A tremendous explosion erupted ahead.

The top of a damaged shopping mall building exploded with a deafening roar, painting a spectacular firework-like display of fiery light against the twilight sky.

This was followed by incessant gunfire, interspersed with curses and screams.

Seconds later, two figures were thrown high into the air by the blast wave, propelled from the shattered walls.

They landed at their feet.

The two players collapsed to the ground, their health bars flickering before vanishing completely.

Their bodies then dissolved into white light, respawning.

But their weapons remained on the ground.

Su Yao’s eyes paused.

In this game mode, each player could carry two sets of weapons: one set of firearms and one set of bladed weapons, each equipped with different types of energy units.

Additionally, players could pick up weapons dropped by fallen opponents.

However, they could only pick up one weapon at a time. Upon their own death, any picked-up weapons would disappear, leaving only their original equipment.

New players had only a limited selection of weapons; to obtain more, they had to level up and complete missions.

Cash could only buy skins.

“This,”

Su Yao stared at the weapons left behind by the deceased players.

The two were clearly teammates, using identical bladed weapons: two energy long blades, with slender, refined blades shimmering with a cold silver light.

The handles featured switches for the force field generator.

She crouched down, picking up one of the blades. “Looks pretty cool.”

Su Yao pressed the switch, and a silver energy field instantly enveloped the blade, while the energy bar on the handle began to flicker.

This was specifically designed to weaken enemy shields.

To avoid energy consumption, she quickly turned off the field. “And it seems much better than that crappy little knife they give you for starters?”

In the tutorial, she’d tried energy gauntlets and daggers, but their attack ranges were too small.

Of course, all players in the game had the same physical stats.

They were supposedly based on the physical fitness of a D-class bloodline.

This meant she was weaker than in reality.

Su Yao could feel it after just a couple of steps – her body felt less agile, her breathing rate increased.  The difference would likely be even more pronounced during combat.

“Hmm?”

Kyle responded noncommittally. “You like using this?”

Before she could answer, he kicked the other energy long blade, catching it in his hand. “Want to try?”

In this mode, teammates couldn’t damage each other.

It was quite suitable for sparring.

Su Yao blinked, first setting the teammate damage pain level to the minimum.

This meant that even if stabbed, it would feel like being pricked by a toothpick, without breaking the skin.

“Let me say this first,” Su Yao looked at her teammate, “I can’t do what you’re about to do, so I guess you can kill me in one move.”

Identical physical stats would highlight skill differences; a skilled fighter could defeat an amateur in a single move.

Kyle was calm, not bothering to touch the energy field switch on the blade. “We’re teammates, you won’t die.”

The hilt spun in his palm, creating a dazzling flourish before being lightly held between his fingers.

Su Yao: “…”

Their heights differed significantly. The same-sized weapon felt like a single-handed blade in his hand, but clearly a two-handed weapon for her.

Su Yao weighed the long blade in her hand. While she could wield it one-handed, it didn’t feel as comfortable as using two hands.

She sighed. “What I mean is… well, you know, to the point where ‘if this were real, you’d be dead’.”

“I understand,” Kyle blinked. “What were you saying you couldn’t do?”

Su Yao placed her weapon on the ground.

Kyle looked at her quizzically.

Su Yao kicked the hilt.

The energy blade flew across the ground, striking a nearby stone pillar with a sharp clang.

Kyle: “…”

Su Yao silently retrieved it. “See? I want to do what you did, kick it directly into my hand without bending over, but clearly, I can’t.”

She expected her teammate to either laugh or offer some consolation.

Neither happened.

Kyle simply watched her calmly. “If you can’t understand how I’m applying force, don’t try to completely mimic my movements.”

He paused. “Try cutting me.”

Su Yao took a deep breath. “Okay.”

She raised her right hand, her tiger’s mouth gripping the tsuka (hilt), her left hand holding the back of the hilt, holding the blade diagonally upwards, assuming a somewhat unorthodox left-knee stance.

