Chapter 81: Chapter 81

Her eyes turned red, like they were being controlled.

Red as blood, her pupils glowed while the red handkerchief floated like a strand of silk in her hair.

Suddenly, a strange smile curled on her lips as she snarled wildly at Lin Jing:

“Really gotta thank you…”

“Mind control? Hahaha!”

Laughing maniacally, her body shot into motion, flashing across the massive arena, leaving behind blurred afterimages!

Those afterimages darted so fast they dazzled the eye!

Only that streak of red atop her head stayed sharp and vivid, slashing through the air like blood!

The audience was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

“Her change in behavior totally reminds me of Long Kui from Chinese Paladin!”

“When she had her eyes covered, she was the cold, indifferent Blue Long Kui. Now that her eyes are red—she's the bloodthirsty Red Long Kui!”

“I’m getting the feeling Blue Long Kui didn’t want to face Lin Jing’s creepy eyeball—not because she was afraid of losing to it, but because she didn’t want Red Long Kui to take over!”

“But actually, this Red Long Kui version is her stronger form! So Lin Jing’s move backfired, huh?! Tried to get clever with his eerie ability and just woke up her final form!”

“So can Lin Jing still win this round? Is he about to get crushed and take an L here?!”

Jiang Ye watched nervously, terrified the prize pool he was eyeing might vanish.

While all the spectators were glued to the match,

far away in the Doomsday Apartment shrouded by the Dead Sea Mist,

on the 119th floor, a system announcement suddenly rang out:

【Player Sang Hu has completed a “Eye That Sees Heroes” wager!】

A single, simple announcement.

Yet it instantly caused an uproar among the players on the 119th floor!

“No way? Another big shot placing an early bet on Rookie King?!”

“Who’d they bet on this time? That Number 666 guy again? The one people think might’ve broken the limiter?”

“Definitely not 666! According to Duoe’s rules, a rookie only triggers the 【Eye That Sees Heroes】 message the first time someone bets on them as Rookie King!”

“If that same rookie gets bet on again later, the system just says a player placed a 【Rookie King】 wager, no more ‘Eye That Sees Heroes’ stuff.”

“So since the message used ‘Eye That Sees Heroes’, that means it’s someone’s first time being wagered on!”

“Which means it definitely isn’t Number 666!”

“Okay, okay! But then—who did Sang Hu bet on this time? Which rookie caught a big shot’s attention?”

Most players didn’t know and kept discussing and asking around.

Until a wave of chatter broke out near the row of Duel Machines on the north end of the 119th floor.

As that chatter spread, the spectators hanging around finally caught a whispered answer—

“Word is, Sang Hu placed his bet on a 【Midnight Ring】 survivor!”

That news caused even more chaos across the 119th floor!

This wave of debate hit harder than when Jiang Ye was wagered on by a big shot or even when he one-shotted Wu Ying!

All because of one word in that sentence—

“No way?! A Midnight Ring in a Beginner Apartment? And someone actually survived it?! That’s even scarier than the Midnight Ring itself!”

“That’s what I’m saying! Beginner Apartments have never triggered a Midnight Ring before! Could this be some player messing with us?”

“It’s literally just the first day! If a Midnight Ring did get triggered, it had to be during that first midnight!”

“But c’mon, that’s when newbies were just teleported in! How would it even trigger then? It doesn’t add up!”

“Something’s definitely off. This has to be fake news! Total rumor!”

Still, controversy breeds interest, breeds attention.

Most players didn’t believe it.

But a few were determined to dig out the truth.

They quickly crowded around the row of Duel Machines on the north side to figure it out.

A veteran from the Duoe Organization had been spectating a 【Quick Battle】 match.

The one who initiated the Quick Battle was the top player on the War God Ranking in Area A985.

And their opponent had claimed, on the battlefield, that they had survived a 【Midnight Ring】.

As players pieced that together, the debates started again:

“What? How could a newbie have a Quick Battle Card during the early game?”

“Why not? That Number 666 guy used a Golden-Tier Duel Machine too, didn’t he?”

“Probably some rookie cozying up to a Reincarnation Eerie and lucked into a Golden Duel Machine.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s a Golden-Tier Duel Machine! You don’t just ‘luck into’ one of those. That Reincarnation Eerie is definitely planning something!”

