The countdown read 00:04:31.

When Ban Yue appeared in the bell tower, the shadow puppets were already starting to gather at the base of the bell tower. Some of them had managed to climb the steps and were starting to get nearer and nearer to Ludville’s location.

There were two factors that drew the shadow puppet’s attention: living people and fire. 

When both of those factors existed in the same place at the same time, it could cause the shadow puppets’ behaviors to become erratic, and just like a confused piece of code, they would go after the nearest factor in sight. Ban Yue took advantage of that window of confusion and had asked Ludville to light a big fire. The fire around Ban Yue then acted as a distraction to allow Ludville to run towards the bell tower while it also doubled as Ban Yue’s defensive barrier. But as soon as the rain comes and extinguishes the fire, both of these advantages will disappear.

Ban Yue kicked a shadow puppet back through the door, causing it to stumble back and hit the other shadow puppets behind him. He heard multiple crashing sounds as several of the shadow puppets fell back into the winding staircase. 

For the past ten minutes, more and more of the shadow puppets had piled through the entrance, and Ban Yue could only do his best to stall or dodge. He scolded himself for not keeping an extra weapon in hand. 

Another shadow puppet lunged and stretched its arms out, intending to claw at Ban Yue’s shoulder, but before its sharp nails could even make contact, Ban Yue grabbed its wrist firmly and maneuvered his entire body. As soon as they were facing the huge window, Ban Yue stuck his leg out and kicked the shadow puppet away, causing it to fall from the tower. 

He repeated this multiple times until he couldn’t do it anymore. 

Even after he had thrown off nearly twenty puppets off the tower, the shadow puppets continued to pile up. They were arriving faster than Ban Yue could throw one off, and it was almost time for Incognito’s effects to wear off. After 2 minutes, Ludville would wake up and Ban Yue will return to the field. 

Both of them will die gruesome and cruel deaths.

Ban Yue quickly evaded two charging shadow puppets, causing both of them to fall. Ban Yue winced when another got ahold of a strand of his hair. He pulled away and kicked at the puppet’s leg, causing the bone in his legs to break in. A loud shriek came out from the shadow’s throats, causing the hair on Ban Yue’s arms to stand up.

“No matter how much you like me, this! isn’t! the proper! way to make friends!” Ban Yue yelled as he punched another shadow puppet.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Ban Yue was distracted when he heard the repeating sound of a system window opening. Because of this, a shadow puppet was able to grab at his sleeve. When Ban Yue forcefully tried to break away, the sleeve ripped off and remained in the shadow puppet’s hands. At that moment, Ban Yue cursed.

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 59/100.]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 51/100.]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 43/100.]

His HP was starting to fall rapidly. The fire in the field must’ve already died out completely under the rain.

At that moment, a nagging question appeared in Ban Yue’s mind. It was the same question he had been trying to push to the back of his mind since he entered the scenario. 

That question was: What if he actually died here? What if he never woke up from this nightmare? What if today was the day?

The cool sensation of the wet clothes against his back. 

His pounding heart. 

The cold skin of the shadow puppets. 

And even the character Ludville Eckart himself. 

All of these were starting to feel realer and realer to Ban Yue that he could easily forget that this was just an elaborate dream. 

And even when Ban Yue tried to remind himself, deep down, his mind refused to accept it. For the past few days, these were the thoughts that Ban Yue grappled with in his mind. It was only last night that Ban Yue finally came to terms with all of it. 

Ban Yue’s conclusion was this: that even though all these could be fake, Ban Yue’s feelings at the moment were real.

Right now, he was scared of dying. 

But even more so than dying, he thought that he would feel really shitty if he died here and left a child to fend for his life, buried and mauled to death under these shadow puppets. People had called Ban Yue many names – a coward, a pitiful child, a shameless person, an ingrate, a cursed child, a heartless person – but he wasn’t someone who broke his promises. 

If he broke his promise now, Ban Yue will never be able to hold his head up high even in the afterlife.

