V2C6

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Currently, nine people had arrived at the plaza. The earliest one had been Song Hanzhang, followed by Shentu Ming, then Gu Fengyi and Liu Qingqing.

Lin Jue and Lu Ren hadn’t arrived that quickly, but they hadn’t been late either. After them were the newcomers Lin Wei, Qin Hanwen, and Chen Lu.

At least two people hadn’t arrived yet- that was, if Judas had already appeared.

The three newcomers had followed Song Hanzhang’s instructions and received their rewards from the crystal ball. The last round had taught Lin Jue, and he studied the unguarded group attentively.

The delinquent Lin Wei rushed forwards to receive his prize first. It was a machete and he was trying it out near the platform, waving it in front of Qin Hanwen like it was some kind of legendary weapon. Qin Hanwen shrank backwards, not daring to stand up against him. Lin Jue watched coldly from the side and after assessing the danger, concluded that there was nothing to worry about.

Those kinds of delinquents might often end up in fights, but they wouldn’t dare take a life. In a battle of life and death, Lin Jue was much fiercer than him.

Chen Lu had probably received a skill as she was looking curiously at a tattoo on her wrist. Song Hanzhang showed her the tattoo around his, most likely instructing her on how to use it- Lin Jue had somewhat familiarized himself with how Song Hanzhang worked: he was definitely trying to figure out what Chen Lu’s skill was. Chen Lu pressed her wrist and a crisp crack came from the nearby firminia tree, one of its branches falling straight down.

An unseen attack, probably something like a wind strike. Lin Jue couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. The reward he received in the last round was a single-use antibody, and this round it was a physical weapon- he had never once received one of those interesting-looking magical skills.

Though… He touched the polearm in his hand. A material object was much more assuring.

Liu Qingqing ran over to Chen Lu, finally leaving Gu Fengyi’s side to show her the tattoo on her wrist. The two girls whispered to each other for a while before going to Gu Fengyi together.

Qin Hanwen received his reward last. He dragged his obese body slowly onto the platform and after the burst of light, moaned and covered his eyes. He almost tripped down the stairs as he came down, seemingly due to his aching eyes. Shentu Ming asked him if he needed any healing, stating that he possessed a healing skill. Qin Hanwen rubbed his eyes and said that it was fine in a gruff voice, and that he now had trouble seeing things closer to him than further away.

The remaining two new players arrived when there were thirty minutes of safety time left.

A male and a female, the male holding a shovel in one hand and the hand of the female in his other, sprinted into the plaza, not even stopping at the man-made water systems until they arrived beneath the clock tower.

“Xia Huan-jiejie1, are you alright?” The male looked like he was only sixteen or seventeen with fair skin and big eyes, like a pretty boy walking straight out of a manga.

Standing right beside her, the already normal looking girl looked even less appealing. She held her injured arm and shook her head, her face one of pain.

Shentu Ming walked up and said, “Let me help you.”

The girl looked at him, hesitating, unsure whether or not to trust a stranger.

Shentu Ming smiled. “I don’t mean any harm at all. It might sound a little strange, but I just got a healing skill, so it might help fix your arm immediately.”

The boy encouraged her from the side. “Try it out.”

Hearing that, Xia Huan reached her arm out.

The wound on her arm wasn’t deep but it was still bleeding, looking as if flesh had been torn away by something. Shentu Ming pressed down on the tattoo on his left wrist and approached the wound. From the tattoo, a silver-white light came forth and small particles appeared midair, flowing onto Xia Huan’s wound as if drawn by some sort of magnetic attraction. The wound healed readily before forming a light-brown scar.

Xia Huan widened her eyes, unable to believe the scene in front of her.

Shentu Ming released his hand, his face pale. “There, it should be fine now.”

“How do you feel?” Song Hanzhang asked him.

“Fine, just a little tired, I’ll be fine after a short break,” he replied.

“How long will you need?”

“Ten minutes? Half an hour? I’m not sure, but the skill cool-down is one hour.” Shentu Ming looked at the greyed out tattoo.

“Thank you,” Xia Huan told him gratefully, touching the scar on her arm.

“No problem, it’s my duty. You should go receive your reward in the plaza before anything else,” Shentu Ming reminded kindly.

Xia Huan nodded and turned to look at the pretty boy who waved his hands. “Xia Huan-jiejie, ladies first.”

