Chapter 64 – Malicious Targeting
In the blink of an eye, the match entered its third stage.
AVG advanced southward, encountering KKC and NS. Although they successfully defeated both teams, neither was weak by any means. Unfortunately, Da Shu fell during a duel with NS.
Mi Li glanced once more at Da Shu’s box and quipped, “We opened the champagne at halftime, and this is what we get.”
Da Shu retorted, “Nonsense! I was just unlucky to get swept. Would you have survived without me taking the hits?”
“Alright,” Yin Sijue interrupted. “Da Shu, go OB. It’s going to be hard for us to get through this.”
As expected, the safe zone spawned at the southern airport. Their next opponent was SOP, who had spent twenty minutes at the center of the circle—fully equipped and in perfect condition.
“We need to cross the bridge.” Yin Sijue handed the driver’s seat to Ji Wei. “MKBK will probably arrive soon. We’re not at full strength, so let’s stay off to the side, block the view, and wait for them to pass.”
This time, AVG only had two jeeps, one of which was damaged when a tree was destroyed. Now, with three people crammed into one vehicle, trying to cross the bridge in this situation could easily get someone swept off.
The third stage was especially crucial. With any fewer players now, their chances of winning would be slim.
Soon, two coupes approached from behind at full speed, heading straight for the bridge. It was MKBK—fully staffed and in good condition.
Their two cars made a direct charge, engaging SOP head-on.
But the outcome was disastrous. Across the bridge, not only was SOP waiting, but another Korean team, DT, also opened fire on the vehicles crossing. Within moments, MKBK was completely wiped out.
After observing the battle, Yin Sijue marked a point on the map. “SOP is across the bridge. Second mark—DT setting up their guns.”
He studied the surrounding terrain and said gravely, “This circle might get blocked.”
Ji Wei frowned. “I remember a Korean team’s jump point was the Zodiac, right? They’ll have to cross the bridge too. That should at least weaken the enemy a bit.”
“How do you know they haven’t already crossed?” Da Shu asked, puzzled.
“We drove by and got shot,” Ji Wei said sincerely, his tone more painful than mocking. “You were already dead by then. Didn’t you notice from the OB view?”
Da Shu, who tended to get distracted while spectating, felt guilty. “…I noticed long ago—I just didn’t say anything!”
Yin Sijue warned, “Watch out. The Zodiac team’s crossed the bridge.”
This Korean team only had one car, but they were fully staffed with four players. That should at least reduce some of SOP’s combat power—or at the very least, cut down on their supplies.
After all, there’s a big difference between having mines and not having them in a bridge-blocking battle.
Everyone fully expected them to inflict heavy damage on the SOP team across the bridge, but the result was completely unexpected — the team hadn’t been hit by a single bullet since they drove onto it.
The two Korean teams on the opposite side seemed blind, not firing a single shot, allowing the others to cross safely.
As the car’s last tire left the bridge, the team’s voice chat stayed silent for a full five seconds, leaving everyone speechless with disgust.
Mi Li sneered, “What excuse do you think they’ll come up with later?”
Da Shu speculated, “Reloading? Maybe they were out of form and didn’t see? They just can’t admit they only kill players from other regions.”
“It’s time to close the circle,” Ji Wei sighed, then asked Yin Sijue, “Should we move out?”
There was no other option. The nearest exit was across the bridge. Even if a full-strength team waited for them, they had no choice but to push forward.
Yin Sijue seemed to have already anticipated the outcome. He remained calm and said, “Drive behind the bunker first. Let’s see if we can take a few down.”
“Okay.” Ji Wei took the driver’s seat and steadily steered the car toward the bunker on the bridge. The SOP bullets suddenly came to life, raining down like a torrential downpour.
“The car’s down to half health.” The three of them jumped out behind the bunker. Ji Wei reported their situation and downed an energy drink.
Da Shu said wistfully, “There are only six teams left. We should be the only one from PCL.”
Yin Sijue took position and started giving orders: “Mi Li, get behind the crate. Ji Wei, clear the mines to the right of the car. Don’t throw the smokes yet — wait until they’re down.”
A barrage of bullets poured down on them. Enemies seemed to be everywhere. Mi Li struggled to reach the bunker but was unfortunately knocked down mid-run.
“I’ll get you.” Ji Wei threw a smoke grenade and rushed to revive her. The two sides exchanged fire again. “Bang, bang, bang!”
