Search Bookmarks Jump: Comments
You have no alerts.
    Header Background Image
    Chapter Index
    Back to Story
    PreviousNext
    My Romance Game Updated

    My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 10

    by Little Panda

    Bottom Line

    The question of gender was just a fleeting thought. Ren Chenxi’s attention quickly returned to the scene below the window.

    The men were still talking.

    “You idiot! At a time like this, you’re still worried about whether she’s pretty or not!”

    “But Big Bro, that broad​1 is really pretty! Way better looking than these ones, anyway. Since she’s so tough, why don’t we…”

    The man’s voice trailed off, and whatever else he said was too quiet for Ren Chenxi to hear. All she knew was that as the two men spoke, one of the two remaining yellow dots​2 on her mini-map​3 suddenly turned red.​4

    Huh? Just because I’m better looking than her, she’s hostile toward me?

    Ren Chenxi was baffled.

    Ignoring the woman who had suddenly ‘defected,’ Ren Chenxi kept her eyes glued to the window. Soon, a head popped up again, but it ducked back down before she had a chance to act.

    “Hey! Woman!” another man’s voice called from below. “Seeing as… seeing as you’re a woman, and an esper,​5 we don’t want to make things difficult for you. We don’t want to be your enemy, either. How about this: raise your hands, walk a little closer, and we can have a nice chat.”

    Hearing the man gaining an inch and wanting a foot,​6 Ren Chenxi’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. She complied, raising both hands and taking two steps closer to the window.

    After she did, the head that popped up from the window lingered a little longer before sinking back down. “Throw away the rock in your right hand, too!”

    Just the rock in my right hand? Can’t they see the card pinched between my left index and middle fingers? Or do they just not care about a card that looks completely harmless?

    Ren Chenxi didn’t have time to dwell on it. She obediently tossed the rock aside. At the sound of it hitting the ground, two heads appeared in the window at once. They gave her a satisfied nod, but their gazes grew bolder, their smiles turning lewd.

    “That’s more like it. I’d advise you not to fight us. We have a Fire-System Esper​7 and a Strength-Type Esper.​8 And my ability? It’s to harden​9 my entire body! Don’t think a single rock from you can do any damage to me!”

    Tsk. What an idiot.

    Ren Chenxi frowned in disgust. With a flick of her left hand, the Flash Card​10 spun through the air, flying straight toward the bald man​11 on the left. But the two men in the window acted as if they hadn’t seen it, their leering smiles fixed on her.

    “Aaargh—my eyes!!!”

    Another intense flash of light erupted, followed by a chorus of screams from inside. The two heads in the window ducked down again.

    Ren Chenxi had kept a distance of about seven meters between herself and the window, so she was completely unaffected. But before she could make her next move, the door of the bus beside her slid open with a whoosh. The “Corpse-Collecting Girl,” who had been hiding inside all this time, charged toward the open supermarket entrance, a Big cleaver in hand.

    “Watch out, you only have 20 seconds!” Ren Chenxi shouted a reminder to her.

    The Corpse-Collecting Girl didn’t look back. She ran straight into the supermarket, and after a few more blood-curdling screams, she emerged, pushing four girls out ahead of her. She was holding a bloody cleaver and urged them to get on the bus quickly. Among them was the red dot.

    Ren Chenxi gave the girl marked as a red dot on her mini-map a long, deep look before slowly walking toward the supermarket entrance. When the Corpse-Collecting Girl saw her approach, she gave her a grateful nod. Ren Chenxi waved her hand, signaling for her to step back.

    Calculating the time… the blinding effect should be wearing off soon. Ren Chenxi stood a few steps from the supermarket entrance and glanced sideways into the store. She saw that the men who had been cowering under the window had retreated in the chaos to a corner on the other side. From her angle, her gaze met the bald man’s ferocious stare. She didn’t miss the faint red glow gathering in his right hand. Moving a step faster than him, Ren Chenxi threw another Flash Card.

    After the game update, the system had added a new Combat Mode​12 for players. Not only could Ren Chenxi see the enemy’s health bar,​13 but she could also lock a targeting cursor​14 on them, which automatically displayed the distance between them.

    Right now, the distance between her and the bald man was six meters. As he was blinded once again, Ren Chenxi showed no mercy, continuously hurling sharp rocks at his head. Every single one struck him squarely. After five seconds, his face was a bloody mess, and the health bar above his head was nearly empty.