Xia Huan went to receive her reward.

“Are you from our school?” Song Hanzhang looked at the boy’s overly child-like face and asked.

“Of course! I’m already in my third year of university!” The boy touched his face in exasperation, indignant. “I don’t look like it, do I? It’s not my fault that I have a baby face and can’t grow taller!”

Xia Huan had already returned, a first-aid kit strapped on her waist. “And you still call me big sister?”

“You called me little first!” he muttered.

“Alright then, little Dan Liang, go get your rewards.” Dan Lian passed his shovel to her before running towards the plaza.

“Did you two know each other from before?” Shentu Ming asked, watching Dan Liang’s silhouette.

Xia Huan shook her head. “We met on our way here, I was trapped in a supermarket and Dan Liang saved me. Thank you so much for just then. If I knew that I would have gotten this reward, I wouldn’t have troubled you. Was it tiring, healing me?”

Shentu Ming smiled politely. “It’s fine, plus, there’s no limit to how many times I can use this skill so why shouldn’t I have? Is that a first-aid kit?”

“Mhm, it should be useful later.” Xia Huan smiled uncertainly, her eyes on Dan Liang.

He had received his reward, something resembling a can of insecticide. He didn’t seem to mind too much and returned grinning after throwing it into his bag.

“What’s the use of insecticide? Will it drive away the insects if I spray it?” he complained.

“It will depend on what insecticide it is,” Shentu Ming replied. “Maybe it’ll be better since it’s from the game.”

Dan Liang bitterly took out the can of insecticide from his bag. “Raid2, want to try it?”

Shentu Ming looked at the blue can and chuckled. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s better than nothing! We’re surrounded by insects, maybe it’ll be useful.”

Song Hanzhang silently looked away from the three.

There were eleven people on the plaza- coincidentally, the same as the survivor number. But for Lin Jue, who had survived from the last round, he had a suspicion that there was still a new player who had yet to arrive, and that one of the people standing with them already was the Judas.

A shame, they didn’t have much time left.

There were only twenty-five minutes left of safety. Song Hanzhang gathered everyone next to the plaza and briefly went through the last round, and the survival conditions for this round.

“Another thing is the easter egg in everyone’s hands. Even though you might not have it on you now, you should remember that there was a sentence on that egg. That sentence is an extremely important hint that’ll help us survive.” Song Hanzhang paused, making sure that everyone’s attention was on him. “We found out that we need to survive until dawn with the hint on Lin Jue’s easter egg in the last round, proving that they are correct.”

Song Hanzhang looked around at all the newcomers. “I’m sure that none of you would want to miss out on such key information.”

“I agree.” Shentu Ming was the first to respond. “My easter egg said: ‘Do you dislike insecticide and mosquito coils? Trust me, the insects dislike them as well’, so Dan Liang, your insecticide is still useful.”

Dan Liang blinked, a little surprised.

Now that Shentu Ming had opened the conversation, Xia Huan also started. “The late arriving ants gnaw on bone, walking everywhere’. I wasn’t sure what it meant before, but now, it’s probably that… there will be ants.”

Dan Liang cocked his head. “‘On a round table with thirteen people, one will always be lying’, probably alluding to the story of Jesus and Judas?”

Gu Fengyi glanced at him and said, “‘More and more, bigger and bigger’.”

Liu Qingqing, who had been holding onto Gu Fengyi’s hand for the entire time, said after an encouraging look from Gu Fengyi, “‘The queen bee in her palace says brain is as delicious as honey.’”

Chen Lu recalled back to her egg. “‘They each hold an area, and would rather die than meet.’” Saying that, she notioned at Qin Hanwen to say his as well.

Qin Hanwen thought about it. “The insects buzzed: we are living in a rainforest’. I don’t see how that connects?”

Only Lin Wei was left. Under everyone’s stare, he spat and said, “Fine I’ll say it. ‘Spiders spin their webs, waiting for their dinner’. What is this, animal world?”

Everyone fell into silence. In the end, it was Song Hanzhang who broke it. “Do you all see the Judas’ Rule written on the board there? The newcomers here may not be familiar with the tale of Judas, so to put it simply, it’s similar to an evil NPC who acts by using the shell of a dead player. There are no flaws in their memory, nor their appearance, so it is difficult to determine who the Judas is. In accordance to Dan Liang’s easter egg, it’s most likely that it still exists in this round, and very possibly, is already with us.”

