Chapter 95: Monster Rules

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Monster Rules

Lan Lan gulped nervously and said, "I understand. I’ll be careful."

Shi Zhile continued forward.

On the southern coast, the tide had just gone out, making it the perfect time to forage on the beach.

Li Haohao was bent over, picking up sea snails, when he looked up and saw Xiao Yi approaching, dragging the raft.

He walked up to him. "Xiao Yi, you used the raft yesterday. It’s my turn today."

Xiao Yi dodged his hand and smiled at him. "Haohao, if you ask me, you shouldn’t go out to sea today."

"Tomorrow is just the sixth day. If I give you the raft today, then Wang Gang will be the one going out to sea tomorrow."

"Don’t forget, it was Wang Gang who supported you going to the beach back then. If he had stopped you, you wouldn’t have run into that monster."

Li Haohao scoffed but still thought for a moment. "Trying to sow discord just so you don’t have to give me the raft? I can let you have the chance to go out today, but I want three ration biscuits and three bottles of water."

"It’s not that I won’t give them to you; I really don’t have any. I’m planning to head out to the deep sea to try my luck today. If I get lucky, I’ll split half the supplies with you when I get back."

Li Haohao said, "And why should I believe you? What if you die out in the deep sea? Then I’d get nothing."

"Give me two bottles of water first, and we’ll call it even for letting you take my spot."

His only two bottles of water had been tricked out of him by Shi Zhile. If he didn’t get any water today, his survival value would decrease due to dehydration.

The day after tomorrow was the seventh day. As long as he killed all the other players tomorrow night, he could clear the instance.

Before then, he absolutely could not let his survival value drop even a single point.

Fearing Xiao Yi would disagree, he plastered on a smile.

"If you don’t want to, forget it. But I bet Wang Gang would be willing to trade water for a chance to go out. How about I start a video call with him?"

"You...! Fine, two bottles of water it is. But after I give them to you, we’re even."

Li Haohao agreed.

Xiao Yi’s figure grew smaller and smaller on the surface of the sea. When he had completely disappeared from sight, Li Haohao took out a raft and headed in the same direction.

Unlike Xiao Yi, who had piloted the raft slowly, Li Haohao was like a fish in water the moment he hit the sea. The raft seemed to become one with him, gliding rapidly toward the deep sea.

Xiao Yi was still a short distance from the deep sea, but half of his spiritual power was already gone.

He knew monsters were bound to be in the deep sea area. With the instance’s seven-day deadline approaching, he really didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

But when he thought of Shi Zhile’s massive haul from the other day, Xiao Yi couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.

’Why does she get all the luck? If those rules hadn’t suddenly appeared, all those treasure chests and that haul would have been mine.’

He glanced resentfully toward the deep sea, but ultimately stopped at its edge.

’Oh well. As long as all the players on all the islands die, their islands and all their supplies will belong to me.’

’The hidden reward this time is so generous. All of Shi Zhile’s supplies will be mine. Hahahaha!’

He took out his homemade fishing rod and began to fish. His once-great luck seemed to have completely vanished since he entered this instance.

As he anxiously waited for a fish to bite, a raft approached him.

He furrowed his brow. The moment he saw it was Li Haohao, his expression darkened completely.

"Do you have a death wish? You broke the rules, you know that?"

Li Haohao was unfazed. "Broke the rules? Don’t you know the rules only apply to players?"

Xiao Yi’s expression changed. "You’re a ghost!"

Li Haohao shook his head. "I’m no ghost. Those dead rats that can’t stand the light of day aren’t worthy of being compared to me."

"The rules mention monsters all the time. Weren’t you ever curious why one has never appeared?"

"Idiot! It’s because I *am* the monster from the rules."

Xiao Yi immediately tried to pilot his raft away. But Li Haohao was blocking the path back to the island; trying to return would be like walking straight into a trap.

He looked toward the deep sea area, gritted his teeth, and steered straight for it.

Li Haohao watched him head for the deep sea, his eyes shining with a startling light.

’Yes! Just like that!’

’Run for the deep sea. Once you’re in the deep sea, you’re in the "monster’s" territory.’

Xiao Yi had gone about halfway when he suddenly stopped. ’This is wrong. I can’t go into the deep sea. Since this is a Rule Island, players must have player rules, and monsters must have monster rules.’

’It’s not the sea-ban time yet. As long as I don’t enter the deep sea, the monster can’t attack me.’

He quickly steered the raft back. Li Haohao’s expression of anticipation soured into one of regret.

"How did you figure it out so quickly! But don’t tell me you think I can’t touch you just because you’re not in the deep sea."

He sped toward Xiao Yi, trying to ram him. Xiao Yi swerved to dodge, but as their rafts brushed past, Li Haohao leaped onto his.

The two stood facing each other. The narrow raft, unable to bear their combined weight, began to show signs of sinking.

Xiao Yi struck first, lunging at Li Haohao with a dagger. Instead of dodging, Li Haohao moved to meet the attack. The next moment, a crossbow appeared in his hand.

Meeting Xiao Yi’s horrified gaze, he pierced his neck with an arrow. At the same time, Xiao Yi’s dagger stabbed into Li Haohao’s lower back.

Both fell at the same time. One, now a corpse, tumbled into the sea; the other collapsed onto the raft.

[Player injury detected. Survival value -1/minute. Current survival value: 100.]

[Player is critically injured. Survival value -2/minute while bleeding. Current survival value: 99.]

Li Haohao pressed down hard on his wound. "This is wrong! This is wrong! I’m the monster! Injuries I get at sea are supposed to heal within ten minutes!"

"It shouldn’t be deducting my survival value! You can’t take my survival value! I’m the monster, you can’t take it!"

"The monster rules say the monster is invincible at sea! How can a player wound me? The game is bugged! Devs, fix it now!"

He slapped frantically at his panel, on the verge of a breakdown.

At a rate of -2 per minute, his remaining survival value would only let him live for fifty minutes.

’I can’t die! I don’t want to die!’

He opened the system’s back-end menu and tried the one-click complaint function, but the button seemed to be a fake. In the pop-up "Confirm Complaint?" dialogue, "No" was the only option.

He stubbornly clicked it over and over, but after more than a dozen tries, he still couldn’t find a "Yes" button.

He shouted in desperation, "Game system! I didn’t break any rules! Why are you deducting my survival value!"

The next second, the monster rules appeared on the panel before him.

[Rule 1: You are a monster, but on the island during the daytime, you are a player.]

[Rule 2: Remember your identity well. At sea, you are invincible.]

[Rule 3: The hours between 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM are monster-prowling hours. During this period, you may kill at will.]

[Rule 4: During the daytime, the deep sea area is your killing ground.]

[Rule 5: You must still abide by player rules. Please do not violate them.]

He stared intently at the five rules, and it took him nearly half an hour to finally understand their meaning.

He began to laugh like a madman. "’You must still abide by player rules.’ I was wrong. I was so terribly wrong."

"Invincible at sea, but a player during the day... The rules say only one player can go out to sea each day, but I used my monster identity to become the second player to go out."

"Shi Zhile!"

"You set me up!"