The Cold and Ruthless Supporting Male Lead

Hai Ku sighed.

Having never experienced emotional matters, he could only offer comfort from another perspective. “Take your time, there’s no rush. Anyway, you’re so familiar with the quest. With me tagging along, it’s a guaranteed win. There’s no need to hurry right now.”

Lan Bai still looked deeply traumatized. Even his tone was listless. “Who told you that tagging along with me means a guaranteed win? I already gave her the map.”

Hai Ku: “…”

It sounded like something major had just been revealed.

“What did you say?” Suspecting he had misheard, Hai Ku couldn’t help but ask again.

Lan Bai had lost all motivation. Curling up into his rabbit form, he looked pitifully small. His voice, now much softer and more childlike, matched his rabbit appearance. “I said that when she first entered the game world, I gave her the entire map. So, she has the map I gave her.”

Thinking that she was, after all, his first love, he decided to treat it as a breakup gift. Lan Bai let out a long, deep sigh, resolving to be more discerning in his next relationship.

The championship he had initially thought was within his grasp now felt precarious again. Hai Ku experienced a strange, indescribable feeling. But on the bright side, it seemed the competition between the two of them was now fair.

The female lead had the map, and he had a walking map by his side. Technically, it was like having a duplicate cheat skill.

Not daring to waste any more time, Hai Ku took Lan Bai back into the game world after dinner. It was currently dinnertime, so there weren’t many players online.

Still reeling from the emotional blow, Lan Bai didn’t even have the energy to transform back into his human form. The little rabbit slumped lifelessly on Hai Ku’s shoulder.

“We can start by looking for the first medicine. Not far from here, there’s a hidden pharmacy that isn’t marked on the player maps. We can find two types of medicine there.” Lan Bai flipped over and lay sprawled like a dead rabbit, his voice weak and listless, showing no signs of recovering from his heartbreak.

Hai Ku didn’t have time to care about Lan Bai’s current state. The most important task was to gather the medicines first.

Given equal conditions, the only way he could beat the female lead was by being more diligent.

After sending a few offline messages to Dong Hai and the others, Hai Ku set off.

The so-called hidden places were areas that appeared only under specific conditions and weren’t part of the main storyline.

There weren’t many people on the third level yet. On his way, Hai Ku didn’t encounter any other players. However, he did see many people whose bodies were decaying.

Thankfully, when moving up from the second level, his supplies had included a Companion Spray.

The Companion Spray could be used three times, with each use lasting an hour. After using it, he could blend into the crowd of infected people without being detected.

An hour wasn’t much time, but for someone equipped with cheat-level abilities, it was more than enough.

Knowing exactly where the items were, Hai Ku just needed to move quickly to retrieve them without issue.

The location was an old clinic, surrounded by many infected people. Judging by their appearance, they had likely come to the clinic before their infection worsened.

Even the doctors had since turned into infected beings.

The infected gave off a strange smell. Those with severe infections even emitted a greenish smoke. Some had limbs that were bluish-purple, making them look especially grotesque.

Not knowing if he carried the same scent as the infected, Hai Ku could only mimic their movements and slowly make his way into the pharmacy.

The floor was sticky with some kind of liquid. Resisting the urge to cringe, Hai Ku carefully searched the medicine cabinets.

After spending most of the day, he finally obtained the first medicine. Placing it in his backpack, he stealthily left the area, which was now crawling with infected people.

Finding a relatively safe villa, Hai Ku locked himself inside. He had 15 minutes left before the Companion Spray’s effect wore off, but he had already received a message notification from Dong Hai.

After sending them his location, Hai Ku waited inside the villa for their arrival.

Before long, Xi Hai and Longde Chuanren teleported over.

***

It was Friday, and both office workers and students had free time. This meant the next two and a half days would likely be spent immersed in the game.

Moreover, a week in the game world was equivalent to just an hour in real life. Choosing to relax in the game was clearly the smartest option.

“When I was with them, I added them as friends. You don’t mind if I join you all, do you?” Longde Chuanren spoke cautiously. After all, he had initially been part of Bing Jingxue’s group. Now suddenly switching sides, he was worried Hai Ku might reject him.

“What does it matter? The more people, the better. Many hands make light work,” Hai Ku said with a smile, feeling that it wasn’t a big deal.

The initial reason for coming to this game world was to play the game. If playing a game required scheming and backstabbing, then it wouldn’t be worth it at all.

No one had cleared this game yet, so if everyone worked together to achieve the first team clear, that would be the greatest accomplishment. In such a scenario, as long as no one did anything atrocious, Hai Ku didn’t care who joined the team.

Moreover, Longde Chuanren had at least teamed up with Bing Jingxue in the previous two levels. His equipment wasn’t inferior to theirs, so Hai Ku had no reason to refuse him.

“I’ve already sent you screenshots of this world’s mission, right?” Hai Ku took out the first medicine from his pocket and explained, “I just got the first one. There are two left. But I checked the map, and the remaining two medicines are in relatively distant locations. One in the south and one in the north. I was wondering if we should split up or go together?”

More players were gradually entering the third level.

After all, many streamers immediately updated their followers online once they found the exit. This was partly to attract traffic and partly because they were live-streaming everything. Any small movement was broadcast instantly.

