...
The pain from the blow to his head continued.
When Alger regained consciousness, his health bar showed 337/500, slowly recovering.
However, perhaps due to the lack of a rope or perhaps because he was underestimated, he wasn't tied up.
The barrage of comments in the upper right corner continued:
"The streamer is finally awake!"
"Oh no, I have a bad feeling. These guys seem to be the ones who persecute groups, specifically coming to steal points."
"Damn it, they're all from Dragon Country but still have to make trouble for each other. Aren't they just entertaining the organizers?"
"There are criminals everywhere you go. I hate these people the most. Streamer, go for it! Beat them!"
"I feel like the streamer doesn't look too strong..."
"Boss, someone just woke up!"
A man's voice came from the side, accompanied by the smell of alcohol. Alger raised his eyelids and saw five people sitting around a table in a dimly lit room, with starlight streaming in through high windows at an angle.
The man sitting on the far left seemed to be the leader of the group. He had a crew cut, stubble on his face, and his expression was marked with the scars of life. He looked like someone who had been living poorly before the game started—but now he seemed to be doing all right.
"Take him over there," the crew-cut man said, still blowing on his bottle of alcohol. His gaze only briefly glanced at Alger, as if he didn't regard him highly.
"Who's going? Awang, you go!"
None of them seemed eager to do the job. In the end, a small, seemingly mild-mannered guy was pushed to his feet and reluctantly went to pull Alger along.
"No, no, I'll go by myself," Alger said without resistance, and under the somewhat strange gazes of the others, he walked toward the direction indicated by the mild-mannered guy.
The big guys exchanged glances, feeling somewhat puzzled:
"He's so cooperative..."
"Those before were all shouting and crying, acting as if they'd seen a ghost..."
"Anyway, in the end, they'll all end up crying and handing over their points. It doesn't matter now."
"True, let's continue drinking..."
...
It was a dark corridor, with empty rooms and tall iron bars on either side.
The guy beside him kept staring at Alger, looking very vigilant. Alger, who was walking along, also heard the system's prompt:
"Ding."
[Received temporary A-level mission: Escape from this place (point rewards based on mission completion)]
[Mission description: As the imminent apocalypse approaches, players begin internal strife. Faced with such a heart-wrenching scene, will you save or sink? How will you choose?]
...
The mild-mannered guy "escorting" the "prey" beside him was surprised at how easy this stretch of road was. But what surprised him even more was that the person next to him actually started a conversation:
"Hey? You look about the same age as me."
The mild-mannered guy glanced over silently. The young man beside him looked quite refreshing, with bright eyes, a tall figure, and a charismatic aura (Charm: A). He seemed like the type who was quite popular in class.
...But Alger hated these types of normies.
Meanwhile, Alger continued: "Despite reaching this point, to rise above being prey and become the hunter... That's really impressive. I've always wanted to team up with my own group of six, but they just left me behind... I was tired and hungry, alone and helpless."
Alger's unsuccessful experiences seemed to lower the mild-mannered guy's guard. He turned his head slightly, with a hint of pride in his eyes, and whispered, "I... I'm not that impressive. They often bully me."
"In fact... it's not entirely like that. Even though it's a game that should rely on intelligence and strength, some people with simple minds use force to dominate everything. I think... it's really, really unfair," Alger continued.
As they approached the end of the corridor, there was a room with iron bars, where several people with signs of being beaten and a despondent look were locked inside.
...Clearly, this was the small team of those big guys, the "prey" used to plunder points.
"You, stop talking to me." The mild-mannered guy suddenly raised his voice, took out an iron rod from his backpack, and forcefully pushed Alger into the room next to him, closing the iron bars.
He pointed the iron rod at Alger, his tone unstable: "Even if you try to please me, I won't let you off the hook—unless you hand over the points directly. That way, I won't have to keep you locked up, or let them come over and torture you after finishing their drinks..."
Alger faced the iron rod, showing a very friendly smile.
"It's okay," he pointed to his head, "I just feel that, sometimes, people shouldn't lose their bottom line."
Perhaps influenced by his friendly attitude, the mild-mannered guy lowered his tone slightly, showing some despair in his expression. His hand holding the iron rod was trembling:
"I... I don't want this either... I don't want to hurt people either. When will this damn game end... I don't even know how my parents are doing now... Are they starving, are they being bullied..."
"These people who have been tortured by you might be someone else's parents," Alger said.
The mild-mannered guy's arm shook violently, and then, he began to cry somewhat hysterically.
He heard a "click."
The lock on the iron bars fell to the ground in front of him.
He lifted his eyelids, looking somewhat bewildered at the outstretched hand of the boy in front of him, which was against his temple.
"You're not cut out for this game," Alger said.
Before the mild-mannered guy could raise the iron rod, there was a "crack."
Annihilation activated.
[--HP-500! (Fatal wound, penetrating wound!)]
The health bar in the upper left corner instantly dropped to zero, and everything in front of him drifted away in an instant.
The barrage of comments became lively, and the popularity soared to three digits:
"Damn!" "I thought this streamer looked like a naive little lamb, but he's so decisive when it comes to killing!" "A student rises up, a high schooler saves the world!" "What he said makes sense... but isn't it too cruel? We also need to maintain our moral values as citizens of Earth..." "..."
Alger stepped over the boy's body and picked up his iron rod.
Perhaps the game at this stage didn't encourage killing players, so there was no announcement of gaining points.
[You killed Wang Wang (Player), Exp+0 (Non-competitive instance, no experience bonus)]
But there were prompts for item drops.
[Received item (Exquisite watch strap)]
[Exquisite watch strap: A gift from Wang Wang's parents on his 18th birthday, still looks valuable. Redemption value: 5 points (sellable after returning to the main god space)]
[Received item (Rusty iron rod)]
[Rusty iron rod: No longer suitable for making items, not even considered equipment, but stained with blood, it's still a first-class weapon. (Not allowed to bring back to the main god space)]
[Combat power 190 (updated according to combat state) +5]
Alger sharpened the front end into a pointed tip. During the process, he heard the cries for help from the people behind him who were being detained.
"Thank you! Can you take us out?"
"Please! I'm really, really scared..."
Alger shifted his feet slightly, revealing the body of the boy who blocked their way.
The hollow at his temple was too obvious, like it had been pierced by an electric drill. Dark red blood flowed down from the black hole, and the boy's eyes were still somewhat vacant, his face dark blue.
"Ah..."
The few people who were desperately calling for help seemed to have been choked, and a middle-aged woman even shrank into a corner.
Alger looked at the frightened people and, holding the sharp-tipped iron rod, walked towards the exit: "If you want to get out, just find any weapon and follow me. This is the end of the world, not the peaceful world it used to be—there won't always be someone coming to save you."
His steps were quick, and the others hesitated, almost losing sight of his figure.
"Or, or... should we wait a little longer?" A young man hugged himself, shivering. "Let him kill those people first, and then we'll come out..."
"He's killed someone too! He's not a good person either!" The middle-aged woman was emotional. "He's just a teenager, but he's so ruthless! We can't follow him, we'll die too!"
"Wah, wah, wah..."
In the corner, there was the annoying cry of a child who had been awakened. The few people looked at each other and didn't move.
But at that moment, suddenly, a person walked out through the iron bars.
It was the young man who had been locked up before, who had been invisible all along. As he stepped over the body on the ground and walked through the starlight streaming in through the high window at an angle, the others saw a beautiful butterfly hovering over his shoulder.
"Hey, kid, don't go, that person is dangerous!" The middle-aged woman advised him.
The young man turned