Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  "Don’t worry. I left out a detail." Lin Sanjiu rubbed the rabbit’s wet forehead, "I mentioned that the point of the game was to ‘lose after gaining a slight advantage’, right? That’s only half true. Because, the situation is definitely advantageous to me, but an absolute loss for them."

  "Within this entire challenge, there exist multiple areas of contention between members of the same team; since I can’t trust them wholly, yet I can’t constantly guard against them… this was something troubling to me. In the end, I decided that I could use these items to at least keep them on my side."

  After she brought up this topic, she crooked her head and thought through it once more. She nodded affirmatively when she felt that there shouldn’t be any problems with her plan.

  B. Rabbit looked at her carefully, then he smacked his lips, "Ha. I didn’t know that you actually had some sense."

  Lin Sanjiu only knew instinctively that she could use those four items to her advantage, but she didn’t think too deeply about it, so she looked back at the rabbit blankly. Just then, she reached the white fog. She placed B.Rabbit down and walked into the depths of the fog. Like her previous experience, she saw a normal wooden c.h.e.s.t sitting silently in front of her.

  Chapter 77 - Please Check Your Individual Prizes

  The air was filled with steam, making it a little difficult to breathe. Everything looked hazy like being in the bathroom during winter. The warm rain had tapered off, leaving only a hair-fine drizzle wafting through the white fog, and this made everyone uncomfortable as their half-dried clothes clung onto their bodies.

  Under such a peculiar "hot bath"-like weather, everything seemed like it would take double the effort to complete. It created an atmosphere where everyone couldn’t help feeling a little lethargic. This was the reason why Li Zhijun was lazing around like a sloth, doing nothing.

  "Are you going to come with me?" Hei Zeji, standing not far from him, shouted. Hei Zeji’s body was surprisingly dry.

  "Come on… Let me rest for a while more…" Li Zhijun showed his listless face, "Besides, being wet is super uncomfortable…" Li Zhijun had always hated rain. Without the same abilities as his companion, Li Zhijun had no choice but to squint his eyes as he suffered the torture of each raindrop. There was no sign of his usual poise; instead, he looked like a wet little dog. He scanned the area in his sorry state. "Why don’t we look for a place to hide from this rain?"

  "There is currently only one activated Pocket Dimension nearby. Do you want to enter?" Hei Zeji asked as he lifted a brow, expressing some tolerance toward Li Zhijun.

  Li Zhijun’s eyes immediately brightened. "What sort of Pocket Dimension is it?"

  "It’s a game-type Pocket Dimension. I’ll wait for you at the entrance."

  Li Zhijun’s face instantly reverted to its previous listless expression. Entering a game-type Pocket Dimension meant walking into a trap directly. He would have to clear every stage with those unlucky people who were currently in it before he could come out… Even having a high combative advantage, did not mean much in such a Pocket Dimension.

  He pulled himself up, sighing in despair. He took out a single small lens from nowhere and peered through it with one eye into the white fog just some distance away. "Huh? It is an open-air game-type Pocket Dimension. The host of this Pocket Dimension must be a cheapskate… Oh, it looks quite interesting. It seems like they’re celebrating the New Year… Huh?"

  He put down the lens in his hand and turned to look at Hei Zeji saying, "Your same species is in there."

  His bad-tempered companion retorted with throbbing veins, "Don’t use a term like ‘same species’!" Pausing for a moment, Hei Zeji eyes drifted afar. "Isn’t that woman too unlucky? She actually got drawn into two Pocket Dimensions in such a short time…"

  Even though both were discussing about Lin Sanjiu who was trapped not far from them, they didn’t show any intention to go over to help. Li Zhijun kept the lens properly and started walking in the opposite direction of the Pocket Dimension. Just then, he commented lazily, "Anyway, it must be difficult for you, Growth types."

  "Huh?" He Zeji answered curtly, sounding surprised.

  "Each of you has such Potential Growth Value, but you are all weaklings during the initial phase. Those abilities are really useless… That woman, what was her ability? Umm, storing items into cards, right?"

