Chapter 32: Bai Fu’s Evil Path Leveling Method
When Bai Fu rushed back to the scene, the players had already chased Number Nine into the dark door.
Because the underground passage was relatively narrow, many players were still blocked outside and couldn't get in for a while.
“What’s the situation inside?”
“Heard there’s a BOSS inside, and she’s really beautiful.”
“Already reaching high-level gameplay this fast?”
“Idiot, don’t fall for her beauty trap! So what if she’s pretty? If she’s the enemy, chop her down!”
The players left outside were all excited.
They didn’t expect to trigger a BOSS fight so soon after entering the game—wasn’t this way more interesting than doing brickwork and menial labor in other newbie villages?
Now they only regretted not running fast enough to squeeze to the front.
If the BOSS got killed, they wouldn’t get anything.
Just as they were growing anxious, a commotion suddenly erupted ahead.
“Eh, is it my turn now?”
“Turn your ass! Retreat! Retreat, quick!”
“What happened?”
In the blink of an eye, chaos broke out near the dark door.
Bai Fu saw a few players trying to squeeze in, but even more were desperately fleeing out.
Something had gone wrong?
A little over a minute later, all the players who had rushed in came flooding out.
But several players were acting abnormally.
It was like they had awakened berserker bloodlines—attacking everyone in sight, even fellow players.
“Damn it, Old Five, what are you doing? Don’t tell me this guy has defected? Hey hey hey, don’t hit my face, you bastard!”
“You think I want this? I’ve been controlled—I can’t move my body! Get away, get away!”
“Ahh, I’m gonna die—compensate me my XP!”
Bai Fu used Psionic Vision on the player named Old Five and saw a new status next to his name: 【Possessed】.
【Possessed】: Yulia’s innate ability, can control targets with Inspiration ＜15. Duration depends on the inspiration gap between both sides.
Bai Fu’s expression darkened.
This talent was ridiculous.
In a newbie village where everyone’s stats were low, she could basically massacre at will.
Right now, Bai Fu herself only had 12 points of Inspiration—others were even lower.
No, not just the newbie village.
Even a level 20 character, without an inspiration-based talent, likely wouldn’t exceed 15 Inspiration—still subject to control.
This was insane.
How could such a powerful BOSS just pop up out of nowhere?
Bai Fu stared at the dark door.
As the players panicked, a somewhat familiar figure walked out—it was that ice-blue-haired woman who had appeared beside the Wildfire Gang Boss that day.
She had to be Yulia, right?
At the moment, her eyes were wide open, with eerie silvery-white light glowing in her pupils.
“Get out of the way!”
A player screamed, but it was already too late.
The two players closest to Yulia trembled—and the 【Possessed】 status appeared next to their names.
“We’re screwed.”
Now, even powerful Party Big Star and cunning Convert to My Fu were stunned.
This kind of BOSS was completely unmanageable at this stage.
She could just control a few players and collapse the entire group.
Damn it!
Number Nine, who was within reach, just flew away like that.
XP—my precious XP!
“Haha! Didn’t you all think you were so great? Come on, act cocky again for me!”
Number Nine walked out from behind Yulia, grinning arrogantly.
He had only rushed back because he knew about Yulia’s ability.
It was absolutely broken.
But as long as they had the guild-issued Lock Devices, they didn’t have to fear Yulia.
Number Nine’s smugness made players grind their teeth in rage.
Fine, fine—you damn boomer, we’ve marked you now.
Just you wait—we’ll twist your head off later!
Yulia frowned and snapped, “Shut up.”
“You—”
Number Nine had just opened his mouth when her voice drowned him out.
“If you think you can snipe me, then go ahead—try shooting.”
Huh?
Not only Number Nine, even the players were dumbfounded.
Snipe? Shoot?
But no one here had a sniper rifle.
“You think I’m bluffing? Don’t forget—I’m a psionics expert. My perception isn’t any worse than your gadgets.”
Yulia’s gaze landed on a water tower.
Everyone followed her eyes.
“I just came because I heard strange noises—but I ended up catching a big fish.”
A moment later, a man with a deeply annoyed expression jumped out from behind the water tower, dragging a sniper rifle.
Beside him was a young woman in work overalls.
“Yago, I told you—sneak attacks don’t work on her.”
“How would we know without trying? What if it had worked?”
The two argued for a bit, then Yago pointed his spear at Yulia.
