Chapter 35: Clearing the Stage

“Since it was the first time any of us had participated in a dungeon, we naturally ignored the background and just treated the Headless Butcher as a fixed boss. We never imagined there was hidden information within it.”

They thought they were among the very first batch of players; to them, the three years mentioned by the game was merely backstory, much like how they had treated the woodcutter as a simple NPC. They never suspected that this place had been a dungeon for a long time, and an unsealed one at that.

“Who could have guessed that this place has been a dungeon site for decades, and that there are inexplicably stranded players here?” Liu Yuanyuan’s arrogant attitude softened considerably.

“It’s all thanks to that woodcutter,” Yuan Yao said. “Otherwise, we wouldn't have known that if only one person remains, the dungeon cannot be cleared.”

As he spoke, his eyes lit up and he lunged toward Xu Huo. “Brother Xu! We’re good friends and brothers, right? Let’s swap numbers—or if not numbers, at least exchange social media accounts!”

Xu Huo pressed his hand against Yuan Yao's face to push him away, then turned to Wang Wei. “Regarding those little tricks you used to contact your people—it’s certain that the Headless Butcher is a player.”

“Then why don't you suspect her!” Wang Wei pointed at Liu Yuanyuan in fury.

“I did suspect her, of course,” Xu Huo said indifferently. “Didn't we just use the process of elimination?”

Wang Wei was speechless, trembling for a moment before suddenly breaking into an eerie laugh. “I guess I was unlucky to run into you, but don't think you'll end this dungeon so easily!”

With a flick of his finger, a wire so thin it was hard to detect appeared out of thin air beside Xu Huo. The color of this wire was slightly different from the previous one, seemingly capable of hiding within the environment, though the faint glint from the metal could still be caught.

“Not again!” Xu Huo reached out to grab the wire, but it was slippery and refused to be held; it slipped through his fingers and slithered toward Yuan Yao!

It wasn't aimed at him!

Xu Huo kicked Yuan Yao out of the way, but the thin wire didn't attack the oncoming Huang Junjie. Instead, it zipped past his ear and flew toward Abel in the back!

Abel retreated in panic, the massive cross appearing in his hands once more. He swung it wildly in the air, but instead of having any substantial effect, he was blinded by the foam produced by the cross. In the next second, he was hoisted up by the thin wire!

Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao rushed over to help, intending to lift him higher to pull him off the wire, but the thing seemed to be growing out of Abel's neck—as the person went up, the wire went up with him!

“This is my item, ‘Ubiquitous Strings.’ It can grow anywhere. There's nothing you can do but watch him hang himself!” Wang Wei laughed loudly, sounding utterly manic. “But don't worry, I'll kill you all one by one!”

The faces of the players present darkened. Wang Wei had far too many strange and bizarre items!

“His items cannot be used on the same person twice. Huang Junjie, go!” Xu Huo shouted. He then tapped his heels twice, and his figure vanished from the spot instantly!

His speed was so great that he nearly left an afterimage in the air. The previously gloating Wang Wei’s expression changed drastically; before he could even pull the smile from his face, he saw Xu Huo standing right in front of him!

“AHHH!!!” Wang Wei screamed in agony. He looked down at his left hand to see that four fingers and half of his palm had been sliced off!

The source of his control on one side vanished, and on the other, Abel fell down. Huang Junjie tried to use his bamboo knife to coil the wire, but he failed, only able to watch as the wire flew back toward Wang Wei!

“Xu Huo, watch out! The wire is going back!”

Hearing Huang Junjie's warning, Xu Huo didn't look back. He parried a swinging axe and kicked Wang Wei back against the wall. Turning around, he grabbed the hovering wire with a brass lighter, tied several dead knots at both ends, and tossed it along with the lighter to Huang Junjie!

Seeing his own item snatched away like that, Wang Wei let out a roar and swung his axe frantically, attempting to fight Xu Huo to the death. Unfortunately, his speed couldn't keep up, and being injured, he couldn't cause any damage through mindless hacking without the buff from his black cloak.

Xu Huo gave Yuan Yao a look, and the latter understood, slipping away to the side.

“Die! Die! Die!” Wang Wei's roars echoed through the warehouse. Xu Huo remained composed, refusing to engage in a direct confrontation. He merely retreated while dodging the strikes, waiting until Yuan Yao had silently reached his back before suddenly speaking: “Do you want to know how I spotted the weakness of his item?”

Wang Wei's movements instinctively faltered. At that moment, Yuan Yao lunged forward to grab his arm, shouting excitedly, “Brother Xu, do it now!”

Wang Wei's expression shifted, but by the time he realized he had been tricked, it was too late. A small knife swiftly plunged into his heart!

Xu Huo watched calmly as the man's eyes bulged and stared fixedly at him. He reached out to remove the axe before taking a step back, letting the man collapse to the ground.

The moment Wang Wei breathed his last, a notification rang in the ears of all players present

【Congratulations to all players for successfully clearing the "Headless Butcher" dungeon. Due to the early conclusion of the dungeon and the fact that the Headless Butcher was killed through collective effort, in addition to receiving dungeon rewards based on task completion, all players will jointly receive a 100,000 bounty provided by the Villa Owner and one special item.】

【Additionally, the Headless Butcher's item is a fixed item for this dungeon and cannot be obtained by players. Later, players may choose to exchange for either one characteristic development privilege or one item. Note: The recipient of this exchange reward will be chosen by player vote.】

【The following are the task completion ratings for this dungeon:】

【Player Passerby A: Grade B Player Drunkard Watching Swords by Lamplight: Grade D Player Programmer, You Don't Understand: Grade D Player Faith of the Gods: Grade E Player Fair-Skinned and Beautiful: Grade E】

“Grade D!” Yuan Yao was the first to jump up in joy. “I got a D! In the Preliminary Train, I didn't even get a rating. I didn't expect to get a D in my first dungeon! Haha!”

“Congratulations.” Huang Junjie's expression also relaxed significantly. He was also a D; his personal rewards and train ticket should be secured.

Since both he and Yuan Yao were Grade D, there was no doubt that the Grade B, Passerby A, was Xu Huo.

“Why am I the lowest?” Liu Yuanyuan said indignantly. “I helped catch the Headless Butcher too.”

“Me too,” Abel said, scratching his hair. “It's probably because we were wandering around like blind men from start to finish. Besides, you almost caused us to fight each other.”

Liu Yuanyuan snorted and turned her gaze to Huang Junjie's hands. The thin metal wire, which had previously been writhing like a worm, hung motionless from the lighter. She said greedily, “Let me see that item.”

Huang Junjie stepped back warily. “One against four, you have no chance of winning.”

Liu Yuanyuan scoffed and looked toward Xu Huo, who was lingering by the wall. “What are you doing? It's time to vote. You're not planning to hog the exchange item for yourself, are you?”

Xu Huo searched for a while longer and finally found a reflective fragment in a corner. After tucking it into his pocket, he turned back.

After the game announcement ended, the black cloak and axe in Xu Huo's inventory turned gray; clicking them only revealed the voting bar.

“Before we vote, let's decide who gets this exchange reward,” he said.