Chapter Five: Undercutting the Foundation

“Her company is in Moon City of Illusion. They only accept women, not men. Those ladies must have hired you to scout the route. Brother, I have no grudge against you, so there’s no need to risk your life for a bit of money. Besides, my friends are about to arrive. I promise I won’t hurt you,” Maragobi said.

Wu Hua’s mind raced. Maragobi’s words weren’t without reason, but all previous signs indicated that Maragobi had reached the end of his rope. Even so, Wu Hua wasn’t completely confident he could finish him off.

But this was an opportunity—either seize it or lose his life. Wu Hua knew well that in the game, you shouldn’t risk your life for money or equipment. But then, who doesn’t fight with their life for money and equipment?

Those scenes where divine weapons drop everywhere and beauties are handed out freely—that’s not a game, that’s a daydream.

“Fifteen seconds left! He’s stalling!” Oath shouted. All her hopes now rested on Wu Hua.

Wu Hua snapped back to his senses. Maragobi truly had little defensive power left. If he could, he’d have dealt with Wu Hua directly instead of wasting words.

“Let’s do it,” Wu Hua muttered, raising his Mauser pistol and charging onto the stone bridge.

“You think a Mauser can take me down? I feel sorry for you, brother,” Maragobi sighed, swinging his energy staff. Two streams of magma surged up, forming an arch in midair. Wu Hua didn’t dodge—he wasn’t as quick-footed as Hot Girl anyway, so dodging was pointless.

“Face the power of magma,” Maragobi said with a grin.

Above Wu Hua’s head floated the numbers: “-726, -771, -90, -92.” Oath didn’t dare look at the bridge, only staring at her wristwatch and counting down, “13, 12, 11…”

Within the fiery magma stream, Maragobi didn’t get his wish of seeing a flash of white light. Instead, Wu Hua vanished.

“What happened? How is this possible?” Maragobi’s eyes widened. He was about to activate the magma again, but his energy staff paused in midair—his opponent had disappeared.

It was an uncanny event. The only sound in the entire cave was Oath’s voice: “7, 6, 5, 4, 3…”

Cold sweat broke out on Maragobi’s forehead. He was clever; it took only two seconds for him to realize. Wu Hua held a Mauser, which meant he was a pistol marksman. Pistols are medium-to-close range weapons, so marksmen must learn the “Mimic Stealth” skill, which lets their body blend perfectly with the environment. Unless you look closely, it’s hard to spot. The skill lasts only a few seconds, meant for escaping. But no one expected Wu Hua to use it for attacking.

By the time Maragobi realized this, Oath was already counting “1.” Wu Hua materialized right in front of him like magic. Maragobi’s pores tightened—he knew that his moment of hesitation had made him miss the best chance to instantly kill Wu Hua.

“Face the power of bullets,” Wu Hua smiled, red numbers still floating above his head.

Maragobi saw the muzzle almost pressed against his navel.

“You beast, you—”

He never finished saying it, because with a bang, the Mauser fired.

Just one shot—a flash of white light rose. Wu Hua gambled and won; Maragobi’s HP was less than 300. That shot dealt “-510” green damage—a single peanut-sized bullet ended his life, harvesting his last bit of HP in the final second.

With Maragobi’s death, his whole body exploded like a string of firecrackers, showering the ground with crystals, swords, and scrap metal. Wu Hua’s sharp eyes spotted two items glowing with a purple light among the loot and, using his last ounce of strength, lunged forward and grabbed them tightly.

Oath finally looked up, seeing that Wu Hua had defeated Maragobi. She was shocked and delighted, about to cheer—when she noticed Wu Hua himself turn into a flash of white light and disappear.

Oath was stunned, then quickly understood. Wu Hua was only level 13; he’d been nearly roasted by magma on the stone bridge, and his remaining HP couldn’t withstand the burning injuries, so of course he died.

What she didn’t know was that when Wu Hua fired the killing shot, he had only 65 HP left—barely enough to pull the trigger. Whether Maragobi died or not, Wu Hua had no chance of survival.

Experts thrive on skill, but at key moments, you have to gamble with your life.

――――――――――――――――――――

When Wu Hua woke up from the virtual game pod, he caught the aroma of tomato and scrambled eggs, his throat involuntarily swallowing a few times. He quickly opened the two halves of the pod, climbed out of bed, and headed to the kitchen.

A young man was focused on cooking—Wu Hua’s roommate, Ah Jie.

Ah Jie had moved in half a year ago. The two-bedroom apartment belonged to Wu Hua, who rented one room to Ah Jie for a symbolic eight hundred yuan a month, which was cheap for City C.

Perhaps Ah Jie felt guilty about the low rent, so every evening he’d cook something for Wu Hua.

Wu Hua couldn’t figure it out—Ah Jie was handsome enough to be called suave, looking like a refined white-collar worker, yet his hobby was cooking, and he was quite good at it.

“I’ve told you many times, with your looks, not becoming a pretty boy is a waste of resources,” Wu Hua said, grinning as he walked into the kitchen.

Ah Jie turned and smiled, “Hua, you’re awake? Dinner’s ready.”

Wu Hua sat down. On the table were crispy fried chicken strips, chilled cucumber salad, braised tofu, and fragrant chicken slices. Wu Hua didn’t hold back, grabbing his bowl and chopsticks and digging in.

“You played games all day again, didn’t you? I saw you passed out when I came home,” Ah Jie said, sitting and placing the tomato and eggs dish on the table.

“So, did you go out to see your beautiful girlfriend again?” Wu Hua said, wolfing down food but not forgetting to tease him, “Your love life is truly touching—your daily routine is going to the park. I’m impressed.”

Ah Jie’s smile broadened, “What, you jealous? Go find yourself a girlfriend. Want me to introduce you?”

“Please, don’t!” Wu Hua waved his hand frantically. “Last time you introduced that girl—I don’t even know how to describe it. You said she was gentle, virtuous, hardworking, had good features, and a sweet face. But when I met her, she was about one-sixty tall and weighed over one-fifty, heavier than me, round as a ball. And I ended up having to buy her dinner, spent over a hundred yuan.”

Ah Jie laughed even harder, “I didn’t lie—she had all those virtues. Your standards are just too high.”

“Forget it. I’m poor, and the joys of poverty are mine to enjoy. I’ll stick to my games; chasing girls costs too much,” Wu Hua muttered, head down, shoveling rice.

Ah Jie looked at him, eyes full of concern, “Hua, you should go find a job. Playing games every day isn’t serious business. How would you make money without working?”

Wu Hua put down his bowl and looked at him, “In the past six months, I’ve noticed you never seem to work either. Where does your money come from?”

Ah Jie said, “I…”

“Don’t say it,” Wu Hua waved his hand. “I know, your beautiful girlfriend is rich. I’ve always said, with your looks, not becoming a—”

“Cough, cough!” Ah Jie forced a cough. Wu Hua quickly changed his tone, “Brother Jie, I know you mean well. Don’t worry, the money will come. I used to be a professional gamer.”

As he said this, Wu Hua’s smile faded and his gaze grew deep, filled with longing for days gone by.