[Welcome to the Saint’s Game: Team Edition.]
[Game Difficulty: Low < Medium < High]
[Current Difficulty: Medium]
Fat Auntie’s game had been Low.
So I really am one of the unlucky ones.
Chi Wei and the silver-masked woman found themselves in the study of an old mansion. Most of the furnishings were wooden, and pear-blossom yellow dominated the room. The decor was elegant and antique, every object neatly arranged. It was a pleasure to look at.
But this was no time to browse a furniture showroom.
There was an inner door in the study wall. Chi Wei and the silver-masked woman were standing inside when they heard a creak.
No one had touched the door, but it swung open by itself.
Chi Wei looked toward it warily. Beyond it was neither a bright new room nor a dark corridor, but a wall of pure blue light.
Several lines of white text appeared on the light.
It was clearly there to display the rules:
[Game Name: ]
The game name had been censored.
[Game Content 1: The Saint accidentally dropped his 20 Gold Beads in this study. When the Traveler found out, they volunteered to retrieve all of them for the Saint. Now, please help the Traveler complete the task!]
Xiaoming spilling ink, Li Hua writing letters to foreign pen pals… Changing their names doesn’t fool me.
[Game Content 2: Unlocked after completing Game Content 1.]
Just as Chi Wei was wondering why this game was being so coy, the next two rules appeared.
[Game Content 3: The study has activated its defenses against intruders and is continuously releasing poisonous gas. The more the players inhale, the greater the threat to their health and lives.]
[Failure Condition 1: A player remains unconscious in the study for more than 30 consecutive minutes, or loses vital functions and can no longer continue the game.]
[Game Start!]
Chi Wei’s ears pricked up. She heard the sound of gas escaping from somewhere.
She hurriedly looked around. There was no visible stream of gas in the corners or along the ceiling.
Perhaps the game wasn’t going to let them see where the gas was coming from.
But the sound rang in their ears as clearly as a tire being punctured right beside them.
The pressure was impossible to escape. Every player in the study could hear it.
Just three seconds after reading the rules, Chi Wei caught an abnormal smell in the air.
The game was pressuring the players through both hearing and smell!
The hidden organizers were telling them that the poisonous gas mentioned in the rules was already surrounding them.
Chi Wei now understood why the rules had been only half explained at first.
“Let’s get searching. This is a puzzle game. You don’t want to die in here, do you?” She turned to remind the silver-masked woman.
If they died in the poisonous gas before finding all twenty Gold Beads, there’d be no point in learning the rest of the game.
The game would be over. There’d be nothing more to learn.
For now, their first priority was staying alive long enough to find all the Gold Beads.
“Let’s split up. I’ll take the left, you take the right,” the silver-masked woman said tersely.
Fine. No beating around the bush. She was decisive.
Chi Wei hurried to the far-right corner. “Pleasure working with you.”
She searched from the outside in, from far to near, careful not to overlook anything.
The windows on both sides were nailed shut, letting in no outside light.
Candles cast a dim, yellow glow over the study. Everything looked bleak.
It felt like a dull night in a village, the bowed head of a scholar nodding off as cicadas sang outside.
Thinking of the quiet scene made Chi Wei drowsy.
Oh, no!
She shook her head hard, clearing away the fatigue that had slipped in while she wasn’t paying attention.
She clutched the first Gold Bead she’d found beneath a lampstand.
The gas was stronger than she’d expected!
The game had barely begun, and she had almost fallen for it.
She heard something being rummaged through. Still crouched on one knee, Chi Wei used the lampstand to pull herself upright. The instant the pungent smell hit her nose, the world spun around her.
She looked at the silver-masked woman’s back. “I’m dizzy. What about you?”
The other woman’s reply came in an unhurried, mocking tone. “You’re so weak.”
The conversation gave Chi Wei the energy to rummage through the nearby pearwood bookshelf.
“This gas isn’t simple. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Have you found any? I’ve got one already. I think I’m faster than you.”
“The amount of oxygen a person needs per second depends on their physical condition. Are you out of shape? I was the distance-running champion at my school in middle school… This is bad. My strength’s turned into a weakness. I’m inhaling more gas than you.”
On the other side of the room, the silver-masked woman turned a vase upside down, as if she hadn’t heard a word.
“Talking only increases your oxygen consumption.”
“No kidding!” Chi Wei gritted her teeth.
But if she didn’t keep her mouth moving, she was afraid she’d fall asleep without realizing it.
The silver-masked woman suggested, “Let’s make it a contest. Four each to start. Let’s see who finds them first.”
Chi Wei gave a low laugh. “Sure. I’ll be watching. Let’s see what you’ve got. Ha… Sorry, looks like I’ve made it to the semifinals.”
She held up her second Gold Bead.
The silver-masked woman pulled a root from a potted plant and retrieved a Gold Bead buried deep in the soil.
“I have two, too.”
They found their four Gold Beads at almost the same pace. Chi Wei had a slight lead and reached the inner door first.
It wasn’t convenient to hold on to too many beads, so she dropped them into the dragon’s mouth beside the door.
The holes between the dragon’s teeth were the perfect size for the Gold Beads. Chi Wei’s four and the silver-masked woman’s four dropped inside together, and the number in the dragon’s eyes changed to “08.”
The dragon’s built-in lever mechanism also shifted from its starting point on the left to a spot near the middle.
