ARBW Chapter 08

Since the world fell into the apocalypse, Lin Mian, a handsome Lower Class Person, found himself in an awkward situation.

In his memory, only beautiful women were subjected to the scrutiny of others’ gazes.

In the past, he had little understanding of their pain and troubles.

Until… the apocalypse arrived, and humanity was divided into ranks.

Nobles exploited ordinary people, treating the bullying, humiliation, and torment of them as a form of entertainment.

As a handsome man, he too became an object of violation in their eyes.

In that moment, he understood the suffering of those beautiful women.

It was a feeling of being watched with disgusting eyes at all times.

Disgust, loathing, hatred, and sometimes even a wish for the world to simply disappear.

Only if the entire world vanished could the evils within it be wiped away completely.

And just as he was engulfed by such negative emotions, thinking he would die filled with resentment…

On that day… the arrival of one person suddenly changed his situation.

The other party leaned slightly forward, looking at him with dark, steady eyes, devoid of any discomforting emotions.

He did not see Lin Mian’s beauty and immediately think of violating or possessing him; instead, he gazed at him with pure concern.

Lin Mian spoke softly, “I… I need your help.”

“Have you encountered some difficulties?”

“Yes, Noble Sir, I have encountered a huge problem. I… have been locked up by those Nobles, confined in this small town…”

Lin Mian spoke clearly, word by word, detailing his and the townspeople’s plight to Pei Yuhuai. Seemingly worried that the other might not understand, he trembled and repeated it twice more.

Perhaps influenced by Lin Mian’s emotions, or maybe because he saw Pei Yuhuai’s strength.

While Lin Mian was recounting his tale, a young woman boldly approached Pei Yuhuai.

With an expression full of anticipation and desire, her eyes gleamed with hope as she said, “Noble Sir, are you here to save us? We are not the townspeople; we are ordinary Lower Class People, forced to come here. They have captured us, forcing us to do vile things, broadcasting our daily lives, and even the young children are not spared…”

Although what the woman said was true, expressing it to an outsider, especially someone who appeared so gentlemanly, filled the Nobles with an inexplicable sense of shame.

To cover this shame, they began to curse loudly in various live streams. They cursed Lin Mian, cursed the woman, and cursed the meddlesome Pei Yuhuai.

Only by hurling vicious words at others could they convince themselves that their actions were not as heinous as they truly were.

Unfortunately, no matter how they cursed, at that moment, neither Lin Mian nor the woman, nor Pei Yuhuai, could see them.

Because at that moment, Lin Mian and the woman were focused on Pei Yuhuai’s response, having no time to pay attention to those disgusting individuals.

Pei Yuhuai spent over ten minutes understanding the situation here.

It turned out that this so-called small town was a CRHS game created by those who called themselves Nobles.

The residents of the town were either sold by their families or kidnapped.

It was similar to human trafficking.

In addition to understanding the situation in this small town, Pei Yuhuai also learned about the background of this game.

In the apocalypse, in a wasteland where morality had decayed and humanity had perished, it was a world where the strong ruled.

Upon realizing that, aside from a few Guardians and three Nobles, the rest of the people in this small town were ordinary individuals without Abilities, Pei Yuhuai decided to actively seek out the remaining Guardians and Nobles.

Seeing him turn to leave, Lin Mian couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.

“Sir, where are you going?”

Pei Yuhuai replied, “To kill the remaining few and dismantle the cameras here.”

Lin Mian was momentarily taken aback by this, “Aren’t you planning to take us away? Even if you kill everyone here and dismantle the cameras, others will still come to take over.”

Even if the Guardians and Nobles in the small town were dead, the organizers could still send people to control them.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to resist; it was that Lower Class People had nothing. They lacked the physical strength of Nobles, the Abilities of Mutants, and had no weapons for self-defense.

When they faced those individuals, the only outcome awaiting them was death.

