chapter 15
Because of the Player’s touch, most of the large Mutilated Corpses have now “come alive.”
Their limbs can extend infinitely while running, and bodies without limbs grow sticky Tentacles from the severed parts. Every part that can touch the outside world is covered with deep red spikes.
A single lick at a Player can tear off a large chunk of flesh and skin.
The blood splattered by Players is their stimulant.
After absorbing fresh blood, not only do they move more nimbly, but their damaged limbs also slowly repair themselves.
The door is the only sanctuary.
Only by standing close to the door can one avoid being attacked by Tentacles.
Luo Jia Bai was scrambling and crawling to dodge the attacks of the Mutilated Corpses.
Lu Li roughly calculated the distance between himself and that door.
From start to finish, his lower body hadn’t moved, so the Mutilated Corpses he was standing on remained as calm as a floorboard.
His gaze fell on the Players climbing up by the door, and Lu Li sighed with a hint of regret, “Ah, fresh food makes these things even more excited. I’ll have to recalculate the timing.”
Of the two Players who had grouped up alone, one was almost at the door when he was viciously snatched away by Tentacles, falling into the surging pile of Mutilated Corpses. His hands clung desperately to the ground, and his upper body barely dangled in midair.
His left leg was tightly wrapped by a Mutilated Corpse.
As the Mutilated Corpse dragged him back, it made a “gurgle-gurgle-” sound, greedily savoring the rare catch.
The Player’s left leg was slowly eaten away by the spikes, and a head-like lump of flesh began to grow on the Tentacle.
“Save me! I just lent you Points, you have to save me!” The Player clutched the ground in agony, all ten fingers bleeding from the effort.
The Female Player, sweating as she tried to drag him toward the door, discovered something, “It only lets go when it bites something off. It’s life or leg, you choose!”
“I don’t want my leg! Cut it off! Ah-!”
A sharp flash of cold light, and a leg, along with the gulping Tentacle, fell back into the pile of Mutilated Corpses.
The Mutilated Corpses present boiled with excitement at this successful hunt, their speed increasing.
Lu Li clicked his tongue and began counting again, “One second… five seconds…”
The popularity of his Live Stream Room was plummeting.
[I don’t know what he’s doing standing there like an idiot. If he doesn’t move, he’s dead for sure! Newbies are always newbies. Look at those skinny arms and legs, he’s just a weakling. He could reason his way through the earlier puzzles, but now it’s a test of strength and he’s scared stiff!]
[Did you just get here? This Streamer’s physical abilities are on par with monsters. His body can auto-repair, and he could easily beat half the Players on the Heavenly Ranking.]
[I just impulsively tipped a thousand Spirit Money. Sigh, it’s true that daytime makes you spend recklessly. The Streamer’s face tricked me out of all my Spirit Money this month. If you can’t do it, you should’ve said so earlier.]
[This Instance looks unfamiliar. Still don’t know how to clear it. Why are other Players in such danger, but the Mutilated Corpses aren’t attacking the Streamer?]
Lu Li pressed his lips into a smile, picked up the Wooden Stick he’d exchanged for 2 Points from the calm pile of Mutilated Corpses beside him.
With a “crack,” he broke off a small section and held it in his hand.
He finished counting.
It was time to begin.
“Arms react the fastest, they’ll move in two seconds. Bodies react in five seconds. The slowest is the head, ten seconds,” Lu Li said softly.
“After being stimulated by Players as food, the reaction speed doubles, but the slowest is still the head-five seconds.”
Lu Li was stepping on a head. He elegantly took a big step forward, landing steadily on another head.
The head he started from woke up, its dried-up eye sockets rolling upward. After locking onto Lu Li, it began to move five seconds later.
Its wide-open mouth was filled with four rows of dense teeth, sharp and crowded, grinding up and down against each other.
Teeth gaping wide, a row of scarlet barbs sprouted along the tongue, growing all the way to the deepest part of the throat.
“Screech-” It hungrily ground its teeth.
Hungry, so hungry.
The stench of rotten Corpse rushed toward Lu Li, who precisely tossed a small segment of Wooden Stick he had just broken off into the gaping mouth.
The head, tightly biting the Wooden Stick, fell back into the pile of Mutilated Corpses.
It greedily, thirstily, excitedly chewed the wood, drooling all over it.
The moment it collapsed, it suddenly froze.
Chewy, but not edible.
It couldn’t believe it and chewed again, wood splinters stuck between its teeth.
“?”
The head spat out the wood. When it leapt up again with all its might, it saw a shocking scene.
That human Player was quickly heading toward the door, tossing a head identical to its own every five seconds.
And each head was fed a segment of Wooden Stick.
Lu Li moved lightly. Before setting out, he had calculated exactly which path to take. He landed precisely on heads that hadn’t been awakened, reaching the end with utmost ease.
He arrived at the door.
The Wooden Sticks in his hand were just enough to go around.
The last head leapt up unwillingly, all its teeth “screeching” as they clashed together, angrily biting at the air. But as it neared the door, it seemed to be blocked by something and fell heavily back down.
Lu Li spread his hands and smiled reassuringly, “That’s all, they’re all gone. Too bad you were the last one.”
The Live Stream Room went eerily silent for a few seconds, then exploded:
[…Does this head want to eat wood? Oh my god, the Streamer’s smile is terrifying.]
[I’ve taken my eyes out, wiped them, and put them back, but I’m still seeing this scene. Is this a dog training session?]
[Holy crap, elegance! So elegant. Is this really content I can see in a newbie’s Live Stream Room?]
[I’m calling the Moderator to check for violations. I think the Streamer is cheating.]
[If I’m not mistaken, he was counting the time it takes for different parts of these Corpses to wake up and attack after being stepped on. Limbs attack fastest, heads slowest, so he stepped on the heads to get through?! Compared to this, the other Players’ tragic situations are a joke.]
[How can a Player, on the verge of death, still be so clear-headed to classify Mutilated Corpses? Does he not have adrenaline?]
Luo Jia Bai leaned against the door, nearly out of breath, and knelt before Lu Li. “You just came over like that?”
He was on the verge of tears. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
If he’d known this method, he would have copied Lu Li and only spent 2 Points. Now, after exchanging Items all the way here, he’d used at least ten thousand Points.
Lu Li replied sincerely, “I hadn’t finished counting when you started running.”
Qi Mingda suddenly spoke up.
“My Live Stream Room’s Bullet Comments have reported you.” He snorted coldly, stood up while holding the door.
He strode past Lu Li with a vicious glare, trying to bump his shoulder, but Lu Li deftly dodged, causing Qi Mingda to nearly stumble.
Qi Mingda awkwardly brushed his nose, looking at Lu Li with a “so what” expression. “I knew there couldn’t be a newbie this strong. You must be cheating. Not only did the Bullet Comments report you, I did too. Just wait for the Necromancer Game to investigate you!”
“Cheating in the Necromancer Game leads to a miserable death.”
Qi Mingda led his Team Members forward in a grand manner. He suddenly pushed open the door. “Hope you survive until the next Game Day.”
Lu Li smiled at him. “I send you the same terrible blessing.”
Luo Jia Bai was skeptical, his chest finally calming after heavy breaths. He leaned in and asked, “Are you cheating?”
Lu Li looked slightly aggrieved. “I’m just a bit smarter than him, and he got anxious.”
“The door’s open. I saw something special inside. Hurry up and go in.”