Chapter 033: Rule Six

On a summer night, the sky was ablaze with stars, the Milky Way stretching deep and mysterious, a beauty beyond compare. Especially here in this mountain town, where the high altitude granted a broader view, it seemed as if the entire sky was blanketed with stars.

Li Gang had loved gazing up at that enticing sky since he was a child.

The countless stars sparkled like priceless gems, while the vast expanse above was a great black canvas, setting off the mysterious, endless sea of stars.

Li Gang loved watching the sea of stars at night—he never grew tired of it.

He always felt that humans—even the whole Earth—were so insignificant in the universe, so inconceivably small, a helpless kind of smallness.

So Li Gang lay there, looking up at the stars, reflecting on the events of the day, and slowly drifted off to sleep in the cool mountain breeze.

He was lying on the rooftop of the fitness center, trying to sleep.

But his rest was troubled; his brows were tightly knit, his forehead beaded with sweat, as though he was trapped in a terrible nightmare.

Suddenly, he jerked awake, sitting up and gasping for air, drenched in sweat.

Clearly, some horrific dream had startled him awake.

“So this is the psychological burden of killing for the first time?” Li Gang murmured to himself. He had indeed had a nightmare, haunted by images of Chen Feng, who had died under Lin Yan’s gun, and Jia Tianming, whose throat he himself had slit.

Those final moments before their deaths kept flashing uncontrollably through his mind.

He’d thought that in this post-apocalyptic life-and-death hunting game, he’d grown numb to much of it, that he could calmly take a life when necessary.

But Li Gang realized now how naïve he’d been. After actually killing, it was nothing like he’d imagined; he couldn’t just let it go as if nothing had happened.

He was just an ordinary man—somewhat lazy, a law-abiding citizen.

Now, morality and law no longer existed in this world, but he still struggled to cross the lines within his heart. He was not yet a hunter—or at least, not a qualified one.

It was not his abilities that were lacking, but his heart.

Li Gang took deep breaths again and again, slowly calming his mind, relaxing, and trying not to think about Chen Feng and Jia Tianming, whose lives had ended before him today.

“Lin Yan killed someone today too, but she seemed so calm. Was she really a cold-blooded killer before? What did she do in the past?”

Li Gang lay back down, hands behind his head, gazing at the stars, his thoughts drifting to Lin Yan.

Though Lin Yan denied being an assassin, Li Gang couldn’t help but make the connection.

Suddenly, a voice echoed around him.

He could never mistake that voice—it was the voice of the God.

But this time, besides the usual calm, there was a trace of anger in that divine tone.

“Announcement to all players! Announcement to all players! Player number 3467 has violated the rules by using a large-scale, high-destruction weapon, seriously undermining the entertainment value and relative fairness of this hunting game.

Therefore, this God has decided to halve all four basic attributes of the main offender as punishment.

Additionally, accomplice number 7845 will have one-tenth of all four basic attributes deducted as punishment.

If there is a repeat offense, whether main or accomplice, they will be dealt with directly according to Rule Six. This God will now issue Rule Six to every participant; please check your system.”

The announcement echoed around Li Gang three times before fading away.

He was already on his feet. When he heard the notice, the first thing he thought of was the soldier flying a fighter jet over his head that morning.

“Could it be him? Halving all basic attributes—that would be terrible if it’s him.”

Li Gang frowned, silently praying for that soldier from his own country.

At that moment, footsteps sounded in the stairwell, and then Lin Yan appeared.

She looked at Li Gang and said, “I knocked on your room but you weren’t there. The tracking system showed you were up here, so I hurried over. Why are you out here at night instead of sleeping in your room?”

The moment the divine announcement rang out, Lin Yan had woken instantly and gone looking for Li Gang. When she found his room empty, she’d feared he’d left on his own, but the tracker showed he was still nearby, so she located him precisely.

Li Gang saw a trace of concern in Lin Yan’s eyes, warming his heart. He said, “I couldn’t sleep, so I came up here for some night air and to look at the stars.”

“The large-scale weapon use—3467 and 7845 are most likely soldiers. They must have gained access to a military arsenal or command center and used overwhelming force against their enemies, provoking the God’s displeasure.

Let’s check what this Rule Six actually is.”

Lin Yan nodded at his words and shifted the topic to the divine announcement.

She brought up the virtual screen and opened the game rules interface.

Sure enough, under Rule Five, there was now a new supplement.

“Supplementary Rule:

Rule Six: All players are prohibited from using large-scale, high-destruction weapons. Violators will be erased on the spot.

This God reminds you: Artificial intelligence will automatically detect any prohibited weapons you use. If you persist after an AI warning, don’t blame this God for being merciless!”

The first five rules remained unchanged.

“Heh, with their basic attributes halved by the God, even the strongest will be brought crashing down to earth,” Lin Yan chuckled at the end, clearly relishing the misfortune of the two violators.

But when she looked at Li Gang, who was still frowning, her smile faded. “Li Gang, what’s the matter? Why do you look so glum?”

Li Gang forced a smile and replied, “Sister Lin, I have a good idea who the violator is—most likely one of our country’s soldiers.”

He then told Lin Yan about the fighter jet marked with the Hua Xia flag that had flown overhead that morning.

A player who could fly a fighter jet openly must be a soldier—an exceptional one at that. And since it was a Hua Xia jet, there was a ninety-nine percent chance the pilot was from Hua Xia.

Connecting this with the divine announcement and new rule, it was highly probable—more than seventy percent—that the violator was this soldier.

“Coming from the south… Who could it be?” Lin Yan fell silent after hearing this, her face thoughtful and serious, her earlier amusement gone.