Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Game Puzzle Dissection, the Black Knight’s Test

Hunter kill?!

Staring at the message on her Game Panel, Xie Antong was stunned for a long time.

This was the first time since the game started that a [Hunter Kill] announcement had appeared!

Which meant the explanation “Sin” gave about the game earlier was clearly flawed.

But the problem was, the number of Players was already beginning to drop sharply. This game, Tokyo Battle Royale, seemed to carry some sort of violent trigger.

Ever since “Sin” lit the spark, there was no need for any additional steps—Players had already started hunting each other down!

They were all seasoned Players—nobody wanted to fall behind. Rather than be hunted, they chose to strike first.

This was a Hell Mode Game, bloody by nature.

“You… what exactly are you doing…” Xie Antong suddenly felt a headache coming on.

She had this constant feeling that the entire city of Tokyo was growing more frenzied, and above the Tokyo night sky, it was as if a Blue Mask was watching over them all with a malicious grin.

“Hey hey hey, babe, didn’t you say to head somewhere with fewer people? You bailed?”

At that moment, the Black Knight’s voice yanked her back to reality, helping her steady herself a bit.

“It’s nothing. I’ll get off here, I need to handle something.”

Xie Antong climbed out of the car. She didn’t do anything first—just downed a bottle of Healing Potion.

She felt like she was burning herself out. Along the way, she’d already been trying to replicate and split the All-Seeing Eye.

In theory, the All-Seeing Eye could be copied infinitely. If she succeeded, she could monitor the entire world.

But clearly, she couldn’t.

Each eye was a single perspective—one stream of video data the brain needed to process.

Normally, people see the world in front of them and feel it’s natural—never realizing that it’s the brain doing the processing. That’s just because we’re used to it.

But if you had to process a hundred video streams at once? That wasn’t something a normal person could handle.

Over seventy metallic eyeballs buzzed in the air. Xie Antong kept her eyes shut tight, lips pale.

The next second, the faintest of whooshes echoed in the air—all the eyes launched at once, flying off to locate their targets.

Xie Antong’s body swayed. While her brain power wasn’t being fully taxed yet, she rushed to analyze the current situation.

“Tsk~ Your body doesn’t look like it’s holding up too well. My big bro broke a leg and he’s still jumping around. You look like you’re about to die.”

The Black Knight commented snidely.

“I’m not like that guy.” Xie Antong smiled wryly. “You spent a few hours with him—did he ever mention the goal of the game?”

“Him? Nah, we had a blast.” The Black Knight wiggled the front of his bike. “Just racing all over the city, picking fights, spreading chaos.”

“If anything, he’d just blurt out now and then, ‘Seems like things are getting more fun.’”

“Yeah, he’s right. I always thought this was fun.”

Xie Antong shook her head in mild exasperation and said:

“The Hunter has already shown up. If we want to get this game back on track, we have to figure it out fast.”

“Chiyo Eine—world number three—but she didn’t join this game.”

“She’s the type whose rank comes from raw strength, not gear. She wouldn’t sit out unless there was an agreement before the game started.”

“But she… could the Hunter be one of these hidden Players? Doesn’t quite feel right.”

“Anyway, the Hunter definitely has their own identity. It’s not just Players killing each other!”

“There’s a lot this game hasn’t made clear. That crash earlier, and the one you guys had earlier, there’s no way that was just coincidence.”

“The drivers who guided us at the start—no way they were innocent. They might be regular people, but they’re connected to the game. And I’m sure they’re not on the Players’ side.”

As she spoke, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in her mind’s Game Interface.

The same voice echoed in every surviving Player’s head.

[Attention all Players—all “Prey.”]

[The Hunter has appeared, and Player [Blank] has begun unraveling the hidden puzzle from the beginning of the game.]

[“Hunter Puzzle—Who is the Hunter.”]

[Completion: 30%.]

Elsewhere in the city, Lu Ce was dragging a Player who’d already lost the ability to resist when the message echoed in his mind.

“Tch.” He sniffed, then looked toward a certain part of the city.

“Didn’t I say it already? The game just started. Why are you in such a rush……”

At the plaza, where Chiyo Eine was helping the police with cleanup, her whole body suddenly trembled.

Blank……

Crap, crap, total disaster!

She must’ve been mind-read earlier—what now? This was supposed to be a guaranteed win……

“Miss, are you okay?” a police officer nearby snapped her out of it.

“Ah, nothing, nothing…”

Right now, the name [Blank] walked straight into the spotlight, catching the eye of every Player for the first time.

......

“Uh, hey babe,” the Black Knight swayed a bit, clearly confused.

“When you’re thinking stuff, you don’t actually have to say it out loud, you know. You’re making me feel all awkward here.”

“No, I want you to tell your master,” Xie Antong replied. “Call it paying him back for having you save me.”

“Hey, now that’s a bit harsh,” the Black Knight protested immediately. “What’s that got to do with him? I was the one who saved you.”

“Honestly, I’ve been annoyed with that guy for a while. Always riding me, never letting me ride him.”

Xie Antong: ?

“Actually, my memory’s kinda bad. Didn’t catch much of what you said just now, not sure what’s important. Maybe I won’t tell him after all.”

Xie Antong stared at him, suddenly taking a cautious step back.

This guy in front of her… wasn’t AI?

This game could even produce robots that disobeyed their master’s commands?

“Hey, you know…”

The Black Knight was cut off as Xie Antong said:

“Go do your job. Tell him whatever you can.”

“I don’t know what issues you two have, but solving this game’s puzzle isn’t a one-man job—it affects the whole game and every Player in it.”

“Just pass it along. I think this game has some conspiracy behind it. He’s overlooking something.”

“Alright, got it.” the Black Knight said.

If he had facial expressions, Xie Antong might’ve noticed that after saying all that, the Black Knight looked just a little… pleased.