Weakling!

Ye Shu caught every single word from the male hunter with crystal clarity.

She would make this so-called predator understand just what a true weakling was. Suddenly stopping mid-flight, Ye Shu decided to stand her ground.

Her tiny wings fluttered furiously, and then—quite out of nowhere—she pulled a rocket launcher from her storage space.

As she suspected, there was a loophole in this game.

The players could use weapons.

Of course, that only worked if they had a storage space... She had no idea why the game didn't restrict this against her, but it was a blessing she wasn’t about to question. It only made her chances of clearing the round all the better.

Even transformed into an ordinary hen, Ye Shu retained her strength and speed. A chicken, with wings no bigger than a palm, wielding a weapon several times her size—it was a ridiculous, almost terrifying sight.

She aimed. Fired.

Her actions were swift, practiced—as if she’d done this a hundred times.

An explosion thundered—

A mushroom cloud blossomed over the playground.

The players lost their minds with excitement.

The vision of the cackling hen blasting a hunter with a rocket launcher was seen by more than a few players.

The game chat flooded into chaos.

[GrainOfSand: My god! The clucking hen actually dared to take on both hunters head-on! It's not being hunted—it's doing the hunting!]

[StainlessSteelBasin: What the hell! A rocket launcher! And the chicken’s storage space is so huge! Wait, I bought a space ring in the marketplace and I can’t even bring it into the game. Why can she use hers?]

[WildArtemisia: Is that really the point? You’re all missing it! Am I the only one impressed by our hero’s spirit to fight back against the hunters? My perspective was way too narrow. Who’d have guessed that the prey could hunt the hunters?]

[ChamberPot: Nine more minutes! Hold on, everyone. With a big shot attracting the heat, we small fries might just make it through safely.]

[WitheredGrass: Attracting fire? You coward—look at you, so hopeless. Why can’t we fight back, huh?]

[RustyGoldChain: It’s still safer to keep a low profile. It’s not like we have weapons.]

The majority of the players chose to lay low and survive.

Two hunters...

My Shu is in danger! If only she could survive this round.

Su Bai’s face was dark as thunder. The players nearby, who’d hoped to befriend her, saw her mood and thought better of approaching.

"Cough—cough—"

Choked by billows of dark smoke, the hunter coughed violently. His metallic arm was blasted apart; shattered plating exposed silver wires, raw and sparking. He looked absolutely wretched. Next to him, however, Lin Qingyue remained unharmed, save for a few traces of ash smeared on his white shirt.

Lin Qingyue had prepared himself the moment Ye Shu took out the launcher.

He knew her too well—the moment she was bullied, she’d make sure to pay it back tenfold. She was famous for never letting go of a grudge.

"Interesting! I’ve never witnessed prey like this before!"

"This game really is something special," Lin Qingyue remarked, sidelong, catching the manic grin flickering across the hunter’s face. He frowned. Damn, this guy is eyeing my prey. The urge to kill him rose within him.

The rocket had struck both himself and the hunter, but it hadn’t been lethal.

Ye Shu glanced in astonishment at the two men still standing a hundred meters away. She bolted without a second thought.

With only eight minutes left, there was no sense in rekindling the fight. If not for being cornered by that male hunter, she never would have blown her cover so recklessly.

Within a minute, Ye Shu wedged herself into the dead angle of a wall and blocked the entrance with a brick.

A private message appeared on her HUD.

It was from Fu Jingchuan.

To think he was also in this sector! What a coincidence...

[Fu Jingchuan: Ye Xiaoshu, are you the clucking chicken everyone’s been chasing?]

[ImYourDad: How did you know? Were you just nearby?]

On the other side, Fu Jingchuan wore a look of triumph. But at the moment, his avatar mimicked a half-dead earthworm wriggling hopelessly in the dirt, burrowing down as best he could.

[Fu Jingchuan: I was right under your feet.]

[ImYourDad: My...feet? How did I not see you?]

Ye Shu’s interest was piqued.

Fu Jingchuan’s luck was almost superhuman—turning into dirt, or maybe even a blade of withered grass. If only her disguise had been subtler, maybe she wouldn’t have drawn those two maniacs’ attention.

Fu Jingchuan fell silent.

How could he possibly admit that he’d transformed into an earthworm—and, looking up, had come face to tail feathers with the clucking hen’s backside?

He only recognized Ye Shu because of the rocket launcher.

There weren’t many players with access to storage space—and only one who could so casually retrieve a rocket launcher and shoot at a hunter.

Before their brief chat could finish, Ye Shu was discovered.

The stone block was shifted aside, and the cackling hen found herself face-to-face with Lin Qingyue’s unnaturally beautiful features. She felt not a trace of admiration. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to rake those charming smiles with her talons.

"Long time no see, Ye Xiaoshu," he said, voice cold and eerie, sending a shiver down her spine.

Ye Shu’s goosebumps rose in waves.

Without a second’s thought, she hopped atop his head, pecking Lin Qingyue’s scalp and coming away with a beak full of hair.

Lin Qingyue: "..."

It didn’t hurt, but it certainly was humiliating.

He yanked the hen off his head by her wings, pressing the muzzle of his gun right under Ye Shu’s feathery neck.

Just three minutes left before the first round ended.

Ye Shu felt a stinging reluctance at the thought of dying before dawn.

Her eyes bulged, glaring; her feet clawed uselessly at the air.

She seethed with rage but couldn’t utter a word.

Such abject forbearance was rare for her, and it unsettled Lin Qingyue deeply. Nonetheless, his hand remained firmly on his pistol.

In the last round, the system had overridden his control to increase the challenge of the desert map, even targeting Ye Xiaoshu directly. He hadn’t minded—at first. But Lin Qingyue found himself unwilling to kill her so soon after all.

Heh. If he wasn’t pulling the trigger immediately, maybe she still had a shot at escape.

Man and chicken—both with their own secrets.

"Ye Xiaoshu, don’t even think of running. I could kill you at any time."

The hen gave a pitiful nod.

A second later, she darted forward, pecking Lin Qingyue’s hand and breaking free, scrambling away in a panic.

She ran headlong into another hunter.

The very same one who had dogged her relentlessly—who had shot at her twice already.

She turned sharply and met Lin Qingyue’s eyes, burning nearly with fury. After just a moment’s hesitation, she leapt onto the other hunter’s shoulder.

The hunter stood stunned, glancing sidelong at the hen perched like a feathered ornament on his shoulder, preening her wings in plain sight. He remained speechless.

He knew she meant to use him.

But to see prey act so brazenly? It was a first.

Lin Qingyue didn’t get angry—he laughed, gun raised to target the hen riding his rival’s shoulder.

"Get down," he sneered.

He should have dispatched this woman long ago.

To think she’d already allied herself with another man...

"Cluck-cluck-cluuuck!"

Ye Shu gripped the hunter’s collar tightly, a look of disdain in her eyes. Her meaning was clear—she’d rather die at a hunter’s hands than Lin Qingyue’s.

"Very well!"

Lin Qingyue fired; the bullet tore through the hunter’s chest.

Yes—the hunter.

The next moment, the cackling hen vanished from his grasp.

[First round of hide-and-seek counting down: 3, 2, 1.]

[Game over. Congratulations to those who passed the first round!]

[It is now break time. Successful players will be teleported to the rest area, where you may rest and recover!]