Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 371: The Blind Master

Nightfall arrived. After a whole day of preliminary rounds and successfully eliminating a large number of contestants, the competition finally narrowed it down to the final 24 teams for the finals.

Naturally, Qin Ming's team, the Todou team, was among them.

As the saying goes, some are happy, and some are worried. With the end of the competition, the eliminated fighters couldn't help but sigh in disappointment, with many adventurers mixed in among them.

On the street, three adventurers walking in a group were shaking their heads and sighing. As mid-level adventurers, their strength was not weak, and they could easily cosplay as a boss in other worlds.

However, thrown into this world of skilled fighters like the King of Fighters, their strength barely made the cut.

As they walked down the street, one adventurer suddenly kicked hard, instantly deforming the nearby railing.

"Damn it! Why did we have to run into the Extreme Flow team? If it wasn't for them, with our strength, we could've made it to the finals for sure!"

Hearing this complaint, a female adventurer beside him shook her head and smiled bitterly.

"Enough. After Robert went three-for-one, what more can we say? We were outclassed. Can't blame anyone else."

"Hmph! We specialize in combined attacks! It's normal we couldn't win a one-on-one! Let him try fighting the three of us together!"

"Forget it. Robert's already that strong. I don't want to test out what Sakazaki Ryo's abilities are like. And combined attacks? If it's three against three, we'll be dead even faster!"

As the two defeated adventurers continued talking, the third member, who had been silent, suddenly raised his hand.

"Careful! There's something going on!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the other two, who had been conversing, immediately drew their weapons and cautiously scanned their surroundings.

Eventually, under the lead of the man at the front, they all turned to face the front.

The team leader, who had closed his eyes to concentrate, quickly used his special talent to sense the hidden presence of an unfamiliar visitor ahead. He lightly tapped his cane on the ground.

"Brother ahead, since you've come, why hide in the shadows? Come out and meet us."

[Talent Skill: Echolocation]

[Effect: Creates an ultrasonic field around, accurately capturing the shape and movement of any object]

[Description: What? Why do you have a clear perception of the surroundings but still use a cane? Come here, let me tell you what the cane is for!]

The Blind Master, leader of the adventurer trio, was born blind.

But because of this, he had developed terrifying auditory and perception abilities, which were further enhanced after entering the Nightmare Space.

Due to years of habit, even though he could now see, the Blind Master still relied on hearing to identify his surroundings. He could even detect hidden figures from dozens of meters away.

Seeing that the figure hadn't even approached yet, but his presence had already been revealed, footsteps sounded from a corner ahead, and a figure emerged without hesitation.

And that figure was none other than Qin Ming!

Standing at the end of the street, Qin Ming, dressed in a bulletproof suit, remained expressionless. His imposing figure, over two meters tall, appeared even more intimidating under the moonlight.

Upon seeing this unexpected guest, the two adventurers standing beside the Blind Master simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air.

Clearly, they had recognized Qin Ming's identity and were extremely wary of him.

Only the Blind Master kept his eyes closed, leaning on his cane, and continued listening.

After a brief moment of silence, he raised his hand and waved.

"Fei Ci, Zhan Che, go to the sixth floor, room 3, of the left building. There's a sniper, a female. Take care of her."

Upon hearing the leader's command, Fei Ci and Zhan Che exchanged glances, nodded in agreement, and without hesitation, turned and rushed toward the nearby building.

Their target was none other than the current hideout of Kasamoto Emi!

Standing across from them, Qin Ming watched as the two disappeared at the stairwell without moving an inch.

This made the Blind Master, who had sensed the scene, furrow his brows.

"I thought you'd stop them."

"No need. Like you, I also trust my teammates' abilities."

"Oh, so that means we're going to go head-to-head now?"

Smiling slightly, the Blind Master slowly tilted his head, closed his eyes, gripped his cane tightly, and placed the tip of his cane on the ground.

Seeing this, Qin Ming's eyebrows twitched, and he suddenly whispered.

"Are you not going to ask me why I came here?"

The Blind Master grinned and shook his head gently.

"No need. No point."

"What do you mean?"

"The Three Sacred Treasures have also issued a hunting mission. Just like you, as long as you hunt down enemies, weaken the other side's strength, you can earn contribution points, and the top-tier items that can be exchanged for them are also highly sought after."

The Blind Master's words made Qin Ming's pupils constrict sharply.

"Looks like I'm not the first one to come looking for you."

"Correct. You're the third group. Due to my eyes, I prefer to lie in wait rather than actively hunt."

Blind Master gripped his cane tightly with both hands, tilting slightly with his ears turned toward Qin Ming. Though his eyes remained shut, his tone turned serious.

"You're a lone wolf, right? People say you're strong. But I find that strange—none of them have fought you. So how would they know you're strong?"

Watching Blind Master slowly approach, inching closer with every step as he spoke, Qin Ming raised both arms into a defensive stance, his expression growing grave.

