Chapter 13: Lottery Game (1)

“Is that so…?” Bai Hui murmured, lifting a hand to touch her earring. “I thought it was a pretty ordinary design. Do you like it, Lu?”

Chi Wei smiled. “Oh, it’s beautiful. I kind of like it.”

What? Did she think I wanted her to give it to me just because I said I liked it?

Bai Hui nodded. “It was a gift from a classmate. How about this? I’ll ask her where she bought it when I get back and tell you next class.”

Clearly, Chi Wei had read too much into it. Bai Hui’s answer could not have been more ordinary.

She hadn’t caught a single clue.

The whole thing looked more and more like a coincidence.

Chi Wei watched Bai Hui’s slender figure walk alone toward the administration building, then slipped one hand into her jacket pocket and headed back.

Could there really be such a coincidence?

A woman, a similar build, a similar age, and an identical pair of earrings—and she’d run into them all.

Unless the Silver-Masked Woman from the Lucky Game had used the game’s face-customization feature to change her appearance and entered under someone else’s face, Chi Wei had every reason to suspect the Silver-Masked Woman and Teacher Bai Hui were one and the same.

Next time they met, Chi Wei would have to get to the bottom of a few things.

She fished half a stick of gum out of her pocket, tore off a piece, and popped it into her mouth. Then she checked her phone and saw Lu Xingyao’s reply.

Lu Xingyao: Not sure about that stuff. You know I hardly ever go to school…

Lu Xingyao: Oh, right. I did hear some classmates talking once. Teacher Bai Hui seems pretty accomplished. I think she went to Cambridge or Harvard.

Lu Xingyao: ???

Lu Xingyao: Wait, why are you suddenly so interested in her? What’s going on? Did you fall for her at first sight?

Lu Xingyao: [Bonks you on the head.jpg]

Fell for her at first sight?

Chi Wei couldn’t help thinking the expression fit. But do you know that the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it tends to be?

Chi Wei: No. I just like math.

Chi Wei: She’s a good teacher. I’ll cover your next class, too.

Lu Xingyao: Thank you, Little Chi Baobao! /[Wow]

On Lu Xingyao’s long road to turning her life around and becoming a domineering CEO, only Chi Wei believed in her and had her back.

Five million was nothing to Chi Wei’s family. But given Chi Wei’s situation, asking them for that much money must have been difficult.

The thought that Chi Wei had tried to mend fences with her family over a financial crisis Lu Xingyao had only mentioned in passing moved her beyond words—and left her feeling more than a little guilty.

Besides, she couldn’t think of any other way Chi Wei could have come up with that much money.

Believing Chi Wei had suffered for her, Lu Xingyao made a solemn vow to her phone.

“I won’t waste a cent of what you gave me. I won’t let you down, Little Chi. Just wait for good news! Someday, I’ll take you with me all the way to the top!”

After listening to the voice message, Chi Wei replied:

Chi Wei: Mm-hmm, okay!

Chi Wei: [Pat pat.jpg]

Now that she’d helped Lu Xingyao out of her financial bind, she wouldn’t have to enter that Lucky Game again.

At first, Chi Wei had heard about the Lucky Game on an extremely obscure forum. Every player had a chance to win a huge cash prize, and the more advanced games could even grant a person’s deepest wish.

Of course, she suspected those claims were exaggerated.

Still, she decided to give it a try and registered for an account.

She entered her name and birth details, then stared at the screen.

Enter game handle: ____

Resur—.

Resurrection Plant.

When a 3D model with a face exactly like Chi Wei’s appeared on the computer screen, she felt a sudden jolt.

As expected, this was no ordinary game. It had some serious tricks up its sleeve.

But she’d already decided to play for the prize money. Chi Wei wasn’t about to quit halfway through.

She still remembered the moment she’d first crossed paths with the game as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

After all, it had only been six hours ago.

That evening, Chi Wei turned on her computer and tried to return to the original forum to find out more about the Lucky Game. But the website had vanished without a trace.

Well, she’d expected as much.

Having decided to retire from the game for good, Chi Wei returned to her usual life. She had a perfectly respectable job, after all—

“I got some new stock today, sis. Want to see? This one’s fun.”

Chi Wei sat on a little stool, minding her night-market stall. She was a professional bubble-machine vendor, and the kids and college students were usually her best customers.

She rested her chin on her knees and grinned at the woman beside her, who sold ice jelly.

The new bubble machine was shaped like Crayon Shin-chan. He had a sly squint and pursed lips, his pants halfway down and his butt stuck out. Press the switch on his head, and a string of bubbles puffed out of his butt crack.

“Oh my, how indecent…” The conservative ice-jelly vendor hurriedly turned away, though she couldn’t stop herself from stifling a laugh.

Kids these days played with some pretty outrageous toys.

