Joker shook his head and covered his face with both hands. In three seconds, he became a young man with a sunny disposition.
Putting on a friendly smile, he said, “Thank you for caring about me, Sister Ying.”
Chen Ying smiled. Joker seemed to have trouble showing his true feelings as himself. Perhaps it was impossible to take off a mask after it had stayed on for so long.
White Tiger dropped back onto his stone chair with relief. “Ugh, finally, it’s over. I was getting a heatstroke back in the cell.”
“Elder White Tiger, was that really your first time playing Werewolf?” Can showered him with praises. “You played much better than I did.”
White Tiger chuckled and said like her elderly, “Observe more and think more. Don’t lose your calm, and you’ll be able to do it.”
“Yeah!”
In the prison hall, the twelve of them exchanged reassurances and reveled in their survival from what they had thought to be a life-and-death situation.
X alone stood away from the bustling crowd.
He had his hands in his pockets, his eyes glinting with complicated emotions. It seemed like envy, but underneath, there appeared to be a cold aloofness.
“Can we get out of here now, Sir Zuo?” X asked the air impatiently.
That reminded everyone of their circumstances.
“Yeah! Let us out!” Wu Dahai was the first to shout. “And the Rune Circuit! Don’t think about keeping that from us, you damn geezer!”
Sir Zuo chuckled. “Have a seat, everyone.”
They exchanged a glance before sitting around the table.
“The game ended. The contract is done. The victors are decided. All is fate.”
As soon as he said that, the entire prison began to shake, along with the floor underneath them. Then the scene around them started crumbling into countless particles, revealing a boundless darkness.
Splash!
Cold, dark seawater swarmed up to them along with gray fog, the sight horrifying.
Gao Yang felt as if the prison was nothing but a fragile crystal ball, and now that the crystal ball was getting closer and closer to the bottom of the sea, it finally caved under the increasing pressure and shattered.
Thus, the dark seawater rushed in, sweeping over all of them.
Gao Yang felt exhaustion hit him. Then he lost consciousness.
...
When he came to, Gao Yang heard the gentle waves. Under him was something soft and cool, and he could faintly smell the sea.
He opened his eyes to find himself lying on the beach, face pressed against the milky white sand.
He propped himself up and looked around. He was back on the uninhabited island with a volleyball court.
“Ugh, I’m dizzy...”
Lying by Gao Yang’s side, Green Tea slowly sat up with a hand on his head.
He grinned at Gao Yang. “Oh, it’s good that everyone seems fine.”
Gao Yang nodded and went up to Can and Ronnie, who were a few meters away from him.
The two hadn’t woken up yet. He squatted down and patted them on the face.
Slowly, they opened their eyes, still recovering.
Can, especially, was still a mess in the head. “I’m tired... I’m not going to class today... Answer the roll call for me...”
Gao Yang swallowed an exasperated laugh and said, “Can, come play HOK with me.”
Can opened her eyes wide and felt around the beach. “Where’s my phone? Quick, help me up...”
Not far from them, Vermilion Bird and White Tiger had long woken up. As expected of top-ranking awakeners, they regained consciousness earlier than the others and were already waking them up.
In a minute, all twelve of them had recovered.
They turned to look at the edge of the beach, where two men sat under the clear moonlight.
“Let’s go.” Vermilion Bird waved the others over as she went up to the two figures.
They followed.
Gao Yang soon realized that those were X and Sir Zuo.
Sitting on the beach, Sir Zuo’s face was pale and sickly. The muddled white of his eyes turned a lifeless gray. He seemed to have lost all vitality.
“Hey, old man! Where’s the Rune Circuit?” Wu Dahai stalked up to them.
Sitting crossed-legged across from Sir Zuo, X had his back to them. He raised his hand and waved the Poison Rune Circuit around. “Here. According to our deal, I’ll give it to you after reaching level 4. Or do you want it now? You’re welcome to try.”
X sounded as careless as ever, but there was an underlying hint of intimidation to his voice.
“Don’t worry. We’ll honor our end of the deal,” said Vermilion Bird. “I hope you’ll do the same.”
“Of course.” X put the Rune Circuit away.
After a moment of silence, he said with a hint of sorrow and reluctance, “Why went to such length, Sir Zuo?”
“Haha, I’m gonna die anyway. Might as well watch one last show to honor my role as the observer. Ack, ack...” Sir Zuo got into a coughing fit.
This time, everyone could tell that Sir Zuo was soon meeting his demise.
