Chapter 73: Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku (2)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
After Mr. Dot said that, everyone’s expressions turned a little weird. For this game of Sugoroku, each team could only send one player each. According to rule 7: “Before every game commences, the team members from each team who are not partic.i.p.ating will have to offer up one of their own items as a prize”. Thus it was obvious that everyone wanted to be the contestant for the game.
After all, the contestant would not receive any sort of penalty even if he or she loses; however, the remaining team members would have to give up their item. Before the first game even officially started, everyone avoided each other’s gaze and lowered their heads, contemplating.
Since no one spoke even after some time, Lara asked in a quiet, mousy voice, “Well… who should represent us for this game?”
Without showing a shred of modesty, Chen Fan answered her boldly, “Didn’t I address that just now? In the end, this game would be determined by a duel. So, of course, we should choose a male contestant!”
Lara’s face froze for a second, unable to immediately argue against him. As if to remedy to her mistake, she quickly added, “You can’t put it that way! The players would use their abilities to duel, so it is not about one’s physical strength… Besides, if the White Team chooses a female contestant, then I… Uh… and Miss Lin can also be chosen!”
“No matter who partic.i.p.ates, I don’t have any opinion on—” Zhong Junkai seemed to be little reserved about it, but before he finished his sentence, his girlfriend pulled his s.h.i.+rt sleeve, so he swallowed the remaining words.
Old w.a.n.g looked at Lara — but this time he wasn’t staring at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. “Little girl, you’re too naive. The first game is the most stressful round. You are just a delicate lady, what will we do if you somehow can’t take the pressure? If n.o.body objects, I can be the contestant.”
When he said that, the other members, except for the expressionless Lin Sanjiu and B.Rabbit, instantly felt a little uneasy. Lin Sanjiu remained silent as she watched the other members bicker. Suddenly, she raised her voice and asked, “Mr. Dot, how will you judge the duel?” The rest of her Red Team members zipped their mouths once she shouted and waited intently for Mr. Dot’s reply.
“Wow, this is a coincidence! The White Team also asked the same question! I will answer both teams at the same time…” Mr. Dot paused for a few seconds before he spoke again, “Since it is a duel, it shall end when one of the party dies.”
B.Rabbit staggered at that remark and nearly fell off Lin Sanjiu’s shoulder. The members of the Red Team sitting in their small circle immediately fell silent. Considering the 50% chance of dying, the importance of their abilities or items diminished. However, due to their previous behavior where they nearly got into a fight trying to be the chosen contestant, the current atmosphere was still very tense. Everyone was trying to find a way to excuse themselves discreetly, and Old w.a.n.g was the first to speak, “If the opposite team send out the old woman, I’ll be the contestant.”
The members of the White Team were mostly at their prime age. With his outstanding physique, Hai Tianqing looked menacing no matter where he stood. The long-legged woman with a red mini-skirt was tall and feisty. The remaining members, including Hu Changzai, were also healthy young men. Only that woman who looked old beyond her years seemed like the weakest link.
Hearing his words, the others naturally understood what he meant, and faint, superficial smiles appeared on their faces. Just when the Red Team was still undecided, Mr. Dot raised his voice and unexpectedly said, “Okay! Our White Team have decided on their contestant. Can the contestant please walk up to the starting point! Red Team, you still have two minutes.”
The members of the Red Team turned their heads to look at the White Team. An average-looking young man who was about 1.8m walked toward the starting point. He grinned at the Red Team and loosened his neck and shoulders as he reached the starting point. Once he stood in position, he suddenly slammed his fist on the ground. The impact it caused drove away a lot of the remaining white fog in the arena. It was so strong that even the Red Team could feel the tremors. When he straightened himself, there was a hole beside the square he was standing in, and that hole was the size of a human’s head.
The Red Team grew silent when they saw his simple but effective threat. It might be painful for them to lose their items but the risk of dying was worse…
“Well, I’ll partic.i.p.ate,” Surprising, Lin Sanjiu volunteered while everyone kept quiet.
The others looked relieved as if they had just been saved. Lara smiled with her pallid face, “Ah, Miss Lin, you’re confident in your combat abilities? I’m so envious, but please be careful.”
“How could we let a woman like you… Sigh… Fine, we can’t do anything if you insist,” Chen Fan added. Meanwhile, Old w.a.n.g just chuckled.
