Absolute Death Game

"Hahaha, awesome, I ROLLED a 99, this bow is mine!"

"Damn, just my luck, all I’m left with is this leather armor, and it’s practically falling apart!"

Those few players were squabbling among each other, looking like they were from the same group. Interestingly, all four of them were of the Hunter Series, mainly using bows and arrows, melee weapons as secondary, and having pets at their side—typical hybrid class players.

The ability to fight from a distance, engage up close, and have pets on hand was currently the most common profession choice. However, the sight of a group of four with such a setup was something Xiao Buli had never encountered before.

Xiao Buli walked up to them and looked down at Li Baocheng, who was still maintaining that stiff smile, as if death had not inflicted any pain on him. Only, his face was obscured by bloodstains, making his grin look somewhat fierce. His body was riddled with arrows and wounds from vicious animal bites, creating quite a bloody and PG-rated scene.

Xiao Buli took out the Soul Absorption Pearl and used it on Li Baocheng, to no avail, just as he feared.

The few players looked at Xiao Buli and became defensive. One of them, clearly annoyed, said, "Hey, what are you fiddling with there? That rare elite was our kill, back off."

Another, seemingly more timid one said, "Stop rushing, didn’t you see his gear looks pretty badass? Let’s not mess with him."

"What’s there to be afraid of, if he kills us he’ll get a red name, he wouldn’t dare to make a move," added the third Hunter.

The fourth Hunter chimed in, "Exactly, and besides, there are four of us and only one of him, no matter how good his gear is. If he tries anything funny, we’ll just blow him up. That armor he’s got on looks pretty sweet."

They would’ve been better off had he not said anything, but his words sparked a flicker of greed in the others (Right, it’s four against one—if we take him down, we could score his armor. That would be a way bigger loot than slaying a BOSS).

Although many had similar thoughts, no one spoke up directly. However, one of the Hunters stepped forward and said, "Hey, ever heard of manners? We killed that monster. Stop gawking and scram." Having said that, the Hunter shot an arrow at Xiao Buli’s feet as a clear warning and provocation.

Xiao Buli heard all of their conversation. Looking at the corpse of Li Baocheng on the ground, he didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt a surge of rage swelling in his heart.

Logically, he and Li Baocheng were not that close, yet now he just wanted to hack those guys to pieces.

"You want to kill me for my gear? You’re welcome to try; I’ll even give you a chance."

With that, he unleashed a Mysterious Ice Slash. The provoking Hunter clearly did not anticipate that Xiao Buli would attack upon saying so, let alone that he would take on all four of them by himself. He was instantly struck, losing a third of his health points and was frozen solid, becoming one large ice block.

Xiao Buli didn’t bother with pleasantries and followed up with Wind Rolls The Scattered Clouds, rushing at them. The other Hunters quickly retreated, but the frozen one wasn’t so lucky, chopped into seven or eight pieces on the spot.

"Damn, this guy’s insane, kill him, kill him now!" The Hunters realized Xiao Buli’s ferocity and regretted provoking him. But it was too late for regrets; they had to fight for their lives. Still, the three of them were somewhat confident—it was three against one, after all. If they could manage to drop that black armor, they’d strike it rich.

The group seemed to have a good understanding of one another and dispersed in all directions, intending to kite Xiao Buli—shooting arrows while retreating and releasing a few fierce beasts. A black wolf, a leopard, and a boar all charged at Xiao Buli simultaneously.

Xiao Buli raised his hand and summoned the Swamp Crocodile. The black wolf, leading the charge, landed right beside the crocodile and was instantly devoured by its Devouring Skill.

However, after swallowing the black wolf, the Swamp Crocodile seemed to suffer from indigestion, lying motionless on the ground while the two remaining beasts tore and bit at it to no avail; the Swamp Crocodile was too thick-skinned and barely lost any health points.

Taking advantage of the situation and the Swamp Crocodile drawing fire, Xiao Buli disappeared from the spot using Fleeting Light and Shadow.

"He’s gone invisible, damn, use a flare!"

"Call back the pets for a Reveal!"

The Hunters were shouting in chaos when suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure appeared behind one of them—it was Xiao Buli, who else could it be. Petrified, the Hunter swung his Golden Ring Blade violently, its whistling sound fierce; this close-range Hunter wasn’t useless either.

But he was only multitasking and stood no chance against Xiao Buli, who had triggered Gale Sword Skills and enhanced it with Sunfire Sword Qi, hacking him to death in the blink of an eye.

Several arrows shot towards Xiao Buli, their aim precise and deadly. The Ethereal Armor on Xiao Buli’s body was destroyed in a flash. Immediately after, an arrow hit him, but he only lost about 10 health points. The defense of the Dragon Scale Black Armor was not to be underestimated, especially its formidable protection against arrows. Enjoy exclusive content from NovelBin.Côm

Xiao Buli was relieved at the realization, and just then, the boar and leopard charged at him again.

