Chapter 8
Chapter 8
“Yes, yes, I’m about to explain the rules. But first, everyone still needs to draw lots to determine the order!” Tina pointed at the large screen.
“Fine. I’ll go first!” The heavily built man walked up to the display and tapped the right side.
A red box began leaping randomly among the numbers 1 through 21, moving too fast for the eye to follow. The man tapped the screen again, and the box stopped on 10.
The number 10 immediately turned from white to red, showing that it had been taken.
One by one, the others approached the screen, drew a number, and silently committed it to memory.
By the time it was Chen Nuo’s turn, only eight numbers remained. He took a deep breath and tapped the right side of the screen twice.
His number appeared in an instant: 18.
Eighteen… Among twenty-one people, that put him relatively late in the order. Was that good or bad?
The remaining people came forward in turn. At last, only one person had yet to choose.
Song Xue.
Of course, she did not need to make a selection. The final number left on the screen, 4, was hers.
Just as Tina was about to announce the game rules, Song Xue, who had not said a word until now, glared at her. Her eyes blazed with hatred as she stared at the girl who looked so adorable yet possessed such appalling cruelty. She forced one word through clenched teeth.
“Bitch!”
“Hmm?” Tina looked startled. When she saw the murderous rage on Song Xue’s face, she drew in her shoulders and pretended to be frightened. “Miss Song Xue, are you insulting me?”
Song Xue advanced one step at a time, her reddened eyes fixed on Tina. “Insulting you? Right now, I want to rip that cute face of yours apart! My husband just died with his head blown off. His body is still lying by the entrance, and no one is doing a thing. But you’re standing here pouting and acting cute, smiling while you talk. Do you have even a shred of humanity?
“My husband was a bastard. I know that. He was fooling around with beautiful women behind my back just minutes ago. But he was still my husband, the man I lived with for ten years! I won’t let you treat him like a dead rat!”
“Stop!” Tina extended her left hand, signaling Song Xue to halt. “Take one more step, and you’ll end up exactly like him.”
“I don’t care.” Song Xue smiled bleakly. “Now that I’ve fallen into the hands of an inhuman organization like yours, I probably won’t survive anyway. I don’t give a damn about your stupid game! All I want is to tear that mouth off your face!”
Chen Nuo stepped forward to prevent her from coming any closer. Tang Ying and the three college students rushed in to restrain her too.
“I understand how you feel,” Chen Nuo said, “but throwing away your life won’t accomplish anything. At least listen to the rules of the game first.”
As Tang Ying and the three students pleaded with her, they pulled Song Xue backward. Still weeping, she finally stopped trying to get herself killed.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Tina included. She pressed a hand to her chest and muttered, “That scared me to death. If she’d exploded that close to me, her blood would’ve splashed all over my face…”
Once she had composed herself, Tina said, “Everyone has chosen a number. From now on, the screen will continuously display the names and order of Contestants 1 through 21.”
The group looked up. Sure enough, the display now showed each person’s portrait and number. Contestants 1 through 21 were arranged in three rows of seven, filling the entire screen.
Contestant 1 was a man named Lv Chao. His portrait appeared above his name and number. Chen Nuo instinctively glanced at him. Lv Chao was the young man from the unmarried couple. His once-handsome face had turned bloodless, and his girlfriend looked just as tense. They clutched each other’s hands.
They still did not know what the game would involve, but Contestant 1 was likely to be the first person forced to compete. Without a doubt, Lv Chao was more nervous than anyone else.
Tina cleared her throat. “Now for the rules. Beginning tomorrow, one contest will take place each day. The day’s Featured Player will decide what kind of contest it is. In other words, Contestant 1 chooses the event for the first contest. Contestant 2 chooses the event for the second, and so on. Once an event has been used, no one may choose the same one again later!
“If the Featured Player wins a contest, one of the remaining contestants will be randomly chosen for elimination. If the Featured Player loses, then the Featured Player faces elimination. It’s that simple.”
When Tina finished, she looked at the group.
They stared back at her.
“That’s it?” the heavily built man asked.
“That’s right.”
“What does ‘elimination’ mean?”
Tina pointed at the corpse by the entrance.
The muscles in the burly man’s fleshy face twitched.
Lv Chao, Contestant 1, asked, “You said the Featured Player decides each day’s contest. That means I’m the Featured Player in tomorrow’s contest, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And I decide what we’re competing in?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I can choose something I’m good at?”
“Of course! Unless you don’t want to win, everyone should choose something they excel at when it’s time to compete against the others.”
Lv Chao stood there with his mouth open for a moment. “Can it really be anything?”
“In theory, yes. Once you’ve chosen an event, tell me. The organization will have one day to prepare a custom home round just for you! Tomorrow, you’ll take center stage in your own home round and challenge everyone else in something you do well. As long as you perform better than everyone else, you’ll win!”
“But I’m only an ordinary person. I don’t have any incredible skills… And how am I supposed to know whether someone else is good at the same thing?” Lv Chao asked anxiously.
Many people nodded. They clearly shared the same concern.
“You’ll have to gamble on it. Choose the most distinctive skill you can think of and judge how likely you are to win,” Tina said. “You have plenty of time to think and decide on an event. Consider it carefully. Your life depends on it!”
“Do I have to tell you today?” Lv Chao asked.
“Mm-hmm. Any time before six this evening is fine!”
“If I win my own contest, can I leave safely and go home?”
“No. Winning your own contest only means you escape elimination for the moment. You’ll still have to take part in everyone else’s contests afterward. You can leave safely only after completing the Final Objective, and when you do, you’ll leave with the prize money!”
“What’s the Final Objective?” Lv Chao asked urgently.
Tina’s expression brightened with excitement. What she was about to reveal was clearly the part that interested her most.
“Someone in the K Organization designed this game. The Mastermind likes to participate personally in the games they create, because they crave thrills and challenges. That person is among you right now! In other words, the Mastermind is posing as an ordinary tourist and was one of the original twenty-two contestants!”