Chapter Twenty-Eight: Air-Dropping the Scepter of God

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[The prerequisite for receiving an individual reward is that the player must be the one who kills the final member of the opposing team.]

In other words, even if all four teammates worked together to eliminate the opposing team, only the person who killed its final member would qualify for the individual reward.

“That’s despicable!” Ji Beishu was so furious and aggrieved that he nearly cursed aloud.

The production crew had clearly done everything in their power to make the contestants turn on one another. Under this condition, there were only two ways to secure the reward. Either the four teammates discussed among themselves who would claim the final victory, with the other three willingly giving up their individual rewards—

Or the teammates killed one another, leaving the survivor to face the final member of the opposing team.

The struggle between personal and collective interests had reached its peak under these rules.

Fortunately, the production crew had given them a buffer period. The game had entered the “collection phase,” during which supplies would be dropped into the arena. The players could search freely for twenty minutes, but all supplies except weapons had to be used before the collection phase ended.

Shen Li spread out the map. “Let’s put the individual reward aside for now. We’ll search separate areas; that’ll be faster. I’m guessing the production crew will drop firearms, medical kits, perhaps even revive armor and the like. Let’s find as much as we can.”

The moment she said this, the three members of the Scandal Team wore grim expressions. They understood that this “collection phase” was really a period the production crew had given the Celebrity Team to cheat their way ahead. The speed at which they searched would determine whether all their efforts in the first half had been for nothing.

They quickly split up and searched in the four cardinal directions. Shen Li headed west, Bai Qiuya stayed in the south, Qiao Le went east, and Ji Beishu—the fastest runner—went north, the farthest of all. They agreed to return toward the center of the forest five minutes before the collection phase ended, so they could regroup before the battle began in the second half.

Shen Li studied the red dots marking the opposing team’s positions on the map. The Celebrity Team, which had retreated moments ago, was in the western area she was about to reach. It was easy to imagine that by the time she arrived, Lan Ting and Jiang Nian would probably have collected all the supplies.

So she simply searched around the perimeter of the red dots. Since there were clearly some items the production crew did not want her to obtain, she might as well leave them alone. Even without them, she had a way to win the game.

Sure enough, only one minute after the game began, Lan Ting found the revive armor and successfully brought Lu Ziwei back to life. Shen Li also made a rich haul, finding a pile of medical kits and using them on herself and her teammates. All four members were back at full health.

Jiang Nian had already been at full health, while Lan Ting, who had lost one life, also successfully recovered all three.

After finishing her search of the outer perimeter, Shen Li began returning toward the center of the forest. Along the way, her sharp eyes led her to pick up many more items. She intended to keep some useless supplies in her inventory. Among the most valuable item cards was another piece of revive armor.

The director’s expression changed drastically when he saw Shen Li produce a second piece of revive armor. He had dropped only two in total. To keep the audience from feeling that he was showing excessive favoritism and ruining their viewing experience, he had deliberately placed the other one somewhat farther from Jiang Nian.

Who could have guessed that Jiang Nian would pass right by it several times without noticing, allowing Shen Li to pick it up instead?

“Looks like Jiang Fuya won’t be coming back to life.” The director sighed.

“Don’t rush to conclusions.” Pei Wenxuan’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Items can be good or bad. Who knows what will happen?”

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With only five minutes remaining in the collection phase, Shen Li had already returned to the central area of the forest. She circled the area in search of items while waiting for her teammates. As the collection phase neared its end, the others arrived in the final few seconds. A three-second countdown appeared in the sky.

Then, at the very last second, the in-game announcement suddenly rang out:

[Lan Ting found the item “God’s Scepter” and used its life-draining ability on Shen Li. Shen Li lost two lives and has one life remaining.]

Just like that, she was back on the brink of death.

Worse still, they had timed it perfectly. Even if she had a medical pack, it was already too late to use it.

Shen Li rested her chin on her hand and frowned. She was certain that she had searched every item in the western zone. Only a few useless medical packs remained. How had she missed such an important item?

There could be only one explanation: the production crew had cheated again.

The technology department director, drenched in sweat, let out a huge sigh of relief. “Finally, it’s done.”

Delivering objects into a virtual world was not difficult, but secretly dropping an item into the game while it was in progress was no easy task.

To prove to the audience that the program would not cheat this time, he had designed the announcement system to broadcast automatically. In other words, whenever anything changed in the game, the system would announce it.

Fortunately, he had left himself a back door when programming it. Otherwise, he would have had no way to slip the scepter into the game without anyone noticing.

--Sister Ting is amazing! Beautifully done!

--Yes, yes, yes! Sister Ting is avenging Ya-ya and Wei-wei for us!

--Wei-wei came back at full health. Kill them all!!!

--I heard Lu Ziwei is good with a gun. What was the name of that drama he acted in before? I watched a few clips, and he looked incredibly cool.

--Exactly! Wei-wei joined the production six months early just to practice his marksmanship. He’s practically at a professional level now.

--Can’t wait for sharpshooter Lu Ziwei to defeat murderer Shen Li! (cheering) (applause)

...

The three members of the Scandal Team were all dispirited. Bai Qiuya bit her lower lip. “If only we could transfer health.”

She did not mind losing, so long as the team won.

“That’s too much!” Qiao Le had originally hoped to obtain the individual reward. It might even bring her more resources and exposure. To claim it, Shen Li was the greatest rival within her own team.

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But now that Shen Li was barely alive, Qiao Le could not feel happy at all.

“Forget the individual reward. Let’s take them down!”

“Right! Take them down!” Ji Beishu held out his hand. “Let’s rally together. We absolutely refuse to lose!”

The four of them stacked their hands together and shouted, “Take down the Celebrity Team! The Scandal Team will win!”

Their loud, unified voices echoed through the forest and lingered for a long time.

The three members of the Celebrity Team, who were not far away, heard every word clearly. After being eliminated, Lu Ziwei had returned to the real world. The audience could not see what happened there, but he had carefully discussed tactics with President Pei. This time, after returning to the game, he would definitely win.

He gazed toward the direction from which the Scandal Team’s voices had come.

Shen Li, let’s see how you win this time.

“Move out! Let’s wipe them out completely!” Lu Ziwei raised his hand and swept it forward. Lan Ting immediately followed, while Jiang Nian sauntered along at the rear, unhurried and relaxed.

On the way, Lu Ziwei explained the strategy to Lan Ting. “You and Jiang Nian will draw the other three away and, most importantly, scatter them. I’ll kill Shen Li, then come support you. Once Shen Li is eliminated, they’re finished.”

Ji Beishu was the only one left with decent marksmanship, and he was no threat. Besides, their team’s coach was secretly working with them as an inside man. He was certain of victory.

When they reached a position near the Scandal Team, Lu Ziwei raised his hand. “Ambush.”

Shen Li’s marksmanship was too accurate. They had to approach without being detected. If she became alert, killing her would be much more difficult.

Ten meters.

Everyone watching the screen held their breath.

Five meters.

They had already reached the Scandal Team’s rear.

Three meters.

The three members of the Celebrity Team raised their guns and prepared to fire.

Lu Ziwei shouted, “Fire!”

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