  Hei Zeji wanted to refute what he said, but when he thought about it carefully, he realized that Lin Sanjiu’s card ability could only be used as a glorified backpack.

  "I heard a rumor that many Growth types don’t survive past three worlds because they are too weak at the start…" Li Zhijun looked over at Hei Zeji inquisitively, "Is it true?"

  "Yes," the man answered even though he was clearly offended.

  "What was your first ability?" Li Zhijun edged closer to Hei Zeji as his eyes sparkled with interest. "Aren’t there quite a few Growth-types in some of those high-level worlds? How did they survive? And, how did you survive?"

  "If I answer you, will you stop being so annoying?"

  Li Zhijun smiled happily and nodded.

  "Basically, all of the powerful Growth-types survive their initial phase with the help of things." As if recalling something from his past, Hei Zeji threw a glance at the Pocket Dimension which was getting further and further away from them. "For Growth-types, their first ability usually has little combat value, so they have to rely on Special Items or companions to survive. If we look at it from another perspective, they need luck."

  He lowered his head and looked at his left hand. There was a deep cross-shaped scar on his muscular forearm. "But at that time, I had neither of those."

  "Huh? Then, how did you survive?" Li Zhijun was astonished, "I remembered that the world you were originally from was a—"

  "It was an A-level world," Hei Zeji finished Li Zhijun’s sentence as if he knew what his companion wanted to say. He continued, "While trying to survive, I gradually gained some insights about killing."

  Li Zhijun stopped walking. "Ah Ji, what were you before the New World descended."

  "A normal high school student," after saying that, Hei Zeji ignored the startled expression behind him and continued walking straight ahead.

  "Hey, wait up!" Li Zhijun shouted and quickly chased up to him. Very quickly, they both disappeared into the fog...

  Lin Sanjiu did not know this, but she was actually considered quite lucky. At that moment, Lin Sanjiu stared at the wooden c.h.e.s.t in front of her, she was stunned, and her mouth was wide open.

  Even though she knew that Special Items from the New World were quite unusual, the things she saw were too…

  Individual Prize 1: That spring, when the cherry blossoms fell, your sweet laughter melted my world.

  Individual Prize 2: A bag of cat litter.

  Individual Prize 4: Oh My God! My wallet is missing!

  When Lin Sanjiu opened the c.h.e.s.t, she saw a fast-food container covered with beautiful drawings and a bag of cat litter on top of it. When she walked closer and listened, she heard a gentle, delicate laughter beside the bag of cat litter, as if it was some sort of paranormal encounter. As if expressed the "missing" factor, all three items — including that voice — was stuffed to the left of the c.h.e.s.t, leaving an empty space on the right.

  If she didn’t stick her hands into the c.h.e.s.t to touch the items, changing them into cards, Lin Sanjiu would probably think that Mr. Dot missed out an item. From this collection, she could tell that the item the team lost was B.Rabbit’s leather collar.

  "What a pity… that white leather collar was quite cute…" Before Mr. Dot prompted her to leave, she asked, "Mr. Dot, do I have the authority to decide what to do with these individual prizes?"

  "Of course, they already belong to you."

  After getting the reply she expected, Lin Sanjiu stood up and read the four cards as she slowly walked out.

  [That spring, when the cherry blossoms fell, your sweet laughter melted my world]

&
nbsp; A Special Item from the New World

  Description: As a gentle breeze blew, a sweet teenage girl laughed gently as she looked at her first love. Ah! Just a sound is what you’ll consider a priceless treasure… This precious item was retrieved from the memories of a pathetic 35-year-old single man, who never dated after the end of his first relationship at 16.

  Effect: This will remove any killing intent, hatred, tyranny… from the hearts of the listeners. Once they hear that teenage girl’s innocent and beautiful voice, their inner thoughts will be cleansed for one minute, and within that minute, they will not have any ill intentions.

  Remarks: This has totally no effect on females.

  "Was this name given to this item to bring up the word count…" Lin Sanjiu said, and she looked at another card.

