Cao Qian’s Achievement Title

After Cao Qian used the top hat to snatch the shadow puppet and regain control of her body, Xing Ye immediately began drawing a QR code.

The QR code he drew at that moment was “Empathy.” The target of “Empathy” was precisely that player with the extremely sharp sense of smell. Yang Zhuang had once seen the teammate list on Shao Lin’s phone, and after analysing it, Xing Ye guessed that this formidable player was named Tan Feng, the name assigned to him by the system in this world.

The swan crystal Linlin cast “Idleness” on Tan Feng. Tan Feng should have temporarily fallen into a dazed state, but Xing Ye believed that since the opposing side had at least three players, they would surely have considered the possibility of mental-control abilities and must have ways toremove such effects.

Sure enough, less than twenty seconds after Cao Qian returned to the carriage, Carriage No. 1 fell into darkness.

Xing Ye did not stop drawing the QR code. Everything was unfolding exactly as he had anticipated. He also knew that once complete darkness descended, the one who would enter the carriage must be that player with the keen sense of smell.

Therefore, there was no need to consider the direction of release for the QR code—the carriage door was enough.

“Empathy” was originally a QR code that used one’s own emotions to guide another person’s emotions. If the opponent’s will was firm enough, it could even backfire and allow them to counter-control the user. Tan Feng’s willpower was beyond doubt; someone who had made it this far would not be easily shaken by others’ words.

Xing Ye’s purpose in using “Empathy” was not control, but to take advantage of it to sense the opponent’s emotions.

He kept his own emotions as calm as possible. In doing so, Tan Feng would not immediately feel the power of this QR code. After all, in such a battle, what both sides needed most was calm. “Empathy” was a power that subtly penetrated the heart; when both sides’ emotions aligned, it became very difficult for Tan Feng to notice that his emotions were already linked with someone else’s.

While lurking in the dark, after Tan Feng confirmed Xing Ye’s position, Xing Ye gradually sensed Tan Feng’s inner confidence, as well as a trace of ruthlessness.

This man must possess an extremely terrifying ability to have such strong confidence. That ruthlessness also told Xing Ye that he might soon be facing something truly dreadful.

Thus, he asked Lu Mingze to use “Repainting brush” for the third time, to draw a QR code they had obtained in the Campus World and which Xing Ye had once considered useless—a mere chicken rib (NT: something of little value)—called “Lesson Plan Preparation.”

“Lesson Plan Preparation” had a precognitive ability: the player could sense what would happen in the next ten seconds; after being redrawn, only five seconds remained. Xing Ye had regarded this ability as useless precisely because it took him about thirty seconds to draw a single QR code—trading thirty seconds for five seconds of foresight was meaningless. “Lesson Plan Preparation” was only meant to be used in split-second, lightning-fast moments.

However, after Lu Mingze’s “Eye of Truth” merged with Xing Ye’s “Eye of Impression,” the “Mirror of Truth” gained an instant-copy ability. And when the QR code “I have every form you desire” granted Lu Mingze the skill “Repainting brush,” the “Lesson Plan Preparation” QR code finally became useful.

Once “Lesson Plan Preparation” took effect, Xing Ye instantly sensed what would happen to him in the next five seconds: first, all the bones in his body would soften, and he would collapse like a limp noodle; next, the memory region of his brain would be destroyed, erasing his memories; then all the tendons in his body would fly out and twist into ropes, binding his limbs; finally, he would suddenly bleed from all seven orifices, his eyes would inexplicably be blinded, his ears would fall off, and his tongue and nose would be cut away.

In just five seconds, Xing Ye would end up in such a miserable state. No wonder Shao Lin had teamed up with this player—his strength was indeed terrifying. If Xing Ye had not had so many trump cards, he truly might have fallen into this trap.

Thus, Xing Ye made a decisive move and, before Tan Feng launched his attack, activated his initial skill “Kuafu Chases the Sun.”

This skill, which stopped time for one minute, was like a bug. Its drawbacks were a long cooldown and short duration. The reason Shao Lin had sent this player first to attack Xing Ye was clearly to force him to expend this skill.

Xing Ye had prepared more than a dozen surgical knives for everyone beforehand, and he carried quite a few himself. Without hesitation, he decisively severed the artery in Tan Feng’s neck and rapidly changed position.

Although severing a major artery leads to brain death in just a few seconds, those few seconds were still enough to activate several initial skills. “Kuafu Chases the Sun” froze time for the entire world except Xing Ye. Even if Xing Ye had killed Tan Feng tens of seconds before the effect ended, the actual bleeding would only begin the moment the skill wore off, still buying several seconds of delay.

Thus, Xing Ye quickly moved out of Tan Feng’s attack range. As long as he could delay for a few seconds, he would win.

Sure enough, once time resumed, Tan Feng found that he could no longer locate his target. After that brief moment of confusion, the arterial bleeding began, his brain was deprived of blood, and he quickly fell into a state where thinking became difficult.

When he heard Tan Feng murmur the words “Kuafu Chases the Sun,” Xing Ye guessed that either Tan Feng had heard Shao Lin mention Xing Ye’s ability, or he himself had once encountered Xing Ye in another world.

What surprised Xing Ye was that, in his dying moments, Tan Feng’s emotions were not resentment or hatred, but rather a gambler’s acceptance of loss—willing to accept defeat—along with the satisfaction of having finally forced Xing Ye to expend a skill, and even a trace of anticipation, though Xing Ye did not know what he was anticipating.

