

[Reminder: Congratulations on successfully looting the C-level new skill - Mimicry.]

[Reminder: Congratulations on successfully looting one-third of player Zhang Nan's health value.]

[Health Value +50]

[Health Value: 95/510]

[Reminder: The state of severe blood loss has been resolved.]

A series of notification panels appeared and vanished one after another, but Ye Yunfan stayed frozen for a long time, one sentence echoing in his mind:

Congratulations on successfully killing player Zhang Nan.

In other words, this man, just like him, was also a player.

—He killed someone.

As if electrocuted, Ye Yunfan let go of the pistol.

He sank toward the seabed, watching the lifeless, head-shot body drift farther and farther away. He couldn't quite describe what he felt. He was somewhat confused, and a bit terrified.

But on careful reflection, it seemed like... there was nothing at all.

The man had been trying to kill him just now; he had only acted in self-defense.

That thought effectively reassured Ye Yunfan.

Before long, he was actually thinking about the new skill he had just acquired.

C-level: Mimicry.

It outranked the two skills he'd started with.

So could he turn into a human?

The moment the thought flashed through his mind, Ye Yunfan saw his small tentacles lengthen and thicken, gradually taking the form of a human arm.

Soon enough, he saw his left arm.

Then his right arm.

After that, Ye Yunfan finally felt his own hair. It seemed a bit long, long enough that he could catch the ends of it in his peripheral vision.

It was very strange. It was actually pink.

☰