"Wang Zichen!"
Mu Chenyi suddenly called out to the fat man.
"Do you think… these green-furred monsters are being controlled by something?"
"Huh?"
Wang Zichen, who was staring at the surveillance monitors, turned to him with a bewildered look.
"What do you mean? You're saying someone is pulling the strings?"
"It's just a theory."
Mu Chenyi said calmly.
Through his three death replays, he had noticed a pattern—
No matter if it was his 'mother' or those two police officers, the green-furred monsters all had one key trait in common:
They were extremely selfish when it came to hunting humans.
If given the opportunity to feast alone, they would never share their prey.
But in his last death replay, they had been surrounded—
By an entire coordinated, disciplined horde.
That level of organization completely contradicted the creatures' usual behavior.
There was only one possibility.
Something… or someone… was controlling them.
They weren't exposed because of their own mistakes.
They were discovered by that unseen presence in the shadows.
And once that happened—
The green-furred monsters had received orders to hunt them down.
Mu Chenyi shared his theory with Chen Wan'er and Wang Zichen.
Both of them were shocked by his deduction.
"Then when exactly did this 'hidden entity' discover us?"
Chen Wan'er frowned.
"Could it be Bureau Chief Zhang Qian?"
After all, during Mu Chenyi's fake emergency call, the only person who heard his voice was Zhang Qian.
What if Zhang Qian pieced together the clues from his 'Demon Murder Case' story…
And realized that Mu Chenyi was human?
"This hidden existence… may not even be human."
Mu Chenyi's eyes darkened.
"It's possible that it didn't 'deliberately' find us—rather, it just happened to uncover the truth."
"Our exposure might not be because of someone we directly met…"
"It could be because of something we experienced."
His voice grew serious.
"And when I piece together both my past death replays and our current reality—"
"We all did one thing in common."
"We encountered Wang Zichen."
"Last time, he saved us."
"This time, we sought him out first."
"Somewhere in that process…"
"That hidden force discovered us."
"Holy shit."
Wang Zichen felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Are all prophecy-type skills this terrifying?"
Aside from its obvious combat weakness…
Mu Chenyi's ability was practically cheating.
And the more Doomsday Descends scenarios they survived…
The more powerful Mu Chenyi would become.
The game would eventually reward him with combat abilities.
And when that happened—
This guy would be unstoppable.
"So… what the hell do we do now?"
Wang Zichen asked instinctively.
Mu Chenyi's expression turned sharp.
"We go find your friend."
"Lao Zhao."
Mu Chenyi made his decision.
"Let's go."
Without hesitation, he beckoned for the other two and rushed ahead toward the other exit of the underground passage.
"Aiyo, but my underground base is absolutely secu—"
"Shut up!"
Mu Chenyi cut Wang Zichen off mercilessly, his expression darkening.
"I trusted your so-called 'solid as a rock' defenses once…"
In his previous death replay, he had died horribly.
Being devoured alive by an entire horde of green-furred monsters…
That trauma was still fresh in his mind.
Honestly?
He would've rather just been strangled to death by his 'mother.'
Wang Zichen shut up immediately.
Awkwardly.
Once they reached the underground garage, neither Mu Chenyi nor Wang Zichen looked particularly impressed.
But Chen Wan'er?
She froze in shock.
"Where the hell did you get these two armored vehicles?"
She asked, unable to hide her disbelief.
"I registered as a player with the government."
Wang Zichen grinned proudly.
"These were a gift from the state!"
"The government?"
Mu Chenyi was genuinely surprised.
"Of course!"
Wang Zichen took this rare opportunity to explain properly.
"Look, in a way… all of us 'Doomsday Descends' players are humanity's heroes."
"We share a life-or-death fate with the planet."
"So the government provides us with some level of protection."
"For example, this underground base and even my firearm—"
Wang Zichen patted his waist.
"—were all legally approved by the state."
"Otherwise, do you think I got them through illegal means?"
He raised an eyebrow at Mu Chenyi.
Mu Chenyi paused.
…Honestly, that's exactly what he had assumed.
"Of course, we're still just ordinary citizens in real life."
Wang Zichen added.
"No special privileges. No pulling out weapons in public. Nothing."
Mu Chenyi fell into thought.
Before all this, he was just a regular college student.
This entire experience was… overwhelming.
He turned to Chen Wan'er.
"You graduated from police academy, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
Chen Wan'er looked at him, puzzled.
"…Nothing."
Mu Chenyi hesitated but ultimately chose not to say anything further.
"Wang Zichen, you drive. I'm sitting up front with you."
This time, Mu Chenyi wasn't about to sit in the back seat.
He needed to be upfront, guiding the route.
"Got it!"
Wang Zichen nodded.
As he started up the armored vehicle, he suddenly felt something strange.
…Why did this feel like he was a driver for some VIP official?
"Wang Zichen, I have a question."
Mu Chenyi suddenly spoke.
"Tell me…"
"How do other prophecy-type players use their foresight abilities?"
"Hah! Those guys are scheming bastards."
Wang Zichen immediately started ranting—
But midway, he suddenly remembered who he was talking to.
"Ahem—"
His expression shifted awkwardly.
"Of course, I don't mean you, Brother Mu! I'm just talking about a particular guy I met before."
Mu Chenyi smirked.
"Relax, go on."
"That time, it was a prophecy-type player!"
Wang Zichen gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"I only encountered a prophecy-type player once."
"It was during a disaster-level instance called 'Sky Tree Treasure.'
"In that apocalypse, every city had a massive 'Sky Tree.'"
"The only way to survive was to climb it."
"Otherwise, everything on the ground—
would turn into monstrous, flesh-eating furniture!"
"...Furniture?"
Mu Chenyi blinked.
"You mean the kind you sit on and put stuff in?"
"Exactly!"
Wang Zichen nodded gravely.
"Every piece of wooden furniture—
tables, chairs, wardrobes, cabinets, even doors—
would transform into creatures that hunted down anything living!"
"They were called 'Treasures.'"
"And the higher you climbed up the Sky Tree, the greater the rewards!"
"Whoever reached the very top of each city's Sky Tree would get the grand prize."
"Back then, Old Zhao and I had already made it to the highest level."
"We even took down the biggest boss in Jiang City!"
"At that point, victory was basically in our hands."
"We just had to wait for the game to end—
and we'd walk away with the ultimate reward."
"But then, out of nowhere—
a bunch of outsiders showed up in Jiang City!"
"One of them..."
"Was a prophecy-type player!"
Wang Zichen gritted his teeth even harder.