Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo checked his number: 326.

The person across from him was not a player. The woman seemed especially terrified, her voice trembling as she tried to negotiate with him. ”I can’t complete the black ball task, so I won’t choose the black ball either. Could you also not choose the black ball?”

The Raincoat Man nodded.

The woman managed a strained smile. ”Which ball do you want to choose...”

The Raincoat Man pointed at the white ball.

The woman was stunned for a moment, seemingly surprised that he was so agreeable, so she gathered her courage and suggested, ”How about we complete the task togeth-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the Raincoat Man chose the white ball first.

He directly handed the decision-making power to the woman.

The woman walked to the projection balls with trembling hands and feet, her gaze darting back and forth between the white ball and the yellow ball. After a prolonged internal struggle, she finally chose the white ball.

The random result was the Raincoat Man. The woman kept bowing and thanking him, but for every step she advanced, he retreated a step. Forget conversation, he was not even willing to let her get close.You Si found it amusing. ”Is this guy a social phobic or something? This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a shy man.”

The Raincoat Man turned his face to ”look” over. There was so much hair in front of his face that his eyes were completely invisible. Calling it ”looking” was being generous, but he did pause in the direction of the two men before quickly shifting away.

The task he drew was to go to the aquarium and catch an immature piranha.

”That task shouldn’t be too hard,” You Si said.

This was what many people thought as well, but the next second, the Raincoat Man appeared in a sealed body of water. From the projection, it was clear that the water was capped above and surrounded by transparent glass all around. If a person went down there, they could only soak in the water, with not even a place to come up for air.

Staying in water for a short time was no challenge for a player. The Raincoat Man swam a couple of strokes in the water, and a protective suit similar to a spacesuit appeared on his body. After draining the water inside it, he finally parted the hair over one of his eyes.

But very quickly, he was completely surrounded by a school of piranhas.

Tasks that produced no results for the time being would not be shown on the projection for long, so the Host shifted attention back to the Plaza.

Three hundred and eighty-one people, minus the six who died at the opening, left three hundred and seventy-five, paired into groups of two, making nearly one hundred and ninety pairs. Less than half had finished now. The remaining people, along with those who had already completed the first round, had lost interest in watching the ball selection and casually found spots in the Plaza to rest.

Once the number of participants exceeded the hundred-person mark, most of the remaining people even lost interest in the task projections. Quite a few gathered together to find other forms of entertainment.

On Xu Huo’s side, he had joined up with You Si, Shajia, and the Severed-Finger Player, Gan Yi, who had returned after completing acknowledgment later on.

The latter two had sought them out on their own initiative. You Si was exercising off to the side because his alcohol craving had flared up, so only Xu Huo occasionally conversed with them.

”You’ve been watching the holographic projection the whole time. Is there something special about it?” Gan Yi rolled his neck.

”Nothing much. I’m afraid I might run into the same danger on a future task, so I’m giving myself a heads-up in advance.” Xu Huo had not missed a single match, though he had only watched the beginnings of most.

Gan Yi smiled. ”Since we’re just idling anyway, how about we play a game?”

”You don’t think things are exciting enough already?” You Si jogged back over, his tone unfriendly. ”If you’ve got nothing better to do, why don’t you come spar with me?”

”It’s just a game. No need to be so tense.” Gan Yi hastily raised a hand in refusal, then added, ”I see everyone’s nerves are wound tight. Why not relax a little?”

”What game?” Shajia was interested.

”Fortune Cards.” Gan Yi produced a set of golden cards the size of playing cards and said, ”They say a person’s fate is determined by heaven, but their fortune can be influenced by personal actions. For instance, a very small choice can affect a person’s luck for a period of time, or even for life.”

”How do you play this?” Shajia pressed.

”Very simple.” Gan Yi held the cards upright in front of himself, covering the lower half of his face so that only his eyes were visible as he faced Xu Huo. ”You look at the cards, recall recent events, then think about what might happen next. Draw a card, and the corresponding content will appear on it. Only you can see that content. You can judge your own fortune based on what you see. If you can’t figure it out, you can ask me.”

”Isn’t this the same as drawing lots and interpreting the slips?” You Si strode over and snatched a card first.

A flicker of gloom passed across Gan Yi’s face, but it quickly returned to normal. He calmly reminded, ”You need to be sincere in heart to see your fortune.”

You Si did his utmost to calm his mind and look at the card. After a while, he slammed it on the ground. ”What the hell is this!”

”Friend, that’s a bit much.” Shajia helped pick up the card. ”It’s just a game.”

You Si turned over with a dark face and walked away on his hands.

”Let me try.” Xu Huo said.

Gan Yi turned slightly, facing the card toward him.

Xu Huo casually drew one, then heard him say, ”Take a look. This is your recent fortune.”

Xu Huo glanced down at the card and handed it back. ”There’s only a single door. What does that mean?”

Gan Yi instinctively looked over, then the next second raised his head, wiping the smile from his face. ”How would I know.”

Xu Huo spread his hands and said with a smile, ”You’re not a very professional fortune reader at all.”

Beside him, Shajia reached out a hand. ”Let me have one.”

Without waiting for Gan Yi to respond, he directly took a card. A moment later, he handed it back, saying with a smile, ”Your fortune cards are quite interesting. What I saw was actually a wooden fish.”

”What does a wooden fish mean?”

”Personal fortune. You have to figure it out yourself.” Gan Yi casually said this and was about to put the cards away, but at that moment, Xu Huo and Shajia pressed down on his shoulders from left and right. Xu Huo smiled. ”Aren’t you going to look at your own fortune?”

Gan Yi’s gaze darkened.

”Give it a try. This is an item. If you try it, we’ll all feel at ease.” Xu Huo said.

Gan Yi said coldly, ”You should have said that at the beginning.”

”I forgot earlier. Making it up now is still in time.” Xu Huo shot Shajia a look. ”Don’t you agree?”

Shajia nodded.

Seeing that the two would not let it go, Gan Yi had no choice but to draw a card and look.

And Xu Huo and Shajia questioned him from front and back:

”Did you see a door?”

”Did you see a red wooden fish?”

The black card face twisted like smoke, and Gan Yi immediately saw a door within the card. After the door opened, a red wooden fish appeared.

He slammed the card face-down and looked at the other two.

The three sat on the ground forming a triangular standoff. Two seconds later, the space around them was dragged into darkness, but in just an instant it was bright again. Under the somewhat glaring light, the three appeared on a spiraling downward staircase, and at the front of the staircase, a door was drawing closer and closer!

Then darkness once again attacked from all sides, squeezing the space of light and gradually swallowing that door. It looked as though it was about to regain the upper hand, but at that moment, a loud ”dong” suddenly rang out... Gan Yi leaped up from the ground and swiftly put distance between himself and Xu Huo and Shajia.