Chapter 15 A Dark Auditorium

The gymnasium was unlit, and both Feng Bujue and Xiao Tan took out their flashlights. The two GMs each produced a pair of night-vision goggles and put them on.

Pan Feng and Hua Xiong stated bluntly that their equipment was pre-set, including the weapons in their hands, the metal boots on their feet, the unseen armor they wore, and the newly unveiled night-vision goggles. Basically, the GMs' gear was designed to handle any scenario within this level. Their equipment had no usage requirements, was extremely powerful, and was bound to them. All six specializations were at D-grade. Because D-grade skills only had a 60% success rate, they didn't have any active skills, relying entirely on passive abilities that enhanced their capabilities.

The four of them tracked the coordinates of the Derivative, visible in the GM menu, and arrived at a huge basketball court in the center of the gymnasium, which was also unlit.

They entered through an entrance in the stands. After pushing open the door to the aisle, the vast, dark space swallowed the flashlight beams. Feng Bujue and Xiao Tan's flashlights couldn't illuminate very far (such as the opposite stands). Pan Feng and Hua Xiong's night-vision goggles were similar; anything too far away still appeared black. In such a place, a monster roughly the size of a human could easily hide by crouching behind a row of seats.

"I want to ask... is talking to them any use?" Xiao Tan asked softly, his hand holding the kitchen knife trembling slightly, his palm already covered in sweat.

Before the other three could answer, a sudden, muffled sound came from behind them. The source of the sound was Dr. Ashford's mutated form; it had leaped into the air, its target Xiao Tan.

This script Boss had been lurking in the back row of the stands above this entrance, a blind spot after the four had entered. Both its hiding place and its method of attack were choices that an ordinary monster wouldn't make.

The Derivative knew the players' real-time coordinates, and Ashford himself could also determine which entrance the players had come from by their scent. That's why it had ambushed them in such a strategic location, and the fact that it prioritized attacking the weakest player was probably some kind of built-in selection mechanism for the script Boss.

The attack came extremely suddenly, and the monster pounced silently. Aside from the sound of it leaping from the stands and the sound of wind as it slashed through the air, there were no other noises. Not even the GMs, let alone an ordinary player like Wang Tanzhi, had noticed it in time.

Fortunately, the place was very quiet and spacious. The sound of it jumping reached Xiao Tan's ears a fraction of a second faster than Ashford's pounce. He managed to turn around just before being struck and coughing up blood. Of course, the time he had to react was only about a second.

In that second, Xiao Tan didn't have many options. If he did nothing, or did something wrong, it would mean a sharp decrease in his survival points.

Death wasn't likely, because when he was planting the bomb outside, Xiao Tan had put on the black steel helmet from his bag. His head was now protected by armor, so the situation of his head being torn apart by claws wouldn't happen. But… whether it was the steel helmet or his body that was attacked, being ambushed like this by a script Boss would definitely cost him three-quarters of his health. It was also hard to say whether there would be any dizziness or bleeding.

Given Xiao Tan's speed, it was impossible to avoid the attack. Hoping for a gunshot from Feng Bujue's Winchester or a weapon from one of the GMs was also too late. At this moment, he could only rely on himself.

In that split second, Wang Tanzhi's terror level actually decreased instead of increasing, dropping to zero.

In that instant, his eyes changed, becoming like those of a surgeon operating on a patient: calm, firm, and focused. The mutated form seemed like a patient lying on the operating table, anesthetized and powerless to do anything about what was about to happen.

Some people who usually seemed very gentle could display ruthlessness and ferocity in a critical moment.

Wang Tanzhi's hand holding the knife became very steady, accurate, and powerful. In the dim environment, a cold light flashed, and the blade drew an arc, touching the mutated form's claws.

The result of this collision would undoubtedly be the knife in Xiao Tan's hand being knocked away, and his hand was also very likely to be cut or broken.

But the transmission of force takes time, no matter how short.

The instant the blade touched the mutated form's skin, before the force of the impact could take full effect, Xiao Tan's figure turned into an afterimage and disappeared. At the same time, he reappeared ten meters away, without any injuries. However, because the stands were sloped, he appeared in mid-air, with a five- or six-meter drop to the seats below. The fall and subsequent roll cost him 27% of his survival points.

