SB Ch55: Special Partner

Chapter 55: What do you like about An Wujiu? That face?

After entering the metal room, the one who behaved the most abnormally was Shen Ti.

At least the other two accepted the rules of the game calmly, while Shen Ti, on the other hand, seemed like a troublemaker—a restless one at that.

Leaning against one side of the wall, his arms hanging down, he used the back of his head to intermittently bump against the metal wall.

Far from being proactive, he seemed completely resigned.

So when the rabbit spoke, even his typically crazy demeanor seemed to deflate by half.

“Hey, aren’t you planning to think about it seriously and tell me your answer? Time is running out,” the rabbit said, continuing to provoke. “It seems you really don’t know how much they’re suffering. Well, let me make it clearer for you.”

So it increased the volume of the outside sounds, making the cries and screams almost penetrate through the walls.

Shen Ti frowned.

“So noisy.” He impatiently reached out and pressed the white button on the box.

“Have you chosen ‘No’? Have you made up your mind?”

Shen Ti lazily half-opened his eyes, looking like a cat dozing off, showing no intention of engaging with the dead rabbit.

“You’re not speaking because you don’t care about these people at all,” the rabbit chuckled. “To you, they’re like ants, no different from any other animals, right?”

Unexpectedly, this time Shen Ti spoke up, and with a serious tone, “Not exactly.”

“Oh?”

Shen Ti deliberately said something disgusting, “Rabbits are so cute; how can you put them together with those animals?”

“Such a cute little thing should be on the dinner table.”

Shen Ti touched his chin, forming the character “八” with his fingers. With great interest, he began planning where to spend the prize money.

“For my first meal out, I’ll go to the most expensive restaurant to have rabbit meat, raw and peeled, roasted with chili flakes and pepper. I won’t waste the skin; I’ll use it to sew a cushion. Just thinking about it feels good.”

The rabbit, stifled by his remarks, squatted for a while and only sneered.

“Poor thing, you can only boast for a while now. Later, you won’t even have time to cry.”

As if on cue, the rabbit mentioned crying, and Shen Ti pretended to whimper and fake cry for a while.

The results of the first round came out, and as Shen Ti imagined, it was three “not eliminations,” but at least the same result saved Yang Erci.

“Your companions are using their own pain to buy you time; you should cherish it and not waste their sacrifice.”

Shen Ti didn’t have time to deal with the rabbit’s nonsense.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t hear the screams, especially from Wu You. This little devil usually had a tough mouth and always wore an unhappy face.

Thinking about what could make him scream in agony, Shen Ti felt that this holy altar was truly disgusting.

“What’s wrong?” The rabbit seemed to be able to monitor his every move, piercing through Shen Ti’s contemplation. “Are you shaken? Feeling uncomfortable?”

Shen Ti lazily lifted his eyelids.

“I’m thinking, what’s wrong with you that you have to separate us?”

As Shen Ti spoke, he put his hands on his hips, lifting his head with annoyance. “I can’t even see An Wujiu.”

“So, you just want to see him?” The rabbit said it with a mocking tone.

Shen Ti admitted without hesitation, “Yeah. I feel satisfied only when I see him. Is that a problem?”

He tapped the metal wall, “Can’t you install a glass door or something?”

“If you’re afraid of us exchanging messages, just use one-way glass. Your holy altar can do anything; just turn off our voices directly, can’t you?”

“You have such beautiful thoughts. If I let you see him, won’t you be able to judge based on his actions?”

“We can use a mosaic to blur everything. I’ll just look at his face. Isn’t that enough? Just his eyes will do.”

Shen Ti seemed as persistent as someone with a mental disorder, constantly uttering unusual things, leaving the rabbit unsure of how to respond for a moment.

However, he felt that he was perfectly normal; he was just asking to look into the eyes, not fixating on any strange or peculiar body parts.

“I think your mind is unclear; after all, he was just talking about looking at eyes, not some strange body parts.”

“I think your mind is a bit unclear. You don’t even know how to be a normal person.”

The rabbit continued to mock, “Now you’re anxious. Why didn’t you cherish the moment earlier? It might have been your last meeting with An Wujiu.”

Shen Ti adjusted his neck and said, “That’s not necessarily true. If I’m gone, An Wujiu can still handle my remains.”

“What if I’m not dead but just eliminated? Then I become a trash NPC like you? That would be fantastic! As an NPC, he can do whatever he wants to me.”

Shen Ti’s two green eyes gleamed, almost as if he were rubbing his hands in anticipation.

This time, the rabbit remained truly silent.

