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Chapter 72: Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku (1)

[Does this mean that I got an empty chest by chance?]

“Okay, both contestants, please return to your teams after you have collected your prizes!” Mr. Dot’s voice suddenly rang out.

Even though Lin Sanjiu was puzzled, she had no choice but to leave. Before she left, she touched the bottom of the chest again; luckily, Mr. Dot did not seem to notice and didn’t say anything. When Lin Sanjiu was walking back, she turned to observe the skinny woman on the other side walking out from the white fog. That woman was frowning and appeared to be baffled.

When she returned to the red semi-circle, her team members surrounded her and asked her worriedly, “What did you get?”

Lin Sanjiu shook her head, expressing that she did not know. Just then, Mr. Dot aptly made an announcement: “Now I’ll announce the prize that each of the team received… Red Team, congratulations! You received a Chance to ‘PASS’. You can skip a task in one of the games if you use this Chance. On the other hand, the White Team isn’t that lucky… you have unlocked a ‘Witch’s curse’. The next time you gain two consecutive points, one point will be deducted.”

Apart from Lin Sanjiu and B.Rabbit, the four other members of the Red Team couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief. Even though they were still unclear about the situation they were in, their expression became a little less tense. The penalty which the White Team received was not that serious, but in some sense, it helped to balance out the scores again.

“Since we are not at a disadvantage, I think this could be something good,” the pot-bellied man said unexpectedly. His eyes widened, and the corner of his lips revealed a faint gluttonous excitement, “If we win this challenge, we can get someone else’s active abilities and items… Don’t you find it rather tempting?” The others were quite stunned by this man’s frankness. The brash man licked his lips and looked over at the White Team members, mumbling, “That’s right… That huge man over there looks strong. It will be great if I could get his ability.”

The huge man was undoubtedly Hai Tianqing. Lin Sanjiu felt a little uncomfortable about that comment, she shot a glance at the brash man. The fair-skinned man showed his disapproval with a bitter smile and quietly said, “Beggar-thy-neighbor? That’s…”

His girlfriend tugged his sleeve and consoled softly, “Honey, we didn’t set the rules… I’m satisfied as long as we don’t lose.”

The words that the woman said actually meant the same thing as the other two men, but it was just more tactful. When the other two men heard this, they nodded vehemently and repeated her words. With that, the fair-skinned man couldn’t really say anything else, and thus the few of them came to a consensus within the short exchange of words. Even though they already knew that they were on the same team earlier, it was only now that they felt a slight sense of camaraderie as they shared a common “enemy”. The pot-bellied man offered his thick pudgy hands as he laughed and said, “My surname is Wang. I used to run a small business… But right now, that’s not relevant.”

“Boss Wang.” The brash man shook his hand. “My surname is Chen. You can just call me Chen Fan. I’m quite an impulsive person, so I seek your understanding.”

“Hey, just call me Old Wang, I am not a boss or anything!” After Old Wang had shaken Chen Fan’s hand, he offered his hand to the woman with a straight fringe. No woman in this world would willingly shake that man’s hand. She pulled her wet shirt, which was now partially transparent due to the rain, from her body and hid behind her boyfriend before she replied uneasily, “I’m Lara Lian, and this is my boyfriend, Zhong Junkai.”

“Oh?” Old Wang replied curtly and eyed the fair-skinned Zhong Junkai for a second with an unreadable expression. Then, he offered his hand to Lin Sanjiu, “And you’re?”

“My surname is Lin.” She crossed her arms as she threw a sideward glance at Old Wang’s hand. The latter hesitated for a moment before he pulled back his hand sheepishly.

Wearing a black tank top and camo pants, Lin Sanjiu looked like she just came out of a bloodbath. Her serious frown along with the multiple bandages on her body gave her a presence which was more than enough to deter the others from trying to engage in any random conversations with her. After everybody got acquainted, the atmosphere became a little livelier. After lamenting about the apocalyptic state of their world, they gradually started to smile, proving that humans have an incredible ability to adapt to their situation despite everything. With a sweeping glance, Lin Sanjiu found that the White Team members also had similar reactions. Setting aside Hu Changzai and Hai Tianqing, the remaining members’ eyes shone with excitement and eagerness. Apparently, they also view the Red Team as their tempting rewards.

Acting like she was just exploring the place, Lin Sanjiu created some distance between herself and the others. After that, she whispered to B.Rabbit who was back on her shoulder, “I think there is something very wrong with this challenge.”

