Spinning Top: "Leon, isn't this a little too high-profile?"
Renee Kane had just finished putting her things away and was about to wash up when she received a message from Spinning Top. It was sent to her "Miss Black Tights" account.
She frowned instinctively.
'Even if Spinning Top found out she wasn't Leon Lynn, it wouldn't be a huge problem. After all, the chances of him tracking her down—a complete stranger—through a dead man were pretty slim.'
'But who would want to be exposed so soon if they could hide it a little longer?'
'Besides, there was just something about Spinning Top that felt off to Renee Kane, especially after seeing Leon Lynn's attitude toward him.'
'In a brutal survival game, even if you were the best of friends and desperate for supplies, wouldn't you have to weigh whether your relationship could handle the risks that came with a prop card like "Parasite" before trading it away?'
'After all, they knew each other's real names.'
'What's more, it didn't seem like Leon Lynn's relationship with Spinning Top was all that great. Otherwise, Spinning Top wouldn't be in such a hurry to trade these props and Skill Cards with Renee Kane for supplies.'
'It was possible Leon Lynn had just put on a good act in front of him, but from her interactions with Spinning Top, Renee Kane didn't think he was the type to be fooled by Leon.'
'Unless... he was doing it on purpose.'
'Either Spinning Top was certain Leon Lynn wouldn't use this prop card on him, or... he was confident that nothing would happen to him even if Leon did.'
'And Renee Kane felt the latter was more likely.'
'After all, judging by the exorbitant price he asked for the Skill Card before, he probably couldn't have afforded the cost of using "Parasite" himself.'
Renee Kane didn't think there was anything wrong with assuming the worst of everyone. After the unforgettable lessons of her past life, she had lost the ability to "trust."
Especially after being betrayed in succession by her so-called "family" and the people she'd thought were her "friends."
Her expression darkened as some unpleasant memories surfaced, and her tone was cold and hard when she replied.
Miss Black Tights: "I do what I want."
Spinning Top: "...Fine, I'll mind my own business."
Spinning Top: "I traded a new prop card I got for some heat relief medicine. Do you need any? That person had a lot of supplies too. I suspect he's a beta player, just like you."
A glint appeared in Renee Kane's eyes. She slowly typed back: "What, regretting selling 'Parasite' to me? Even if you had it, you couldn't use it."
Spinning Top: "Not at all. I can't eat these things, and I need to survive first. But that person isn't short on supplies and likes collecting these props. I got a lot of stuff from him in the trade.
"He said I can trade with him again if I get more props in the future. I was thinking, once I'm not short on supplies, I can keep these rare props for myself. I have a feeling rare props might become more valuable than supplies later on."
A strange expression appeared on Renee Kane's face. 'Is it just my biased preconceptions, or does it sound like Spinning Top is trying to bait me into using "Parasite" on him?'
'First it's "traded props for a lot of supplies," then it's "props will be more valuable than supplies in the future"... He knows Miss Black Tights has the Parasite Card, right?'
'Wait.'
'At this thought, an idea suddenly flashed through Renee Kane's mind: with Spinning Top's insane unboxing luck, could he have gotten some prop or Skill that guarantees he can't be affected by Parasite?'
'Even more, what if he sold the prop card to Leon Lynn... precisely because he was hoping Leon would use it on him!'
'Just as Renee Kane, who didn't lack supplies, needed useful Skills and props more, Leon Lynn, as a beta player, was in a similar situation.'
'And every word from Spinning Top was about props and his own good luck.'
'Who would be a more suitable candidate for Parasite than Spinning Top, with his heaven-defying unboxing luck? Even the name was readily available!'
'But if Leon Lynn had actually thought that, he would have fallen right into Spinning Top's trap!'
Renee Kane clicked her tongue. 'Forget Leon Lynn. If she had been the one to get the Parasite Card from the start, with someone as ridiculously lucky as Spinning Top right in front of her, who could resist making a move?'
'So, Vincent Sherman back then probably chose to kill Spinning Top after they had a falling out from trying and failing to out-scheme each other.'
'After all, the supplies Vincent Sherman had could only guarantee basic survival. He couldn't rely on supplies alone to get through the subsequent natural disasters and the increasing number of dangerous creatures.'
'Spinning Top was right about one thing. After surviving the initial phase, everyone would start to place more importance on rare props and Skill Cards, especially the various factions and gangs.'
'For gangs, the more Skill and prop cards they had, the more resources they could plunder, and the stronger their faction would naturally become.'
'And an insanely lucky person like Spinning Top, as long as he could survive the initial stage of resource scarcity, would see his influence grow incredibly fast, whether he formed his own faction or joined a large gang.'
'Vincent Sherman in her past life had probably realized this as well.'
'So it was very likely he resorted to killing him after failing to recruit him.'
'Perhaps Spinning Top had planned everything perfectly but failed at the last hurdle because of the variable that was Vincent Sherman—given Vincent's methods, he definitely wouldn't have shown his face to Spinning Top.'
'And the unlucky bastard, Spinning Top, had only been on guard against Leon Lynn, never expecting Vincent Sherman to be the oriole stalking from behind. And so he lost his life.'
In this life, Spinning Top hadn't fallen into Vincent Sherman's hands, but by a strange coincidence, he ran into Renee Kane instead.
His original target was "Miss Black Tights," but who could he blame for it being Renee Kane's alt account?
'Whether this was all just her subjective speculation didn't matter. She had already decided to act in justifiable self-defense.'
'Renee Kane's only wish now was that when her Annihilation Skill stripped away the target's identity, it could also strip away his ridiculously lucky attribute along with it.'
'HISS... From that perspective, it was hard to say whether Spinning Top was blessed by luck or cursed by it...'
Now that she had a better grasp of the situation, her reply came much more easily.
Miss Black Tights: "If you like dreaming, go to sleep. What you should be thinking about now is how to survive long enough to see your Skill Cards appreciate in value."
Spinning Top didn't reply again. Perhaps her words had hit a nerve.
Renee Kane couldn't be bothered with him either.
'She should have realized it sooner. Spinning Top and Leon Lynn were supposed to be "friends," yet he went out of his way to trade with Renee Kane for supplies. That alone said a lot.'
'In any case, until she figured out what gave Spinning Top the confidence to defend against the Parasite Card, she could totally use his ridiculously lucky attribute to farm some more prop cards.'
'But this couldn't drag on for too long. Having someone who knew Leon Lynn inside and out keeping an eye on the "Miss Black Tights" account, and even scheming to stir up trouble, was a bit of a hassle for Renee Kane, whose career in using alt accounts had just begun.'