TAG Chapter 6

As Qiao Jingting regained his senses, he found himself still on the enhancement interface, but his physical fitness had changed to 28. He clenched his fist tightly, feeling energetic but nothing particularly special, most likely just a placebo effect.

“Enhancing physical fitness strengthens your overall physiological system, such as strength, endurance, vision, hearing, bite force, immune system, nerve reactions, bones, muscles, and so on. Speed and recovery power will also see a slight improvement, but only by 2 points, so the changes are not significant,” Qiao Jingting muttered to himself.

Feeling somewhat disappointed, he closed the platform. He knew very well that with the meager points he earned from killing gray rats, it was impossible to become stronger in a short period of time. The most effective way to earn points was through killing other players, where he could gain at least 1000 points.

He had witnessed the strength of Qiao Rui and his group, except for Zheng Wei. Those level 3 and 4 players were not his match in a one-on-one fight. The same applied to Shu Ai. It wasn’t just about having better physical fitness; killing required experience and skill.

However, the person he truly wanted to kill was someone he couldn’t defeat. And he couldn’t bring himself to harm an innocent person either. Although he wasn’t a good person, he hadn’t reached the level of senselessly killing the innocent.

He opened the map of Xin Yue Hu and examined all the monster spawns outside the village. He decided that tonight he wouldn’t go for gray rats but instead switch to the Giant Crested Dogs, which yielded 6 points per kill. They were passive single-target monsters.

After Shu Ai returned, Qiao Jingting looked at her with an inquiring gaze.

Shu Ai shook her head. “Couldn’t find an opportunity during the day. There were always people near the Life Tree. How about tonight?”

“Okay, today I want to try the Giant Crested Dogs,” Qiao Jingting replied.

“Giant Crested Dogs?” Shu Ai frowned. “That’s too difficult for you.”

“What about you?”

“I can do it, but the kill speed is slower than with the gray rats. Plus, there’s a higher risk of getting injured. That’s why I prefer to kill the gray rats.”

“I want to give it a try.”

After some consideration, Shu Ai said, “Alright, maybe we can work together to be faster.”

In the middle of the night, the two of them quietly made their way to the new monster spawn. The Giant Crested Dogs were two kilometers away from the village, and the round trip took quite some time. The higher the point value of the monsters, the farther they were from the village. But both of them were reluctant to use the travel scroll.

The Giant Crested Dogs were slightly smaller than the gray rats, roughly the size of a Tibetan Mastiff. However, Shu Ai mentioned that they were faster and not easy to escape from. Their safe distance had expanded to one and a half meters, and new players wouldn’t come here.

Based on Qiao Jingting’s experience, the difficulty level of monsters in the newbie village had been lowered. For example, the gray rats, if any regular-sized rat was enlarged to the size of a human, it would possess the attack power of a large predator. It shouldn’t be something an ordinary person could handle, but in reality, most unenhanced ordinary people could overcome them by taking advantage of their weaknesses. So, the Giant Crested Dogs might be slightly stronger than the gray rats, but they definitely wouldn’t be so difficult to overcome.

The two of them found the Giant Crested Dogs and circled behind one of them. They aimed their long knives at its neck and struck.

In the instant they entered the attack range, the Giant Crested Dog turned around and lunged at Shu Ai, snapping its jaws. Shu Ai managed to slash its shoulder with her knife, then kicked off the ground with her right foot and jumped backward. Qiao Jingting thrust his knife into the dog’s neck but encountered some mechanical resistance, getting his knife stuck!

The Giant Crested Dog roared and vigorously shook its body. Qiao Jingting felt a tremendous force pulling on his body, but he held onto the knife handle tightly, barely avoiding losing his grip.

Shu Ai rushed to the side of the Giant Crested Dog and struck with her knife again. This time, she hit its front paw, causing the fibers, fur, and revealing the metallic bones and circuits underneath. However, it showed no signs of stopping and continued attacking Shu Ai. With a cautious expression on her face, Shu Ai defended herself and looked for an opportunity.

Qiao Jingting kicked the dog’s body in an attempt to free his knife but the mechanical creature clearly wouldn’t let them butcher it so easily. It forcefully flung its body, causing intense pain in Qiao Jingting’s hand, and his knife handle was flung away.

Shu Ai glanced at Qiao Jingting and leaped up nearly two meters high from a standing position. With a light shout, she swung her knife down.

The Giant Crested Dog crouched and leaped away, then lunged at Qiao Jingting to bite him.

Qiao Jingting executed a carp jump, springing up from the ground. This time, he finally felt the enhancement in his physical fitness, albeit a small change.

He rolled agilely on the ground, evading the Giant Crested Dog’s attack. The dog missed its strike and chased after him. Without any weapons in his hands, Qiao Jingting could only dodge, creating an opportunity for Shu Ai.

Shu Ai swiftly attacked from behind and finally seized the opening on the Giant Crested Dog’s back, thrusting her steel knife into its power source.

