Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

The waiting area was deathly silent.

The corpse in the bone mound lay in a pool of blood, its wide-open eyes still showing traces of terror.

The blood-red kill announcements on the screen slowly faded away, replaced by the current ranking of the players.

Tsuchimikado Jin's face turned deathly pale, cold sweat poured down his forehead, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"Now, you can answer my question," Rito's voice broke the silence.

He took a step forward; the blood from his right leg wound had already congealed, but each step still left a faint bloodstain on the ground.

Tsuchimikado Jin swallowed hard. "What...what do you want to know?"

"How much do you know about the rope?" Rihito asked, looking into Tsuchimikado Jin's eyes.

Tsuchimikado Jin lowered his head, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

"I don't know much either, but before the Death and Annihilation Return Tour began, someone found me."

"Who is it?"

"A man wearing a monk's robe, with two strange suture lines on his face." Tsuchimikado Jin's voice trembled slightly.

"He said that as long as I do one thing for him inside the barrier, he will guarantee that I can get out alive."

Rin's pupils contracted slightly.

It was indeed a coiled rope.

"What does he want you to do?"

"Kill someone." Tsuchimikado Jin raised his head, his gaze fixed on Rito.

"you!"

Li Ren frowned.

Tsuchimikado Jin gave a wry smile. "He showed me your image and said you would appear in Barrier A, and told me to wait for you here."

"He also said that if I could kill you, he would give me a thousand points as a reward."

"So when you said 'a perfect score from a newcomer is the best welcome gift,' were you testing me?"

Tsuchimikado Jin nodded: "I originally intended to make you hand over your points first, and then find an opportunity to make my move, but..."

He glanced at the mound of bones lying in a pool of blood, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

"But I'm curious, how was he so sure I'd be in barrier A?" Rihito suddenly asked.

Tsuchimikado Jin shook his head.

"I don't know, but that man... he seemed to know everything."

"Before the barrier was activated, he gave each of us a curse mark." Tsuchimikado Jin said, raising his left hand to reveal a black curse mark the size of a coin in his palm.

"He said that as long as you get close, the mark will heat up, reminding us that the target is nearby."

Li Ren's gaze fell on the cursed seal, and his eyes turned cold.

As expected, Juan Suo had already laid out his plan.

He not only changed the rules of the Death Return Tour, but also issued a kill order against himself to the players inside the barrier in advance.

Using high points as bait, they turned all players into "hounds" hunting them down.

In this way, no matter where you go within the barrier, someone will come to you.

"What a treacherous tactic," Rito sneered.

Tsuchimikado Jin bit his lip: "I've already told you everything I know, could you...?"

"You can go now," Rito waved his hand.

Tsuchimikado Jin felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He quickly turned around and helped up the burly man with the missing arm. Together with the woman in the kimono, they staggered toward the exit of the waiting area.

But just as they were about to walk out the door, Rito's voice rang out again.

"etc."

Tsuchimikado Jin's steps froze. He slowly turned around, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Is...is there anything else?"

"Who added the cross-regional tracking rule you mentioned before?" Li Ren asked.

Tsuchimikado Jin was taken aback, then shook his head.

"I really don't know that. That rule existed before we entered the barrier. It must have been added by a high-scoring player who entered earlier."

Li Ren nodded.

"I understand, you can leave now."

Tsuchimikado Jin felt as if he had been granted a pardon, turned around and quickly disappeared into the shadows of the exit.

Only Li Ren remained in the waiting area.

In the empty space, the screen emitted a buzzing electrical sound, and blood-red text flowed slowly.

Liren walked to the light screen and carefully examined the current information.

Your points: 1380

Current ranking: 7st

Total kills: 1

[Time elapsed: 00:23:47]

In less than half an hour, I had gone from 100 points to 1380 points and broken into the top ten in the rankings.

But rational people know that this is far from enough.

The rules of the Death Return have changed; as the concentration of cursed power continues to rise, everyone will become stronger.

Moreover, with the rope pulling the strings behind the scenes, the more conspicuous one is, the more likely one is to become a target of public criticism.

"The most important thing now is to find Kurusu Hana." Rito clenched his fist.

If we can find Kurusu Hana, who possesses the "Angel" technique, and release Gojo Satoru from his seal, there is still room for maneuver.

He turned and prepared to leave the waiting area and head deeper into the barrier.

But just as he was about to take that step...

hum! ! !

The screen emitted a blinding white light once again.

Li Ren's heart sank, and he abruptly turned his head to look at the light screen.

The blood-red text was jumping rapidly, like a group of frenzied living things twisting and rearranging on the screen.

[Barrier Announcement - Urgent Notice!]

[Player "Curse Mountain" - Off-site additional rules verified!]

[Rules: Deathmatch Mode - Activation Conditions Changed.]

[New rule: When three or more consecutive kills occur in a single waiting area, "Deathmatch Mode" will be automatically triggered.]

The rules for Deathmatch mode are as follows:

The waiting area where Deathmatch mode has been triggered will be forcibly sealed off, and all entrances and exits will be temporarily closed.

[All players within the restricted area will automatically become "deathmatch participants" and cannot leave.]

[The Deathmatch mode lasts for 120 minutes. Every ten minutes, the barrier will release a high-concentration curse energy shockwave within the area.]

The shockwave will cause indiscriminate damage to all living beings within its range.

[If more than two people survive in the area at the end of 15 minutes, the barrier will automatically activate "Forced Annihilation" to kill all survivors.]

When the number of survivors in the area drops to 1, the deathmatch mode ends, the lockdown is lifted, and the survivor receives a reward of 3000 points.

[Note: Once Deathmatch mode is activated, no player may interfere with or break the rules in any way; otherwise, they will be considered a "rule breaker" by the barrier and immediately eliminated.]

The current waiting zone has met the activation requirements!

Deathmatch mode will start in 30 seconds!

[Countdown: 30...29...28...]

"Damn it!" Rito's heart sank completely.

He looked at the entrances and exits of the waiting area and saw a layer of blood-red barrier spreading out from the walls, completely sealing off those entrances and exits.

The surface of that barrier was covered with dense patterns of magical energy, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.

Clearly, with his current strength, he simply cannot forcefully break through this level of barrier.

In the corner of the screen, a new message quietly lit up:

Do you like the gift I prepared for you?