In Virtual Reality 98 ☆ The Hydrangea Park (22/33)

Ignoring the scenes within each live streamer's room, Wang Jin Long's bloodthirsty rampage raged on. When BGM cast his judgment skill, Fox Snap yanked his arm, but her grip could not halt him completely. He spun around, eyes blazing with fury. "Are you betraying us?!" he thundered.

Fox Snap retorted, "And what about you? Aren't you a werewolf?!"

"I am the righteous judgment," BGM declared self-righteously, "what's wrong with that?"

Fox Snap's grip on his neck tightened. "Then what am I betraying?!" she snarled, using all her might to throttle him.

BGM remained stoic, unaffected by the pain of the virtual avatar. As the two of them toyed with each other, Wang Jin Long wiped his dagger and cackled. "You seem capable enough to execute him by yourself," he sneered.

Fox Snap glared at him, teeth grinding together. "I know what you're thinking! Even as a werewolf, I can only eliminate someone by writing their number in my notebook!" Unfortunately, her notebook was stuffed in her pocket, rendering it useless as her hands were preoccupied.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept across them, tossing Fox Snap's hair into her eyes. She couldn't tell if it had been minutes or seconds, but eventually, Wang Jin Long began to make his way towards them.

BGM's face reddened, and he kicked frantically, "Don't come any closer! I'm not totally blind with only one leg left!"

Wang Jin Long let out a long sigh. "How can the 'Spirit Shenanigans's' resource be entrusted to imbeciles like you?"

【I've been itching to ask: what on earth is "Spirit Shenanigans"?】

【Is it a whimsical brainchild of Excelsior or the work of die-hard fans?】

【The official promos claimed that Wang Jin Long's data packet hailed from Murphy's, so it can't be anything but official.】

【Hold on a minute, did I miss an episode? Wasn't the packet from Excelsior? How did it suddenly turn into Murphy's packet?】

【Murphy's been dead quiet about the amusement park for ages... Rumours swirled that it would have its public beta next year. Have any official announcements been made?】

【Believe me, folks, I'm not yanking your chain. I'm privy to some insider info!】

【Your "insider" comment is divulging more than intended...】

【Next year, Game Net's pulling out all the stops and unleashing every game they've published on existing gaming sites!】

【Haven't there been whispers about this for an eternity? Who're you trying to kid?】

The barrage was noisy, a symphony of jeers and taunts, each note mocking the leaked intel that had yet to be confirmed.

Undeterred, Wang Jin Long approached BGM languidly, his target gasping for air.

"If I eliminate you, only five will remain." Wang Jin Long's voice dripped with malice as he stared down at BGM. "The game will be mine to win."

Several paces away, he brandished the knife in his right hand, and with a swift motion, the blade soared through the air, piercing the girl knight's forehead.

Fox Snap gasped in horror, releasing her grip on BGM. Her eyes dilated as she watched the blade sink deep into the character model's head.

What in the world... did he intend to kill her as well?!

Her expression contorted into a scowl as she turned to face Wang Jin Long. "You!"

"It was an accident," Wang Jin Long said with a nonchalant shrug, his lips curling into an insincere smile. "But let's focus on what's important. We have to eliminate the others to win the game."

Fox Snap's voice bristled with anger. "There are still four werewolves in the game, and besides us, there are three others. What's your plan? Are you going to eliminate them one by one like you did just now? You got lucky!"

She stepped back, reaching for her notebook, her eyes never leaving Wang Jin Long's form.

"So what's next?" Wang Jin Long's grin widened, revealing a sinister edge. He tugged at the skin around his mouth, contorting his features into a grotesque expression. "You going to kill me? You don't even know my number. Can you guess which of the five remaining digits is mine?" His eyes were fixated on the upper left corner, where only 1, 3, 4, 8, and 9 remained.

The skill of Fox Snap was far from infallible, as it boasted a considerable cooldown time--a fact that eluded the remaining survivors. Yet Wang Jin Long, perceptive as ever, had an inkling that Fox Snap's particular skill was not always at the ready. A skill as extravagant as "Death Note" would be too overpowered otherwise.

"Shall we put my blade to the test against your speed?" Wang Jin Long took a stride ahead, stepping over the corpse of the female knight, and extended his palm to Fox Snap; his voice was now soft and tender. "Have faith in me, partner. At the finish line, we will emerge victorious."

A flicker of uncertainty danced across Fox Snap's countenance.

Admittedly, the prospect of employing Wang Jin Long's ruthless might was tempting, given the cumbersome delay of her own capabilities. But in exchange for such an arrangement, she would have to entrust her life to a precarious tool--a tool that could, at any moment, blow up in her face.

If she dared to seize this weapon, she would have to be vigilant against the possibility of Wang Jin Long turning on her first. For even the most seasoned of hunters can turn into prey themselves.

**

After parting ways with Celestial Master, Xu Jin Yi embarked on a solitary journey back to the Hydrangea Sea. She followed the gravel path to its conclusion, where a dilapidated iron gate stood a short distance away. The metal bars were twisted and gnarled, and the gate layer in the grass with an air of abandonment, as though it had been neglected for decades. With each step, Xu Jin Yi's movements grew increasingly cautious as she ventured further.

