Chapter 234: Balance of the Scales 15
Like most players, Augus had not anticipated the tremendous impact this game would have on the world and its participants. He only had a vague sense that his life would change because of this game.
He lurked in the forums, reading many posts, but unfortunately, most players were as confused as he was. The collective bewilderment only started to lift when they entered the game.
They were participating in a game, but also stepping into a new world filled with crises.
The memories of the first week in the game were a blackout, untraceable and unreadable.
After returning from the game, his memories became clearer during the next week.
As soon as Augus returned, he checked the forum and was struck by the news, “Remover 233 kills Proxy.” This news hit him hard; the pride he felt entering that world suddenly faded. He felt defeated, outdone by Remover 233.
He was mad; others were crazier than him. He was strong; others were stronger. He had killed several people, yet another player had become the focus of the forum discussions by killing.
At the same time, he felt that Remover 233 was someone of a similar nature. Excitement surged within him, igniting a strong curiosity to discover who this player was that stirred up such a storm.
He made a decision: he could not lose to Remover 233.
For every person Remover 233 killed, he would aim to double that; he wanted his reputation to overshadow hers.
Killing ordinary people was meaningless; only killing other players would garner forum announcements.
Augus began scouting for prey.
Augus had an advantage: he already possessed the extraordinary abilities of “Enemy Identification” and “Mental Command,” with one at E-rank and the other at D-rank.
First, he used his Enemy Identification ability to locate a target. This target possessed extraordinary abilities and, under the vision granted by Enemy Identification, the brilliance emanating from the target distinguished them from ordinary people. This extraordinary target led him to another—the player’s friend who also participated in Crimson Soil.
He spent a long time tracking the targets, understanding their patterns of activity and whereabouts, and then he decided it was time to strike.
Killing them normally was too boring; Augus planned to try something more interesting with his methods and experiment with his abilities.
Using “Mental Command,” Augus controlled the extraordinary target. The target’s level was too low to resist his manipulation. Augus forced that player to kill his friend, relishing the pain and despair in his eyes before finally taking that player’s life himself.
When the system notification flashed before him, Augus trembled with excitement.
How would the forum evaluate him? With fear, worship, or curses?
He couldn’t afford to experiment with his newly acquired E-rank “Material Reorganization” and immediately opened his mobile phone to check the forum. To his surprise, the forum had already reported on Remover 233’s murder information, several hours ago, just when he had been busy stalking and hadn’t checked the forum.
He was once again a step behind Remover 233!
Augus’s expression darkened instantly. At this moment, police cars had surrounded his location. With his extraordinary abilities, he hardly even bothered to hide the gunshots; ordinary people found it difficult to harm him.
Indeed, he walked out of the encirclement unscathed, while the officers affected by his abilities stood there blankly, not even realizing he had left.
Again, he traversed to the Second World, memories blank.
Then he returned to the First World. This time, he was much calmer because his abilities had upgraded, and he had killed players in the Second World.
He had robbed a sum of money, left his living area, and began wandering through various cities, looking for hunting targets based on clues from the forum and traces on the internet.
Like a wolf with sharp senses, he truly found several careless players, among whom were some who had already awakened.
But he did not kill them; instead, he interrogated them to extract information about their activities in the Second World. He imprisoned the players, quietly waiting for the day of return.
Again, he traversed to the Second World, memories blank.
Returning from the Second World, the fragmented memories reconnected.
Augus had grown stronger again; this time he gained many new abilities, and the previously obtained mental and material reorganization abilities had significantly improved.
Among the players he had imprisoned, a few suddenly died upon returning, while some remained alive, but their mental states had undergone subtle changes…
Augus didn’t concern himself with the players who were still alive.
News of the second batch of beta testers arrived one after another. In the Second World, he completed a task and earned the personal title of “Betrayer.”
With this title, he unlocked a personal section alongside Black Snake’s. At the same time, he posted a recruitment thread, inviting any Removers to join his thread.
Augus sifted through his personal section to find “like-minded” individuals, eagerly anticipating Remover 233’s participation.
Indeed, Remover 233 contacted him. Although they spoke different languages, it was a minor issue.
During that week of his return, Augus continued his hunt. He even specifically controlled an ordinary player, ordering them to post on the forum, masquerading as seeking companions to extract other players’ personal information. Once he confirmed the personal details, Augus would follow up to take control of them.
Like last time, he did not kill those individuals but instead placed them under house arrest.
Traverse.
Return.
The players detained by Augus were the same as the previous week; a few directly died, and a few underwent changes in mental state.
Augus’s abilities had grown stronger.
He casually used his extraordinary ability “Material Reorganization” in the outskirts, shaping matter according to his will. He touched a large tree, and its bark disintegrated into dust within moments. In less than two seconds, the entire tree had been reduced to nothing.
Using material reorganization on living beings yielded equally impressive results. This ability operated at the atomic level; anything he touched could either be obliterated or reformatted into another form.
He continued his “routine.”
Communicating with other Removers on the forum, locating players, imprisoning and interrogating them, awaiting the opportunity to traverse back to the Second World.
Engaging with other Removers was an intriguing affair; Augus enjoyed chatting with people.
In his personal section, there were a total of eight Removers.
