Survivorship Bias

Chapter 10: Have you ever seen a horror movie?

Yang Ming’s move was not unexpected for An Wujiu. 

For him, people with high force value but low survival value, especially those with low remaining health bars, had only one purpose, which was to become his weapon in duels.

There was more than one way to form alliances, including enticement and coercion.

Currently, the advantage of the whole situation was almost entirely in his hands. There were already people openly siding with him, such as Liu Chengwei, and the conversation he heard with Ueno in the corridor was also probably indicating a special relationship.

Someone like Ueno, who had a timid and cowardly personality, should have been the type of person Yang Ming cared about the least. However, he was willing to meet him privately, indicating a possible hidden connection between them.

But the specific details of who had a crush on whom were still unknown.

Clearly, Lao Yu and Shen Ti, who were pushed out by Yang Ming regardless of life or death, most likely didn’t have a hidden connection with him. If there was any, it could only be a black line.

Even if Shen Ti betrayed them and chose to duel with Yang Ming, with Yang Ming’s 3 health bars combined with Liu Chengwei’s 7  and Ueno’s 5, totaling 15 health bars, it would almost double Shen Ti’s health bars.

Shen Ti was a smart person who knew how to hide and wouldn’t do that.

“How about it? Unwilling?” Yang Ming approached him, “Could it be that you sympathize with him? Do you like his face?”

Shen Ti shrugged and hummed a little tune as he walked out of the darkness.

Seeing him step forward, An Wujiu’s emotions almost didn’t show any fluctuation.

Although they had spent some time together in the rest area’s corridor, this was ultimately a survival battle, and even the closest friends could clash in a duel, let alone strangers who had just met.

Being prudent and protecting oneself would never be wrong.

Shen Ti passed by An Wujiu, who was barely standing up, and with a jump, he directly entered the scarlet duel threshold.

Yang Ming’s mouth curled up, his eyes showing undisguised disdain. He glanced at An Wujiu, focusing on his innocent and kind-looking face, his gaze turning cold.

“Today’s duel threshold belongs to you.”

An Wujiu stepped slowly onto the crimson duel threshold and stood opposite Shen Ti. After clearly realizing that no one would help him, he strangely felt a sense of relief.

The mechanical face of Guanyin on the mask still had a compassionate expression. Shen Ti turned his head, shook his hands, and sat down to warm up earnestly.

An Wujiu, on the other hand, made no movements.

“He is going to get beaten again.” Wu You’s voice was very low, with a complicated tone. He looked at the eight complete health bars above Shen Ti’s head.

It was only the first day.

At this moment, Wu You truly understood what Zhong Yirou meant. If there were no duels and only the calculation of health bars to determine the winner, perhaps he would be willing to bet his only 4 health bars on An Wujiu as a favor. He might even be able to form a team if An Wujiu was really as strong as Yang Ming claimed.

However, in a real duel, there would be actual fighting and bloodshed, and there weren’t many medical supplies available. Rushing into a team without careful consideration would only bring trouble to oneself.

Moreover, now Shen Ti was on the opposite side, and Wu You had absolutely no reason to stand against him.

“Are there any other characters joining the duel?”

The system asked, and Wu You observed his surroundings. Only Lao Yu seemed to want to participate, but he hesitated for a long time before making any move.

“Can you still change your mind after joining?” Wu You asked on his behalf.

The system replied, “Choosing to join means determining your alliance; it cannot be changed. Please make your decision carefully.”

“Got it, I won’t join,” Wu You replied, and he saw Lao Yu retract his foot as well.

It was likely that his red thread was connected with someone inside the duel threshold, and from his perspective, it could only be connected to An Wujiu.

But in the current situation, even if he wanted to help, there were too many people on the other side, and joining the duel would definitely be a disadvantage.

“It’s confirmed that there are no other characters participating.”

After announcing the closure of the duel threshold, the weapon selection interface appeared above. The fate of the two individuals rolled in a small square and settled after a few seconds.

“This round’s weapons: Shen Ti — Long Sword; An Wujiu — Steel Club.”

In an instant, blue data fragments appeared in front of both individuals and gradually merged into their respective weapons.

Seeing Shen Ti’s long sword, An Wujiu’s hand trembled again, and even worse, his breathing became obstructed.

Liu Chengwei below the stage mocked mercilessly, “An Wujiu, you might as well just stand there and let Shen Ti slash you a few times to save some energy, lest you can’t even walk out of this room later.”

