Complete domination by one side

 

Xing Ye met the two pairs of curious eyes and said to them, “Let’s check out what’s going on over there first.”

The three of them secretly went through the darkness toward the fighting group, hiding behind the village houses and a nearby wall to observe Qin Xiao’er and Wang Sipang facing off against five other people.

Though there were five opponents, one player was clearly slacking off on the sidelines. He kept looking around, circling aimlessly, neither using his QR code nor activating any initial skill, just pacing around Qin and Wang.

Xing Ye and the others overheard him saying to his teammates: “This is a plot-based high-level world. I don't think we should just start fighting. What the village chief said may not be entirely true. What if we kill those five and miss the chance to get information from them? We might end up stuck in the game forever.”

Annoyed, one teammate yelled, “Get lost!”

Another shouted, “If you don't want to fight, then stay out of the way, noob! If I weren't worried about being disqualified for having less than five members before the sacrifice, I'd kill you myself!”

All five players were in their early twenties, ganging up on Qin and Wang like they were bullying kids.

The scolded young man scratched his head and obediently moved away, sneaking behind a wall—only to be suddenly yanked behind it by a thin, dark hand.

Startled, he was just about to press his bracelet to use his QR code when he saw three children hiding by the wall—two girls and one boy. Though the boy looked young and adorable, his eyes gleamed with intelligence.

Feeling the familiar terrifying presence of Cao Heihei, the young man whispered, “Cao…”

“Cao Heihei,” Cao Qian whispered back.

“Boss!” The young man then looked at Xing Ye with excitement.

“I’m Yang Xiaomao,” Xing Ye introduced himself briefly. The young man, of course, was Yan Hebi, who had unfortunately been placed in the other team.

“My name is Li Datou,” said Yan Hebi—despite his nickname "Big Head Li," he was actually very handsome. “I’ve been looking all day, finally found you!”

Yan Hebi reached out to hug Xing Ye and Cao Qian excitedly. Compared to his aggressive teammates, he missed the days of following capable leaders.

But Qian Daniu looked at Yan Hebi with suspicion, stepped back a bit, and placed her hand on her wristband, ready to attack at any moment.

She said, “Looks like you were teammates before, but in a high-level world, teammates get placed into opposing camps. I’ve seen too many people backstab their own team!”

Yan Hebi nodded. “You’re absolutely right, young lady. This time, my mission is to kill all five members of the sacrifice team. Boss, we’re in a life-or-death situation now. Maybe you should just kill me.”

Li Datou’s handsome face gave Qian Daniu an inexplicable sense of trust. To women especially, he seemed to be surrounded by a glowing aura of likeability.

“Don’t be rash,” Xing Ye said. “I’ve roughly guessed what happened. Right now, the most urgent thing is to stop the two sides from fighting. I have a feeling that before the sacrifice takes place, even if one player dies, this game will become unwinnable.”

Qian Daniu: “???”

“Alright, I’ll use my QR code,” Yan Hebi said, rolling up his sleeves.

Cao Qian prepared for battle too—her small body crouched like a panther, silent in the night, ready to strike.

Xing Ye said, “You two don’t need to act. We're so close, and with the cover of night, this is our home turf. Cao Qian, just protect Yan Hebi.”

Just as Yan Hebi was wondering what that meant, a mass of black mist that had been tailing Xing Ye’s group surged forward. Countless hands grabbed hold of Yan Hebi.

At the same time, Yan Hebi’s other four teammates were also attacked by the black mist. Qin and Wang, who had been on the losing end, perked up. Wang Sipang pulled out a pendant—it seemed to be his fate-altering item. He wanted to use it to reap lives while the enemies were distracted by the mist.

But just then, the hands in the black mist started attacking indiscriminately. Wang Sipang’s arm holding the pendant was bitten by several mouths, making him scream in pain!

Just then, a calming piano melody echoed through the night. The hands in the mist suddenly stiffened.

It was the “Requiem” QR code from the school world—extremely effective at subduing or purifying supernatural NPCs. It was the black mist’s natural enemy.

“Is that Big Head Li Datou coming to help us?” one of Yan Hebi’s teammates asked. “Or did a strong backup show up?”

Qin Xiao’er and Wang Sipang thought their own teammates had arrived. Wang managed to break free from the black mist’s grip and excitedly raised his pendant—

Suddenly, a barrage of ping-pong balls came flying from nowhere, bouncing and smacking his hand. A few rolled under his feet, causing him to slip and fall face-first into the dirt.

“Could it really be Li Datou?” another teammate said. “Looks like he’s not so usel—”

Before he finished, a ping-pong ball rolled under his foot too—both teams started slipping uncontrollably.

The six fighters: “……”

The “Bouncing Ping-Pong Balls” QR code, found with the help of Little Mirror in the school world, caused opponents to slip and could disrupt their phones, wristbands, or tools to prevent QR code use.

