Chapter Ch70.1 - Crowned
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Caesar’s body stiffened. The gaze he used to look at Wu Jin seemed to have been scalded by boiling water and contracted suddenly.
Wu Jin ignored it. After unloading the guns, he removed his sniper gloves. The pure black half-finger tactical gloves were pulled off cleanly, revealing slender, stable hands and red knuckles from holding the b.u.t.t of the gun for too long. After that came the bag that held the bullet magazines and the bulletproof vest.
There was a gap in his movements, and Wu Jin looked up, his eyes filled with an inescapable chill.
In the Crosson director’s studio, the camera moved away from Wei Yan. This S-level trainee who made others tremble upon hearing his name packed up his gear and headed towards the 10th instance.
The final battle was about to begin.
Blood Pigeon, “I’m very curious. What was the meaning behind Zoe’s last words to Wu Jin?”
Ying Xiangxiang also thought about it for a moment, “Zoe… Zoe’s goal is to have his teammates be promoted to rank A. However, don’t forget that in addition to Wen Lin, there’s another player in the White Moonlight team who is ranked B; Caesar, who dropped ranks in the previous round. Zoe must have entrusted Little Witch with something when he handed the command over to him.”
Blood Pigeon watched the video replay, “There were 26 players left, but there’s 25 now. From the fixed camera, we can see that Caesar tried to rush back into the instance twice, but was stopped by Wu Jin.”
“25 people is the safety line for an A ranking, so we can wish Caesar a smooth promotion in rankings in advance. Now, let’s switch the live stream over to the White Moonlight team––”
Blood Pigeon paused slightly.
In the camera, Wu Jin was throwing the bulletproof vest to Caesar.
The youth’s thin protective jacket was soaked with sweat due to the rise in temperature in the compet.i.tion arena, and his originally fluffy curls were stuffed randomly beneath a boonie hat, revealing his bright forehead and twisted brows.
The scrolling comments that had originally been moving slowly suddenly grew eager, and Ying Xiangxiang even suspected that the mama fans were plotting evil schemes and had already stretched their hands through the virtual screen to touch and pinch.
“Little Witch ahhhh––my son, the forehead that you’ve exposed is attractive too! prprpr”
“Oh my, I can feel my heart being moved! A serious, ascetic expression, my son, what’s making you unhappy? Tell your mama!”
“The little commander is too s.e.xy! He’s obviously just taking off his gloves and his bullet proof gear, but the level of pheromones is overflowing––wait a minute, that’s not right, Contestant Wu, what are you offloading your armor for?!”
Wu Jin also tossed the 1.77kg submachine gun at Caesar and gestured for him to put on the bullet proof gear.
Caesar’s breath came short as his brain that wasn’t very nimble finally reacted. He really wished he could take back what he’d just said and scuffed his feet against the floor anxiously, “Little Witch, don’t do that. You’re the one who found all the supplies. It’s your big brother’s brain that couldn’t adapt…”
Wu Jin’s expression recovered slightly, but his face was still tense. Every word was bit out more like an order than a statement, “Follow the command.”
Caesar looked at him and finally nodded earnestly, promising solemnly.
Wu Jin nodded and handed over the ammunition magazines, “You’ll take over the c-position from Zoe.”
Caesar’s eyes changed. It was clear that he’d been unprepared for this.
Wu Jin’s vision shifted between Wen Lin and Caesar, and he soon provided Caesar with a set of equipment that was basically complete in defense. He also had a sniper rifle, spray gun, and MK5 a.s.sault gun, and could simultaneously deal with ranged and close combat attacks.
“Prepare to charge into instance number 10.” Wu Jin spoke in a low voice. One end of the corridor was already burning from the sacrificial fires, and the other side was covered with gunfire, “I’ll be the a.s.sault. Brother Wen Lin will provide machine gun cover.”
Wu Jin finally turned to Caesar, looking at the most powerful a.s.sault player in White Moonlight, “There will be 25 people in instance number 10, and you only have one task––survive until the end. Got it?”
The youth’s face was alternatively bright and dark from the firelight. His pupils were as bright as a blade against the fire, his momentum on the rise. His shoulders and posture were wide, but the muscles beneath his combat uniform were tense.
If the person standing in front of him was an experienced professional player, they would be able to tell that Wu Jin was nervous with a glance.
However, Caesar was affected by his presence and nodded subconsciously to Wu Jin.
Wu Jin looked at him directly, and his voice raised slightly, “Got. It?”