Pei Yuhuai looked at him and said, “You just mentioned that there are over a hundred of you here, and outside the town, there are zombies and viruses everywhere. I can’t take you all with me, so I thought it might be better to seize this place.”

Because he was unsure if it could be seized, Pei Yuhuai hadn’t clarified this before. Now that Lin Mian had asked, he shared his thoughts.

Just as Pei Yuhuai was speaking, his phone, which had no main quest until now, suddenly popped up with two main quests.

The first main quest: “As a strong and brave traveler, please occupy a stronghold within thirty days to establish a safe and comfortable living place for your future partner.”

The second main quest: “As a strong, brave, and handsome warrior, how can you be without a beautiful lover by your side? Please choose a favored NPC to pursue within thirty days and establish a romantic relationship.”

The time in the game was consistent with real-world time, meaning the thirty days in the quest referred to one month in the real world. This timeframe was ample for Pei Yuhuai, and he was confident he could complete it within a month.

With sufficient time and confirmation that this small town could be seized, he felt less urgency.

Pei Yuhuai first turned to the crowd and shot two Nobles who were preparing to flee.

The two Nobles were easy to identify; their clothing was extravagant, and they were well-fed.

In stark contrast to the townspeople who were often hungry and beaten, Pei Yuhuai could distinguish them with just a glance.

Moreover, the system had marked them.

The townspeople had the word “Townspeople” above their heads, while the Nobles had names like “Noble So-and-So.”

Pei Yuhuai had seen them before, but at that time, he thought they were all green names and didn’t question why they were so special.

Now that he understood why they were so well-fed, he found them increasingly repugnant.

Some people truly were despicable beings.

Just like some Nobles in this world, who clearly had many willing to provide them with services in exchange for various resources.

Yet, they rejected the willing and instead sought out the unwilling.

Just as men jokingly say, what is homegrown is not as good as stolen, and what is stolen is not as good as what cannot be stolen.

The meaning is simple: what is not theirs is better.

The more morality forbids them, the more they find it delectable.

Even young children could ignite their depravity.

Tsk, tsk, they truly are a group of morally corrupt sewer creatures.

And they dare to call themselves Nobles?

What kind of Nobles are they?

Those who come to such a small town for entertainment are clearly individuals who have committed many acts of coercion, oppression, humiliation, and abuse.

Such people do not deserve to live.

Their genes are inferior; it is said that dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and the children of rats will dig holes.

Keeping such sewer creatures alive only wastes the world’s resources.

Moreover, since this is just a game, and they are merely villainous NPCs within it, Pei Yuhuai had no hesitation in killing.

Afterward, Pei Yuhuai killed the remaining two Guardians and the half-dead middle-aged Noble.

He then gathered all the townspeople and organized them to dismantle the cameras in the small town.

There were a total of one hundred thirty-nine townspeople, and not everyone was willing to trust Pei Yuhuai.

On one side were the Nobles of this world, and as Lower Class People, they had long been accustomed to being bullied, with a deep-rooted fear of Nobles.

On the other side was a young man they had just met today. Although he appeared very powerful and mysterious, he alone could not stand against all the Nobles.

To prevent being punished by the town’s organizers if Pei Yuhuai failed, most people did not follow his lead.

Only a few braver individuals chose to stand by Pei Yuhuai.

With the townspeople not united, their subsequent actions would be much more troublesome. To prevent any disruptions, Pei Yuhuai first occupied the Guardians’ dormitory.

The Guardians’ dormitory was originally the home of the town’s mayor, a two-story rural villa.

Pei Yuhuai moved in with a group of people and dismantled the surveillance cameras inside.

The mayor’s house had plenty of supplies, which originally belonged to the Guardians.

Now that the Guardians were all dead, these supplies became theirs, allowing them to survive for a while with enough food.

At this time, the girl who had been living with Lin Mian had already woken up. She was cooking with an older uncle, distributing supplies to everyone.

