Chapter 7: Survival Game
[Prompt: Your nightmare body has been class-changed to Life Hunter.]
With this prompt, a surge of purple-black energy emerged around him, flowing into Su Xiao's body. A maddening killing intent rushed straight to his brain, rapidly consuming his rationality, attempting to turn him into a bloodthirsty maniac. Of course, this was only a possibility.
In reality, Su Xiao felt a unique fluctuation affecting his brain. Compared to absorbing blood energy on the ancient battlefield, this was nothing.
Given Su Xiao's current body, his combat power had indeed weakened, but some things wouldn't diminish—his will and mind. From the First Rank to the Eighth Rank, he had experienced countless desperate situations and fought numerous powerful enemies. How could his mental fortitude be shaken so easily?
A cold sensation spread from various parts of his body. Su Xiao's appearance didn't change much, except the depths of his eyes turned pitch black, and his pupils became blood red, identical to the eyes of the Life Hunter from earlier.
Besides this change, Su Xiao also clearly felt that his body had become much stronger.
[Prompt: After the Hunter equips the Life Hunter Set, you will be able to use the Life Hunter's abilities.]
[Warning: While acting as a Life Hunter, if the Hunter's sanity value falls below 50%, you will be assimilated by the nightmare world, becoming a permanent part of it. Your consciousness and soul will be absorbed by the dream world, and all assets in your storage space will belong to the Nightmare King.]
[Prompt: The Hunter can cancel the Life Hunter class change at any time, reverting to the Explorer class. After reverting to Explorer, your 'Nightmare Eye' ability will be reactivated.]
...
[Announcement (Void Tree): Life Hunters and Survivors have entered. The survival game of the nightmare world is about to begin.]
[Announcement (Void Tree): The Nightmare King is watching you.]
[It once took scroll fragments from the main painting world, piecing together those black canvases to create a dark, oppressive, and bloody painting. This painting eventually became the nightmare world, and it became the ruler of the nightmare world.]
[Now, as Survivors, you have come to the nightmare world. You must prove to the Nightmare King that you are worthy of exploring his world. So, escape the Slaughter Grounds.]
[Slaughter Grounds Area: 12.57 square kilometers (the front part is ruins with complex terrain, the latter part is a maze).]
[There are five lock plates in the Slaughter Grounds. After correcting any four of them, the gate of the Slaughter Grounds will open. As the rule maker, the Nightmare King will abide by the promises made and give each Survivor a Scroll Fragment.]
[The timer has started. If all Survivors fail to break out of the 'Slaughter Grounds' within 12 hours, the consciousness of all Survivors will return to their original bodies, forcibly leaving the nightmare world.]
...
A series of announcements appeared. Seeing these, Su Xiao understood the situation. The nightmare world had a ruler, the Nightmare King. As for why he arranged all this, the reason was simple: he was too bored.
This wasn't Su Xiao's speculation. He had encountered several beings similar to the Nightmare King. Such beings all had a trait: they couldn't leave their own territory.
Imagine what a powerful being trapped in its own territory would do? Initially, it might 'seclude itself for cultivation,' but over time, no one could endure it. Eventually, it would inevitably think, 'What if guests come?'
At first, it might warmly welcome them, even give treasures. That's why many lucky ones inexplicably obtain some system or cheat. Of course, this could also be disguised by a fake old man like Mawen Hua'erzi. In short, if a pie falls from the sky, 99.99% of the filling is poisonous. For reference, see Aichi from the previous world.
These powerful beings trapped somewhere might initially be bored enough to show kindness. In the later stages, their way of welcoming guests becomes more interesting, like the current Slaughter Grounds.
Su Xiao wasn't a Survivor; he was a Life Hunter. The current situation exceeded his expectations. Preventing other Survivors from correcting the lock plates and stopping them from leaving the Slaughter Grounds could indeed prevent others from obtaining [Scroll Fragments], but Su Xiao would gain nothing either. Afterwards, he couldn't leave the Slaughter Grounds nor obtain [Scroll Fragments].
Just as Su Xiao was thinking about how to maximize his gains, a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Prompt: The Hunter is a Life Hunter and must participate in the survival game of the Slaughter Grounds. This is a mandatory action with no benefits!]
[Mandatory Action with No Benefits: The Hunter cannot refuse this survival game, but there will be no rewards during participation.]
[This action violates Initial Clause 1568324.]
[Reincarnation Paradise and Void Tree have performed a dual correction.]
[Correction complete. The Hunter will participate in this survival game as a Life Hunter.]
