C2 The Feeling of Meeting an Old Friend!!

As Ye Tianhan pressed on, the number of corpses underfoot grew, each one a victim of the recent rockfall. Bodies were heaped upon one another, many with their brains scattered and crushed beyond recognition. The thick, metallic scent of blood hung heavy in the cramped corridor, making Ye Tianhan gag so violently he thought he might spew meals from a past life.

The dimly lit passageway glowed with a faint blue luminescence, yet the source remained elusive. This ghostly light was just enough to guide Ye Tianhan's steps, but it also cast a gruesome clarity on the scattered brains and eyeballs littering the floor. With no choice but to steel himself, he avoided looking down, using his stick to probe the ground for a safe place to step.

The corridor seemed to stretch into infinity, and Ye Tianhan, utterly alone, couldn't help but feel a twinge of despair. "When will this ever end?" he muttered to himself. Surely anyone else would have lost their mind by now, surrounded by remains more pulverized than porridge.

"Ouch!" Something tripped him, nearly sending him sprawling, but he dared not look back to see what it was. It wasn't that he couldn't see; the system's flashlight worked just fine. It was about having the courage to face it.

"If only this were just another game," he sighed, "I could switch the background music and be done with it. But now..." Ye Tianhan longed for the cheerful, lively tunes from his playlist.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the stick in his hand began to play music. Music? Now? "Good fortune come, I wish you good fortune come..." The irony was not lost on him.

Ye Tianhan stood there, stunned. How on earth could he turn it off? Despite the absence of any living soul, he felt an overwhelming sense of embarrassment. "System! How do I turn this thing off?" he demanded, but the system paid him no heed.

The dog-fighting stick, he had to admit, was rather thoughtful – not blasting music out of the blue, but gradually increasing the volume. Under different circumstances, Ye Tianhan would have been deeply moved. But in this macabre setting, the cheerful music was jarringly out of place.

Resigned, he realized there was no choice but to continue on. Time lost all meaning until, at last, Ye Tianhan came upon the massive boulder, now wedged in a crevice in the ground.

Ye Tianhan made a mental note, "Next time, I'm putting all my points into Agility! Nobody can stand moving this slow!"

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the boulder, people heard "Lucky You" echoing through the air and were lost in thought.

They had been running like dogs just moments ago, and now this song from the system?

It wasn't until Ye Tianhan clambered over the boulder that they realized—it wasn't the system at all, but this guy with a loudspeaker!

"Please, turn it off already!"

Internally pleading, Ye Tianhan finally shut off the speaker and, in doing so, uncovered a secret use for his dog-beating staff!

The system announced, "Congratulations, player, for safely reaching the finish line. Claim your reward."

A shaft of white light split the sky, and a pistol gently descended into Ye Tianhan's hands.

Colt M2000 handgun: green attribute, fires one bullet at a time (unlimited bullets, one-second reload).

Just a green attribute? Ye Tianhan had his suspicions—the system's generosity had its limits. Still, it was a shame; a ranged weapon had finally come his way.

Disappointment etched on his face, Ye Tianhan failed to notice the other players, their eyes bulging in disbelief.

A green attribute! They all knew that the items they had received were merely of white attribute, and long-range weapons were a rare commodity!

Yet Ye Tianhan had not only snagged a green attribute item but an infinite ammo handgun at that!

"Tianhan!"

Following the voice, Ye Tianhan saw a tear-streaked, grimy-faced man barreling towards him.

"Fei Hang?"

The sniveling mess was none other than his childhood buddy, Zhang Feihang. He hadn't expected that not only he but also his bare-bottomed brother from back in the day would end up here.

"Wuwu, Tianhan! I never thought I'd find you here. It's such a relief, such a relief..."

His friend's demeanor said it all—he was terrified.

"Did you just come through that corridor too?"

A still-shaken Zhang Feihang clutched Ye Tianhan's hand with a shaky grip.

"Yeah, yeah. Good thing I put all my points into Agility out of fear, or I'd have been squashed flat. Look at me—I took quite a few tumbles, but thank goodness I'm quick on my feet."

No wonder he looked so disheveled—it turns out he took quite a tumble!

"So you're the fastest runner, huh?" Zhang Feihang pulled out a pair of shoes, flaunting them to Ye Tianhan.

"Yep, yep, and look at this—the system even rewarded me with shoes. I've had it rough."

Ye Tianhan was on the verge of laughter, but seeing Zhang's woeful expression, he managed to stifle it.

After exchanging pleasantries, they discovered that both had just started playing the game today.

"Here, you should take this. You seem to need it more than I do."

Ye Tianhan offered the newly acquired handgun to Zhang. He had considered giving him the shield as well, but with other players around sporting only common white gear, brandishing a blue item would be too conspicuous.

Ye Tianhan had always seen Zhang Feihang, who was three years his junior, as a little brother, and in the past, Zhang seldom refused any of Ye Tianhan's generous offers. But times had changed.

"But if you give this to me, what about you? Your staff is just a white attribute. What if we encounter monsters?"

With so many onlookers, Ye Tianhan couldn't elaborate.

"Just trust me, you'll understand soon enough."

It appeared the system was accurate; other players couldn't see the attributes of his items. They could only guess based on the glow, and white was indeed quite similar to silver—it was difficult to discern without close inspection.

Swoosh!

After their brief catch-up, they were whisked away to a new scene, starkly different from the previous one.

The eerie sound of bones crunching filled the air, and the dust seemed to dance to its rhythm.

A familiar, fresh scent of blood wafted through the air—Ye Tianhan knew it all too well from the blood-soaked corridor he'd just traversed.

With no other players in sight, Ye Tianhan handed over the shield to Zhang Feihang.

"It's a blue attribute!"

Ye Tianhan confirmed with a nod.

"But what about you? Listen to those sounds—there's definitely something monstrous ahead!"

Zhang Feihang was on the brink of tears. How could Ye Tianhan give away his best gear when they were in such peril?

"Actually, my dog-beating staff isn't white. Take a closer look."

Zhang Feihang moved in for a better view and, indeed, the glow from the staff was noticeably more intense than that of his white item.

"Could it be?"

"Yes, it's a silver-tier item."

Hearing this, Zhang Feihang was momentarily frozen in shock. Are you really like me, having just entered the game today for the first time?