35. The Remnant of the Fallen

Li Nuo looked upward, hoping to catch a glimpse of 2B, but instead saw a monster standing fully three meters tall descending from the sky. The moment it landed, the entire tower seemed to shudder.

The ground shook violently; to put it simply, the floor collapsed.

Li Nuo and the resistance fighters plummeted. Due to the elevation differences in the lower levels, he and two of the resistance fighters landed in a spacious room, while the others, due to their unfortunate landing positions, fell into even deeper sectors.

As the dust began to settle, obscuring his vision, Li Nuo surveyed his surroundings. The good news was that there was an elevator nearby; the bad news was that the monster had landed directly in front of it.

In theory, as long as he relied on the resistance fighters to harass the creature, he could maneuver around it and return to the previous area. This fight did not have to happen. That was what he had initially thought—until the monster turned toward him and charged forward with a roar.

*So, I’ve been locked on, have I…*

As Li Nuo prepared to dodge, he heard the sound of gunfire. A few bullets struck the monster's head, slowing it down, and then a resistance fighter with a ponytail ran over from the side to push him out of the way. However, because his perception stat was high enough to grant him superhuman reaction times, he dodged the push, causing the resistance fighter to collide with the wall instead.

"Don't dodge! I'm trying to save you!"

Li Nuo didn't even know how to respond to that. It wasn't as if you could just choose not to dodge when your life was on the line… but he had no time for snark. The monster had already broken through the barrage of bullets and was charging in like a madman.

*Use the momentum of its charge, then hit it with my folding stool…*

Before Li Nuo’s plan could fully form, a jolt went through his heart. Instinctively, he forced his body to shift, and the monster grazed him, kicking up a powerful gust of wind that left a deep dent in the sheet-metal wall.

"You win this round…" Seeing that, he turned and ran.

In the world of *Pokémon*, the power of "Tackle" might only be 35, but here, the force of that impact would surely turn him into a human sticker. Yet, the monster remained in hot pursuit.

"The initial aggro was on me because I'm the player; in other words, this thing is single-minded." Li Nuo summarized even while running. He hugged the wall as closely as possible, making a sharp turn near a corner to bait the monster into slamming into the wall. Its berserk state was too severe; it certainly wouldn't have the patience to wait for the elevator.

With that in mind, Li Nuo adjusted his crooked mask and carefully observed the monster, which sported twisted bovine horns.

[Minotaur]
[Level: lv17]
[Danger Level: D-]
[Skills: Tackle, Horn Thrust]
[Attribute: Evil]
[Description: A monstrous creature with curved horns like a bull; possesses a relatively simple mind.]

"Another classic monster from the *Final Fantasy* series." Based on the description, Li Nuo backed away, searching for a safer space to maneuver, and pointed to his own head while shouting to the two resistance fighters who had fallen with him: "It's a moron! I’ll draw its fire; you guys shoot it!"

No sooner had he spoken than a *bang* rang out. One of the resistance fighters fired, the bullet embedding itself directly into the Minotaur’s back.

In truth, hitting the head would have been more effective, but the back provided a larger target. However, this guy was bulletproof everywhere except for its head and front torso. Li Nuo suspected the system had set this up deliberately to force players into a direct confrontation with the Minotaur. He had no choice but to keep retreating.

In an instant, the Minotaur charged again. This time, Li Nuo had calculated the distance perfectly, and his dodge was relatively nimble. Relying on his 20-point reaction stat to track the opponent's attack path, combined with his 9-point physique and 14-point strength to control his muscles, he had just enough leeway to avoid the Minotaur's impact.

But this couldn't go on. In a fast-paced fight where life and death were decided in fractions of a second, Li Nuo didn't even have time to draw his gun, let alone his folding stool or iron pipe. Fortunately, the Minotaur’s attack methods were simple; at the very least, it didn't use magic and only swung its arms or charged directly. Otherwise, the three of them wouldn't have lasted a minute.

***

The Minotaur only swatted away the resistance fighters' bullets with its hands. Combined with Li Nuo’s perfectly calculated dodges, the ponytail girl grew bolder. Seeking a more precise strike on a vital point, she signaled her companion to provide covering fire, then drew a sharp combat knife. She approached quickly from behind, climbed onto the Minotaur's shoulder, and plunged the blade directly into the back of its skull.

The Minotaur let out a roar, clearly in agony, and began to thrash wildly. The knife, however, was stuck like a cleaver in a chopping block. The girl refused to let go of the handle, swaying in mid-air like a paper cutout. As the thrashing intensified, the wound on the top of the Minotaur's head grew wider.

The stabbing pain sent the Minotaur into an even more berserk state. Li Nuo could no longer predict its movement patterns. He could only retreat while observing closely: "A wound to the back of the head doesn't affect its mobility? Is its frontal lobe the primary driver for its cognition?"

The other resistance fighter, peering through his scope, shouted: "Get off! I can't get a clear shot!"

When the Minotaur suddenly reached back to grab the girl, she let go, kicked off its horns to launch herself into the air as it faced her, and quickly drew her pistol from her waist. Three consecutive triggers were pulled, hitting it square in the face and shattering its jaw.

The Minotaur took a step back. That one step was all he needed.

Li Nuo activated [Inner Potential]. A blood-red mist instantly erupted from his pores like a blooming flower. He didn't know if [Inner Potential] also buffed ranged weapons, but there was no way to find out without trying.

