Chapter 5
The climbing platform was a full three meters high. One moment Yu Changning was still below; the next, she had already reached the top and dealt with two of her own outstanding classmates.
If this hadn’t been reality, Lin Mo would have suspected that this new instructor had quietly turned on cheats.
That aside, her reactions were anything but slow. The instant she hit the ground, she threw the Instructor Card with all her strength.
Clack—
The card, pulled down by gravity, fell off the platform. One of the nearby Class 1 students immediately changed course, bent down to grab it, and retreated into the obstacle course behind him.
After dimming for a split second, the system timer began counting down again.
[00:59]
[00:58]
[00:57]
Lin Mo secretly gave him a thumbs-up in her heart, then sprang up like a leaping carp and attacked Yu Changning, who was already preparing to pursue. Her primary weapon was a short dagger, perfect for close-quarters combat. Right now Yu Changning was right in front of her; Lin Mo struck like lightning, the dagger’s point aiming straight for Yu Changning’s chest and abdomen.
But things didn’t go as planned. Yu Changning twisted her body and avoided the attack.
Lin Mo didn’t even have time to regret the failure of her opening move before, the next instant, she felt something clamp around her wrist. Looking down, she realized Yu Changning had reversed the situation and taken control of her hand.
The skin on that back of the hand was delicate and fair, the knuckles faintly pink, the long fingers perfectly proportioned; it was the sort of work one had to assume Nüwa spent a great deal of effort crafting. But beautiful things often concealed great danger. Lin Mo could feel calluses in the other woman’s palm, the kind worn in by years of training. Sure enough, that palm exerted force, and in an instant Lin Mo’s dagger was twisted around, the blade turning toward her own chest.
“F—”
The warning of danger sent her adrenaline spiking. Lin Mo twisted her body a full one hundred and eighty degrees with all her strength, barely managing to dodge the strike.
Yu Changning’s main target was still that Instructor Card, so she didn’t bother with a second move. Still, she was clearly surprised that Lin Mo had actually managed to evade her attack.
Before jumping down from the platform, she glanced at Lin Mo’s pale, shaken face and casually praised her, “Not bad.”
Lin Mo’s lips twitched into a smile uglier than crying. She could only watch as Yu Changning slipped away from her unharmed.
[00:50]
[00:49]
Two seconds later, Ling Hongqiang and Anthony, who had been thrown off the platform by Yu Changning, climbed back up.
“Lin Mo-jie? What are you spacing out for?” Ling Hongqiang wiped at the sweat on his face. “Where is she? Chase her!”
Lin Mo shot him a glare. “I’m not spacing out.”
She pointed toward a spot below the platform and barked rapid instructions: “The Instructor Card is with Xiaocheng. She’s about to escape into the Xenochitin Hive Cavern in the southeast. Anthony, take people and ambush the cavern entrance; Daqiang and I will go inside to support her.
“The Xenochitin Hive Cavern has a very complicated layout. I remember there’s an inner chamber at the deepest point, and the entrance is narrow; we’ll use the passage to block her. We just need to hold out until time runs out.”
The two of them didn’t even have time to say “Got it” before Lin Mo finished speaking; they shot off like arrows loosed from a bow.
Lin Mo followed close behind. In an instant, the already somewhat crowded platform was left with only Chu Yunmiao.
Chu Yunmiao thought about it and didn’t stay put; she followed them toward the southeastern Xenochitin Hive Cavern.
The battle entered the pursuit-and-defense phase. Yu Changning kept pressing forward while Lin Mo led the Class 1 students in a desperate resistance. As a result, one elimination announcement after another began echoing through the field.
[Huang Qi, eliminated.]
[Zeng Mingyong, eliminated.]
[Anthony, eliminated.]
[...]
Each elimination report tightened the hearts of every Class 1 student into a knot, though the steadily dropping timer on the card still gave them a little comfort.
[00:31]
[00:30]
[00:29]
“We’re past halfway!” Lin Mo had already met up with the person who had earlier picked up the Instructor Card and once again taken it back into her own hands. Her expression was grim as she warned Ling Hongqiang beside her, “Anthony couldn’t hold out either, so don’t force it. If she comes over, fall back. If we all gather together, we’ll have a better shot!”
Ling Hongqiang nodded, and Lin Mo led the two companions holding defensive weapons farther inside.
