Chapter 6: Kill the Ogre, Intercept

However, nothing in the world is absolute; sometimes self-rescue does not necessarily require physical change.

...…

In the depths of his mind, unseen by others, the number of points stored on his Life Card decreased by four, and at the same time, a space above Gu Ran's head transformed, and a colossal vertical Void Eye coalesced in an instant.

This Giant Void Eye aimed directly at the ogre ahead, and the next moment, a beam of black light shot out from it.

The black beam moved at incredible speed, quickly penetrating the ogre's body.

At that moment, the ogre's massive body suddenly froze, its swinging hand stopping less than thirty centimeters from Gu Ran's head.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, his heart filled with hindsight fear; he had come so close to losing his life.

Suppressing the pain in his left shoulder and his somewhat sluggish spirit, Gu Ran, mustering a fierce energy from nowhere, did not take the opportunity to flee. Instead, he quickly drew the oversized fruit knife from his waist and plunged it mercilessly into the ogre's throat.

It wasn't over yet; he used all his strength to twist, opening up a massive wound on the ogre's neck.

Foul-smelling blood gushed out, drenching Gu Ran, who now appeared even more ghastly.

Wiping the warm blood off his face, Gu Ran hesitated no longer, and swiftly pulled back, retreating.

He had done everything he could; the rest was up to fate.

As blood sprayed, shocking red footprints marked the ground, but in that moment, he had no time to worry about cleaning up; his condition wasn't much better than the ogre's behind him.

Without any weapon in hand, and his card abilities still cooling down, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that even an ordinary person posed a great threat to him now.

He rushed into the room he had pried open the day before, closed the already damaged door, and then darted into the bedroom inside the house.

Fortunately, the bedroom door was still intact.

However, the locked bedroom door didn't bring him much of a sense of security. He knew too well that for the ogre, this door was as fragile as a sheet of glass, which could be easily shattered with a little force.

The fierce determination from before had vanished without a trace, replaced by a deathly pale complexion and a violently pulsing heart.

...…

At this moment, Gu Ran felt as though he had returned to that night more than a decade ago, submerged once again in the raging floodwaters.

Apart from that night, no moment had filled Gu Ran with such panic, confusion, and loathing of his own frailty.

If only he had another Miracle Card in hand.

If only the active effect of the Eye of Insight card, the Soul Capturing Spirit Eye, didn't have a ten-minute cooldown.

If only his physical strength were a bit stronger.

...…

Countless thoughts crossed his mind; possessing just one of them would have saved him from his current plight, not forced to hide in a corner like a dog, depending on prayers to decide his fate.

Yet reality is often that cruel.

All he could do now was to pray, over and over in his heart, praying that the damage he had inflicted on the ogre's neck was severe enough to prevent it from reaching him and finishing him off.

Thinking back to when he left the house just a short while ago, brimming with confidence that he could finish cleaning the entire building in one day, it was hard to believe that in less than ten minutes, he had ended up in such a wretched state. Gu Ran gave a self-deprecating smile, his heart filled with a bitterness he couldn't express to others.

...…

As time ticked by second by second, slowly, the panic on Gu Ran's face began to fade, replaced once again by a look of surprise.

Several minutes had passed since he hid in the bedroom, and the Ogre had yet to find him. Gu Ran had already formed a few guesses as to why.

But he did not act rashly; Gu Ran still stayed quietly in the bedroom.

In a few more minutes, the active ability of the Eye of Insight card would be ready to use again, and it wouldn't be too late to go out then.

It was a moment of carelessness that had led to the string of troubles that followed.

If he hadn't been standing straight at the end of the corridor but instead attacked from around a corner using the wall, even if the Ogre's throw of its huge axe had caught him off guard, he would have been able to use the wall to evade it, avoiding all the troubling matters that followed.

One such oversight was enough. Gu Ran swore to himself that he would not make a second one.

After approximately another two minutes, the long-awaited mechanical notification finally sounded in his ears.

[Over-level kill, earned 6 Source Energy Points.]

He quickly opened the attribute panel, and upon seeing the level section change from [0 (2/10)] to [0 (8/10)], Gu Ran sighed in relief, feeling as if a great burden had been lifted from his heart.

A little over three minutes later, as soon as the Soul Capturing Spirit Eye was off cooldown, Gu Ran could wait no longer and rushed towards the door of the room.

He was eager to see what the Ogre had dropped—his Source Energy Points had risen from 2 to 8, but his card points had fallen to 6. With each activation of the Soul Capturing Spirit Eye costing 4 card points, it meant that he could only use his card ability one more time.

Gu Ran believed that this fact would make anyone feel a deep sense of insecurity.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, he saw the Ogre's huge body lying prostrate not far from the left side of the doorway, surrounded by large pools of fresh blood.

What made Gu Ran's expression unsightly, however, was that there were no loot globes above the corpse.

Looking at the empty corpse, Gu Ran was somewhat stunned.

"Could there be a time limit to pick up drops, and I've missed the window of opportunity?"

A flash of urgency crossed his mind, but his eyes quickly shifted, and a "cold color" flickered in the depth of his gaze.

He noticed another issue: aside from the absence of the loot globes, even the arrows embedded in the Ogre's body had completely disappeared without a trace.

Gu Ran realized someone had taken advantage of the situation, not only taking away the spoils of the Ogre he had killed but also making off with the Mechanical Bow.

Walking to the end of the corridor and confirming that the Mechanical Bow he had dropped was also missing, Gu Ran's face grew dark as he proceeded along the hallway toward the other side.

Passing by the Ogre's body and the "405" room where he had just hidden, he paused for a while, found a wooden board of appropriate size, and then quickly left, continuing towards the last "406" room on this fourth floor.

He might not have known before, but after yesterday's investigation, Gu Ran had already confirmed that 406 was the only apartment on this floor that still had living people.

The problem became quite clear then—no matter what, the survivor in 406 was the most suspect.

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