“Tsk.”

Xie Antong was feeling a little uncomfortable, staring at the smug-looking Park Bu Seong in front of her, unable to find the words.

This guy—ranked 79?!

Even if she knew his power came entirely from gear stacking, with so many powerful players in the world, how the h*ll did someone like this get in?

Guess it’s just the beginning of the game, the real experts haven’t pulled ahead yet, giving these kinds of people a chance to sneak in.

At first, Xie Antong thought she had stumbled into a high-level match, with world-class difficulty that gave her a kind of thrill she’d never experienced before in her life.

But in the end, the only real high-level player was “Sin”, huh?

Facing “Sin” earlier, the overwhelming pressure he gave off had skewed her expectations of the leaderboard.

“You really aren’t afraid of dying. Didn’t even bother to check your opponent’s info before challenging him.”

In the air, at least ten invisible eyes were fixed on Park Bu Seong. It was the All-Seeing Eye operating at full capacity.

She was carefully observing every single facial muscle of his, especially the ones around the face, to see if this guy was just putting on a show.

“Heh.” Park Bu Seong laughed. “Not like it has to come to that.”

“We’re civilized people, not some uncultured savages. We don’t go around attacking women for no reason—especially not beautiful ones like you.”

“If you’re willing to back out now, then there’s no need to take any unnecessary risks.”

“Or if you don’t want to lose your gear, you could just give it to me first. We can talk about trading equipment once we’re out of here.”

As he spoke, Park Bu Seong gave what he thought was a gentlemanly smile—though it came off greasy as h*ll.

Xie Antong: ……

Alright, this guy’s sense of humor might be too much. If “Sin” hadn’t insisted on Hell Mode, this whole challenge would’ve been pointless.

Then again, that makes sense. Anyone with a functioning brain wouldn’t challenge the world’s number one without understanding the game’s reward and punishment system—or their opponent’s strength...

Park Bu Seong seemed to think victory was already his. He walked down two more steps and continued his little “speech” to himself.

“Sometimes, that’s just how it goes. Winning or losing a game isn’t determined by a single piece. That’d be meaningless.”

“Just like in chess. When the ‘King’ is taken down, you lose. Game over.”

“But the ‘King’ isn’t the strongest piece. In fact, combat-wise, he’s weak—more like dead weight.”

“The ‘Queen’ is powerful. The ‘Rook’ is strong. But it doesn’t matter—if the ‘King’ falls, it’s game over for them too.”

“You’ve become the ‘King’ in this game under my design, step by step, walking straight into my trap.”

“As for the previous game, the teammates… they were just pawns. All part of my plan.”

“Don’t tell me you actually thought you were about to win?”

No one asked, but Park Bu Seong confidently laid out his entire strategy. Then he turned to Xie Antong, who was frozen like a statue.

“Well then, you should be fully aware of your situation now. Time to make your choice.”

“I can spare your life—just consider it making a friend.”

Xie Antong: ……

“Your stupidity is like something out of a third-rate novel—the only twist is that your overconfidence makes it kind of funny.”

Being insulted made Park Bu Seong’s expression darken. He sneered.

“Looks like Miss Kong still hasn’t figured out what’s going on.”

“So, you really think you can get past me, huh?”

“As you Huaguo folks say… what was it again… not crying until you see the coffin?”

Xie Antong looked at him still rambling to himself and shrugged.

“This is an instant-death stage. Once it’s triggered, the only way to clear it is through brute force. Of course I know I’m not your match here.”

Her words sounded so matter-of-fact that Park Bu Seong was briefly thrown off.

If you know you can’t win, then why are you still talking?

“But do you think you can take on that guy over there?” Xie Antong baited him.

“Him? ‘Sin’?” Park Bu Seong scoffed and shook his head. “This stage was designed for him. Of course I’m confident I can handle him.”

“But since I’ve already got you—‘the King’—why should I care about what happens to him?”

In Park Bu Seong’s mind, victory was within reach. Winners write history—who cares if he can actually beat “Sin” or not?

It’s all just bragging anyway.

Xie Antong saw how gullible this guy was and got curious. She still wanted to ask: if he hadn’t triggered it, how was this horror mystery supposed to be solved?

But just then, a voice came through her earpiece.

“About time, isn’t it?”

“Can you stop wasting time with him? Let’s get started.”

Xie Antong raised an eyebrow and asked, “You figured it out?”

“Pretty obvious just now.”

Lu Ce was standing in the middle of the women’s restroom, in front of the strange, empty mirror, eyes shut.

Earlier, when Xie Antong told him not to open his eyes, her tone was panicked—tinged with fear. And Lu Ce knew that kind of fear all too well.

—It was the fear of not being able to guarantee your own safety.

From that moment, Lu Ce had a rough idea of what she hadn’t been saying. That’s why he decided to listen and not act.

Otherwise, based on his usual behavior, he would’ve smashed that mirror the moment he walked in.

Park Bu Seong: ……

“Chatting right in front of me?!”

“Why don’t you ask him if he has any last words after losing? His time as world number one is probably up.”

Xie Antong looked up and gave him a pitying glance.

“You went on and on about chess—did you not consider ‘castling’?”

“Good luck.”

With that, Xie Antong swiftly raised her hand and pressed her earpiece.

“Switch!”

The space twisted violently. Her entire figure seemed surreal, and then shattered and reassembled in an instant.

It all happened so fast that Park Bu Seong didn’t even have time to react. His smug grin was still frozen on his face.

In front of him, the previously delicate figure was gone—replaced by someone wearing a light green mask.

“Hello!” Lu Ce looked up and said.