  [Cat Litter]

  Description: Animals in the feline family would cover their excretion with soil to hide their scent and whereabouts. Even though the color (bright orange) of this Cat Litter doesn’t look like it can camouflage into any sort of environment, it can mysteriously conceal the user’s tracks.

  Instructions: Sprinkle a thin layer of cat litter over the place where you’ve walked passed or stayed, and with that, even super-elite hunters will not be able to find you.

  Remarks: There are only 5 liters, so when you finish it, it’s gone.

  "Even though this is useful, it is subtly offensive…"

  Description: This container is decorated with a myriad of colors and patterns, mixed with drawings of human eyes and skeleton. The design clearly strives to express a psychedelic vision that one only gets after eating magic mushrooms. There is a yellow warning label at the left corner of the box stating: "Toxic, do not consume." If you open the container, you will see a delicious-looking bento with an onion omelet, fried pork trotters, stir-fried Chinese broccoli and steam rice.

  Instructions: Put it into your mouth and chew with your molars.

  Effect: The person who eats this will die.

  Remark: Only those who have seen the packaging can see the bento inside. It is impossible to feed someone this bento if you throw away or remove the packaging.

  "Then, what the hell is this for?"

  [Oh My God! My wallet is missing!]

  Description: After taking the legendary Bus Route 300, he realized that his pants were stolen. Thus, the pathetic 35-year-old man was unable to meet his date in time. As he wallowed in his grief, this item was created from his intense emotions.

  Instructions: After you ask your target, "Have you ever taken Bus Route 300 before?", this item will be activated.

  Effect: The targeted party will share the experience of losing everything. This will freeze the target’s Special Items for 15 minutes. The target will not be able to use their Special Items for 15 minutes.

  Additional note: If the target has taken Bus Route 300 before but was not pickpocketed, this item has no effect on that target.

  "That pathetic man is really quite pitiful."

  Lin Sanjiu’s mouth twitched, and she was stunned when she suddenly thought of something. This item and[ That spring, when the cherry blossoms fell, your sweet laughter melted my world]was clearly of the same… series. So, there was a high possibility that it came from the same person. When she thought about it, the owner of both items was obviously Zhong Junkai since no one had the reason to offer two items.

  [He has that many items?] Lin Sanjiu pondered to herself as she walked out from the white fog. The moment she stepped out of the white fog, Mr. Dot announced, "Has everyone prepared themselves to participate in the next game?"

  Chapter 78 - Meeting at the Crossroads（1）

  "Since the first game was based entirely on luck, let’s make the second game a little more interesting…" Mr. Dot’s brisk voice traveled through the layers of steam yet retained its clarity as it reached everyone’s ears. "Let me introduce to you the second game...

  "Red vs. White Challenge Second Game: [Meeting at the Crossroads].

  "How to play: The boundary line in the middle will act as a divider, and a 5 by 5 grid will appear on both sides of the divider. There will be a total of 25 tiles on the grid. A screen will rise from the boundary line, blocking the view of the opposing team, so both teams won't know what's happening on the other side of the screen. After the screen is up, each member of both team will have to choose and stand on a tile."

  Following Mr. Dot’s first sentence, the two routes from the first game disappeared. On the red side, the route was replaced by a large grid with faint golden lines. A similar grid appeared on the white side, but the view of the white semicircle was quickly blocked by the rising black screen.

  The vertical side of the large grid was labeled ABCDE, while the horizontal side was labeled 12345.

  "Do you see the tiles now? Could contestant Lin and contestant Ai help me with this demonstration? Please stand on any random tile."

  Lin Sanjiu threw a suspicious glance toward where Mr. Dot was, she chose cautiously and stood inside her chosen tile.

  "Taking contestant Lin as an example… she is currently standing on column D, row 4, so the tile she's on is called D4. This is easy to understand, right?"

  Everyone in the arena nodded as they couldn't help exploring the grid with their eyes.

  "The contestant from the white team has also chosen his tile. Now, I'll lower the screen…"

  The black screen was lowered, revealing to the Red Team, a young man from the White Team who was wearing a flowery shirt. Everyone from the Red Team immediately looked at the tiles on the ground as if on instinct.

