Inside the basketball arena…
Kirara clung to the lighting rig, with half her body hanging in midair.
"Hurry up! I can't hold on much longer!"
"Don't worry! It'll only take a second!"
Since everyone's physical abilities had been reduced to those of ordinary people, Hu Tao knew she couldn't waste any time.
She immediately began climbing down.
Finally, she grabbed Kirara's ankles with both hands, lowering herself as close to the ground as possible.
After spotting a suitable landing spot…
She swung her body slightly…
And leaped toward the floor.
"Ow!"
Unfortunately…
It was still far too high.
Even after all that…
Hu Tao landed hard.
It took her quite a while before she finally recovered.
"I left the ladder in the storage room! Go get it!"
Seeing Hu Tao catch her breath, Kirara hurriedly reminded her.
"Got it! Wait for me!"
"…You… won't betray me, right?"
"Relax."
"I won't."
Giving Kirara a reassuring smile…
Hu Tao sprinted toward the storage room.
A short while later…
She really did return carrying a ladder.
"Hu Tao…"
Watching her come back with the ladder…
Kirara felt genuinely touched.
After what she'd done earlier…
She'd honestly been afraid Hu Tao would abandon her.
Looks like…
People from Liyue really were reliable.
Setting the ladder upright…
Hu Tao urged,
"Hurry!"
"Valerius could be here any moment!"
"Okay!"
Kirara nodded and carefully began moving toward the ladder.
The livestream exploded.
[Belle: Seriously? She betrayed our catgirl and still wants to escape? Come on, Valerius!]
[Wise: Go, Valerius!]
[Zhu Yuan: Um… well… Go, Valerius…]
Even Zhu Yuan couldn't help cheering for Valerius now.
After all…
Everyone had seen it.
Kirara had betrayed Nekomata first.
[Kamisato Ayaka: …]
[Sangonomiya Kokomi: …]
The Inazuma players collectively fell silent.
Sure…
They were happy Kirara might survive.
But…
Now really wasn't the time to rub salt in the wound.
Finally…
Kirara reached the ladder.
She carefully stretched one foot toward it.
"Well now."
"What are you two playing?"
"Mind if I join?"
"Eek!!"
The sudden voice frightened Kirara so badly that she immediately pulled her foot back.
Looking down…
She saw Valerius standing at the entrance.
Her heart nearly stopped.
"No…"
"I have to get down and run!"
Knowing she'd definitely be eliminated if she stayed up there…
Kirara reached for the ladder again.
Only to discover…
The ladder had already fallen over.
Hu Tao…
Who had been holding it moments ago…
Had completely disappeared.
Only the still-swaying door silently pointed out the direction she'd escaped.
"If you're coming down…"
"Here."
"I'll help."
Valerius picked the ladder back up and leaned it against the lighting rig…
Even giving Kirara a warm,
"See? I'm such a nice guy."
"I… I'm not coming down."
Squatting atop the lighting rig…
Kirara sadly closed her eyes.
Sure enough…
Hu Tao couldn't be relied upon.
Couldn't you at least have let me climb down a little first before running?
Were you really that afraid of Valerius?
"Oh?"
"You're not coming down?"
"Then should I come up instead?"
"D-Don't you dare!"
Kirara grabbed the ladder tightly.
Her meaning was obvious.
If you climb…
I'll push it over.
Don't blame me if you fall.
"Heh."
Valerius simply sneered.
Then…
He pulled out his rope…
And swung it upward.
The loop landed perfectly around Kirara.
"So…"
"Are you climbing down yourself…"
"Or should I pull you down?"
"…"
She'd still wanted to resist.
Who would've thought…
He had a lasso.
Kirara's face turned bitter.
In the end…
She obediently climbed down.
"You know…"
"Nekomata already knows you betrayed her."
"What do you think she'll do to you later?"
Seeing Kirara looking utterly pitiful…
Valerius kindly reminded her.
"…Waaah…"
"I'm sorry…"
"I'm sorry, Nekomata…"
If she'd known she couldn't escape anyway…
She never would've used the item.
Now she'd gained nothing…
And managed to offend Nekomata as well.
A complete loss.
"Heh."
