In this fatal second, Zhu Yan had no time to make any other moves.
The level-five dining knife was drawn in an instant, and in the moment he lost his balance, he fiercely plunged it into the "police officer's" heart!
Bang—
The immense impact slammed Zhu Yan hard against the ground, leaving his back numb from the shock.
The "police officer" laughed hoarsely.
It opened its mouth to bite Zhu Yan's neck, but its body suddenly collapsed like hard chocolate melting in a fire.
The "police officer's" movements stopped.
The dining knife clattered onto the tiled floor. It looked on blankly, then raised a hand to grope its collapsing back.
"This isn't right," it hissed. "I didn't see this before entering the dungeon."
"This isn't an item that Carnival Wonderland sells to players. It's just a dining knife."
Zhu Yan twitched the corner of his mouth and grabbed the dining knife.
"So you guys even get training before coming in," he teased, pulling a bottle of Universal Potion from his ring.
The "police officer's" collision had hit him hard.
Pain crawled all over Zhu Yan's back, and it took him several seconds to recover enough to speak.
He pulled open his collar and poured the Universal Potion in, feeling a warm current permeate his skin, surging to envelop his entire back and internal organs.
The "police officer" pulled out a broken segment of its spine, and its whole body splattered onto the ground like ice cream, turning to mush.
...Maybe my dining knife also killed your boss's boss, Zhu Yan thought silently.
He climbed up from the ground, slowly adjusting his breathing.
A soft sobbing came from the corner, but it quickly stopped.
"You..." someone asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"
"Alive," Zhu Yan said. "The 'police officer' is dead."
There was dead silence behind the shelves.
"We saw," another person said. "Damn. You killed that thing."
Too formidable.
The previous level-three ability player hadn't even had time to throw a punch before his entire arm was twisted off.
But just now, under the blue light.
This new player ended the battle in a matter of seconds, so fast that they couldn't even clearly see the process!
"Boss, what's your ability?"
Zhu Yan didn't hide it.
"Level-three ability." But he could lie. "I can double the attack effect of weapons. Where's my teammate? Has Yang Zhanbai come back?"
He hadn't heard these two voices before; they weren't among the three people who came back with him.
This meant that a portion of the people had woken up under the stimulus of extreme danger and formed a group quite rapidly.
In that case, he had to cover up his lie and explain his previous whereabouts in front of these people.
"Yang Zhanbai?" Zhu Yan recognized this voice; it was the boy wearing a mask.
"You didn't find him? You guys didn't meet up?"
It had been over an hour!
"It's too dangerous outside, and now there's another Hunter."
The boy with glasses chimed in.
"You're worried about us, but we're worried about you."
"Stop looking for now. Let us check your right hand, and come hide inside."
"Yeah. Brother Yang is very strong, he should be fine."
Zhu Yan instantly understood the situation.
This group of players had already grasped the key to the dungeon.
Checking the right hand meant checking for the Hunter mark.
That wouldn't do.
There were only two possible outcomes if he held out his right hand: one, he would have to hang himself; two, this rare group of clear-headed peers would lose their lives in the dungeon.
"I can't do that," Zhu Yan refused, feigning a trembling, somewhat choked voice. "There are corpses everywhere outside, and a lot of monsters."
Estimating the time, he continued spinning his lie to cover his tracks.
"I've been looking for Yang Zhanbai for over an hour, and he's gone."
"I'm afraid something happened to him. You guys stay hidden. No matter what, I'm going out to look for him again."
Something had already happened; it was just a matter of keeping his life.
Behind the shelves.
The few of them exchanged glances, their worried expressions undisguised.
Holy crap.
Not only is the boss strong, he's also so loyal!
"Alright then," the boy who spoke first asked. "Do you want some food and water? I have some here."
"I don't need any," Zhu Yan said. "I have to go."
This boy was surprisingly kind-hearted.
Just now, Zhu Yan subconsciously felt that someone would ask him to stay and use his level-three ability to protect them.
Surprisingly, no one did; there was only pure, foolish concern.
"Go and come back quickly," the boy said. "My name is Qi Yinming, from Xishan University. My group chat name is the same, you can add me. That way we can communicate remotely."
Zhu Yan memorized the pronunciation.
He waved toward the shelves, turned, and ran into the night.
With the whistling wind in his ears, Zhu Yan activated Disguise and resumed the appearance of the "boss."
He turned and rushed into the empty, corpse-strewn pharmacy, casually shoving three bottles of Universal Potion deep into the shelves, and took out four new ones to fill his pockets.
Just now, the survivors behind the shelves said they "saw."
Zhu Yan wasn't sure if they had seen him using the Universal Potion to heal his injuries.
If they had, then he would have to explain where it came from.
After all, his current identity was a level-0 player, just like most people!
Moreover, Yang Zhanbai's condition also required this Universal Potion.
He couldn't afford to show any flaws in front of him either—
Zhu Yan would rather put on a bit more of an act!
Zhu Yan smiled and messed up the shelves, forging the appearance that they had been rummaged through.
He took out the tube of Duplication Ointment, squeezed half of it onto his right palm, and casually spread it evenly.
After doing all this, Zhu Yan hurriedly ran toward the flower shop.
The wind whistled in his ears, and the smell of rotting flesh mixed with sickeningly sweet candy nauseated him.
Zhu Yan changed back to Zhu Zeyu's appearance, violently pushed the door open, and plunged into the rich fragrance of the flower shop.
"Yang Zhanbai! I finally found you!"
He cast a wary glance at the fake person.
Seeing that the other party was just smiling and standing still, Zhu Yan hurriedly ran to Yang Zhanbai's side.
The Duplication Ointment on his palm had already dried.
He found a good angle and very naturally grabbed Yang Zhanbai's right hand, trying to prop him up.
"What happened to you? Can you still walk?"
Yang Zhanbai's face was pale. He opened his mouth but didn't even have the strength to respond.
He just shook his head, his brows tightly furrowed.
"I found this in the pharmacy."
Zhu Yan pulled a bottle of Universal Potion from his stuffed pocket, his forehead covered in cold sweat, looking extremely anxious.
"I heard the broadcast." Speaking rapidly, he bit off the glass bottle's cap and poured the potion down Yang Zhanbai's collar.
"This is an item. It can heal injuries."
It seemed that the level-five Humiliation was still too strong against a level-0 player.
However, Zhu Yan's own player level was only level four.
The Universal Potion could heal damage caused by players or horror creatures below level four.
It should, maybe, be of some use, right?
Color quickly rose from deep within Yang Zhanbai's skin.
His body was still trembling, but at least he could stand on his own.
Zhu Yan felt an extremely faint suction from the dried ointment on his palm.
It worked!
He quickly poured down another bottle of Universal Potion and pulled back his right hand.
"Where exactly are you hurt?"
Yang Zhanbai took a couple of seconds to catch his breath, then grabbed Zhu Yan and ran.
"We'll talk outside!" he roared. "The doppelganger is going to eat you!"
Holy crap, where did he get this much strength?
The moment they dashed out of the flower shop, Zhu Yan turned his head to look back.
The doppelganger's face was collapsing as it lunged at them with a hideous expression—
The next second, it slammed hard into the rebounding glass door, shattering it into pieces all over the floor.
But the doppelganger did not chase after them.
It crouched on the ground like a spider, its sharp, resentful shrieks piercing the night sky.

't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.

young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."

ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!

ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!