Xie Antong raised a finger and slightly lifted her head, as if pondering something.
She seemed to enjoy thinking — the process of turning her brain seemed to bring her a sense of pleasure.
But on the surface, Chiyo Eine remained calm. In reality, she trembled all over, with a storm raging inside her!
She calmly said,
“If I’m not a player, could I have used the ability I just showed? And you know who I am — No.3, Chiyo Eine, the real deal.”
“Also, like I said, if you don’t leave now, I really will use my killer move on you.”
Xie Antong pointed speechlessly toward “Sin” who was fighting Fire Boy, and said,
“If you really had a killer move, why not use it on him? Why me?”
Chiyo Eine frowned. Though the words were simple, she sensed something off.
“Don’t interrupt me. Let me think.”
Xie Antong waved her hand and resumed her thinking, frantically twisting the strands of hair near her ear.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant that you are a player, but in this game — you’re not a player!”
“You should understand what I mean, right? You’re changing the subject? Hmm... why would you want to change the subject?”
Chiyo Eine looked at the woman in front of her. She seemed to have several holes in her logic — but Chiyo didn’t act recklessly. It must be a trap! she thought.
“When you think about it this way, it all makes sense…” Xie Antong’s gaze went blank, muttering to herself.
Why could Chiyo Eine see through her disguise?
If it were a skill, then the disguise would be meaningless — because this was the game's starting disguise, and she had already seen it in the game with “Sin”. The game's rules override all other rules.
As long as the game wants it, no outsider should be able to see through this disguise.
Which means, this must be something the game allows — or, this woman in front of her just can see through it!
Why was she so worried about mind-reading?
That proved she definitely had something to hide — and in this situation, the most likely reason was a different game-related mission.
After all, even if she were cheating or having an affair outside, it wouldn’t matter if a stranger like Xie Antong found out.
“Are you a Hunter?”
“No... no, your reaction just now confirms it — I guessed right. You really might not be a player in this game...”
“You’re not a player, yet you’re here, and you attacked without saying a word...”
“So what if I’m not a player?” Chiyo Eine cut in, actually admitting it, face cold.
“You outsiders come to my country, wreaking havoc — shouldn’t I step in to stop you and protect my people?”
“I’m No.3. Of course I should bear some responsibility.”
Chiyo Eine spoke with righteousness, full of moral authority — but sweat was already forming on her forehead. Even as she spoke, she kept repeating “takoyaki” in her mind...
“I really don’t have mind-reading skills. I’m just analyzing,” Xie Antong glanced at her, still muttering to herself.
“Changing the subject again. Talking about protecting the people, some grand national righteousness.”
“Don’t you think your flaws are laughable?”
“As a player, you first have to choose whether to enter the game in order to know what’s going to happen — not the other way around, where you already know Tokyo will be destroyed, so you just don’t enter the game.”
“No.3, after so many Perfect Completions, how could you just decide not to join the game?”
“Are you joking?”
Cold sweat poured down Chiyo Eine’s back. She stiffened her neck and said,
“I... well, Tokyo was on the candidate list, so I thought I had... a responsibility...”
“Besides, I’ve already gained good powers and status. There’s no need to risk going back into the game.”
Xie Antong gave her a speechless glance. Chiyo Eine didn’t know why, but she felt like she was being looked at like an idiot.
She didn’t even refute her — as if the excuse was so lame it wasn’t worth the effort.
“Tough talk. But judging by your reaction, I probably guessed it all correctly.”
“Tsk, even if I did guess right, doesn’t seem like it’s any use...”
Xie Antong scratched her head in frustration, wondering if she should inject herself again.
“You’re not a player in this game...”
“And you had a reason not to join the game right from the start...”
“Sin couldn’t be that dumb. He must know the reason he gave doesn’t hold water — he has some other motive...”
“So the true purpose of the game is...”
Xie Antong seemed to have entered her own world, muttering nonstop to herself, completely unguarded, like a fragile flower in a storm.
Earlier, Chiyo Eine was too cautious — so the storm hadn’t come. But now, the storm was here.
Creak, creak!
Suddenly, Xie Antong felt a sharp pain in her legs. She looked down and saw that her legs were tightly wrapped in dark blue vines.
And they hurt! The vines kept tightening.
Looking around, she saw that within visible range, the entire plaza had been completely covered by Black Water. It was terrifying!
Then she looked up — and saw the culprit, Chiyo Eine. Her eyes had turned blood red and were now literally bleeding!
“I can’t... can’t let you live!”
The next second, a monstrous wave surged through the entire plaza, crashing toward Xie Antong like it wanted to crush her.
Xie Antong: !!!
Crap! She’s freaking out!
The problem is — her own combat strength is kinda average. She got distracted just now, busy solving the mystery and thinking. She forgot this woman in front of her... is ranked third in the world!
Uh-oh? Game over.
But in the next instant, another shadow appeared — a massive figure came crashing down over Chiyo Eine’s head!
Chiyo Eine staggered to the side, staring in shock at the Fire Man. She realized he came with enormous force — slamming her and sending her flying!
In an instant, the Black Water formation on the plaza dispersed.
“Hey now, the game just started. Why are we already playing for keeps~?”
A careless, devil-may-care voice rang out, surveying everyone on the field.
Chiyo Eine struggled to get up. A tentacle moved her aside, and she looked at the person lying on the ground — “Sun” — who couldn’t even get up for the moment.
He was thrown over here?!
Wasn’t he fighting Sin to a draw just now?