Before Chen Kong could finish voicing his confusion into the static-filled communicator, a Putrid Vine Corpse caught up to him from behind and slammed a fist down.
In a flash of lightning speed, a silver-white rapier suddenly appeared in Chen Kong's left hand, and he swung it out.
Pfft!
The rapier instantly severed the Putrid Vine Corpse's right arm, but Chen Kong had no mind to check the result.
Because he knew that a mere severed arm wouldn't be enough to deal with these troublesome creatures.
Their weaknesses had always been only the head and the 'Vine Core' in their chests.
Without the slightest intention of staying to fight, Chen Kong endured the dizziness in his head, running into the distance while speaking his final questions into the communicator.
"...And what is this fog on the island? In just a few turns, everyone disappeared one after another."
Hearing these words, the dimensional viewers on Site 13 finally understood what Chen Kong and the others had encountered during their subsequent escape.
It was clear that shortly after Tendo told them to leave first, everyone's communication and vision were disrupted by the special gray mist of the Isle of Longevity, causing them to scatter.
And Chen Kong, due to the toxin in his body, was sluggish in his movements and suffered a reduction in strength.
This caused him, once isolated, to be unable to shake off the 'pursuit' of the Putrid Vine Corpses behind him, leading to the current 'predicament.'
It must be said, Chen Kong, this protagonist of the Star, was truly miserable.
No matter which season, he was either being beaten or on the way to being beaten.
Just as Chen Kong took two steps, the increased toxicity in his body caused him to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.
Although Chen Kong reacted quickly and immediately stabilized himself.
The momentary flaw, however, allowed the Putrid Vine Corpse behind him to seize the opportunity. Its thick right arm, with a whistling sound of wind, savagely smashed towards Chen Kong.
Though Chen Kong wanted to dodge, the sluggish movement caused by the toxin meant that even though he twisted his body, the fist landed squarely on his back.
"Puh!"
He spat out a mouthful of bloody mist, his body flying out like a kite with a broken string, smashing heavily onto the beach.
The intense pain made Chen Kong instinctively curl up. At the same time, this series of movements caused the thorny vines on his arm to dig a few more millimeters deeper.
With a strong feeling of unwillingness and despair, Chen Kong slowly raised his head.
In his blurred vision, a Putrid Vine Corpse slowly stopped in front of him, raising its fist high.
The vine armor on the Putrid Vine Corpse shimmered with an inexplicable cold light, and its terrifyingly grotesque face was filled with a thirst for blood and greed for its prey.
At the same time, the other Putrid Vine Corpses were also slowly converging toward his location.
Just then, a sound like a 'slot machine' spinning suddenly lit up from the jungle next to the south shore.
"Jackpot!"
Before falling unconscious, Chen Kong felt a familiar, yet annoying voice near his ear.
Subsequently, a figure dashed out of the jungle and arrived in front of him.
After a short while, Chen Kong completely lost consciousness.
His memory lingered on the retreating figure wearing a headset and dressed in arcade clothes.
[Late Night, Isle of Longevity, an unknown cave]
"Ugh..."
"Awake?"
Looking at Chen Kong, who was clutching his head and slowly waking up.
Mi Yao, sitting by the campfire, leisurely took an unidentified roasted beast leg off the fire and handed it to Chen Kong.
Chen Kong looked at Mi Yao in surprise, then at the beast leg, his eyes filled with confusion.
Mi Yao seemed to guess what he wanted to say and preemptively spoke: "Don't look at me, I'm not some ghost, but a living person."
"Seriously, even a rookie like you didn't die, so how could a once-in-a-century master like me possibly die so easily at the initial landing point?"
"Moreover, if I didn't have some miraculous way to save my life, how would I clear 'Reality,' this large-scale single-player game with virtually no room for error, in the future?"
Hearing Mi Yao's characteristic complaining, Chen Kong finally snapped back to reality.
He lowered his head and looked at his arm, finding that the arm, which had remnants of poison thorns, was now wrapped in bandages.
Since there was no one else here besides him and Mi Yao, the only person who could have bandaged his wound was Mi Yao.
After briefly sorting out his thoughts, Chen Kong looked up at Mi Yao and asked in a dry voice, "Where are the others?"
"Don't know."
Mi Yao said impatiently, then placed the roasted beast leg in his hand on the banana leaf in front of Chen Kong and sat back in his spot.
But perhaps sensing the peculiar situation, he felt it inappropriate to keep putting on airs with Chen Kong, so Mi Yao added: "I only encountered you on my way. I haven't seen anyone else."
"..."
Chen Kong was silent for a moment, understanding that Mi Yao had no need, nor would he, lie.
Although they were competitors back at the Heavenly Martial Training Base, on this strange Isle of Longevity, they were fellow trainees and the best comrades.
Clack!
As Chen Kong and Mi Yao fell silent, the cave became so quiet that only the crackling sound of the fire could be heard.
After some unknown amount of time, Chen Kong broke the eerie silence first.
"Um... How did you survive back then?"
Regarding this question, not just Chen Kong, but even the dimensional viewers on Site 13 were very curious.
Because they clearly remembered that in the partial beach background footage intentionally released by the production team, Mi Yao was one of the figures, and he was clearly dead beyond any doubt at the time.
To this question, Mi Yao's answer was straightforward.
"How can you clear a game without a Revival Coin?"
As he spoke, a strange 'gold coin' suddenly appeared in Mi Yao's hand.
At the same time, information about this 'gold coin' appeared on the anime screen.
[Name: Player's Exclusive Revival Coin]
[Effect: Can negate one death and revive at the nearest bonfire. If unable to teleport to the nearest bonfire, the user can choose to revive at any location within a one-hundred-meter radius and maintain a 'Soul State' for a maximum of one minute. (Usable only by game players)]
[Description: 'No game is one-time use, except for... "Reality."' —Arcade Master, Mi Yao]
"So that's how it is..."
Chen Kong looked at the Revival Gold Coin in Mi Yao's hand, a flicker of light passing through his eyes, seemingly giving him an idea.
In response, Mi Yao reverted to his sharp-tongued manner, unceremoniously pouring a bucket of cold water on him.
"Don't even think about it. Your Dream Weaver can't copy this, because this thing is, in a sense, part of my soul—it's the 'game mechanic' exclusive to the Star Source of the Arcade Master."
"While your Dream Weaver can briefly obtain player qualifications, that amount of time isn't nearly enough for you to earn the game coins required to buy a Revival Coin."
"Oh, I see, haha."
Chen Kong rubbed the back of his head, giving an embarrassed chuckle.
After all, having one's thoughts exposed and stated publicly was indeed a bit awkward.
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