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Chapter 115 - One Hundred Thirteen: "Suicide by Knife?

Chapter 115: Chapter One Hundred Thirteen: "Suicide by Knife?

Su Ming’an extended his hand.

He was currently in "Shadow State," with Mentality Points at 85, and Mana Points at 1700.

With the addition from the "Aurora Ring," he could temporarily boost his Mentality Points to 123.

...

[Aurora Ring (Purple Grade): This is the brightest future, yet the gentlest curse.

Luck + Third Level (Cannot exceed A)

Spirit +5

Durability: 4/5

Equipment Requirement: None

Special Skill (Morning Glow): Five percent of your health can temporarily be transformed into 2 Spirit Points, with the lowest health remaining at five percent. The conversion ratio will change as the level increases.]

...

The original introduction of the Aurora Ring stated that five percent of health could be converted into 1 Spirit Point. Now, it had changed to 2 Spirit Points.

He guessed that this might have to do with his own level - at First Rank, the conversion was 1 Spirit Point, and at Second Rank, it was 2.

If he converted ninety-five percent of his health, with 123 Mentality Points... he might not be without a fighting chance.

If all else failed, and he reserved some Mana Points, he could perform three mid-range Spatial Displacements, enough to shake off Edward.

...He never worried about being killed during the daytime.

Faced with the incoming blade, spatial fluctuations appeared in an instant.

"Boom—!"

[HP-1170! (Mentality Suppression! Spell Resistance! Top-grade Protective Shield Resistance!)]

With this strike, Su Ming’an had poured in a full 1400 Mentality Points, reserving the rest for Spatial Displacement.

He originally thought this attack would at least incapacitate the opponent, but in the instant that the spatial fluctuation transmitted, a milky protective shield appeared around the opponent.

...It turned out that the opponent had more than one set of Equipment.

Prepared for both physical and magical defense, this man truly had contingencies.

"Such luxury," Su Ming’an remarked—his own current Equipment was still standard issue, while Edward had already managed to switch his.

But at the same time, some ideas began to take root in his mind.

...Someone was supporting Edward, preparing Equipment for him.

What if he "Number One Player," also needed Equipment?

...Would someone provide for him?

The cost was too great; he would at least need to purchase an instance locator to reach his side and then be able to send him Equipment... he wasn’t sure if there really were people who liked him that much, liked him enough to spend all their Points.

...Aren’t those viewers just talking anyway?

Su Ming’an had some thoughts. After the end of the Fourth World, maybe he could give it a try.

He noticed that even under that strike, Edward hadn’t directly fainted, but he had paused in his original movements.

He immediately prepared to initiate Spatial Displacement, thinking to find a way out once his mana had recovered.

...If he couldn’t win in one go, he could always play it safe.

If the Time Domain could be maintained indefinitely, then there wouldn’t be any problem entangling with Edward. After all, the man was nothing more than a nuisance, and nuisances required appropriate handling.

"You..." Edward struggled for words due to the momentary spatial tremor, but that didn’t stop him from being shocked by the force of the strike.

Looking at his health bar with some trepidation, he saw that it had only a little over three hundred points left.

Although he had props to use in case of another attack, if his opponent also had reserves...it would be difficult to say who would win if the fight dragged on. Maintaining the Time Domain required a continuous consumption of mana...he couldn’t wait it out.

Just as he was hesitating about what to do, he suddenly felt a slight fluctuation in his Time Domain.

"...Ah."

A small head with hair shining like the rays of the sun peeked in, his hand tearing through a swath of azure domain, as if reaching in from another world. Seeing the two adversaries face off, his smile remained unchanged, warm as the morning sun:

"...So you guys ran off here."

"Noel?" Su Ming’an glanced at him.

"Are you meddling?" Edward eyed Noel warily—the man was an anomaly among the top-ranked players; at least Noel had backers whom Edward hadn’t yet figured out, and Noel’s motives seemed unclear, as if he were merely on an adventure.

...But he didn’t believe there was such a happy-go-lucky person.

"Edward, this isn’t meddling," Noel whispered with a finger to his lips, speaking as if telling a fairy tale to children: "For the ultimate victory of the good faction, it’s better to avoid infighting. Let’s all find clues together and push out the werewolves, shall we?"

"You’re quite hypocritical," Edward said coldly. "Do you have no aspirations for the Number One spot?"