“Why aren’t you continuing?” Shen Ti smiled amicably and raised his eyebrows towards the empty space: “Do you think I’m too perverted? I also think so. Sometimes I feel quite abnormal, like now, thinking about trying rabbit ashes with rice…”

“The second round has begun,” the rabbit interrupted Shen Ti’s self-analysis, “Your thinking time is limited now. Think about it; this round probably won’t be as simple as before.”

As the countdown started, Shen Ti added to his interrupted words, “I want to try rabbit ashes with rice. Someone your size should last me half a month.”

“Do you really not worry at all about the people outside being electrocuted alive?”

Shen Ti shrugged, sighed deeply, and sat cross-legged on the ground, supporting his chin with his right hand.

“As for you, save your breath. Either take me out and exchange me for someone else or shock me. I don’t mind; I have a high tolerance and might even want to die. If not, then shut up.”

“Whether I care or worry about it has nothing to do with you. Don’t even think about using such crude tricks to provoke me.”

“Just so you know, if An Wujiu dies, I might collapse a little.” Shen Ti said casually, with an indifferent expression, “But too bad…”

“An Wujiu is not someone who will die so easily.”

The pair of emerald-like eyes lifted, as if uttering a prophetic mantra, “He might just survive until the end.”

The rabbit also chuckled, “It looks like you really like him; is it because of that face?”

Shen Ti glanced at the countdown and then began to think seriously, “Hmm…”

As he thought, Shen Ti smiled, “I like him all, satisfied?”

“A guy who neither looks like a human nor a ghost? You completely refrain from displaying your strength, living aimlessly, and now you’re seeking solace in a place like the Holy Altar, finding solace in others. Don’t you find such a life ridiculous?”

The rabbit seemed to have a complex attitude toward him, wanting to mock on one hand but also feeling that Shen Ti was a pathetic guy, even sighing with regret.

“You seem quite familiar with me.” Shen Ti suddenly had a look of realization on his face, “Ah, could it be that I’m your father?”

The rabbit was speechless. “Are you crazy?”

Shen Ti stood up, pressed an answer, and then stretched lazily, “Don’t be angry, okay? If you really know me, can you do me a favor?”

The rabbit remained silent for a while, as if waiting for him to continue.

So Shen Ti straightforwardly said, “A small favor, from now on, every round, split us into the same group, okay?”

“What if we’re enemies?” The rabbit smiled, “Would you still do that?”

“Enemies are the best. Do you know how charming An Wujiu looks when he wants to kill someone?” Shen Ti was surprisingly enthusiastic and even described it to the rabbit, “When he’s bad, he’s really bad, using any means necessary. But when he’s good, he wants to eliminate the opponent according to the plan, being ruthless yet hesitant. That intertwining contradiction is his most vulnerable side.”

“Give me that side; wouldn’t it be great?” Shen Ti smirked.

The rabbit really had nothing to say and directly revealed the answer.

“Satisfied? You’ve once again reached a tacit understanding, but unfortunately, the same door has opened again.” Its voice carried a mocking tone, “Your levels are evenly matched; maybe you all want to go together every time.”

Shen Ti raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“Do you think that just because you’re desperate for death, there’s no leverage that can be used against you?” The rabbit, facing Shen Ti, gradually cooled down from its madness, “Do you remember why you want to die?”

“Do you know who you are? From whom does your name come? Or perhaps you already know that you have no connection in this world—no family, no friends, not even someone who cares about you, and that’s why you want to die.”

His words finally left a mark in Shen Ti’s heart.

“No more words?” The rabbit gained a sense of achievement and continued to taunt ruthlessly, “You don’t even remember how much pain you’ve endured or how many times you’ve repeated that pain.”

Repeat? 

Shen Ti squinted without any change in expression.

“Shen Ti, don’t you understand it now? Your current self-contradictions, your neuroticism, and each lie that you can’t justify—all of it, in the end, is because in the present you are nothing but an empty shell.”

Shen Ti chuckled, “Is that so?” He looked at his reflection in the metal and said, “Well, this shell is not bad.”

In an attempt to exert verbal pressure on him, the rabbit, without following the protocol that announced the start of the third round, continued speaking. Shen Ti just watched the countdown begin, feeling time ticking away.

“No need to pretend to be indifferent here,” the rabbit said sarcastically with a sharp tone. “I can tell you plainly that from the establishment of this game until now, only one person has cracked it.”

“Only one,” the rabbit emphasized.

“Do you know why? Because he truly doesn’t care. Not only does he treat those suffering for him outside as tools, but he also doesn’t care about the opponents he’s playing against.”

