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Chapter 5: Are you really so kind?
Everything in this room was complete except for the lack of electronics.
Everything retained the classic feel of the previous century, but this underground castle was kept out of the sun all year, and the damp and decaying atmosphere hung in the air like a huge coffin, trapping all the dying people inside. The dark red patterns on the beige wallpaper looked like dried blood stains, waiting for sacrifices and death in the dusty room for many years.
An Wujiu was dazed as he stared at the desk. Behind the solid redwood desk was an old wooden clock hung on the wall. The upper end had a quartz clock covered by a piece of glass, and the lower end had a wooden box with two doors. However, the two small doors remained tightly shut at this time.
It was currently 9:31 a.m.
“Found it; water and food.”
The storage cabinets held the necessities for survival, but half of them were already labeled “capitalist.” Ueno Taisei reached out to them but was unable to obtain any. Only when Yang Ming arrived could these labeled items be taken out.
The so-called survival resources consisted of nothing more than plain bread, bottled water, anti-inflammatory drugs, pain relievers, and bandages. The weight of the items did not appear to be great, and the majority of them belonged to the capitalist Yang Ming. The food that really belonged to other people was only seven adult men’s palm-sized bread and seven bottles of water.
Lao Yu sighed, “Actually, a piece of bread can last for five days in reality, but the parameters in the Holy Alter must have been altered.” Liu Chengwei picked up two pieces of bread and two bottles of water and wanted to leave but was stopped by Zhong Yirou, “What are you doing, grabbing things so soon?”
“First come, first served.” Liu Chengwei quibbled.
Wu You snorted, “Why didn’t you say it’s based on survival value?”
Liu Chengwei was immediately annoyed, “My life is worthless, but yours is worth living? You come over and try to take it from me. Let’s see who can rob me.”
Ueno Taisei immediately grabbed Wu You, “Brother, don’t say such things…”
“What did I say?” Wu You frowned and broke away from Ueno Taisei’s hand, “You are with them, don’t think I didn’t hear you talking together just now.”
“Don’t quarrel.” Lao Yu also began to smooth things over, “This is just the beginning, everyone. Save your energy and be at peace.”
The more he said it, the more the others argued. An Wujiu took a breath, turned his head, and noticed that Shen Ti, who had been sitting on the carpet in the distance, had suddenly moved closer and sat upright. Whenever there was a quarrel, Shen Ti applauded lightly, which stunned An Wujiu.
“Do you think it’s great if your survival value is higher?” Liu Chengwei sneered at Wu You, “If the person you have a crush on dies and the person you cursed lives, then who knows where you will rank? Pretending to be dumb here. When I was struggling in the repechage, you were still crying and calling mom.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu You rushed forward and punched Liu Chengwei. If it weren’t for Zhong Yirou’s quick reaction, the two of them would have had a hard fight.
An Wujiu did not move; he sat in place. When he heard Liu Chengwei’s words, he suddenly thought of something.
Repechage.
In other words, the “last four who could survive to the end” mentioned by the holy voice may not necessarily die directly.
As long as they didn’t die during the game, they could still participate in the resurrection match.
The others couldn’t hold him back, and Liu Chengwei’s fist really landed on Wu You, and he shouted, “Come on, duel, now…”
“I have a suggestion.” An Wujiu opened his mouth quickly, afraid that others would not hear him, so he spoke louder.
Everyone calmed down and turned to face An Wujiu, who was speaking. He held the upper part of his injured wrist, and his face remained unchanged, but his speech was still very slow and dull, which was different from others.
“The half that belongs to the role of the capitalist… Let Yang Ming deal with it, and the remaining half will be distributed equally among everyone, so that no one starves to death before the end of the game.”
It wasn’t that everyone didn’t think of this proposal, and it even wandered silently in everyone’s mind. But everyone was in doubt whether this rule would be fulfilled as promised.
Lao Yu continued: “You mean…we just divide it up like this, and we won’t duel anymore? But in the end, there will be a settlement, and there will always be losers.”
Wu Anjiu sat back on the sofa and said slowly: “That’s right. But when the rules were announced just now, it was clearly stated that those who die during the game will also be brain-dead in reality, right?”
He looked at everyone, his dark pupils reflecting the warm yellow lights in the bunker. It was difficult for him to speak, but every word was very sincere, “But the holy voice did not clearly say what will happen to the bottom four in the final settlement, and it may not be certain that they will enter the repechage.”