Kyle’s gaze fell on her hands, perhaps intending to correct her posture, but he ultimately remained silent.

Su Yao raised her arm, the blade descending in a diagonal arc, aiming for her teammate’s head.

Considering the possibility of him dodging, she didn’t use her full strength, to prevent losing her balance.

Even so, the moment her blade was blocked and pushed aside by his, she swayed slightly.

Su Yao tried to recover her long blade.

However, before she could deliver a second strike, the hard point of his blade was already pressed against her ribs.

Kyle was still using one hand, the hilt somehow rotated, now in a reverse grip.

His elbow was slightly bent, maintaining a very efficient posture for applying force.

Clearly, he didn’t need to move forward; a slight movement of his forearm would allow the blade tip to pierce the gap between her ribs and directly into her heart.

Su Yao hesitated. “I, um, okay, I just thought it would be like that.”

“…No,” Kyle tilted his head, looking at her. “That’s not what you thought.”

Su Yao hesitated. “Okay, actually, I saw your movements, I know what you wanted to do.”

Since everyone’s physical stats were the same, it was impossible for someone to wield a blade so fast it was invisible.

Su Yao puffed her cheeks. “But this body is just not working! In reality, I could definitely block that!”

Kyle remained noncommittal. “In reality, I wouldn’t… fight like that with anyone.”

Indeed.

This guy claimed to be fully awakened.

He probably wouldn’t need any weapons to fight.

Su Yao wasn’t going to say that in reality, she could break this blade into five pieces in an instant.

After all, that wasn’t skill.

“However,” she said frankly, “I’m completely clueless about martial arts. You’re very skilled, I’m very unskilled.”

Kyle clearly wasn’t sparring with her for praise, so he didn’t react much to this.

He raised his hand, using the back of his blade to press against her forearm, slowly pushing upwards until her wrist was about to go over her shoulder.

“…With your current state and strength, going over your shoulder makes it easy to lose control.”

He said slowly.

Su Yao thoughtfully looked at the blade raised above her head.

He reversed his grip, the blade describing a half-circle in the air, the back of the blade touching the inside of her wrist, pressing down.

Su Yao’s wrists stopped near her hip bone.

The cold blade rested on the back of her left hand. “…Don’t tense your back hand so much.”

The cold blade tip slowly traced along her pinky, ring, and middle fingers, as if outlining the bones.

Su Yao suddenly understood. “The order of force application, right?”

“Mm,” Kyle nodded slightly. “Try again.”

Su Yao immediately rotated her hand, making a similar downward strike, but with a smaller range of motion.

This attack was predictably blocked, but she didn’t lose her balance, using the rebounding force to deliver a diagonal second strike, perfectly deflecting the blade point pressing against her ribs.

“…Wow!”

Su Yao looked down at her blade. “Got it, thanks, teacher.”

Although her current body was inferior to her real one, it was far superior to the humans in her previous world; her strength, speed, and reflexes were not even comparable.

Kyle showed her a few more moves, and Su Yao felt incredibly powerful.

Amidst the ongoing gunfire, she turned, leaped over a wrecked car, ran across several car roofs, and with a few jumps, burst into the opposite mall.

The building was dimly lit, with only emergency lights flickering on the walls. In the distance were collapsed shelves and cabinets, the lobby floor was cratered by explosions, and gunfire echoed from upstairs.

She passed through the chaotic lobby, ascended the emergency stairs, and paused at a corner.

—Clang!

She twisted her arm, blocking an incoming axe with a horizontal strike of her long blade, pushing it upwards, twisting her wrist, thrusting the blade towards the opponent’s chest.

At the same time, she activated the blade’s energy field.

The blade tip struck the player’s shield, the two energy fields canceling each other out in a vibration.

Su Yao saw the opponent’s shield bar below their health bar rapidly depleting, vanishing in an instant.

