Ji Xun carefully observed the shadows of the panicked mercenaries.
He had clearly seen that before the person's head was severed, there was a cut in the shadow on the ground first, and then the neck was cut.
In other words, some mysterious force killed the shadow first, then the person died.
"Another incomprehensible method..."
Ji Xun muttered to himself.
It looked just as eerie as the previous curse techniques.
This must be the fabled disaster on the fourth floor of the bunker, which no one had ever seen.
The intelligence said that people who went to the fourth floor died inexplicably, with wounds caused by a blade, but no one ever saw the monster.
The girl with the mechanical arm felt a chill run down her spine at the sight.
Such an attack method was indefensible, even for her.
She glanced at Ji Xun. Although she couldn't see clearly in the darkness, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat indicated he wasn't panicking at all.
She knew he was as calm as ever.
The girl with the mechanical arm didn't understand why they were hiding, but thinking about his action of breaking the gas lamp, she had a hunch: Could it be that darkness could evade the monster's perception?
How did he figure this out?
Just as she grasped the point, Ji Xun suddenly drew his gun again.
"Bang! Bang!" The gunshots echoed loudly.
Her face twitched involuntarily, and she turned to him in disbelief.
...
The disaster was chasing the mercenaries, and they could have hidden here quietly and escaped.
But unexpectedly, Ji Xun fired his gun!
The girl with the mechanical arm watched in shock as Ji Xun shot out five nearby gas lamps.
Is he crazy?
Wouldn't this attract the monster?
Before she could understand, she heard his quick yet clear tactical arrangement: "The disaster hides in shadows. It will come for me; tell me if you sense it. If I fail, kill it."
...
The girl with the mechanical arm understood: He was intentionally luring the monster.
But how did he know the monster would "definitely" come for him?
She couldn't clearly sense the monster's exact nature. How did he know it hid in shadows?
Wait... shadows!
If the monster hid in shadows, it would have nowhere to hide without shadows.
When are there no shadows?
When there's no light!
She suddenly realized why he broke the lamps and hid in the darkness.
Ji Xun knew his actions would confuse her, but he explained as it was crucial: "Light lets us see, but sometimes it hides the stars in the darkness."
Before the monster arrived, he added, "Once it loses its target, finding us later would be much more troublesome."
The girl with the mechanical arm understood.
Once the shadow disaster killed the mercenaries, it would come for the remaining survivors in the laboratory—them!
Facing it later would magnify the risks due to its stealth.
She quickly understood why he chose now to lure the monster and guessed his countermeasures.
But even understanding the reasoning, she wondered: Does he never hesitate when gambling with his life?
...
The sudden gunshots caught the attention of the three remaining mercenaries.
At first, they were stunned—who was shooting?
Then they felt a rush of joy. Those two fools drew the monster away!
Wait... they're not dead?
Did the shadow monster miss them?
But escape was the priority. They ran desperately, disappearing into the corridor within moments.
...
Ji Xun didn't wait for the monster to kill all the mercenaries before acting. He needed them to continue triggering dangers ahead.
Leaving survivors was useful.
The gunshots merely drew the monster's attention, not its full aggression.
To ensure it took the bait, Ji Xun took out a lighter.
As soon as he lit it, his figure was illuminated by the flickering flame.
The firelight revealed his face behind the gas mask, his eyes reflecting the flames, bright and determined.
Holding the lighter behind him, his shadow danced in front.
The girl with the mechanical arm realized his intention: He planned to use himself as bait to kill the monster!
His decisiveness left no room for hesitation. She retreated into the darkness, fully alert. If he failed, she could intervene.
It's here!
The girl sensed the target with all her might.
"It's here!"
Ji Xun felt a sharp, stabbing signal in his mind.
This mental transmission, agreed upon earlier, was much more efficient than verbal communication.
Almost simultaneously, Ji Xun released the skill card [Gambler's Severed Hand] toward his shadow.
As he acted, enlightenment flooded his mind.
