I Attacked Because I was Afraid of Death

IABIWAOD-CHAPTER 6

Arc I: Novice village

Chapter 6: Intuition of the strong

Chi Xin: I... I'll kill...
This dog system was making her insane. Anger built up in her heart and the look on her face became even more terrifying. None of the people who came into contact with her gaze dared to continue the conversation and bowed their heads.
The appearance of the high-level zombie was a fact and everyone had experienced its power firsthand; but before Chi Xin had gone out, nobody had known about such a terrible creature hiding next to their base. That was why she must be angry; they were both complacent and ungrateful.
Everybody found an explanation for Chi Xin's behavior and the ones who had just tried to have her killed remained silent. After all, Cao Yan was the person in charge of the page and if he decided to let go of past grievances was because people's lives and survival were more important.
He asked: "So, is there any way to detect that... more powerful thing?"
Chi Xin was still furious: "No."
Someone in the crowd shouted: "It's a lie. How did you know there were high-level zombies then and how did you know where to find it?"
The man was relying on the advantage of the crowd to stay hidden, but Chi Xin's eyes, just like a sharp sword, found him right away.
"Intuition of the strong. Do you have it?"
She didn't know who had talked but the man's provocation had automatically been classified as attacking intentions by the system; his location was like a huge target for her.
The man had not expected Chi Xin would be so keen; he shrank back his head in an odd way and didn't dare to say any more.
"Wait, this isn't right." Another young man beside Cao Yan frowned, "What kind of person is Chi Xin? Everyone knows that since you've been there, you haven't done anything. If you are so powerful, how come you haven't shown it to us before today?"
The last sentence was directly directed at her. The man's face was full of hostility, his hatred for Chi Xin obvious. The girl looked at him and remembered he was Cao Yan's cousin, although she forgot what his name was. It seemed that he had once coveted the original Chi Xin's beauty and had only been manipulated. The original Chi Xin had not been the brightest but her Sea King ability had been far beyond ordinary people; she would get benefits but would never keep her end of the bargain.
Chi Xin decided to label this young man as "cannon fodder" and replied unceremoniously: "Whenever I want to show off my skills is not your business. What, do you regret I didn't beat you up?"
As her words fell, Cao Qing's face turned green. It was no secret to everyone in the base he had been chasing after Chi Xin. He had wanted to retaliate by speaking up but had not expected he would be so embarrassed. With the image of Chi Xin kicking the head of a high-level zombie engraved in everyone's memory, who would dare to look for her for a beating? Cao Qing could feel those mocking gazes without even looking around and his face darkened even more.
Chi Xin easily solved this issue and Jing Xiubai frowned slightly as he looked at her indifference; she had not answered the question just now, things must not be simple.
Chi Xin and Jiang Congjun were both freshmen but she was so infamous even seniors like Jing Xiubai and Yu Xiang had heard about her. And while she had always acted pitiful and innocent, when she had ditched them as soon as they entered Base L and picked up multiple benefactors, it had confirmed all the rumors they had heard.
But today, Chi Xin was cold and powerful, not even the shadow of her previous white lotus act. Could a person really pretend for so long?
His too sharp gaze was caught by Chi Xin and under the probing in his eyes, she felt a little weak. According to the requirements of the system, she needed to follow the original plot because only by doing so, she could follow the protagonist group and get the highest trouble value. The dog system was unwilling to give up any sort of trouble and this had become her main task. If Chi Xin wanted to escape the plot and fly solo, the system had the right to destroy her consciousness and replace her; the original Chi Xin was a perfect body to cause trouble and the next consciousness would be even better than her. But because of that, she couldn't be too cold to the hero and his companions, and thinking about the portable space stuck with her and all the strange things in it, Chi Xin felt a growing headache.