Of course, it wasn’t full to begin with.

The long blade pierced through the opponent’s chest.

The player’s body dissolved into white light.

The commotion they’d caused wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t insignificant either. Soon, she heard footsteps above again, along with the hum of plasma streams within a magnetic field.

Melee weapons again.

Someone leaped down from the upper stairs, a cyan energy long blade descending with them.

Su Yao didn’t dare to meet it head-on, sidestepping and deflecting the blade with a downward diagonal movement.

The attacker hadn’t fully regained their footing when they swung for a second strike, which she parried, simultaneously hearing gunfire and screams from below.

Su Yao didn’t have time to consider what was happening downstairs, focusing solely on the blade fight before her.

The energy field collided with the plasma stream, causing ripple-like disturbances in the air, and strange echoing clangs.

Silver-white light and cyan-blue gas flashed in alternation, casting flickering shadows on the blood-stained walls.

Her opponent wasn’t particularly skilled, using only a few simple, and not very standard, moves.

After their brief sparring earlier, Su Yao could see flaws in the opponent’s posture and quickly exploited them.

“…Damn!”

The player, after being stabbed several times, had their shield completely broken.

Su Yao still had half her shield remaining; the advantage was clear.

“You goddamn—”

The player gritted their teeth, cursing. “It’s only because this stupid game limits physical stats. If this were real life, I’d smash your head in with one punch!”

Su Yao rolled her eyes. “You’re just bad, and you’re bringing up reality?  Hilarious. If this were real—”

Her words trailed off.

In her peripheral vision, her teammate’s tall figure appeared on the lower stairs.

Su Yao thought for a moment, maintaining her cool and collected persona,  “I would have already scratched your face to pieces!”

The fight ended quickly.

The mall fell silent.

Kyle didn’t continue upwards, likely assuming there were no more enemies. Su Yao went down and saw the dropped weapons of the fallen players in the lobby.

The bodies had already respawned.

“…I want one of those blades too.”

Su Yao touched her energy long blade. “I checked the acquisition quests; they all require participation in multiplayer matches with four or more players.”

Kyle seemed unconcerned. “Go ahead.”

Su Yao blinked. “Do you have any quests you want to do? Or weapons you want? Skins are fine too, I can spend money for you, consider it tuition?”

He shook his head without hesitation. “They’re all about the same.”

She wondered if he meant all weapons were the same, or if he didn’t care about skins.  She figured both answers were probably yes.

Su Yao selected ‘quit’, and after a brief summary, rejoined a smaller map four-player match.

The previous match was on a large map, where player activity spanned square kilometers, allowing them to chat without interruption.

Smaller maps were different, usually confined to a single building, making encounters with enemies frequent.

Her two random teammates, Player 1 and Player 2, were both on the roof.

The map this time was a school. Su Yao spawned in the underground parking garage, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she heard an explosion above.

She drew her explosive gun from her waist, holding the gun in one hand and the energy dagger in the other, and ran towards the emergency stairs.

The automatic door had just opened when someone rushed out of the stairs.

Su Yao instinctively pulled the trigger; a crimson explosive round hit the shield, the scorching heat wave destroying the opponent’s remaining shield.

The person raised their long sword, its blade coated in frost, roaring as they lunged forward.

Su Yao raised her left hand, barely blocking the sword with the dagger, but the icy blast was unpleasant, her left arm starting to stiffen.

Fortunately, the gun had finished recharging, so the second explosive round took the player down.

…It was also fortunate that the opponent wasn’t at full health and shield, otherwise it would have been troublesome.

Su Yao used a healing item, applying gel to her frostbitten left arm, before picking up the sword.

It was a spiritual energy weapon, with an energy converter allowing the use of elemental powers.

The size and weight were different from the previous blade, so she couldn’t directly copy the movements, but the brief training had given her some inspiration.

Su Yao checked the mini-map again.

Player 3, Kyle, was on the middle floor, while Players 1 and 2 were still on the upper floors, but moving down.