Regrettably, those who shared his aspirations were few.
Among the beta testers, there were four Removers.
Remover 4 was reckless and foolish, with a weak mind.
Remover 5116 was overly cautious and timid. When Augus advised 5116 to kill someone to improve himself, he flatly refused, and there was no trace of him on the forum.
Remover 9908, while mentally capable, had yet to achieve anything of significance, essentially rendering him an invisible presence on the forum.
The only one Augus truly regarded was Remover 233.
The second batch of beta testers also comprised four players.
Remover 10050 faced misfortune, getting captured just two weeks into the game. He lost contact with Augus. While he was fortunate not to die, things could turn dire for him afterward.
Remover 12345 was a coward, having never spoken on the forum since joining, even ignoring Augus’s private messages. Had he not genuinely been a Remover, Augus would have considered booting him from his personal section.
Remover 58691 was afraid to kill; another coward.
Remover 99660 seemed to be in a state of self-preservation, constantly cautious and unable to do anything.
Augus’s greatest interest remained with Remover 233. He chatted with her, and she would reply almost instantly, keeping pace with his thoughts. Augus was very pleased with this formidable rival, privately convinced that Remover 233 was his destined opponent.
His work of capturing and imprisoning players continued until his return last week.
It seemed that Remover 9908 had finally resolved to break through her own limits. She contacted Augus through the forum and proposed a deal.
The content of the deal was that Augus would provide her with a player possessing flesh regeneration abilities, and in return, she would help Augus smuggle himself into the Federation’s secret research institute to harvest abilities. According to Remover 9908, the Federation’s secret research institute harbored various models of experimental subjects, and the extraordinary abilities of these subjects were extremely valuable, forming one of the Federation’s greatest assets.
Augus was tempted, and after some negotiation, they reached an agreement.
That week, the emergence of the Dark Realm caught everyone off guard.
Tonglin City became a gathering place for players, but in reality, the emergence of the Dark Realm was not limited to Tonglin City; there were three locations globally. However, since Chinese players were the most numerous, concentrated, and united, many players flocked there.
The other two Dark Realm emergence locations abroad were daunting: one in a war-torn region, the other amidst chaos in Latin America.
After Remover 4’s death, Augus pondered for a long time, feeling a slight stirring within him. He also wanted to go to Tonglin City, where there were more players. Most importantly, he learned from the forum that Remover 233 might be in Tonglin City.
After traversing once more and returning, the time had come to this week.
He successfully captured a Heterogeneous Blooded, having planned his route and journey to smuggle into Tonglin City.
However, this time, his purpose for going to Tonglin City had become less pure.
He was not there for trade, nor to confront Remover 233, but rather… to make a choice.
“Red Gem or Blue Gem, which one do you choose?” he murmured softly, “Is this truly a choice and not a trap?”
…
Kui Xin was drenched in cold sweat as she broke free from Augus’s memories; her temples throbbed painfully.
She didn’t have time to rest and quickly organized her thoughts.
There was a crucial piece of information! Augus was organized in the Second World!
He acted on behalf of an organization that seemed to constantly provide him with extraordinary beings to target.
The evidence lies in the fact that Augus rarely killed players directly after capturing them in the First World; instead, he would gather intelligence from them, including their activities and identities in the Second World… The organization collaborating with Augus could be pinpointing one player after another based on the information he provided.
They filtered players, retaining usable ones for brainwashing while directly killing off those deemed useless.
Providing information earned Augus “rewards,” which were extraordinary abilities. Thus, every time he traversed back from the Second World, Augus experienced leaps in growth; this also explained why he could accurately identify player after player in the Second World. His intel sources came not only from himself but also from the organization behind him!
An organization capable of providing Augus with information and extraordinary abilities must be powerful. Who could it be? The Federation or a cult? Surely not Mechanized Dawn?
Augus did not believe in gods, nor did he seem insane; perhaps the people behind him were not a secret cult… Could it be the Federation? The Federation indeed had such capabilities, but did they really need to rely on Augus to do their dirty work? The Federation had the ability to eliminate players on their own.
Augus may not be so easily controlled; Kui Xin doubted that someone like him would willingly become another’s pawn. Unless the organization behind Augus held onto his weaknesses, finding a way to control him…
The organization behind Augus serves as the first point of intel.
The purpose of Augus’s visit to Tonglin City would be the second point of intel.
He may have clarity on part of the secrets behind the emergence of the Dark Realm, which is Kui Xin’s assessment.
Memory retrieval presented itself from the first-person perspective, allowing Kui Xin to see the scenes and feel the emotions, yet she was unable to grasp what the memory subject was thinking at the time.
From her perspective, she could only see Augus sitting alone in a corner, deep in thought for a long time, before he made the decision to go to Tonglin City. What he pondered in between, Kui Xin could not know.
Kui Xin adjusted her breathing and quietly left the hospital room.
En route, she used data manipulation to ascertain Augus’s exact location, discovering that he was on the highway, heading directly towards Tonglin City. He may have controlled a driver to hitch a ride.
Checking the time, it was already 3 AM.
Kui Xin set out to meet Yu Hansue.
Tomorrow morning, she would head back to Tonglin City.
