Chapter 56: Life Roulette
“Didn’t you see the group notification? Mu Shen is having a concert at the Sports Center tonight!”
“What?!”
“Mu Shen just made it into the top ten of the Spirit Song Competition yesterday. It’s the break period now, and since it’s the music festival today, she collaborated with the school to hold a concert.”
Mushroom stuffed the cosplay outfit into Xia Feng’s hands, excitedly urging him, “Hurry and put on this cosplay outfit. Mu Shen said she’s also a fan of Venerable Spade, so she made the tickets into these mask shapes. Today is the Peach Organization’s special event.”
Xia Feng, with a dazed expression, took the clothes and was full of questions.
What was this World-Ending Witch up to now?
Didn’t she say she was going to strive hard to improve her strength? Why was she still participating in the Spirit Song Competition?
He always felt like this guy was planning something big, but Xia Feng couldn’t figure out what it was after thinking for a long time.
The Theology class soon ended, and the crowd dispersed like startled birds.
“Let’s go, let’s go~” Mushroom excitedly pulled Xia Feng out of the classroom along with the crowd. But as they reached the exit of the venue, Xia Feng’s expression stiffened, and he suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Mushroom turned back in confusion.
Xia Feng’s face wasn’t great. “You go ahead. I feel… my stomach isn’t feeling well.”
“Ah?”
“Don’t ‘ah’. You go ahead quickly, I need to use the restroom first.” Xia Feng urged her into the main hall and waved goodbye, turning to quickly find a teaching building.
He wasn’t feeling unwell, of course. The problem was with the Forest Scepter!
A piece of information entered his mind from the Forest Scepter.
[Second Round Evolution Stage about to begin]
[Teleportation Countdown: 3 minutes]
[….]
A flood of information entered his mind. Xia Feng was stunned for a moment and Understood. The Forest Scepter had a teleportation marker for an alternate dimension. Once the time arrived, this marker would activate, teleporting him into that alternate dimension where a mysterious game would take place.
Xia Feng pondered for a moment, and a thought crossed his mind. The deep green Forest Scepter appeared out of thin air and landed in his palm.
“Cut off copy,” he thought. The connection between him and the Forest Scepter immediately vanished. However, since there was no substitute spirit artifact, it automatically reconnected the next second.
But Xia Feng didn’t feel disappointed; his eyes lit up instead. According to the rules, the teleportation judgment was instantaneous. Therefore, if he could sever the connection with the Forest Scepter the moment he summoned it, the teleportation would judge the owner of the Forest Scepter as dead and stop the summoning.
However, judging from the information that had flooded his mind, this game wasn’t very dangerous, at least not at the current stage. In fact, it seemed like there were benefits to be reaped. After some thought, he decided to go in and check the situation.
The Forest Scepter entered its countdown.
[2, 1]
Just as he entered the restroom, the surroundings instantly blurred and turned into countless colorful pixel blocks that surged towards him. The dazzling light made him Subconsciously close his eyes. When the dizziness in his head subsided, Xia Feng opened his eyes in confusion.
“What kind of weird thing is this…”
The scene before him was pitch black.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a faint light lit up in front of him. Only then did he realize there was a strange operation console before him. He took a step forward. In the center of the console was a panel emitting a faint glow. Next to it lay a thick stack of cards, and in the upper right corner was a dark gold card slot.
The panel was very simple, with a dark red symbol in the center constantly rotating clockwise. Xia Feng tentatively touched it, and the panel flickered.
[Serial Number: 10]
[Identity: Ace Black Card]
[Game Stage: Second Round Evolution Stage]
[Remaining Cards: 16] [Remaining Life Points: 9]
It looked like some kind of card game? Could this be some strange Calamity Realm? Xia Feng’s mind was full of doubts.
Just then. He heard a sound and looked up. Faint lights lit up one after another in front and to both sides. Thirty-six lights, with his position, formed a very large circle. Xia Feng squinted. In the dim light, he could vaguely see thirty-six circular platforms, each two meters in diameter, with blurry figures standing on them.
He looked down in confusion. As expected, the spot beneath his feet was also a platform, though calling it a platform wasn’t accurate. It was actually a cylindrical shape that seemed to have no bottom. Peering down the side, it was as dark as an abyss, making him feel very insecure standing on the edge.