“You may have hostages, but if you think that’s enough to escape, you’re delusional. You should surrender now—this is Gene Primordials’ turf. Truth Society reinforcements won’t arrive anytime soon.”
Yulia remained calm.
“Maybe you should worry about your own safety first.”
“Number Nine just threw out an Induction Bait. Even if you go deal with it now, it’s too late.”
“What?!”
Yago, who had been somewhat relaxed, was stunned.
“Everyone here—and that person hiding over there—knows it.”
Exposed?
When Yago and Xia Shi were flushed out, Bai Fu figured she might’ve been discovered too.
She stepped out and stopped hiding.
“It’s Fu-Fu!”
A sharp-eyed player immediately spotted her.
But most players remained restrained this time.
No one rushed over.
The “cutscene” was still playing.
Normally, they wouldn’t bother watching these—they’d just charge in.
But now, they couldn’t win even if they tried.
So they had no choice but to sit quietly and watch what kind of BOSS this was.
Hearing what Number Nine had done, Yago roared, “Are you all insane?! That’ll attract all the mutant creatures nearby! Everyone in the Abandoned Cooling Plant will die!”
Yulia’s face turned cold.
“Instead of yelling here, better think about how to survive the upcoming insect tide.”
“Fuck, you beast!”
Yago and Xia Shi raised their guns at the same time, but as soon as they moved, players controlled by Yulia blocked their way.
“Going to shoot?” Yulia brushed back the hair near her ear, looking completely relaxed.
Yago and Xia Shi’s foreheads bulged with veins, but they still didn’t dare to pull the trigger.
They weren’t lunatics like those in the Truth Society—they couldn’t just kill innocents to achieve their goals.
Damn it.
Just a few days ago, they’d received an informant’s report that members of the Truth Society had infiltrated the Gene Primordials.
Just three days ago, they’d received orders to investigate the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
So why had they just arrived today and already run into a massive crisis?
This was way too bizarre.
There was no investigation phase, no back-and-forth with enemies.
It was like they’d just finished showing the opening credits and fast-forwarded straight to the final battle before the ending.
Was this how normal plots were supposed to go?
Did someone change the script before they even got here?
Yago was sweating buckets—but no matter how badly he sweated, he had to go along with the act.
The Induction Bait had already been thrown—there was no way to escape now.
The only chance of survival was to fight.
“Xia Shi, I’ll stay here and keep watch. You go check the situation outside and try to connec—”
As he spoke, Yago trailed off, because his attention had been diverted by the players.
“Those two look like they’re from a righteous faction.”
“Induction Bait… from the description, it sounds like some kind of monster-attracting cage. Kinda awesome. If we could get our hands on some of those, could we combine them with traps and farm mobs automatically?”
“That’s actually a great idea. The problem is how to get it?”
“Holy shit, didn’t even hesitate to initiate a city massacre—that’s real gaming blood right there!”
“Are we going to have to defend the base next?”
A group of players gathered, chatting away, totally ignoring their surroundings—some smiling, some serious, others itching for action.
Meanwhile, another group of players surrounded Bai Fu, bombarding her with questions.
“Fu-Fu, Fu-Fu, is this what you’ve been investigating this whole time?”
“Pretty much.”
“What’s the Truth Society? And what are the Gene Primordials?”
“The Truth Society and Gene Primordials are two of the five major powers on Origin Star, and…”
Yago stared dumbfounded.
What the hell are you people doing?
This place, this situation—is now really the time for chit-chat?
Haven’t you noticed you’ve all become hostages?
Goddamn it!
Yago wiped his eyes forcefully.
He was starting to suspect this was a dream—otherwise, how else could he explain how relaxed these people were?
“Yago.” Xia Shi’s voice rang out.
Yago swallowed. “What is it?”
“Let me pinch you.”
“Get lost, pinch yourself if you want!”
Yago dodged quickly.
He was now certain this wasn’t a dream.
The only explanation left was: this group had gone insane.
Surely the whole world hadn’t gone crazy, right?
Even if the world had grown more insane after the war a hundred years ago, insane didn’t mean unhinged.
These people were behaving completely irrationally.
Honestly, forget Yago—even everyone else at the scene besides Bai Fu and the players was completely bewildered.
Yulia and Number Nine were starting to suspect that the players weren’t even human—but some kind of skin-wearing alien lifeform.
This weird atmosphere was finally broken when Party Big Star shouted loudly.
