The surface of the game pool exploded in a surge of dark water.
The Reverse God staggered out first.
With one hand, he dragged Spades behind him.
He was drenched in blood, so soaked that there was barely a patch of uninjured skin left visible. But Spades looked even worse. His body trailed limply across the floor, leaving a thick smear of red in its wake. He lay twisted in the spreading pool of blood, so mangled he was scarcely recognizable as human.
The Reverse God hauled him along like a mop.
Step by step, he moved toward the direction of the Killer Sequence Guild.
The surrounding players stood frozen in shock as the Reverse God carved a long, sticky trail across the marble floor—an unmistakable line of blood drawn by what some later privately dubbed the [Spades Mop].
By the time he reached the Killer Sequence area, the Reverse God let out a long, trembling breath. He coughed twice, glanced back at the unconscious Spades, sighed, and then—with obvious effort—hooked Spades under the arms and began dragging him up the stairs.
Spades' head hit the steps again and again with dull thuds.
After what felt like an eternity, the Reverse God finally stumbled into the second-floor conference room corridor, exhausted to the point of collapse.
He knocked weakly on the door.
"Anyone inside?" he rasped hoarsely. "Open up. Your tactician and main attacker are about to die."
The door swung open.
Inside, Bai Yi and Bai Jiamu were in the middle of bandaging themselves. They froze at the sight before them—two figures drenched in blood, one barely upright, the other looking like a corpse dragged back from hell.
Bai Yi gasped. "How did you end up like this?!"
"It's… complicated." The Reverse God collapsed onto the sofa without ceremony and let Spades' body thud heavily to the side. He stared at the ceiling with hollow eyes. "I judged Bai Liu and Spades at the same time. It drained me dry."
Bai Jiamu hurried forward with fresh bandages, but the Reverse God waved him off.
"I'm fine. The fight was brutal, but my mental state is stable. I wasn't injured inside the dungeon—my health was just forcibly depleted."
Bai Jiamu blinked. "Then the blood all over you—"
"Spades." The Reverse God tilted his chin toward the figure sprawled on the floor. "After I passed judgment on Bai Liu, this lunatic suddenly went berserk and started fighting me inside the dungeon. I vomited three liters of blood and nearly died on the spot. He even damaged the world line that was being repaired."
Bai Yi crouched beside Spades' "corpse" curiously and poked him. "This is the first time I've seen Spades bring injuries out of a dungeon. And this is serious too."
"I had to work hard to knock him unconscious," the Reverse God replied flatly. "If you wake him up, he can use his skill weapon to attack people in the lobby. If he loses control, he'll beat you senseless."
Bai Yi recoiled instantly and scrambled backward into a far corner, staring at Spades in horror. "You didn't beat him into submission?!"
"No." The Reverse God's voice lowered. "He's gone completely mad this time. If I hadn't stopped him, he would've gone straight to find Bai Liu the moment he logged out."
He paused.
"But I shattered his skill weapon. So for now, he can't rampage in the lobby."
Bai Yi pressed a hand to his chest in relief. "Reverse God, why didn't you tell me earlier you were looking for a weapon master to repair Spades' weapon?"
The Reverse God stared at Spades' unmoving body for a long moment.
"…Before we call a weapon master," he said slowly, "get Liao Ke here first."
"Liao Ke?" Bai Jiamu hesitated. "You want him to give Spades psychological counseling?"
Spades made a faint, exhausted sound through his nose.
Bai Yi's eyes widened. "Spades is the only one in our guild who's never undergone psychological counseling for the game."
"Liao Ke's sessions are painful," Bai Yi added gleefully, peeking at Spades. "Looks like you've finally reached this stage too!"
"Stop laughing," the Reverse God muttered, waving weakly. "Call Liao Ke. Then all of you leave."
Bai Jiamu dragged the still-snickering Bai Yi toward the door.
"Wait," the Reverse God called out suddenly.
They turned back.
His expression had changed.