The rabbit sighed intentionally, “Originally, you also had a chance to become such an invincible person. It’s a pity that you got fascinated by a fragmented monster.”

Suddenly, Shen Ti became interested in the person who was rumored to have successfully cracked the game.

“Is this person still alive?”

“Of course,” the rabbit smiled. “Not only is he alive, but so far, he has the highest score in the history of the holy altar. Perhaps you can challenge each other; who knows?”

Shen Ti remained silent. After hearing it, he casually made the third choice.

As expected, the result was just as he expected—three identical letters.

Shen Ti didn’t think that the three of them had such a tacit understanding, especially since it was the third question. An Wujiu would definitely not sit idly by; his strategy would definitely change.

In Shen Ti’s eyes, there was only one possibility at the moment—the damn game was cheating.

“Congratulations!” the rabbit joyfully announced upon seeing the results, “Miss Yang Erci can go out again.”

Shen Ti didn’t say anything and yawned nonchalantly.

This rabbit was undoubtedly a member of the altar. It knew a lot, even memories that had become blurry to Shen Ti himself—about his origins, the things he had suffered, he had only vaguely revealed to An Wujiu, and that too, partly true and partly false.

This game didn’t seem difficult on the surface. It was nothing more than a psychological game with incomplete information, and with some luck, not everyone would fail. Moreover, the three identical choices in the first round were easy to figure out, at least unlocking one door.

But if what he said was true—that only one person had cracked it so far—it indicated a problem with the game.

“The fourth round is about to begin. Have you figured out what answer to tell me?” The rabbit said in a creepy manner, “You should be aware that An Wujiu is the one who has been making decisions first for several rounds in a row.”

So soon.

Shen Ti knew that An Wujiu wasn’t a reckless person, especially in his current state. He should be extremely cautious.

Unless he, like Shen Ti, sensed a conspiracy behind this game.

“He figured it out so quickly?” Shen Ti’s index finger pointed at his own chin, appearing to be seriously contemplating. He circled in the cramped metal cabin, continuously murmuring An Wujiu’s name, “An Wujiu…”

While turning, Shen Ti, with a somewhat absent-minded tone, repeated his name, “An Wujiu, An Wujiu, An Wujiu…”

When there was just a second left, Shen Ti slowly chose one of the buttons.

“Took you so long?” the rabbit retorted.

“Careful consideration,” Shen Ti smiled.

In reality, he just randomly chose. While verbally repeating An Wujiu’s name, in his mind, he was thinking, “Good An Wujiu, bad An Wujiu, good An Wujiu…”

After two full circles, he stopped in front of the box and settled on “good An Wujiu.”

So, in the last second, using this boring method, he made a choice and pressed the white button.

Sure enough, the result deviated from his selection. Although he pressed ‘No’, the result was three ‘Yes’.

It was obvious that something was wrong.

“This thing of yours is not right, is it?” Shen Ti forcefully pressed the buttons on the box, tapping the black and white ones randomly and even smacking it several times. “What a trash mechanism.”

Saying that, he directly tore off the wires with force, breaking the entire box off and slamming it hard onto the ground.

“It feels good,” Shen Ti said with satisfaction.

“You’ve destroyed the mechanism; you’ll lose the opportunity to choose in subsequent rounds. All your choices will follow the results of the first person.” The rabbit smiled and said, “Your fate is completely in someone else’s hands now.”

Shen Ti showed a shocked expression, clutching his chest, “Really? I’m so scared; won’t I just wait to die like this?”

But soon, his expression changed to a disdainful smirk, “Didn’t your mom teach you not to casually mix in other true statements when telling lies? Revealing two secrets at once.”

He casually kicked the box away and said, “If you want to deceive people, put away your arrogance. Don’t act like, ‘Come on, I’m here to deceive you’.”

Shen Ti mimicked it perfectly, even looking a bit punchable.

“An Wujiu must have realized it too,” Shen Ti said, touching the red bead under his ear. “The reason he made decisions so quickly is not because he wanted to answer the questions.”

“He was just testing you.”

The rabbit remained silent, as if it never existed. But Shen Ti didn’t let it. He lifted his head, and casually mocked it, “Little bunny, brother is right, isn’t he?”

“An Wujiu’s fate is quite tough.”

“Perhaps.” The rabbit finally said, “That’s why he’s the best sacrifice.”

“The decision for the fifth round is about to begin. This time, you don’t have much time for consideration.” 

Even though exposed, the rabbit still maintained its appearance.

“They seem to be struggling a bit, only lasting for 19 seconds,” the rabbit clicked its tongue a few times, “too painful. That lady gets faint from the pain every time and wakes up again.”