“What the hell are you two doing?! Hurry up and shoot!”
Yago snapped his head up and stared in astonishment at the yelling Party Big Star.
“You’re talking to me?”
“Didn’t you hear her say the insect tide is coming?! Everyone will die!”
Party Big Star shouted urgently.
“Hurry up and shoot her! She must be carrying something that repels insects—otherwise she wouldn’t dare to trigger the swarm!”
“Well, you’re not wrong, but…”
Yago and Xia Shi stared fixedly at the players controlled by Yulia.
They’d die.
Those people were going to be sacrificed!
“What are you hesitating for? It’s just a few meat shields. Don’t tell me you’re running out of bullets?”
After Party Big Star yelled, the controlled players also started shouting.
“Shoot! I’m already under control—I’ll die either way! You waiting for New Year’s to pull the trigger?!”
“Stop being such cowards! The longer this drags out, the more damage the swarm will cause!”
Yago and Xia Shi looked at each other.
Suddenly, they felt ashamed.
They’d just been calling these people lunatics—but it was these same lunatics who now stepped forward at the critical moment, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
What kind of spirit was this?
Goddamn, it was touching as hell!
“Xia Shi.”
“Yago.”
The two nodded at each other, feeling an overwhelming surge of power from within.
They had to make sure these people didn’t die in vain.
For the Abandoned Cooling Plant—and for themselves—they had to kill those two bastards from the Truth Society!
Bai Fu felt a little speechless.
Wasn’t this her favorite move?
How did the players steal it to grind favorability with other NPCs?
Just as Yago and Xia Shi raised their guns again, Yulia’s eyes turned silver-white once more.
Honestly, she didn’t want to use this move too often—it drained her quite a bit.
She was afraid something might go wrong later.
But since the other side wasn’t scared by her display, she had no choice but to fight.
She needed to complete her experimental validation and couldn’t allow anyone to interfere.
“Kill them!”
Battle erupted once more, and the Wildfire Gang fell into complete chaos.
Yago and Xia Shi kept adjusting their positions, trying to shoot Yulia.
But Yulia’s perception was terrifyingly strong.
She could always predict their angles of fire, then manipulate players to block the bullets.
While fending off Yago and Xia Shi, she could also spare focus to command other players to attack.
At this moment, she stood gracefully at the entrance of the dark door.
Her ice-blue hair danced under the glow, like a masterful puppeteer—or a brilliant symphony conductor.
There was an unspoken elegance.
“Damn it, so this is what a special-effects build looks like?”
Bai Fu thought if her skill effects looked as cool as Yulia’s, she would’ve long outshone that Giant Mech in popularity.
When you play games, who doesn’t want to look awesome?
She put those thoughts aside for now.
After all this observation, she discovered the biggest limit of Yulia’s 【Possessed】 skill wasn’t that the target’s Inspiration had to be below 15—but range.
“Maximum range is 30 meters. Beyond that, it has no effect.”
That was good news for Yago and Xia Shi.
For her—not so much, since she lacked long-range attack options.
Although she had previously gotten a gun from Cao Wenliang, her marksmanship was really nothing to brag about.
It was fine at close range, but anything over thirty meters seriously tested her aim.
If she had enough bullets, she could try a saturation strike, but now she only had two bullets.
“Who can I kill with just two bullets?”
Yulia was the first to be ruled out.
Her perception was too strong—if even Yago and Xia Shi couldn’t land a hit, Bai Fu definitely couldn’t.
Bai Fu locked her target onto Number Nine.
Don’t be fooled just because he got beaten up by the players earlier—that wasn’t because he was weak, but because he didn’t expect players to hit him in the nuts.
In terms of melee, he was actually stronger than Yago.
So it was best to finish him off before he recovered and became a threat.
Killing him had another benefit.
Bai Fu had already accumulated 8,755 XP—if she killed Number Nine, that would be enough to level up again.
Then she could put all the new points into Inspiration and raise it to 15, making her immune to Yulia’s control.
Would the shot land?
Bai Fu placed her hand on the gun.
If it weren’t necessary, she really didn’t want to stand out—messing with the massive Truth Society could bring big trouble.
But now the Truth Society had abandoned all restraint and was pushing her to the edge—she had no choice but to strike hard.
First, Bai Fu quietly cast Fanaticism on Number Nine’s gut.
She didn’t use any skills on Yulia—when her Psionic Vision failed earlier, she already had a hunch.
