TTGOL CH98

Chapter 98: Human World (1)

The Warden of Yong Ye City wore a black military uniform, complete with a military cap and boots. His uniform was crisp, his posture tall and slender. The shadow cast by the brim of his cap obscured his eyes. He walked neither too fast nor too slow, and the extendable baton in his hand flicked at a similarly leisurely pace. The extended baton would strike heavily against the adjacent steel frames before retracting again.

“Bang!”

With every strike, the chaotic silhouettes on the walls trembled.

“Bang!”

It was the grim reaper’s warning, or perhaps a kind of urging. And within this sound, Tang Cuo also heard a string of melodious, crisp bell chimes. It was the sound of several small bells clinking together, very faint and delicate.

When Xiao Tong drew near, Tang Cuo realized that a string of pearl-sized golden bells was wrapped around his right wrist, the same hand holding the baton.

With every flick, the bells chimed. As he stepped slowly out of the darkness, he slightly raised his head, revealing upturned phoenix eyes hidden beneath his cap. The faint smirk playing at the corners of his mouth perfectly encapsulated the term—”elegant scum.”

“A rare guest,” he said, looking at Jin Cheng.

“Lord Warden didn’t come out to greet me, so I let myself in.” Jin Cheng took a step forward, placed a hand over his chest, and bowed slightly. “Long time no see.”

Xiao Tong: “I thought you wouldn’t dare come back.”

Jin Cheng smiled. “Not at all.”

Xiao Tong’s hand seemingly itched again as he flicked the baton, but this time, he didn’t strike the steel frame. Just a light flick, his tone carrying a hint of casual lightness. “I told you, if you dared step foot in here again, you better be prepared to never return.”

Upon hearing this, not only Tang Cuo but even Leng Miao looked slightly surprised. Having dealt with Jin Cheng for three years, Leng Miao never knew Jin Cheng had a grudge against Xiao Tong too.

How did this man manage to make enemies everywhere?

“Before making a move, I only have one question for you, My Lord.”

“Chong Yanzhang?”

“No, a bald little girl.”

“You have ties with her?”

“Oh,” Jin Cheng chuckled, “She owes someone of mine a life. I want to collect that debt.”

“Someone of yours?” Xiao Tong’s gaze swept past Leng Miao’s face, he shook his head, and then stopped on Tang Cuo’s face. Only then did he reveal a scrutinizing look, though it was unclear whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied.

Tang Cuo remained expressionless; it wasn’t like he was meeting the parents.

“How about this,” Xiao Tong pointed his baton straight at Tang Cuo. “Leave him here to keep me company for three days, and I’ll tell you.”

Jin Cheng refused without hesitation. “That won’t do. We are bound by life and death. We weren’t born in the same year, same month, same day, but we must absolutely die in the same year, same month, same day. You cannot separate us, My Lord.”

Shut up, your flirting is going to kill us all.

Leng Miao’s expression, however, was peculiar. He raised an eyebrow, staring intently at him and Jin Cheng, seemingly unable to tell that they were in that kind of relationship. His expression was three degrees more shocked than when he learned the little girl wasn’t ordinary.

Just then, a loud explosion echoed from the distance. Some inmates had evidently used large-scale explosives, forcefully blasting a gaping hole in the wall.

Instantly, dust and smoke filled the air, and the chaotic sounds of footsteps and curses assaulted their eardrums.

“She’s here!”

“She’s coming this way, run!”

“Someone hold her off!!”

“Fuck! It’s just a little girl, why are you all so terrified… I %#￥+*^… stay away!”

“Attack, attack!”

“…”

She? A little girl?

Tang Cuo’s eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately turned and gave chase. The moment he turned, Jin Cheng automatically stepped forward to block Xiao Tong, displaying seamless coordination. No matter how powerful Xiao Tong was, he couldn’t possibly take down Jin Cheng in a single move to pursue Tang Cuo.

Furthermore, Jin Cheng had brought a helper.

Leng Miao consciously stepped to Jin Cheng’s side. This was exactly why Jin Cheng felt comfortable asking him for help despite his involvement in the East Cross Street incident.

He knew his limits.

If Leng Miao could become friends with Rong Yi, they must share some common ground.

“Do you think this is enough to stop me?” Xiao Tong asked with a smile.

By this time, Tang Cuo had already vanished from their sight. With his increased Force points, Tang Cuo’s speed was even faster than before. Combined with his daily sessions at the training ground, he was now even more proficient at utilizing his abilities.

Soon, navigating the winding, labyrinthine cellblocks, he neared the blast point.

The players infected by BS055 still had red eyes. Like rabies patients acting up, they couldn’t suppress their combat urges, fighting in a chaotic mass, completely losing their calm and rationality. But upon closer inspection, one would notice they were all subconsciously avoiding a certain direction, a hint of terror hidden in their expressions.

Tang Cuo looked over, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of a red cloak disappearing.

He gave chase, but the mob happened to block his path, lunging straight at him. Striking to kill here meant truly killing them. Tang Cuo had no grudge against them and knew they were acting this way because of BS055, so naturally, he wouldn’t deal a lethal blow.

Meeting on a narrow path, Tang Cuo leaped up, grabbed the steel frame above, and swiftly vaulted over the shoulder of the person in front. Landing, he immediately spun and delivered a flying kick, sending one person flying and taking down a whole row with him.

“Ouch!”

“I ￥+％#÷…”

The crowd gasped in shock, but Tang Cuo didn’t pause for a moment. His thud, thud footsteps echoed down the long corridor as he saw the hem of the red cloak vanish around a corner again.

Hesitating for half a second, Tang Cuo continued his pursuit.