She planned to go up and meet them.

But this building was incredibly crowded; she encountered seven people on the fifth floor alone, some of whom were already fighting and threw grenades at her without hesitation.

Su Yao ran out of energy units and was headshot by a sniper from the opposite building.

“…”

She respawned on the middle floor.

Before she could celebrate, she saw her teammates arguing.

The other two strangers were coming down from the roof.

In a classroom with overturned desks and chairs, Player 1 was berating Kyle.

“You goddamn stole my kill!”

Player 1 said angrily, “I crippled him, then he ran to you! Did I say in the chat not to touch him?”

Kyle calmly looked at him. “I muted the chat.”

“Damn, you useless scrubs should just stand back and wait for exp, don’t interfere with me carrying the boss to get achievements! This mode has friendly fire, if you bother me again, I’ll repeatedly kill you until you run out of respawns—”

Su Yao heard this as she entered.

She raised her explosive gun and, without hesitation, fired a shot at Player 1’s back.

This beginner weapon was powerful but had many limitations.

For example, a long cooldown, no burst fire, and significantly reduced damage at longer ranges.

So, even though Player 1’s shield was broken and they were already low on health, the shot didn’t kill them because of the distance.

But it left them with only a sliver of health, and they fell to the ground.

Su Yao slowly walked over. “What’s wrong? You’re carrying someone to get achievements, are you going to share the money with us?”

Because you can’t log into other people’s accounts, there were no “boosters” in the holo-game. However, some skilled players would take orders to help people complete difficult tasks.

They charged for this, of course.

These players typically earned extra cash, rarely making a living solely from this.

After all, people who could afford game pods usually weren’t short of money.

“Damn!”

Player 1 groaned from the ground, cursing. “Bitch, ambushing is a cheap tactic, you wait for me—I’ll—”

Su Yao kicked Player 1 in the stomach, cutting off their insults.

“You won’t share the money, right? So why should anyone cooperate with you? Because you’re foul-mouthed and have no manners? Your skills are only good enough to bully weaker players in low-level matches! If you’re so good, just do duo or four-player matches! The game gives you the option!”

The kick finished off the remaining health.

“You’re trash, you let the enemy escape and blame others?!  You’re all talk and curse words, what if you scare my teammate? Will you pay if they get sick from fright?!”

Player 1 disappeared in white light.

Player 2 was dumbfounded. “You, you? Who did you say you scared?”

There were only four people in the team, and the new Player 4 could only be referring to Player 3.

Player 2 turned to Kyle.

Player 2: “…”

He didn’t look like the type to be scared!

Then, the deceased Player 1 respawned in the classroom.

He was clearly furious, his face contorted, cursing incessantly, ignoring the fact that his energy shield hadn’t fully recharged, reaching for the supersonic energy gun at his waist.

“You two lovebirds! Die!”

Players who took orders to carry others were usually somewhat skilled.

His stance and speed in drawing his weapon were very standard, but Kyle clearly wasn’t interested in admiring his marksmanship.

Therefore—

The moment Player 1 hadn’t fully steadied his weapon, Kyle kicked his arm, dislocating his elbow.

Player 1 screamed, dropping his weapon.

The next second, the thick sole of his combat boot struck his temple.

The game had different reactions for hits to different body parts, this blow directly stunned him.

Player 1 wobbled and fell to the ground.

Kyle casually put down his right leg, crushing his neck.

Player 1 turned into white light again.

“???”

Player 2 stared dumbfounded at this scene.

—The guy’s hands had been in his pockets the whole time, and his left foot hadn’t moved, only using his right leg the entire time.

“See!”

The black-haired girl said aggressively, “I scared my teammate so much he killed someone!”

Player 2: “?”

“Mm,” the black-haired man said slowly, “I was scared.”

Player 2: “…”

Player 2: “Are you two crazy?”

Player 2 quickly quit the game.