Death Train: SSS-level talent right from the start!

The man with the buzz cut held a short knife in his hand, his eyes filled with an almost insane determination.

If he hasn't obtained the mark by the end of the trial, he will be directly eliminated by the rules of this world, without even a chance to struggle.

He doesn't want to die.

So he decided to take a gamble.

He was waiting for an opportunity.

As Chen Ye and Zhao Hai turned and walked towards the mirror, as the attention of the rest of the team focused on the impending mirror guard, and as the guy with the crossbow relaxed his guard.

That moment is now.

His speed was astonishing, bursting forth at a speed far exceeding his usual pace.

When people are driven to the brink of despair, they can unleash power and speed that they themselves cannot even imagine.

He only needs two seconds to rush behind Qin Zhaoyang, a distance of fifteen meters.

He raised the short knife, the tip aimed at the back of Qin Zhaoyang's neck.

He had already mentally rehearsed everything that was about to happen: the blade would cut in, Qin Zhaoyang would fall, he would seize the survival mark, and then he would turn and run.

He ran into those intricate alleyways, to a place where no one could find him, and once the trial was over, he would be safe.

The plan is good.

But he missed one person.

Or to be more precise, he overlooked one person's reaction speed.

Chen Ye turned around the moment he heard the hurried footsteps behind him.

Without hesitation, without pause, without even a moment's thought, the Demon-Slaying Halberd shifted from a planted position to a thrusting stance. The spear tip traced a silver-black trail in the air, moving so fast that it was almost invisible, leaving only a blur.

The entire process, from turning around to drawing the gun, took no more than 0.5 seconds.

When the short-haired man's dagger was less than half a meter from Qin Zhaoyang's nape, the tip of the Demon-Slaying Halberd had already pierced his throat.

"puff--"

The spear tip pierced through the front of the throat and exited through the back of the neck, bringing with it a cloud of dark red blood mist.

Blood splattered in the air, landing on the mirrored floor tiles with a soft, crackling sound.

The man with the buzz cut suddenly stiffened.

The dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a crisp clanging sound.

His eyes were wide open, bloodshot, and his lips were trembling as if he were trying to say something, but his throat had been pierced and he couldn't make a sound.

His last gaze remained fixed on the slowly rotating six-pointed star above Qin Zhaoyang's head, and then, as if all his strength had been drained, he collapsed limply to the ground.

"boom--"

His body slammed onto the mirrored floor tiles with a dull thud.

Dark red blood gushed from his throat and mouth, spreading across the mirrored floor tiles.

Chen Ye drew his spear.

The moment the gun tip was pulled from the crew-cut man's throat, even more blood gushed out, splattering onto Chen Ye's trousers and shoes. The gun tip was covered in dark red blood, and droplets of blood ran down the gun's grooves and dripped onto the ground.

Qin Zhaoyang turned his head sharply and saw the still convulsing corpse on the ground. His face turned pale instantly.

"Brother Ye...he..."

"He wants to kill you."

Chen Ye's voice was calm. He looked down at the corpse on the ground, at the still-open eyes, at the distorted face, and at the pool of dark red blood that was still spreading.

This was the first person he had killed since he started participating in the survival game.

The moment the spear pierced his throat, he could feel the spear tip cutting through his flesh, slicing open his trachea, and exiting from the back of his neck.

The sensation, the resistance, the warmth of the spurting blood—it all felt so real it made me want to vomit.

He suddenly thought of the plots in those online novels, where the protagonists, as soon as they transmigrate to another world, are ruthless and decisive, killing people without hesitation, and can still talk and laugh without any psychological burden.

How is that possible?

As a bright young person in a civilized 21st-century society, how could one not feel guilty about killing someone? But now, being in a death game, this is something that must be experienced.

Just as he said before that Qin Zhaoyang needed to overcome this hurdle, so did he himself.

In this respect, Jiang Ning is better than him. Whether it was killing Sean in the insect hive or casually shooting the person who wanted to steal the elite monster, Jiang Ning remained calm and composed, as if he were doing something perfectly normal.

Jiang Ning had clearly accepted the rules of this world much earlier than him.

Chen Ye stared at the corpse on the ground and remained silent for several seconds.

