Gao Qi's gaze darkened as he stared at Aiya standing behind Kai.
Although she was just a freshman, Aiya was already gaining quite a bit of attention at school.
During military training, even without makeup and dressed in the same green camouflage uniform as everyone else, her beauty stood out effortlessly.
A candid photo of her resting under a tree's shade had gone viral on the university forum, stirring heated discussion.
Some said she'd dethrone Senior Su Ling, the reigning three-time campus queen.
Others claimed it was no surprise—Aiya was of ethnic minority descent, so of course she'd be stunning.
Meanwhile, Su Ling's supporters insisted a pure-blooded Han girl had a different kind of beauty.
Unfortunately, the annual campus beauty contest, always held in spring, hadn't even started this year.
Because today, April 1st, the Killing Game had descended instead.
Back then, many student clubs had tried recruiting Aiya to boost their popularity.
She ultimately joined the student council.
But now?
None of that mattered.
The apocalypse had begun. Power would determine everything from now on.
Gao Qi didn't believe his Martial Arts Club would fall short in this new world—not even to Qifeng's student council.
But before he could deal with Aiya, he needed to deal with the obstacle in front of her.
Gao Qi looked at Kai—and realized the guy wasn't even acknowledging him.
That infuriated him even more. His voice turned cold. "Did you not hear me, classmate? Or do you think I won't touch you?"
Kai didn't respond.
He was looking at his attribute panel.
After burning the corpses of over two thousand dimensional bugs…
His four core stats had each increased by over 50 points!
Combined with his previous stats, all four attributes now exceeded 60—a value no one would believe even if told.
All four stats—over sixty!
Meanwhile, even with the rain's boost, most people barely reached 6.
Kai's attributes were now ten times that of a normal human.
A faint, lazy smirk appeared in his eyes.
But to Gao Qi, that smirk was the ultimate provocation.
Enraged, Gao Qi roared, "Go! Air Rift Slash—!"
He shouted dramatically and thrust his hand forward…
But nothing happened.
Confused murmurs spread through the crowd.
Only Gao Qi knew what had just occurred—
He couldn't activate his talent.
"What… what the hell?!" he stared at Kai in disbelief.
But Kai didn't feel like explaining anything to a dead man.
Silently, he expanded his anti-magic domain, and then raised his right hand.
Everyone saw it now—on his right hand was a bizarre ring composed of four interlinked bands.
And suddenly—everyone realized they couldn't use their talents either!
Yet no one tried to flee.
After all, they had the numbers.
And their stats had been enhanced by the rain.
Surely they could overwhelm one guy?
Wrong.
So very wrong.
Threads of steel shot out from the Death's Grip Ring.
Their method of attack resembled dimensional bugs—wrapping around the neck and strangling the target.
But in terms of speed and lethality?
The wires were a hundred times deadlier.
With average speed stats of just 5, none of them could even react.
And the wires?
Forged from an unknown material—sharper than any blade.
Each strike wasn't just a chokehold—
It was decapitation.
Those at the front didn't even have time to scream. In an instant, heads fell and lives vanished.
The rest? Paralyzed with fear.
No one dared to charge again.
These self-proclaimed elites, who had just moments ago controlled the dimensional rift with arrogance, now trembled like leaves before a storm.
Panic took over. Dignity was forgotten.
Some even jumped off the rooftop to escape this living nightmare.
Kai didn't bother chasing them down.
Controlling so many wires burned through a lot of mental energy.
Had his spirit and constitution not exceeded 60, he wouldn't have been able to sustain such an attack.
He exhaled slowly, cloaked the Death's Grip Ring with invisibility again, and looked at the pile of bodies.
Behind him, Liu Bohao and Aiya were frozen in fear.
Aiya was in shock, her gaze dazed but fixed on Kai in awe.
Liu Bohao?
He almost pissed himself.
He dropped to his knees with a thump, face pressed to the floor, trembling like a leaf.
"B-B-B-Boss…"
He wanted to say he'd serve Kai loyally for life—just don't kill him.
But Kai didn't seem interested.
His tone was calm, even gentle. "Relax. I don't kill people unprovoked. I prefer self-defense."
"Prefer... self-defense"?!
What kind of twisted hobby was that?!
Liu Bohao didn't get it—but he was just relieved to be alive.
Aiya also found herself exhaling in quiet relief.
But just as Liu Bohao was trying to get up, Aiya's soft voice stopped him cold:
"Do we really… have to solve everything by killing?"
Kai gave her a sideways glance, but didn't seem angry.
He had returned from the late stages of the apocalypse.
He'd seen every flavor of bloodshed imaginable.
Honestly, not massacring the entire rooftop crew was already him being merciful.
It was only Day One of the apocalypse. It made sense others couldn't accept the brutal reality yet.
While burning the corpses with fireballs, he said calmly, "Even if I hadn't acted, none of them would've lived to see tomorrow."
"Why?" Aiya asked softly, trusting Kai's judgment.
Kai pointed to the sky. "Didn't you already say it? There's something wrong with the rain."
Aiya's face paled. "But… we were in that rain too."
"I have a way to neutralize the side effects."
As he spoke, Kai finished burning the last of the corpses.
With his absurd attributes—ten times normal human levels—the probability of gaining new talents through burning corpses was nearly 100%.
Most of the talents were strange or uncommon.
To the average person, they'd be a massive advantage.
But to Kai?
Anything below S-grade wasn't worth his time.
Only Gao Qi's A-grade space talent—Air Rift Slash— caught his attention.
Spatial talents were powerful.
They could pierce defenses and deal true damage.
But in Kai's eyes?
Still not enough.
Because only S-grade talents touched upon the rules.
No matter how strong your space slashes were—against a forbidden-magic domain from an S-grade support talent, they'd be useless.
Kai had two S-grade talents himself, both support-type.
But if he were to encounter an S-grade offensive talent user...
Kai rubbed his chin and left the thought hanging.
Instead, his gaze drifted to a fire suppression tank not far away.
He said flatly, "You can come out now, classmate."