Liu Da stared unblinkingly at the human skin, particularly at the face. In that very instant, he suddenly recognized it.
“It’s...”
Tang Yuanhuai!
It was him!
He was dead?
He had actually died just like this!
Moreover, he had died such a miserable death!
Liu Da felt as though he could see the utter disbelief, shock, and terror etched onto that face.
Frightened out of his wits, he stumbled back several paces. He didn't dare stay there a moment longer, nor did he dare run any further in that direction. Instead, he spun around, preparing to head back the way he came.
Yet the moment he turned around, he suddenly noticed a dark figure standing quietly not far behind him.
“H-How...?”
It was the specter.
The specter's presence here meant he had already become its target.
He found it bizarre.
Why hadn't the specter targeted An Miao, who was slower, and instead chased after him?
But now was not the time to ponder this.
Liu Da instinctively swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down.
“Don't panic. Stay calm.”
“I still have a chance!”
He thought of his talent.
“It'll be fine. I definitely won't die.”
Staring intently at the dark figure, Liu Da took a step back.
But then he remembered that Tang Yuanhuai's corpse was right behind him, so he shifted directions, intending to head left.
The next moment, however, he recalled that the left side seemed to be where he had previously witnessed someone stealthily assassinating a player. Thus, he changed directions once more, choosing to head right.
Even though he had survived a dungeon once before, Liu Da still did not know that if players slaughtered one another inside a dungeon, the deceased would turn into unsolvable specters.
Zuo Lin'an watched as the man stepped back, shifted left, and finally decided to head right.
What is he doing?
Right then, Liu Da bolted.
Zuo Lin'an stopped overthinking Liu Da's bizarre movements and gave chase.
To avoid catching up too quickly, he intentionally slowed his pace.
As the time drew closer to two o'clock in the morning, Zuo Lin'an knew it was time.
Looking at Liu Da, who hadn't shown much fatigue despite running for so long, Zuo Lin'an took two swift strides, rapidly closing the distance between them in an instant.
Just moments ago, Liu Da had seen the specter at least twenty or thirty meters away. Yet in the blink of an eye, he realized it had somehow appeared right behind him.
He gasped, instinctively throwing a punch.
The golden light on his fist suddenly flared several times brighter!
However, when the punch landed, Zuo Lin'an didn't react at all.
Instead, he reached out and grabbed Liu Da's wrist.
Meanwhile, his other hand, holding the boning knife, slowly rose, the blood-stained blade poised to strike.
Liu Da frantically used his free hand to pummel Zuo Lin'an, using both hands and feet in a desperate bid to break free.
But it was completely futile.
Ultimately, he gritted his teeth and silently willed his talent to activate.
But Zuo Lin'an did not receive any notification, yet he kept his knife raised.
He was waiting to see if Liu Da would trigger his talent.
Only...
After waiting a few seconds, Zuo Lin'an noticed that Liu Da was merely struggling with no sign of using a talent. He frowned slightly.
After a brief moment, Zuo Lin'an slightly loosened his grip, pretending that Liu Da had broken free.
Finding himself liberated, Liu Da hastily fled.
With a few minutes still remaining before two o'clock, Zuo Lin'an couldn't make his move yet, and he couldn't just hold the knife aloft indefinitely without letting it fall, so he had no choice but to let him go.
What's going on?
He found it rather strange.
If Tang Yuanhuai's talent required contact to trigger, Liu Da had clearly realized he was about to die just now. Why hadn't he used his?
Could his talent be passive?
Did it require Zuo Lin'an to make the first move?
Or was it that despite possessing a special talent, he couldn't use it against specters?
Whatever.
No matter what, as long as Liu Da couldn't stop him, he was as good as dead.
Zuo Lin'an continued to pursue him until the clock struck two.
Time was up.
He could make his move.
This time, he did not hold back. Taking a few strides, he materialized behind Liu Da. His hand moved as swift as an arrow, plunging the blade straight through the man's throat.
The metallic-sheened skin and the constantly active Golden Light Body proved utterly useless!
The knife pierced his throat as easily as cutting through tofu.
Then, before Liu Da could even react, Zuo Lin'an pinned him to the ground.
Time to execute!
Yet just as he drew the boning knife out, intending to skin the man, he suddenly discovered that the throat he had just pierced was rapidly healing!
Huh?
This...
The wound actually healed?
Zuo Lin'an was extremely surprised. Then, as if realizing something, he quickly checked himself, wondering if Liu Da had transferred the injury to him.
However, after a thorough check, he found nothing wrong with his own body.
Furthermore, he hadn't received any dungeon notifications.
Right at that moment, Liu Da suddenly produced a sticker.
Zuo Lin'an recognized it at a single glance.
It was one of those childish red flower stickers.
Back when he was in kindergarten at the orphanage, the teachers would often use these stickers to reward well-behaved children.
Liu Da moved incredibly fast.
Twisting his body around, he slapped the sticker directly onto Zuo Lin'an's forehead.
【Dungeon Notification: Player Liu Da has used the specter item “Reward Sticker”. As a well-behaved child, you must sit quietly in place for two minutes.】
Zuo Lin'an's body moved out of his control. He involuntarily let go of his target and sat flat on the ground.
Only then did Liu Da regain his freedom.
Without even glancing back at Zuo Lin'an on the ground, he spun around and fled.
At that moment, back in the old residence, Zuo Lin'an's living body, who had been pretending to sleep, opened his eyes. He pulled his phone out from under his pillow and began searching for information regarding Liu Da's situation.
Although the dungeon boss could receive notifications when players used their talents, there were limitations.
If their talent wasn't directed at the specter upon activation, the dungeon boss would not receive a notification.
After a quick search on the forum, Zuo Lin'an quickly found a special talent that was a perfect match.
【Initial Talent: Delayed Injury (Special)】
【Can postpone all injuries sustained by the user, up to a maximum of thirty days.】
【As injuries continuously accumulate during this period, the postponement duration will gradually shorten until it reaches zero, at which point all injuries will erupt simultaneously, resulting in death.】
The original poster had also added some supplementary notes.
【This special talent is quite rare, so I'll briefly introduce it here. If anyone encounters a similar situation, this is likely what it is.】
Zuo Lin'an could tell that Liu Da's situation earlier definitely had nothing to do with talents like 【Injury Transfer】.
After all, only the two of them had been present. If Liu Da had transferred his injuries, they could only have been transferred to Zuo Lin'an.
But Zuo Lin'an was certain he hadn't felt anything at the time.
Thus, 【Delayed Injury】 was far more fitting.
“This talent is indeed quite rare.”
Rate on N.U.
