Chapter 423: The Game Begins!

Shu Renjun lit a cigarette, his slightly trembling hands betraying the panic in his heart.

In Hell.

Reserve Teammates were very common.

Firstly: to maintain rule.

Secondly: to prevent this exact situation.

For example, you are an Eight-Star player, and you matched with an alliance leader. In an Instance where two people need to cooperate to clear the stage, you suddenly commit suicide. The leader...

Can he still be saved?

If skills cannot be used, then the leader cannot be saved. He would be dead thoroughly, without any room for maneuvering at all.

Therefore, not only leaders but also Floor Masters would bring Reserve Teammates when entering Instances, specifically to deal with this kind of almost certain-death situation.

Look at this.

Shu Renjun, with his skills banned, encountered an Instance requiring cooperation, and he didn't have a Reserve Teammate by his side. With Cui Yu inviting him to his death, he had absolutely no way out.

The other four people definitely wouldn't be stupid enough to switch places with him, and might even block him.

And Cui Yu was dead set on grouping with him.

If he committed suicide midway.

Shu Renjun would also be done for.

…

Now, he could only hope that this game could be cleared by one person, but the problem was, how could one person press two buttons simultaneously?

Moreover, Hua Changsheng wouldn't kindly design a cooperative game where: if one person dies, the remaining person could still clear the stage.

Shu Renjun took two fierce puffs of his cigarette and organized his wording in his mind: "Do you think there's a possibility that this Hua Changsheng in front of us is just an NPC? Even if I die, Qiu Yinong might still be grouped with her."

Cui Yu didn't speak.

"If she's real, wouldn't you be dying for nothing later?"

Cui Yu still didn't speak. His resolute eyes stared fixedly at Shu Renjun.

Actually, with just a little analysis, one should know that Cui Yu was destined to die.

In this Instance, if Shu Renjun won, Cui Yu wouldn't survive; if Chen Ran won, he also wouldn't survive. Either way, it was death.

It was better to perish together with Shu Renjun.

The logic here was.

At this moment, perishing together with Shu Renjun would be more valuable. The more valuable he was, the greater the hope of him being resurrected in the future; but if he chose to wait until the end to die, then he would have no value in protecting Qiu Yinong, and the hope of being resurrected in the future would be small.

'Fuck!'

Shu Renjun was a bit irritable. He looked at Hua Changsheng: "Tell us the rules."

The corners of Hua Changsheng's mouth turned up: "I need a Future Lie from you, to kill Chen Ran in this Instance."

What a joke. If Chen Ran died, Hua Changsheng could use her skill to modify their scores, and Shu Renjun would definitely die; if Chen Ran didn't die, Shu Renjun would be lying.

Who would agree to this kind of Future Lie?

Shu Renjun spread his hands, his gaze sweeping over everyone one by one: "In that case, I can choose not to participate in the game. Let's just drag this out."

"Is that so? Have you considered that the Instance I designed might allow independent stage clearing?" Hua Changsheng said coldly.

The independent stage clearing she spoke of naturally meant that once any group fulfilled the stage-clearing conditions, those two people would be teleported out of the Instance, leaving the remaining players to continue the game.

Hearing this, Shu Renjun frowned. He knew clearly that Hua Changsheng was telling the truth.

After all, there were three groups in this Instance. If one group cleared the stage, what would be the use of keeping the other two groups around?

At this moment, he had to consider the question of whether he wanted dignity. If he wanted dignity, he would calmly go to his death in a group with Cui Yu; if he didn't want dignity, he could only sit and wait for the other four people to clear the stage.

He chose to...

Take two steps back, gesturing to Chen Ran's group of four to go first. Seeing this, Cui Yu also took two steps back, like a hungry wolf staring at its prey.

Shu Renjun: "..."

This was basically throwing the problem to the other four people.

Chen Ran, Qiu Yinong, Lin Xuan, Hua Changsheng—how should the four people be grouped?

"I will only group with Shu Renjun," Cui Yu very consciously stated a Future Lie.

The meaning was very obvious.

By the time Lin Xuan reacted, Chen Ran and Qiu Yinong were already standing on the first square grids of the left and right rows.

Lin Xuan: "..."

He could only group with Hua Changsheng.

This was the consequence of relying too much on skills.

Through deduction, Hell players could actually achieve brief moments of foreseeing the future.

For example, when Shu Renjun stepped back two paces, the other players could deduce that Cui Yu would subsequently speak a Future Lie, and the players would scramble for the square grids to avoid Hua Changsheng.

For example, Shu Renjun. The reason he chose to step back was because he deduced that Chen Ran would scramble for the square grids. If Chen Ran cleared the stage first, then once the effect of Eternal Kingdom ended, he could use his skills, and so could Hua Changsheng. Perhaps by then, he would have a chance to turn the tables.

This was the advantage of foreseeing the future; one could make the first move to ensure one's own safety.

But Lin Xuan had previously relied too much on his skills, meaning his foreseeing the future was all based on the results he saw from spaces where time flowed faster, rather than futures he deduced himself. Now that his skills were banned, his deduction was naturally half a beat slower.

Facing the strange looks from the others, Lin Xuan felt incredibly embarrassed. Those looks seemed to be saying: Really? You couldn't even grasp this kind of opportunity?

Chen Ran was also a bit doubtful whether such a special teammate would drag them down in the future.

Actually, his requirements for Lin Xuan weren't high—just having normal star-rating strength would be enough.

After all, they weren't real teammates, so they didn't need to build trust and friendship. In fact, many times, cooperating with Lin Xuan would feel unsafe. Chen Ran didn't expect him to be of much help in future Instances, but he also didn't want him to become a breakthrough point for their opponents.

From an omniscient perspective.

Chen Ran and Qiu Yinong had managed to survive until now by advancing cautiously and steadily, step by step.

But Lin Xuan had someone protecting him, plus a powerful skill, which meant he had it too easy in previous Instances. Naturally, on a mental level, he couldn't compare to Chen Ran and Qiu Yinong.

However, if the three of them became teammates, Lin Xuan's good days would be over. Not only could his skill be banned at any moment, but he would also encounter pursuit by players two stars higher in every Instance.

If he couldn't adapt, he'd probably die very quickly. He could only passively grow.

Chen Ran retracted his gaze and looked at the square grids beneath his feet, but didn't notice anything different.

Right at this moment.

A curtain of light appeared in mid-air, displaying the game rules:

【One: Cooperative game. It requires two people to simultaneously press the red buttons on the backs of the two Wooden Men. If one person dies, the other will trigger the Wooden Men's killing mechanism.】

【Two: Every square grid corresponds to a specific scene. Players can only advance one square grid after clearing the scene. The Wooden Men will turn their heads at irregular intervals. During this period, players must remain completely motionless, otherwise they will trigger the killing mechanism.】

【Three: The red buttons can only be touched by hands; touching with objects is prohibited.】

Seeing these three rules, Shu Renjun's frown could crush a fly.

At the same time, the scenes before Chen Ran's and Qiu Yinong's eyes also changed.