“It’s probably more painful than the fire she encountered when she was a child.”

Fire?

An Wujiu frowned. Was it talking about Zhong Yirou?

Although these words were hard to verify, the rabbit’s spontaneous remarks made An Wujiu even more certain.

It couldn’t be an NPC played by an eliminated player. It was impossible for it to know so much about everyone’s past.

“It’s about to start. Good luck. If you can’t unlock a new room, you guys will be at a dead end.”

There were only three chances left.

An Wujiu understood in his heart that the odds were not great, but it was still possible to give it a try.

Four consecutive rounds had the same result, two times eliminating and two times not eliminating; the situation remained a tie.

For them, this round was not much different from the first round, as their mindset reset to zero due to the disappearance of the illusion.

In this round, An Wujiu planned to predict others’ choices and make a direct selection.

So, in the fifth round, when the rabbit appeared again, An Wujiu didn’t hesitate much and directly answered, “I choose not to eliminate.”

“So fast?” The rabbit smiled and said, “You’ve already broken the illusion barrier. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”

An Wujiu remained silent instead of answering.

He knew that Shen Ti had already broken the illusion, and now it was only Yang Erci left.

According to the setup, the first person to press the button would assimilate the answers of others who pressed the button afterward.

But even if she didn’t break the mechanism, currently there was only one box left for her, and it was probably already ineffective. It could only control her own choice.

The fifth round should be a genuinely fair game.

Regardless of whether Yang Erci had discovered any clues in this round, her biggest obstacle was not this box but her psychological pressure.

Her room was the first to be unlocked, but she couldn’t get out. She also struggled to open her room but couldn’t. The rabbit must have used her personal obstacles to pressure her, not to mention the external factor of Zhong Yirou.

Currently, Yang Erci must be the one struggling the most. She wanted to choose “not to eliminate,” but it was challenging to do so because she feared a situation where all three answers matched again.

As the countdown for this round ended, the shattered box didn’t play the celebratory music again.

The rabbit spoke on its own.

“For this round’s questioning, the answers from the three players are: not to eliminate, not to eliminate, to eliminate.”

“An Wujiu, congratulations. Your room has also opened up.”

The outline of a door gradually appeared on the metal wall in front of him, but so far, it still couldn’t be opened.

Sure enough, Yang Erci was cautious enough.

Although tossing such a difficult decision to her without discussing it wasn’t a gentlemanly act, An Wujiu thought he did it out of trust.

Now, there was only one person left.

An Wujiu suddenly felt a bit panicked. He had never felt this way before. Even when there were the same answers four consecutive times, opening the same door repeatedly, he remained calm.

But now, with only Shen Ti’s door left, he inexplicably felt a trace of panic.

What if…

What if these two chances couldn’t open this door? What should he do?

His heart was completely out of control, as if it weren’t his own, just temporarily residing in his chest, experiencing sharp pain numerous times due to Shen Ti’s casual actions.

Shen Ti entered the Holy Altar with the intention of seeking death, and they encountered each other in such circumstances.

Since they had met, An Wujiu didn’t want him to die in vain.

When that day arrived, at the very least… he wanted him to gain something.

At least he wanted him to have some satisfaction.

“What’s wrong?” The rabbit keenly caught his emotional change, took advantage of the situation, and probably intensified the stimulation, “You don’t seem happy at all.”

“No way, you’re not really thinking that it would be better if it were Shen Ti’s door that opened, are you?” It sneered, “Do you have such a self-sacrificing heart for everyone, or just for him?”

This question confused An Wujiu.

He even tried to imagine: If it were Wu You or Zhong Yirou, would he also assume their situation negatively after his door opened?

The answer in his heart left him more perplexed.

He didn’t understand when Shen Ti had become someone special.

An Wujiu kept convincing himself not to think about the bad results that hadn’t appeared yet. What he needed to do now was make as few mistakes as possible, so all three could escape.

Stay calm and think.

Be unrestrained at all times.

“Oh no.” The rabbit’s affected exclamation interrupted An Wujiu’s thoughts, “I’m really sorry to tell you some very bad news.”

“Your good friend, that guy with brown curly hair, he really couldn’t hold on, so he pressed the stop button.” The rabbit consoled An Wujiu with an overly generous tone, “Don’t blame him because you can’t imagine how much pain he’s in. Even burning someone alive has room for escape.”

“In any case, for the sixth round, your thinking time is only five seconds.”

“Get ready quickly,” the rabbit intentionally said. “You’re in despair for Shen Ti, but he doesn’t care at all.”

“The countdown… has started.”

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