MTLNOVEL Chapter 153: Guarding (I)
Xiang Nan and Hisoka dashed toward street level.
On the way, Xiang Nan tried calling Orban, Pigeon, and Beishi one after another. It looked like only Beishi was free to pick up.
"What's going on?"
Xiang Nan asked.
On the other end, Beishi rattled off an explanation at break‑neck speed.
"Got it,"
Xiang Nan replied calmly.
What Beishi told him was surprising, but he forced himself to absorb the information, process it, and draw conclusions on the fly.
"This time is nothing like our previous missions," Xiang Nan summarized for Manman's benefit.
"In Zaban City there's only one battlefield. Every 'Unnamed' was teleported to the same area, and the objective is different. According to Beishi's intel, the system will not lift the confinement until the headcount of Unnamed players is cut in half. None of us have been assigned to the culling task—apparently it's a brand‑new mode."
When they first arrived in Zaban City, Xiang Nan's group had tried to locate the main‑quest players who normally handled the clearance tasks, but they hadn't found any.
Hunter‑class players were scarce, Zaban City was the current venue of the Hunter Exam, and hordes of players would inevitably converge, making identification tricky.
What Xiang Nan hadn't expected was that the number of intruding players in Hunter × Hunter actually exceeded the count in The King of Fighters. Beishi's rough estimate put the total close to a hundred.
Zaban City was far smaller than South Town in KoF—about half the land area—yet this time every intruder had been dumped right into the city center, boxed into a five‑kilometer‑radius kill zone.
Only when the initial population fell to half would the barrier vanish.
That was mandatory.
Which meant every team from every universe had to slaughter the others with everything they had. Compared with their very first placement match, this was cruder—and bloodier.
As for Orban and Pigeon, they'd apparently already been dragged into player‑on‑player combat; current status unknown.
The restaurant they reached was in shambles. Diners huddled under tables or cowered in the kitchen; every windowpane was blown out.
Outside, the street was pandemonium—civilians screaming, bodies in pools of blood, traffic hopelessly jammed. It was a scene straight out of their KoF nightmare.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
Three black blurs—Xiang Nan in the middle—shot out of the ruined storefront and leapt up the side of a building, heading for the loudest explosions.
Across downtown Zaban, civil‑service personnel were moving civilians to shelters in an orderly fashion, ambulances whisked away the wounded, and Hunter Association staff—exam candidates included—were pitching in: controlling the battlefield's spillover, saving lives, digging survivors out of rubble. Most were professional examiners hired by the Association; their physical abilities far surpassed ordinary humans, so carrying a hundred‑pound casualty at a sprint or searching a collapsed site was child's play.
Xiang Nan spotted quite a few familiar faces from the exam.
"From the intruders' standpoint, the fastest way to clear their system's mission is to wipe out enemy players ASAP—before this world's authorities can mobilize. The longer the fight drags on, the worse their odds. If the army shows up… they're in real trouble."
Xiang Nan's eyes flicked to a building belching flame and smoke.
Because the battlefield was "someone else's world," the invaders could rampage without restraint; any collateral damage wasn't their problem—it was Hunter × Hunter's.
…
First contact: Zaban City Zoo
Moments later the trio reached the first hot zone—the city zoo.
Police were already exchanging fire with the target group, but judging by the bodies on the ground, the cops were taking heavy losses.
"Who goes there?"
The field commander barked as Xiang Nan's team appeared behind the cordon.
"Hunter Association,"
Xiang Nan answered at once.
"Then get out of here,"
the commander snapped. Their orders said Association members would help with civilian control, not combat. Hunters were a civilian organization; the current perpetrators were far too dangerous for anyone but law‑enforcement specialists.
Xiang Nan's trio ignored the warning and stared into the distance.
Ahead, rows of officers blazed away at a bizarre squad. Among the intruders stood a plate‑armored knight, a mage in a robe, and a staff‑wielding priest. To Xiang Nan and Manman—veteran world‑hoppers—those tropes were familiar, but to the police and even Hisoka they were utterly alien.
The towering knight advanced with shield raised, bullets sparking harmlessly away and protecting the team behind him. A greatsword fighter slashed the air, sending shock‑waves at the police line. Meanwhile a black‑clad assassin flickered straight into the firing squad, silently breaking necks and spilling blood.
Xiang Nan narrowed his eyes, observing. He couldn't place their exact universe, but it was clearly a game‑themed anime: the classes and abilities were textbook.
Hisoka, beside him, raised a brow at the spectacle. In his sight the white‑robed woman was lifting her staff, bathing her party in a green aura that instantly healed bullet wounds and fatigue. The technique violated every rule he knew about Nen.
As more officers fell to the assassin, the squad tried to hold the line while inching back and calling for backup.
"Interesting, right?"
Xiang Nan said to Hisoka.
The six‑person intruder team might shrug off small‑arms fire, but wiping an entire police unit wouldn't be trivial; their abilities were fancy, but not overwhelmingly strong—after all, this was only a placement match.
Hisoka vanished in a blur, streaking toward the rampaging assassin.
"There's bound to be more rats hiding around—your job,"
Xiang Nan told Manman.
"On it."
Manman pivoted and disappeared into the zoo's shadows. The intruders here had blown their cover because they'd already clashed with a rival group, drawing police to the scene.
"Looks like they beat the other intruders first,"
Xiang Nan mused.
The assassin, drunk on his own performance, suddenly stiffened—an icy killing intent crushed him, setting alarm bells ringing in his head.
Too late.
A grotesque grin filled his vision—white greasepaint, a clown's face.
Whip!
A playing card flew. His head left his shoulders in an instant. Hisoka, spattered with hot blood, accelerated with a manic laugh toward the remaining five.
Xiang Nan nodded and slipped away. Killing intruders earned "Sin Value," but with so many on the field he couldn't possibly reap them all. Besides, targets elsewhere needed attention.
With Hisoka's appetite whetted and Manman on the hunt, they'd stalk prey on their own.
Xiang Nan's priority was the strongest, most dangerous intruders—the ones who could break the battlefield lock. If the confinement was lifted, the players would have the entire city to maneuver in. Time was short. Before that happened, every major threat had to be erased, denying them any chance to unlock hidden quests.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 120 Chapters Ahead of Others!