Now she confirmed her theory—
Yulia was a psionic prodigy with at least 20 Inspiration.
Her skills probably wouldn’t work on Yulia, and even if they did, Yulia would immediately notice, making her the number one target.
“Just a few more minutes.”
Bai Fu narrowed her eyes and began slowly adjusting her position.
Under Yulia’s control, the players were fighting each other fiercely.
No doubt about it—Yulia had a long-ass mana bar.
Bai Fu roughly estimated that she had controlled more than thirty players already, and still looked completely unfazed.
Trying to wear Yulia down with sheer numbers clearly wasn’t going to work.
As the fight dragged on, Yago and Xia Shi grew increasingly anxious.
They’d already shot seven players to death, and still hadn’t managed to injure Yulia at all.
Was that woman a monster?
Even the players’ mental states began to shift.
This dungeon’s difficulty was way too high.
Two powerful NPCs had already spawned, and they still couldn’t win.
They could only hope the wave of players rushing over after watching Excavation‑Princess’s stream would arrive soon.
Right—Fu-Fu had also been lying low nearby.
She probably had a plan.
Time ticked by slowly.
Bai Fu stared hard at Number Nine.
At one point, she suddenly saw him subconsciously grab his stomach.
This was it!
Fanaticism to enhance her eyes—for sharper vision.
Fanaticism to enhance her hands—for better gun stability.
Bai Fu drew her gun swiftly.
The first shot aimed for Number Nine’s chest.
Bang!
The bullet hit his left shoulder.
“-9”
The second shot also aimed for the chest.
Bang!
The bullet passed cleanly under a player’s armpit and nailed Number Nine in the heart.
“-47”
It was a red critical hit—a single shot inflicted a severe bleeding condition.
“Got him!”
Bai Fu clenched her left fist tightly.
Even though those two shots didn’t kill him instantly, the bleeding alone was basically a death sentence.
“Well done!”
Yago and Xia Shi were overjoyed at the sight.
The players also shouted, “Fu-Fu’s awesome!”
How could this be?
Number Nine clutched his chest.
He never imagined getting shot in the heart while things were going so well.
He’d been on guard against those two—but didn’t realize there was another cunning bastard hiding nearby.
Was he going to die?
No, absolutely not!
He couldn’t die here so easily!
Number Nine struggled to pull another injection from his pocket and stabbed it into his neck without hesitation.
“Number Nine!” Yulia’s expression changed.
Bai Fu suddenly felt a bad premonition and quickly used Psionic Vision on Number Nine.
【Name】: Number Nine (Elite) (Mutation Progress: 38%...41%...100%)
Once the mutation bar filled up, Number Nine’s body twisted grotesquely.
Within seconds, he turned into a purple-skinned monster with limbs all bent the wrong way.
Its entire body was covered in cysts—barely human-shaped.
But that wasn’t even the worst part.
After mutating into a mutant monster, his HP bar increased, and the bleeding status disappeared.
【HP】: 131/310
Still in a severely injured state—but definitely not dying anytime soon.
If he didn’t die, Bai Fu wouldn’t get XP.
Without XP, she couldn’t level up.
Without leveling up, she couldn’t become immune to the 【Possessed】 skill.
“Aaaarrrghhh—”
The mutated Number Nine roared with thunderous fury.
Yulia shook her head and immediately used Possessed to control him.
Number Nine had lost all reason—if she didn’t control him, even she might be attacked.
Actually, this wasn’t too bad.
Now she had one more fighter under her command.
However…
Yulia’s gaze landed on Bai Fu.
For the first time, their eyes met.
Targeted?
Bai Fu glanced at the still-fighting players.
Things had reached this point—she had no choice but to use her evil method.
Even though Number Nine was dead, who said there were no more “mobs” here to provide XP?
There were still plenty of players around, weren’t there?
Player levels had increased quite a bit.
Now, each player could give her 200–400 XP.
If she killed 10 players, she could level up.
If she killed 60, she might even max out Psionic Apprentice!
She wouldn’t have dared kill players in the past—not even in a crisis.
But now things were different.
“Yulia has the 【Possessed】 skill, after all.”
If she deliberately got controlled by Yulia and then killed players, not only could she farm XP, she wouldn’t even lose favorability.
Once she had enough XP, she could level up and break free from the control.
That was Bai Fu’s Evil Path Leveling Method!