Chapter 38

"Something's strange..." Qixia whispered, "I thought a 'physical elimination game' would have a more complex venue, so that participants could be continuously eliminated."

"That's right," Jiaojin nodded, also looking at the square venue and the iron plate in the center, his face showing confusion, "How are we supposed to be eliminated here?"

As he spoke, the large iron gate in front of them vibrated and slowly rose.

"Huh?" The chubby middle-aged man, seeing the gate open, looked puzzled, "What's this? Do we need to go forward?"

Just as the gate fully opened, the countdown on the wall started moving.

It seemed the game had truly begun.

"What the heck?"

Everyone looked at each other, completely clueless about what was happening.

But the next second, a low,闷沉的吼声从门内传出。

那声音……并不是人类。

"Damn..." Jiaojin's hair stood on end, "Is this a joke...?"

A huge, pitch-black animal emerged from the door, standing on two legs, its mouth slightly open, drooling continuously, and its eyes looked as if it hadn't eaten for three days.

After it fully stepped out of the iron gate, the gate closed immediately.

"Is this... a bear?!" Jiaojin couldn't help but take a step back. If the opponent were a human, he would have been confident in a fight, but the opponent was a bear taller than a person.

Qixia took a closer look, her face turning serious. The bear was a "black bear," with a distinct white crescent pattern on its neck, but this black bear was unusually large.

Generally, black bears are rarely taller than humans, usually ranging from 1.6 to 1.8 meters in height, but this one looked at least two meters tall, which was terrifying.

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

A woman suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream.

This scream not only startled everyone but also frightened the black bear.

The black bear, after a brief pause, let out an even deeper growl, looking as if it had been provoked.

"What the hell is this game!" The middle-aged man wailed, then turned and ran, but he stopped after three steps.

He realized the stairs they had come down were gone.

Behind them was just a high wall, leaving no way out.

The middle-aged man, as if in a daze, sat down on the ground: "It's over... We're dead... We're definitely dead..."

"What the heck... What do we do?" Jiaojin turned to Qixia, "This isn't something we can win with just physical strength."

"It's not easy to handle..." Qixia's expression grew heavy.

Why did the opponent have to be a bear?

A bear's close-range killing power is even greater than that of tigers and lions, and this limited venue is an excellent hunting ground for it.

Looking at the huge black bear approaching, the two young girls closest to it were already too scared to move.

"Quick, play dead!" The middle-aged man on the ground shouted, "Playing dead gives you a chance to survive when you encounter a bear!"

This shout brought the two girls at the front back to their senses, and they immediately lay on the ground, closing their eyes and trembling all over.

"No!" Qixia also shouted, "Get up! Run!"

But the two girls didn't listen to Qixia and remained lying on the ground, motionless.

Seeing someone play dead, the others also lay down in various positions. Now, only Qixia, Jiaojin, and a slightly overweight girl were still standing.

"Are you kidding? Isn't playing dead the right thing to do when you encounter a bear?" Jiaojin asked seriously, "If you encounter a brown bear, playing dead gives you a chance to survive, but not with a black bear!" Qixia shook her head seriously, "Brown bears don't eat humans; they attack to protect their territory. When they think the dead human no longer poses a threat, they stop attacking. But black bears are different; they will eat humans when extremely hungry!"

As she spoke, the huge black bear approached one of the girls playing dead and sniffed her face.

"Foolish..." Qixia thought, humans have a slim chance of survival even if they run full speed when encountering a black bear, let alone lying on the ground waiting to die.

Sure enough, the black bear sniffed for a few seconds, then suddenly opened its mouth and bit the girl's neck.

The girl let out a惨叫, but the sound was cut off, stuck in her throat.

She frantically beat the black bear with her hands, but it felt like hitting a hard sandbag.

The black bear did not let go but instead extended its front paw and firmly patted the girl's chest.

Her chest visibly caved in, and it looked like all her bones were broken.

The girl spat out a large mouthful of blood and immediately stopped moving.

Seeing this, Qixia's heart seemed to skip a beat.

She had only seen news of animal attacks on her phone, never in person. This scene was pure carnage.

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

Another woman started screaming again.

Only then did they finally realize that playing dead was useless, and they scattered in all directions.

Humans, though rulers of the Earth, were completely helpless against these native inhabitants.

Without tools or weapons, how could they fight this bear?

Wait... tools and weapons?

Qixia suddenly thought of the iron plate in the center of the venue, as big as a table.

Who said there were no tools or weapons here? The organizer had placed something here.

"Jiaojin, we need to get that iron plate!" Qixia said, "I don't know what it is, but it looks like it can protect us."

"Damn... You really know how to pick your moments..." Jiaojin looked at the iron plate almost under the black bear's feet and said hesitantly, "That item is temporarily out of stock. Would you like to choose something else, sir?"

"Stop joking!" Qixia said, "If we don't use that iron plate to block the bear, we're as good as dead."

"Alright..." Jiaojin seemed to have made a decision, "I'll distract the bear, and you go get the iron plate."

"Distract...?" Qixia was hesitant but knew it was the only option, "A black bear can run at 48 kilometers per hour. You can't outrun it. Try to keep it engaged."

"I understand." Jiaojin nodded.

They agreed on a plan and split up.

Jiaojin slowly approached the black bear and suddenly shouted, "Hey! Idiot!"

The black bear paused, lifted its head, and looked at him with cautious and deadly eyes.

It took a slow step forward, as if testing. Jiaojin also took a step forward, not backing down.

This action made the bear hesitate; it couldn't gauge Jiaojin's strength.

"Stupid bear, do you want to fight me?" Jiaojin forced a smile, waving his hand at himself, "Come and hit me."

Although the black bear didn't understand human language, it was clearly provoked by Jiaojin's attitude.

It slowly straightened its upper body, standing on two legs to make itself look bigger.

"Roar—"

The black bear roared, as if to build its momentum, and the stench from its mouth spread.

The loud roar echoed in the small venue, making everyone's hair stand on end.

Jiaojin slowly broke into a cold sweat, feeling like he had provoked something formidable.