“This round of duel—”

Both of them reached out and grabbed their respective weapons.

Before the announcement from the holy voice, Shen Ti inside the duel threshold raised both hands, making a pause gesture.

“Wait.”

He broke the unprecedented silence and made a strange move that left everyone present puzzled, except for Zhong Yirou, who widened her eyes.

“This guy isn’t mute after all.”

An Wujiu was puzzled, but Shen Ti had already walked in front of him, and his guard rose. But he didn’t expect the other party to extend his arms toward him.

“Hug, let’s hug.” Shen Ti’s masked voice carried a hint of amusement; his tone was deep and his voice pleasant, leaving An Wujiu feeling at a loss, “Friendship first, competition second.”

With his injuries all over, he was gently embraced by Shen Ti. The other person was a whole head taller than him, and his arms completely encircled An Wujiu, patting him lightly on the back with those hands adorned with black gloves.

At first, everything seemed normal.

But then suddenly, something felt off.

In an instant, An Wujiu felt an unprecedented pain in his heart, as if it was being stabbed by sharp electric saws, rotating at high speed and tearing it into a bloody mess.

Shen Ti’s voice lingered like a ghost.

“I’ll make it quick.”

His chest felt as if it was ripped open, and his organs were exposed to the air, completely different from the previous injury on his wrist. He could vividly feel every bit of pain, just like a living person.

Seeing An Wujiu’s abnormal expression, Shen Ti was puzzled for a moment.

But it was only a few seconds.

In the half-second when An Wujiu was immersed in pain, the person who had just given him a friendly hug swiftly launched a sneak attack. The handle of the long sword struck hard on An Wujiu’s uninjured wrist.

The pain and muscle reflex made An Wujiu drop the steel club in his hand. Shen Ti lifted his foot and kicked, and the steel club bounced up, was caught by his hand, and was then thrown backward.

With the sound of the club hitting the floor, the health bar above An Wujiu’s head rapidly diminished as Shen Ti’s subsequent moves pushed him to a dead end.

“Why is he so powerful?” Ueno whispered.

“Strange…” everyone marveled, while behind the crimson light screen, Zhong Yirou revealed a contemplative look, “He’s attacking fiercely, but why doesn’t he use the blade?”

Although Shen Ti’s attacking pace was fast, it was different from Liu Chengwei’s lethal style. He didn’t seem to intend to take An Wujiu’s life.

The pain made An Wujiu’s body sluggish, forced to retreat continuously, and difficult to catch his breath. He didn’t understand why he didn’t feel such pain when he was attacked by Liu Chengwei before.

His previous wounds started to bleed again, dropping one drop after another onto the floor.

Enduring the intense pain as if his heart was being ripped apart, An Wujiu attempted to block Shen Ti’s attacks. However, with one hand against two arms, he estimated the distance and realized he was nearing the edge of the light screen.

Once he was backed up against it, he would have no room to maneuver.

An Wujiu raised his fist, and Shen Ti prepared to receive the blow with a leg sweep. However, in an instant, Shen Ti grasped only thin air, as An Wujiu’s attack was just a feint. An Wujiu swiftly kicked Shen Ti in the upper abdomen and immediately retreated, getting behind him.

Suddenly, Shen Ti’s neck was encircled from behind by An Wujiu’s arm. The strength of An Wujiu’s arm far exceeded Shen Ti’s imagination, almost choking him. “Wait, wait, I can’t breathe! Cough! Cough…”

Could his left hand also be a mechanical limb?

An Wujiu paid no attention and the strong smell of blood permeated the air. He kicked Shen Ti’s right hand, forcing him to release the grip on the long sword. The blade fell to the ground, emitting a buzzing metal sound.

An Wujiu predicted that Shen Ti would use an elbow strike, as he didn’t belong to the type of powerful players. So he retreated a step, preparing to pull Shen Ti down directly. However, he didn’t expect Shen Ti to grab his left hand, and with a powerful back throw, he smashed the heavily injured An Wujiu to the ground.

But An Wujiu had no other hand to block Shen Ti’s counterattack.

The impact caused his entire body to resonate like metal, and his eardrums felt like they were about to shatter. An Wujiu’s heart once again throbbed with pain.

His back was completely soaked in sweat.

“He’s left with only a sliver of health.” Ueno watched with a cold sweat, praying he would never be dragged into such a terrifying duel. “He’s going to get wiped out again.”