    Smack! Another rock, the size of two fists, smashed into him. That round, bald head finally caved in. At the same time, his body slumped against the sturdy man beside him, who was still clutching his eyes in agony. The health bar above his head was finally empty.

    The sturdy man, blind to what had happened, shoved the body away in a panic the moment it leaned against him. He had just boasted about his full-body hardening ability, and right now, his entire form was covered in a thick, brown, rock-like layer of skin for protection.

    Ren Chenxi wasn’t afraid of this hardening esper, nor was she afraid of the Strength-Type Esper with the Shamate​15 hairstyle next to him. As long as she took out the bald man who could attack from a distance with fire, the remaining three espers in the room would be easy to deal with.

    Yes, there had originally been three men, but the other two, who were likely normal people, had already been dealt with by the Corpse-Collecting Girl’s cleaver.

    “Lao… Lao Er!​16 You bitch!!!”

    When the blinding effect wore off, the sturdy man naturally saw the dead bald man. His eyes instantly turned red with fury as he charged toward Ren Chenxi.

    “Come on! Laozi will fight you to the death!​17 You really think your rocks are harder than my fists?!”

    “Be careful!!!” The Corpse-Collecting Girl, standing by Ren Chenxi, grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back. “His whole body is petrified!​18 His defense is really high!”

    His whole body is petrified? How high is his defense? In Ren Chenxi’s eyes, she could see not only the sturdy man’s health bar but also the level next to it. A 3rd-Order Esper.​19 Well, treating him like a 3rd-order zombie should be about right, then.

    Using the force of the Corpse-Collecting Girl’s pull, Ren Chenxi took a few steps back. At the same time, an Explosion Card​20 appeared between her right fingertips. Perhaps because of his full-body Petrification, the sturdy man wasn’t very fast. He had just charged out of the supermarket entrance when the Explosion Card in Ren Chenxi’s hand spun through the air and shot toward his head.

    BOOM!

    After the explosion, the sturdy man’s headless body fell heavily to the ground.

    So the Explosion Card can ignore the defense of not only zombies below the 3rd-order, but espers below the 3rd-order as well.

    “Long… Long-ge—​21”

    Witnessing the sturdy man’s stone head explode, the only one left in the supermarket, the Shamate esper, was so terrified he dropped to his knees. Long-ge had been the strongest esper on their team, but now… he’d been so easily headshot by this woman?

    The Shamate’s gaze toward Ren Chenxi was filled with terror. Their team of five espers had basically walked all over everyone on their journey here. Who would have thought they’d run into such a hard iron plate​22 today? Even though his brothers were all dead, the Shamate didn’t want to die!

    “Wo- no, Big… Big Sis…​23 I’m sorry, please don’t kill me… It’s my fault, I had eyes but didn’t recognize Mount Tai…​24 Spare my life, Big Sis! No, Great-aunt,​25 I’ll kowtow to you…” The Shamate sobbed as he began banging his head on the ground. Thump, thump, thump.

    Ren Chenxi ignored his kowtowing, her gaze cold as she stared at him and asked a single question:

    “Have you eaten people?”

    Even in the apocalypse, Ren Chenxi believed a person had to have their own bottom line.​26 If they crossed it, she could no longer see them as human.

    “Ah… I… no, I…”

    Faced with her question, the Shamate stammered, never daring to give a straight answer.

    “He has!” the Corpse-Collecting Girl behind Ren Chenxi answered for him.

    “Not only has he eaten people, but even when they had plenty of food, this group of beasts​27 still insisted on eating people!” Another girl got off the bus, glaring at the Shamate with hatred. Gritting her teeth,​28 she added, word by word.

    This girl was still a yellow dot on the mini-map. But what concerned Ren Chenxi more was the long, freshly scabbed scar on her face. She wore tattered, grayish-brown clothes, torn in many places and covered in loose threads. The gray was the color of accumulated filth, not the original color of the fabric. Even her beautifully shaped eyes were filled with an ashen despair.​29 Seeing her like this, Ren Chenxi knew she must have been through too much to ever trust anyone again. Whatever. At least she isn’t hostile toward me right now. That’s better than the red dot hiding by the bus door.