“You lied, Sir Zuo. That wasn’t a Rune Cave,” Gao Yang said suddenly.
Vermilion Bird started and turned to Gao Yang. “You sure?”
Something had been nagging at Gao Yang. Now he realized what it was: the system didn’t give him a notification.
Before, the system always told him that his luck point acquisition rate had doubled upon entering a Rune Cave, but that didn’t happen when he found himself in the prison.
“Yeah, I have a feeling that it wasn’t a Rune Cave.” Gao Yang didn’t give a definite answer since he couldn’t explain to the others that he had a system.
“Hoho, you’re good, kid. You noticed,” Sir Zuo said weakly in starts and stops. “The prison...is nothing but a special subspace I created.”
“Subspace?” White Tiger was intrigued.
“I’ll explain for you, Sir Zuo. Have some rest.” X rose and turned around to look at them.
Gao Yang noted with some surprise, So X is on Sir Zuo’s side!
“Pride monsters have their own brand of Talents too, and Sir Zuo’s is Pride Realm, allowing him to create a subspace.”
“One is a regular subspace that those with great willpower will be able to break out of, while the other is a contract subspace, the one we just entered. The latter requires consent from the targets. Unless the targets complete their missions according to the rules, it’ll never be broken. In other words, Sir Zuo will effectively be God in the contract subspace, free to do anything.”
“However, it required an immeasurable amount of energy to create a contract subspace, especially since he had contracted with all thirteen of us at the same time.” X’s voice turned grave. “Sir Zuo went in ready to die for it.”
Everyone was shocked.
“Wait, isn’t it good to be alive?” Wu Dahai didn’t get it. “If you want to watch people play Werewolf so much, go online. There are lots of shows you can watch.”
“Hoho, a game of Werewolf where the players think they are betting their lives isn’t common.” Sir Zuo chuckled. “And I’ve lived long enough. It’s time for me to turn in my answer sheet.”
“Answer sheet?” Vermilion Bird frowned.
“We pride monsters...ack, ack ack...” Sir Zuo coughed out blood before he could finish.
“Sir Zuo!” X rushed up to him and crouched down to support him.
“I’m fine. Let me finish...” Sir Zuo waved a hand and rested for a few seconds before calmly continuing, “We pride monsters are the examinees, and you humans the questions.”
Joker shook his head and covered his face with both hands. In three seconds, he became a young man with a sunny disposition.
Putting on a friendly smile, he said, “Thank you for caring about me, Sister Ying.”
Chen Ying smiled. Joker seemed to have trouble showing his true feelings as himself. Perhaps it was impossible to take off a mask after it had stayed on for so long.
White Tiger dropped back onto his stone chair with relief. “Ugh, finally, it’s over. I was getting a heatstroke back in the cell.”
“Elder White Tiger, was that really your first time playing Werewolf?” Can showered him with praises. “You played much better than I did.”
White Tiger chuckled and said like her elderly, “Observe more and think more. Don’t lose your calm, and you’ll be able to do it.”
“Yeah!”
In the prison hall, the twelve of them exchanged reassurances and reveled in their survival from what they had thought to be a life-and-death situation.
X alone stood away from the bustling crowd.
He had his hands in his pockets, his eyes glinting with complicated emotions. It seemed like envy, but underneath, there appeared to be a cold aloofness.
“Can we get out of here now, Sir Zuo?” X asked the air impatiently.
That reminded everyone of their circumstances.
“Yeah! Let us out!” Wu Dahai was the first to shout. “And the Rune Circuit! Don’t think about keeping that from us, you damn geezer!”
Sir Zuo chuckled. “Have a seat, everyone.”
They exchanged a glance before sitting around the table.
“The game ended. The contract is done. The victors are decided. All is fate.”
As soon as he said that, the entire prison began to shake, along with the floor underneath them. Then the scene around them started crumbling into countless particles, revealing a boundless darkness.
Splash!
Cold, dark seawater swarmed up to them along with gray fog, the sight horrifying.
Gao Yang felt as if the prison was nothing but a fragile crystal ball, and now that the crystal ball was getting closer and closer to the bottom of the sea, it finally caved under the increasing pressure and shattered.
Thus, the dark seawater rushed in, sweeping over all of them.
Gao Yang felt exhaustion hit him. Then he lost consciousness.
...
When he came to, Gao Yang heard the gentle waves. Under him was something soft and cool, and he could faintly smell the sea.
He opened his eyes to find himself lying on the beach, face pressed against the milky white sand.
He propped himself up and looked around. He was back on the uninhabited island with a volleyball court.
