Standing Guard

From the audience's perspective, this was the seventh time Xu Lingqu had entered this energy core point and slaughtered the monsters within.

Each time she finished killing the monsters, Sky Network's procedural system would automatically reload her save, restoring her entire body to the state she'd been in when she first stepped off the vehicle—including her memories. The monsters in the Pyramid would resurrect in place, and everything else in Set continued operating normally.

"When did she realize she was being forced to reload, and that she'd killed these monsters many times?" Professor Zhuang froze, adjusting his glasses. "We have full footage showing her being forcibly respawned outside again and again. How did she..."

Senior Colonel Ren pointed at the sky. "The first thing she did upon entering the Pyramid's range was check the position of Xuanluo overhead. She definitely checked the time before getting off the vehicle. She didn't notice it directly before because she killed too fast and didn't waste much time. In this run, she could notice it because the accumulated time created a significant discrepancy between Xuanluo's position above her and the time she'd seen in the vehicle, which caught her attention."

In this run after the reload, Xu Lingqu saw that she hadn't done anything, yet a stretch of time had inexplicably passed.

"How could she detect being forced to reload from just that alone?" Professor Zhuang was still puzzled.

"During combat, because of the several prior battles, the mysterious creatures inside had also been adjusting their positions, trying to predict Xu Lingqu. In Xu Lingqu's eyes, that raised the question: if these monsters were encountering her for the first time, why could they inexplicably predict what she was going to do? We can also see that on her seventh entry into the Pyramid, she killed the slowest, because the monsters had basically all made adjustments and predictions," Senior Colonel Ren explained. "Also, she actually brought three guns and a knife with her, but the moment she entered the Pyramid's range, only one gun and one knife remained. This means Sky Network can control the items on her person, and naturally it can also control her actions."

"True, with these clues, it's possible to deduce the possibility of forced reloading. But this level of acuity and calm reasoning—if it were anyone else, it would be completely..." Professor Zhuang was still taken aback.

"Exactly. But it just so happens that the one who came isn't an ordinary person. It's Xu Lingqu."

In Xu Lingqu's seven runs, the fourth time she encountered Set and Horus, she shot the hourglass directly, so they died the moment they appeared—which was why they tried so hard to block her bullets in later runs. The first time, Xu Lingqu moved too fast, walking through the initial corridor and past the spot before the mummies even pounced, so they missed entirely. And the third time, the Feathered Serpent shrank into a corner to ambush her, but Xu Lingqu simply grabbed her grappling hook, hooked onto the corridor suspended midair, and took off. While flying through the air, she even shot out the eyes of the furious Feathered Serpent chasing after her, which was why it later chose to fly high and use its dangling body to block the corridor entrance first.

Sky Network's designers had given these monsters a bit of intelligence, with the original intention of letting them adjust their attack patterns during the challenger's forced reloads, making each attempt harder than the last.

In a sense, the designer's goal was achieved—on the seventh attempt, they successfully delayed Xu Lingqu by an extra eight minutes.

Inside Set, Xu Lingqu currently held her blade against the pharaoh's neck. "How do I end this time loop?"

The pharaoh had already been beaten up by her. Now, with a bruised and swollen face, he lay on the ground, utterly listless. "Go... open the coffin."

"I'll chop off your hand and open that coffin with it," Xu Lingqu said, already moving to start cutting.

The pharaoh hastily snatched his hand back, on the verge of tears. "Just kill me. Just kill me."

This was his seventh time meeting this demonic woman.

Anyone who touched the coffin would die, their entire body rotting away.

The first time he met Xu Lingqu, the pharaoh was a bit surprised that his companions ahead had died so quickly, but he still felt that mere ordinary humans were nothing to fear. So he maintained his mysterious, noble persona and made his entrance at a leisurely pace. After staring at Xu Lingqu for over ten seconds, believing he'd given her ample pressure, he got his head blown off by a single shot from Xu Lingqu.

That was what happened when you didn't speak in front of her.

The second time he met Xu Lingqu, the pharaoh realized he couldn't make such a slow entrance and then talk to her. He quickened his pace, then used an extremely arrogant tone to order the "commoner" who'd barged in to help him move the coffin up. Then he got his head blown off again.

