Chapter 27: A World of Fast and Slow

“How is that possible!?”

Zhao Gang’s pupils contracted, his mouth wide open as he let out a terrified scream.

It was as if he had witnessed something completely beyond comprehension.

From his perspective, he had launched a lightning-fast sneak attack on Ye Lian.

Not only that—he’d struck from a perfect blind spot.

She shouldn’t have been able to react at all.

But…

A flash of green light swept out in a graceful arc.

Ye Lian not only reacted—she countered instantly.

In a blur of motion, she struck back and sliced Zhao Gang cleanly in two!

It was utterly unbelievable.

Mid-air, a thin green line appeared across Zhao Gang’s torso.

Then the light flared—and his body split apart down the middle!

Bai Xue stared in shock, her mind completely blank.

In her vision, everything seemed to slow down dramatically.

Zhao Gang’s sneak attack should have hit its mark with absolute certainty.

But in that moment, the entire area suddenly shifted into slow motion.

No—that wasn’t quite right.

Only Zhao Gang seemed trapped in a slowed-down world.

Ye Lian’s movements showed no delay or sluggishness whatsoever.

When she countered with her spear, Bai Xue saw nothing but a trail of faint afterimages.

So fast it was terrifying.

So fast it was downright unnatural.

Zhao Gang and Ye Lian seemed to exist in two entirely different timelines.

Thud!

The two halves of Zhao Gang’s body hit the ground.

The strange effect vanished along with the falling corpse.

Ye Lian swung her spear and looked down at the mangled body from above.

His pupils had shrunk to needle-thin slits.

The tentacles that had been writhing from his mouth and ears went limp and drooped lifelessly.

Blood poured out from the severed flesh.

Even for a monster like him, such wounds had to be fatal.

At least, that’s what Bai Xue thought.

***

“Turn to dust,” Ye Lian said coldly.

After all, if piercing his heart wasn’t enough to kill him, splitting his body in two might not do it either.

More importantly, she hadn’t heard the system notification sound.

That meant Zhao Gang wasn’t truly dead yet.

[System: No kill confirmed.]

With a graceful lift of her hand, the surrounding air was rapidly compressed and condensed into her palm.

Just as the attack was about to be released—

Zhao Gang suddenly experienced a burst of energy before death.

The half of his body that should have been growing stiff suddenly turned soft and slippery.

With a slick whoosh, he slipped into a crevice in the ground below.

The other half of his body wasn’t as quick.

It had just started to soften before it was blasted into powder by Ye Lian’s compressed air cannon.

But it wasn’t over yet.

In the next instant, she flashed forward and slammed a palm strike into the ground fissure.

The ground shook violently, and a deafening explosion rang out.

“Ahh!” Bai Xue nearly lost her balance.

“Damn it, he got away,” Ye Lian muttered in frustration as she stood back up.

As long as that cunning bastard was still alive, he would remain a lingering threat.

Unfortunately, the underground was full of fractures and collapsed layers.

Trying to find him down there would be as hard as climbing to the heavens.

“Forget it. Sooner or later, we’ll run into each other again.”

Shaking her head, she turned to look at Bai Xue.

“Are you okay, Bai Xue?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you so much!” Bai Xue finally snapped out of her daze and quickly expressed her gratitude.

She had thought for sure tonight would be her end in this hellhole, but just when all hope seemed lost, a white knight had appeared to save her.

‘If this were a soap opera, now would be the moment to offer myself in gratitude…’

As the thought popped into her head, her cheeks turned slightly red.

She quickly shook her head to dismiss the ridiculous idea.

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” Ye Lian said as she retracted her spear and, in a flash, appeared beside Bai Xue.

“A-Are they really… dead?” Bai Xue asked, her face pale as she stared at the pools of red and white slime scattered around.

Even now, she couldn’t believe it was real.

“They’re dead,” Ye Lian confirmed.

As she dove deeper into this game, she became convinced that the [Savior] organization had no reason to lie about something like this.

Their repeated warnings and urgent advice were already proof of how serious the situation was.

The players had entered this world knowing the truth.

Whether they believed it or not was up to each person.

But Ye Lian believed it completely.

Bai Xue’s face turned even paler.

She remembered how she had once earnestly told Ye Lian—who she thought was a man at the time—that all of this couldn’t be real.

Now, after witnessing the brutal deaths of her teammates, people who had been fighting by her side just moments ago, she finally realized she hadn’t truly accepted this horrifying reality.

“What do you plan to do next?” Ye Lian asked, leaving the decision in Bai Xue’s hands.

At the start, Ye Lian had hesitated about whether to help her.

But since Bai Xue already had her own team back then, Ye Lian had decided against it.

Now, the Huaxia team was in ruins—some dead, some fled.

It no longer existed in any meaningful way.

Leaving Bai Xue alone here would be the same as cruelly crushing the last spark of hope she had.

More importantly, Ye Lian admired the fact that Bai Xue hadn’t run when facing an enemy far stronger than she could handle.

But Ye Lian didn’t intend to offer her help for nothing.

People, after all, often fear power more than they feel gratitude.

When help comes too easily, it’s just as easily forgotten.

At that moment, Bai Xue hesitated.

The white knight had already saved her life—a debt she could never repay.

‘Would it be shameless to ask to go with her as well?’

But without Ye Lian’s help, she knew she wouldn’t survive.

She didn’t want to die.

If there was still a way to live, who would choose death?

“White Knight, I…”

After a brief hesitation, Bai Xue looked up at Ye Lian, her expression firm as she finally spoke.