“Ugh, I’m dizzy...”
Lying by Gao Yang’s side, Green Tea slowly sat up with a hand on his head.
He grinned at Gao Yang. “Oh, it’s good that everyone seems fine.”
Gao Yang nodded and went up to Can and Ronnie, who were a few meters away from him.
The two hadn’t woken up yet. He squatted down and patted them on the face.
Slowly, they opened their eyes, still recovering.
Can, especially, was still a mess in the head. “I’m tired... I’m not going to class today... Answer the roll call for me...”
Gao Yang swallowed an exasperated laugh and said, “Can, come play HOK with me.”
Can opened her eyes wide and felt around the beach. “Where’s my phone? Quick, help me up...”
Not far from them, Vermilion Bird and White Tiger had long woken up. As expected of top-ranking awakeners, they regained consciousness earlier than the others and were already waking them up.
In a minute, all twelve of them had recovered.
They turned to look at the edge of the beach, where two men sat under the clear moonlight.
“Let’s go.” Vermilion Bird waved the others over as she went up to the two figures.
They followed.
Gao Yang soon realized that those were X and Sir Zuo.
Sitting on the beach, Sir Zuo’s face was pale and sickly. The muddled white of his eyes turned a lifeless gray. He seemed to have lost all vitality.
“Hey, old man! Where’s the Rune Circuit?” Wu Dahai stalked up to them.
Sitting crossed-legged across from Sir Zuo, X had his back to them. He raised his hand and waved the Poison Rune Circuit around. “Here. According to our deal, I’ll give it to you after reaching level 4. Or do you want it now? You’re welcome to try.”
X sounded as careless as ever, but there was an underlying hint of intimidation to his voice.
“Don’t worry. We’ll honor our end of the deal,” said Vermilion Bird. “I hope you’ll do the same.”
“Of course.” X put the Rune Circuit away.
After a moment of silence, he said with a hint of sorrow and reluctance, “Why went to such length, Sir Zuo?”
“Haha, I’m gonna die anyway. Might as well watch one last show to honor my role as the observer. Ack, ack...” Sir Zuo got into a coughing fit.
This time, everyone could tell that Sir Zuo was soon meeting his demise.
“You lied, Sir Zuo. That wasn’t a Rune Cave,” Gao Yang said suddenly.
Vermilion Bird started and turned to Gao Yang. “You sure?”
Something had been nagging at Gao Yang. Now he realized what it was: the system didn’t give him a notification.
Before, the system always told him that his luck point acquisition rate had doubled upon entering a Rune Cave, but that didn’t happen when he found himself in the prison.
“Yeah, I have a feeling that it wasn’t a Rune Cave.” Gao Yang didn’t give a definite answer since he couldn’t explain to the others that he had a system.
“Hoho, you’re good, kid. You noticed,” Sir Zuo said weakly in starts and stops. “The prison...is nothing but a special subspace I created.”
“Subspace?” White Tiger was intrigued.
“I’ll explain for you, Sir Zuo. Have some rest.” X rose and turned around to look at them.
Gao Yang noted with some surprise, So X is on Sir Zuo’s side!
“Pride monsters have their own brand of Talents too, and Sir Zuo’s is Pride Realm, allowing him to create a subspace.”
“One is a regular subspace that those with great willpower will be able to break out of, while the other is a contract subspace, the one we just entered. The latter requires consent from the targets. Unless the targets complete their missions according to the rules, it’ll never be broken. In other words, Sir Zuo will effectively be God in the contract subspace, free to do anything.”
“However, it required an immeasurable amount of energy to create a contract subspace, especially since he had contracted with all thirteen of us at the same time.” X’s voice turned grave. “Sir Zuo went in ready to die for it.”
Everyone was shocked.
“Wait, isn’t it good to be alive?” Wu Dahai didn’t get it. “If you want to watch people play Werewolf so much, go online. There are lots of shows you can watch.”
“Hoho, a game of Werewolf where the players think they are betting their lives isn’t common.” Sir Zuo chuckled. “And I’ve lived long enough. It’s time for me to turn in my answer sheet.”
“Answer sheet?” Vermilion Bird frowned.
“We pride monsters...ack, ack ack...” Sir Zuo coughed out blood before he could finish.
“Sir Zuo!” X rushed up to him and crouched down to support him.
“I’m fine. Let me finish...” Sir Zuo waved a hand and rested for a few seconds before calmly continuing, “We pride monsters are the examinees, and you humans the questions.”