The once vibrant and lively Hydrangea Sea had been reduced to ruin, and its current state bore no resemblance to its former self. Xu Jin Yi paused in silence before gingerly treading upon the thick, crushed flower petals that oozed juice and slowly seeped into the ground under her weight. She walked along the collapsed, brown earth until she spotted a figure lying in the centre.

The face of the stranger, the gardening ghost Yuan Yi, was unusually serene, with a peaceful expression etched upon it. Its scissors lay broken in two, slightly open, and poking at its chest, with a white hydrangea between the tiny gaps. The sharp scissors were stained with crimson blood, but they surprisingly complemented the white hydrangea, creating an eerie yet beautiful image. It was almost as if the scissors were guarding the delicate root of a hydrangea.

Xu Jin Yi approached the gardening ghost and lingered for some time, half-expecting the NPC to suddenly revive and attack her. However, no such occurrence took place. She finally bent down and extended her hand towards the white hydrangea on the ghost's chest.

"Meow~"

Xu Jin Yi was perplexed as she couldn't locate the source of the meowing. She swivelled her head to and fro but didn't spot the feline until it had already snuggled up in the arms of the gardening ghost. The black cat nonchalantly clutched a hydrangea blossom and let out a languorous purr towards Xu Jin Yi.

"Is this flower yours?" Xu Jin Yi beamed. "Or are you leaving it for the rightful owner?"

The ebony kitty cocked its head and relaxed on the gardening ghost's lap, which had gone still. It securely nestled the hydrangea blossom with its paw pads.

"Fine, fine," Xu Jin Yi acquiesced, rubbing the black cat's head. "You can have it for a moment. But do return it to me later."

Xu Jin Yi stood up and glanced at the numbered board in the top-left corner. Surprisingly, thirty minutes had elapsed, and two numbers had already vanished.

"Huh?" she pondered. "Number one has gone offline? What could have happened?"

Xu Jin Yi never anticipated such an occurrence.

Could there be emergencies during the game's transition from single-player to multiplayer? She made a mental note to be more vigilant next time.

At present, only two numbers remain on the field: 【4】and 【9】. This meant that the final two surviving players would be pitted against each other until the end of the contest, with the ultimate winner emerging victorious.

If nothing unforeseen occurred, the number 【4】 belonged to Wang Jin Long.

Xu Jin Yi lingered there, tapping her pockets and producing her original identity card. The card exhibited the werewolf's claws and crimson eyes as a misty backdrop, while the rear bore the inky patterns of the number 【9】.

Xu Jin Yi held up the identity card as a grin played on her lips before tucking it away in her pocket. Her vision was suddenly interrupted by a simplified map of The Hydrangea Park, revealing her green dot and eagerly edging towards her red dot. It seemed to pulse with urgency, almost as if it were alive. Xu Jin Yi chuckled. "Looks like you're all set," she quipped before stepping towards the decrepit flower sea that lay beyond. It was her time now, time that was entirely hers.

**

One of the five numbers abruptly went offline, sending Fox Snap into a frenzy. Without hesitation, she randomly selected a number from the remaining digits 4, 8, and 9 and quickly filled it in her death note. With her lucky number now in hand, she took out Celestial Master, who had just completed a detergent quest, but suddenly he jumped into the view of the spectators from the sky above.

Celestial Master:?

Suddenly, Fox Snap found herself in the same predicament. She peered at the screen filled with "hahaha" with a face as dark as a storm cloud. After a brief silence, she covered her face with her hands.

Damn, it.

After a few moments of brooding, she realized she had not received the game-over message. She looked up and saw a fish-headed man hanging upside down in the air.

Luckily, Fox Snap didn't showcase her singing skills in front of a live audience. She choked and coughed violently, then finally managed to ask, "What's going on?"

"The situation is this," a familiar voice emerged from behind. Asmodeus, whom she had not seen in ages, floated through a lush tree nearby. "This is Excelsior's skill."

His body was covered in dense foliage, with only his slender limbs exposed. This made Asmodeus appear like a green cotton sheep. He looked sympathetic at her and explained, "It means they's fooled all of us. Excelsior, a werewolf card, had a skill like a daydream that could lure the players into this realm of dream, hiding their true identity--if this was merely an ordinary game."

In a regular game, werewolves used dreams to fabricate their own elimination, successfully accomplishing assassinations in the real game without suspicion or expulsion. But Excelsior used their skills to make everyone believe they were fighting for true victory, playing them all like marionettes.

"But don't fret," Asmodeus smirked, eyes scanning the players below, who all appeared perplexed. "Excelsior will dispel the fog, and we shall be resurrected."

Madam Stargazer furrowed her brow. "Yet, even though the 【1】 is in the real game, in Excelsior's fog, only two werewolves remain-them and Wang Jin Long. Logically, with three wolves still on the field, the game should have concluded by now."

Asmodeus shook his head. "As long as the blue moon in the sky is not full, the game has yet to reach its conclusion."

Together, they gazed upward at the false sky, where the blue moon hung, half-swollen.

——— Translator's Notes ———

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