With no time to think further, he quickly tapped the panel to check for detailed rules.
Just then. In the center of the thirty-seven platforms, a spotlight shone down on a mysterious person standing there, dressed in an elegant tailcoat and wearing a pure black top hat and mask. The center of the pure black mask also had a dark red symbol. A clear male voice emanated from the mask, pitched high, “Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We are now proceeding to the second round of the evolution stage. This round’s skill cards include… Reality skill cards include…”
!
As the man spoke, Xia Feng quickly browsed the specific rules. This was a battle royale game called [Life Roulette]. There were 37 players on the field, and their identities had a restraining relationship with each other. After killing a player who was restrained by your identity, you could gain Life Points. Life Points were the standard for determining victory and defeat, and also served as currency within the game—you could buy skill cards during the evolution stage (auction stage), and skill cards would help players gain more Life Points in subsequent stages. Whoever had the highest Life Points at the end of the game would receive the grand prize.
Xia Feng found it uninteresting, deeming the risk high and the reward uncertain. He shook his head and glanced at his Life Points: 9. Players started with 20 Life Points, so obviously, Yan Xujia had done something to lose eleven points.
“Game Skill Card—Bloodlust: Players who obtain this skill…” As the referee finished speaking, the platforms in the distance began to shout bids. This skill was clearly very popular. The final price reached 9 Life Points. Xia Feng glanced at his account balance of 9 points again, his eye corners twitching slightly. Damn, were these people all so rich?
“…”
“Reality Skill Card—Spiritual Material·Jupiter Flower, 11 points for one—two—”
“Done!” The masked man in the center knocked the gavel. “Deal. Congratulations to Player 11 for obtaining the Jupiter Flower for 11 points.”
Jupiter Flower seemed to be a material for Wood Attribute Spirit Masters to advance to the second stage, Xia Feng thought in surprise. He didn’t expect to be able to directly purchase rare real-world materials here! It was important to note that the reason why Wood Attribute Spirit Masters found it difficult to advance was because two of the materials—Jupiter Flower and Spirit of Wood Cal—were extremely rare and hard to obtain. Miss Mu was a Wood Attribute Spirit Master; he wondered if she had obtained these materials.
As Xia Feng mused, several more Spiritual Materials of different attributes appeared, and even C-class Spirit Robes! However, Xia Feng wasn’t very interested. But according to the game’s rules, the later the rounds, the more powerful the skill cards that would appear. Reality skill cards would include B-grade Spirit Robes and even A-class Spirit Robes, which was outrageous.
“The evolution stage has ended. We will now enter the trading stage. Please note that you only have thirty minutes for free trading time~” As the referee’s teasing tone fell, Xia Feng noticed a new icon unlocked in the lower right corner of the panel—Trading Room. According to the rules, players could send a trade request to a target player by their number. If the target agreed, they could be teleported to the trading room for secret negotiations.
Xia Feng rubbed his chin, falling into contemplation. The trading information in this game was very important. Because the 37 players in the game had identity-restraining relationships, only the players themselves knew their identities. The identities were divided into three suits: red, yellow, and blue. Red cards could prey on yellow cards, yellow on blue, and blue on red, forming a cycle. Each color had twelve identity cards, further sorted by the twelve zodiac animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Dog, Pig. The former could only gain Life Points by preying on the latter adjacent zodiac sign. The twelve zodiac signs were connected in a chain, also forming a restraining cycle. For example, a [Red Rat] could gain victory and Life Points by hunting and killing a [Red Ox]. If the [Red Ox] preyed on the [Red Rat] instead, it would fail, lose Life Points, and instead give the [Red Rat] Life Points.
These were the 36 identity cards, but there were 37 players. This was because there was one very special identity card—the [Ace Black Card]. The Ace Black Card could hunt anyone and could also be hunted by anyone; there was no restraining relationship! Therefore, obtaining this identity card would be very dangerous. Once its identity was exposed, it would become a target for everyone.
Xia Feng glanced at his identity card and muttered, “MMP.”
[Ace Black Card]
This was such a messed up, hellish start. Yan Xujia’s luck was truly something else. Fortunately, Xia Feng could choose not to enter this damn game next time. But before that, he needed to understand this game thoroughly, preparing for both possibilities. He vaguely felt that with the effect of his Golden Finger, this game seemed to have a major bug?
