Unlike the light-green Skill Card that had granted her Eagle Eye, this pale-red Skill Card actually came with its effect already described.
[Skill Card: Fusion (Special). Player can select one prop card to bind and synthesize a new Skill.]
Renee Kane's eyes widened slightly.
'There's a Skill Card like this?'
Her gaze landed on the "Parasite" prop card. It had become usable again because Miss Black Tights hadn't died at the same time as Logan.
The effect of Parasite was actually quite overpowered, which was why it also came with so many usage restrictions.
'But if it becomes a Skill... what new surprise will it bring?'
Filled with a bit of anticipation, Renee Kane tapped to use the "Fusion" Skill Card, then placed the "Parasite" prop card inside the circle of light that suddenly appeared.
[Select [Prop Card: Parasite] as the fusion target? (Yes/No)]
Her heart suddenly began to pound as if she had a premonition.
She took a deep breath and tapped "Yes."
In the next instant, a brilliant golden light erupted before her eyes!
[Congratulations! You have successfully fused [Prop Card: Parasite]!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Skill: Annihilation (S Level)! Description: The most complete disappearance is replacement! After activating this Skill, you can strip the identity of any player who has died by your hand (Cost: 1000 Life Value per use. Cooldown: 72 hours).]
'It's an S Level Skill!'
Renee Kane's gaze was fixed on the three words "strip the identity," the thundering of her own heartbeat echoing in her ears.
'Does... does it mean what I think it means?'
Taking a swig of cold beer to calm her nerves, Renee Kane directly activated the Skill: Annihilation.
As her Life Value was deducted, several avatars suddenly appeared at the bottom of her game panel. In order, they were Vincent Sherman, three unnamed lackeys, Roy Rhodes, the short man, Logan, and Leon Lynn.
Theo Sherman and Chloe Finch didn't appear on the list because Renee Kane hadn't been the one to kill them.
But strangely, among these people, only the avatars of Vincent Sherman, Roy Rhodes, and Leon Lynn were lit up; the others were grayed out and could not be selected.
After thinking for a moment about the previous usage restrictions on "Parasite," Renee Kane understood the difference. The selectable avatars all belonged to people whose real names she knew.
Renee Kane found this hidden restriction completely acceptable.
After a moment's hesitation, her finger tapped on Leon Lynn's avatar.
'I originally wanted to choose Vincent Sherman, but isn't the whole point of an alternate account to distance it from my real identity?'
'In a survival game that everyone is playing, there's no guarantee I won't run into someone who knew Vincent Sherman. If they somehow trace it back to me, it wouldn't be worth the trouble.'
'Someone like Leon Lynn, who has absolutely no connection to me, is a much better choice.'
'Besides, the name "Miss Black Tights" has already successfully established an image of a "naive beta tester with tons of supplies." I can do all my future trading through this persona.'
The moment Renee Kane tapped the avatar, an additional page appeared in her personal info on the game panel.
[Character: Leon Lynn, ID: Miss Black Tights.]
The avatar was a pair of legs in black tights. Below it, the stats for Strength, Agility, and so on were all blank, allowing Renee Kane to set them herself.
There was even a location coordinate at the very bottom that could also be set manually, which would make it much easier for her to dissociate from "Miss Black Tights."
Renee Kane didn't change the avatar. Instead, she set some average stats, changed the coordinates to the location Logan had sent her earlier, and then hid the profile.
When she opened the chat lobby, a new toggle button had appeared on her avatar to the left of the text box. Tapping it allowed her to freely switch between "Brute Force" and "Miss Black Tights."
Renee Kane figured she would definitely create more "alt accounts" later on. To avoid accidentally using the wrong one, she changed the avatar for "Brute Force" to a... shimmering golden brick.
'Yep, that's eye-catching enough. No way I'll mix them up now.'
Now that she had an alt account, Renee Kane could no longer suppress the urge to sell her goods.
After all, she hadn't earned that much Life Value, yet her expenses were running in the hundreds and thousands. It was unsustainable.
And so, everyone discovered that the naive, sweet beta tester, Miss Black Tights, was online again.
Miss Black Tights: "Selling some stuff I don't need. Find it in the trading hall."
The ID had left a deep impression on everyone, so the moment she posted, a flood of mocking replies appeared.
"Well, well, if it isn't our esteemed beta tester, the great Miss herself? What could you possibly need to trade personally?"
"Weren't you going to lead the beta testers to dominate the entire train? What happened to that? Selling things now?"
"Probably because the other beta testers have normal intelligence, unlike this clown who loves to show off."
...
But soon, those people had no time for taunts. They had discovered that Miss Black Tights had just listed fifty bottles of Pure Water and fifty bottles of Electrolyte Water in the trading hall!
To distinguish this account from Brute Force, Renee Kane deliberately used different brands for both the water and the electrolyte drinks.
The Pure Water was priced at 10 Life Value per bottle, and the Electrolyte Water remained at 30 per bottle. By this point, the other players were suffering from the intense heat and desperately needed something cold to quench their thirst.
After a full day of opening chests and selling miscellaneous supplies, most people had managed to save up a little Life Value.
So, while complaining about how expensive it was, they bought everything out.
Some who hadn't been fast enough to buy any were even tagging Miss Black Tights, begging her to post more.
After all, this was only the first day. There were still six more to endure.
Since the Miss Black Tights account was now an established supply whale, Renee Kane dropped the act and immediately listed another fifty bottles each of water and electrolyte water.
This batch didn't sell out as quickly, since the price was still a bit steep.
But Renee Kane wasn't worried. These were essential items; people would continue to buy them here and there.
And with these sales alone, she had already completely recouped her cost.
She gazed delightedly at her Life Value, which had finally surpassed 6,000, and peacefully went back to eating her dinner.
*
Far away, deep inside a mountain, the man with the ID "Spinning Top" licked his chapped lips and took a precious sip of Electrolyte Water.
His eyes glinted sinisterly as he caressed the pale-gold prop card in his hand.
He had planned from the very beginning to use this rare prop card, "Rebound," against Leon Lynn.
That was why he had deliberately sold "Parasite" to Leon Lynn, while also casually dropping hints about his own ridiculously good luck with opening chests.
A dumbass like Leon Lynn, with a brain the size of a sunflower seed, would get a big head after a few compliments and was easy to provoke.
Everything had been going according to plan until that afternoon. When he sent a message to Leon Lynn, it showed "This player is offline"!
As a beta tester, Leon Lynn had every advantage—he'd hoarded a pile of supplies and even had a gun—yet he couldn't even survive the first day. The sheer extent of his uselessness was almost enough to make him laugh in exasperation.
But now, this suddenly "resurrected" Leon Lynn was even more suspicious.
Composing himself, he sent a message to Miss Black Tights.