"Because they've seen me fight before."

"That makes it even stranger. True experts never give others the chance to recognize how strong they are. Aren't fights supposed to be over in an instant? You, who need time to bring down your opponents... just what part of you is strong, exactly? Care to enlighten me?"

As they spoke, the distance between them narrowed to less than ten meters.

Qin Ming kept a wary eye on the approaching Blind Master, his brows furrowed tightly.

He had seen Blind Master's matches before, and frankly, they hadn't been impressive—especially the last one against Robert, where Robert had taken all three of them down alone.

That was the very reason Qin Ming felt confident enough to hunt them solo.

Yet now, facing Blind Master directly, a strange sense of unease crept up in Qin Ming's gut.

His A-rank proficiency in martial arts kept warning him—this man was dangerous. Extremely dangerous. But he couldn't pinpoint where that danger lay.

Then, as Blind Master stepped into a three-meter radius, Qin Ming's gaze snapped to the cane in his hands.

He's blind... but his insight is terrifying... That cane... it's a sword cane?!

Pupils tightening, Qin Ming reacted instantly. He stepped forward and launched the first strike, trying to close the distance and prevent Blind Eye from drawing the weapon.

But just as he moved, Blind Master, who was nearly within arm's reach, made his move too.

He pulled on the cane's handle—only instead of a blade, what emerged was... a gun?!

Bang!

With a thunderous roar, the firearm discharged. Qin Ming's eyes went wide as he stared down the barrel, stunned.

He tried to dodge, but it was far too late. His hand had only just lifted to shield his body when—boom!—The shot struck him dead-on in a flash of fire!

Blind Master was indeed proficient in iaido—but not the Japanese kind. It was American Iaido.

[Equipment Name: Duckbane (Duck Hunt World)]

[Category: Weapon (Ordinary Gold-tier Story Item)]

[Effect 1: One Shot, One Kill – The first shot fired each day deals damage equal to the user's Strength ×5 and ignores all defenses.]

[Description: Your job today is simple, Hunter—just shoot the ducks that fly out of the bushes after being startled by your hound... Hey! Don't shoot the dog, damn it!]

Duckbane—the top-tier exchangeable item in Duck Hunt World!

To get it, one had to land a perfect 1000 consecutive hits on ducks—without missing even once.

For most people, this was an impossible feat. Who knew where the ducks would burst out from in that enormous forest? And sometimes, what jumped out wasn't even a duck—it was that cursed dog that laughed at you every time you missed.

But for Blind Master, it wasn't hard at all. His marksmanship was already elite, and combined with his extraordinary perception skills?

Forget reacting to ducks midair—he could sense them while they were still hiding in the bushes.

Thanks to that, he acquired this top-tier weapon. With it in hand, he'd carved his way forward, unstoppable, and earned his title as a mid-rank adventurer.

He hadn't been lying. Two other teams had come for them before—only to be swiftly annihilated.

Usually, the moment they showed up, one of them would get killed immediately. The weapon's terrifying damage multiplier and defense-ignoring effect, coupled with point-blank range, made it impossible for anyone to survive his surprise attack.

And this time was no different.

Bang!

With another loud crack, Qin Ming was blasted backward by the sheer force of the shot.

Blind Master grinned as he lowered the weapon—an odd, toy-like light gun that didn't even look like a real firearm.

"Why is it that when you people see a blind guy with a cane, the first thing you think of is a sword cane? Why do you always charge me head-on? Is that what you call expert intuition?"

He sheathed the light gun back into the cane with a click, then leaned forward on it, shaking his head slowly.

"Looks like this so-called expert of yours is nothing special after all. Hmph, an expert who takes forever to finish a fight? What a joke."

With that, Blind Master turned to leave.

But just as he pivoted around, his foot froze mid-step. A second later, his expression changed dramatically as he whipped his head back around.

Across from him, the man he thought had been fatally shot—Qin Ming—was slowly staggering back to his feet.

Blood streaming down his arms, Qin Ming steadied himself and lowered his head to look at his forearm.

There, right over his heart, his armguard had intercepted the shot at the last possible moment.

The gold-tier armguard had been pierced straight through. The deformed bullet had embedded itself deep into the metal, even gouging into the flesh beneath, causing blood to pour out.

Qin Ming's eye twitched uncontrollably.

Including the armor's damage reduction, that guard had nearly 100 points of defense—yet it had still been shot clean through.

What the hell kind of damage was that?!

He gripped the bullet lodged in the metal and yanked it out with force.

Looking at the bloodstained slug in his palm, Qin Ming clenched his fist and then looked up.

Facing Blind Master, who now wore a look of utter shock, his eyes even opened from the disbelief, Qin Ming casually flicked the bullet away.

"So, your so-called 'expert' skill is this American-style iaido? Alright then, expert... Now that your surprise attack's failed—do you have anything else?"

"Because if not... It's my turn."

(End of Chapter)