The next counter-attack point…

The closest thing to him was Shen Ti’s long sword.

But Shen Ti noticed this intention at the same time. He quickly squatted down, and the moment An Wujiu tried to stretch out his hand, Shen Ti firmly grabbed his long hair and yanked up the long sword.

Shen Ti’s wrist twisted a few times, and the ink-black long hair twined around his arm like vines. With a strong pull, Shen Ti dragged An Wujiu into his arms.

His chest was a vast horizon, and An Wujiu’s heart was a dying sun, beating fanatically and vividly.

Struggling to make one last sound.

Could it be that An Wujiu was really just a fragile, ordinary person?

Only the last sliver of health, let’s just finish it quickly.

He raised the long sword.

But in the next second, both the sword in his hand and the person in his arms…

Were gone.

He felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and with a cracking sound, Shen Ti’s wrist was dislocated. In the next moment, he felt the tightness in his left hand suddenly slackened.

The long black hair tightly grasped in his hand was cut off all at once.

Looking up, Shen Ti saw the person who was about to be cornered back at a safe distance. The other person’s eyebrows were slightly lowered, and their flowing hair partially covered their cheeks.

He heard sobbing and saw the corners of that person’s eyes turn red from crying, blood vessels under the skin bursting, turning the floral pattern on the neck into pink peonies.

Why is he crying?

An Wujiu’s tears fell beautifully, transparent droplets sliding to the corners of his mouth, flowing into the bloodstains, pale lips, and jawline. Everything was just perfect, even the wrinkled brows showed a delicate fragility.

“It… hurts…” He spoke slowly, raising his left hand back to wipe away the tears on his face.

At this moment, Shen Ti finally sensed the intense pain in his wrist, but he couldn’t release his fingers, still holding the cut hair of An Wujiu tightly.

“It hurts so much.”

With just a few words, his tone had completely changed.

In an instant, everyone noticed that something was wrong.

That clean and beautiful face now wore a crazed smile akin to that of a cult fanatic. He held the long sword that originally belonged to Shen Ti, and the tip of the blade was aimed straight at his throat.

“You like my hair so much, huh?”

“Let me give it to you as a souvenir, then.”

An Wujiu laughed in ridicule, unable to stop, his disheveled hair partially covering his eyes.

This laughter seemed more like a sinister sound, as if nails were scratching against metal, sending shivers down the spine.

This sudden change did not surprise Shen Ti; instead, he seemed somewhat delighted. He stared at An Wujiu, noticing blood dripping from his chin.

He was having a nosebleed.

An Wujiu became aware of it too, raising his hand to wipe away the blood with the back of his hand. The red blood smeared on his cheek, but he continued to smile. “Sorry, I seem to act like this when I get too excited.”

Then his smile abruptly stopped. With the blood-stained index finger of his left hand, he wiped away the remaining tears at the corners of his eyes. His tone became gentle, even with a hint of the pleasing mannerisms used by the weak.

“By the way, how do I look with this gentle appearance? Do you still like it?”

He raised his wrist.

Everyone outside the duel arena held their breath as they witnessed the action filled with killing intent.

The next second, the provocative blade cut off the connection. Shen Ti’s button fell to the ground, rolling with blood and landing at An Wujiu’s feet.

“I’m so annoying; it’s really strange how I turned into that just now.”

His smile faded from his face as he took a deep breath of the pungent air, exhaling sharply and pushing aside the hair that blocked his view, “Maybe I’m sick.”

After speaking, An Wujiu bit the end of the thread with his teeth, yanked it fiercely, and tightened the stitches of the wound without showing any expression of pain. Blood dripped down his pure white arm, falling to the ground, drop by drop.

But he didn’t even furrow his brow.

“It cost me 10,000 holy coins to fix this. It’s expensive to sew it again.” An Wujiu stared at the wound, muttering to himself.

Shen Ti stared at him.

This person was just as he had suspected, very unusual.

He wanted to try again, but before he could even make a move, An Wujiu anticipated his next action.

“Let’s continue later,” An Wujiu made a pausing gesture and then used his left hand to tidy his hair as if fixing his appearance. He took a few steps forward and looked at the onlookers through a blood-red light barrier. He wiped the corner of his mouth with his bloodied hand and smiled, thinking it was friendly, “Anyone got a cigarette?”

Everyone froze in place.

The person in front of them seemed like a completely different individual.

His face was no longer perpetually serene but now filled with dramatic vitality. With blood streaked across his face, he looked like a madman begging for a smoke at a life-and-death juncture.

