Axel remained calm and analyzed the situation.
The woman hadn’t recognized him—if she had, she wouldn’t have addressed him as "Player 00497."
That meant he still had a way out.
"As long as she never sees my face during this match, I’ll be fine."
"The best way to ensure that? Separate immediately!"
"Besides, teammates in this game are more of a burden than anything else. They steal your equipment, your kills, and make it impossible to grow properly."
Axel made up his mind.
At that moment, he heard light footsteps approaching from behind.
The ice-cold woman was walking toward him.
As she moved closer, her chilling voice rang out:
"I already took down one enemy just now. For this match, you’ll assist me. Equipment, skills, and kills—I get first pick."
Her tone was cold and commanding.
She spoke with the undeniable expectation of obedience.
But before she could get too close—
"Hahaha…"
Axel walked forward into the ruined coliseum, deliberately avoiding her approach.
At the same time, he forced out a raspy, eerie laugh, making his voice sound shadowy and unsettling.
Then, in a hoarse, croaking tone, he spoke:
"I think… it’s best if we split up."
As soon as he said that, he spotted a pile of supplies sitting atop a broken stone pillar within the ruins.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the supplies.
The woman behind him paused briefly, then replied in her usual frosty tone:
"Fine. I’d rather not have you slowing me down anyway."
She said she would split up.
But as Axel listened carefully to the footsteps behind him, he realized—she was still following him!
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Of course, she wasn’t as fast as he was.
Axel’s Agility stat was already at 14 points, 4 points higher than the average person!
Even if this woman had won matches before and used her survival points to boost her agility, she still couldn’t keep up with him.
But this gave Axel an important realization.
Clearly, gene-enhanced attributes carried over into the game.
"Looks like I really do need to enhance my genes."
"If my base stats fall behind when entering the game, I could end up losing right from the start."
As the cold woman continued to trail behind him, Axel kept up his hoarse act and asked:
"Didn’t we agree to split up?"
She responded flatly, "Splitting up doesn’t mean I can’t compete for supplies."
So that was it.
She had her eyes on the supplies in front of Axel.
Too bad for her—he was closer!
Within seconds, Axel reached the supply pile and grabbed everything.
He thought for a moment, then chuckled in his raspy voice:
"Since we’re teammates, I’ll leave you a bottle of milk for nourishment."
With that, he casually placed a bottle of milk on the stone pillar.
The cold woman was on the verge of exploding!
Nourishment?
Nourish what?!
Did she look like she needed nourishment?!
But she was slower than him, and all she could do was watch helplessly as Axel looted everything else!
Her voice turned icy with rage as she growled:
"Even if you’re my teammate, I swear—I’ll kill you!"
Axel, still using his hoarse voice, replied lazily:
"Do as you please."
For Axel, this cold woman was practically his enemy outside of the game. So any chance to annoy her was pure satisfaction!
Without wasting another second, he grabbed his loot and dashed away like a blur.
His speed suddenly skyrocketed!
[Skill Acquired: Sprint (F-Rank)]
- Effect: Increases speed by 50% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Naturally, he immediately learned it.
At the same time, he found a bronze longsword with +15 Attack Power and equipped it right away.
Just then, the 30-second mark of the match passed.
Axel’s SSS-Rank talent, Insane Evolution, activated for the first time!
"Let’s go—Insane Evolution!"
He chose to evolve Sprint.
[Skill Evolution Successful!]
[Sprint +1 (F-Rank): Speed increased by 100% for 7 seconds. Cooldown: 13 seconds.]
The boost was insane!
Not only did the speed double, but the duration increased by 2 seconds, and the cooldown was reduced by 2 seconds!
"If I evolve this skill just one more time, the duration will be longer than the cooldown…"
"That means I can keep this speed permanently activated!"
Axel grinned.
This Insane Evolution talent was too powerful!
With his newly enhanced speed, he vanished in a flash, disappearing completely from the cold woman’s view.
"Escape successful."
"Next step—I need to find either an invisibility skill or a mask to conceal my identity. That way, I can kill her without her ever knowing it was me."
Axel shook his head.
Finding such items depended purely on luck.
For now, he continued scouting through the ruined coliseum.
Since the mini-map displayed his teammate’s location, he made sure to avoid her at all costs while exploring freely.
Fortunately, the cold woman didn’t chase after him.
Even though she had threatened to kill him, she knew perfectly well that following him around wouldn’t make her stronger.
Axel had already snatched most of the equipment, skills, and kills. If she continued chasing him, she would fall behind even more!
Besides, she still had no idea that Player 00497 was actually Axel himself!
30 seconds later…
Axel left the ruined coliseum and entered the ancient city ruins—an area with even more complex terrain.
Just then, his Insane Evolution talent activated again!
[Skill Evolution Successful!]
[Sprint +2 (F-Rank): Speed increased by 150% for 9 seconds. Cooldown: 11 seconds.]
His speed boosted even further!