novelraw Chapter 381: The Final Assassin, "Wake-Up Rage" and "Subconscious Thought"
Chapter 381: The Final Assassin, "Wake-Up Rage" and "Subconscious Thought"
Crack!
An excruciatingly sharp sound rang vividly in his ear, followed by intense pain radiating from his palm.
Player Seven immediately gritted his teeth but quickly covered his mouth to suppress any sound.
Damn!
What the hell was that!
Perfect Life had used his full strength, capable of slamming the completely defenseless Lu Ce away with a single palm strike, but that was Perfect Life!
For players like him with insufficient combat power, hitting Laziness was basically ineffective.
He only felt like his palm had struck a wall forged from bronze and iron; the pain in his hand cleared his mind instantly.
Looking up again, the dark green mask before him appeared eerie and terrifying.
In the midst of the snowstorm, his face wasn’t very clear, resembling a demon sealed away in the dead of winter.Player Seven grabbed his wrist, wincing as he crouched down to avoid looking at the dark green mask.
His courage was being ruthlessly devoured. In this heavy snow, the surrounding city was eerily quiet, as if time itself had frozen, and the entire stage belonged solely to him and the figure known as Sin.
Facing him alone like this, even if the other party did nothing, the pressure was immense. He was beginning to hesitate and consider retreat.
Maybe it was better to give up for now...
Change direction and look for others; he still had some time.
Although he didn’t understand why he had failed to find this guy before, at least the other party was still motionless.
But what if the moment he opened his eyes, the other moved?!
Wait!......
Player Seven suddenly jolted, as if uncovering a blind spot in his thoughts.
—Why was he so motionless, as if asleep?
His aura was weak; if not for his mental guidance, the other wouldn’t even seem alive!
Could it be a substitute or some kind of illusion?
Clenching his teeth, enduring overwhelming psychological pressure, he spoke:
“Who... are you?”
Lu Ce: zZZ.
Of course, at this moment, he could not possibly hear the other’s words.
But the game’s earlier manipulations and the dwindling time left gave Player Seven little room for further thought.
He stared at the dark green mask before him, and suddenly, a surge of fury exploded from his heart—rage flared fiercely!
He abruptly raised his hand, reaching to grab Lu Ce’s mask!
[Holy crap!]
This move had an even greater impact than Perfect Life’s previous attack on Sin; the game screen nearly flooded with flashing images instantly.
Even the elders in the council straightened up, focusing intently on this moment.
Above, the hovering All-Seeing Eye trembled slightly.
Everyone was shocked.
Right! Why hadn’t Perfect Life thought of this before?
Could the direction of the entire world be rewritten in such an unexpected way?
However, just as his hand was about to touch the mask, it froze as if struck by lightning.
His hand stiffened in place, unmoving for a long moment.
Because five minutes had passed.
The dark green mask slowly opened its eyes, staring straight at him.
In the swirling snow, the two pairs of eyes locked onto each other.
Creak.
Lu Ce ignored him, perhaps not even aware of his presence, taking a step forward.
Just a small step, but the crunch of snow beneath his foot struck Player Seven’s heart like thunder.
His hand instantly recoiled as if shocked by electricity, then his entire aura surged to its peak!
When a person reaches the peak of fear, a stress reaction is triggered that often contains elements of anger.
Then came the attack!
His earrings lit up with an unusually intense glow, the light focusing on his hands like two cloud-shaped bombs that suddenly collided with Lu Ce’s chest!
Boom!
The violent explosion instantly vaporized the surrounding snow, clearing a wide area amidst the poor visibility between heaven and earth.
With the blast, Lu Ce stepped back two paces, blue flames blazing on his chest. He was officially awake.
Meanwhile, Player Seven arced through the air, flying backward heavily before slamming into the snow.
“Cough... cough cough!”
He violently coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, completely stunned by the sheer force of it.
That intensity?
The snow extinguished the flames on Lu Ce’s chest. The dark green eyes gazed at the person lying before him just as he awoke.
But he averted his gaze—now he was the one avoiding.
According to the Creator’s earlier instructions, he was best to avoid unnecessary movement beyond walking.
Creak.
Creak.
Footsteps pressed against the snow as he continued forward.
Player Seven’s mouth was stained with blood, his face filled with shock as he shakily held the Exit Coin in his hand.
But the footsteps grew louder and then softer, and that person simply walked past him.
The feeling of surviving a disaster!
And he was not the only one breathing a sigh of relief—everyone watching the scene relaxed as well.
Thankfully, it was just like this...
[Player Seven’s game time has ended. Player Eight’s time begins!]
[Player Seven’s current game score remains zero!]
The game’s announcement came, clearly stoking desire in the players to take their turns.
But Player Eight and Nine almost perfectly repeated Player Seven’s scene!
Heavy snow, tracking, finding Sin.
Then, nothing happened. They could only increase Lu Ce’s pain points while he remained asleep, otherwise having almost no effect.
Laziness’s resolute steps continued endlessly forward, attracting all the predators in the snow-sealed city, giving hope and then despair.
His silent cooperation with the Creator was resolute—they were determined to keep everyone’s scores locked and unchanged!
Those who understood, like Xie Antong and Perfect Life, stopped hiding their true selves, openly watching the direction of the snowstorm with eager eyes.
Had this game ultimately become that man’s one-man show?.....
Even if he did nothing?
The elders waited anxiously for the final stalemate and the game’s verdict.
Until the last person, Player Ten, stepped before Sin.
At this moment, Lu Ce was still asleep.
Player Ten was like the others—surprised, silent, doubtful.
But one thing was different.
—He was a member of the Illuminati!