[AVG_Solve] used an AKM assault rifle to knock down [SOP_Flanker].
Yin Sijue called out, “One down! I’m low on health — can someone get me?”
Ji Wei tried to finish the enemy off but got knocked down himself after exposing his position.
“This won’t work.”
Yin Sijue frowned and opened his backpack. “It’s not worth it. We’ve been fighting nonstop — we can’t match their ammo or meds, and the circle’s closing in.”
Mi Li tossed her last smoke grenade to save Ji Wei and said desperately, “I’m out of items…”
There wasn’t much cover on the overpass. The three of them huddled behind a small barrier, unable to move. Any attempt to peek or reposition was met with ruthless suppression.
The distinctive crack of a sniper rifle echoed, and bullets kicked up gravel at their feet. Mi Li was shot down again by the SOP sniper from afar.
Watching his teammate collapse once more, Ji Wei turned toward the direction of the gunfire, stunned for a few seconds, his expression darkening.
“Mi Li, he hit your leg.”
Dazed, Mi Li didn’t react at first. “What?”
Ji Wei marked the sniper’s location on the map and explained to Mi Li, “From that position, he could’ve hit your head. And he was holding an AWM — he could’ve killed you with one shot. We wouldn’t have had a chance to save you.”
“He deliberately only hit your legs.”
“They’re trying to wear us down — waiting for us to go in for rescues one by one, knock us down again, and repeat…”
Watching from the sidelines, Da Shu felt nauseous. “Is this necessary? Isn’t the point of a training match to spar with each other? Why resort to such malicious targeting? What grudge do they have against us?”
Yin Sijue frowned. “Calm down. Ji Wei, revive Mi Li, then grab your gun. They threw a smoke.”
“They’re coming,” Da Shu warned, hearing footsteps approaching.
Mi Li was just a sliver of health away from being revived, but Ji Wei didn’t have time to ready his weapon. Yin Sijue was pinned down behind cover by three SOP players.
[SOP_Zone] used a Vector submachine gun to defeat [AVG_Solve].
Da Shu was baffled. “What do you mean? Weren’t you planning to wear us down? Why are you charging now?”
He soon understood why.
After defeating Solve, the remaining SOP members didn’t bother to revive their teammate. Instead, they focused their fire on the already weakened Ji Wei and Mi Li. Ji Wei fought back and managed to take one down, but he couldn’t withstand the overwhelming firepower. Both he and Mi Li were killed.
[SOP_Hunter] used a UZI submachine gun to defeat [AVG_Milly].
[AVG_Unique] used an M416 assault rifle to defeat [SOP_Hunter].
[SOP_Zone] used an AKM assault rifle to kill [AVG_Unique].
With Ji Wei’s character falling to the ground, all AVG members were eliminated — the last PCL team on the field was out.
However, the story didn’t end there.
Instead of reviving their own fallen teammate, the SOP members did something that made everyone sick to their stomachs.
They drew their pistols, walked up to Ji Wei’s body, and fired several rounds at close range.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The crisp gunshots pierced through the headsets, and Ji Wei’s character’s body jerked violently under the impact.
A shrill, mocking laugh — followed by a few words in Korean — came from the other end of the mic. Ji Wei didn’t understand.
“Fuck!” Da Shu’s face went pale. He slammed his hand on the table with a loud thud, making the mouse bounce twice.
“Are they insane? They’re corpse-whipping now?”
Mi Li muttered a few curses of her own, staring at the screen with a dark expression.
“Can this be reported? That’s disgusting!” Da Shu asked.
Yin Sijue’s voice was tight with suppressed anger. “Private training matches can’t be reported. Whether they’ll face a penalty in an official match depends on the situation. Usually, the referee just gives a warning.”
Yin Sijue’s voice was tight with suppressed anger. “These private practice matches can’t be reported. Whether a penalty is issued in a formal match depends on the circumstances. Usually, the referee just gives a warning.”
He turned to look at Ji Wei and saw that the boy hadn’t said a word — just stared calmly and intently at the screen.
Da Shu also noticed his unusually quiet teammate. Too anxious to even take off his headset, he quickly tried to comfort him. “Unique, don’t let it get to you. They’re just a bunch of jerks who happened to win this time! Brother Qiu will definitely scold them to death.”