Caesar was given a shock. He quickly responded and pulled up the submachine gun, “Got it!”
Wu Jin finally nodded, and the lines of his face seemed to relax slightly, “In that case, it’s up to you now, Brother Caesar.”
A flush started to rise in Caesar’s face, continuing until Wu Jin turned around. Wen Lin patted him on the back, looking at their little commander with a trace of surprised admiration in his eyes.
Off-screen, the audience burst into a frenzy after the White Moonlight set out.
“What a strong aura––is this Little Witch? Is this really my Little Witch??”, “Whoa, the Little Witch who was the main dancer for the theme song is back!”, “Little Witch is two meters nine today ahhh!”, “666 Zoe’s fan expresses relief, this commander was a good choice. White Moonlight, you need to work hard and qualify wuwuwu!”
Blood Pigeon took over the microphone, “Even in professional teams, in most cases, the commander and the c-position usually overlap. However, we have to admit that Wu Jin’s decision is the best plan. Wu Jin’s firearms skill and maneuvers are much better than they were before, but there’s still a certain gap between him and Caesar.”
Ying Xiangxiang nodded, “Keeping the strongest player until the end and protecting the c-position’s strength. Director, please shift the camera; we can see that Caesar has handed over all the major arcana cards.” Ying Xiangxiang paused, “His luck is pretty good. The World card will be useful in the final instance. If it’s given to Little Witch––”
In the camera, Wu Jin counted the cards and picked up a ‘Hanged Man’ card from Caesar’s hand before signaling for him to put the rest away and pay more attention to protecting the ‘World’ card.
The camera slowly moved away.
The number of survivors flashed. 24 people remained.
In instance number 8, Jingyi’s Ming Yao and his teammates used the second ‘Lovers’ card to eliminate a person from Dolma Entertainment––climbing back up from the same instance that had caused them to fall. His hand trembled a little as he put away his gun, but he soon clenched his fist again. Like Wu Jin one hundred meters away from him who’d been forced to replace Zoe, he also took up Zuo Botang’s responsibilities and tried to imitate ‘what a captain should do’ in every step of his thinking.
Instance number 9. Wei Yan stepped out into the corridor and walked through the roaring flames towards the final battle.
Instance number 6. Thin Fire ran out in a panic, his hair charred by wildfire again. After all his equipment had been confiscated by White Moonlight, he was only left with one wooden stick and two rifles. He’d lost his selfie stick in a skirmish.
“This motherf*cking fire––” Thin Fire was jumping from the heat beneath his feet. His right wrist watch reminded him several times that he could open his life-saving capsule at any time, but he hissed and sucked in cold air as he fiercely cancelled out the prompt, “Quit the game? Impossible. I won’t quit a single game in my entire life! I need to be able to live up to the poached eggs my big brother fried for me––”
At the entrance to instance number 10.
Wu Jin followed his memory to find the locked door, then suddenly lifted up his gaze and looked up.
Wen Lin frowned, “Who’s singing?”
The fire pit and other parts of the map were all flooded with sacrificial fire, the tongues of flame licking at the clothes of the statue of the G.o.d. The music came down from the dome, like the sound of a choir from a distant church.
––“This is the absolute, immaculate truth.”
––“All can be attributed to one, and the thoughts of one can evolve into all.”
“Hymn.” Wu Jin quickly replied, “A hymn for the sacrifice. Only one person can enter each door. Let’s find two more entrances.”
Wen Lin reported the situation, “Two people firing shots at S190, Wei Yan at E120. A three person team at SE150.”
Wu Jin nodded, “Head to S190 and deal with the fighting.”
The youth didn’t tarry. He picked up the spray gun and followed the sound of gunfire, with Wen Lin following closely to his right.
Caesar subconsciously wanted to take the lead, but stopped stiffly in place before sticking himself in the last spot of the triangle formation, protected by his two teammates’ range of fire.
At the intersection on the other side of the corridor, the two trainees who’d just been fighting abruptly turned back in surprise. Shotgun bullets flew through the air, and heavy artillery bullets blocked their retreat. Wu Jin’s arm dipped as he took back his gun, his eyebrows raised like an opportunistic leopard, not hesitating to charge forth into b.l.o.o.d.y battle––
One of the trainees was stunned and was unable to dodge away, ending up caught in Caesar’s gunfire. A life-saving capsule popped out!
23 people left.
