Livestream Chat.
[Huohuo: Amazing—another god-tier skill showcase!]
[March 7th: Why do I feel like Clorinde using it is even scarier than Jingliu?]
[Star: I kinda feel the same way~~~]
[Lisa: Haven't you noticed? Clorinde's voice sounds even more… cutesy.]
[Sushang: Now that you mention it… yeah, it really does.]
[Qingque: What do you mean "cutesy"? That's full-on clippy voice!]
[Yunli: I can't stand that kind of clippy tone.]
[Navia: Impressive, my friend… who knew Clorinde had this side to her?]
[Charlotte: This is BIG news~~~~ I already have tomorrow's headline: The Duel Proxy's Unknown Side!]
[Qingque: I think Shocking! The Duel Proxy Is Actually a Dead-Clippy! sounds better.]
[Charlotte: That works too! Should I put a huge "SHOCKING" in the title? Learned something new!]
[Star: SHOCKING!!! The Duel Proxy did something like this just to survive!]
[March 7th: SHOCKING!!! The Duel Proxy actually did something like this to a man!]
[Herta: SHOCKING!!! The Duel Proxy assaulted a man for no reason and then forced him not to move afterward.]
[Sampo: SHOCKING!!! The Duel Proxy forced a man to stay still, then beat him for a full three minutes!]
[Jean: Th-this… this isn't very appropriate, is it…]
[Kamisato Ayaka: It's not as exaggerated as you're making it sound.]
[Huohuo: Talents, all of you. Truly talented. So… want a mask?]
Inside the Space.
The two stood quietly.
Clorinde's face was completely ashen. She didn't even need to think to know how lively the livestream must be right now.
No wonder Jingliu had absolutely refused to use that skill earlier.
If she'd known it was this kind of skill, she would've rather been eliminated.
"Uh… you're not leaving?" Valerius's voice sounded beside her. "Time's almost up."
"I… I'm leaving."
She had already socially died once. If she got eliminated now, wouldn't all that humiliation be for nothing?
Without hesitation, Clorinde turned and strode off on her long legs, chasing after her teammates.
"Heh."
Only after Clorinde left did Valerius finally laugh out loud. He had almost failed to hold it in just now.
He had to admit—the skill was really something.
He couldn't help but start looking forward to seeing the others use it.
Imagining Keqing, Firefly, and the rest all taking turns giving him that same treatment made Valerius feel completely refreshed.
Not long after, Clorinde caught up with the main group.
Without hesitation, she handed the card back to Jingliu.
"This is yours. Take it back."
"…How about you keep it?" Jingliu asked.
"Nope."
Clorinde shook her head hard. No joke—she absolutely did not want to use that thing a second time.
"Then give it to me! If you don't want it, give it to me!"
Arataki Itto couldn't stand watching anymore. If neither of them wanted it, couldn't they just give it to him?
"I've got points!"
Both of their eyes lit up at once.
Right—if they didn't want to use it, they could just give it to Itto. He wouldn't be afraid of it anyway.
Just like that, the skill card capable of forcibly controlling Valerius for three minutes ended up in Arataki Itto's hands.
[Kamisato Ayato: My god… if Arataki Itto uses that skill, the scene would be… yikes.]
[Yelan: My eyes would go blind, okay?]
[Screwllum: Question… if Mr. Arataki Itto used this skill on Mr. Valerius, what would Mr. Valerius's psychological trauma area be?]
[Dr. Ratio: No need to think about it. Arataki Itto would definitely be hunted to death afterward.]
[Kuki Shinobu: Just imagining that scene is terrifying.]
[Seele: Arataki Itto and Valerius… don't think about it anymore!]
[Yae Miko: Interesting. I'm looking forward to it.]
[Jean: Ah… that's hard to imagine.]
Jean's mind suddenly conjured up an image—giant chibi heads of Arataki Itto and Valerius pressed together, flowers spinning all around them.
"Bro!"
"Mmhm~~~ Ze!"
Shk—!
No, no, no—she couldn't think about that!
She hurriedly shook her head, forcefully throwing the unhealthy image out of her mind. Way too horrifying.
Three minutes later.
"Still pretty hard to deal with," Valerius muttered.
Being controlled twice in a row, Valerius admittedly didn't feel bad—but he also hadn't gained anything from it, which left him dissatisfied.
"I'll see you run!"
He lifted his short staff and slammed it down onto the floor.
A crisp sound rang out, rippling outward like waves.
Whoosh!
Across the castle, countless eyes snapped open, glowing crimson.
"Chitter… chitter… chitter…"
From the darkness came a rustling sound, as if something was scurrying through the castle—and there were a lot of them.
Once Clorinde had caught up, the group didn't dare linger any longer. They were far too close to Valerius now; stopping would only mean being caught almost immediately.
As they ran, Luocha quickly tallied up everyone's remaining points.
At first glance it wasn't too bad—but once he actually counted, even Luocha felt a headache coming on.
At this point, Jingliu had used up one point. Aside from the Genshin players, on their side only Firefly still had a single remaining entry point.
He cursed inwardly. This was only the first day, and barely any time had passed—yet they had already burned through four points.
How were they supposed to survive the days ahead like this?
"Chitter chitter chitter."
Movement echoed again in the darkness.
"Stop. Something's wrong."
Jingliu, at the front, halted the group. Her gaze fixed on the pitch-black passage ahead—she could sense something there.
"What is it?"
"There's something ahead. And there's a lot of it."
"Something… monsters?"
They already knew there were monsters in the castle. Since Valerius clearly wasn't one, then whatever was blocking the path ahead could only be—
"Grab anything you can use as a weapon."
They couldn't fight Valerius—but if it was monsters, they should still be able to resist.
Everyone sprang into action, grabbing whatever they could—tables, chairs, vases—anything at hand.
Moonlight streamed in through the windows, illuminating the corridor.
The things blocking their path finally revealed themselves.
"Hiss—!"
With a single glance, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
Blocking the way ahead was a swarm of rats, their eyes glowing red.
"D-don't panic… they're just rats," Keqing said, her voice trembling as she tried to encourage everyone.
"But… there are way too many of them."
No one was afraid of rats—not even ones that looked a bit more vicious.
But the number of them was terrifying.
They were packed together, dense and writhing, enough to trigger anyone's trypophobia.
"Aren't they attacking?"
Despite their numbers, the rats only crowded the front, not advancing.
That struck everyone as strange.
It was as if someone was commanding them.
"No—this is a blockade. We have to get through immediately."
Lumine was the most experienced among them. With Valerius behind them and the rats blocking the front, there was no need to think—this had to be Valerius's doing.
If they got stuck here even for a moment, once Valerius caught up, they'd be wiped out in one sweep.
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