Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Compared to Old Zhou and Nicholas, who had charged at each other the instant ”Start” was called, Snowy Owl and Mountaineer were far more restrained.

Of course, the ”Falling” venue also demanded more caution than ”Storm” for good reason.

Although, given their skills, navigating such complex terrain with ease was child’s play for Snowy Owl and Mountaineer.

But...

Both women were well aware that the other absolutely possessed a variety of long-range attack methods.

If they rushed in recklessly, getting hit by a long-range attack and losing balance would cause serious trouble.

Perhaps the current height difference wouldn’t cause them much trouble, but the anesthetic gas churning below, exuding an ominous aura, was something neither wanted to touch at all.

So, even as they closed in on each other, both moved slowly.

Snowy Owl held the wooden knife Grandmaster had given her horizontally before her chest, calculating her path as she moved—she didn’t choose the shortest route to the center and toward Mountaineer. Instead, she prioritized a path with many corners and several narrow alleys running parallel.

This way, even if faced with an unblockable long-range attack, Snowy Owl could effectively evade by leaping into a different narrow alley.

On the other side, Mountaineer’s route choice was relatively casual. Holding an ice axe in her hand, she strolled slowly.

The ”Land of Certain Death” arena was already massive, and with both moving slowly, it took them a considerable time just to get close to each other—in the same amount of time, Nicholas and Prisoner had already exchanged several rounds.

When the distance between them was only a few narrow alleys...

Snowy Owl launched a probing attack first.

”Shwoosh—!”

One step, she seemed to be walking normally, but the moment the next step landed, she suddenly crouched low and shot forward.

Like the most agile feline predator on the grasslands hunting its prey, she precisely kicked off a protruding stone brick in the space between them for a second acceleration mid-air. In the blink of an eye, she was already before Mountaineer.

”Holy shit, that’s fast!”

The weakened Prisoner couldn’t help but widen his eyes, propping himself up with the strength he’d barely recovered.

In truth, this speed was slightly slower than when he had unleashed the full-force ”War Drum Battle Method” earlier, let alone when he had used the cooldown-free [Blinking Magic Stone].

But...

Prisoner knew that wasn’t his normal state.

And for her to achieve such speed so effortlessly was absolutely terrifying!

Phantom winced at the sight. ”Tch, if I hadn’t been on guard and prepared, that knife definitely would’ve split my head open.”

”This is ’Snowy Owl,’ the fastest blade in the ’Night Watchmen,’ a madwoman who’d dare to draw her weapon even against the top dogs of the ’Psychological Society,’” Xiaoyun said, her eyes fixed on Snowy Owl with sparkling intensity, her tone unusually excited. ”She’s one of my favorites.”

Wang Yuyang nodded as well. ”That’s right, Yuqiang told me too... this one is basically the biggest headache inside the ’Psychological Society.’”

Comedian also inclined his head. ”Good thing she’s up against Mountaineer.”

”Yeah... lucky for us, she’s up against Mountaineer.”

Xiaoyun let out a sigh as well.

On the field, Snowy Owl’s strike had already landed solidly on Mountaineer’s neck.

Even though it was a sealed wooden knife, the blow had hacked deep into Mountaineer’s neck, severing most of it.

After all, while this ebony knife had no blade, it was no ordinary item.

[Wound-Soul Knife: A wooden knife crafted from the heart of a millennium ebony tree. Though it has no blade, its hardness far exceeds that of metal. It also inflicts additional slashing damage against targets with a ”soul,” ignoring their external defenses.]

[Note: Such perfect, top-tier material could become a divine weapon even if a cow chewed on it a couple of times. So next time, don’t come to me—you’re wasting my time. —Master Wei Jian.]

But...

Although Mountaineer’s neck had taken the blow cleanly, she showed no sign of falling.

While the God of Fairness and Judgment guaranteed no one would die on stage in this duel, receiving an unbearable fatal wound would still cause one to pass out.

Yet Mountaineer’s neck didn’t even bleed a single drop.

”Oh—Ha!”

Mountaineer even had the leisure to reach out and flick the ebony knife.

”Nice stuff. That hurt like hell.”

Snowy Owl gripped the wooden knife, staring at Mountaineer and cursing out loud.

”What kind of freak are you?!”

The moment she struck, she sensed something was wrong—as a seasoned blade user, even though this [Wound-Soul Knife] was her first time handling it and wasn’t quite comfortable, she had a general sense of what it felt like to cut into a human body.

But...

The instant she hit Mountaineer, she felt like she wasn’t cutting into a person at all.

No...

She didn’t even feel like she was cutting into a carbon-based organism.

The sensation was rough and foreign, like hacking into a stone pillar or an earthen wall—it cut through only because the target did have a soul, meeting the [Wound-Soul Knife]’s damage-trigger conditions.

So, Snowy Owl instinctively tried to pull the knife back—but what followed was exactly what happens when you cut into something abnormal.

The other’s neck had ”bitten” down on the blade.

Snowy Owl couldn’t even retract the knife into her [Item Space]—and of course, she didn’t dare to try.

In a duel of experts, daring to retract your main weapon meant waiting for your opponent to seize the opening, suppress you until you couldn’t breathe, and maybe never find another chance to draw it!

But what surprised Snowy Owl was that her opponent made no further moves either.

Mountaineer simply looked her up and down.

After a full several seconds of silence, she finally acted.

Mountaineer grasped the ebony knife and, inch by inch, pulled it out.

The wound on her neck didn’t heal either; it simply remained, looking like a gash.

But at the cross-section... there was a brilliant, dazzling gold.

No flesh, no blood vessels, no bones—only pure, shining gold.

Though she didn’t know what the other was planning, since her opponent didn’t counterattack, Snowy Owl wasted no time in striking again immediately.

If the neck wasn’t a vital point, then... the heart!

Shwoosh!

The ebony long blade pierced Mountaineer’s heart, but the same thing happened again.

Mountaineer once again pushed the long blade out, inch by inch, revealing another flash of golden light from the torn opening in her windbreaker.

This time, Snowy Owl didn’t recklessly swing again. Instead, she took a step back and spoke in confusion.

”What exactly are you trying to do?”

She could accept that her attacks were ineffective against her opponent—after all, players were never short of ”monsters.”

But why wasn’t the other side counterattacking?

”Because I don’t enjoy meaningless fights. I’m just using action to show you that your slashing is useless against me.”

”Honestly, physical attacks,” Mountaineer paused, then added, ”or rather, most physical-level attacks, have a very hard time affecting me.”

”If your methods are focused on this, I suggest you just surrender directly—wouldn’t it be better if we both save ourselves some unnecessary consumption?”