[Shadow Demon]
Details: A-tier disaster; dark-type corrupted entity, adept at shadow assassination; it hides in shadows, silently taking lives; death follows like the wind, always by your side.
Another A-tier disaster.
This was the monster on the fourth floor that no one had ever seen because everyone who saw it died.
Once it attached to someone's shadow, death was immediate upon realization.
But before the disaster could kill, a mysterious force intervened.
Ji Xun predicted and released the directed skill [Gambler's Severed Hand] toward his shadow.
A mysterious curse was unleashed, and then he saw the enlightenment.
"Curse released on target, 50% probability... Success, target is dead."
Ji Xun survived.
His shadow wriggled and deformed, falling to the ground.
A closer look revealed a pitch-black dwarf-like creature, the A-tier disaster [Shadow Demon].
Seeing the monster killed, the girl with the mechanical arm appeared beside Ji Xun, staring in disbelief at the corpse: Another A-tier disaster, killed so easily?
It felt almost dreamlike.
First the [Gambler], now the [Shadow Demon].
Both were killed in an instant.
If she hadn't personally experienced the ordeal of hunting the slightly weaker A-tier [Fallen Witch], she might have thought this dimensional space's difficulty had dropped.
...
Previously, Ji Xun had explained to the girl with the mechanical arm...
The girl now understood the so-called secret to clearing the level.
She knew that the curse card in Ji Xun's hand was the "key" to clearing the level.
But even with the card, there was only a 50% chance!
Half the chance to kill the monster, and half the chance to die.
How did this guy dare to take such a risk?
Moreover, no one had ever seen the elusive monster on the fourth floor. Even the most comprehensive intel she bought from an information broker was vague. How did he know the monster hid in shadows?
For a moment, she wondered if her temporary teammate was a humanoid disaster himself. How else could he be so familiar with this dimensional space? And how did he survive a night with the witch?
With these thoughts in mind, she asked in a strange tone, "How did you know the monster hid in shadows?"
Ji Xun, realizing she had misunderstood, chuckled and said, "It was recorded in the previous files. What do you think those important clues were about?"
He then roughly repeated the content from the archives: "Experiment cabin 4011... the experimental subject mutated a second time into an A-rank assassin-type disaster [Shadow Stalker], hiding in shadows..."
"???"
Hearing this, the girl was initially confused, then immensely shocked.
She vaguely recalled that some archives documented monster research.
But that was a thick stack of documents. It would take days to go through it all, yet he remembered everything after skimming through it once?
Those documents were in her storage space, and she asked in a strange tone, "You... read all those thick files?"
With the monster threat looming, she hadn't had time to read them thoroughly.
Ji Xun casually explained, "I didn't read everything. I skimmed the important parts. When I saw the monster's description matching your intel, I paid extra attention."
His mind was very active, and he could skim through texts quickly.
His reading efficiency was equivalent to several people reading simultaneously.
This was one of the few benefits of his abnormal mental state.
But there was no need to explain all this.
The girl with the mechanical arm began to understand.
Could it be that he had awakened some mysterious talent, like wisdom?
That would explain why, despite his physical weakness, he remained so calm.
But remembering something was one thing, taking action was another.
She frowned and asked, "But... that card only has a 50% success rate. Aren't you afraid of losing the bet?"
"Obviously, I won the bet," Ji Xun replied nonchalantly, shrugging.
But it wasn't just that.
Seeing her persistent look, he explained, "If you only consider the 50% probability, it indeed seems like a gamble. But now, I'm certain that there's another force at play in this space."
"???"
The girl still didn't understand.
Ji Xun knew it was complicated to explain in a few words and didn't elaborate. He said, "You'll see soon. We've passed the test of this dimensional space and are close to the final checkpoint."
The encounter with the gambler involved some luck, but this time it was different.
When he saw the [Gambler's Severed Hand] card, he was confident he could kill the Shadow Demon.
Moreover, encountering this monster indicated they were approaching the ultimate checkpoint of this dimensional space.