After a brief silence, he opened his live broadcast interface, seemingly watching something.
Then, he drew an epic-level dagger.
The dagger reflected a malicious cold light. Seizing Lu Ce’s defenseless sleeping moment, he suddenly stabbed at Lu Ce’s neck!
No hesitation—directly attempting to kill!
Watching from afar, Xie Antong suddenly stood up from the snow, trembling all over.
No!
The Gate of Death was with her now!
This was bad. How could this happen? Wake up, damn it!
Was Laziness’s mask side effect really this cruel?
“What... what?” Chiyo Eine, watching Blank’s sudden large movement beside her, was stunned.
Xie Antong had no mood to answer.
The cold-glinting dagger precisely pierced Lu Ce’s throat, blood bursting forth!
No matter how strong the defense, flesh and blood was vulnerable. An epic weapon wielded with full strength deeply stabbed his throat.
All previous players had hesitated—Perfect Life due to his code of honor, the others cautiously probing, quickly falling into despair.
But this final person was a “death soldier” of the Illuminati.
He gave no thought to consequences or hesitation.
Thus, he dealt the greatest damage to Sin since the start of the game!
The blood splattered like the suspended snowflakes in the sky, frozen for a moment.
At the same time, the dark green mask’s eyes suddenly snapped open!
It had not yet reached five minutes of sleep.
So those eyes were blood red!
Laziness Mask’s hidden attribute activated!
A passive skill, triggered automatically.
[Wake-Up Rage: When forcibly awakened from deep sleep by external force, all attributes are greatly enhanced, rationality temporarily vanishes, leaving only instinctual conquest!]
[Subconscious Thought: When Laziness cannot think consciously, all thoughts revert entirely to the subconscious.]
At this moment, the Wake-Up Rage status glowed fiercely on the mask’s internal game interface!
Player Ten’s face had been filled with bloodthirsty excitement, but the instant he was locked onto by those crimson eyes, his breathing stopped completely.
It was a soul-deep terror, a crushing pressure like a mountain weighing down on him!
This feeling was far more terrifying than when he had been shrouded by Wrath’s aura on Lovers’ Island.
What was going on with this guy?
Why wouldn’t he die?
But there was no time to think—Sin had already raised his palm.
Heavily striking toward Player Ten’s head.
Nearly every possible outcome pointed to one word: death!
Perhaps due to exhaustion, Lu Ce’s speed was not fast. In that moment of despair, Player Ten realized what he had to do.
The Exit Coin activated in a flash!
Leaving the game, abandoning all his accumulated progress, he chose to survive!
Maybe from today on, he had no chance to stay in the Illuminati, but he wanted to live!
Boom!
The terrifying sound echoed to the heavens, heard clearly by everyone in the game.
Even Jiu Tian, Player Seven, and others on the other side of the city heard it distinctly.
What had happened?
This was the first time such a sound appeared in this otherwise quiet game.
Player Ten vanished completely, exiting the game, and instantly the ground before him cracked open, a deep pit forming, spiderweb-like fissures spreading across the surface.
Even surrounding buildings shook violently, appearing on the verge of collapse.
This void palm strike carried the life-or-death power belonging to Sin!
The entire street turned to ruins; building foundations were destroyed, swaying precariously.
Player Ten’s escape saved himself and this round of the game.
Had he stood firm, Lu Ce’s palm strike would have fulfilled the requirement of [Forcing the Hider to Reveal Their Identity].
That would have resulted in the first negative score player—Lu Ce.
Of course, no positive scorer would have appeared, since Player Ten would have died.
But this would have been the game’s best chance to directly target Lu Ce.
It was the scene the game most wanted to see.
Unfortunately, no one dared gamble. Even this “death soldier” chose to flee in front of Laziness.
With Player Ten’s voluntary exit, nothing changed; all players’ scores remained tied.
But Xie Antong did not care about these details. She only saw Lu Ce clutch his neck and slowly drop to one knee in the footage.
Judging by his posture, his head might have nearly fallen off his neck.
Her figure vanished instantly, reappearing at the city’s other end. She continued disappearing and flashing toward Lu Ce’s direction while burning talismans.
Chiyo Eine was stunned, watching Blank disappear, then quickly transformed into black water to pursue.
Meanwhile, Perfect Life felt the situation was off and began sprinting through the city.
During this time, Lu Ce’s neck rapidly self-repaired; his fatal aorta and trachea were swiftly fused together, then he swallowed a vial of medicine.
When Xie Antong arrived first, she found Lu Ce sitting on the ground, slowly moving his neck, appearing completely fine.
Xie Antong: ......
After a few breaths, Perfect Life and Chiyo Eine arrived one after another, falling into a heavy silence as they looked at Lu Ce.
Xie Antong put away the thought of using the Gate of Death, her gaze turning cold as she looked at Sin.
“Looks like I’m a bit late.”
“Huh?” Lu Ce was almost falling asleep. The side effects of Wake-Up Rage made his eyes hard to open.
Perfect Life and Chiyo Eine exchanged surprised looks at the scene.
Ruined streets, blood everywhere...
What had just happened?
At this very moment, the game’s voice came belatedly.
[Player Ten’s time is up!]
Its tone was icy cold, like a robot once more.
Meanwhile, one by one, figures appeared on the ruined street—remaining players teleported here.
Nine in total, all present.
After a long silence, the game finally said:
[Since it’s a tie, I think our hide-and-seek needs another round...]
“I don’t think that’s right.” Suddenly, Perfect Life interrupted the game’s voice.
“Why do I feel like all of us should have a perfect clear?”
“After all, we’re all tied for first place.”