Chapter 066: Choosing to Side with the Strong

Qin Qing set aside the matter of those three for now. After a hearty meal, she began her daily maintenance of the compound bow. This was a routine for her: partly to stay familiar with the bow’s construction, and partly to ensure it was always in optimal condition.

By the time she finished, dusk had fallen outside. She glanced at the tracking map; the gap between the two parties was closing fast. It appeared both had abandoned their vehicles and were trekking on foot into the heart of the mountains.

Seeing their markers drawing ever nearer, Qin Qing realized the outcome of this pursuit was imminent. She braced herself, but minutes passed and she grew puzzled.

Two red dots and one green dot converged into a single spot on the map. None disappeared, which meant no one had been eliminated.

“Could it be that they’ve come to some agreement, forming a temporary alliance?” Qin Qing checked the updated results several times, but still, no dots vanished or split apart. She reasoned it must be so and lost interest for the time being, closing the virtual interface before her.

Half an hour later, in the villa’s spacious bathroom, Qin Qing lounged in the bathtub, a carefully selected sci-fi film playing on the virtual screen before her. She took a sip of champagne, half-closed her eyes, and looked the picture of utter bliss.

If not for the ten years of life-and-death hunting games imposed upon her, if she could live in such luxury—with perhaps a handsome, ideal man by her side—she would gladly trade places with no one, not even the immortals.

After a few glasses, she felt the pleasant haze of drunkenness. In this drowsy state, she drifted off to sleep in the bath.

When Qin Qing woke, night had fully fallen outside. The movie was still playing before her, nearly at its end. She dried herself and left the bathroom, dressed, and stepped onto the villa’s balcony.

The entire residential area was dark except for her house and the streetlights; every other villa was shrouded in darkness.

Staring at the deserted estate, Qin Qing felt a wave of loneliness. Humans were social creatures—solitude, over time, bred a deep sense of isolation. This was precisely what she felt now. In fact, she had often felt lonely of late.

She envied the other two survivors in the city, envied that they at least had each other’s company. More than once, she had considered seeking them out, making contact. But she hesitated, afraid, telling herself she would become stronger before approaching them. Who could have foreseen that today, they would be forced to leave the city?

Such is the fickleness of fate.

With that thought, she quickly brought up the tracking map again. In the area she’d been monitoring, only a green and a red dot remained; the other red dot had vanished.

She scanned a radius of several dozen kilometers, but found no trace of the missing red dot.

“It seems one of them has been eliminated. But was it by the newcomer’s hand, or by their companion’s?” Qin Qing muttered, rather dispirited after her fruitless search.

At that moment, the voice of Mu Yinghua sounded in her mind, informing her that over eighty people had now been eliminated, and she had earned another chance at enhancement or a full recovery.

“This isn’t a peaceful world, but a brutal arena. Only the strong survive,” she reminded herself, her eyes hardening.

She immediately chose the enhancement option and brought up her personal stats panel:

Physical Fitness: 112.
Mental Strength: 232.
Strength: 82.
Speed: 108.
Overall Combat Power: 138.
Remaining Enhancement Uses: 1
Full Recovery Uses: 1

Seeing her stats, Qin Qing was surprised to note that her mental strength had increased by two since that morning.

“Could this be due to my recent change in mindset?” she wondered. After a moment’s thought, she set aside the question and used her newly gained enhancement on speed.

Instantly, her speed jumped from 108 to 120, and her overall combat power from 138 to 142.

Having finished, Qin Qing left the balcony, collected her bow and arrows, and went to the courtyard where she had been practicing archery these past few days.

She wanted to see if her accuracy had improved after the speed boost.

She strung her bow and let fly a few arrows; all hit the target, each one landing close to the bullseye.

“As expected, both my feel for archery and my control over the bow have definitely improved,” she thought, delighted with her results.

Since her nap in the bath had left her wide awake, she decided to practice her archery in earnest.

She switched from shooting at twenty meters to thirty meters. Based on her knowledge, this compound bow could shoot accurately beyond a hundred meters; a skilled archer, with mastery of angle and wind, could even hunt at two hundred meters.

Her practice lasted over three hours.

Perhaps it was the cleansing rain that afternoon, but the night sky now was crystal clear—a crescent moon hung high, surrounded by a sprinkling of stars, a sight of breathtaking beauty.

Checking the time, she saw midnight had long passed, but she felt not the slightest trace of fatigue—on the contrary, she was exhilarated.

At thirty meters, she could now land two or three arrows out of ten on the bullseye.

Qin Qing even thought, with some pride, that compared to pre-apocalypse professional archers, her accuracy was no less impressive—her only shortcoming was lack of technique and experience. And this was after only a week of practice.

“Maybe I really do have a natural talent for archery,” she mused, secretly pleased.

But in truth, she knew her progress was due more to enhancements and full recovery than to innate ability. These boosts had elevated her physical foundation far above the ordinary, bringing all her senses to a state of flawless health.

Because she had used a full recovery right at the start of the game, she was especially aware of its miraculous effects.

From birth, people grow up in different environments, eating different foods, developing different habits—all of which cause various physical imbalances.

Most of these are more detrimental than beneficial. For instance, the difference in strength between one’s hands stems from habitual use, leading to unequal muscle development and memory. Eyesight varies: nearsightedness, night blindness, color blindness—some from congenital defects, others from upbringing. Dental health varies, too; some might lack a tooth, have wisdom teeth, or crooked alignment. Body size and strength are dictated partly by genes, but largely by environment and diet.

All these, good or bad, are completely corrected by the full recovery, restoring the body to its ideal state, erasing all innate flaws.

“In a sense, the gods used the full recovery to place all the chosen on an equal starting line. But unless you use it, you’ll never know,” Qin Qing murmured, reflecting on her own transformation.

She believed the earlier one used that first full recovery, the greater the long-term benefit.

Qin Qing gazed up at the stars. With her mental strength now far beyond the norm, her thoughts had grown sharper and more nimble, and she found herself more patient and contemplative than ever before.

As she looked up into the starry sky, a scene unfolded before her eyes that left her deeply shaken.

From the distant horizon, countless streaks of light shot skyward, arcing over the dark night in every direction.

Seven or eight of those luminous trails swept right over her head, soon vanishing beyond the horizon, leaving only faint, lingering traces behind.

“Missiles?” Qin Qing whispered, uncertain.

Those streaks overhead were still ascending, so she could just make out their true shape.

“There must be soldiers among the chosen—high-ranking ones at that,” she thought, stunned by the sight.

She remembered hearing rumors: deep in the mountains near this city was a vast military research base, its location kept strictly secret from the public. The entire forested region was off-limits to civilians.

“But I checked that area before—there were no chosen there,” she thought, puzzled.

Suddenly inspired, she hurriedly opened the tracking map and checked that region.

Sure enough, she saw a green and a red dot there.

“It must be him—the one who hunted those two before. He’s definitely a powerful soldier,” she said with conviction, her eyes shining with excitement.

Her mind was in turmoil, emotions surging. After weighing the risks and benefits for several minutes, she made up her mind.

She would set out at once—go to seek out that strong one.

With her decision made, she wasted no time, running back to the villa to pack her things.

There wasn’t much to take—she was always ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

In less than ten minutes, she left the comfort of the villa where she’d lived for over twenty days, driving away in the pickup she’d prepared in advance, setting out into an uncertain future.