So, Ban Yue fished into Ludville’s pockets and pulled out a matchbox. He took out a few sticks in between dodges, and lit them up. The fire lit up in the darkness like a beacon glowing in the night. When the shadow puppets saw this, they all screeched in agitation and rushed towards Ban Yue.

And as Ban Yue slowly lost his balance under the weight of the shadow puppets, he only had one thought in his mind.

He can die now, but Ludville Eckart will absolutely survive.

Ding! Ding!

[NPC Ludville Eckart’s HP has been reduced to 83/100.]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 37/100.]

Ding! Ding!

[NPC Ludville Eckart’s HP has been reduced to 75/100.]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 31/100.]

Ban Yue’s HP notification had long turned red, but it was only now that he truly felt like he would die. Seeing his HP draining out before his eyes was like cruel torture.

Ding! Ding!

[NPC Ludville Eckart’s HP has been reduced to 68/100.]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 24/100.]

Ban Yue continued to step back to avoid being crushed. 

At the moment, the shadow puppets were focused on swatting away the burning matches in his hand, so even though it burned him, Ban Yue didn’t let go. As long as they were focused on the fire, the only damage Ban Yue received were the shallow scratches from their sharp nails.

Ban Yue continued to step back. 

He could hear the sound of rushing water get closer and closer with every step. Just before the fire in his hand went out, Ban Yue finally felt himself step back onto thin air. His body lurched back. Then, he began to fall.

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 20/100.]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 15/100.]

The shadow puppets who were distracted by the oil lamp near Ban Yue’s original body must’ve started attacking again. 

In the first place, Ban Yue had asked Ludville to light up the last oil lamp beside him to act as bait once the shadow puppets started to breach the fire. It was harder to break because the wick was protected by a few layers of containers and wouldn’t be put out by the rain so quickly, so it could buy them some extra time, even if it was just a minute or a few seconds. 

It had already served its purpose, so Ban Yue had no complaints.

The Incognito effect read 00:00:09.

The countdown read 00:00:12.

The time left before the deadline was close to zero. 

Ban Yue closed his eyes and let himself fall. 

Soon, he felt his back touch the cold surface of the river that snaked east of the belltower. 

He quickly sank underneath. 

All he could hear was muffled silence as he peacefully descended to the bottom. 

It felt eerily similar to a pulse being cut off. Like those heartrate monitors that continued to beep noisily until the plug was pulled.

Ban Yue remained still. 

He didn’t try to struggle because he never learned how to swim anyway. He’d rather conserve his energy while he held his breath. Ludville would wake up soon, and it would be easier for him to return to the surface if Ban Yue didn’t waste his strength unnecessarily. Ban Yue had already warned Ludville of this possibility after he saw the river in the campus ground’s map this morning.

Ding!

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 10/100.]

Ding!

[The effects of Incognito have ended. You will now be returned to your original host in…5...4…3…]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 6/100.]

[…2…]

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 3/100.]

[…1…]

Ban Yue returned to his previous location.

The countdown read 00:00:03.

When he opened his eyes, he was already surrounded by a group of shadow puppets. Somehow, it felt like he had woken up from a nightmare only to see that the monsters in his dreams had become real.

[Player Ban Yue’s HP has been reduced to 2/100.]

The shadow puppets stomped on Ban Yue in turns. A shadow puppet’s foot rose up in the air and prepared to step down. At that moment, Ban Yue even had the time to wonder if this was what his smartphone saw that morning when Ban Yue dropped it inside the train by accident during the morning rush.

There was only 1 second remaining.

Ban Yue also only had 1 HP remaining.

It was a one-sided assault, and because Ban Yue was a box, he was left with no way to defend or retaliate. It was really cruel, this card. He couldn’t even run. It felt like he was left with no other option but to wait for death.

Then, just as Ban Yue thought of this, a blinding white pillar of light shot up and lit the entire sky.

BXX: Please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you enjoyed this chapter! It would mean a lot to me! ( ﾟヮﾟ)