Chapter 29
Chapter 29
To Qin Lan’s surprise, when Han Chan said “run,” he meant it in the most literal sense.
There were no dazzling effects or spectacular abilities. He simply stretched his legs and sprinted as though his life depended on it.
Following behind Han Chan, Qin Lan was struck by the absurdity of the scene.
Compared with Luan Zimo’s earlier display of power, Han Chan looked like a caveman competing against a special forces operative.
On one side: a flaming hammer, golden pupils, bone armor, and a graceful ascent on butterfly wings.
On the other: a man running through the rain.
Watching Han Chan’s bedraggled figure, Qin Lan found himself increasingly convinced that Shanhai Pavilion was not a respectable institution.
What if it was some kind of pyramid scheme?
“Qin, do you have any thoughts about our escape route?”
Han Chan wiped the rain from his face and looked back to ask.
Qin Lan protested, “I already told you I don’t know! How am I supposed to–”
A massive slab of reinforced concrete crashed down and flattened Qin Lan into paste.
[You went from a finely crafted 3D model to a 2D image. Killer: (Death)]
[Constitution permanently increased by 2.0.]
“Qin, do you have any thoughts about our escape route?”
Han Chan glanced back.
Qin Lan fell silent for a moment, then pointed in another direction.
“Let’s go that way. I think it’s safer.”
An enlightened expression appeared on Han Chan’s face. For some reason, he seemed to place complete trust in Qin Lan’s judgment. Without hesitation, he lowered his head and sprinted in the indicated direction.
Along the way, Qin Lan felt as though the entire world had conspired against him.
Their escape route was only a few hundred meters long, yet every danger in existence seemed determined to kiss him on the mouth.
The road collapsed beneath him. Boulders dropped from the sky. A speeding semitrailer came flying out of nowhere to plow into him…
After dying again and again, Qin Lan began to feel numb.
The strangest part was that not one of those dangers ever struck Han Chan.
They seemed to have eyes, all of them locked exclusively on Qin Lan.
“Are you done yet?!”
“I’m asking you!”
“What’s the point of targeting only me?”
“Isn’t the guy in front of me human too? Huh? Is he human or not?!”
After evading several attacks in succession, Qin Lan successfully completed the first stage of his special class mission.
[Death is fascinated by you. You will have the opportunity to become a follower of Death.]
[Clear the instance to obtain the special class: (Follower of Death).]
[Continue completing the bonus objective for a chance to obtain a different special class.]
The notification meant that Qin Lan would obtain the special class coveted by countless Anomaly Hunters, provided he could leave the instance.
Follower of Death sounded impressively ominous.
Qin Lan would have been happy to quit while he was ahead… but he could not get out.
He did not even know the conditions for clearing the instance yet. How was he supposed to leave?
The mention of a “different special class,” however, sparked several possibilities in his mind.
Escaping a death devised by Death five times would make him its follower.
Escaping ten times should be even harder, so the resulting special class ought to be stronger as well.
By that logic…
What if he continued escaping forever and never let Death catch him?
But that was not something Qin Lan needed to consider yet.
Merely escaping the collapsing bridge had left him mentally and physically exhausted.
Luan Zimo waited leisurely at the far end of the bridge.
At some point, she had found an umbrella and even bought a steaming cup of milk tea. Not so much as a speck of dirt marked her clothes.
From the look of her, she had been waiting for quite some time.
She regarded the two drenched men with amusement and mocked them without mercy.
“The style of Shanhai Pavilion truly is… unique.”
“I expected you to have a more astonishing method. It turns out you just run?”
Han Chan swept the wet bangs plastered to his forehead back. Far from growing angry, he grinned cheekily.
“It’s fine. Moderate exercise is good for both body and mind.”
Luan Zimo stared into his eyes for a long moment before finally giving a dissatisfied huff.
“Too cautious. How boring.”
Her plan had failed.
Every genius of the younger generation in the Central Region wanted to know what trump cards Han Chan possessed, yet no one had ever found out.
He was like a riddle, a mysterious symbol whose meaning no one could decipher.
People knew only that Han Chan was powerful and possessed a brilliant combat record. What made him powerful, and just how powerful he was, remained unknown.
Many had entered instances alongside him, but the information they pieced together was chaotic and contradictory. They could not even determine what his Talent was.
And on the subject of his Talent…
Han Chan’s Talent was among the Anomaly Hunter Bureau’s most highly classified files. Even certain senior officials of the United Government lacked the authority to view it.
The only people who knew his Talent’s ability were high-ranking figures at Bureau headquarters and the president of Shanhai Pavilion.
That was why Luan Zimo had tried to probe him, hoping to see him reveal some of his methods.
The flames in her eyes had never gone out.
She had been draining her stamina to keep the cursed artifact active, determined not to miss a single detail and to learn as much as possible about Han Chan.
Who could have guessed that the man would escape using nothing but his own two legs?
The thought that Han Chan had learned nearly all of her secrets while she still knew nothing about him filled Luan Zimo with irritation.
However…
Her gaze returned to Qin Lan.
“This man isn’t simple either.”
She had used her cursed artifact to monitor the two men’s movements constantly and had naturally witnessed that long string of “accidents.”
Yet every time, Qin Lan either happened to avoid the danger or dodged at the critical instant.
There was nothing normal about it.
“Just like that Han fellow, he’s keeping his Talent carefully hidden…”
“His reactions aren’t particularly fast, yet his timing is always perfect…”
Luan Zimo’s penetrating gaze traveled over Qin Lan’s body.
“His face is nothing special, but his physique isn’t bad. And that part is… Wait. What am I looking at?”
After sprinting through the rain, Qin Lan’s clothes were soaked. They clung to his skin, outlining his sculpted muscles.
Luan Zimo’s eyes were cursed artifacts with a special effect.
Ordinary fabric like this could not obstruct her sight at all.
She had accidentally seen something she very much should not have.
Luan Zimo quickly pulled her gaze away, suddenly uncomfortable. She did her best to scatter the image from her mind.
“Bah… There was nothing worth seeing… Stupid brain, stop thinking about it!”
Fortunately, the umbrella hid her face. Otherwise, Qin Lan would certainly have noticed the change in her complexion.
But Qin Lan’s attention was not on her.
He was looking back at the bridge, which was still collapsing.
“Our teachers used to say that the worlds anomalies created inside instances were all fake.”
“The people inside them were NPCs fabricated for the hunt. They had no lives and were ‘people who didn’t exist’…”
Qin Lan fell silent.
He watched the “NPCs” fleeing in every direction, breaking down in tears, filming the disaster in shock, or calling their families to assure them they were safe.
Qin Lan did not believe this world was fake.
“Mom… The bridge collapsed… Yes, I’m fine. I’m fine…”
“Honey! Honey, answer the phone! Please… Pick up!”
“Has anyone seen my brother? Did anyone see him?”
Chaotic shouting filled the air, mingling with the wail of ambulance sirens.
He could clearly feel that these were flesh-and-blood people with genuine emotions.
“What if the worlds inside instances aren’t created by anomalies at all?”
“What if each of these places was once a real world?”
Qin Lan sank into thought.