On the other side, Jin Cheng’s trio still hadn’t started fighting. Xiao Tong observed the two with a smile and suddenly said, “You didn’t actually come for Chong Yanzhang. You came for the Twelve Movements, didn’t you?”

Warden Xiao Tong had eyes that could see through people’s hearts.

Jin Cheng wasn’t surprised by this; he never expected to keep it a secret forever. Leng Miao’s heart skipped a beat, and he shot a covert glance at Jin Cheng, but maintained a cold exterior.

Xiao Tong watched their reactions with great interest. Seeing that they didn’t start arguing, he felt quite regretful.

“Since that’s the case, let’s play a game.”

Here it comes: the Warden’s playtime.

Jin Cheng and Leng Miao couldn’t help but brace themselves. Jin Cheng cast a subtle glance in the direction Tang Cuo had left—he didn’t know what the situation was like over there. Although the little girl couldn’t possibly compare to a single finger of Xiao Tong’s, she was too sinister; leaving Tang Cuo to face her alone still made Jin Cheng a bit worried.

“Let me think, what game should we play?” Xiao Tong began flicking his extendable baton again in a rhythmic yet erratic manner. Finally, treating it like a teaching pointer, he slapped it into his palm with a smack, having reached a decision.

“You came from the human realm, so I’ll send you back to the human realm. Didn’t the little kid who just ran away leave from there not long ago? I think he’ll miss it very much.”

“Ding!”

“Congratulations to the players for successfully triggering the instance [The Human Realm]. This game is a multi-player, multi-layered, time-limited survival game with a total of 96 players. Attention all players: there are two methods to clear this game. One: survive for 6 hours. Two: ensure the number of survivors drops below 6.”

“Wishing you a happy survival!”

Hearing the announcement, Jin Cheng’s heart sank. Before the scene shifted, he cast one final look at Xiao Tong, only to see him waving at them with a smile full of malice.

A multi-player time-limited survival game, 96 participants. This meant all the surviving players in the prison had likely been pulled into the instance. The two clearance methods proved this game was far from simple, with the second method absolutely steeped in malice, because—

Players could kill people.

As long as they killed everyone else and ensured they were one of the remaining six, wouldn’t they clear the game?

Looking around, they had arrived at a fork in the road.

A Y-shaped intersection suddenly appeared in the wilderness, splitting into two straight, desolate highways that stretched as far as the eye could see. There were two signs on the left and right, bearing no road names, only two familiar symbols.

Male. And Female.

“The crossroads of life?” Jin Cheng pondered, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two symbols before glancing at the other players who had appeared here.

These players had also heard the system announcement upon entering the instance, but still seemed slightly amazed and bewildered by their surroundings. Looking closely, the redness in their eyes was slowly fading; evidently, entering the instance had neutralized the effects of BS055.

“What’s going on? Weren’t we in prison? How did we trigger an instance again???”

“What do we do now? What kind of instance is this?”

“Is-Is that Jin Cheng?!”

“And—”

“Holy shit!”

“…”

Unsurprisingly, Jin Cheng and Leng Miao were recognized, mainly because the scar on Jin Cheng’s face was too eye-catching. Yong Ye City’s famous Scarred Beauty—you’d know him the moment you saw him.

Leng Miao kept his cold face, appearing somewhat aloof to the other players. Without consulting Jin Cheng, he simply stood in front of the male sign.

Jin Cheng thought about it, thought some more, smiled, and walked toward the “Female” path.

Leng Miao looked at him, his icy face displaying an indescribable expression—Are you sick in the head?

Jin Cheng shrugged. “Never underestimate Yong Ye City’s malice. What you think is easy mode might not be easy, and hard mode might just offer a slim chance of survival.”

Whether becoming a man or a woman presented more difficulties on the path of life was a topic debated for centuries.

Which was harder could only be known by walking it oneself.

Leng Miao remained silent. Seeing the two big bosses disagree, the other players were momentarily unsure who to follow. Furthermore, male players made up the majority among them, just as male players made up the majority of survivors in Yong Ye City. So theoretically, choosing to be male seemed easier.

Everyone was eager to head toward Leng Miao, but just as the few leading the pack took a step, they saw Leng Miao walk toward Jin Cheng’s path.

Everyone was dumbfounded. Boss, why did you defect?!

For a moment, the male players didn’t dare move, wanting to follow the bosses but not wanting to take that path. The female players, however, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed.

Seeing them follow, Jin Cheng slightly reined in his joking demeanor, took one last look at the pink female sign, and took a decisive, generous step forward.

The male players looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, then gritted their teeth and followed. Except, in their hearts, this felt more like a path of no return, their steps filled with apprehension.

Leng Miao brought up the rear, silently counting the people present—twenty-eight in total.

Meanwhile, Tang Cuo, who had been pulled into the instance, found himself standing in a cemetery surrounded by neatly arranged tombstones. But these tombstones were very strange—they all looked like cell phones.

Rectangular cell phones, shaped exactly like tombstones. Giant cell phones stood there one after another, some with screens lit up, some dark.

It was very strange. Tang Cuo was the only player here. Where was everyone else? Where was the little girl in the red cloak?

Suddenly, the system announcement came again.

“Welcome, player, to the Soul Cemetery. Buried here are 99 pitiful, pathetic, and lamentable souls. Please find the three souls that are still alive by inspecting the tombstones and opening their coffins to verify.”

“Please note, there will be a penalty for opening the wrong coffin.”

As the voice faded, a tombstone diagonally in front of Tang Cuo emitted a ding-dong notification sound. He looked over and saw a WeChat interface displayed on the lit-up phone screen.

A new Moments post had been refreshed.

Bubble Qi:

Another beautiful day today, fighting!

[Coffee.jpg] [Sunshine.jpg]