Players, Please Board the Train

”Friendship has no hierarchy, and it shouldn’t be treated differently. In the past, to witness friendship, we often let the guests participating in the program form their own teams.” The host spoke with a smile, ”They say people either click with each other or they don’t. Often, those who feel incompatible at first glance find it hard to become friends in the end. So previously, we respected the guests’ choices to the greatest extent.”

”But self-selected friendship inevitably carries other emotions mixed in. How can that be called true friendship?”

”Two people who meet by accident, spend time together by accident, then experience hardship and happiness by accident until they confirm the other is a true partner. This entire series of changes should be random, involuntary, and accompanied by the breathtaking thrill of ups and downs!”

”So today, every guest present will have a friend truly arranged by fate. Two strangers, carrying different experiences and different emotions, what kind of friendship sparks will fly when they collide? I believe all the audience friends are looking forward to it just as much as I am!”

Cheers from outside poured in instantly. The host clapped with high spirits, extremely satisfied with the lively scene he had stirred up.

But for the people inside Friendship Garden, this was not so wonderful. Especially for those participants who had come in pairs, aside from anger and helplessness, what they felt most was fear. Some who couldn’t accept it even ran toward the edge of the plaza, shouting that they wanted to quit the program.

The cheers and applause stopped, followed by scattered laughter. The host looked down at them, his smile unchanged, ”Friendship Garden will only reopen when friendship is born.”

Those who wanted to run clearly had some understanding of this game. Someone loudly spoke of ”inside information,” saying that the survival rate of the program ”You’re Well, I’m Well” was actually very low. But this time, before it started, the registration requirements had suddenly been relaxed, clearly to lure people in and kill them.

But these voices were neither painful nor itchy to the host and audience, because ordinary people didn’t have the ability to destroy Friendship Garden, and players with that ability had to complete the dungeon.

”I know many friends are familiar with the rules of ’You’re Well, I’m Well,’ but for the sake of the new friends about to arrive, I still need to repeat the details of the program.”The host began introducing how the game was played.

”Every guest will be randomly matched with a partner to play together. These two will form a temporary team to complete the upcoming Three-Color Showdown. If a teammate dies, that’s all right. After all, on the road of friendship, you never know who might leave first. The surviving guest will automatically be matched with other guests whose teammates have died in the subsequent showdowns.”

”Friendship can accompany each other, and it can also compete with each other. Therefore, in the Three-Color Showdown, every guest has one opportunity to choose from three colored balls: black, white, and yellow. The black ball means choosing a dangerous task for your teammate, the white ball means choosing a lower-risk task for your teammate, and the yellow ball means choosing the same task as the other party.”

”Please note that the danger levels represented by these three colored balls are 75%, 25%, and 50% respectively. When both teammates choose balls of different colors, the one with the higher danger level will complete the friendship adventure task that round. When the chosen ball colors are the same, one of them will be randomly selected to complete a task within the corresponding danger range, and they will swap in the next round.”

”And if both parties choose the yellow ball, the two will additionally receive an intention survey on whether they are willing to complete the adventure task together. If the survey result is yes, then they can complete a white ball task together. If either party vetoes, the task will revert to a yellow ball task and one person will be randomly selected to complete it.”

”Additionally, regardless of whether teammates are changed, each guest’s chosen task danger level in the Three-Color Showdown will not be lower than their first selection.”

”The selection time for the showdown is three minutes. The time to complete the adventure task is not fixed.”

The host paused here, ”Hearing this, I’m sure everyone is curious. What if you get a bye, or your teammate is slow to return and you can’t be matched with a new teammate?”

He shook his head with a look of regret, ”If you encounter this situation, then we can only offer this guest our apologies. This round, you will lose the opportunity to build friendship with a friend, and can only lonely watch over the friendships of others.”

”But there’s no need to worry too much if you encounter this situation. We can obtain friendship from many people.”

”Admittedly, sincere friendship cannot be measured by data. But to show fairness, we will use the characteristics of sincere friendship voted on by all citizens of Sea World to evaluate the program guests. When someone obtains sincere friendship, their name will appear in the sky above Friendship Garden, witnessed by everyone present!”

Applause erupted from outside again. The host was also slightly excited, ”The moment that makes one’s heart surge is about to arrive. Now, please have all guests write their names on the projection screen. If you are unwilling to reveal it, the program ’You’re Well, I’m Well’ will substitute a number.”

As soon as the game rules finished being announced, a projection screen immediately appeared before every person. It was a curved screen surface, with a row of scrolling numbers at the top, presumably the not-yet-determined numbers.

Xu Huo wrote ”Yu Cong” on it. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Xiao Xianglin writing ”Xiao Yong.”

Xiao Xianglin noticed his gaze but didn’t feel embarrassed. He lowered his voice, ”Brother, using your real name is more reliable. Who uses a fake name to make friends?”

Xu Huo smiled and nodded, but didn’t scribble and revise like the others.

He looked around and spotted You Si and the female player Zhuang Mengtian, the Severed-Finger Player Gan Yi and the meditating player Shajia, as well as that bronze-skinned player Pu Donghai.

They were all ”acquaintances” from the same bus. After their eyes met, their reactions differed.

Zhuang Mengtian gave him a cold glance. Gan Yi smiled and nodded. You Si and Shajia were much friendlier in attitude.

”...Think of something!” Someone was arguing not far away. It was the man who had mocked the female couple on the bus. He raged at his companion, ”Before coming, I never heard there were any rule changes!”

His companion was a middle-aged man who looked very simple and honest. He wore a dark expression, ”Things have come to this. We can only pray that whoever we’re randomly paired with is easy to talk to.”

”How is that possible!” The man instinctively lowered his voice, then shut up under the glare of the honest face.

”Isn’t the way to obtain friendship to discuss together and choose task difficulty so you can pass safely?” Xiao Xianglin found it very strange, ”What benefit is there in killing your teammate?”

Most players were completely confused, but there were more insiders than just those two. Very quickly, a player interrogated out the reason. It turned out the program had a limited number of people who could pass. In the end, those who obtained friendship would be given a score ranking, and only those who entered the ranking could become legal residents of Sea World.

”There are three hundred and eighty-one people here. Most are ordinary people. How many pairs does Sea World want to select?”