Wen Ning, who was standing nearby, noticed Chen Ye's unusual behavior. She reached out and gently patted Chen Ye's shoulder: "He was the one who tried to kill Zhao Yang first."

"I'm fine."

Chen Ye quickly composed himself and his voice returned to calm.

He looked around but didn't see the rest of the team. It seemed that the man with the buzz cut had broken away from the group and returned.

Chen Ye withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the mirror ten meters away. The gray chaos on the mirror surface was still churning, and the dim light flowed slowly along the embossed patterns on the edge of the frame.

"Same as always. Hai Ge and I will subdue the Mirror Guards, and Li Zheng will finish them off. The rest of you don't need to do anything; just keep watch around."

After Chen Ye finished speaking, everyone nodded.

He and Zhao Hai walked towards the mirror.

The gray chaos on the mirror surface continued to churn, and as the two drew closer, the churning intensified.

The moment Chen Ye stepped into the ten-meter range, the gray chaos in the center of the mirror suddenly spread outwards, and a vortex-shaped hole appeared in the center of the mirror. A mirror guard holding a spiked club walked out.

The moment the Mirror Guard stepped out of the mirror, Chen Ye's Demon-Slaying Halberd came crashing down.

The gun slammed into the top of the Mirror Guard's full-face helmet with a dull thud.

"boom--!"

The silver-white helmet dented deeply, cracks spreading outwards from the point of impact. The Mirror Guard's body sank sharply, his feet sinking into the mirrored floor tiles, and fragments flew in all directions.

Zhao Hai's iron fist followed closely, striking from the side.

The silver-gray fist slammed into the Mirror Guard's chest, unleashing three times the force in that instant.

The Mirror Guard's breastplate was dented, and cracks spread outwards from the point where the fist struck, with silvery-white liquid seeping out from the cracks.

Faced with Chen Ye and Zhao Hai's offensive, the Mirror Guard was powerless to resist and was quickly pinned to the ground.

After the Mirror Guard was subdued, Li Zheng stepped forward and raised his short sword to slash repeatedly at the Mirror Guard's helmet.

About ten minutes later, Li Zheng shattered the Mirror Guard's helmet, killing him instantly.

A silver six-pointed star cursor slowly appeared above Li Zheng's head.

Li Zheng pulled the dagger from the Mirror Guard's head, and silvery-white liquid dripped down the blade.

He couldn't wait to bring up the system panel, and finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he had completed the trial mission.

"Chen Ye, Hai Ge, thank you!"

Li Zheng said solemnly.

Zhao Hai walked over from beside the corpse of the Mirror Guard, the silver-gray sheen on his fists slowly fading. He reached out and patted Li Zheng on the shoulder: "I told you Chen Ye would find a way to get everyone the survival mark."

As Zhao Hai spoke, he glanced at Chen Ye with a slight smile on his lips.

Wen Ning, Qin Zhaoyang, Zhou Yating, and Wang Shuo walked up.

Wen Ning asked, "We've completed the mission ahead of schedule, and we still have a little over a day left. What are our plans?"

Chen Ye looked up at the sky; the gray-white sky had turned dark gray.

He withdrew his gaze: "Let's go back to the central square, set up camp there tonight, and see if we can get all one hundred survival marks before the trial ends."

"We've already completed the trial mission, is there any need for us to take any more risks?"

Zhao Hai frowned slightly. He didn't mean to question it, but simply wanted to confirm Chen Ye's considerations.

Chen Ye glanced at him sideways: "Yes, the survival trials will only get more and more dangerous. Hai-ge, you're an S-rank, but you don't even have any skills yet, which will put you at a disadvantage later. Given the nature of the Death Game, with multiple trains participating in the three-star survival trials at the same time, who knows how they'll raise their own monsters. We need to seize every opportunity to improve our strength. That mirror is both an adventure and an opportunity."

Zhao Hai was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Then I'll do as you say."

"Let's go."

After Chen Ye finished speaking, he strode towards the city's central square.

Zhao Hai, Wen Ning, and the others followed one after another.

Seven people walked through the twilight, the six-pointed star overhead growing brighter in the darkening sky, the seven halos forming a line that moved slowly with their steps.