’Intimidating Beasts!’ A black glow flashed on Xiao Buli, activating the skill attached to his armor, and the two ferocious beasts cowered and fled in terror, instantly repelled by the menacing glow.

"Damn, what is happening, what skill is this!?"

Xiao Buli didn’t even use a shield; he directly charged at a hunter. That hunter, having shot a few arrows and noticing they were ineffective, grit his teeth and stopped shooting altogether, switching to his melee weapon instead—a pair of scimitars—and started hacking away with crossed blades.

Straight Lightning Sword! Xiao Buli’s longsword, apparently slower, actually struck first, directly stabbing the man’s chest. The conductive electric shock activated, and with a crack, a bolt of lightning flashed. The man was paralyzed, retreating backwards with his limbs numbed. After a messy barrage of slashes, he was killed in the blink of an eye.

The other hunter seemed to realize that the situation was dire and had started to flee early. By the time Xiao Buli turned around, the man was already far away.

Cloud Thunder Leap! With a crackle of thunder, Xiao Buli suddenly disappeared from his spot.

Hearing the thunder, the hunter instinctively looked back, only to find that no one was there anymore. (Eh, where did that guy go? Did he give up the chase?)

The hunter let out a sigh of relief, then turned around once more, just as a bolt of lightning struck down vertically in front of his eyes. When the lightning dispersed, standing on the charred ground was none other than Xiao Buli.

As Xiao Buli slowly closed in, the hunter was flabbergasted. "Don’t, don’t kill me, please, I beg you not to kill me."

Looking at the hunter begging for mercy, Xiao Buli felt some regret. After all, their killing of Li Baocheng had been unintentional, and they definitely had no idea that Li Baocheng’s real identity was that of a player. Him striking so ruthlessly now seemed to be misdirected anger.

But then, recalling the hostility they had shown towards him during their conversation, Xiao Buli’s anger flared up once more. He probably realized why he was so sensitive—it wasn’t so much anger for Li Baocheng as it was fear for potentially meeting a similar fate himself.

Besides, as he had already started, Xiao Buli would not stop now. Regardless, the grudge had been formed, and in order to avoid trouble, it was better to clean up the mess.

He didn’t say much and just swung his sword.

Five minutes later, Xiao Buli had searched through the corpses of the four dead players, and the loot was neither abundant nor scarce. Some equipment had dropped, but none of it was particularly good or valuable. It would be a decent find for solo players, but surprisingly, the bow Li Baocheng had dropped had also appeared—the Lost Adventurer’s Bow. He was certain it was Li Baocheng’s from its name.

This bow was a deep blue weapon, its attributes fairly decent, and had an annotation attached.

Annotation: This is a weapon left by a deceased adventurer, and it’s clear there are many stories hidden behind this weapon.

This bow was Li Baocheng’s last remaining trace in this game.

Xiao Buli looked at the corpses scattered across the ground, sighed, and turned to walk up the mountain.

After this fight, Xiao Buli’s mood had turned somewhat sour, not just because of Li Baocheng’s death, but more so because he had just killed four people—four living beings. Although he had become more resistant to killing, after all, taking others’ lives was never a comfortable matter.

Previously, although he had killed people, it was because they had provoked him first, so he didn’t receive Slaughter Points. But this time, he had gained four points in one go. Fortunately, his name color hadn’t changed, and he didn’t know the use of these points. However, when he arrived in front of the shrine and saw Du Yibo, he realized he had been mistaken.

"Damn, Old Xiao, why do you have a red name?" Du Yibo asked as soon as he saw Xiao Buli.

"I have a red name?" Xiao Buli was immediately stunned.

"Yeah, it’s so red, it’s practically purple; it’s so purple, it’s nearly black!"

Xiao Buli took another look at his avatar, which hadn’t turned red. Could it be that only other players could see the change in color?

He shook his head and said indifferently, "It’s nothing. Just killed a few players."

"Damn, ’nothing’? Four Slaughter Points mean you have to stay in the wilderness for months before it goes back to normal. You can’t enter the city for a while. What did those guys do to piss you off that much?" @@novelbin@@

Xiao Buli looked at Du Yibo, considering him a comrade who had also experienced that dramatic change with him, and decided there was no need to hide anything. He recounted the whole event to Du Yibo.

"What, Li Baocheng turned into an NPC? Damn, I knew nothing good would come from getting involved in that game. Lucky I had a change of heart at the last second, or I might be in the game getting slashed as a BOSS right now; maybe I’d even be in a dungeon." (