Chapter 3: A Farewell Kiss

“So, if that’s the case, acquiring skills isn’t that difficult. As long as we kill more Variants, we’ll become stronger, right?” Wan Ming was so excited by Hao Ren’s words that he couldn’t wait to rush out and kill Variants. He even regretted being too cowardly earlier and not killing that green-haired wolf at the convenience store.

Hao Ren shook his head. “Brother, you’re thinking too simply. Killing more Variants is correct, but Variants don’t just drop skill cards; they also drop weapon cards. Even if you’re lucky and kill ten Variants in a row, and they all drop cards, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a skill card. They might all be item cards. Moreover, in the early stages, only one in a hundred Variants drop cards at all.”

“What do you mean? What’s this about weapon cards now? With such a low drop rate, are you trying to force us to our deaths?” Wan Ming complained again.

Chu Xihen, who had been lost in thought, interjected, “It’s like skills and weapons are in the same card pool, and there’s no guaranteed drop even after ten pulls.”

Wan Ming disliked Chu Xihen immensely and was about to tell him to shut up when he saw Hao Ren nodding in agreement.

“This young brother has summarized it very accurately; that’s exactly how it is.” At that moment, Hao Ren felt a sense of desolate camaraderie with Chu Xihen, as fellow sufferers stuck with guaranteed drops.

Lou Su had seen Chu Xihen play card-drawing games, and his luck was so bad it was astonishing.

To avoid bursting out laughing and embarrassing Chu Xihen, he quickly changed the subject. “What kind of weapons are on the weapon cards?”

Hao Ren’s expression turned serious. “Cold weapons, firearms, knives, spears, swords, halberds, pistols, rifles, submachine guns—they’re all there. But the probability of obtaining them is similar to skills. What’s common are pots, pans, fly swatters, brooms, and things like that. These don’t really count as weapon cards; they’re more like item cards. You’ll know when you encounter them.”

Lou Su and the others: “…”

What was all this?

After Hao Ren said everything he needed to say, he asked Lou Su, “Are you willing to come with me to kill Variants outside?”

“Yes, but first, I need to ensure the safety of my people,” Lou Su said.

“That’s only natural.” Hao Ren, having convinced Lou Su, prepared to take them to the front to discuss how to allocate tasks with the other ability users.

Just then, a scream suddenly erupted from the crowd. The people who were huddled together hastily retreated, and they saw a woman with green skin straddling a man, gnawing on his neck.

The man’s scream erupted along with the blood spraying from his carotid artery; the scene was terrifying.

Hao Ren walked over and, in full view of everyone, chopped off the green-skinned woman’s head with an ax. Then, without hesitation, he snapped the neck of the man who had been bitten.

He was so fast and his movements were so clean and decisive that the people around him didn’t even have time to react.

By the time those who recognized the couple came to their senses, they only saw two corpses.

“You… you killed someone!” Someone in the crowd shouted sharply.

The ax in Hao Ren’s hand was still dripping with green liquid, but the expression on his face was the same amiable and humble one as before. “Whether they’re bitten by Variants or infected individuals, those people are no longer our compatriots. If you can’t bring yourselves to kill them, then you’ll be infected as well. I’m setting an example for you all. If you want to survive, you’ll have to experience things like this a lot in the future. Get used to it as soon as possible!”

Compared to those who were shocked by Hao Ren’s killing, Lou Su and the others were more surprised by the ax in Hao Ren’s hand. It had clearly been in Wan Ming’s hand just now!

“When did he swipe it? When he got up to go over there, the ax was still in my hand!” Wan Ming swallowed, looking as if he’d seen a ghost.

Han Chong was too shocked to speak.

In contrast, Lou Su was much calmer. After a moment of surprise, he guessed, “It might be his skill.”

Wan Ming didn’t understand. “Aren’t skills hard to come by? Do you have to kill a lot of Variants to get them? This is only the first day of the apocalypse; how does he already have one?”

“Survivor of an Infinite Game,” Chu Xihen reminded them.

Lou Su glanced at him and patiently explained to Wan Ming, “That’s right. We only asked how to obtain skills earlier but didn’t ask what advantages people who came out of the game have compared to us. Now it seems they should have skills in advance.”

While those of them who hadn’t entered the game had only awakened ordinary abilities, and many didn’t even have abilities.

“Isn’t that too awesome? Why didn’t they pull me into the game back then?” Wan Ming was somewhat annoyed; he also wanted to have such an awesome skill!

Lou Su ignored his sarcastic remarks and pulled Chu Xihen out of the crowd.

“There are too many people here, and there must be more people infected who haven’t said anything. I’ll take you to find a safe place,” Lou Su said to Chu Xihen.

Wan Ming and Han Chong hurriedly followed.

“Isn’t it unnecessary, Boss? If you leave him alone, he won’t even know how he died if Variants invade. It’s better for him to be with these people; at least there’s some protection.” After he finished speaking, he added, “Not having an ability is such a pain. He can’t even move with us.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being alone?” Lou Su turned his head and asked Chu Xihen.

Chu Xihen pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “I’m not afraid. Go ahead and do what you need to do.”

Lou Su took Chu Xihen to a lounge on the second floor.

“Wait for me here. If you encounter danger, go down and join the main group. They should leave ability users here to protect you.” Lou Su said to Chu Xihen before helping him close the door.

Chu Xihen leaned against the door and gave him an OK sign.

Just as Lou Su was about to turn around and leave, Chu Xihen reached out and wrapped his arms around his neck, giving him a farewell kiss.

After all, on this trip, Lou Su would meet another male lead from the novel, and they might not see each other again afterward.

Lou Su lowered his head slightly, raised his hand to cup Chu Xihen’s face, and deepened the kiss.

Outside the door, Wan Ming and Han Chong couldn’t bear to watch and quickly walked away.

When the kiss ended, Chu Xihen leaned against the wall, breathing slightly heavily, his eyes glazed, and his thin lips still glistening.

Lou Su’s hand was still pinching his chin. Seeing him like this, his Adam’s apple bobbed twice.

He only lamented in his heart that this apocalypse had come at the wrong time; otherwise, how could he bear to leave at such a good moment?

“Lou Su, goodbye,” Chu Xihen said, staring at Lou Su’s face. The simple farewell was tinged with a sense of eternal parting.

Lou Su didn’t think too much about it. His fingers stroked Chu Xihen’s lips, and he said, “Wait for me to come back.”

After closing the door to the lounge, Lou Su put away the tenderness between his brows and strode towards his two subordinates.

Wan Ming took a few steps back to be level with Lou Su. “Boss, are we really going to help Hao Ren save people? And that Chu Xihen—he hasn’t awakened an ability. Taking him with us is too much of a burden.”

Han Chong also said, “Yeah, Boss, there are plenty of pretty boys out there. Dump him, and we’ll help you find one who’s awakened an ability. At least he won’t hold us back.”

Lou Su swept his gaze coldly over the two of them. “As long as I can protect him, I won’t abandon him. I won’t say this a second time, and you two shouldn’t say anything about abandoning him again.”

Wan Ming was shocked. “Boss, are you serious about him? If there were no apocalypse, it would be fine for you to date him. Although he’s useless, he looks good, but the world has changed now. Keeping him will only cause us trouble!”

“Thanks for picking him up today. I owe you one. I won’t trouble you about his affairs in the future,” Lou Su promised.

Wan Ming’s expression wasn’t very good. “We’re all brothers; it’s too formal to say that. If you insist on taking him with you, then take him for now!”

That’s what he said, but what he was thinking was that he would definitely get rid of this useless thing when he found the right opportunity!