Known as the "eternal second," Noel had been firmly in second place from the start, a fact that players often gossiped about.

After all... Su Ming’an could claim to be the officially recognized "Number One Player," with no problems ranking at the top despite low combat power. But Noel... a player who hadn’t even completed all instances with a Perfect Pass, on what grounds did he rank above Edward?

Edward was also puzzled, which is why he had not acted rashly.

"Of course...I’ve no such thoughts!" Noel said, spreading his hands with a smile: "I’m just in it to enjoy the adventure, the game, to apply my wits to solve puzzles. Who would have thought I’d rise to this position? But I do wonder—why are you always fixated on someone else’s spot? Edward. Using sheer combat power to pressure others doesn’t solve anything. Su Ming’an has been witnessed by everyone along the way, officially recognized, publicly acknowledged... If you want to replace him, you need to prove you have more mettle than the Number One Player."

"Mettle?" Edward snorted contemptuously: "He has that?"

"At least... to me, he does." Noel stepped through the Time Domain, wrapped in a pale golden light: "Look, as you two stand off, didn’t I come to support him?"

"You’re just like Lv Shu, that dead sycophant?"

"...No." Noel’s hand shimmered with a transparent light cannon, and he looked at Edward seriously: "I fight only for my own preferences."

Noel’s light cannon gradually condensed a halo of light.

Edward frowned and raised his hand quickly, a flash of azure brilliance and the Time Domain was retracted in an instant.

...He wasn’t confident he could fight them both at the same time.

Although he didn’t know what Noel was thinking, he had no choice but to back off for now.

The surrounding blue dimmed momentarily, returning to the world’s original colors. Those who had been still were now visible again, and in an instant, they noticed the scene here.

"Hey hey hey? The bad guys are fighting! Awesome!" Mizushima Haru was the first to excitedly shout, slapping the tabletop like a drum: "Celebrate! Celebrate the infighting among a few big baddies! The great sister will triumph in the end... mmm mmm mmm..."

Mizushima Kawa Sora covered her mouth with a hand, looking rather grave: "...Noel?"

Although I didn’t know why these three started fighting all of a sudden, looking at their positions... it was clear that Noel was on Su Ming’an’s side.

"You’re lucky," Edward had no intention of staying here. He knew it was impossible to publicly kill a "witch" recognized by everyone in broad daylight. After retracting the Time Domain, he gave Su Ming’an a cold look and immediately walked towards the other side of the square.

"Nothing much, just Edward here wanting to act regardless of the general situation and make a move on the Number One Player." Noel said with a smile, "Su Ming’an is after all a recognized witch, how could I let a cleric die, so I took action—of course, it’s not without my personal wish."

He looked towards Su Ming’an and just happened to see him... looking at the back of his hand.

"I know, I know, I’m not of much value, am I? No worries, I just purely didn’t want this fun game to be ruined by that Edward...," Noel casually withdrew his hand imprinted with the Perfect Pass stripe.

"No."

He met the Number One Player’s very serious gaze.

"...You are very valuable." Su Ming’an looked at him, "Thank you."

The next moment, Su Ming’an turned around and immediately headed towards the town.

"Hey...?" Noel and the others were somewhat surprised, he scratched his face, noticing the barrage of comments wildly speculating about "yikes, the Number One Player seems to have changed!" He smiled and vaguely realized something.

"This is... not bad." He said quietly to himself, then suddenly felt the watch on his wrist vibrating.

[(99, 109, 2)]

A string of numbers appeared on his own watch.

[Coming right now.]

After typing this line, he glanced at the others who were still lingering in the square, grouped into several small cliques, and headed towards the town by himself.

...

The doors and windows of the houses in front were tightly closed, even the gaps were thoroughly obstructed.

Su Ming’an tried to teleport, but it was as if there was a separate space inside that prevented him from teleporting in.

...Buildings that couldn’t be entered, structures that couldn’t be destroyed.

Terrily Town seemed to have set a range of movement for the players, forbidding them from entering many places.

"—Wait a second."

He suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him.

Lv Shu had followed him.

His eyes held a trace of confusion.

"...Su Ming’an, what exactly is your identity?"

After the sudden swapping of identities during the public voting segment, Lv Shu had already felt something was off.

"Didn’t I tell you?" Su Ming’an withdrew his gaze from the wooden door and looked at him, "I am the prophet."

