Chapter 74: I’ll let you go meet Yawei!

Michael’s heart clenched, his face contorting wildly as he suddenly turned his head sharply.

There, not far away, stood a tall, middle-aged man with gray hair, dressed as a priest, who smiled kindly at him.

“Who are you!?” Michael straightened his body, his nerves stretched to the breaking point.

Just moments ago, there had been no one else around, yet this priest-like middle-aged man had appeared here like a ghost.

This was definitely not simple!

Focusing his gaze, Michael noticed that the man had no name displayed above his head.

(NPC? Or an enemy?)

He couldn’t tell.

But considering this was the final stage of the closed beta, the chance of him being an enemy was almost one hundred percent!

(…I only have a low-tier unequipped sword on me. Can I really beat him? Damn it! If I had known, I wouldn’t have come to this cursed place!)

Michael dared not act rashly.

Nor did he dare call for help.

First, his pride wouldn’t allow it.

Second, the Plaza was quite a distance away.

If the man was strong, by the time anyone came to rescue him, he’d be done for.

Besides, it wasn’t even certain that anyone would come!

Just thinking about it made him angry.

‘Wasn’t it just a reckless fight that got him killed instead?’

And yet they abandoned him just like that.

These people were truly heartless and ungrateful!

“I’m here as a messenger to save you.”

At this moment, the middle-aged man pressed one hand to his chest and spoke.

His voice was full of sincerity.

“I don’t believe you!” Michael quickly opened his inventory panel, took out a low-tier sword, and equipped it.

“Poor lost lamb, if you act like this, Yahweh will not save you.”

The man spoke with pity.

“Enough nonsense! I’m sending you to see Yahweh right now!”

Michael shouted, throwing his sword at the middle-aged man with all his strength.

Then he turned and ran.

Running desperately!

“Help!!!” Compared to his life, pride didn’t matter at all.

Michael gave his all to call for help!

However, not long after running, something wet and slippery wrapped around his foot, and he fell flat on his face.

Grimacing in pain, he looked back and saw his foot tightly bound by a gray-black Octopus Tentacle.

His heart clenched again, his face turning pale.

This was obviously a monster’s tentacle!

His gaze shifted, and sure enough, a grotesque creature’s head cracked open from the mouth, shooting out more than a dozen tentacles.

Below the head was still the middle-aged man’s body, creating an eerie sight.

The writhing tentacles—one was wrapping tighter and tighter around Michael’s thigh.

He immediately regretted having thrown his sword earlier.

He had thought it would buy him time to escape.

Who would have thought he had thrown away his chance to save himself?

“You’re truly ungrateful, aren’t you?” a strange voice whispered into his ear.

Though incomprehensible, Michael somehow understood what it meant.

There was no time to exchange words; the terror of death loomed over him.

If he didn’t find a way to break free, death was inevitable!

At this moment, Michael felt utterly helpless.

Suddenly, the creature’s tentacles tugged hard, dragging him swiftly closer.

“Stop, stop! Help!”

At this point, Michael had no choice but to scream for help with all his might.

Unfortunately, as he knew, the Plaza was too far away.

Even if others heard his cries, they wouldn’t arrive in time.

He had hoped for a moment of peace, but it seemed he was about to find eternal “peace.”

“Since you refuse to become a companion, then become a sacrifice.”

With that, the creature’s cracked-open head revealed a massive mouth filled with countless sharp teeth.

“Ahhh!” The tentacles lifted him off the ground, a stench of rot filling the air as Michael screamed in terror.

But the scream abruptly stopped.

His head was pierced by an unimaginable number of fangs.

His body twitched a few times before going completely still.

***

A moment earlier at the Plaza, the players’ faces were gloomy one by one.

The atmosphere was thick with despair.

Though Ye Lian hadn’t killed them, she had inflicted some wounds.

This would only harm their chances for the final mission ahead.

Without any support items, it was questionable whether they could last till the end.

Some players regretted their choices.

They should have just been less greedy and exchanged resources with the shopkeeper for potions.

At least that way, they would have had a better chance of survival.

Sitou Jiange sat dejectedly on the steps.

His situation was somewhat better than Michael’s.

His teammates hadn’t abandoned him after failure.

However, the trust was definitely not the same as before.

(I must find a way to survive!)

Just as Sitou Jiange tried to rally his spirits, a faint cry for help came from afar.

“Help!”

“Michael?” Someone thought the voice sounded familiar, confused.

“It’s him!”

“Could he be in danger?”

“Let’s go save him,” someone suggested.

“No way, who knows what kind of danger he’s in.

If it’s serious trouble, going there would be like walking to your death!”

“Exactly!”

“We can’t take that risk!”

“Isn’t he your former squad leader or something?” Sitou Jiange couldn’t stand it anymore.

“You’re right, he is the former squad leader,” someone said slowly and deliberately.

“Exactly.”

“He almost got us wiped out recently, and now he wants to drag us down with him? Who’s that stupid?”

“That guy’s a Scapegoat!”

“No way, no way. If you want to go, you go!”

“Damn it, let’s go save him! Time is running out!” Sitou Jiange said angrily.

But neither the Chinese players nor the others moved.

Sitou Jiange took a few steps, then turned back, snapping, “Saving someone is like putting out a fire—what are you just standing there for!?”

“That guy has nothing to do with us. Why should we save him?”

“Exactly.”

“The Alliance Nation players don’t care, why should we?”

“If you want to be a hero, go alone.”

“With the time you have, you’d be better off planning strategy.

If some monster appears, we’ll still have to fight.”

They all spoke in turn, showing coldness and indifference.

“You guys!” Sitou Jiange stomped angrily, frustrated by their lack of effort.

He stood still, refusing to head toward the alley.

‘What kind of joke was this? Sending him alone? That was basically a death sentence.’

Sitou Jiange wasn’t that foolish.

Besides, he didn’t have a deep bond with Michael.

Why risk himself for someone else?

There was absolutely no need.

The scene fell silent.

Moments later, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

Then silence returned.

Even now, no one moved.

They stood anxiously and tensely, like statues made of cement.

***

Elsewhere, Ye Lian and the others had finished investigating the Watchtower and retrieved Who’s Chicken’s corpse.

Only then did Xingyue realize that the collar around Who’s Chicken’s neck was actually a piece of equipment, crudely turned into a necklace by brute force!