“But,” Wu You had been punched, so his cheekbones were red and his eyes were stubborn, “A loaf of bread won’t be sufficient till the end.”
“I think so too, but it should last a few days.” An Wujiu said, “This game is not a zero-sum game. There is no guarantee that if I die, you will live. Surviving a day is also a victory because there is the possibility of discussing other survival strategies on this day. As long as we cooperate, we may be able to try to get out in one piece.”
After hearing this, the others fell silent.
“I think it’s quite right.” Zhong Yirou smiled, “Dying here is the least worth it, and there is even no chance of resurrection.”
Just as everyone was contemplating the peaceful partition without blame, Yang Ming stood up and walked slowly toward An Wujiu, saying, “Your acting skills are really good.”
“Every time you can pretend to be good for everyone, use the gesture of helping others to gain trust, and then incite and sway everyone.”
An Wujiu looked up at him but said nothing.
After a while of confrontation, Yang Ming turned around, called up his own panel, and clicked on it.
“I agree to the split.”
He smiled openly, “Moreover, I’ll give away one-third of my resources to everyone.” He removed the label from these survival resources, and they became public resources that anyone could access.
Wu You, who had always been quiet, was the first to inquire, “Would you really be so kind?”
“Yes.” Zhong Yirou laughed, “One-third of the half also has one-sixth of the total resources, more than enough for one person. If this is the case, as Wu Anjiu recently stated, we may be able to make it to the end.”
But in fact, it also meant that if Yang Ming didn’t give, the rest of them couldn’t make it to the end.
An Wujiu was well aware that Yang Ming’s supplies were their only hope for survival. He only hoped that everyone could maintain a united front in order to persuade or defeat Yang Ming.
After all, there were obviously enough supplies for everyone to survive. If someone died due to a lack of supplies, it was a true death in vain.
“I agreed, but with one condition.”
“These can only be divided equally among the six of you.” The corner of Yang Ming’s mouth curled up, “An Wujiu can’t take any of it.”
This was a decision that was made without hesitation. As long as they agreed, they could obtain more resources and a more stable situation than under the previous average distribution method.
Yang Ming did not threaten everyone with power in order to force them to obey him, but instead took the initiative to cede some of his own resources as chips in order to raise his bets in this isolated game.
Except for An Wujiu, everyone was certain to win and never lose.
“I agree! Who could say no to such a good deal?!” Liu Chengwei was still the first to voice his opinion. He stepped forward without hesitation to count all the resources.
“I agree with what Mr. Yang said as well.” Ueno Taisei also raised his hand weakly, but he couldn’t hide a smile on his face.
They had completely forgotten about An Wujiu’s previous peace strategy and compassion, and were only concerned with receiving the additional gift.
Yang Ming returned these supplies to the panel, unexpectedly showing full patience to Liu Chengwei’s recklessness. “Wait.” He looked at the others, “I will give these supplies to each of you twice. Don’t worry, I will give it to you if I say so.”
After he finished speaking, he squatted down and grabbed the bread on the ground, saying, “Even if you do not have a duel with each other, you will not be able to eat these things until the end, and the water will be even less. What I’ll give you then will be life-saving rations.”
“I repeat, no one is allowed to help An Wujiu, understand?”
Liu Chengwei immediately smiled obsequiously: “Yes, I will share these unlabeled ones first.” After saying that, he started dividing. Regarding Yang Ming’s coercion and temptation, others did not directly agree with his statement, and no one stood up to oppose it. Even Lao Yu, who had previously refuted Yang Ming’s rhetoric, chose to remain silent when confronted with the real survival battle and his own disadvantages.
An Wujiu sat on the sofa three or four meters away, quietly observing how others divided his life. But he was not sorry; if given another chance, An Wujiu would also suggest that everyone work hard to survive.
Feeling that someone was staring at him, An Wujiu followed his intuition and looked over.
It was that Mechanical Guanyin again.
He leaned against the wall with his head tilted, his gaze never leaving An Wujiu, as if he were a test subject to be observed, like a ghost, making no sound but following him everywhere.
Liu Chengwei and Ueno distributed the remaining supplies to the remaining people. Wu You and Zhong Yirou both glanced at An Wujiu when they picked it up, but Yang Ming soon noticed it.
“I just put forward such a minor condition; I hope everyone will abide by it and not go against my good intentions.”
Yang Ming walked up to An Wujiu, bent down, and smiled at him.
“Want food? Do a duel.”
An Wujiu didn’t have much expression and his eyes were clear.
