Chapter 118: Last-Hitting, Backdooring, and Kill Stealing

"Did I... actually survive?" Brother Cheng stared ahead in disbelief. "Ahahaha... hahaha... I survived! I actually survived! Hahahaha!"

Like a discarded rag, Brother Cheng laughed hysterically at the empty space before him, a grating, unpleasant sound.

"Was it a mistake to let him go on a whim?" Illumi, already burrowed underground, frowned and muttered to himself.

For Illumi, killing was merely a professional necessity. It didn't matter much if he let an unintended target live, but disturbing his sleep was not a pleasant experience.

Just as Illumi prepared to emerge from the ground to dispose of the "trash," Brother Cheng's harsh laughter was cut short.

"Cough!" Unable to even lift a finger, Brother Cheng used the last of his strength to clutch the wound on his neck. But his throat, nearly severed in half, acted like a broken valve; blood surged out under internal pressure.

In the dim twilight, a figure holding a blade stood silently, looking down from above as the light of life faded from Brother Cheng's eyes. In the figure's left hand was the very number badge that had belonged to Brother Cheng.

Five seconds later, Brother Cheng breathed his last. Simultaneously, the corpse vanished instantly, leaving behind only a blood-stained badge.

The figure didn't seem to mind the filth, stooping down to scoop up the badge before abruptly disappearing.

It was a matter of seconds; the figure had barely vanished when Illumi arrived.

Illumi touched some of the blood on the ground and sniffed it lightly.

"It is indeed the blood of that person from earlier, but where is he? Or rather, where is the body?" To Illumi's eyes, aside from a set of footprints and the marks from Brother Cheng's previous struggle, there were no other clues.

No signs of transportation, no signs of a fight—nothing.

What was going on?

"Player 73950 has killed an opposing player in the Promotion Instance, classified as killing an 'Intermediate Player.' As the deceased was a seed player selected by the Main Brain Space, Player 73950's rewards have been boosted. You have received one 'Blood-Stained Badge'."

"Since it is a low-probability event for a normal player (Junior Player) to kill a Seed Player (Intermediate Player) in a Promotion Instance, the player is granted two options."

"Option One: Unlock the badge after the main quest is completed. You may select one item from the deceased's legacy (LP points, items, innate skills) as a reward, with the value randomly floating between 20% and 50%. Additionally, you will gain the loyalty of one of the deceased's contracted creatures, chosen at random."

"Option Two: Immediately surrender the badge to the Main Brain Space. Player 73950 may choose two of the seven sealed abilities—'Summoning Heart,' 'Magic Contract,' 'Dimensional Space,' 'NTR,' 'Spectacled Villager A,' Summoning Contracted Creature, and Summoning via LP Expenditure—to be unlocked early."

"The player must make a choice within five minutes. After five minutes, the 'Blood-Stained Badge' will be downgraded to a 'White Badge,' and opening a 'White Badge' will only grant basic rewards."

"Please choose carefully, player."

These were the prompts Hao Ren received.

***

Hao Ren felt that, as a veteran Dota player, last-hitting, stealing towers, and sniping kills were practically instinctual. Without hesitation, he raised the blade he had swiped from the Red-Nosed man, waited for the moment Illumi departed, and, taking advantage of the fact that Brother Cheng was wide open in his post-survival daze, struck him down from behind.

*Squelch!*

Turns out, the sensation of cutting someone with a blade wasn't much different from cutting pork; it was just that the cervical vertebrae were a bit tough. Those guys who decapitate in one stroke are all psychos.

As an aside, Sharp had recorded the whole video.

Hao Ren decided he would edit the blood to look black later and upload it to the web, though it would likely be banned by the moderators.

Well, those were matters for later. First, he had to make his choice.

Hao Ren’s eyes darted between the two options.

Clearly, the first option had its merits.

Since Brother Cheng held the title of a seed player, his strength certainly wouldn't be inferior to Hao Ren's. His LP points, items, and skills shouldn't be lacking either. And that loyalty from a summoned creature—he might get lucky and summon Kotonoha.

Furthermore, Hao Ren noted the phrase "low-probability event" in the Main Brain's prompt.

How low was this probability?

If Hao Ren hadn't created his self-made skill "Mobius Loop Leap," he wouldn't have been able to monitor and jump to Brother Cheng's side to land the killing blow. If Brother Cheng hadn't been babbling nonsense, he wouldn't have been spared by the capricious Illumi. If Brother Cheng hadn't happened to dig directly beneath Illumi, he wouldn't have been subjected to Illumi's private punishment. If Saya hadn't gone "yandere," Brother Cheng wouldn't have been so terrified that he dug in a straight line.

Thinking about it, the odds were indeed quite slim.

Of course, Hao Ren knew nothing of these details; he misinterpreted "low-probability event" to mean that he would likely lose if he fought a normal Brother Cheng head-on.

Well, objectively speaking, if Brother Cheng wanted to fight Hao Ren head-on, there was no chance; the gap in combat experience was too great. But if Brother Cheng wanted to run, Hao Ren probably couldn't stop him even with all his might.

Eh, looking at it that way, the rewards for Option One should be quite generous—no worse than taking down a mini-boss alone.

However, the fact that the reward would only be issued after the main quest was enough for Hao Ren to abandon this option.

No matter how generous a reward might be, it only counts as a reward if it's in your hands immediately.

What needed to be done now was to maximize his chances of survival in the main quest, even if it was just a 1% increase.

Since that was the case, the second option was his choice.

As for which abilities to unlock...

***

Of course, "Dimensional Space" and "Summoning Contracted Creature"!

For reasons unknown, something crossed Hao Ren’s mind, and large beads of sweat began to roll down his forehead.

The "Blood-Stained Badge" in Hao Ren's hand turned into dust and vanished without a trace.

"Player 73950 has chosen to surrender the badge. The skills 'Dimensional Space' and 'Summoning Contracted Creature' have been unlocked."

"The 'Blood-Stained Badge' has been returned to the Main Brain database. The deceased's contracted creature data has been reset and rejoined the list of summonable creatures."

"..."

"Data error! Data error!"

"Player 'Ito Makoto's' class is Yandere Summoner. Hidden passive effect triggered."

"Contracted summoned creatures: Yuno Gasai, Kotonoha Katsura, Ayase Aragaki. They have temporarily bypassed the data reset and entered 'Yandere Revenge Mode'."

"Player 73950 has accepted a forced quest: 'The Yandere's Revenge'."

"Player 73950 will be hunted by these three summoned creatures in the next instance. The three creatures have been strengthened and have inherited some of 'Ito Makoto's' attributes and skills."

"The player must either evade the yanderes or kill them."

"If the player is killed by a yandere, 'Ito Makoto' will be resurrected, and all of the player's abilities will be halved."

"As Player 73950 possesses the special skill 'NTR,' in addition to the options of 'Evade' and 'Counter-kill,' the option of 'Subjugation' has been added."

"Good luck."

...

What the hell!