Although only the top ten teams received rewards, the influx of new players was unrelenting.

A week in the game equaled just an hour in real life. Some people had already spent several months in the game, even though it had only been a few hours in reality. Within this short time, there were already over 50 teams on the third level.

With the game-world time differing from real-world time, persistence could often make a difference.

Plenty of show-offs on the world channel had already revealed the location of each exit. Even though the game company tried to prevent it, they couldn’t control people’s mouths.

The team could clearly see the information on the world channel. While they were currently in the lead, there was no guarantee they would remain ahead.

“I think we can split into two groups and meet back here,” Dong Hai suggested, pointing at himself, Hai Ku, and Longde Chuanren. “The three of us can form one group, and the other three can form the second group. We’ll stay in touch throughout, so we can collect everything as quickly as possible.”

The other teammates didn’t have any major objections. After splitting the map screenshots among them, Hai Ku set off with Longde Chuanren and Dong Hai.

They chose to head south for the medicine. The southern area was near the sea. According to the map, the winds there were strong, and the infection was severe. It was both the area with the most abundant water and a place where finding drinkable water was nearly impossible.

The medicine they sought was a type of seaweed. This seaweed grew only in extremely clean seawater and was found in shallow coastal regions.

In a situation where the water sources were polluted, finding clean seawater was almost impossible. However, the map indicated that the shallow seaweed could be found in that area.

Only ten teams had received this information. Fortunately, no one had been foolish enough to reveal the location, so they only had to worry about the remaining nine teams.

“I think we should drive there. We’ve already wasted some time in the real world, so we need to hurry. It’s best to clear the game before we go back. None of us have work tomorrow, right?” Hai Ku traced a route on the map with his finger and asked the others.

“No problem,” Longde Chuanren nodded.

“Same here, and so do they,” Dong Hai replied, still focused on the map. “This blue area should be the sea. I wonder if there’s any unpolluted water left. We’ll have to check it out.”

“But there are also many infected people there. I’ve already used one of my Companion Sprays, and now I have only 2 hours’ worth left. You both still have 3 hours’ worth. If we encounter any infected, we should use as little spray as possible, find a place to hide, and then reassess the situation. It’s best for the three of us to stay together for mutual support and to conserve the spray.”

The other two had no objections, and Hai Ku finally felt a sense of relief, realizing how lucky he was to have cooperative teammates.

Before setting off, it was always necessary to outline some strategic directions, clearly communicate ideas, and then combine everyone’s opinions.

In the end, they decided to take turns driving.

***

The journey to the seaside location would take at least a day. Teleportation wasn’t possible for this destination, likely to prevent players from clearing the game too quickly. All the entrances from the second to the third level were situated at the edges of the map.

Aside from the hidden location Hai Ku had visited earlier, all the other medicine locations required at least a day’s travel to reach.

And that was only with precise knowledge of the locations. For teams ranked below the top ten, they could only rely on scattered bits of information to slowly piece things together.

The locations of the medicines were scattered across more than three points. However, because each player entered the third level from a different entry point, the information they received varied. This was designed to disperse the players and send them to different places.

The maps given to the top three teams were the most complete, but even so, the information on the medicines only included a few more locations than the others. Hai Ku chose the area with the largest range because the larger the area, the more medicines it could contain.

If they went to smaller medicine storage locations, there was a high chance the supplies would be gone after one team took them. There was also no guarantee that other teams hadn’t stumbled across those locations by accident. At this moment, the safest option was to head to the largest medicine base.

Although they brought along Lan Bai, they still encountered numerous infected people on the way. These infected were comparable to the zombies from the second-level world.

Even when they ran them over with the car, the infected still managed to stand back up and keep walking. If their vehicle hadn’t been fully enclosed, they would likely have been attacked.

The journey, which originally should have taken only 1 day, ended up taking 2 days due to these constant disruptions, and they had only managed to cover two-thirds of the distance.

One of their cars had already been scrapped. It happened when a group of infected blocked their way, and somehow, their teeth managed to bite through the tires, bursting them.

Fortunately, that car was running low on fuel anyway. Otherwise, Hai Ku and his group would have been reluctant to abandon it.

The best part of their luck was that none of them had been infected so far.

The closer they got to the coast, the more open the area became, and the fewer places there were to hide.

After the first car was abandoned, they decided to walk for a while and search for food along the way.

Their backpacks were nearly out of rations. Since they couldn’t be sure if there would be anything edible near the coast; or whether any food there would be uninfected, they decided to stock up before getting too close.

***

They finally spotted something that resembled a small convenience store. Just as they approached, they heard a voice that sounded all too familiar.

“What’s wrong with you?! Can’t you see he’s injured? Didn’t you say your profession in the real world was a doctor? What happened to saving lives? Don’t you understand that?”

That arrogant and domineering voice, along with its tone, wasn’t only instantly recognizable to Hai Ku but also to Lan Bai, who was nestled as a toy in Hai Ku’s pocket.

“How about we find another place?” Hai Ku felt a headache coming on the moment he heard that voice, so he asked the others for their opinions.

The other two nodded silently. “Let’s stay away from them, sneak in to grab some supplies, fill our backpacks, and leave quickly.”