Their watches updated, the number dropping again. The remaining player looked at Wu Jin in horror, but instantly recovered. The 02 Shotgun’s shooting interval was three seconds. Wu Jin’s a.s.sault had been nothing but a feint. If he counter-attacked at this time––
Wen Lin blocked his path, and Caesar shifted the muzzle of his gun. The submachine gun fired again.
21 people left.
This round of gunfighting was extremely smooth. Caesar shot Wu Jin a grateful look and was just about to go up and give him a high five when his goldfish brain remembered the things from before. He scratched his ears awkwardly, “Thanks, brother!”
Wu Jin looked back, his goggles reflecting the eerie light of the fire. He raised his right hand, and Wen Lin went up to slap it. Caesar remained in a daze, but Wu Jin walked over to his right and gently b.u.mped shoulders with his teammate, giving Caesar a thumbs up.
Caesar froze for half a beat, then laughed loudly.
They had taken over two entrances, but were still missing the last one.
The sacrificial fires had almost burned through the corridor. Flying ash and debris covered the sky.
The statue remained in mid-air, smiling and compa.s.sionate through the flames. Beneath his feet was a sea of raging fire, and the sounds of the hymn seemed to swirl with the flames.
White Moonlight finally went up against Dolma Entertainment for the third entrance. Wu Jin ended up wounded, Caesar suffered light injuries, and Wen Lin and their opponent fought for nearly 30 seconds before they retreated at Wu Jin’s command.
Six minutes later, on the other side of instance number 10.
Wu Jin wiped away a smattering of blood from the corner of his mouth, roughly bandaged up his bleeding wounds, and pointed his spray gun to knock out Azure People’s Entertainment’s B-level trainee, seizing the last door.
“Quick!” Wu Jin had no time to check over his equipment. He gestured for Caesar and Wen Lin to go back to the instance entrances, “The hymn has changed, the sacrifice is about to start!”
In mid-air, the fire roared and exploded. Hermes, who was carved out of huge boulders, seemed to raise his arms, like a mortal illusion amidst the sea of fire.
“––Father of all things, the prophet of the world once again.”
“––Upon his arrival, he will then become the most complete and incomparable power.”
The sea of fire swept along the winding corridors, and countless branches fell at random.
Not far from White Moonlight’s entrance, Red hid from the camera and dawdled as he pet.i.tioned his superior, “Brother Wei, I just want to play for a little bit longer, just a little bit…”
Wei Shi was indifferent.
Red nagged on, “The cost of this map isn’t cheap. On average, it’s several dozens of credits per minute, like a game charge card. I’m just gonna walk around––”
Wei Shi grunted in acknowledgement.
Red was overjoyed, “You, you agreed??”
Wei Shi: “Go straight down the corridor, turn left, then head right.”
Red exclaimed happily and left in delight. A while later, a wail came echoing back, “Wei, Wei Yan––”
Wei Shi bowed his head. His teammate’s profile image went dark on his watch. Mao Qikui had been eliminated.
12 people left.
Wei Shi picked up his gun and walked lazily into the depths of the corridor.
His steady and silent steps bypa.s.sed the entrances occupied by Jingyi and Wei Yan, stopping in front of a wall that had been charred by the sacrificial fires.
The man’s powerful body cast erratic shadows from the light of the fires, his long, black shadow appearing in the field of vision of the person behind the wall.
Wu Jin responded in a flash. His expression was sharp and solemn, his right hand unhesitatingly reaching for the trigger as he narrowed his eyes and sighted along the gun. And then, he looked up in amazement––
—
White light danced in front of his eyes. Wu Jin’s figure trembled slightly, and it took him a long time to refocus his gaze.
On the team communication channel, Wen Lin’s voice was very nervous, “Little Witch? Can you hear me? What just happened?”
Followed by Caesar, “Little Witch, I’m heading in your direction. Hide first.” His tone was rather remorseful, “I should’ve stayed with you just now––”
Wu Jin finally returned to his senses.
Half a minute ago, the entire corridor had been burned out by the fire. The entrance to the 10th instance opened up, and he’d been practically pushed into the room by the heat wave.
The entrance closed behind him.
Wu Jin finally looked around, hiding his emotions in the bottom of his eyes. “Sorry… I was distracted.”
“Is Little Witch alright?” Wen Lin asked.
Wu Jin shook his head repeatedly.
Wen Lin, “Did something happen?”
Wu Jin stilled, “… No.”
He looked up and squinted at the instance for the final battle in front of him.