Chapter Eighteen: An Inch Gained Is an Inch Strengthened

“Hey, little sister, are you real?”
“Am I hallucinating from being hit? Am I seeing a ghost?”

Before Liang Yi’s vehicle even started, the man stood up and began walking toward her.

Quickly, he positioned himself in front of the tricycle, blocking her path, acting as if they were already familiar.

Liang Yi had no choice but to give up sneaking away quietly and looked at the man.

“I’m real!”

“Little sister, you have no idea, since I parted ways with those people this morning, I haven’t met a single soul.”

“If it weren’t for some gaming friends whose avatars are still glowing and who chat occasionally, I’d think everyone was dead.”

The man picked up his hoverboard, held it in one hand, approached Liang Yi, and greeted her with a cheerful smile.

“Hello, little sister.”

He looked approachable and posed no threat.

Liang Yi’s face remained expressionless, offering only a faint nod in reply: “Hello.”

The man then noticed a secondary loot box discarded nearby. His eyes sparkled as he leaned closer to Liang Yi and whispered.

“Little sister, what good stuff did you get from that loot box? Can you share some?”

“I’ve only encountered two primary loot boxes since entering the game these past two days.”

The man used a hoverboard, so his storage was a black leather backpack. Even if it were full, one couldn’t tell from the outside.

Everyone knew this was a survival game, so naturally, they all kept some things to themselves.

Liang Yi didn’t believe the man’s words for a second, so she just pointed at the ice sleeves on her arm to explain: “Just this.”

“Oh!” the man nodded casually.

Then his eyes caught the display screen on the tricycle showing full battery, and his tone became excited.

“Little sister, this ride is really good.”

“After running all this way, the battery’s still full.”

Liang Yi gripped the handle and brake tightly, realizing she’d been careless—she’d only thought about escaping and forgot others could see the battery level on the display.

“Yeah, just lucky.”

“Didn’t take long to get here,” she explained casually, then pretended to look up at the sky.

“It’s getting late. I plan to keep going for a while longer.”

“Maybe we’ll meet again.”

The man nodded, shook his hoverboard, and said, “Alright, you go ahead.”

“I’ll come find you once I fix my board.”

He was friendly, even waving to Liang Yi with a smile.

Liang Yi twisted the throttle and started moving forward, but kept her eyes on the rearview mirror, watching his every move.

The man watched the slow-moving tricycle, curled his lips into a smirk, then quickly took a couple of steps forward holding his hoverboard high.

“Die.”

With those words, he threw the hoverboard at her.

Liang Yi had sensed something was off about him and stayed highly alert.

When she caught his action in the rearview mirror, she quickly turned the steering wheel sharply, narrowly dodging the attack.

After a violent swerve, the tricycle finally came to a stop.

But before Liang Yi could breathe easy, the man appeared beside the vehicle with astonishing speed, now wielding a more than one-meter-long Tang Dao sword.

His movements were lightning-fast. Without hesitation, he raised the sword and thrust it straight toward Liang Yi.

She knew his goal was to seize her tricycle and wouldn’t deliberately harm the vehicle.

At the moment the sword was about to strike, Liang Yi reacted swiftly: she yanked out the key, somersaulted on the spot, leaving the tricycle behind.

[Damn!]

[Game assistant, you’re really terrible at balancing this game!]

[He’s got a Tang Dao, and all I have is a fruit knife.]

Though small, having a weapon was better than fighting barehanded.

Liang Yi stood up as fast as she ever had, leaning against a large tree, gasping for breath, her gaze fierce as she stared at the man.

She also reassessed her stamina.

Thinking to herself, since she only needed to cover two hundred kilometers in five days, she could make good use of this time to train more.

[Liang Yi player, we’re making a game, not a perfectly balanced scale. It’s impossible to make it completely even.]

The game assistant showed no concern for her predicament, merely defending the game blindly.

Liang Yi had no time to listen to the assistant’s nonsense. She summoned all her strength to dodge the man’s next strike.

The Tang Dao was razor-sharp, and with full force, it plunged deep into the tree trunk.

Seeing this, the man gritted his teeth and exerted all his might trying to pull the sword free.

Liang Yi calmed slightly upon seeing this.

She took a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and seized the moment when the man was weaponless. Without hesitation, she gripped her fruit knife and strode forward, ready to subdue him in a single move.

Unexpectedly, the man was quick. Just as she was about to strike, he twisted his body and dodged her attack easily.

Though she didn’t land a fatal blow, her knife left a shallow cut on his arm, blood seeping out immediately.

At the same moment, the man pulled the Tang Dao free.

A cold smile crept across his lips. He tilted his head to inspect his wounded shoulder, then spat on the ground fiercely, his eyes burning with a hunger to devour Liang Yi alive.

“Little sister, I suggest you surrender now. Leave the tricycle and the key here, and I might spare your life.”

“Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

Liang Yi’s hands trembled with fear, but her face remained impassive—she knew she couldn’t show weakness now.

Once she did, she’d be at a disadvantage.

“Hmph!”

“The game said from the start that vehicles are the most important thing. Those without rides last night all died horribly, didn’t they?”

“If you take my vehicle now, my life’s just as good as gone.”

“Let’s fight, no need for all this nonsense.”

The man put on a friendly expression and boldly said, “It’s been over three hours since seven o’clock.”

“You might as well live a few hours longer.”

“Pah!”

Liang Yi had no patience for his talk and picked up a stone, throwing it at him.

No choice—her fruit knife was no match for him.

The man easily dodged the stone and advanced toward Liang Yi.

She had to fight while retreating, scanning the surroundings carefully and memorizing every detail to come back after dealing with him.

[Liang Yi player, don’t worry. As long as your vehicle hasn’t changed hands, you can return to it no matter how far you run.]

Reassured by the game assistant’s words, Liang Yi felt confident enough to move around freely.