The eyes of the Giant Crested Dog dimmed, and its body became motionless.

Qiao Jingting glanced at the time. “Did it take us eight minutes?”

“Yeah,” Shu Ai replied. “Now you understand. We could have earned more by killing gray rats in the same amount of time.”

Qiao Jingting scratched his hair, frustrated, and cursed under his breath. He thought maybe they should change weapons, but even the most basic level 28 handgun required 60 points, and each magazine cost 1 point. Without shooting skills, they might use up a whole magazine without even killing the Giant Crested Dog. Moreover, the creature was so fast that they wouldn’t have time to reload.

He knew that it wasn’t about the weapons; they were just too weak.

He, himself, was too weak.

Seeing him feeling down, Shu Ai consoled him, saying, “You’ve only enhanced by 2 points. Don’t be too impatient.”

Qiao Jingting kicked a stone in frustration. “Let’s go to the gray rats.”

“You should consider yourself lucky. In theory, you should struggle to kill gray rats, but fortunately, you’ve figured out their attack patterns.”

Qiao Jingting halted his steps and slowly turned around, looking at the motionless Giant Crested Dog, his gaze shining brightly in the darkness.

Confused, Shu Ai looked at him.

“Yeah, it’s because I understand the attack patterns of gray rats that killing them is easy…” Qiao Jingting pondered for a moment, then suddenly revealed a mischievous smile. “What if I could also know the attack patterns of the Giant Crested Dogs, or the Bullfighters, Forest Spiders, Shallow Water Crocodiles, or even the Goblins?”

Shu Ai was startled. “Are you suggesting…?” She immediately understood Qiao Jingting’s idea. “That’s too risky. You don’t even know how you entered that place or what it truly is. Especially, you can’t be certain that you’ll come back.”

“But it’s worth a try.” Qiao Jingting grinned devilishly, gripping his right wrist that had been severed by a knife before. He looked eager for the challenge.

Shu Ai’s gaze darkened. “Fine, if you’re determined to try, spend 20 points first and exchange for the transformation function of the Silver Ice Device. You can attach it to your fingers, which is better than losing a hand.”

“I don’t have 20 points. Let’s go to the gray rats for now.”

Like the previous few days, the two of them spent most of the night killing gray rats. They became more skilled and efficient, earning over a hundred points each. For Qiao Jingting, a level one newbie, this was something that seemed impossible.

Before sunrise, they returned to the village. Qiao Jingting took out the Morse code book he had bought for 1 point and used a dagger to carve a series of codes on the Life Tree, meaning “They want to kill you.”

If Zou Yidao was a soldier, he would definitely understand. But even if he didn’t, it didn’t matter. After all, this code was not solely meant for Zou Yidao. Shu Ai said that Han Bin used to be a senior executive in a company. Someone like him would investigate any suspicious code on his territory. Once he deciphered the meaning, he would worry that Zou Yidao had discovered it, and it was highly likely that he would act in desperation. The sooner Han Bin made a move, the easier it would be for him to expose his flaws, increasing the chance of failure. That would be their opportunity to take action.

After completing everything, they returned to Shu Ai’s house.

Qiao Jingting increased his physical fitness by 2 points and then used the remaining points to activate the mobility and transformation function of the Silver Ice Device.

That silver, cold, metallic object moved toward his little finger with his will. He imagined certain shapes at will, and this strange metal actually transformed according to his imagination, which was quite interesting. In the end, he shaped it into a droplet, connecting only slightly to his fingertip.

Shu Ai glanced at it. “If you grow your nails a bit longer, you won’t even have to injure your flesh.”

“This little injury is nothing.” Qiao Jingting weighed the dagger and said, “Wake me up in three hours.”

“Maybe you were just lucky last time. What if this time…”

Qiao Jingting grinned and, without hesitation, raised the knife and swiftly brought it down, not even blinking once, severing his own fingertip.

A slight sting, and Qiao Jingting once again plunged into darkness.

Qiao Jingting’s consciousness awakened, and he found himself indeed back in that void space. It was pitch black, boundless, and devoid of knowledge or sensation. It felt like both death and eternal life.

Qiao Jingting started walking, searching for a glimmer of light. He wasn’t sure if his speculation was reliable. Perhaps he wouldn’t encounter anything, or maybe he would encounter the same gray rat as before. But as long as there was a chance, he wanted to try.

He didn’t know how long he had been walking; he couldn’t feel the passage of time or fatigue. But he could feel boredom. He started feeling anxious. Would he come across something useful? Most importantly, would he wake up again?

He had considered the possibility of being forever trapped here, but he had a gambler’s nature. He could even play with his life, so what was there to worry or regret about?

After a long time, a beam of light finally appeared before him. He felt relieved and hurriedly ran toward it.

However, when he approached, he was greatly disappointed. Instead of a mechanical monster, the light revealed a submachine gun. He didn’t know much about guns, so he casually held it in his hand and pulled the trigger towards the void.