The usual smile was gone. His eyes were calm—too calm—like deep water without a ripple.
"I've told you this many times before," he said quietly. "But I'll remind you again."
"Under no circumstances are you to give Spades a code to exit the game and enter the real world."
Both Bai Yi and Bai Jiamu froze.
The Reverse God rarely spoke in such a tone.
Though he was the tactician who oversaw everything, he was usually smiling, easygoing. Even when discussing serious matters, he seldom frowned or scolded anyone outright.
Which meant—
When he did speak like this, the matter was grave.
"Do not give Spades a real-world code."
It was the first absolute ban he had issued since joining the Killer Sequence.
And it was a strange one.
When a normal player logs into the game from a location in reality, the system automatically generates a twelve-digit code corresponding to that place. To log out, the player simply inputs the same code and returns to reality.
Spades had no code.
Not for any place.
He had never possessed one.
Which meant—
He had never been able to log out.
Spades was different from ordinary players. He didn't even understand what "reality" meant. Even Bai Yi hadn't realized at first just how fundamentally different he was.
"You don't have a code?!" Bai Yi had once stared at him in disbelief. "Then where did you log in from? Even if you always use the same location afterward, you must've had one when you first logged in!"
Spades had lowered his head, absently twirling his whip. "I logged in from Siren Town. The game didn't give me a code."
It took Bai Yi a full two seconds to process that.
"You mean—you entered the game lobby directly from a horror instance? Not from reality?!"
Spades had looked up at him blankly. "Reality? What is that?"
Bai Yi had struggled to explain.
"Reality is… after players get scared and tired from playing, they leave the game and go back somewhere safe. A place without monsters. Where they can hug their wives—or if they don't have wives, hug their dogs—and sleep peacefully."
Spades had listened seriously before answering, "When I want to sleep, I enter an instance, kill the monsters, and lie on their corpses. Is that my reality?"
"No!" Bai Yi had exploded. "Reality and games are different!"
"Why?" Spades had asked calmly.
Bai Yi had nearly torn his hair out trying to explain a philosophical concept far beyond his expertise.
"Reality is real!" he'd insisted desperately. "There's nothing you're forced to do. No [True End] prompts. You don't usually meet monsters. You can live peacefully."
"It's the same after I clear an instance," Spades had replied. "No monsters. Nothing to do. I can stay there forever."
Every argument Bai Yi offered was dismantled with quiet logic.
Finally, Bai Yi had thrown up his hands in frustration. "Anyway, reality is better! Everyone prefers reality over this broken game! It's a thousand times better!"
"If I had the choice, I would never have entered this game."
Spades had fallen silent for a moment before asking quietly, "How is reality better?"
"There are so many reasons!" Bai Yi had begun counting on his fingers. "You don't have to constantly fight monsters."
"I'm not afraid of fighting monsters."
"You don't have to fear dying."
"I don't die easily."
"You don't have to collect every monster book to clear a level."
"I don't need to collect them all."
One by one, every reason was calmly dismissed.
At last, Bai Yi had muttered in reluctant realization, "For you… Maybe the game isn't worse than reality."
Spades had glanced at him coolly. "You like the reality dungeon because you're too weak."
"That's not it!" Bai Yi had jumped to his feet, furious. "Even if I were as strong as you, I would still choose reality!"
Spades had paused.
"Why?"
Bai Yi had slowly sat back down. His anger faded, replaced by something softer.
"…Because my lover, my friends, my family—they're all there."
"Living with them is different." His voice had grown thick. His eyes reddened as he wiped at them fiercely. "Even if reality were as terrifying as a horror game, I'd become as strong as you and go back to protect them."
He'd sniffed, trying to hold it in.
And failed.
"Waaah—I miss my wife so much—!!"
After Bai Yi's sobbing had quieted, Spades had spoken again, slower this time.
"Friends. Family. Lovers…"
He had turned and asked seriously—
"What are they?"
Bai Yi had stared at him, stunned.