[If the Hunter ensures that the eight Survivors participating in the survival game cannot escape the Slaughter Grounds within 12 hours, the Hunter wins this game, and you will receive four Scroll Fragments.]
[The Nightmare King has refused to modify this game rule and refuses to provide the Scroll Fragments to be paid upon the Hunter's victory.]
[Forced negotiation in progress...]
[Negotiation complete. The Nightmare King has agreed to modify this game rule and is willing to provide the Scroll Fragments to be paid upon the Hunter's victory.]
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao knew the situation was clear. The Slaughter Grounds now had two factions: Molei and the other seven were the escape faction, while he was the hunting faction. No, Bubu Wang and Baha were too.
"Boss, my flight ability is restricted. I can fly, but only at low altitude. Damn, it's a Void Tree restriction. I was born able to fly, isn't this unfair?"
Baha cursed. Even if it could only fly at low altitude, it was still the main scout. Everyone was using nightmare bodies with low attributes. Being able to fly really allowed it to do whatever it wanted.
Su Xiao changed his clothes. He first put on the Life Hunter's black-and-red long coat. The style was similar to a trench coat but thicker, with the hem reaching his knees. The inside of the coat was covered with thumb-thick chains.
The coat was heavy when held, but not as heavy when worn. Its defense was unquestionable.
The Life Hunter set wasn't easy to put on. After a few minutes, Su Xiao picked up the metal mask with air holes over the mouth and put it on, then lifted the hunting axe.
The total length of the hunting axe was 103 cm. The curve of the blade was more suitable for chopping. The handle was all metal, shaped like a curved spine, wrapped with bloodstained anti-slip cloth at the grip.
Name: Life Hunter·Bai Ye (Nightmare Body State)
Health: 100%
Mana: 1000 points
Strength: 55 points (total increase of 25 points, class change increase of 7 points, Life Hunter Set increase of 18 points)
Agility: 32 points (increase of 2 points, class change increase)
Endurance: 55 points (total increase of 25 points, class change increase of 7 points, Life Hunter Set increase of 18 points)
Intelligence: 30 points
Charm: 0 points
Skill 1: Nightmare Eye (Passive), Go kill until you can 'see' (This ability is sealed. When your class in the dream world downgrades to Explorer, this ability recovers).
Skill 2: Serrated Trap (Active), After the Life Hunter finds a Serrated Trap in the Slaughter Grounds, you can use your Strength attribute above 50 points to open the Serrated Trap and place it anywhere. After the Serrated Trap is set, it will enter a camouflage state.
Serrated Trap: Invented by some cruel genius. When triggered, the trap clamps down extremely fast with medium-low clamping force. Unlike the randomly placed traps in the Slaughter Grounds, the Serrated Trap won't break the prey's leg. After piercing through their flesh, it will firmly clamp onto their leg bone. Once triggered, the Serrated Trap will lock completely. Except by brute force or full closure, there is no way to reopen the trap. Half of the serrated structure on the trap is hollow, causing continuous bleeding on the prey, making them weaker and weaker while unable to escape.
Note: Each time you set a Serrated Trap, you need to consume 50 Mana points to charge it, ensuring it can enter the camouflage state.
Skill 3: Life Hunter Set (Passive), Body defense +39 points, Health +8500 points, all abnormal attribute resistance +30 points. While in the Slaughter Grounds, control effects are greatly reduced.
Skill 4: Load (Passive), The bonuses of the Life Hunter Set make it impossible for Survivors to defeat you. Even if eight Survivors join forces, they cannot contend with you. But everything has a price. When you change direction during pursuit, your speed is reduced by 50% (straight-line running, the Life Hunter is slightly faster than Survivors; when turning, the Life Hunter is much slower than Survivors).
Note: Persist in the pursuit. Your Endurance attribute, 25 points higher than the Survivors, means your stamina far exceeds theirs. Of course, this is under the premise of not losing track.
...
After checking his attributes, Su Xiao knew that if the Survivors dared to come to him, they would be freebies one by one. In direct confrontation, Survivors absolutely couldn't defeat the Life Hunter. Their combat power wasn't on the same level.
But there was one thing: his straight-line running speed was slightly faster than the Survivors. When encountering turns, due to the inertia of the chains inside his Life Hunter Set, his speed would drop sharply. Taking this opportunity, the Survivors could distance themselves from him.
Su Xiao climbed up along the stepped ruined wall. When he reached a high place, Baha, who had been gliding at low altitude, landed on his shoulder.
The hunt begins.