    “These people stole our food, took our water, and my friends… Along the way, whenever they played a girl to death, they would eat hot pot​30 that same night. They ate in front of us, and they even praised the taste in front of us, saying how fragrant, how tender, how delicious it was… Why don’t you tell us what kind of meat you were boiling in that hot pot!”

    “I… I…” Meeting the yellow dot girl’s murderous gaze, the Shamate trembled with fear and fell backward, scrambling away on his hands. “I didn’t want to… It- it was Long-ge! Long-ge and the others forced me to eat with them…”

    “Hah. Forced you? But you seemed so happy, so delighted to be eating it!” the yellow dot girl sneered.

    “I- no, that’s not it, I was pretending… If I didn’t act like that, I… I… Long-ge would have killed me…”

    “But along the way, you killed plenty of girls yourself, didn’t you? You’re a Strength-Type Esper. One little ‘accident’ and someone dies! You knew your own strength, but you kept doing it, again and again. First, you’d ‘accidentally’ break the girls’ arms and legs, then you’d crush their ribs, and finally, you’d watch with satisfaction as they coughed up blood and died in agony! You were doing it on purpose!!!”

    With every sentence, the yellow dot girl’s voice grew louder, until by the end, she was practically screaming.

    After hearing her accusation, the Corpse-Collecting Girl muttered softly, “That’s basically sadistic murder,​31 isn’t it? He’s really sick!”

    As for Ren Chenxi, she was already looking at the Shamate esper as if he were a dead man.

    “N-no… I didn’t mean to… I, I, I, I…” Seeing the blatant killing intent in Ren Chenxi’s eyes, the Shamate could only be thick-skinned and shameless,​32 refusing to admit his crimes. “L-let me go! I was forced, I was forced, I tell you…”

    “Forget it. Why waste your breath​33 on him? Just kill him, right?” The Corpse-Collecting Girl shot the Shamate a disgusted look and turned to ask Ren Chenxi.

    Just then, the yellow dot girl spoke again.

    “Can I be the one to kill him?”

