Chapter 32. This Player Is Far Too Cautious

The character Qiao Qiao played was named "Sun Knight."

This name was chosen because most monsters feared sunlight. It was meant to intimidate them.

"Master, this time we’re sure to defeat that wraith," said Shin Arai, who had to wear sunglasses to shield himself from Qiao Qiao’s dazzling stats.

It was obvious: Qiao Qiao's character attributes had already far exceeded the limits of a normal game. In fact, compared to the BOSS, Qiao Qiao seemed more like a BOSS himself.

Shin Arai began to wonder if the BOSS's attacks could even overcome Qiao Qiao's natural regeneration. He had originally intended to set up a betting pool in the company chat, but quickly discovered it wouldn’t work—all bets were on the same outcome. The house would lose everything.

"We still have to be cautious. After all, these are just in-game stats, and whether the wraith will play fair is just speculation," Qiao Qiao said, hiding his helmet.

The face of the Sun Knight was revealed.

"Aaah!" came a scream from the office.

Only Shin Arai escaped unscathed, thanks to his sunglasses; he couldn't see clearly.

Even so, in Shin Arai's vision, the area around Qiao Qiao's character’s head was a blur, a void.

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back.

He averted his eyes and focused on Qiao Qiao's health bar.

Once everyone in the office had put on their sunglasses, Qiao Qiao stepped into the BOSS's arena.

It was a circus tent.

Spectator seats circled the venue, with various props for performances.

Dim lights shone on the center of the ring.

The clown stood there, wearing a horrifying and bizarre smile. There were even more tentacles sprouting from his body.

Qiao Qiao entered.

The clown saw him.

Whoosh—

The clown vanished.

"What?" murmured the spectators in the office.

"Is that a new technique?" Qiao Qiao muttered, pressing onward, not daring to lower his guard.

From its earlier performance, this clown not only possessed intelligence but also the ability to evolve. It was dangerous.

In the game, behind the audience seats, the clown trembled.

What was that just now?

Was that a player’s character?

He must be joking.

The clown hadn’t really seen Qiao Qiao, only his face.

A surge of danger overwhelmed it.

Instinctively, it fled and hid.

He will kill me.

The clown realized.

He will definitely kill me.

It was just a wraith, inexplicably inhabiting the clown within the game. Lacking knowledge of programming, it couldn’t change most of its stats, only its abilities.

But what was that?

The clown peeked again at the center of the arena.

It was empty.

Qiao Qiao had disappeared without a trace.

"Found. You." came footsteps from behind the clown.

No, they weren't footsteps. With Qiao Qiao's agility, he could easily walk without making a sound.

What the clown heard was a death knell.

Startled, the clown summoned seventeen throwing knives into its hands, launching them from every direction toward Qiao Qiao.

Qiao Qiao suddenly vanished again, leaving only a fading shadow.

Clang, clang, clang—

The knives hit the floor, all missing their target.

Suddenly, Qiao Qiao paused.

Finally, one knife struck him.

"Ah, Mr. Arai, your game’s frame rate is a bit unstable," Qiao Qiao remarked.

"Y-yes," Shin Arai nodded outwardly, though his thoughts were entirely different.

The unstable frame rate was because Qiao Qiao was too fast.

His agility had surpassed the limits of the game.

For example, in a sixty-frame game, a dodge roll might take fifteen frames to animate. The higher the agility, the faster the dodge, but typically no faster than ten frames. Especially in games where dodging grants invincibility frames, only one out of ten would be an invincible frame.

But Qiao Qiao’s dodge was now so fast it was shorter than a single frame.

Yet, because of the game’s mechanics, he still had to use one frame per dodge, creating a stuttering effect, as if the frame rate dropped.

Put another way, Qiao Qiao’s dodge took one frame, with one frame of invincibility. Meaning, so long as he kept dodging, he would be perpetually invincible.

But that was theoretical.

In reality, it was a human playing, and Qiao Qiao was a bit clumsy.

So, after dodging sixteen times, when he lost sight of his character, he assumed the game had glitched, paused, and was hit.

The moment the knife struck Qiao Qiao, Shin Arai, President Owada, and the others held their breath.

They weren't worried the knife would instantly kill Qiao Qiao, but curious if it would bounce back and instantly kill the BOSS.

The knife pierced his armor and lodged in Qiao Qiao’s body.

That long health bar shrank by about one pixel.

The next moment, it was instantly full again.

"That was close," Qiao Qiao said.

"No, Master, that wasn't close at all. Your health didn’t even really drop," President Owada replied.

"No, since the knife pierced the armor and caused damage, it shows this BOSS can still pose a threat," Qiao Qiao said, focusing intently as he moved his character in a blur to stand before the clown.

"One punch should finish this," Shin Arai said.

The clown had a lot of health.

But Qiao Qiao’s attack was much higher.

Just as everyone anticipated Qiao Qiao to punch straight through the clown BOSS, Qiao Qiao suddenly opened the item menu.

He set a trap.

A paralysis trap, which immobilized monsters for a period.

"?" Shin Arai froze.

This item was a trick for passing a certain BOSS, dropped by a minor enemy before the BOSS. After the initial guaranteed drop, subsequent drops had only a 1% chance.

Could it be...?

He saw Qiao Qiao pull out a second paralysis trap.

A third, a fourth...

Each trap immobilized for seven seconds.

Qiao Qiao deployed three traps per second.

He ended up placing thirty paralysis traps.

Subtracting the setup time, the clown would be paralyzed for two hundred seconds.

But it wasn’t over.

Qiao Qiao repeated the process, pulling out gunpowder barrels.

These were also rare items from a certain BOSS, with a 1% drop rate after the first drop.

Gunpowder barrels dealt massive damage.

Three were enough to instantly kill the clown.

Qiao Qiao pulled out thirty such barrels.

During this time, the clown remained paralyzed, motionless, staring at Qiao Qiao in terror as he prepared.

It knew its fate was sealed.

Originally, had Qiao Qiao attacked directly, the clown might have created clones to escape and counterattack.

But now, everything was over.

Its only wish was for death to come quickly and genuinely.

But Qiao Qiao wouldn’t allow that.

During the long paralysis, the clown’s mind shattered.

Already a wraith, its twisted spirit finally broke completely.

It wanted to cry.

But it was paralyzed.

Even tears couldn’t flow.

Then, at the end of the countdown to death, Qiao Qiao detonated all the barrels.

The clown was finally freed.

Game cleared.