“Look for three more,” the silver-masked woman instructed.
“I know.”
But as the number of Gold Beads left in the study dwindled, they grew harder to find.
The candles they’d been using burned almost to the end. The light in the room dimmed, so Chi Wei added a new candle.
The study seemed to grow colder by the minute.
Even beside the candle, Chi Wei couldn’t feel a hint of warmth.
That wasn’t a good sign.
Her body temperature was dropping… No, her ability to sense temperature was failing!
Then a wave of nausea rose in her stomach.
Damn it. The symptoms of poisoning were getting worse.
“Are you… all right?” Chi Wei began, only to hear how hoarse her voice was, as if she’d spent three days shouting herself hoarse.
She couldn’t help worrying about the other person in the room.
Was the silver-masked woman holding up all right? If they didn’t find the rest of the Gold Beads soon, they might both die in the poisonous gas.
“I don’t need your concern.”
The response had barely left her mouth when a heavy thud sounded in the study.
Books toppled off a chair and scattered across the floor.
Chi Wei’s last scrap of strength went toward gripping the three Gold Beads in her hand.
I’m so tired. I want to lie down on a bed.
A blanket seemed to cover every breath she took, urging her to rest.
In her unfocused gaze, a cracked wooden table leg came into view.
Chi Wei jolted awake. She grabbed the leg and forced herself back to her senses. But her legs had gone weak; she made it halfway up before dropping to her knees again, gasping.
A shadow fell across her. Was she so weak now that she couldn’t even stand on her own?
Chi Wei’s voice trembled. “Hey, you over there…” Could you come help me?
Before she could finish, she blinked and saw the other woman’s straight legs in front of her.
A hand reached down as the silver-masked woman bent over. If she could, Chi Wei would have added a cloud of warm pink hearts to the scene.
The caption: There is still kindness in this world.
She smiled and slowly used the woman’s hand to pull herself up. “Tha—”
The next moment, a sharp slap whipped her head to the side.
After that crisp smack, Chi Wei froze. Her unfocused eyes snapped into clarity.
Her right cheek burned. She raised a hand to touch it, then immediately sucked in a breath.
Half her face was swollen.
“If you pass out, I’ll drive this into your thigh.”
“Let’s see if you bleed to death first or die of the gas.” The silver-masked woman’s voice was cold, edged with menace. She held up the shards she’d collected from the broken vase, their jagged points gleaming.
Out of the corner of her eye, Chi Wei saw the shattered vase behind her.
“Do you understand?”
Chi Wei usually liked to say that a gentleman used words, not fists. She objected to the woman’s violence—more than objected, actually. She was a little hurt. But this was no time to argue about the rights and wrongs of force.
She bit her lip. “I understand. I’ll go look for the Gold Beads.”
As she turned, Chi Wei touched her cheek.
She really didn’t like getting slapped in the face.
And the silver-masked woman had hit hard. She should’ve picked a mask that covered her whole face, too.
Was she prepared for this? Did she expect people to hit back?
Chi Wei kept grumbling silently to herself. Still, the slap had jolted her awake long enough for them to find eighteen Gold Beads.
Only two remained!
Leaning against the wall, Chi Wei watched the lever on the dragon’s head inch toward the endpoint.
What was behind the inner door, the one they still couldn’t enter?
Tears welled up in Chi Wei’s eyes from the strain. Breathing was getting harder and harder.
All ten fingertips had turned a deep purplish color from the poison. She couldn’t predict how much longer she could hold out.
“Two left,” the silver-masked woman reminded her.
The woman had deliberately lowered her voice, but Chi Wei could hear what she was hiding.
She narrowed her eyes and looked over. The silver-masked woman’s neck was flushed bright red, the veins standing out beneath her skin. Sweat ran down her in streams.
She was struggling to breathe, too. She’d reached her limit.
“Let’s keep looking.” Chi Wei surveyed the objects and corners they’d already turned over, and a sudden sense of helplessness washed over her.
They’d searched everywhere.
Everywhere.
Chi Wei was sure of it.
She’d even gone back over the silver-masked woman’s section.
So why were two Gold Beads still missing?!
Suspicion, frustration, anger, and physical pain battered Chi Wei’s mind.
Could there not have been twenty Gold Beads in the room to begin with? Was the game just meant to make us wait for death in disappointment and despair?
No. That’s impossible.
In the half of the Lucky Game I’d experienced so far, the rules had never truly left players with no way out. Most of the time, as long as your luck was good enough, you could survive even without coming up with a plan. A tiny chance was enough.
Luck… It hadn’t come to me on its own, but where was it hiding?
Damn it, my vision’s getting blurrier. I still haven’t found it…
Where is it?!
A wave of dizziness suddenly swept over Chi Wei. She braced both hands on the desk and bent over, struggling to breathe like a shrimp dropped into boiling water.
The pain on her face grew more intense by the second.
She slumped onto the desk again, barely conscious, when someone grabbed her by the nape and hauled her up.
In the corner of her eye, the silver-masked woman raised her arm. A sharp glint flashed in her hand!
A burst of strength from sheer survival instinct snapped Chi Wei’s eyes open. She reached out and seized the woman’s wrist.
That was close. Good thing she doesn’t have much strength left, either!
Chi Wei let out a quiet breath of relief and took the shard from her hand.
“Careful. If you use violence, the laser might shoot you. I’ll do it myself.”