  "Contestant Ai is currently standing on column B, row 2, that is tile B2. Congratulations! During the last round of positioning, both of you didn't collide!" Mr. Dot clapped his hands enthusiastically while everyone else reacted with a bland silence. He continued, "If there are no collisions between the two teams, we will proceed to the second round of positioning. Please look downward…"

  The black screen rose again blocking the view of the opposing team. "Ding Dong." Lin Sanjiu looked at her feet and found that she was standing on a line of words. She lifted one of her mountain boots hurriedly so she could read the words: "There is a +1 point reward on one of the tiles top left from you!"

  "For each round of positioning, you can only move to a neighboring tile in any direction from your original position. Please move to your new positions!"

  [Top left…] Lin Sanjiu looked around, then she moved to C3.

  "Alright, both contestants have taken their positions. Black screen down!"

  This time, both teams suddenly started discussing quietly just because they noticed that Lin Sanjiu and that contestant Ai were both standing on tile C3.

  "During this round of positioning, both contestants are standing on the same tile… If that is the case, both contestants must duel to determine the victor. The loser has to leave the game while the victor can remain in the game and join the next round of positioning."

  "For example, let’s say that contestant Lin lost this duel, could contestant Lin leave the game."

  Lin Sanjiu walked away from the grid quietly.

  "Only when contestant Ai is left standing on C3 will the tile reveal its points. Contestant Ai, if you look at the hint on the tile now, you'll see that it says: ‘There is a -1 point penalty in one of the tiles directly in front of you.’ That’s right, this will be how you‘ll gain and lose points in this game. Everyone, please take note of the hints!"

  "Through this process, the team who loses more than half their members first will lose the game. The winner of this game will get the prizes offered by the losing team and a reward of +1 point!"

  Rules:

  2. A contestant can choose not to move from their tile, but the contestant cannot choose to do so consecutively more than once. [1]

  3. Each time the screen descends, it will stay for 15 seconds.

  4. Hints given to both teams are the same.

  All members of each team are recommended to participate in th
is game.

  "The rules regarding the prizes are a little different for this game, so please listen carefully. Firstly, a Special Item or ability will be chosen randomly from one of the six members, this will be offered as a common prize. In addition to that, the loser of a duel will have to give up one Active Skill to the winner as an individual prize."

  Despite Mr. Dot’s cheerful, light-hearted tone, the expressions from both team immediately turned dour. In that case, whether it was from the team or individual perspective, there was no way anyone will concede defeat — in other words, every duel will be a fierce battle…

  There were only 5 minutes left for the contestants to decide, and during this time, Lin Sanjiu took the initiative and offered [An inedible lunch] as Red Team’s prize. She carried B.Rabbit with her and placed him down only when she walked into the white fog. When she came out, she placed the rabbit back on her shoulders and walked toward the other members.

  "Miss Lin, thank you." Zhong Junkai smiled apologetically at her. "If one of our ability was offered as a prize by chance, it would be troublesome."

  "You’re welcome." Lin Sanjiu smiled. When Old Wang and Chen Fan saw her coming back, they continued whispering to each other. Lara approached her and looked at B.Rabbit with curiosity, "Miss Lin, it seems like you're very fond of this rabbit… What's its name? Does he know how to say his own name?"

  The rabbit immediately narrowed his large innocent eyes into an evil stare. Before he blurted any words, Lin Sanjiu quickly held and covered the rabbit's face. "It doesn't have a name. It doesn't. It knows too little words. Haha!"

  Just when the B.Rabbit bit the middle of her palm, Mr. Dot’s announcement that the game had begun reverberated through every inch of the arena.

  "Raise the screen! [Meeting at the Crossroads] has officially begun, please choose your positions!"

  "How should we position ourselves?" Chen Fan asked with some frustration as he examined the large grid and wiped the water droplets on his face. He wasn't good at such games but had an affinity with activities, such as fighting, which did not require thinking.