Such thoughts meant that Tan Feng understood Shao Lin’s purpose and was willing to die for him. That anticipation likely came from knowing that he was not killed by a Fate-following item, but by an ordinary ability. In that case, he was not truly dead—he had merely lost the game, losing three-quarters of his points. If Tan Feng had enough remaining points, he could still enter a high-level world in the next round.

What he was anticipating in the next world, no one knew.

Although the duration of “Empathy” had not yet ended, Tan Feng was already dead, and the QR code lost its target and expired.

Tan Feng’s death did not end the darkness, which meant the enemy had not given up.

Wang Sipang was wrapped inside “Three Thousand Worlds” like an egg and could not attack, so the true culprit behind this pitch-black environment must still be outside the carriage.

It was not yet time to relax. Xing Ye groped his way to Cao Qian, and the two of them moved toward the carriage door.

Throughout this time, Yang Zhuang never canceled the effect of “No One in Sight.” He firmly remembered Xing Ye’s instructions: even if the battle seemed over, he was to maintain “No One in Sight” until it expired.

Based on the information Shao Lin had revealed when trying to recruit Yang Zhuang, Shao Lin’s team consisted of seven people including himself. One—Tan Feng—was dead; excluding Shao Lin and Wang Sipang, there were still four left. Of these four, two were women. According to Cao Qian, they were even more attractive than Qian Jinlai’s appearance in this world, and wherever they went, men would frequently strike up conversations with them—suspected Fate-following players. Another was a train attendant, and the last was possibly a player whom Wang Sipang had deceived into becoming a Fate-following item. The player responsible for plunging the carriage into darkness was among these four.

“Found them!” Lu Mingze suddenly said in Xing Ye’s mind. “I’ve located the two female players—they’re in Carriage No. 12, sitting right behind your paper stand-ins. Uh… I found them through the compact mirrors they used while touching up their makeup. But I think I also saw a passenger who looks like Yan Hebi near their seats? The mirror was too small; when it closed, I only caught half a profile. I can’t be sure…”

“For now, ignore Yan Hebi,” Xing Ye said. “Since the two female players are in Carriage No. 12, then the only one we need to deal with is the person outside the carriage—or possibly plus one sentient Fate-following item. But I doubt the Fate-following item is in the attendant’s hands. Shao Lin would definitely find a way to keep any Fate-following item under his own control.”

“Wang Sipang is still hiding inside ‘Three Thousand Worlds.’ The ability hasn’t expired yet, and with Yang Zhuang and his wife keeping watch, there’s no need to worry for now. With just you and Cao Qian, could it be that you still can’t handle a lone train attendant?” Lu Mingze said confidently.

Xing Ye sighed quietly in his heart and explained to Lu Mingze, “This train attendant is not easy to deal with. Judging from the information we already have: Tan Feng’s ‘Idleness’ cannot dismiss itself—that was done by the attendant, which proves he has the ability to remove mental control; the darkness inside the carriage is his doing, which proves he can control light or something similar; you’ve been searching for him in the mirrors of each carriage, yet you’ve always had difficulty finding him, which proves he has the ability to turn invisible or to prevent his reflection from appearing in mirrors. As for why he deliberately avoids being reflected in mirrors, it shows that he may have realized you were monitoring through mirrors, or that he is naturally cautious and doesn’t even trust mirrors within the game.

“All of this indicates that the attendant has at least four abilities. Moreover, he still hasn’t left the carriage and continues to control the lighting, which means he hasn’t given up hunting me—so he still has hidden cards. A Fate-following player who cannot possibly possess Fate-following items—why would he have so many abilities? Are these really all his initial skills?

“I think that’s unlikely. So he must have a fifth ability: the power to see through the true effects of QR codes, allowing him to accurately choose the right QR code according to the situation.

“Someone with so many abilities must be no less scheming than Shao Lin. Then why would he be willing to attack us together with Tan Feng and Wang Sipang? Because he also needed two vanguards to scout the way and exhaust our abilities.

“I believe he must be holding quite a few QR codes and one-time items rewarded by the system after achieving a true ending. He isn’t afraid of confronting us, and may even think he can win. There aren’t many players in the game with that level of confidence—I believe he most likely possesses an achievement title skill.

“You and I both know that although achievement title skills can only be used once per world, their effects are extremely powerful and often capable of turning the tide. They’re very difficult to deal with.”

After hearing Xing Ye’s words, Lu Mingze fell silent. They had just defeated an extremely powerful opponent and had already consumed a key skill, and now they were about to face yet another strong enemy. In the other carriages there were still Shao Lin and two players whose strength was unclear—this battle would be very hard to fight.

Lu Mingze was just about to speak, planning to take out the mirror and deal with that Fate-following player himself, when in the darkness they heard Cao Qian’s voice: “I’ll go.”

“No,” Xing Ye vetoed it. “Linlin’s skill might not work on him. You only have your initial skills, the Fist of glory gauntlets, and a few surgical knives. The odds of winning are too low.”

“No,” Cao Qian said softly beside Xing Ye. “I still have one achievement title.”

Cao Qian had never mentioned it before, but in fact, as early as when she had just advanced into the advanced world, she had obtained an achievement title QR code for her outstanding performance in the Villa Escape World—‘to burn both jade and stone together’ (NT: idiom meaning to perish together – both the precious (jade) and the worthless (stone) - with the enemy in mutual destruction, even at the cost of oneself).

 

Translator : DarNan