“No…” Ji Wei blinked at the screen. His expression wasn’t angry or resentful as Da Shu had expected — instead, there was a trace of surprise.
After a few seconds, he said slowly, “I just realized today that in-game characters keep their eyes open when they’re being whipped. It’s kind of scary.”
Da Shu: “…”
Mi Li: “?”
Yin Sijue was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. He glanced at Ji Wei’s gentle profile and couldn’t help but reach out to rub his boyfriend’s head.
Feeling the warmth on his hair, Ji Wei turned to smile at Yin Sijue. “Aren’t you going to watch the rest of the game? Let’s just wait for the next round.”
The sound of a door opening came from behind them.
“Just quit the game. Don’t waste time watching those idiots.”
Xu Shaoqiu walked out of the viewing room, gritting his teeth. He tried to suppress his anger as he said, “They’re just acting out on their own. Nothing worth watching.”
Da Shu crossed his arms. “Why bother getting angry? This won’t hurt us. Their reputation’s going to take the hit. I doubt the other two teams didn’t see them whipping him to death.”
Mi Li took off her headphones and sighed. “Honestly, when I saw the first safe zone spawn at the airport, I figured SOP was going to get stuck. It’s fine. Treating us like clowns is a bit much, though. Let’s just finish this one and move on.”
Xu Shaoqiu’s neck flushed red with anger. “The key is, they didn’t even fight the KOOKs who landed at the Zodiac! They had their guns out, ready to go — must’ve been shocked when they realized they made it across alive!”
His phone vibrated in his pocket. Xu Shaoqiu checked the message. “Yeah, Kelly got whipped too. Youyou says he’s crying in front of his computer right now.”
Da Shu blinked. “Huh? That guy’s always acting tough — and now he’s crying?”
Corpse-whipping was an extremely insulting act in the game — even worse than punching. The corpse splattered blood with every gunshot. No one liked seeing their in-game character treated like that.
“Stop talking!” Xu Shaoqiu snapped, glaring at Da Shu. “These idiots are clearly targeting the two newcomers. Youyou said UGC got assaulted right after landing at the airport — and it wasn’t even just one team! What’s worse, those teams weren’t fighting anyone else from their own region. Only PCL teams. What the hell is that supposed to be?”
Ji Wei frowned. “Wouldn’t that count as a violation in an official competition?”
“Yes,” Xu Shaoqiu replied, turning his head to explain. “It’s explicitly forbidden by the officials to throw matches like that — in serious cases, it can even result in penalty points. But I didn’t expect them to pull this kind of stunt during a practice match.”
He looked at Ji Wei with concern. “Unique, are you okay? The one who shot you just now was SOP’s captain, Zone — the same guy who refused to shake Da Shu’s hand before. Petty as hell. Don’t take it to heart.”
“I’m fine, Brother Qiu. I don’t care,” Ji Wei said calmly, shaking his head without a trace of gloom.
“Let me put it this way, Brother Qui” Da Shu adjusted an imaginary pair of glasses. “There’s only one truth — as long as the one getting corpse-whipped isn’t Solve, our Unique wouldn’t even bat an eye.”
Ji Wei: “…”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. Ji Wei thought for a moment — if the one being whipped had been Yin Sijue instead, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to stay calm.
“Really?” Yin Sijue leaned closer, amusement flickering in his eyes. His voice dropped low, his breath brushing Ji Wei’s ear. “Then I’d better play seriously next round. Wouldn’t want to make our Unique angry.”
Ji Wei felt his face heat up under that teasing, magnetic voice and instinctively turned his head away. “O-of course we have to play seriously next round. Getting corpse-whipped is… is way too humiliating.”
“That’s enough, you two. I’m going to get an eye infection just watching this.”
Ever since realizing that the “pig” had actually managed to snatch his “cabbage,” Xu Shaoqiu hadn’t been able to look at Yin Sijue without irritation. “Hurry up and get back to your room and get ready — those Korean players are done.”
The four of them entered a new custom room. It was still the Erangel map. Da Shu crossed one leg over the other, waiting for the match to start.
“Brother, what’s the plan this round? Are we getting revenge or not?”
Yin Sijue propped his chin on his hand, his gaze icy as it locked onto the IDs of the players who had just shot Ji Wei. Unhurriedly, he said, “Of course we’re getting revenge. We’re changing our drop point — no more Georgopol.”
“We’re landing at SOP’s home turf — the military base.”