There was no sound, but judging from the vibration and the sparks from the muzzle, it was clear that a bullet had been fired.

He repeatedly fiddled with the gun in his hand but couldn’t make any sense of it. It simply passed the time.

He held the gun and continued to wander aimlessly, growing increasingly impatient and doubting whether it was not yet time or if he truly couldn’t be awakened again. From his perception, he had been in there for far more than three hours, perhaps even a whole day.

As time passed, the fear of being forever abandoned at the edge of the universe started to creep up, making him increasingly uneasy.

He wandered around, shooting, running, and engaging in a series of meaningless activities. He tried lying down to sleep, but he couldn’t feel the slightest hint of fatigue. He had no choice but to stand up and continue wandering.

After a while, another burst of light appeared before him, and he felt ecstatic, quickly running towards it.

However, before he could see clearly what was in the burst of light, a blinding white light suddenly pierced into his eyes, and he felt his consciousness being instantly ripped away from his mind!

“Qiao Jingting, Qiao Jingting!”

Qiao Jingting’s eyelashes twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was Shu Ai’s face, just like that night when he woke up in the dark woods, except now he was completely accustomed to this slightly ferocious face.

Shu Ai let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, you’re awake.”

Qiao Jingting sat up abruptly and looked around. The flesh and skin of his fingertip, still connected to the Silver Ice Device, was held in his hand. He quickly transferred the device back onto himself.

“How was it?” Shu Ai asked anxiously.

“It was similar to last time. I entered that void space again. But this time, I didn’t encounter any gray rats or other monsters. I just found a gun.” Qiao Jingting couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It was so close. If only he had woken up a little later, he might have encountered a monster.

“A gun?” Shu Ai’s eyes lit up. “Quickly open your inventory and check.”

Qiao Jingting hurriedly “opened” his inventory, and then he froze. The submachine gun was actually there in his inventory!

Shu Ai looked at his expression and exclaimed excitedly, “Is it there? Is it?”

Qiao Jingting quickly took out the submachine gun, feeling the metallic paint and camouflage coating. He burst into laughter with excitement.

Both of them were absolutely certain that he had discovered a system bug, and it was an incredibly useful one!

With Qiao Jingting’s limited computer knowledge, he speculated that it might be because he had temporarily disconnected from the game server while still being alive, resulting in a state different from any other player in the game. Consequently, the system assigned him to some sort of gray area. He couldn’t explain the details, but he was certain it was a bug.

“Even though I didn’t encounter any monsters this time, if I can gain something every time I go in, it’s like cheating,” Qiao Jingting proudly remarked. “I picked up a gun.” He checked and saw that the M26 submachine gun was worth 100 points.

Shu Ai bit her lip, her face filled with some anticipation, but she remained silent.

“What about you? Why don’t you give it a try?” Qiao Jingting suggested. In a real online game, many players would eagerly seek out bugs for even a slight advantage, let alone in a life-or-death game like this. He didn’t believe Shu Ai wasn’t interested.

Shu Ai hesitated for a moment and shook her head. “Maybe next time.”

“Why, are you afraid I’ll take advantage of you, little girl?” Qiao Jingting raised an eyebrow teasingly.

Qiao Jingting had known from a young age that he was good-looking, and he carried a rebellious and rogue charm. He had always been popular with women. After suppressing himself for so many days, he finally encountered something good in this lousy game and couldn’t help but want to lighten the mood. However, his attempt was met with a cold response.

Shu Ai looked at him calmly and indifferently. “I’m afraid you’ll kill me.”

Qiao Jingting shrugged. “I told you I won’t kill you… Forget it.”

Having a sense of caution was a good thing, especially for a woman who lived like a lone ranger, surviving on her own.

Shu Ai glanced at the window. “It’s getting bright. When they see the Morse code in the morning, they’re bound to react. I’ll leave first.”

“I’m planning to go in again,” Qiao Jingting said. “When you come back…”

“No,” Shu Ai firmly refused. “I don’t come back alive every time I go out. Han Bin keeps me alive so he can kill me anytime.” She emphasized, “Anytime.”

Qiao Jingting nodded. “You’re right. I’ll wait for you to come back.” He sighed, “This place is suffocating me.” During the daytime, he couldn’t even go outside; he had to hide in someone else’s house. He had no idea how long this miserable existence would continue.

“You’ve only been here for three days. Be patient,” Shu Ai said, recalling something. “By the way, that person you asked me to investigate, Qiao Rui…”

Qiao Jingting paused. “Hmm?”

“He’s level 3 now.”

“Oh, I know.”

“You bought the ‘Demon Slayer List’?” Shu Ai disapproved. “Is it necessary to waste points at this time? I can help you find out.”

Qiao Jingting casually replied, “I just want to see if he’s dead or not.”

Shu Ai furrowed her brow, suppressing her curiosity, and turned to leave.

Qiao Rui.

Qiao Jingting silently repeated the three words that represented the most disdain in his life.

You better not die. I don’t want to owe you my life.