The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

The eight survivors were low-level and poorly equipped, making them easy to kill. Killing them would grant a temporary buff, greatly increasing the chances of victory when targeting Xiao Jiu.

What the hunter lacks is not strength, but a reason to act, an opportunity to make him feel that "this time he won't lose out".

Su Mu decided to go in first.

He tiptoed through the crooked iron gate on the side of the stadium's main entrance. The corridor behind the gate was long, with faded posters on the walls depicting athletes whose faces he could no longer recognize, shooting hoops. At the end of the corridor was the stadium's main hall, its dome soaring high, and the rows of seats in the stands extending upwards like gray-white waves.

Su Mu didn't go to the main hall. He turned a corner along the corridor and went up to the second floor.

The second floor features a circular corridor that encircles the main hall. Inside the corridor are rows of entrances leading to the stands, while outside are functional rooms—offices, equipment rooms, changing rooms, media rooms. The eight red dots are located in a few rooms at the end of the corridor.

Su Mu tiptoed, walking along the wall. The corridor was dark, with only a faint moonlight filtering in from the window at the end. His shoes made almost no sound as they stepped on the floor tiles.

He paused for a moment when he reached the door of the fourth room.

The door was ajar, and a dim light shone through the crack... not moonlight, but the beam of a flashlight. A sound came from inside, very soft, but exceptionally clear in the quiet corridor.

Su Mu frowned.

Instead of pushing the door open, he leaned against the wall next to the door and gently pushed it open a crack with his fingers.

A flashlight beam shone through the crack in the door, casting a long, dark shadow on the floor. The room was small, resembling an abandoned office, with desks and chairs pushed aside and a few cushions salvaged from the stands scattered on the floor. Seven or eight people were crammed into the small room; some leaned against the wall, some sat on the floor, and some stood by the window.

Su Mu's gaze fell on the innermost corner of the room.

There, a woman was kneeling on the coffee table.

Her clothes were tattered, revealing large patches of bluish-purple skin.

Her long hair was disheveled and covered most of her face, but you could see the dried blood at the corner of her mouth and her swollen eye sockets.

Her hands were bound by a rope, the other end of which was tied to a heating pipe, so tightly that deep red marks had appeared on her wrists.

Two men crouched on either side of her, preventing her from struggling. Their faces were expressionless—not with anger, not with desire, but with a pure, self-evident indifference… as if they were doing something utterly normal.

Nearby, a middle-aged man squatted down, holding a bottle of mineral water, drinking as he watched, a faint smile playing on his lips. He wasn't participating, nor was he stopping it; he was simply watching... as if observing a performance that had nothing to do with him.

On the other side of the room, two men were dragging a young girl toward the edge.

The girl looked to be around twenty years old, dressed in a cosplay outfit... a pink and white skirt, puffy sleeves, and a pair of cat ear headbands.

Her clothes were already somewhat torn, revealing a white slip underneath. She struggled desperately, her fingernails scratching bloody marks on the white man's arm, but she was too weak, and all her struggles seemed futile.

Her mouth was taped shut, and she could only make muffled whimpering sounds like a small animal.

The rest of the people were either leaning against the wall, had their heads down, or turned their faces to the window. No one spoke, no one moved, and no one made any attempt to stop them.

Su Mu placed his hand on the grip of the M500.

At that moment, the woman kneeling on the ground suddenly raised her head. Her face, hidden by long hair, had eyes so swollen they were almost closed, and lips so dry and cracked they were bleeding. She looked at the middle-aged Asian man, her voice hoarse and barely audible.

"You said it...you said that if I obeyed you, you wouldn't harm my sister..."

The middle-aged Asian man glanced at her, screwed the cap back on his water bottle, and stuffed it into his backpack. He didn't answer; he simply stood up, walked over to the two white men, and helped them push the girl further into the corner.

Tears welled up in the woman's swollen eyes and streamed down her bluish-purple cheeks. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but only a hoarse sob escaped her throat, as if something was choking her.

Survivors descending from the cable car.

Su Mu took a deep breath and tapped his finger lightly on the trigger guard of the M500. He wasn't the kind of person who would risk his life for a stranger. He had witnessed too much of the evil and too much of the good in humanity; these two extremes played out every day in this world, and he had neither the obligation nor the ability to change anything. If he had come today, it was only to scout ahead, not to save anyone.

But just then...

"boom......!"

The wall on the other side of the corridor exploded.

It wasn't a door, it wasn't a window, it was a wall. The sound of shattering bricks echoed through the corridor, sending fragments flying and dust billowing everywhere. A hand reached out from a hole in the wall... no, not a hand, it was a knife. The knife was entirely black, with a broad blade and three deep blood grooves along its back, the edge covered in broken bricks and dust.

The hunter emerged from the hole in the wall.

His trench coat was covered in grayish-white dust, his long hair was loose over his shoulders, and a chilling smile played on his lips. His empty eyes swept across both sides of the corridor before locking onto a room with a half-open door.

Eight people. Eight survivors. Eight "nutrients" that can be converted into power boosts in seconds.

His grin widened. He strode toward the door, his pace unhurried, like a butcher entering a slaughterhouse.

Su Mu did not hesitate any longer.

He sprang off the wall, summoning his spear from thin air, tip pointing forward, and shot off like an arrow. Not towards the hunter, but towards that door.

The hunter reacted much faster than he had anticipated.

The moment Su Mu charged out, the hunter's head snapped around. For the first time, a feeling akin to "surprise" appeared in those empty eyes... not fear, not astonishment, but more like the bewilderment of "How did you get here?"

But his hand didn't stop. The black knife swept across from the side, its blade whistling sharply as it went straight for Su Mu's neck.

Su Mu did not dodge.

"Thrust".