Yet his face and body remained unchanged; he was still the same An Wujiu, and even his memories were coherent.

Ueno, who was closest to the duel threshold, retreated half a step, stuttering in response, “N-no, Mr. An.”

His gaze swept across the crowd, and An Wujiu’s face showed a disappointed expression. “None at all…?” He pouted and then added, “What about electronic ones? Amphetamines? If not, cocaine will do.”

Zhong Yirou noticed that his speech speed was different now, becoming smooth and fast.

Silence and retreat were the only responses An Wujiu received. Feeling bored, he rolled his eyes irritably, “No exchange items, huh? A bunch of poor…”

Before he finished speaking, An Wujiu suddenly turned around, evading Shen Ti’s attack as if he had predicted it.

The steel rod struck the closed light barrier of the duel threshold, causing the data grid to shatter like splintering glass, only to rapidly recover with a sizzling sound.

At this moment, An Wujiu finally faced his opponent head-on.

He raised his hand and rubbed his forehead as if recalling something, then walked toward Shen Ti. “Oh, I almost forgot. You just said you wanted a quick battle, right?”

With a smirk, An Wujiu’s peach blossom eyes formed a crescent moon shape. He strolled around Shen Ti and leaned close to his left ear, whispering as if explaining something to himself, “I’m sorry, my brain is a bit messed up, not working properly.”

His tone was filled with chilling amusement.

The next moment, An Wujiu appeared behind Shen Ti, pressing the tip of a knife against his spine. With a childlike expression, he asked an entirely unrelated question, “By the way, have you watched horror movies?”

“I particularly enjoy watching them, especially in those virtual reality theaters. It’s very thrilling, and you can feel the ghost right behind you.” An Wujiu even shivered as if it was terrifying to think about.

“People wearing masks,” he extended his finger, and the tip traced slowly over Shen Ti’s right shoulder, “do you know…the time-tested technique horror movies use to scare the audience?”

The entire duel room fell unusually quiet.

An Wujiu leaned close to Shen Ti’s right ear, answering on his own. 

“Jump scare.”

After saying that, An Wujiu suddenly stretched out both hands, making a frightening expression and imitating the roar of a wild beast, but it wasn’t scary at all; it was even somewhat cute.

Shen Ti, naturally, wasn’t scared by it.

“How was it?” An Wujiu stepped back to face Shen Ti again, hands behind his back. “Do I resemble it?”

“Resemble what?” Shen Ti’s voice was gloomy.

An Wujiu laughed, “Your sneak attack just now, isn’t it adorable? I haven’t encountered such a cute sneak attack in a long time.”

A child’s version of a jump scare.

He continued to laugh like a child amused by a small trick played by a comedian. His grip on the weapon loosened, and he seemed defenseless. Still chuckling, he said to Shen Ti, “Because you are so cute, let me teach you…”

Just as everyone didn’t know how to react, An Wujiu’s smile vanished in an instant.

“What a true jump scare is.”

A cold light flashed, and the silver long knife struck with a force and speed that was utterly irresistible and impossible to catch.

He raised his hand and fiercely hacked at Shen Ti’s head.

Crack.

The crack shattered.

Snap—

With a snap, the faux Guanyin figure made of biochemical materials and machinery split into two halves and fell to the ground, revealing an incredibly handsome face.

An Wujiu stared at him, his eyes filled with a pleasant surprise, but his expression was innocent.

“Oh, did I startle you?”

“I’m really sorry, but I was just curious about what you actually looked like from the first moment I saw you.”

His short black hair was disheveled from the battle, sticking to his forehead with sweat. His skin tone was slightly darker than An Wujiu’s, his facial structure was three-dimensional, and his features were refined and clean-cut. A blood-drop-sized ruby was embedded between his eyebrows, and coral pearl earrings dangled from his earlobes. His whole body exuded a strong, exotic aura.

The most unique thing was those pair of eyes, with the color of the pupils ranging between chrysoberyl and peridot, having a transparent and subtle blue-green hue.

Human beings often like to carve the gods they worship in such a manner.

With a slight smile, An Wujiu glanced at Shen Ti, who still tightly held his long hair, the cold gleam of the knife’s edge tracing along Shen Ti’s profile slowly, as if teasing.

“Chinese people believe in reciprocity. Since you’ve taken my hair…”

“Shouldn’t you give me a pair of eyes in return?”