Even Feng Bujue was stunned. He hadn't expected Xiao Tan to be able to react so calmly and make such an extreme move in a dangerous situation. Pan Feng and Hua Xiong were even more shocked, but their subsequent reactions were quick. As soon as Xiao Tan disappeared, they immediately charged forward, and while the mutated form was off-balance from the missed attack, an ax and a spear struck its body.

After several seconds, Hua Xiong belatedly realized, "That kid used [Retreating Swift Slash], right? Heh..." He couldn't help but laugh.

Pan Feng also said, "Ah... I didn't react at first either. That's his only skill, and it's given by his title."

"I'll deal with this Boss. You guys have other things to handle," Feng Bujue suddenly said.

Bang, the Winchester fired again.

Feng Bujue aimed in the direction that Pan Feng and Hua Xiong were facing away from.

Just now, in the darkness, a silent, sharp shadow had leaped from the large screen hanging in the middle of the basketball court. It seemed to glide through the air, covering a considerable distance and swooping down on Pan Feng and Hua Xiong.

If Ashford's sneak attack was sudden, then this attack was completely within Feng Bujue's expectations.

His judgment of the Derivative's AI was quite accurate. Since it could set such a trap to ambush them, it must have a follow-up. The Derivative's target definitely wasn't the players. It wanted to kill the GMs. Players like them posed little threat to it, but if either Pan Feng or Hua Xiong were killed, the Derivative's chances of winning would greatly increase.

Therefore, the mutated form's attack, whether it succeeded or not, wasn't important. What was important was attracting the attention of the two GMs. While they were focused on fighting the mutated form, the Derivative would definitely approach from another direction, in an unexpected way.

The choice of a special environment, the mutated form's position, the direction it stood after the attack... all the preparations were in service of this sneak attack. As long as the sneak attack succeeded, even if the mutated form was killed, it wouldn't matter to the Derivative. Because once the Boss died, the two players would be forced to leave the script in at most three minutes, and by that time, the heavily injured Pan Feng and Hua Xiong would be in a very passive situation. The Derivative only needed to use its speed advantage to stall for time, and when the blood wolf zombies outside broke through or found another entrance and poured in, the two GMs would be doomed.

If only Pan Feng and Hua Xiong had come, this Derivative's plan might have succeeded. Unfortunately, it had encountered Feng Bujue.

A gunshot knocked the Derivative out of the air when it was less than five meters away.

[Eyes of Hatred] had been staring at that unusual shadow in the darkness. Even though the flashlight's light couldn't reach very far, Feng Bujue had still noticed its presence when the Derivative was moving in the air. He calmly gave Pan Feng and Hua Xiong a verbal warning before waiting for the Derivative to enter a range he was confident in, then pulled the trigger.

Although the Derivative was agile, it couldn't freely change direction in the air. Since its diving path had already been grasped by Feng Bujue, it was essentially flying into the path of his prepared gun.

The Winchester's tremendous impact made the Derivative's state upon being shot like hitting a wall while swinging on a swing. Accompanied by the gunshot, it suddenly stopped gliding and fell vertically downward. But the monster was indeed powerful; even though it was covered in blood, it stubbornly grabbed the edge of the railing on this level of the stands.

Feng Bujue spent two seconds ejecting the shell, reloading, aiming, and firing another shot, blasting apart the monster's hand that was holding the railing.

"Don't delay. The Derivative is your primary target. I can handle the mutated form," Feng Bujue calmly continued to load bullets, reminding them again.

The two GMs had only just figured out the situation. Hua Xiong, who was faster, retrieved his spear, turned, and leaped, using one hand to support himself on the railing before jumping down from this level of the stands and attacking the Derivative.

It was very dark below this level of the stands, but Hua Xiong had night-vision goggles, which didn't affect his combat efficiency. In Xiao Tan's eyes, who was also on the level below, he couldn't see the battle. He could only see occasional sparks in the darkness and constantly hear the sound of metal clashing, presumably because the Derivative had revealed its "claws."

"You're tangling with it here. I can't conveniently fire," Feng Bujue said to Pan Feng. "I told you, I can hold off the mutated form by myself."

"Nonsense! Even if you can deal with it, I've already pulled its aggro. If I back down, it'll follow!" Pan Feng replied while fighting.

"That's easy," Feng Bujue suddenly put away his gun and took out his pipe wrench, charging forward with a death wish.

Pan Feng thought that Feng Bujue had finally gone crazy, but the next second, the mutated form let out a painful wail, and then was tripped to the ground in a very strange posture…