The moment the ponytail girl hit the ground, Li Nuo hurled his last two canisters of shrapnel grenades. One had been packed with double the [Bomb-Creep Ash], resulting in an explosive radius and intensity twice that of his other homemade grenades.

The Minotaur’s reactions were lightning fast; beastly instinct drove it to swat one canister away. That was it!

With a deafening *boom*, the first canister released a hail of unseen nails and metal shards. Immediately following, the second canister exploded the moment it touched the creature’s face—and it was even more violent!

In a split second, the tide of the battle turned. The Minotaur slammed into the wall, half-kneeling on the floor. When it raised its eyes, a gun barrel was already pressed against its pupil.

Li Nuo jammed the barrel of his rifle directly into its eye. Internal organs, the mouth, the groin, and the eyes were the inescapable weak points of most creatures; attacking the eyes was the most effective, guaranteeing a critical hit and a blinding effect.

As the bullet entered its eye, spraying a mix of transparent and red fluid, the Minotaur suddenly erupted into a frenzy.

At that moment, the ponytail girl finally found her chance to push Li Nuo out of the way. She had intended to save him, but she hadn't expected the Minotaur to perform what looked like a second-phase attack, slamming the ground with such force that the shockwave and its twisted horns sent them both flying.

They hit the wall, sliding down to the floor. The ponytail girl, having shielded him from the lethal blow, fell unconscious.

"Damn it… is it unkillable?"

Li Nuo was in terrible shape. Even with [Kenny’s Orange Parka] and the resistance-issued bulletproof vest, he couldn't offset his low vitality caused by his "Medic" profession. The other resistance fighter pulled the trigger rapidly, but the bullets were no longer enough to harass the Minotaur, which was now in its second phase—or perhaps its death throes.

The creature charged like a madman. Li Nuo felt the warning in his heart, but even though he strained his body to dodge, the air pressure from its charge knocked him to the ground again.

Li Nuo’s condition appeared to have reached its limit. His health had dropped below 20% and was continuing to tick down. Although the [Red Tearstone Ring] provided a "last stand" effect, it couldn't negate the excruciating physical pain. If he deactivated [Inner Potential] now, his muscles would be torn apart by the agony.

After the fight, his stamina was near depletion. Even if he lay on the ground to recover, the recovery rate wouldn't match the rate at which his health was dropping.

"It’s over…"

That was the only thought in Li Nuo’s mind. After a life of swindling, cheating, and risking his life in battles, he would, in the end, fall at the very finish line.

[Identity Verification in Progress]

"Huh?"

The sudden system prompt left Li Nuo stunned. "Identity… card?"

[Player Identity: The Blood-Drained]
[Used three near-death skills within a Level 30 scenario, with 10% health remaining; satisfies the criteria for this identity.]

Li Nuo blinked. "The Blood-Drained"—he felt like he had seen that name somewhere before. Suddenly, a flash went through his mind; he remembered a string of dark gray text at the very top of his attribute panel that read: [Identity: The Blood-Drained].

At the same time, he realized he couldn't move. It wasn't due to the pain, but rather because he had been frozen in place—as if hit by a paralyzing strike in a martial arts novel. Everything around him was exactly the same. The flow of time seemed to have stopped.

[Based on the verification of the player’s real-world traits, if a state of extremely high stat allocation is reached, one of the special identities is granted.]
[Verification successful. Identity: The Blood-Drained.]
[Activation Condition: Three near-death class skills activated simultaneously, health at 10% of maximum; player may activate manually upon satisfying these two points.]
[Deactivation Condition: Health above 10%, or forced closure at the cost of 3000 gold coins.]
[Effect 1: Upon activation, two of the four attributes—Strength, Reaction, Spiritual Power, and Insight—are randomly increased by 15 to 30 points; stamina consumption reduced by 50%.]
[Effect 2: All abnormal status effects are cleared until external damage is sustained.]
[Effect 3: One limb is broken every 20 seconds; if the identity persists for 5 minutes, the skull will shatter.]
[Remaining identity details have been transmitted to the Spatial Storage.]
[Briefing complete. Time will resume in 5 seconds.]

"..."

"Activate… The Blood-Drained…"

The Minotaur possessed a beastly warning system for dangerous entities. The five seconds were up. It didn't know what was going on with the guy in the strange mask, but it knew that he was dangerous—suddenly, extremely dangerous.

Li Nuo stood there, and all the pain in his body ceased instantly. He felt as light as if he had been reborn.

"The power of an [Identity]?"

As he wondered, the Minotaur charged. He felt the danger warning in advance.

"Look out!" the only conscious resistance fighter shouted.

At the most critical moment, Li Nuo stepped back with nonchalant ease, just enough to dodge the Minotaur’s charge. He stepped onto its arm, vaulted off its muscular frame, and landed behind the beast. He drew his folding stool and slammed it down, driving the combat knife that was still embedded in its skull even deeper!

"The folding stool explosion didn't trigger. No luck bonus there."

At that exact moment, the Minotaur’s body stiffened; the knife had pierced through the back of its brain to the front. Li Nuo stood on top of its head and drew [John’s Iron Pipe].

"Do you count as a vehicle?"

With a wet *thwack*, he jammed the iron pipe into the Minotaur’s other eye and began to stir it around wildly.

As the Minotaur collapsed to the ground, Li Nuo landed steadily. A voice echoed in his ears:

[Unlocked Title: Eye-Stabbing Master]