B.Rabbit was currently in a bad mood because they had left him out when everybody was introducing themselves. “What’s wrong?” he said, looking unhappily.

“You don’t sense it?” Lin Sanjiu looked down expressionlessly, “Those ten rules are really weird. There are lots of restrictions between members in the same team, way more than necessary. I think that such alliances based on common interest are too fragile… I’m a little worried.”

B.Rabbit immediately stared at her with his pair of black eyes. “What are you worried about?”

“You’re small, so you can easily go unnoticed when you’re not talking. I hope you can help me keep an eye on… the others,” Lin Sanjiu did not answer him directly. “I think I overused one of my abilities, so it is currently sealed… Right now, I’m not in my best condition.”

When she was fighting back in Oasis, she vaguely heard Mrs. Manas voice asking her whether she wanted to do something. After she woke up, she nearly forgot about that. However, Lin Sanjiu quickly realized that something was wrong, when she tried to enter the [School of Higher Consciousness], she saw only a lifeless patch of gray in front of her, as if the ability had been totally sealed.

When she thought about it, it was quite unbelievable that she could destroy Oasis entirely, considering her remaining strength at that point. That event was definitely linked to the reason why her ability was sealed, but before she even had a clue, they entered this pocket dimension, of all times.

“I am happy to see all of you getting into the swing of things. Since everyone has grown familiar with each other, it’s time to start the first game!” Mr. Dot said enthusiastically.

The arena buzzed with chatter as everyone looked toward the white fog with expectant faces even though they couldn’t see Mr. Dot clearly.

“The name of the first game is [Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku]. Let me explain how you should play this game. Sugoroku[1] is a type of popular board game, and Monopoly is the most famous variant of this game. In a normal game, the player must roll two dices, then move his pieces forward according to the number of pips. The person who reaches the finishing point first would be considered the winner. But [Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku]is slightly different…

“The player will start from their own side respectively, the first person to pass all 16 squares to reach the finishing point will be the winner. But, the number of steps you can advance is determined by your opponent.”

“What?” After Mr. Dot said that, a series of questions erupted within the teams.

“If the winner is the first person who reaches the finishing point… Then, as a player, I would stop my opponent from reaching first, right?” Lara asked her boyfriend, perplexed.

But Mr. Dot continued, “Now, for the rules of this game: When deciding the number of steps that your opponent can move, the minimum is one step, and the maximum is not larger than the number of squares left. So, if your opponent is on the second square, the largest number of steps you can get him or her to advance is 16-2=14 so he or she will end up one step away from the last square. You cannot refuse to state a number, you cannot choose 0, and you cannot ask your opponent to move backward.”

“That means, even if the opponent determines the number of steps to advance, the player can still go forward… even if it is one step at a time,” Lin Sanjiu mumbled to herself, “The White Team will determine how many steps we will go forward, but we can also determine theirs…”

“To ensure that this game is totally fair and that there is no first-mover advantage, there is no need to determine who shall move first,” Mr. Dot sounded quite cheerful when he said that. “After both teams have informed me about their chosen number, I will announce the number of steps to move, then both players will move accordingly. Thus, resolving that issue… If both players reach the finishing point at the same time, then the winner will be determined by a duel.

“The minimum number of players for this game is 2, and the maximum number of players is also 2.”

“And he still calls it a game, in the end, isn’t it still determined by a duel?” Lara was a quick-thinker, she wiped off the water on her face and grumbled, “Who would let their opponent move ahead of them? It would probably end with both players reaching the finishing point at the same time, then battling it out…”

“Don’t worry, I think no one would choose you as a contestant for this game,” Zhong Junkai comforted her gently. At this point, Chen Fan raised his voice and said, “If we have to fight, it is best to rely on us, guys.”

Suddenly, 16 squares appeared on both the red and white semicircles, creating a small route. Near to the end of the route, which was the boundary line between both semi circles, both routes led to an additional square with a yellow border — it was the finishing square. However, other than the finishing point, there was a question mark on each of the squares, and no one knew what they represented.

“Is everybody ready? Please choose your contestants in five minutes!” The first game finally commenced with Mr. Dot’s words.

TN: [1] This is the official name in English, but this game originated in China as Shuanglu/Shuangliu which means double sixes in Chinese and kanji. But it was actually adapted from an Indian game!