Whether it was Lin Jue or the new players, everyone made an expression of discomfort.

The feeling of ‘the murderer in their house’ made everyone’s hair stand on end.

“If you kill Judas within the round, will it show the Judas’ Rule over there?” Gu Fengyi looked at the electric-board overhead and asked.

“Probably not and you’ll need to give the game some time to load,” Dan Liang cut in and rubbed his head. “Sorry, I’ve played too many video games, it’s just a wild guess.”

A light laugh came from overhead. Lu Ren sat on the second floor of the clock tower and watched them with amusement.

“That won’t happen, I’m sure of it. But if the one you kill is Judas, a Rule will appear on the ground immediately.” Lu Ren played with the dao in his hand and spoke in an eerie voice, “You can kill everyone you’re suspicious of, and if you’re lucky, the first you kill will be the right one.”

The atmosphere underneath the clock tower tensed immediately.

“You have all the information you’ll need. The difficulty will increase as dawn approaches, so try your best to survive. I sincerely hope that there will be another time when we can cooperate,” Song Hanzhang said and gestured to Lin Jue. The two of them prepared to leave the half-formed team.

“Wait, Song Hanzhang, are you going by yourself? It’s too dangerous.” Shentu Ming grabbed onto Song Hanzhang’s arm.

“To me, more people is equivalent to more danger. Shentu Ming, pick your teammates carefully. Don’t try to save everyone. The priority in this game is to survive as yourself first,” Song Hanzhang warned.

“I agree,” Gu Fengyi raised her hand. “From the start, I didn’t expect the survivors to lend a hand to the new players. After all, the chances of Judas appearing in the new players is much greater than in the experienced survivors. If I were a survivor, I would also choose to work together with the other survivors.”

Her cold gaze swept across everyone’s faces, including Lu Ren’s, still atop of the clock tower.

“My reward is snake sense. Its power is obvious in its name, a very useful skill.” Gu Fengyi smiled, her eyes long and sleek under the light. “Not to boast, but I am good at martial arts as well. Liu Qingqing will be in my team and her power is fire, the natural bane of insects. I need to create a basic team here, so I’ll need at least one or two more teammates, and at least one with the ability to heal. Is there anyone willing to join me?”

Even though she was looking for teammates, Gu Fengyi’s eyes were only pointed towards Xia Huan and Chen Lu.

The two girls began hesitating.

“In such a dangerous environment, unprotected by the law, do you really want to go with some strange men?”

Shentu Ming frowned. “Gu Fengyi, you…”

Gu Fengyi immediately stopped him. “I’m not trying to say anything, but when you’re already spending all your energy saving yourself, I don’t believe that you’d save two girls that might drag down the team. And I’d make them become people who would at the very least not be dead weights.”

This girl was confident and adapted to the situation fast; her personality was dominant, something used to leading. In those short minutes, Lin Jue had already realized that she was by no means trying to hide herself.

Gu Fengyi was actually a very good partner, but Song Hanzhang had no intention to work with her as it would mean also taking care of her three teammates. The risk was too high.

In the end, the two girls joined Gu Fengyi’s side. Dan Liang had to say goodbye to Xia Huan and Shentu Ming, unable to stop them from choosing their own path, and could only turn back to convince the remaining few.

When only fifteen minutes remained of the safety time, clear teams had been formed on the plaza.

Song Hanzhang would be working together with Lin Jue, Lu Ren was definitely going by himself, the four girls Gu Fengyi, Liu Qingqing, Chen Lu, and Xia Huan were a team, and Shentu Ming had successfully convinced Qin Hanwen, Dan Liang and Lin Wei to team up with him.

Remaining Survivors: 11; Remaining Safety Time: 15 mins.

Luci: That entire description of Xia Huan and Dan Liang coming in made me feel like I’m writing some kind of report on animals. Dislike. Very tempted to write bishounen but alas.

Vera: For context, ‘pretty boy’ is the most literal translation, ‘bishounen’ is actually more accurate, but for the sake of our dignity…

1A suffix meaning ‘big sister’ or ‘older sister’. Can be blood related, or not, as a term of endearment, with connotations of respect.

2A brand of insect repellant.

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