Chi Wei stayed at her stall, picking up her favorite bubble machines to play with whenever things got quiet. Every time a child walked by and got dragged away by an adult, they looked unbearably jealous.

Chi Wei had been out of the Lucky Game for three days. She’d almost forgotten about it.

Just as she’d started to believe that she would never have anything to do with that mysterious supernatural game again, blue text suddenly appeared in the air before her—

[The game is about to begin.]

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 10]

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 9]

Chi Wei shot upright on her stool. At the same moment, an eerie purple light shone from her right wrist.

A purple ring of light had appeared around her wrist like a brand.

She reached out to touch it, but her fingers passed right through the air. There was nothing to feel.

She looked up.

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 6]

The notification was exactly the same as the one she’d seen on her computer the first time she entered the Lucky Game.

That meant that when the countdown reached zero, she would be pulled into the Lucky Game!

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 5]

But she hadn’t signed up this time.

She hadn’t even touched the game website in days.

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 4]

“Little Chi, did a mosquito bite your hand? I’ve got some mosquito repellent.”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks, sis.” Chi Wei raised a hand to decline the ice-jelly vendor’s offer.

Now she knew that only she could see the purple ring around her wrist.

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 3]

She couldn’t even touch it, so there was no chance of getting rid of it. All she could do was watch as a darker purple line slowly circled her wrist, about to close into a ring. It looked just like a loading icon.

No. That was exactly what it was!

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 2]

All right. Chi Wei closed her eyes, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop what was coming.

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 1]

She sat up straight and tucked her face between her drawn-up knees, hoping to pass out quietly. At least then she wouldn’t fall off the stool in some undignified position and attract attention.

[Entry Countdown Remaining: 0]

…

When Chi Wei opened her eyes again, she was sitting on a ship’s deck.

The sea breeze and saltwater scent filled her nose. A boundless expanse of ocean stretched beneath the clear blue sky, filling her vision.

There was even a sun overhead. Its warm light eased some of the tension in her chest.

An outdoor setting this time? This is already a huge improvement over the last game…

As she thought, her gaze swept over the other players.

Three round tables stood on the spacious cruise-ship deck. Each had a white tablecloth patterned with red, four cream-colored wrought-iron chairs, and a large parasol shading the four players seated beneath it.

There were twelve players in all.

Her gaze lingered on the Silver-Masked Woman for a second before she looked away.

We meet again.

But in a game like this, letting everyone know who already knew whom was a bad idea.

Chi Wei carefully hid her feelings and looked at the other three people at her table.

“Hi.” She held out a hand, smiling with one elbow propped on the table and her palm raised for a handshake.

“Hello.” To her surprise, someone responded.

The woman sitting across from her wore a neat gray suit and a red-and-white striped tie. Plain black-framed glasses sat on her nose, and her long, straight black hair fell behind her shoulders. She looked like the very picture of a polite intellectual.

The woman in the suit extended her hand and shook Chi Wei’s, then gave a small nod.

At that moment, notifications appeared in the air, mingling with the sea breeze.

[Welcome to the Lucky Game.]

[The following is an introduction to this game.]

[Game Name: A Feast on the Cruise Ship]

[Number of Players: 12]

[Rules: This game is divided into three teams, with four players per team. Since you were not given the option to form your own teams, the four players seated at the same starting table now make up a team.]

[Players may not change teams during the game.]

[Each starting table has a team number and captain’s name hanging beneath it.]

[The page will turn automatically in 30 seconds.]

While they waited for the next screen, players at each table hurriedly pulled up the team-number tags hanging beneath the tabletop by red strings.

The number at Chi Wei’s table was One.

Team Captain: Ink in Water.

The tag displayed the player Ink in Water’s profile picture.

So the woman in the suit who’d just shaken hands with her was the captain.

[The captain is the player on each team with the highest average number of game points.]

Game points were probably tied to the prize money earned in each game. Chi Wei had won five million last time and received 500 game points.

It seemed the system chose captains by evaluating each player’s overall ability. That made sense. Anyone who could win more money in the Lucky Game was clearly no ordinary player.

[Game Rules: The cruise ship contains a Lottery Room. It opens for one hour at 8:00, 13:00, and 18:00 each day, for Team One, Team Two, and Team Three respectively. A team entering the Lottery Room may choose to act on the Lottery Pool.]

[The Lottery Pool starts with a prize of 500,000. Each team has two options: Cooperate or Betray. Choosing Cooperate adds one million to the pool. When the number of Cooperate choices reaches 12, the prize for that round reaches its maximum. All three teams will split it equally, and the Lottery Pool will reset. Choosing Betray allows that team to immediately take the entire accumulated prize for the current round. The game round will end, and the Lottery Pool will reset.]

[The Lottery Pool can be reset a total of three times.]