That was what happened when you postured meaninglessly in front of her.

The third time, the pharaoh thought his mistake was in his tone. Last time, a command didn't work, so this time he used threats. It was also this time he realized threatening Xu Lingqu had no good outcome, because this time he wasn't killed with a single headshot—Xu Lingqu slit his throat directly.

The fourth time, the pharaoh truly awakened. Xu Lingqu was here for that so-called energy core, right? Then use the energy core to tempt her! He started lying, claiming the energy core was inside the coffin. In return, Xu Lingqu sneered and pressed him onto the coffin, and his body rotted away.

The fifth and sixth times, the pharaoh tried using his silver tongue to persuade her with flowery words, and also tried being concise while disguising himself as an NPC giving clues. The result was still just death waiting for him.

The seventh time—fine. He was done.

"Actually, you just have to kill us seven times, and you'll succeed." The pharaoh was truly exhausted, so this time he actually told the truth. "Can I ask you one question? Why is it that no matter what, you never touch that coffin?"

"Because my subconscious warns me every time that it's dangerous, and your acting is a bit shoddy." After saying this, Xu Lingqu gave him a quick, clean death, as the pharaoh had requested.

At this moment, the head of Sky Network's game planning department was standing in her office with hands on her hips, laughing uproariously. "So someone finally cleared my boss point?!"

She was the designer of this boss point. Previously, because she'd designed it too viciously, she'd received many complaints, and in a fit of pique, she'd simply tossed this boss point to the Sky Network Set department.

Ordinary people couldn't clear it, but military cadets should be able to, right?

Sky Network's Set department had thus stuffed this boss point into the desert scenario, originally estimating it would take seven to eight squads to break through. Instead, Xu Lingqu had soloed it.

The deputy director laughed happily. "Looking at it now, it's not my problem—it's a people problem!"

[So it wasn't a bug—you have to kill them seven times to succeed. My friend and I used hacks, but on the third run we were swallowed by the Feathered Serpent. At the time, we both thought this boss point was crazy, forcing us to reload over and over... We couldn't pass even with hacks. Damn, I feel insulted by Xu Lingqu.]

[Can someone edit a compilation of Xu Lingqu killing that pharaoh seven times into one video? I actually find it kind of hilarious—"The Despair of the Pharaoh."]

[I'm usually terrified of these monsters, but today I watched Xu Lingqu clear it seven times with great interest. Lingqu baby, have you ever considered becoming a full-dive horror game streamer?]

[Does anyone care about Shaji and Du'e, who've been lured all the way to the far west?]

[kkk I've got them on split screen. I'd say Moxie's students really know their own commander well. The moment Shaji and Du'e show signs of wanting to give up the chase, they turn around and harass them with a few shots. Especially Shen Shouli's squad—they're practically dancing through the Shaji students, so angry that Guan Chuanjun, Li Muyi, Peng Yue, and Jinfang Taibai are chasing them again.]

...

The memories of all seven kills flooded back into her mind at once. Xu Lingqu was dazed for two seconds, then quickly straightened up and began her eighth walk into the Pyramid's corridor.

This time, the mummies in the corridor were gone. She walked all the way to where the Feathered Serpent had been, and when she looked up, she saw the mummies, the Feathered Serpent, Horus, Set, and the pharaoh all lined up neatly, each one practically prostrating themselves to show how harmless they were. The pharaoh stood at the front, and in front of him was a round sphere glowing blue with electromagnetic energy.

This was the energy core.

"If you take it, it'll show that the energy core has been seized by you." The pharaoh was sincere, with a touch of fawning. "Please, go ahead."

"And what if I don't want to seize it yet?" Xu Lingqu spun her blade in her hand.

The scene shifted. She arrived at the pharaoh's palace, seated herself on the throne, as if she had become the true boss of this Pyramid. The energy core lay at her side, ready to be seized at any moment, while the several monsters returned to their posts.

They could have been off duty by now, but Xu Lingqu had them stand guard at their positions.