Chapter 37

"Here he comes!" the small glasses-wearing boy exclaimed excitedly, "Finally, he's here!"

A tall man slowly approached, standing at about 1.9 meters with a buzz cut.

He yawned and patted his pockets, then asked the minotaur, "How much?"

"One 'Dao' for the ticket."

The tall man took out a small ball from his pocket and flicked it to the minotaur, who caught it steadily.

"Got a good sleep... let's start." The tall man stretched and rotated his neck, speaking in a low voice, "Let me see what you've cooked up this time."

Qi Xia and the others looked at the fierce-looking man, sensing that he was not someone to be trifled with.

Qiao Jiajin didn't pay much attention to the man, as he had seen many like him on the streets.

These people, relying on their strong bodies, often bullied others, and Qiao Jiajin had even made a few of them cry.

But he wondered if the man in front of him was just a paper tiger.

With the group of twenty assembled, everyone began to step forward to pay the "ticket."

Qi Xia thought for a moment and took out four "Dao."

This was not a small amount for them; after paying these four, they would only have one "Dao" left.

"Are we really going to participate in this game?" Qiao Jiajin asked, "What about our strategy?"

"I'm conflicted," Qi Xia replied, "It's risky, but I feel that a game with twenty participants is not something we come across easily. It's worth taking a chance."

After getting the agreement of the other three, Qi Xia put four "Dao" into the box in front of the minotaur.

"Very good." The minotaur nodded and turned to open the door, revealing a staircase leading down to the basement.

"Participants, please enter."

He turned and slowly walked down the stairs.

The participants followed cautiously, heading deeper underground.

"This place looks huge... it's not even in the same league as 'Rat and Man,'" Tian Tian whispered.

"Be careful," Qi Xia replied, "I have a bad feeling."

The middle-aged man had predicted before the game that it would be "deadly," which deeply concerned Qi Xia.

But now, what he feared was not death, but being buried forever in this strange place.

As a con artist, he had experienced many life-threatening adventures, but he had always survived.

Upon reflection, this situation was no different from the others; it was just another game of life and death.

Soon, they reached the end of the stairs.

It was a small room with a musty smell under dim lighting, and twenty chairs were placed in the center.

On either side of the room were two doors, one painted yellow and the other green.

"Please take your seats," the minotaur said, "Don't worry, the game hasn't started yet."

The participants sat down hesitantly, and Qi Xia and his group sat together.

They then noticed that each chair had a small light on the armrests, one yellow and one green.

"Since this is a team game, to ensure fairness, we will now conduct a 'random team assignment.' Please remain in your seats, or you will be 'punished' prematurely."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces turned uneasy.

The small glasses-wearing boy and the middle-aged man reacted the most strongly: "What?! Team assignment?!"

Qi Xia rubbed his chin, thinking. He knew this setup favored the organizer.

If this was a "betting" game, the organizer would want to minimize the participants' chances of winning. The best way to do this was to mix up all the teams.

The minotaur walked to a corner of the room, found a button, and turned to look at everyone meaningfully before saying, "The game officially begins."

He pressed the button, and the lights on everyone's armrests began to flash, alternating between yellow and green, creating a bizarre scene in the dimly lit space.

Qi Xia looked at the lights on his armrest, feeling a bit nervous.

If "Bull" represented a physical game, it was not his strong suit. This time, the game would rely on Qiao Jiajin's brute strength.

But if he thought this way, others would too.

For example, the small glasses-wearing boy and the fat middle-aged man had brought the tall man as a helper.

However, the minotaur seemed to have anticipated everyone's thoughts and would try to prevent such arrangements, hence the "random team assignment."

Qi Xia knew that if he and Qiao Jiajin were assigned to different teams due to bad luck, the outcome of the game would be unpredictable.

Before Qi Xia could come up with a complete strategy, the lights stopped flashing.

Some people's yellow lights turned on, while others' green lights turned on.

It seemed this was the random team assignment.

Qi Xia turned to look at his group, feeling a mix of relief and worry.

He was relieved that he and Qiao Jiajin had the same yellow light, meaning they were on the same team. However, he was worried that the two girls had green lights, placing them on the other team. If this was a physical game, it would be very disadvantageous for them.

Murmurs of dissatisfaction spread through the crowd, and it seemed that the team assignments were unsatisfactory for most people.

"Next, I will explain the game rules," the minotaur said in a low voice, "Both teams will play independently in separate areas. As long as you can survive for ten minutes in your area without being eliminated, you will pass. Each person who passes will receive the same number of 'Dao' as the number of people who pass."

After hearing the rules, many people became restless.

"Hey!" The middle-aged man stood up, "This is just as vague as not saying anything! What game are we participating in? What will we encounter?"

The crowd looked at the minotaur, expecting him to explain further, but he only glanced at the middle-aged man and said, "Please follow me, yellow light team."

"You...!" The middle-aged man gritted his teeth but didn't dare to curse.

He was already angry about not being with his teammates and now didn't understand the rules, making him very unstable. The small glasses-wearing boy kept pulling on his clothes, trying to calm him down.

Qi Xia turned to look at Tian Tian and Lin Ping, saying, "Whatever is behind that door, be careful and prioritize your safety."

"Okay," the two girls nodded nervously.

"Let's go." Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin moved forward.

They looked at their "teammates" and found the situation less than ideal. Out of the ten people, six were women.

Besides Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, the other two men were the small glasses-wearing boy and the middle-aged man. The other team had only Tian Tian and Lin Ping as girls.

"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin looked at his teammates' builds and muttered, "One skinny guy, one fat guy..."

"Let's not talk about it," Qi Xia said, "We can only rely on ourselves."

The ten people lined up in front of the yellow door.

The other ten people also lined up in front of the green door under the minotaur's direction.

With a low sound of chains, the doors in front of them opened, revealing another staircase leading down.

Qiao Jiajin walked down without a word, and the others in the team followed, quickening their pace.

The staircase was not long but quite steep. After about thirty steps, they reached an open area, roughly the size of half a basketball court. In the center was a table-sized circular iron plate.

Qi Xia quickly surveyed the environment. The area was surrounded by high walls, with a large iron door at the front. Above the iron door was a digital countdown clock set to ten minutes.