Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Lina looked away from the corpse on the floor, but her hand gripping the dagger was still trembling.

“Ivana, should we switch rooms?” Lina asked quietly.

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Ivana hovered at her side, her soul power still enveloping Lina. She glanced at the body on the floor, then at the door to the

west. “Let’s move.”

“There’s a corpse here. If anyone comes in later, they’ll instantly be on guard against you,” Ivana added.

Lina nodded, hugged the fake treasure chest, and quickly turned to leave. As soon as she stepped into the new room, a broadcast sounded in her ear.

[Player Eunsoo Lee from Hanmark has been captured. Officially dead.]

Lina stopped in her tracks. “Another one’s dead.”

The next second, the announcements kept coming.

[Player Tywin from Northmere has been captured. Officially dead.]

[Player Farouk from Nileria has been captured. Officially dead.]

[Player Aiden from Mapleland has been captured. Officially dead.]

[Player Samir from Ravenrise has been captured. Officially dead.]

Alex stood before Samir’s corpse. After the announcements finished, he lifted a finger.

“Return,” Alex commanded.

The boomerang lodged in Samir’s chest quivered, then shot back to Alex’s palm, still stained with blood.

Alex glanced down at the boomerang. Its curved blade gleamed with a silver edge and black core, the handle molded perfectly to his grip. With just a thought, he could send it flying or summon it back to his hand.

“Nice!” Alex grinned, wiping the blood off his blade with a handkerchief. That made two for him now, the first had been Tywin from Northmere.

When Tywin opened the door and asked, “Is anyone here?” Alex had simply answered, “Yeah.” Then, with a flick of his will, the boomerang sliced right across Tywin’s throat.

Suddenly, a voice crackled over the National Comms in his ear. “Alex, answer me. Are you a Hunter?”

Alex paused, then chuckled. “Yeah.”

The man on the other end spoke quickly. “Confirmed. We’ve pretty much locked down the list of ten Hunters.”

The voice continued, “Lyra from Draconia, Lina from Southern Reach…”

Alex flipped the boomerang over, listening to the list of Hunters while slowly wiping the blood off.

The voice on the other end continued, “Hunters can kill each other.”

Alex froze. “What?”

“Lyra killed Tanaka from Niphonia,” the voice replied.

Chapter 146

Alex frowned. “Why did she kill him?”

“He attacked her first,” the voice said.

Alex blurted out, “Idiot.”

He couldn’t help it. Tanaka thought getting a weapon meant he could take on Lyra? Had he seen what Lyra had done in previous rounds? She could snatch things from a Wraith’s jaws. Did he really think he could handle her?

The voice on the other end paused for half a second. “We’ve determined that Hunters killing each other also counts toward your kill tally. You can use that to your advantage.”

Alex slipped the boomerang into his sleeve. “Do you know the win conditions yet?”

“That’s exactly what I was about to ask. How many do you need to kill to survive?” the voice asked.

“Two,” Alex said.

“Just two?” the voice asked.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “The more you kill, the better the rewards. If you take out five or more, you can choose a reward from the prize pool.”

With half the comms time already gone, the voice on the other end sped up. “Take out as many players as you can.”

Alex didn’t say anything.

“Go after the loners and the weak ones first. If you get a shot, take out that kid from Draconia, or anyone from their allied countries,” the voice said.

Alex let out a short laugh. “So you really don’t care if I get killed, do you?”

The voice on the other end hesitated. “It’s all for the good of the Nation.”

“Got it, I’ll keep that in mind,” Alex replied.

“Alex, don’t let us down,” the voice said.

The comms cut off.

Alex stood there for a couple of seconds, then let out a low chuckle. “For the good of the Nation, huh?”

He nudged Samir’s corpse with his foot. “Yeah, talk is cheap.”

They wanted him to go after that kid from Draconia? Lil Lily had that soul guardian watching her back, no way she was easy pickings.

And Lyra? As if. He’d probably get chopped up before he even lifted a finger.

And Draconia’s allies? From what he’d seen these past rounds, he’d probably end up getting hunted by Lyra instead.

Unless he could take Lyra out in one shot, he wasn’t going to make a move. Still, just because he stayed out of it didn’t mean

others would.

Thinking about it, Alex felt a bit better. He could always pass the weapon along, or set someone else up to do the dirty work for him.

If Hunters killing Hunters counts, things in the maze are about to get wild.

11:23 Wed, Jul 8

Chapter 146

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When Lydia pushed the door open, the smell of blood hit her like a punch. She saw a guy crouched next to a bloody mess of a corpse, digging through its pockets.

The guy looked up as soon as he heard the door open.

When she spotted the Stellar Hammer by his side, Lydia’s heart skipped, this was Paul, one of the Hunters. She tightened her grip and pulled out her Shadowcleaver.

Pierre was hiding right beside her, silent as ever. Lydia had already told him, unless things got life-or-death, he was to stay out of it. She wanted to see just how far she could go on her own.

Paul pulled his hand out of the corpse’s pocket, looked her up and down, then eyed the weapon she was holding.

“Lydia from Ursaria,” he said.

Lydia didn’t answer.

Paul stood up, hoisting a Stellar Hammer in each hand. The chains rattled as he moved, wrapped tight around his wrists.

“Just what I needed. One more to go, makes things easier,” Paul muttered.

He swung his right arm, hurling the Stellar Hammer straight at Lydia’s head.

Lydia twisted aside, and the hammer smashed into the wall behind her. The wall caved in, sending chunks and dust everywhere.

Lydia glanced at the wall, and it clicked, no wonder the player on the floor was a bloody mess. That hammer was a beast.

Paul jerked the chain, and the hammer snapped right back into his grip. “Not bad. You’re pretty quick.”

Lydia kicked off, hugging the ground as she shot forward, her blade swiping diagonally at his wrist.

Paul retreated, swinging his left hammer in a wide arc.

Lydia ducked low, her blade darting up to catch the chain, aiming to slice right through the link.

Clang!

Her blade hit the chain, sending sparks flying, but the chain held firm.

Paul burst out laughing. “You really think you can break a system-issued weapon?”

Lydia didn’t bother replying. She spun around and circled to his side.

She was quick on her feet, but Paul’s hammers were all power, every smash left a crater in the floor, and the room was getting torn apart like a demolition zone.

Lydia never tried to take the hammers head-on. She’d slip in close, then back out before he could land a hit.

Paul was getting annoyed now. He swung both hammers at once. “Try dodging this!”

The two hammerheads came at her, one after the other, sealing off her escape. Lydia stepped back, her heel pressed against the wall.

Pierre’s voice whispered in her ear. “Need me to jump in?”

“No.” Without hesitation, she lunged forward.

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