Hyperthermal Hell || Apocalypse Paradise #1 [Complete]

74: Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku (3)

"Okay, the White Team has already given me their number. Now, it's the Red Team's turn," Mr. Dot called out a second time.

After Mr. Dot had revealed the choices for the first round, both Lin Sanjiu and that young man stood in the first squares with slightly tensed expressions. As she looked at the question mark symbol on the second square, she frowned. 'What's under that question mark?' she couldn't help thinking to herself.

"One square," she gave the same answer.

"For the second turn, one step forward for the White Team, and one step forward for the Red Team!"

When Mr. Dot finished his sentence, the non-participating members from each team looked as if they had predicted what would happen. The design of the game seemed totally meaningless to all of them. Since the number of steps forward was determined by one's opponent, it was logical that both players would choose the slowest route forward for their opponent until the finishing point where they would fight it out.

'But is that really the case?' Lin Sanjiu pondered as she stepped onto the second square. 'If the game could only be determined by a duel, then wouldn't it make more sense for the game to be purely a fighting match from the beginning?'

Once again, she heard the familiar "Ding Dong!" The question mark symbol beneath her feet disappeared and was replaced by a picture of a jam-packed road. Lin Sanjiu looked up and saw her opponent's bewildered, frowning face.

"Oh dear!" Mr. Dot exclaimed in an exaggerated manner. "Just when the two contestants stepped into the next square, the new year bell rang! As the contestant from the White Team set off some fireworks illegally, he was fined. -1 point for the White Team!"

Before anyone could process the fact that the New Year had arrived, the members of both teams looked toward the fog with rather blank expressions. Shortly after, unlike the White Team, the Red Team quickly became excited, and all their faces lit up.

On the other hand, the young man from the White Team looked almost ready to rush into the white fog to argue with Mr. Dot. "Hey! There's something wrong here! Didn't you say that we'll get one point when we win the game? How could you just deduct our points whenever you want to? Doesn't that mean that even if I win this game, it'll be for nothing!" he raged.

Hu Changzai and Hai Tianqing, who were standing behind the man, exchanged glances with one another when they heard his rant. They did not know if they should be happy or concerned. Despite their conflicted emotions, they did not show how they really felt—both concealed their true expressions after they saw Lin Sanjiu's signal. They did it so well that none of the members of the White Team realized that they actually had friends in the Red Team.

"Have you forgotten what I said in the rules regarding the gain and loss of points?" Mr. Dot's tone remained unchanged as he maintained his stance. "If you want to earn more points, you'll have to try harder to look for ways to gain them!"

The young man spat angrily, and his eyes bore into the ten plus squares in front of him, as if he could spot the difference between the multiple question mark symbols on the ground.

"As for our Red Team contestant..." Mr. Dot continued, "Too many people wanted to watch the New Year fireworks, so she was unfortunately stuck in a traffic jam. She will have to skip the next turn."

When they heard the word "skip", their smiles fell off their faces.

"You must be kidding!" Lara Lian jumped up. "If she skips a turn, that means that she won't move forward the next round, right? Then, what's there to compete for? Wouldn't that mean that the other team has already won?"

According to the rules, the smallest number that Lin Sanjiu could call out was one. If she was one step behind her opponent and each of them could only move one step per turn, this would mean that she had already lost.