Lin Mian ate a little, finally shaking off his previous lethargy, and his complexion looked much better than before.

Seeing this, Pei Yuhuai prepared to log off. Before leaving, he clicked on Lin Mian.

Now that he knew Lin Mian’s name, the name above Lin Mian’s head changed from “Handsome Youth” to “Lin Mian.”

The character “Mian” resembled a rabbit.

Pei Yuhuai suddenly looked over, thinking Lin Mian was named Lin Tu.

At that moment, he thought to himself that this person was so beautiful, and his name was so cute and special.

Later, he realized he had made a mistake, but subconsciously, he still felt Lin Mian should be called Lin Tu.

Lin Tu! Lin Tu!

“I’m leaving now; I’ll come back to see you tomorrow. To prevent any issues after I leave, let me give you something.”

After saying this, Pei Yuhuai clicked on Lin Mian again, this time selecting the third option, “Gift.”

He intended to give him a weapon. Earlier, Lin Mian mentioned that they were all Lower Class People, lacking any means of self-defense. If they encountered a Guardian or a Noble, they would only be passive victims.

Pei Yuhuai knew that the weapons he had were more advanced than those in the game.

He wasn’t very familiar with other NPCs and didn’t feel comfortable giving them such weapons, but he felt confident in giving one to Lin Mian.

In his view, Lin Mian seemed to be related to the main quest, and such an NPC couldn’t possibly be a bad person.

So he clicked on the gift option and began to select from the weapons in his inventory.

He had quite a few weapons now, from previous loot boxes and purchases, as well as those obtained from drawing Abilities.

He searched through the pile of weapons and found a small, exquisite, rose-gold handgun similar to the silenced pistol he was currently using.

Lin Mian was much shorter than him, so a smaller handgun would likely be more suitable.

As he selected the weapon to gift, the delicate handgun was placed into Lin Mian’s palm.

Lin Mian stared at the handgun in his hand, momentarily stunned, then looked up in surprise.

In the apocalypse, guns were extremely important resources, and for Lower Class People like them, it was hard to come by such things.

And then… such an important item was casually given to him, as if it were just a toy.

“This… this is too precious; I can’t accept it.”

Lin Mian said this, unaware that in Pei Yuhuai’s phone, a large “Affection +10” appeared above his head.

In other words, while he said that, he actually liked the gift very much and probably didn’t want to return it. But due to his upbringing, he still wanted to give it back to Pei Yuhuai.

Pei Yuhuai, however, did not say much more, simply saying, “See you tomorrow,” before disappearing.

Yes, he suddenly vanished right in front of Lin Mian.

If it were anyone else, they might find it strange, but Lin Mian, having seen Pei Yuhuai’s peculiarities, felt a sense of familiarity instead.

If Pei Yuhuai had only one Ability, and he suddenly saw him disappear, he would probably find it very odd.

But since Pei Yuhuai had many Abilities, after so many shocks and surprises, he now seemed unfazed by anything he saw.

When Lin Mian’s roommate girl entered with a bowl of hot porridge, Lin Mian was carefully stroking the handgun.

The girl gasped softly, then approached him with a look of envy.

“Did that Noble Sir give this to you?”

Lin Mian, hearing this, did not speak but simply nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the handgun in his hand.

For others, this might be an ordinary gun, but for him, it was different.

This… represented power, signifying that he had gained a certain ability to resist, no longer just a fish on the chopping board.

“How wonderful! After I woke up, I’ve been busy and haven’t had a chance to say a word to him. He truly is a kind, generous, and gentle person. Do you think… we can rely on him and never be bullied again?”

“Perhaps.”

Perhaps… it could be?

Although the road ahead still felt very uncertain.

But thinking of the way he looked at him, such a calm, steady, and powerful person should… be able to let them live freely and with dignity, right?

Even if they couldn’t survive, he felt that trying hard to fight for it was still better than continuing to live as they had before.