"Tell me the truth," Lv Shu’s gaze was earnest, "I don’t care if you’re a good person or a werewolf, I just want to help you. Tell me your real identity, so that I can cooperate with you better."

"I’ll say it again, Lv Shu." Su Ming’an seriously looked at him, "I am, the prophet."

"Okay, I believe you." Lv Shu nodded and did not ask any further, "So what should I do next? Is Andre number 8... really a werewolf you discerned?"

Su Ming’an turned his head to glance back, the other players had already dispersed to explore the town, and the current street was just a branch in the southeast corner of Terrily Town, looking long neglected, not a soul in sight.

Su Ming’an withdrew his gaze.

"No," he said.

"Ah? Then is Andre actually a good person? If that’s the case, we might have wrongfully killed a Player with a good identity..." Lv Shu remembered the look in Su Ming’an’s eyes during the voting phase.

At that time, Su Ming’an was looking at Andre and gently shaking his head, which made Lv Shu think that Su Ming’an meant—"Andre is a Werewolf."

"Maybe," Su Ming’an said, "last night, the person I chose to check was Player 12, Mizushima Haru. The Guide Anlienna told me she is a good person."

"In that case, Edward, who also claimed he is the Seer, must definitely be a Werewolf..."

"Not necessarily," Su Ming’an said, "he seems more like a Hunter."

"A Hunter?" Lv Shu was stunned.

"I am the Player who died on The First Night. Have you ever seen a Werewolf pretending to be a Seer and proclaim that the killed person was a Werewolf? If so, it would be hard to gain the Witch’s trust," Su Ming’an said. "Edward seems like a good person with an identity, one of the four Clerics. He didn’t know who died on The First Night, but he was confident he wouldn’t be eliminated, and he hated me, so he wanted to do everything in his power to get me out—regardless of whether we were on the same side or what my identity might be.

Combining this confidence, he seems more like a Hunter than a Guard with little ability to confirm his identity."

"So that’s why you told me not to expose him..." Lv Shu understood.

"Tonight, it’s highly likely that either you or Edward will die because you two good people publicly claim to be Seers. The Werewolves might choose to kill one of you, so the other will be easily eliminated tomorrow during the day," Su Ming’an said. "That’s why I had you claim to be the Seer in my stead... because at least, I can’t die tonight, I still have things to do, so you’ll have to take the fall for me."

"It’s no problem, as long as you don’t die, I’m fine."

Lv Shu felt that what Su Ming’an said made sense, but he vaguely sensed something was amiss that he had overlooked.

"Then, since I’m likely to die tonight, should I use my poison?"

"No need, you won’t die," Su Ming’an led him toward the corner of the town, "because, I’ve figured out who the Guard is. I’ll have her protect you, and you’ll be safe tonight."

As the two walked, the barrage of discussion didn’t stop:

[Something’s off, Brother Ming’an is acting strange.]

[There’s a problem with his logic, the Werewolves know who they’ve attacked, and the Witch can’t save herself, so they’d definitely know he’s not the Witch.]

[Not necessarily, Su Ming’an has the Clone Skill! In some sense, it can replace the Witch’s healing potion.]

[Am I the only one who thinks he’s just deceiving Brother Lv Shu... although it seems like he’s not even trying that hard.]

[You think Su Ming’an is lying, that he’s a Werewolf? Then did he kill himself? A blind self-kill on The First Night? Is Su Ming’an the kind of person who relies on others to seize opportunities? Are you kidding me?]

[Not necessarily... maybe the other three Werewolves decided to kill him regardless of their alliance...? The Werewolves collectively decide the target each night based on who receives the most votes... If the other three Werewolves all wanted Su Ming’an dead...]

[What are you talking about! Surely he’s not that detestable!]

[I think the Number One Player is doing quite well right now, I even feel like he’s more suitable than Edward in every way...]

[Wait, could it be the real Seer is laying low because they’re afraid of dying and hasn’t come forward yet? I think the Number One Player is a Werewolf!]

[Impossible, which of the first twelve Players is afraid of dying... oh, it seems there actually is one.]

[...]

Lv Shu looked up.

He saw the nervously shrinking girl from Dragon Country, her eyes almost hidden by thick bangs, watching them from the corner with an attitude as if she wanted to melt into the wall.

"Number One Player, what... what are you asking me to do..." Lin Jiang hugged her chest, her whole body bent like a shrimp, her legs trembling uncontrollably.