"What do you think the Zenless Zone Zero players will think of Inazuma after this?"
"…Waaaah…"
"I know I was wrong…"
"Please stop…"
Now she felt even worse.
Just as Valerius said…
The ZZZ players might end up targeting Inazuma from now on.
Seeing Kirara on the verge of turning to stone…
Valerius decided he'd teased her enough.
He reached out.
[Attention: Player Kirara has been eliminated.]
"Next…"
"Hu Tao…"
"And Sparkle."
Looking toward the direction Hu Tao had fled…
Valerius immediately chased after her.
Without any tracking arrows left…
Finding players now depended entirely on luck.
He didn't want Hu Tao getting too far away.
To his surprise…
Despite chasing her out immediately…
There wasn't a trace of her anywhere.
"Where'd that little girl run off to?"
After scanning the surroundings…
He had no choice but to begin a carpet search.
The livestream continued.
[Jing Yuan: That invisibility cloak really is useful.]
[Lisa: Half of that reward should belong to me.]
Seeing Hu Tao escape once again thanks to the invisibility cloak…
Lisa couldn't help feeling a little jealous.
After all…
She was the one who'd given Hu Tao that item.
If there was a medal of honor…
Half belonged to Hu Tao.
The other half belonged to her.
[Jean: Stop dreaming. There's no reward waiting for you… only punishment. Want that instead?]
[Lisa: Since when did you become like this?]
Lisa was genuinely shocked.
Was this really Jean?
Something felt… off.
Then again…
Considering she'd exposed all of Jean's embarrassing secrets earlier…
She really wasn't in a position to complain.
[Bronya: Without any more clues, Valerius probably won't find anyone else now, right?]
[Ruan Mei: Earlier, he found everyone so quickly because the players kept sabotaging one another. Now the game has reached a deadlock.]
[Robin: Does that mean… Miss Sparkle and Miss Hu Tao have already won?]
[Sunday: Hu Tao isn't certain… but Sparkle definitely has.]
[Beidou: Not necessarily. Maybe Sparkle gets found, while Hu Tao wins.]
[Herta: Haven't you figured out the real strategy of this game yet? Sparkle understood it from the very beginning.]
[Xiangling: What do you mean?]
[Dr. Ratio: The key lies in following.]
[Raiden Ei: Thanks for stating the obvious.]
[Raiden Makoto: Miss Sparkle stayed behind Mr. Valerius the entire time. She always knew exactly where he was, so he never had a chance to notice her.]
[Keqing: So that's the correct way to play Hide-and-Seek.]
Everyone finally understood.
At first…
They'd wondered why Sparkle kept secretly trailing behind Valerius.
Now it made perfect sense.
At the very beginning of the game…
She'd boldly appeared in front of him.
Then…
She quietly followed behind him the entire time.
Whenever Valerius entered a building…
She simply waited outside.
That way…
He would never spot her.
After all…
No one searches a place they've already searched.
Sure enough…
During the remaining time…
Valerius searched every corner of the complex.
Yet he never found another player.
Seeing the timer nearly expire…
He finally returned to the trampoline hall.
Hu Tao and Sparkle had successfully escaped.
Entering the hall once more…
He found Bailu still happily bouncing on the trampolines with the other children.
Jingliu stood quietly nearby, watching over them.
"You've stopped searching?"
"No time left."
"I'll admit it."
"The two of them did well."
"I see."
Jingliu turned her head slightly.
A barely noticeable smile appeared on her lips.
She really wanted to tell Valerius,
"Why don't you count the children again?"
"Hahaha!"
"Klee, you didn't jump as high as me!"
"Hu… Hu… Hook, you can do it! Jump higher than Klee!"
"Wow!"
"Hu Tao, you jumped so high!"
"Whoa!"
Listening to the children's laughter…
Valerius rolled his eyes.
Hu Tao really was something.
She'd actually started competing with a bunch of kids.
"…Wait."
"Hu Tao?!"
He suddenly froze.
Looking toward the trampolines…
Sure enough…
Hu Tao was bouncing right there among the children.
"Holy—"
His hand instantly reached for the rope at his waist.
[Time's up. Winners: Sparkle and Hu Tao.]
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