The girl went by the code name "Zero," a name she used when navigating the Nightmare World.
Zero was exceptionally smart—too smart, in fact. Her intelligence bordered on abnormal. She was a master strategist, and her unique ability allowed her to set up the perfect traps.
In her grand vision, this final showdown between her and Qin Ming was supposed to be an epic, exhilarating life-or-death struggle.
After all, Qin Ming wouldn't want to give up the favorability points he'd painstakingly earned with the protagonists, as they were far more valuable than even defeating the boss. With those favorability points, he could obtain rewards more precious than any boss loot.
So, naturally, Qin Ming would be forced to follow her script, step by step, straight into the abyss!
After exhausting all his strength, fighting heroically in front of both her and Hannah, killing all the underlings, and rescuing the damsel in distress, Qin Ming would finally earn a massive amount of favorability from Hannah!
But just as the hero was about to embrace his victory and claim his prize, Zero would activate a hidden mechanism, releasing the trap door beneath Hannah and dropping her into a pit with a ravenous, genetically modified velociraptor!
This beautiful woman who cherished the idea of peaceful coexistence between humans and dinosaurs would have to "get along" with a starving velociraptor right in front of Qin Ming's eyes.
Watching Hannah—a character with high favorability points who could be exchanged for a blue-grade item—get torn apart before him would surely fill Qin Ming with rage and despair!
Zero imagined herself making a grand exit, leaving Qin Ming helplessly fuming at his inability to stop her. The next time they met, she'd have another trap waiting for him.
Oh, what a perfect, glorious exit! It would leave this clever little fool with a memory he would never forget!
Zero had thought of many possibilities, calculated every outcome, but she had overlooked one thing: Qin Ming wasn't good at socializing. In fact, he barely cared about favorability at all!
The only reason Qin Ming was even acting with the protagonist group wasn't because he'd sought them out—it was just a coincidence that they'd run into each other.
Favorability? Who cared about that! First, here's a full cylinder of bullets!
As she watched Qin Ming mercilessly fire his revolver, even following up with rapid shots, Zero instinctively grabbed one of the underlings nearby.
Bang! Bang!
Blood sprayed everywhere as the underling was riddled with holes, and the bullets tore into Zero's body as well, contorting her face with pain.
Stumbling back, Zero let out a shrill scream.
"Attack! Kill him!"
At her command, the remaining underlings sprang into action, weapons raised as they charged at Qin Ming.
But Qin Ming, having already reloaded his revolver, raised it and shouted, "Stop right there! If any of you move, I'll shoot!"
The charging underlings hesitated, nervously glancing at one another. One of them, standing at the front, suddenly shouted, "We outnumber him! He only has six bullets! If we rush him all at once—"
Bang! Bang!
Before he could finish, two bullets silenced him, and he crumpled to the ground, blood spurting from his wounds.
Qin Ming quickly turned his gun on the others, glaring at them angrily. "What, are you all experts at counting or something? Fine! I have four bullets left. Pick four people to die, and then you can kill me. Fair deal, right? Come on, step up!"
The underlings froze in fear, dodging Qin Ming's aim.
Seeing their hesitation, Qin Ming sighed, pulled two more bullets from his belt, and calmly reloaded his revolver. "If none of you are coming, I'll just reload. Then I'll have six bullets again!"
The click of the cylinder locking into place sent the underlings into a panic. Without another word, they turned and fled.
Qin Ming fired after them, dropping three or four as they ran, until his cylinder was empty.
Reloading once more, Qin Ming scanned the area, only to find that the crazy woman, Zero, had disappeared during the chaos.
"Shit! She got away!" he cursed, spitting angrily on the ground. "Next time I see her, I'll blow her brains out!"
Muttering under his breath, Qin Ming walked over to Hannah, who was still hanging limply from the beam. He cut her down, and she collapsed weakly against him, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"I didn't expect… you'd be the one to save me."
With those words, Qin Ming's favorability with Hannah skyrocketed from a normal 70 points to a staggering 290 points, just shy of the 300-point threshold for "friends."
Grinning at the unexpected bonus, Qin Ming chuckled awkwardly. "Don't worry about it! I just happened to be passing by, haha."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hannah's favorability dropped to 280…
Seeing the sudden loss of 10 points, Qin Ming's smile froze. He slapped himself in the face and, supporting the injured Hannah, began making his way toward the rooftop.
Below them, the first-stage boss, Vice-Terra, was still locked in combat with the other three protagonists.
Watching the fierce battle, Qin Ming shrugged, found a spot to set Hannah down, and drew his revolver. He began climbing down the stairs, ready to join the fray.
Meanwhile, at the building's exit, Zero, her clothes soaked in blood, stumbled toward the road, clutching her bullet wound.
Flagging down a car, she leaned weakly against the door and whispered to the driver, "Please… just take me away from here. As far as you can."
The driver, eyeing the bloodied yet still beautiful girl, smirked and leaned an arm against the window.
"Well, well, missy. I can take you to the hospital, but how are you going to repay me? You don't look like you've got any money."
Zero rolled her eyes, too tired to even argue. Lowering her hand from her wound, she drew her short sword and, with a sickening thunk, stabbed it into the driver's throat.
The driver's eyes widened in shock as blood poured from his mouth, his hands frantically trying to stop the bleeding. Ignoring his struggles, Zero opened the door and dragged him out by the hair, tossing him onto the road.
Stumbling into the driver's seat, she slammed the gas pedal to the floor.
With a roar, the car sped off, only to screech to a halt a moment later. Zero reversed the car, running over the driver's twitching body before speeding off again, tires screeching as she disappeared into the distance.
(End of Chapter)