Unfortunately, just as she reached the open area, she heard a string of reports ring out.
[Mu Shanshan, eliminated.]
[Ling Hongqiang, eliminated.]
Two people chased after her through the passage, dust smeared across their faces and looking rather battered.
“Lin Mo-jie, Daqiang and Shanshan are both out.”
“I can hear the announcements.” Lin Mo took a deep breath. “There are only twenty seconds left. Hold the line!”
By now, of the nineteen Class 1 participants in the entire game, only five remained, Lin Mo included.
The only good news was that the Instructor Card was still in their hands, and Lin Mo had already reached what she believed was the most ideal terrain for defense: easy to defend, hard to attack.
The few of them set up several simple traps at the end of the passage, and in the blink of an eye, Yu Changning’s figure had already appeared before them.
[00:19]
[00:18]
The moment Yu Changning met her eyes, the female Alpha beside Lin Mo gave an inexplicable shiver. “L-Lin Mo-jie, we’re surrounded...”
“Pah!” Lin Mo’s face flushed with irritation. “There are five of us and only one of her; what do you mean, we’re surrounded?!
“She’s the one who’s surrounded!”
The girl’s eyes had gone a little wet. “Lin Mo-jie... you’re so cool when you’re putting on a brave front!”
Lin Mo nearly lost her defenses because of one of her own people. “I’m not putting on a brave front, damn it! We only have these last ten-something seconds; are we really going to fail to hold out?
“I’ll go in. You lot stop her at all costs!”
The girl sniffled and nodded hard.
She watched Lin Mo leave, then stopped where she was and prepared to buy Lin Mo even a second or two with everything she had!
[00:12]
[Gu Zheng, eliminated.]
[00:11]
[Nanasi, eliminated.]
[00:10]
[00:09]
[00:08]
The countdown entered single digits, and Lin Mo had never felt time move so slowly.
The elimination announcements did not continue, but she could clearly hear footsteps coming from behind her.
They were catching up!
A strong sense of foreboding made Lin Mo give up on running any farther. She lowered herself and rolled to the side, barely avoiding Yu Changning’s interception. But dodging the first move meant nothing; Yu Changning’s second attack followed immediately, like rain falling in the height of summer, dense and sharp.
The moment they engaged, Lin Mo understood that she wouldn’t be able to hold on for three seconds.
But behind Yu Changning, her two remaining teammates were both lying on the ground, crying out in pain. Clearly, the reason they hadn’t been eliminated was simply that Yu Changning had been too intent on pursuing her to bother finishing them off.
The situation was now obvious. She was the only fighting force left in Class 1, a lone wolf trying to hold up a tree trunk by herself...
No!
Suddenly, Lin Mo’s eyes lit up. Willing to risk being badly injured by Yu Changning, she hurled the Instructor Card out.
“Class monitor! Catch!”
Chu Yunmiao had been keeping a not-too-close, not-too-distant distance from the battlefield, following tightly behind the two sides the whole time. Even she wasn’t sure what she ought to do, but she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
She also hadn’t expected that, driven to a corner, Lin Mo would throw the Instructor Card to her as her last lifeline.
On reflex, Chu Yunmiao caught the Instructor Card and clutched it in her hand.
The countdown automatically stopped the moment Lin Mo threw the card. At that point, Class 1 was only five seconds away from victory.
Yu Changning’s attention was indeed diverted.
She let go of Lin Mo, turned to face Chu Yunmiao, but didn’t launch a fierce attempt to snatch the card. Instead, she simply extended her hand toward Chu Yunmiao. “Yunmiao, give it to me.”
Her tone was as steady as ever; it didn’t sound like she had just finished intense exertion at all, and there was even a hint of tenderness in it.
While silently observing the surrounding terrain and confirming an escape route, Chu Yunmiao confronted her.
“And if I don’t?”
Yu Changning froze for a moment, looking a little troubled. “...Don’t?”
Chu Yunmiao knew that as the cardholder, she shouldn’t make such a willful move. But from the looks of things, Class 1 had clearly already lost, so whatever choice she made didn’t really matter. She might as well use this chance to personally experience the pressure of fighting Yu Changning.
With that thought, she felt no more burden. She turned and ran.
“Come take it yourself.”
Yu Changning’s attitude was indulgent to the extreme. She stretched lazily where she stood, then gave chase at an unhurried pace.