“This is 100% setup! I’m telling you, this round’s Beginner Apartment is gonna be wild!”

“No kidding! It’s only day one, and we already have two big shots dropping 【Eye That Sees Heroes】 wagers!”

As soon as that was said—

Another announcement hit the 119th floor:

【Player Chixu has completed a “Eye That Sees Heroes” wager!】

“Holy sht!! Another Eye That Sees Heroes wager?!”

“It’s only day one, and we’ve already got three bets placed! Three different rookies caught the eye of three different big shots!”

“Wait… Chixu? Isn’t he enemies with Sang Hu? Don’t tell me…”

“Holy f**. Did he bet on the one fighting the Midnight Ring survivor? The one in the Quick Battle match?”

“No way, right? Just to mess with his rival, he made a spite bet? Personally, I think the Midnight Ring survivor clearly has more Rookie King potential!”

“I mean, just surviving the Midnight Ring during the newbie phase—that’s some god-tier luck right there!”

Most veteran players were placing their hopes on the Midnight Ring survivor.

They figured if Chixu really did bet on the survivor’s opponent, he was just trying to go head-to-head with Sang Hu out of spite.

Because seriously—Midnight Ring!

That’s the one nightmare even veteran Doomsday Apartment players try to avoid!

Even though the Midnight Ring event offers massive Survival Point rewards,

the death rate is just way too high!

And worse, surviving it is mostly a matter of luck.

Even the strongest big shots have been wiped out in the Midnight Ring.

And for a newbie to not only experience it on day one but also survive…

But that luck? Off the freakin' charts.

And odds are, the rewards from a Midnight Ring run are no joke either.

Might just be this round’s true Rookie King.

So even though all three big shots placed their 【Eye That Sees Heroes】 wagers on day one,

in the eyes of the veteran spectators, the wisest among them was clearly Sang Hu.

As for Chixu betting on Lin Jing, that was just plain reckless!

And the one who first wagered on Jiang Ye, Yu Yuemei... Updates are released by novel{f}ire.net

Who the hell knows what was going through her head. Maybe she was just betting on luck?

Just as more and more veteran players began paying close attention to the duel between Lin Jing and the Red Handkerchief Woman, and nearly everyone was leaning toward the Midnight Ring survivor...

Lin Jing smacked them all in the face!

At first, the Red Handkerchief Woman kept flashing around the massive arena.

Everyone assumed she was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

And as her speed kept increasing,

some sharp-eyed spectators in the audience noticed—

Wherever she moved, she left behind tiny red dots, barely visible to the naked eye!

They looked like some sort of marking.

As spectators, they had a full battlefield view and could even zoom in on areas—

that’s the only reason they spotted those little red dots.

Meanwhile, Lin Jing, looking tense in the arena, didn’t seem to notice a thing!

Until suddenly, when the Red Handkerchief Woman looked like she’d finally gotten tired of running, she stopped, her lips curling into another eerie smile...

Then, with a sound like whoosh,

all the floating red dots suddenly erupted in a strange red glow!

The glow connected dot to dot—forming lines of red light!

Those weird red lines looked exactly like the laser traps you’d see in sci-fi movies.

They surrounded Lin Jing completely, leaving no room to escape!

A lot of Lin Jing’s supporters were holding their breath in horror!

And then, the red lines crisscrossing the entire arena began shifting and moving!

Line after line converged and attacked Lin Jing!

The spectators’ hearts jumped to their throats—“What happens if he gets touched by those red lines?!”

Wan Xin was tense too, but calmly said, “The red lines aren’t moving fast. With Lin God’s reflexes, dodging them won’t be hard.”

“It’s just that he’s way too passive in this setup!”

Jiang Ye was just as nervous—

No way... Lin Jing might actually lose this one?!

Just then, the red lines suddenly shifted to even trickier angles!

In a blink, several lines pierced straight through Lin Jing’s body!

Watching from outside the red line field, the Red Handkerchief Woman once again wore that twisted smile.

But a moment later, the smile froze on her face.

Because even after being pierced by the red lines—Lin Jing was perfectly fine!

