NOVEL NEXT Chapter 281 - Wrapping Up
Realizing that he had fallen into a trap, Huo Qi, who was lying on his back with his movements blocked, still couldn’t quite believe it.
Did he really fall like this?
He wasn’t defeated by the powerful foe he had always considered his rival, but rather eliminated by a bullet that came from an unknown direction. In the end, no one knew who that enemy was, but Huo Qi had already begun to have an inkling of the answer in his heart.
After being transported to the field medical camp, Huo Qi opened his eyes. He closed them again, and finally, as if accepting reality, he looked up at the temporary light above the tent, hearing the gentle inquiries of the medical staff in his ears.
But no matter what the staff asked, Huo Qi remained silent.
He propped himself up slightly and looked at the projection screen set up inside the tent. Since it was designed for participants to view the game status, it wasn’t as elaborate as the large broadcast screens outside and even seemed somewhat rudimentary.
Nevertheless, Huo Qi still clearly saw the broadcast footage. Jiang Hui and Xierman had just descended from a tree, landing on the ground. It seemed like they said something to each other before one supported the other, and they hurried off in a certain direction.
At that moment, Huo Qi and the other members of R256, who had gradually started to wake up, also clearly saw the forest area where Jiang Hui and the others had left—it was the same place they had visited not long ago. They had even confronted a hidden enemy there, though in the end, neither side had achieved their goal.
But there was no doubt that those two had slipped away right under their noses.
If they had known back then that the others were from R186, if they had known there were only two of them, if they had known Jiang Hui was injured… they wouldn’t have let them off so easily.
At the time, Huo Qi had thought of himself as cautious, making a choice based on multiple considerations. But now, looking back, he realized that he was simply blind and overconfident.
The harsh reality had taught him that one should never underestimate any enemy, never let a tiger go back to the mountain, and always eradicate the root of the problem. Otherwise, it would be oneself who suffers in the end.
And it was clear that the bullet that had killed Huo Qi had come from them.
They had reaped the bitter fruits they themselves had sown.
The members of R256 exchanged looks, and for a moment, the tent was silent. It felt as though even their breathing had unconsciously slowed down.
Naturally, the later-stage contestants were more exhausted, and those who had made it this far all bore some injuries.
For the contestants eliminated in the later stages of the game, the school had prepared better conditions, including tents and medical staff, as a reward for these high-performing students.
However, the protection in this competition had been quite thorough, and the simulated body armor was highly effective, so injuries were rare. Most contestants were just fatigued, with some mental exhaustion, making the work of the medical staff relatively light.
Most of the medical staff assigned to this task were relatively young. Before the contestants were eliminated, they had also been watching the competition inside the venue. Naturally, they had seen the intense scenes from earlier and couldn’t help but remark how impressive the younger generation had become, making the small internal school competitions shine even in inter-school events. They believed that as these young people matured, they would undoubtedly surpass any past batch of students.
However, it seemed that the mood of these few medical staff members wasn’t exactly upbeat. They probably wouldn’t get much out of asking any questions. Seeing that the contestants looked relatively alert, they decided to leave them some time to calm down on their own.
Young people, after all, tend to be more ambitious. Especially capable young people like these. Losing and then cooling off was just part of the process.
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What everyone else saw, Jiang Hui and the others naturally saw as well.
However, after making that shot, Jiang Hui didn’t hesitate to lead her friend away, descending from the top of the tree.
After all, regardless of whether the shot had hit or not, the position was really dangerous—hard to hide in and hard to evade.
If there was another accident and they slipped and fell off the tree while trying to dodge, it wouldn’t be worth the risk.
Fortunately, when they reached the ground, they found that Huo Qi and the others had already been eliminated. Seeing this, both of them couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement.
Well, they probably looked a bit undignified, but it was definitely worth celebrating to take down such a strong opponent just before the competition was about to end, whether it was Jiang Hui, Huan Xian, or Clarens who had done it. As long as it was one of their own, that was all that mattered.
Xierman looked at Jiang Hui’s score and, quite pleased, said, “Now those people won’t be able to keep bringing up your compensation points. After subtracting them, you’re almost on par with them. And at the start of the competition, his score was about 30 or 40 points higher than yours.”
“Well, that was a bonus added by the class instructor for excellent performance, so it’s still part of the score. How can we separate them?” Jiang Hui shook her head and smiled.
But she was really quite happy, as it was a bit unexpected to be legitimately at the top of the leaderboard. After all, she had never scored this well on Blue Star. This was the first place out of thousands of people! She felt she deserved at least two or three seconds of pride.
Hiss… why couldn’t she be a little happier about this? Jiang Hui’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the pain in her leg. It seemed like the pain had intensified. Could it be because she had been squatting at the top of the tree for too long?
She looked down at her calf, which had been soaked in blood. No matter how she looked at it, it was a rather grim sight.
With a bit of a resigned attitude, she said, “Let’s hurry over to join Huan Xian and the others. It’s still pretty dangerous for us to be separated like this.”
Although there were fewer contestants left in the competition and not many people could pose a threat to them, it was still safer for Jiang Hui to reunite with Huan Xian and the others at L11.
After such a tense battle to take down Huo Qi, Jiang Hui didn’t want to be casually eliminated by another contestant. If that happened, wouldn’t all their earlier struggles have been meaningless? On this matter, Jiang Hui still had a bit of a competitive spirit.
Xierman nodded and quickly carried Jiang Hui toward the old L11 location.
As for Huan Xian and the others at L11, they were having a minor disagreement over something.
Xierman was quick on his feet, skilled at hiding, and had an excellent sense of direction. Before long, he had brought Jiang Hui to the old L11 location, which was three kilometers away.
Huan Xian was familiar with the presence of Jiang Hui and the others, so he didn’t stop them. They smoothly found the familiar trench and jumped in.
The other three teammates were, of course, safe and sound. Though they had gone through several rounds of fierce battles, they were somewhat disheveled and looked tired, but their faces still showed a gleam of spirit. However—
The atmosphere seemed a bit… stiff?
Jiang Hui, who had originally been quite eager to share her escape story with her comrades, paused for a moment, quickly sensing the source of the tense atmosphere.