Deceitful Game

Chapter 80 The Fox and the Detective

Chapter 80 The Fox and the Detective

"What do you want to fight?"

Mingbo sought advice from a friend: "Take the risk or fight?"

Currently, Ai Shiping's title level is not high, and his authority is also at the lowest level—if they enter the confrontation game, they are very likely to be targeted by higher-level Deceivers.

From a rational perspective, PVE adventure games are definitely safer.

But Mingpo doesn't "take into account that his teammate is too weak, so he protects him and keeps him away from dangerous things"—this excessive protectiveness is too weak for him.

If Ai Shiping said that he just wanted to engage in a confrontation—even if he was only known as a "detective" at the moment—Mingpo would not hesitate to enter the confrontation game.

"I'm fine with either."

Ai Shiping replied without hesitation, his expression flippant: "I'm fine with anything as long as I can play ranked matches with my brothers."

"Let me remind you, this isn't the kind of game you usually play."

Mingbo's expression was serious, and his tone was calm: "This is a death game where you have to kill others, and you will also be killed by others."

"Ah, of course I know."

Upon hearing this, Ai Shiping's smile faded considerably.

His gaze lowered, and he said softly, "I experienced this very scene in the game I just played."

"You mean—that deceiver of the Realm of Slaughter?"

Mingpo thought of the guy Ai Shiping had mentioned before who "leaked secrets to him".

He had an idea, so he said, "Tell me roughly what happened in your last game. Also, tell me what the effects of your titles are. I need to know all your information to give you instructions."

"Actually, nothing much happened. Someone was being targeted, so I went to help, and as a result, everyone targeted me, and I almost got killed along with them. But someone else helped me—he was short of money, so to repay him, I traded all my chips to him."

Ai Shiping said decisively, "I still have three pieces of Time Red Copper, which is the reward I just got from completing the game. I've already spent all the others."

"—Didn't you pay for the tickets?"

Mingpo retorted angrily, "Then why did you just say you had no chips left to play the game?"

Ai Shiping is a very contradictory guy. Although he is incredibly generous to others, especially to his friends, he also has a particular fondness for taking advantage of others.

He would readily spend all his money on treating others, and would lend a friend whatever he had when they needed it; yet he would also shamelessly ask a friend for a Coke and then down almost half of it in one go.

His earlier attempt to elicit sympathy was clearly an attempt to extract money from Mingpo. Yet, he unhesitatingly gave Mingpo two-thirds of his most precious "treasures" without a single mention of asking Mingpo to reimburse him.

"Ah, calm down, calm down—"

Ai Shiping chuckled awkwardly, "Isn't this just an exaggeration—does that mean you don't have many chips left? Then don't give them to me."

Seeing that there was no longer any danger of death, Ai Shiping subtly changed his way of addressing Mingpo from "father" to "brother," and then back to "you."

The downgrade process is very fast.

It's as fast as the upgrade we just did.

"It's enough for you."

Mingpo didn't hesitate at all: "Since I'm the captain, then of course you'll all be responsible for the ticket expenses."

There's no reason in this world for a junior to treat you to a meal.

He was aware of his role as a leader.

As the leader, he is the elder brother, teacher, guardian, father, and alpha wolf of the pack. He should rightfully enjoy the best treatment, be respected, and not tolerate betrayal or questioning from others—but at the same time, he must also bear the responsibility of protecting the weak and finding food for the pack.

Ai Shiping showed no dissatisfaction at being called a "junior".

He simply accepted it with a beaming smile, exclaiming three times, "Big Brother! Big Brother is so generous! Big Brother is awesome!"

"—You really should become a news anchor, Ai Shiping."

Mingpo retorted, "But from now on I'll call you 'Fox,' and you can call me 'Detective.'"

In order to avoid accidentally calling the wrong name later.

"Okay, big brother, no problem, big brother."

Ai Shiping chuckled, seemingly noticing something: "But—you guys? You found other teammates? Or—"

His eyes gleamed with intense excitement: "Is it my sister-in-law?"

"It's a man named Gao Fan."

Mingper emphasized.

But after thinking for a moment, he added, "The woman might not necessarily be your sister-in-law. There might be other teammates in the future, so don't be too rude to her."

"Don't worry about that," Ai Shiping's smile didn't fade, "Even if you offend them, I would never offend them."

That's true.

Mingpo thought to herself.

Ai Shiping continued, "My title, Fox, belongs to the Balance Domain and has two effects."

Its passive effect is the ability to detect hostility in the air. This effect has two details.

"First, even if it's not hostile towards me, I can still smell it. It's an odor factor that gradually dissipates with air circulation and becomes more noticeable in enclosed spaces."

"Secondly, if it's hostility directed at me, I'll feel a pain or soreness in my nose, like I've suddenly inhaled cold air."

"Not bad ability."

Mingbo nodded: "Very practical."

Although it may seem ordinary, this ability could play a crucial role if used correctly.

"It even has active effects!"

Ai Shiping was quite pleased with himself: "I can use the active effect of this title, at the cost of temporarily suppressing the passive effect for a period of time, to enhance my sense of smell. At this time, I can smell things that are hidden." The longer it is active, the longer the passive effect will recover.

"In the last game, I used this ability to find the imposter who was using invisibility to spy on me, and I also smelled the key hidden in the mechanism. If it's activated for ten seconds, it will probably disable the passive effect for about five minutes."

This is the shortest opening time.

"—You can even smell things like keys?"

Mingpo was somewhat surprised.

It's not surprising that it can be used to detect cloaking, since canines have a very sensitive sense of smell.

But even buried dead things can be smelled —

"What a good dog."

Minpo praised.

Ai Shiping raised an eyebrow and countered, "And you? Your detective skills aren't even as good as a fox's, are they?"

"—Maybe it really is true."

Mingpo shook her head: "My passive ability increases my thinking speed and allows me to see item descriptions. If used actively, it instantly highlights important clues. However, using this effect significantly depletes my stamina."

"That's great."

Ai Shiping was somewhat envious: "Titles in the Domain of Strength can increase strength, and titles in the Domain of Wisdom can increase intelligence. Why don't titles in the Domain of Balance offer anything?"

"Not necessarily," Mingpo joked. "Following this pattern, it might even increase agility. And then evolve from a fox all the way to a nine-tailed fox—"

"No! I don't want to be a small animal, I want to be a human!"

Ai Shiping shook his head, full of hope: "I heard that in the advancement game, if you can completely crack the game, you can inherit a rare title. I hope I can get a good one—"

"That's definitely possible."

Mingpo hummed in affirmation.

So far, Minper's most powerful title comes from "Frankenstein," which he inherited from the game.

This title's effect is almost equivalent to a weakened version of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—although the activation condition isn't "cutting along the dotted line" but rather requires "twisting" or "tearing" it off by hand, therefore it cannot be used while a weapon is equipped.

It can only be triggered by touching the other person with your own hand.

However, its ability to kill living organisms is truly astonishing.

It could even inflict effective damage on that ghost security guard from before. This means that basically any humanoid monster with a physical body, as long as its reaction speed can keep up, is unlikely to pose a threat to Minpeer in his "Frankenstein" form.

Thinking of this, Mingpo's heart stirred.

I just don't know—whether it will work on monsters without human form.