“Wait a minute,” said one of Yan Hebi’s teammates. “Can a single player stack delayed QR codes like that? I thought you could only use one at a time. That means it’s not just Li Datou—it’s the other three sacrifice team members too?”

Wang Sipang shouted, “Why are you attacking your own teammates too? Are you stupid?”

Just then, a grand piano dropped from the sky—smashing right onto Wang Sipang.

Wang Sipang under the piano: “……”

Before the opposing four could even celebrate, they saw a “piano rain” start falling from the sky. In the game world, they’d seen knife rains—but never this kind of downpour.

Pianos dropped one by one every 20 seconds or so from the sky, while ping-pong balls bounced on the ground. The enemies couldn’t even tell where the attacks were coming from—confused and disoriented, all they could do was dodge.

The “Piano” QR code was a pure physical attack skill obtained by Xing Ye with Teacher Ding’s help in the school world. Its only skill was piano drop—simple but effective, and Xing Ye’s favourite offensive move. So far, it had worked wonders and revealed endless new uses.

Qin Xiao’er was lucky—not hit by the balls or the pianos. He randomly tapped a QR code on his wristband, and it turned out to be a defensive one.

“Heaven’s Dome”—a delayed QR code that created a one-time air shield, protecting a 10-meter radius from any sky-borne physical attack for 5 minutes.

The downside? It protected enemies too.

The six players looked at each other and stopped fighting. They gathered under the dome, planning to identify and eliminate their mysterious attackers first—

“Wait… what was I doing just now?” Wang Sipang asked, scratching his head.

Another of Yan Hebi’s teammates also scratched his head: “Weird… I feel like I had so many things to do, but now I can’t remember any of them.”

“Idleness”, the upgraded skill of Cao Qian’s fate-following item, Swan Crystal Linlin, evolved from its original version “Lack of Ambition.” It has emotional sensing capabilities and could cause opponents to fall into a state where they "had many things to do but didn't want to do anything" for one minute. It deducted 100 points per use. Before upgrading, it could affect up to 3 targets at once; after upgrading, it could affect up to 6 at a time. The skill could only be used if Cao Qian’s intimacy level with Linlin exceeds 80, which it did in the last Villa Escape world.

As the six players fumbled about, unsure where to begin or what to do, a wave of fear rose from deep within their hearts.

How many opponents were there? What were their initial skills? Why did it feel like their QR codes were endless?

“Panic” QR code, acquired from the Spirit World, could influence opponents' emotions and cause them to fall into a state of anxiety and confusion.

At the same time, hiding behind the wall, Qian Daniu stared wide-eyed at the small-framed Yang Damao, who had somehow pulled out a pen and was unleashing a barrage of QR code attacks like a bottomless pit, indiscriminately hammering the other team. What kind of initial skill was this, she wondered, that allowed unlimited QR code usage and left others completely defenceless?

What Qian Daniu didn’t know was that Xing Ye was actually holding back. His goal was to stop the two sides from fighting. If he had truly wanted to eliminate these players, he could’ve used the “Mature” QR code in the village well to make the water spray everywhere, then followed it up with “Defibrillator” or “Battery” (electrical attack QR codes) — a single area-of-effect strike would’ve taken out several of them.

He also could have, while the group was under the influence of “Idleness”, drawn the “Human Body Slicer” QR code (originally belonging to Yan Hebi and shown to Xing Ye in the Spirit World). That would’ve eliminated the players while they were completely defenceless.

In a panic, several of the confused players shouted, “Who are you?! What kind of person are you?! Come out and duel us if you dare!”

Xing Ye gave instructions to Yan Hebi, who then shouted, “I’m Li Datou. I’ve already been subdued by the opposing team. They demand a three-day ceasefire. After the Mountain God Ritual, we can fight all we want.”

The sound of “Requiem” continued to echo through the air. Some players shouted back, “Why? They’re players too, aren’t they? Don’t we all want to win? There has to be a fight between the Sacrifice Team and the Escort Team anyway. Wouldn’t ending it early let us return to the real world sooner?”

Yan Hebi, speaking for Xing Ye, shouted, “No! He said he’s not interested in winning one or two games. His real goal is to challenge and overcome the Fate Game System. He wants to uncover the truth of the Mountain God Village. So until then, no one is allowed to die. Anyone who dares make a move will be fed to the black mist!”

“We won’t fight! We won’t fight!” shouted one of the players first. The rest followed suit — they had been completely overwhelmed by Xing Ye.

Xing Ye didn’t say a word. Instead, he silently drew four “Paper Substitute” QR codes. The paper clones took on the forms of the four of them. One of the clones — Li Datou — stepped out from behind the wall, helped up the fallen teammates, and slowly led them away.

 

Translator : DarNan