Chapter 95: The Fallen Angel’s Dilemma

“Although there are so many new rules, they are essentially still based on the old ones,” Wang Tianming mused, having quickly scanned the regulations. “The only real additions are a Hunter within the ‘Survivor’ faction and a Human within the ‘Hunter’ faction.” He felt it was merely a different presentation of the same core game. “It’s somewhat akin to an ‘Undercover Mode’ (TL Note: A game mode where some players are secretly on the opposing team), except in this case, there are genuinely undercover agents.”

While the rules hadn’t drastically changed, and even the victory conditions remained identical, the introduction of new elements, and his own inclusion within these novel parameters, prompted Wang Tianming to shift his gaze towards his character interface.

“‘Fallen Angel’ Angel Fuling.”

“External Trait: Mercy: Angel’s compassionate heart prevents her from acting ruthlessly against humans, even if they are ‘Destroyers’ (TL Note: A role in the game allied with the Hunter faction, tasked with sabotaging Survivors) aiding the enemy. Angel must land two cumulative attacks on the same target to inflict one point of damage, and only the attack that actually deals damage grants Presence.”

“Physical Ability (Stage Zero): Angel: As an angel, Angel Fuling can utilize her wings for swift flight, thereby increasing her movement speed. Activating this ability allows her to ascend into the sky for short-distance traversal. Cooldown: 30 seconds.”

“Physical Ability (Stage One): Rescue: Angel Fuling can swiftly heal an injured or downed ‘Survivor,’ granting them a brief burst of acceleration. For each successful rescue of a ‘Survivor,’ she gains Presence equivalent to one point of damage. Cooldown: 7 seconds.”

“Physical Ability (Stage Two): Fallen Angel: Angel Fuling, despairing over the foolishness of certain humans, experiences a significant boost to her movement speed, ignores the damage effects of her ‘External Trait,’ and gains a permanent ‘Retention’ (TL Note: A status effect in similar games that grants a powerful, often one-hit, attack) status.”

Wang Tianming found himself both astonished by the character’s monstrous power in the late game and somewhat disdainful of its initial uselessness. Yet, upon closer reflection, he realized this character wasn’t designed for killing but for rescuing, rendering the late-game Stage Two ability largely unnecessary.

The ‘Mercy’ external trait was a source of considerable frustration for Wang Tianming. Typically, a ‘Hunter’ would activate their abilities after two successful hits, but ‘Fallen Angel’ Angel Fuling required four strikes just to activate a skill, and an arduous four more to down a single target. Were this a conventional ‘Hunter,’ the game’s tempo would surely collapse.

Fortunately, once the Stage One physical ability, ‘Rescue,’ became available, the game significantly simplified. Seven seconds was not an excessively long duration; an individual, from being injured to collapsing, could certainly endure for seven seconds if no further mistakes were made. This implied that, as long as he kept pace, he could at least provide two healing boosts. Should the kiting (TL Note: A gaming term referring to leading an enemy on a chase to buy time) be executed flawlessly, that person might even avoid being downed entirely.

Moreover, this made unlocking the Stage Two physical ability, ‘Fallen Angel,’ remarkably easy. Once ‘Fallen Angel’ was active, he could essentially stride across the manor with impunity, striking down anyone who displeased him. After all, with a one-hit kill coupled with insane movement speed, who could possibly stand in his way?

Reflecting on this, Wang Tianming couldn’t shake the feeling that the game seemed almost too simple. Provided the ‘Survivors’ could merely hold out until he acquired his abilities, wouldn’t victory be an absolute certainty? Such an imbalance, he pondered, might be unduly unfair to the ‘Slaughter Faction.’

On a different note, the announcement seemed to have mentioned that ‘Destroyers’ possessed two abilities: one named ‘Destruction’ and another ‘Obstruction.’ However, the specific effects of these skills remained undisclosed. Could it be, he wondered, that these two abilities were, in fact, the linchpin of the ‘Slaughter Faction’s’ strategy? This mirrored the ‘Slaughter Faction’s’ own ignorance regarding the precise abilities of the ‘Rescuer’ within their ‘Rescue Faction.’

Unconcerned by unknowns, Wang Tianming never dwelled on such matters, knowing full well that all would be revealed once he entered the game. The present moment called for setting his talents. The talent selection for a ‘Rescuer’ mirrored that of a ‘Hunter,’ a design choice that served as a deliberate weakening of the ‘Rescuer’ role, as many talents were simply unusable for them—much like the talent for accelerated cipher decoding proved redundant for a ‘Destroyer.’