Looking at the crowd in front of him, Sunday felt like crying.
He really couldn't figure it out—when had these people planned all of this?
"I want to know… whose idea it was to send people out to find reinforcements?"
That was where he lost, and he needed an answer.
"Mine." Jaina shrugged casually. "What about it?"
Sunday frowned.
No—that still didn't make sense.
Sparkle had been watching the entire time. Jaina couldn't possibly have had the opportunity to communicate with Acheron, let alone coordinate something this elaborate.
Which meant—
This was a spur-of-the-moment plan.
And it must have started the moment she realized that Sleepy could send people out.
But during that time, Jaina had no visible communication with Acheron.
So why had Acheron acted so decisively, wiping everyone out?
"…How did you communicate?"
At that, Jaina stepped forward slightly, her tail swaying behind her.
Then—
She casually traced something across Acheron's back.
"Like this."
…Her tail.
Sunday finally understood.
Jaina had been writing instructions directly onto Acheron's back.
Though unwilling to accept it, he had no choice—he'd simply been outplayed.
"…Fine."
Stelle rested her bat on her shoulder, grinning.
"If you're not going to resist, we'll send you on your way."
"Come on. I'm avenging March 7th."
Inside the livestream:
[March 7th: Wuuu… I'm touched, but aren't you targeting the wrong person? Acheron killed me.]
[Stelle: Hey, at least I remembered to avenge you. Take what you can get.]
[March 7th: Is that something you can compromise on?!]
[Stelle: Then go yourself.]
[March 7th: …Never mind. I'd like to live a few more years.]
Sunday had brought the infection upon them—so the Astral Express crew had no intention of playing fair.
They surrounded him and started beating him mercilessly.
"Wow~ chicken-wing boy is having a rough time~"
Sparkle clapped happily from the side, thoroughly entertained.
"Help me!"
"Nope~ I'm not on your side." She shook her head, then suddenly pulled out an oak cake and handed it to Sam. "Want one?"
"Oak cake!"
The moment Sam saw it, the transformation dropped, revealing Firefly.
"Thank you."
Inside the livestream:
[Silver Wolf: This kid is way too easy to trick.]
[Raiden Ei: What's an oak cake? Is it sweet?]
[Yae Miko: Bitter.]
[Raiden Ei: Then why would anyone eat it?]
[Venti: Don't believe everything she says!]
With Sparkle refusing to help, Sunday completely lost the ability to fight back.
He collapsed on the ground, letting the bat strikes rain down on him.
Soon enough—
He dissolved into black mist and vanished.
"Alright… now it's our turn to settle things."
With Sunday gone, Stelle immediately turned her attention to Acheron.
March 7th's "revenge" still needed to be handled.
"Fight! Fight!"
Sparkle continued fanning the flames.
Only Jaina, glancing at the clock—three minutes left—quickly stepped in.
"Everyone, calm down for a moment."
Big mistake.
The moment she spoke, Stelle locked onto her.
"Oh right. There's also you—the real culprit."
"…Uh."
Jaina felt a headache coming on.
How did this suddenly circle back to her?
She waved her hands quickly.
"This has nothing to do with me! I was just trying to remove the infection!"
"You know, I'm actually acquainted with several generals from the Xianzhou Alliance—so don't act rashly."
Desperate, she pulled out the "Xianzhou connections" bluff again.
"Oh really?" Stelle smirked. "Funny. I know them too. How come I've never seen you?"
"…Uh…"
Great.
That didn't work.
Seeing even Acheron giving her a suspicious look, Jaina hurriedly said:
"I can explain! Give me three minutes!"
"Fine. We'll wait."
Three minutes wasn't long.
But if her explanation wasn't good enough—
She'd end up just like Sunday.
Tick. Tock.
Time passed slowly.
Jaina wasn't worried at all.
After all—
Once those three minutes were up, she'd be gone.
"Come on, hurry up."
"Relax. I'm still thinking of an explanation you'll understand."
Final 10 seconds.
Jaina smiled brightly.
"Goodbye, everyone. It was nice working with you."
A beam of light descended.
Jaina disappeared from Penacony.
The moment she returned to the preparation space—
She was hit by a wave of pure jealousy.
"So unfair! Why was her run so easy?!"
"Exactly! Totally unfair!"
Jaina just smiled, threw Valerius a playful wink, and walked off to the side.
She now had 7 points.
Unless someone scored higher, she was guaranteed victory.
And considering the cheapest item cost 3 points—even if someone else cleared the game, at best they could tie.
Unless someone cleared it with zero spending…
…but was that even possible?
"Alright, next."
Instead of complaining, it was better to prepare.
Seeing Xiangling walk up with a troubled expression, Valerius smiled gently.
"Want to buy something?"
"Yes, yes!"
Opening the shop, Valerius gestured.
"Go ahead, pick."
"I'll take this—full recovery once… and this… substitute paper doll."
"…Huh?"
Valerius looked at her strangely.
Was she serious?
Each player had 10 points.
And she was spending 5 + 5—everything.
That meant even if she cleared the game, she'd have zero points left for rewards.
"Xiangling… you can't shop like that. If you spend everything, how will you draw rewards?"
Eula and Navia also stepped in to persuade her.
"With Jaina holding 7 points, even if you clear, you won't win anything."
Xiangling blinked.
"…Why would I care about rewards? As long as I don't get punished, that's enough."
"…!"
That hit them both at once.
Wait…
That actually made sense.
With Jaina already dominating the leaderboard—and Sushang trying to escape punishment—
Why compete?
Just survive longer.
With a substitute paper doll and a revive—
That alone might be enough.
"…Wait, isn't that cheating?"
Sushang panicked.
"If everyone does that, I'm definitely getting punished!"
Even with Huohuo being unlucky, she wasn't confident anymore.
"I can buy whatever I want. Got a problem?"
"But then you won't get rewards!"
"I don't care."
Seeing them all commit to this strategy—
Valerius covered his face.
…This round was about to be completely derailed by Xiangling.
To Read 60+ ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146