In the spectator zone, most new players couldn’t figure out why. They just assumed Lin Jing was incredibly strong, with some kind of powerful ability.

But on the 119th floor of the Doomsday Apartment, the veteran players were in awe:

“This Lin Jing! He’s not an Eerie Player—he’s human!”

“The Eyeball he showed before has mind control abilities, and the Mouth has devouring power! That means his Fleshweaving is already at Tier 2, and it’s strong!”

“With that level of ability, I thought for sure he’d already turned into an Eerie Player! But no—he’s still a human player!”

“For a human to reach this level on day one… damn! He’s got Rookie King potential for sure!”

“So now it looks like Chixu wasn’t making a dumb bet after all! Lin Jing really might have what it takes!”

“This round’s human side is looking good—Lin Jing, the Red Handkerchief Woman…”

“And that 666 guy from earlier—he clearly doesn’t have any Glyph Ability, definitely part of the human faction.”

“Lin Jing and 666 aside, I don’t think the Red Handkerchief Woman is necessarily human!”

“Her primary form is human, sure—but she’s unstable. Looks like she could fully become an Eerie Player at any moment!”

“Honestly, she’s just unlucky—if Lin Jing was an Eerie, she’d have won for sure! Maybe even used the fight to complete her transformation!”

“Too bad she hit a rare-case scenario—Lin Jing turned out to be human!”

“With a human player this strong, that Red Handkerchief Woman…”

While the veteran players were still caught in amazement,

they saw the Red Handkerchief Woman’s frozen smile twist into something crazed.

The red lines in the arena started sweeping around like they’d gone berserk.

Lin Jing was a bit surprised too.

He hadn’t used any defense at all.

In fact, when the red lines pierced him, he thought the match was over.

He never expected the whole red line trap she carefully set would be completely useless against him!

He didn’t understand why it didn’t work, but that didn’t stop him from seizing the chance—he suddenly leapt into the air!

His black combat jacket, embroidered with the words “War God,” flared in the wind as he dove down from above!

A sword light, sharp and brimming with righteous energy, slashed down from midair!

At that moment, Jiang Ye was stunned.

He had seen Lin Jing use a dagger before, so he assumed Lin Jing’s ability was item-based mastery.

But now Lin Jing was using a sword!

And the sword aura he gave off was way stronger than when he used the blade!

This guy’s real ability must be sword mastery.

And maybe—maybe it’s even more than just “mastery”!

As that sword slashed down, the red lines running wild in the arena suddenly froze!

Moments later, the glow faded and vanished!

But just as that happened, the Red Handkerchief Woman suddenly smiled again.

Lin Jing’s expression instantly turned cautious.

The spectators all thought this freaky woman was about to pull some new trick.

But instead, she suddenly raised her right hand.

The red handkerchief tied in her hair suddenly flew down and wrapped around her wrist.

At that moment, a sharp-eyed spectator cried out:

“Wait! Her eyes—her eyes turned back to normal!”

With that exclamation, the Red Handkerchief Woman waved at Lin Jing and smiled meaningfully:

And with that, her figure vanished.

At the same time, the system’s victory announcement echoed above the arena—Lin Jing wins.

The audience didn’t really understand what happened,

but one thing was clear—

The woman seemed to have surrendered voluntarily?

On the 119th floor of the Doomsday Apartment, the veteran players saw it more clearly:

“She must’ve been struggling—with whether or not to complete her transformation into an Eerie.”

“Maybe after watching Lin Jing, she thought—humans can be strong too?”

“But Lin Jing’s case is a total outlier!”

“She could’ve secured Rookie King status if she just went full Eerie.”

“But if she keeps fighting it and suppressing her second form, no matter how lucky she is, she might end up fading into mediocrity.”

“Then again… who knows? If her luck holds out, maybe she really can become a powerful human player?”

“Either way, Lin Jing and the Red Handkerchief Woman both have strong Rookie King potential. Sang Hu and Chixu really earned the right to be called 【Eyes That See Heroes】.”

“Ha! Both their picks might win Rookie King—that rivalry’s about to heat up!”

“Meanwhile, what’s 666 up to? Hasn’t started his 11-win streak yet? Maybe he’s off watching someone else’s Quick Battle?”