Chapter 19: Setting Nineteen

Setting Nineteen: Monster Hunter (Part 1)

A hand wearing a black glove reached out in front of Shan Ziwei. Following the hand up, he found a middle-aged man with dark skin, grinning at him with a mouthful of pearly white teeth. He wore a combat vest over his uniform, exposing sturdy arms that matched his face.

“Hey there, partner—welcome back. How was the trip?”

“…Back?”

“You don’t remember? You just came back from an operation.” The bald black man leaned in and gave Shan Ziwei a meaningful wink. “How’s the wife? After this mission, I hear you can finally take her home.”

Shan Ziwei fell silent. He was still in the vehicle, which was clearly some kind of heavily armed transport. The bald black man before him was talking to him as if they were old acquaintances—which meant he was almost certainly a Chess Piece.

Very well—since the system had set him up with this role, he’d just have to adapt.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see her again.” Shan Ziwei went along with the script, then pretended to look around casually. “What’s the situation around here?”

“Oh, you know—the usual.” The bald black man shrugged. “We’re just on containment duty. There’s been a report of an anomalous creature in this area, and we’re here to deal with it. But…” He paused, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. “It’s not easy to handle, partner. That thing’s been running wild and is about to evolve again.”

“Again?” Shan Ziwei echoed.

“Yeah.” The bald man blew out a smoke ring. “I really don’t get you hunter types—you got it down to a sliver of health, and you just let it run off? You’re the ones who’ve been tracking it, you know.”

“No choice—I ran out of ammunition,” Shan Ziwei said calmly.

The bald man laughed heartily, slapping him on the shoulder—then quickly pulling back when he saw Shan Ziwei flinch. “Hey, you alright? You don’t look too good.”

“Just a bit carsick.” Shan Ziwei brushed it off. He looked around, his expression a mix of surprise and wariness. “Just us?”

“Of course not. There are three more hunters here. They got here before you—they’ve been waiting in that building since early morning.” The bald man pointed toward the hospital not far away. The building, which looked completely normal, was surrounded by a shimmering green barrier, like a viscous liquid membrane. “It’s almost time. I’ve been waiting for you to show up so we can head in together.”

“I need to find my teammates first.”

“No need—everyone’s already here. Once you get out of the car and regroup, you can go in.” The bald man jerked his chin toward the green barrier. “Your colleagues are waiting over there. I’ll handle things here and wait for your good news.”

The bald man’s implication was clear: the conversation was over, and he should get out of the car. Shan Ziwei gave a brief nod, then turned and stepped out of the vehicle.

Behind the green barrier, three people stood waiting: a young man and woman, and a girl with short hair. The first two were huddled together, looking like a couple, while the short-haired girl stood slightly apart.

“Yo~” The short-haired girl was the first to speak. “You’re the fourth? They said you’d be coming late. I’m Sha Polang—killing monsters is my specialty. What about you?”

“Tracker,” Shan Ziwei replied cautiously. “I specialize in tracking monsters.”

“Oh!” Sha Polang’s eyes lit up. “A tracking hunter! Great—we were just saying we could use a tracker. The three of us are all assault hunters—we don’t have any tracking skills, so we’ve been stuck here the whole time, unable to find the monster.”

Shan Ziwei nodded slightly. He was starting to get a feel for the setup: this Chessboard had a party system. The three people before him were the players he’d be teaming with.

“By the way, how about a friendly spar after this?” Sha Polang grinned at Shan Ziwei.

“…”

“Just kidding! Man, you’re so serious.”

“Ahem.” The young man with the couple finally spoke up, sending a pointed look at Sha Polang before turning to Shan Ziwei. “Don’t mind her—she’s always like this. I’m Xiao Shuai, and this is my girlfriend, Guo Guoqing.” He looked at Shan Ziwei’s white hair. “Your name?”

“GFanzi.”

“Just ‘Fanzi’ then.” Xiao Shuai nodded at him. “The bald guy said we need to take down the monster before it evolves again, but we’ve been waiting here all morning and haven’t seen a thing. If you’re a tracker, can you pinpoint where it is?”

“I’ve only just arrived, so I haven’t done a scan yet. I’ll need the system to give me a setting first.”

“Hold on—what do you mean ‘give you a setting’?” Xiao Shuai and Guo Guoqing looked confused. “You mean your first setting hasn’t shown up yet?”

“I haven’t gotten a setting since I entered this Chessboard.” Sha Polang chimed in. “What’s going on—did the system glitch?”

Before Shan Ziwei could respond, the system gave him his answer. The green barrier before him flickered, and a line of text appeared in his vision.

[Setting 1: You have completed your mission. (00:03:00)]

“Here it is,” Shan Ziwei said, reading it closely. “Looks like we just have to wait three minutes and we can get started.”

Sure enough, the moment the countdown ended, the bald black man’s voice came from the other side of the green barrier.

“Hunters, the creature has been located. It’s hiding inside the hospital. You have 8 minutes to get in before the next evolution. At 8 minutes, the barrier will be removed. The choppers will be here in 1 hour and 50 minutes to pick you up—don’t be late. Good luck.”

The three hunters looked at each other, then at Shan Ziwei. He met their eyes and nodded gravely. “Let’s get ready to move out.”

“Oooh!” Xiao Shuai and the others jumped up, ready to charge. “We can finally get moving!”

Then another setting popped up.

[Setting 2: You have the corresponding hunter equipment to complete your mission.]

The three were startled by the new setting. Sha Polang looked at Shan Ziwei. “You got that one too?”

“Yeah.” He had just skimmed Setting 2 when he saw something familiar at the edge of his vision.

Under the pale green barrier, a wooden box sat quietly. Shan Ziwei recognized it immediately—it looked exactly like the box that had once contained his Role-Play game device. He crouched down and opened it.

Inside were several Setting Cards.

[3 Tracking Marker Gun: Weapon, allows you to mark targets. Description: 5 pieces of equipment for 3 yuan, all tracking hunters approve!]

[3 Multi-Function Panel: Tool, allows you to scan surrounding areas. Description: To survive, you need to learn to use your gear.]

Shan Ziwei looked at the Setting Cards, his expression growing a little strange. He understood what the game wanted him to do.

[Setting 3: You have completed your mission. “G” means “Checkmate.”]