Zhong Junkai raised his brow and said, “Miss Lin, you don’t have to risk your life just because of those prizes…”
“It’s alright. I’ve already made up my mind.” Lin Sanjiu smiled at him, her amber eyes shone beautifully. After that, she stood up and looked at her team members, “I guess no one has any objections? If you support my decision to partic.i.p.ate, please raise your hands. After all, the rules stated that the contestant must get the votes from their team members.”
Four arms rose one after the other. After a long hesitation, a tiny rabbit paw rose. B.Rabbit whispered in Lin Sanjiu’s ear, “Hey, are you confident about this? If you fight using that useless ability of yours, you might just die immediately…”
Lin Sanjiu glared at him, “We’ll just have to see how it goes. I still have some confidence in fighting.”
Anxious, B.Rabbit wanted to say more but was interrupted. “Our Red Team have also decided on their contestant! Could the contestant from the Red Team also proceed to the starting point?”
Like the ending point, the square for the starting point did not have a question mark symbol. There was only a simple “Start” in it.
Even though there were 34 squares between them, they were not far from each other. She could even see the young man’s exceptionally lengthy eyebrows. The young man grinned cheekily at her as if he had a hidden trick up his sleeve. Now that the contestants were in position, it was time for the teams to hand over their offerings. There were five remaining members in both red and white teams. Just as how Lin Sanjiu received the reward from the treasure chest, the members went into the white fog successively, thus no one knew what the other had offered. When each of them came out from the fog, they all had complex expressions, just like new investors who were uncertain about their investments.
“For the first round, I received five Special Items from the White Team and five Special Items from the Red Team. For these precious prizes, do you best, contestants!” Mr. Dot announced gleefully after all the prizes have been gathered. Lin Sanjiu was quite surprised by the outcome. She did not expect that everyone in the arena had a Special Item to offer. There wasn’t even a single Active Skill being offered in this first round.
“Sigh. That’s it? I thought that the other team would offer some Active Skills…” Chen Fan even mumbled disappointedly. He was not the only one who was disappointed. Lin Sanjiu could see that the atmosphere in the White Team was similar.
“Is everyone ready? The first game[Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku]will officially begin now!”
While Mr. Dot spoke, B.Rabbit, who was missing a collar from his neck, stood on his two hind legs, watching Lin Sanjiu nervously.
Both teams were still unable to hear their opponents so everyone could only hear Mr. Dot. “Alright, our White Team contestant has already informed me about his chosen number. Could the contestant from the Red Team decide on a number?”
“One square,” Lin Sanjiu replied without thinking.
In this game, the smallest number was one and they couldn’t choose zero, neither could they force the opponent to move backward… thus she could predict that the opponent would also say one.
“Okay, I will now announce the chosen number from both teams…” Mr. Dot said even louder, “One step forward for the White Team… and one step forward for the Red Team!”
As expected, both teams made their opponents move only one step forward. Lin Sanjiu and the young man caught each other’s gaze, they quickly averted their eyes and took a step forward, landing on the first square.
“Ding Dong!” she heard a familiar sound. The question mark symbol disappeared from under her feet, and a cartoon of a crying man and a dog appeared in the square. Before Lin Sanjiu’s confusion appeared on her face, Mr. Dot suddenly said, “Ah, both teams are very unlucky! The contestant of the White Team has knocked down an old man. To pay for the old man’s medical fee, the White Team loses a prize!”
The members of both the Red and White team were all stunned. As they were all distracted by the unique rules of this game, they’d all forgotten that there were chance and community chest cards in Monopoly, and that landing on certain tiles could mean a reward or a penalty — such as winning five million on the lottery or being dragged off by the police…
Without considering the contestants’ feelings, Mr. Dot continued, “Even if the White Team win this round, they will only be able to collect back four items and the five items from the other team… The confiscated prize will be added to a random treasure chest. This will become an individual prize for the person who opens that chest.”
[Individual prize… That means that it is not part of the team prize?]
“As for the Red Team…”
Lin Sanjiu immediately listened very carefully.
“The contestant from the Red Team had accidentally stepped on a dog’s tail. The dog chased her through two streets, so she lost her shoes. To buy a pair of new shoes, the Red Team had to sell off one of the prizes. That prize is also added to one of the treasure chests.”
It had only been three minutes since the game commenced, yet both teams had already lost one prize each. Right now, no matter who won, they would only get back four of their own items and another four from the other team, that’s “only” 8 items in total.
Even though the two items have been added to the treasure chests, n.o.body knew how they could obtain the treasure chests and whether they could even get the right treasure chest with the prizes was already a problem. The expressions of the members from both teams grew somber.