“Are you… afraid of me?”
Even when he asked questions, he appeared extremely innocent; his speech was still slow, and his sentences were strange and not smooth, but Yang Ming appeared to be stabbed by something and grabbed his collar, “An Wujiu, I warn you! You don’t look at me with those eyes! Don’t think you can control everyone like you used to; I can let you die now if I want you to.”
An Wujiu still didn’t change his expression; he just closed his eyes as if in approval.
This appearance irritated Yang Ming even more. He was about to become enraged when he heard a “boo–” sound from behind him and a small but hard object hit the back of his head from behind.
“Who!”
Yang Ming let go and abruptly turned around. An Wujiu straightened his collar, raised his eyes, and saw Shen Ti not far away holding wine that he had found out of nowhere; the corkless wine was continuously bubbling out, dripping all over the floor.
“Ah.” He made a slightly surprised and bewildered voice; his black gloved hand covering the position below his mouth on his mask.
But in the next second, he covered his mouth and bent over to laugh, laughing nonstop. Yang Ming was rendered speechless by his neurotic appearance.
Laughing, Shen Ti’s mask clicked, and he raised his hand to remove the lower half of the mask, taking a sip of the wine he had just opened with a smile.
But the fun did not last long. Shen Ti coughed and choked, his lips were tight, and one could see his disgust.
An Wujiu sat on the spot and suddenly laughed, like a child.
“Crazy.” Although Yang Ming hated An Wujiu, Shen Ti was on the scene. Yang Ming didn’t know his strength, nor could he guess his faction. He was also the player with the most health bars on the field at the time. If he got angry, it would be very troublesome, so Yang Ming just pulled on his wet suit jacket and walked away with a sullen expression on his face.
Not long after, Shen Ti also left, still humming an unknown tune.
In the end, as Yang Ming expected, An Wujiu didn’t get water or food. He walked to the storage cabinet where the supplies were stored before and squatted down, only to find a few bandages left behind. He squatted at the door of the locker and used the leftovers to bandage his wrists.
Looking at this shocking injury, An Wujiu felt a little puzzled about his abnormal pain tolerance. Although it did not hurt, he bit off the bandage and hung his right arm over his chest to keep it in place.
He was in the worst possible situation right now.
Among the eight people, he was the only one without water or food. It was impossible for him to make it to the end of the game. If he really wanted to fight, he had only three health bars, and the only ones with a force value lower than him were Zhong Yirou at 1 point and Yang Ming at 2 points. Based on Yang Ming’s fear of him, he was afraid that he would interfere in a duel with him personally, just to make him die.
Time passed bit by bit. An Wujiu leaned on the sofa, silently staring at the patterns on the ceiling.
Something was growing in the dark and closed space, breaking through the ground and ready to move.
After the supplies were distributed, the people in the room lost their desire to communicate. They were scattered in every corner of the bunker, guarding the supplies they had just obtained.
Because of the placement of the red and black lines, it was difficult for these people trapped in the limited underground space to communicate with each other, and trust had become scarce. No one knew whether the person standing in front of you who was laughing was cursing yourself behind his back, wishing that you would die immediately.
It was almost 10:30 when Ueno and Liu Chengwei turned around and walked in front of An Wujiu. It was unclear what their purpose was, but An Wujiu sat up straight, raised his eyes, and looked at them.
“I…” Ueno had a worried expression on his face as he broke more than half of the bread in his hand and handed it to An Wujiu.
An Wujiu gave him a calm look and did not take it right away.
Just now, he didn’t even think about standing on Yang Ming’s team, promising not to leave a way for himself, and now he was here to help.
“I think what you just said is right. This is not a zero-sum game.” Seeing that he would not accept it, Ueno’s expression was slightly awkward. He licked his lips and moved the bread in his hand closer, “You take it, although it’s not much, but it can last for a day or two.”
An Wujiu looked down at the bread with the label “Ueno Taisei” in his hand, then up at him without saying anything.
Liu Chengwei became impatient and yelled at him, “Take it if you need it, so slow.” Then he snatched the bread from Ueno’s hand and threw it into An Wujiu’s arms.
But it was unknow if it was because of poor aim or deliberately that the bread slammed into An Wujiu’s face hard.
The author has something to say:
Shen Ti: Oops, how did I just hit him? Allow me to apologize with a tea-like “ah.” Today, I was also drawn to my future wife, who can remain calm in the face of adversity.
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For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
Yang guy is such a… malicious to the core, he’ll get karma for sure