Chapter 118: Popping Pills |
Bai Mu still had three Hand Grenades in his backpack, purchased from the Script shop during the Death Journey.
These were among the items that had not been disabled. After being shot, he pulled out a Hand Grenade, yanked the pin, hurled it at Gin, and bellowed, "Run!"
He had already determined that this was an opponent who could not be dealt with through conventional means—not even with a Hand Grenade. However, according to the standard tropes of television and film, after a background character throws an explosive, there is always a brief dramatic pause. He hoped this would buy them some time.
The flash and roar of the explosion erupted behind them. When the smoke cleared, Gin stood completely unharmed in the middle of the road. He cast a cold glance in the direction they had fled and began to pursue them at a leisurely pace.
By now, the two had escaped to another street. Bai Mu popped a Blood-Restoring Candy into his mouth as he sprinted down the road.
"Let's split up," Bai Mu suggested. He took out half of his Blood-Restoring Candies from the box and tossed them to Misty Rain Traveler. "No matter how formidable Gin is, he is still just one person. Whichever one of us he chases first, the other will have a much higher chance of survival."
"I am starting to regret this," Misty Rain Traveler admitted. "I feel like I should have just been a good little background character."
"It is too late for regrets," Bai Mu replied. "Let's just hope one of us makes it out. If we can reach a densely populated area or somewhere we can make a phone call, Gin might stop chasing us to avoid risking his identity."
"Then let's split at the intersection up ahead," Misty Rain Traveler said. "Good luck."
Bai Mu sprinted to the left, his depleted Health rapidly recovering thanks to the candy. He did not bother looking for a house to hide in. It was obvious at a glance that this special-edition Script was a storyline about a major villain cleaning up traitors.
If the everyday Murder Cases were meant to highlight the brilliant intellect of the protagonist Conan, then this special chapter was naturally designed to establish Gin's overwhelming power and cold-blooded nature.
He guessed that even if he left absolutely no traces and hid in the most secluded house, Gin would track him down like a radar and show up right at his doorstep.
His only hope was to escape the immediate area. He figured he and Misty Rain Traveler were still within the borders of Beika Town. As he ran, he tilted his head back to look at the stars, using them to gauge his direction.
Although this was an anime theater setting, the constellations in the sky were perfectly accurate. After all, in a Detective anime serialized for over a thousand episodes, astronomical knowledge was bound to be required at some point.
By reading the positions of the stars, Bai Mu pinpointed the cardinal directions. He remembered that the Beika Town TV tower—the tallest building in the area—was located to the south. Thus, he sprinted southward without looking back.
However, after running for about ten minutes, he noticed something unsettling. The surrounding scenery had barely changed; it remained an abandoned, desolate townscape.
It felt as though he were trapped in an endless maze, or perhaps just running in place.
[Your teammate "Misty Rain Traveler" has died.]
The notification of Misty Rain Traveler's death echoed in his ears. Although Bai Mu knew she was fine in reality and had merely been sent back to the community hub, the tension in his chest flared violently.
Being hunted down was a terrible feeling, even when you knew you would not truly die.
'Is that guy really invincible?' Bai Mu's mind raced.
He frantically reviewed the details of the Script, trying to think of a way to fight back against Gin.
Brute force was the first option to be eliminated. The sheer fact that Bai Mu's gun was ineffective, while Gin's weapon essentially had an aimbot, completely ruled out any direct confrontation.
The sheer stopping power of firearms was enough to bridge any gap in base attributes, and there was no guarantee Bai Mu's attributes were higher than Gin's to begin with.
The only viable strategy he could think of was to defeat rules with rules.
Yet, his current environment seemed completely devoid of any loopholes. In this stage specifically designed to eliminate him and Misty Rain Traveler, it felt as though his only choice was to accept reality and let Gin send him packing with a single bullet.
'Is there really no other way but to try that method?' He took a deep breath and pulled out the blister pack looted from the black-clad assassin, [APTX4869
].
He and Misty Rain Traveler had split the stash evenly. A single pack of APTX4869 contained twelve pills, so his half gave him exactly six. As a side note, the black-clad assassin's gun was also with Misty Rain Traveler, since Bai Mu already had a revolver on hand.
They were both armed, yet even with a gun, Misty Rain Traveler had been effortlessly taken out by Gin. This only proved that the man truly possessed some sort of invincible trait.
Without further hesitation, he swallowed all six pills in one go. The moment he gulped them down, two new statuses instantly popped up on his status interface.
[Severely Poisoned: Lose 10% Health per second.]
[Ever-Changing: APTX4869 is altering your physical age.]
Six pills down, and both effects of the drug had been triggered.
Bai Mu felt his body growing feverishly hot. His heart hammered violently against his ribs, and his head spun. A suffocating tightness gripped his throat, as if he were drowning deep underwater, completely unable to draw a breath.
The sensation was agonizing. At this rate, the pill's intense toxicity would turn him into a corpse in a mere ten seconds.
However, he had not done this blindly. He had a detoxifying item on hand. Back at the Art Museum, Lucy had brought him a bottle of Grape Soda. Although it tasted different from the orange soda, the effect was exactly the same: clearing all negative statuses.
Bai Mu downed the Grape Soda in one gulp. Just as expected, the [Severely Poisoned] status was immediately cleansed. However, [Ever-Changing] remained active, as it was classified as a special status rather than a negative one.
The suffocating tightness faded away, but the intense fever and dizzying headache persisted.
Fortunately, Bai Mu had plenty of candy left. Not only did these sweets restore Health, but they also helped keep his mind sharp.
Lucy's Candy Box truly lived up to its reputation as a rare item obtained only by completing two hidden side-quests; its effects were both simple and highly practical.
"I need to find a place to hide first..." he muttered.
Bai Mu noticed that his Stamina was burning away at a rate of 1% every three seconds. Both his Strength and Agility attributes had already dropped by one or two points.
Every time he lifted his legs, it felt as though heavy weights were strapped to them. There was no way he could keep running in this condition. Before his physical functions failed completely, he quickly vaulted over the wall of a residential house, picked the lock, and slipped into the dusty, abandoned rooms inside.
The interior walls were covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and large chunks of plaster had peeled off the ceiling. The living room held a sofa and a television, but everything was shrouded in thick cobwebs and a heavy layer of dust.
Bai Mu locked the front door. Pulling out his remaining two Hand Grenades, he used threads from his clothes to set up tripwire traps at the door and windows. He also dragged out the corpse of the black-clad assassin, strategically placing it to buy himself just a little more time.
After finishing these preparations, he hid on the second floor. From the window, he had a clear view of the street below. It was not long before Gin appeared on that very road.