The next moment, everyone began discussing how to fight against the "more powerful beings". Chi Xin looked at the soldiers around her and at how they had fought bravely and covered her in the middle of the battle. Grateful, she said: "Thank you."
The soldiers were stunned and the young man in the lead shook his head again and again, before saying in a somewhat weakened and awe-inspiring voice: "Goddess... no, hero, don't joke. We should be the ones thanking you."
The others nodded strongly. Chi Xin was surprised by his answer and gave a small smile; a dreamy expression grew on the young man's face and after realizing his reaction, he lowered his head, not daring to look at Chi Xin anymore, before trotting over and picking up the zombie's head again.
Chi Xin: ...
"Why are you so attached to this head?" She couldn't help but ask.
The soldier looked at her with a serious expression: "This is your battle trophy but also valuable research material. I will bring it back to Base A's research institute, it's the best in the country."
He braced himself and red-tinted his cheeks: "You... Is your name Chi Xin? My name is Xiao Li."
His comrades suddenly smiled and made small noises. Xiao Li turned his head and yelled: "Quiet! Don't disturb other people's rest..."
Speaking of resting, Chi Xin realized she was still covered in blood and other fluids.
"I will go back first, the big guys seem to be discussing something important. Make yourselves at home."
The base wasn't hers and she couldn't arrange anything for the soldiers; Cao Yan noticed the situation and stopped talking with Jing Xiubai before walking over: "There are no big rules here. All the vacant rooms are free to take, choose the one you want and let me know what to register when you are done."
The soldiers had lost their tanks and with all the dangers of the outside worlds, they naturally weren't planning on rushing back to Base A right away.
Cao Yan still didn't know where to stand with Chi Xin. Although he had stopped shouting or trying to kill her, he didn't look at her as he talked to the soldiers beside her and his expression was a little stiff. Chi Xin didn't pay attention to him and the men thanked him politely; after the public interrogation of their savior, they had an obvious dislike for the people in this base. They didn't participate in their discussion and followed Chi Xin out of the council room.
Before leaving, Chi Xin felt a gaze on her back, both soft and rigid and not so hostile. It didn't seem to be Jing Xiubai but... the heroine Jiang Congyun.

Chi Xin separated from the soldiers, ignoring Xiao Li's momentary dissatisfaction in his eyes, and returned to her room. Fortunately, the room was not as messy and cluttered as the portable space, otherwise the slightly clean freak part of her would have had to tidy everything up.
After taking a simple shower, thinking of all the disgusting things that had stuck to her skin during the battle, Chi Xin rubbed her white skin red before finally coming out. Holding her long hair, she stood in front of a full-length mirror that showed her whole body.
This was the first time she examined her new appearance and as a fine vicious supporting character, she had the matching beauty. But the most remarkable thing about it was the thin muscles that covered her slender limbs. Chi Xin stared at the area above her shorts, on her flat stomach had appeared out of nowhere faint abdominal muscles and smooth mermaid lines that went down all the way to her waist. These enhancements not only did not harm the original beauty of the body but her exposed skin also did not have the previous weakness but healthy and wild charm instead.
Chi Xin was very much aware of all the terrible power contained in these seemingly thin muscles but once covered, if not for the strength in her brow, she looked like a delicate and beautiful vase again.
Chi Xin stared at herself in the mirror, not getting used to this completely different face from hers. Her slender fingertips stroked the outline and her gaze showed a trace of sorrow. Was the Chi family's daughter really dead? From now on the one who would live and survive this apocalyptic world was this Chi Xin.
She stretched out her hand to stroke the area where her heart was; the mark of an emerald green pendant was where a gunshot scar should have been, the evidence of the fusion with the portable space.
Now that her relationship with the protagonist group seemed particularly tense, if she wanted to join them again to follow the plot, this pendant was a problem. Chi Xin clenched her fists; the system had promised that once the plot was over and the trouble value was full, she would get her freedom back and live in this world. But if she couldn't cause enough trouble, the system would be happy to replace her.
She couldn't die but she couldn't do what the system wanted. She hadn't died after so many dangers, she had fought for her life even after being shot. Why would she give up now?
She wanted to live, even if no one would protect her from now on. She wanted to live, even in this devastated world. She wanted to live!