Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

[Attention, players. There are two prize pools…]

[Please select your reward.]

Lydia was the first to make a move.

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She marched straight toward the beam of light on the west side, moving even faster than last time, never once looking back

The golden light swallowed her up.

Three seconds later.

[Congratulations to Lydia from Ursaria for drawing an A Tier reward: Shadowcleaver.]

Lydia stepped out of the beam of light, holding a short dagger in her right hand.

The blade was pitch-black, its edge flashing with a cold gleam. The hilt was etched with dense runes, and it was just the right size to fit snugly in her grip.

She spun the dagger between her fingers, weighing it with a practiced flick.

She was satisfied.

Lina leaned in for a closer look. “That’s a beautiful dagger.”

Lydia hooked the dagger at her waist and gave Lina a cocky nod. “Shadowcleaver!”

Sergei felt a surge of excitement-his heart raced as he stepped up second. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned and strode toward the beam of light on the east side.

The golden light flickered.

[Congratulations to Sergei from Belsoria for drawing an A Tier reward: Randomly purify a lake in a safe zone.]

When Sergei burst out of the beam of light, he jumped in place, so excited he couldn’t stop rubbing his hands together, his eyes red-rimmed with emotion.

His country only had five safe zones left, and clean water was almost impossible to find. Now, with a purified lake, at least they’d finally have enough water!

Lina didn’t step forward right away. She stood there, twisting the hem of her clothes between her fingers, biting her lip and then letting it go.

Hadi, the guy who’d been hiding out in the water, moved before her, He walked straight toward the beam of light on the east side, moving with purpose.

The golden light flickered.

[Congratulations to Hadi from Bahtan for drawing a B Tier reward: 80 tons of potatoes.]

Hadi stepped out of the beam of light, his expression impossible to read-he didn’t look thrilled, but he wasn’t upset either.

Eighty tons of potatoes should be enough to tide his country over for a while.

Ron was up next. He strode straight to the beam of light on the west side.

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Chapter 53

[Congratulations to Ron from Britannia for drawing a C Tier reward: Auditory Serum.]

Ron stepped out of the beam of light, gripping a vial of pale blue serum, his expression sour-he clearly wasn’t thrilled.

C Tier.

Out of the seven here, he was the only one stuck with a C Tier reward so far.

Lyra shot him a glance and recognized him right away-the buzz-cut guy who’d been snatching loot boxes in the game

Alex, short with brown hair, went for the west beam.

[Congratulations to Alex from Aurelia for drawing an S Tier reward: Safehouse Chalk.]

The whole mission entrance went dead silent for half a second.

Alex stared down at the piece of white chalk in his hand, froze for a couple of seconds, and then broke into a grin. /

He threw his head back and burst out laughing, his voice getting louder and louder with each second.

“S Tier!”

He shouted in BritSpeak, then repeated himself.

“S Tier! I got S Tier!”

Everyone turned to look at him.

Ron clenched his C Tier serum, his grip tightening until his knuckles turned white.

Lydia glanced at Alex, barely even blinked, and went right back to polishing her dagger.

Lina muttered under her breath, “So someone besides Lyra can actually get an S Tier reward, huh?”

Over in the Draconia Live Channel, the chat was scrolling along as usual.

Suddenly, a flood of English comments came pouring in.

ACa No.1: [S Tier! S Tier! An Aurelia player got S Tier too!]

USChamp: [Hahaha! Draconia isn’t the only one now! Safehouse Chalk! S Tier item! Alex is the real chosen one!]

SA-TOP: [A Draconia player pulling S Tier is worth bragging about? We got ours too!]

USChamp: [Alex! Aurelia’s pride! Goddess Lyra isn’t that special-luck’s up for grabs for anyone!]

The chat instantly blew up.

LyraMyIdol: [Who let these guys in?]

NeverAteVeggies: [Oh, so the Aurelia dogs finally got a leash? Yapping so loud now, huh?)

BornToCuss: [One S Tier and you’re already acting like you own the place? Goddess Lyra pulled two S Tiers in a row. How many has your side managed? Want me to count for you?]

LuckyKoi: [Luck? You call pulling two S Tiers in a row just luck? So Alex’s single S Tier is just garbage then?]

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USChamp: [That’s not the same! Safehouse Chalk! A safehouse! Sounds way cooler than anything you’ve got. Do you even have something like that?]

BornToCuss: [Yeah, your dad’s right here. Want him delivered?]

LyraSuperfan: [Goddess Lyra cleared out a whole zone of Wraiths last round. A whole zone! Can your chalk do that?]

NeverAteVeggies: [Running wild in someone else’s stream? Classic Aurelian behavior.]

AnotherDayAlive: [Getting this hyped over one S Tier? Pathetic.]

GoDraconia: [When’s the game gonna get a firewall like our borders? If we don’t want them in, they shouldn’t be able to get in. The internet needs a firewall too!]

USChamp’s comments kept flooding in, but Draconian netizens weren’t letting anything slide-they clapped back at every/ single comment, tit for tat.

The chat from both sides tangled together, the scrolling speed tripling in an instant.

At the mission entrance.

Alex carefully tucked the piece of chalk into the inner pocket of his shirt. He swept his gaze over everyone present, letting his eyes linger on each face for a couple of seconds.

Then he spoke up, his voice loud and clear.

“My item lets me draw a safehouse inside the mission,” he announced.

He held up three fingers. “Three people, all protected at once.”

As soon as he said that, everyone’s eyes snapped to him.

Ron was the first to step up, grinning ear to ear. He spoke in BritSpeak, his words slow and polite.

Lina leaned in and whispered to Lyra, “He’s trying to cozy up, saying Aurelia and Britannia are allies, and they could team up next round.”

Alex glanced at Ron and smiled, a touch of arrogance in his grin.

He pointed at the Auditory Serum in Ron’s hand and said, “If you want in, let’s make a trade.”

Lina translated, “He said, if you want protection, you’ll have to trade the serum for it.”

Ron’s smile froze. He glanced down at the pale blue serum in his hand, then back up at Alex.

His face went through a whole range of emotions. In the end, he forced a smile, stepped back, muttered something under his breath, and walked away.

Hadi stood a few steps away, his foot hovering mid-air before he let it drop back down.

‘Eighty tons of potatoes for a spot in the safehouse?’ he thought.

He didn’t say a word.

Alex didn’t even spare him a glance. His eyes swept over Lydia and Sergei, and finally landed on Lyra.

He hesitated for a moment, but didn’t come over.

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Chapter 53

Lyra didn’t even spare him a glance. She turned to Lina.

“Are you gonna draw yours?”

Lina stood there, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, her grip relaxing and tightening.

“Lyra,” Lina said.

“Yeah?” Lyra replied.

“I’ve made up my mind,” Lina said.

She released the hem, letting her hands fall to her sides.

“I got the Guardian Necklace in the game. It can block ten fatal attacks,” she said.

Her voice trembled a little, but she kept going. “Next round, I’m not hiding anymore. I’m gonna go out and grab loot boxes, just like you.”

Lyra tilted her head. “So, which one are you picking?”

“I’m going with the east side,” Lina said, her voice steady.

She fiddled with the silver pendant hanging around her neck.

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