    TOC

    Footnotes

    1. Hanzi: 娘们 | Pinyin: niáng men | Context: A colloquial and often derogatory term for a woman, similar to “broad” or “dame” in English. It carries a rough, unrefined tone.
    2. Hanzi: 黄点 | Pinyin: huáng diǎn | Context: In the game’s UI, a yellow dot on the mini-map indicates a neutral entity—someone who is neither an ally nor an enemy at that moment.
    3. Hanzi: 小地图 | Pinyin: xiǎo dì tú | Context: A common UI element in video games that displays a smaller version of the main map, showing the player’s immediate surroundings, allies, and enemies.
    4. Hanzi: 红点 | Pinyin: hóng diǎn | Context: In the game’s UI, a red dot on the mini-map indicates a hostile entity or an enemy.
    5. Hanzi: 异能者 | Pinyin: yì néng zhě | Context: A person who has awakened a superpower (异能, yì néng). This is a common term in sci-fi and apocalypse genres.
    6. Hanzi: 得寸进尺 | Pinyin: dé cùn jìn chǐ | Context: A chengyu (idiom) describing someone who is greedy and becomes more demanding after their initial requests are met.
    7. Hanzi: 火系异能者 | Pinyin: huǒ xì yì néng zhě | Context: An esper whose powers are based on the element of fire.
    8. Hanzi: 力量型异能者 | Pinyin: lì liàng xíng yì néng zhě | Context: An esper whose powers are based on superhuman strength.
    9. Hanzi: 硬化 | Pinyin: yìng huà | Context: The esper ability to make one’s skin as hard as rock, providing a strong defense.
    10. Hanzi: 闪光卡 | Pinyin: shǎn guāng kǎ | Context: An N-Rank card that causes the target to emit a blinding light, stunning them temporarily.
    11. Hanzi: 光头 | Pinyin: guāng tóu | Context: A common descriptor or nickname for a bald person.
    12. Hanzi: 战斗模式 | Pinyin: zhàn dòu mó shì | Context: A new game system feature that displays combat-related UI elements like enemy health bars, distance, and targeting cursors.
    13. Hanzi: 血条 | Pinyin: xuè tiáo | Context: Literally “blood strip.” A common gaming term for the health bar or HP meter that visually represents a character’s remaining health.
    14. Hanzi: 光标 | Pinyin: guāng biāo | Context: Literally “light marker.” The targeting reticle or cursor used to select an enemy in the game’s new combat mode.
    15. Hanzi: 杀马特 | Pinyin: shā mǎ tè | Context: A transliteration of the English word “smart.” It refers to a Chinese subculture from the 2000s known for eccentric and exaggerated hairstyles, heavy makeup, and flamboyant fashion, often compared to visual kei or scene aesthetics.
    16. Hanzi: 老二 | Pinyin: Lǎo Èr | Context: Literally “Old Second.” A common nickname for the second-born child in a family or the second-in-command in a group.
    17. Hanzi: 老子跟你拼了 | Pinyin: lǎo zi gēn nǐ pīn le | Context: A very aggressive and arrogant declaration. 老子 (lǎo zi), literally “old master,” is a boastful way of saying “I,” implying superiority. 拼了 (pīn le) means to risk everything or fight to the death.
    18. Hanzi: 石化 | Pinyin: shí huà | Context: Literally “stone-化 (-ize),” meaning to turn into stone. It’s used here to describe the effect of the hardening ability, which makes his skin like rock.
    19. Hanzi: 3阶异能者 | Pinyin: 3 jiē yì néng zhě | Context: An esper who has reached the third “order” or “tier” of power. The number indicates their rank in the power hierarchy.
    20. Hanzi: 爆裂卡 | Pinyin: bào liè kǎ | Context: An R-Rank card that causes the part of the target it hits to violently explode.
    21. Hanzi: 龙哥 | Pinyin: Lóng gē | Context: Long is the man’s name, meaning “Dragon.” Ge (哥) is a suffix meaning “older brother,” used here as an honorific for a leader.
    22. Hanzi: 硬铁板 | Pinyin: yìng tiě bǎn | Context: A metaphor for an unexpectedly tough opponent or a difficult situation that one cannot easily overcome.
    23. Hanzi: 大姐 | Pinyin: dà jiě | Context: Literally “big older sister.” A respectful way to address a woman who is older or in a position of power. It can also be used to show deference or plead for mercy.
    24. Hanzi: 有眼不识泰山 | Pinyin: yǒu yǎn bù shí Tài Shān | Context: Literally: “to have eyes but not recognize Mount Tai.” A chengyu (idiom) used as a self-deprecating apology for failing to recognize someone’s importance or power. Mount Tai is one of China’s most sacred mountains.
    25. Hanzi: 姑奶奶 | Pinyin: gū nǎi nai | Context: Literally “paternal great-aunt.” It’s an exaggeratedly respectful and somewhat archaic term used to beg for mercy, similar to calling someone “milady” or “your grace” in a desperate situation.
    26. Hanzi: 底线 | Pinyin: dǐ xiàn | Context: It refers to a personal moral limit, a boundary that one will not cross.
    27. Hanzi: 畜牲 | Pinyin: chù sheng | Context: Literally “livestock” or “animal.” It is a severe insult used to describe someone as inhuman, cruel, and without morals.
    28. Hanzi: 咬牙切齿 | Pinyin: yǎo yá qiè chǐ | Context: Literally: “gritting teeth and grinding molars.” A chengyu (idiom) that vividly describes a state of extreme anger or hatred.
    29. Hanzi: 灰败 | Pinyin: huī bài | Context: Literally “gray and defeated.” This term describes both a physical color (ashen, dull gray) and a mood of hopelessness, decay, and utter despair.
    30. Hanzi: 涮火锅 | Pinyin: shuàn huǒ guō | Context: The act of cooking and eating hot pot, a communal meal where diners cook raw ingredients in a simmering pot of broth at the table. Its usage here in the context of cannibalism makes it particularly gruesome.
    31. Hanzi: 虐杀 | Pinyin: nüè shā | Context: To kill someone in a cruel, torturous way, often for the perpetrator’s pleasure. It implies a level of sadism beyond a simple killing.
    32. Hanzi: 死皮赖脸 | Pinyin: sǐ pí lài liǎn | Context: Literally: “dead skin and shameless face.” A chengyu (idiom) for being shamelessly persistent or brazen, especially when begging, making excuses, or denying wrongdoing.
    33. Hanzi: 废话 | Pinyin: fèi huà | Context: Literally “waste talk.” Refers to nonsense, useless words, or pointless chatter.

    0 Comments

    Note