Chapter 38: The Black Visitor
"It's a bit strange..." Qi Xia said quietly. "I thought a 'physical elimination game' would have a much more complicated venue to continuously weed out participants."
"You're right." Qiao Jiajin nodded, also looking at the square venue and the iron plate in the center with a puzzled expression. "How are they going to eliminate us here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the large iron door in front of them vibrated, then slowly rose up.
"Huh?" The chubby middle-aged man looked confused when he saw the door open. "What's this? Do we have to go further?"
Just as the door fully opened, the countdown on the wall also started moving.
It seemed the game had truly begun.
"What the hell?"
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, having no idea what was happening.
But the next second, a low, muffled growl sounded from within the door.
That sound... it wasn't human.
"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin's hairs stood on end. "Are you kidding me..."
A massive, pitch-black beast stepped out from inside. It stood on two legs, its mouth slightly open, drool continuously dripping down. Its eyes looked like it hadn't eaten in three days.
As it completely stepped out of the iron door, the door closed behind it.
"That's... a bear?!" Qiao Jiajin couldn't help but step back. If the opponent had been a human, he would have been confident enough to fight. But this was a bear over seven feet tall.
Qi Xia stared intently, his expression darkening. The species was a "black bear," identifiable by the distinct white crescent moon pattern on its neck. But this black bear's size was simply monstrous.
Normally, black bears rarely exceed human height, standing about 1.6 to 1.8 meters tall. But this one looked at least over two meters tall—truly terrifying.
"Ah!"
A girl was about to scream but instinctively covered her mouth, though a bit of sound still escaped.
That abruptly cut-off scream not only startled everyone but also scared the black bear.
After a brief pause, the bear let out an even deeper, more menacing growl, clearly angered.
"What the hell kind of game is this?!" the middle-aged man wailed loudly, then turned and ran. But after three steps, he froze in place.
He realized the stairs they had come down from were gone.
Now, behind them was nothing but a tall wall—no escape route at all.
The man seemed to lose his mind, plopping down on the ground. "It's over... we're dead... we're doomed..."
"Damn... what do we do?" Qiao Jiajin turned to look at Qi Xia. "This isn't something we can win with just strength anymore."
"Not good..." Qi Xia's expression also grew heavy.
Why did it have to be a bear of all things?
A bear's close-range lethality is even greater than that of a tiger or lion, and this limited space was its perfect hunting ground.
As the massive black bear slowly approached the group, the two young girls closest to it were too terrified to move.
"Quick, quick, play dead!" the middle-aged man sitting on the ground shouted. "Playing dead when encountering a bear gives you a chance to survive!!"
That yell snapped the two girls at the front back to their senses. They immediately lay down on the ground, trembling and closing their eyes.
"No!" Qi Xia also shouted. "Get up! Run!"
But the two girls completely ignored Qi Xia, lying motionless on the ground.
Seeing someone playing dead, the rest of the people also sprawled out all over the place. Now, only Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and a slightly plump girl were still standing.
"Liar, is playing dead wrong?" Qiao Jiajin asked seriously. "Aren't we supposed to play dead when encountering a bear?"
"Playing dead might work against a brown bear, but not a black bear!" Qi Xia shook his head earnestly. "Brown bears don't eat humans; they attack only to defend their territory. When they think a dead human poses no threat, they stop attacking. But black bears are different. Black bears will eat humans when they're extremely hungry!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the giant black bear approached one of the girls playing dead and sniffed her face.
"Foolish..." Qi Xia knew this was bad. Even if a human ran for their life from a black bear, survival was unlikely—let alone lying down to die.
Sure enough, after sniffing for a few seconds, the black bear suddenly opened its mouth and bit the girl's neck.
The girl screamed, but the sound was abruptly cut off, trapped in her throat.
Her flailing hands kept beating on the black bear, but it felt like hitting a hard sandbag.
The bear didn't let go. Instead, it extended its front paw and slammed it firmly onto the girl's chest.
Her chest visibly caved in, bones clearly shattered.
The girl spat out a large mouthful of blood and went completely still.
Seeing this, Qi Xia's heart seemed to skip a beat.
He had only ever seen news about animal attacks on his phone, never witnessed one in person. This scene was pure slaughter.
Everyone, men and women alike, gasped in horror.
Only then did they truly believe that playing dead was useless, and they scattered in all directions.
Though humans ruled the Earth, they were utterly helpless against these planet's original inhabitants.
Without tools or weapons, how could they possibly fight this bear?
Wait... tools and weapons?
Qi Xia suddenly thought of the iron plate in the center of the venue, the one the size of a table.
Who said there were no tools or weapons here? Hadn't the host left something there?
"Qiao Jiajin, we need to get that iron plate!" Qi Xia said. "I don't know what it is, but it looks like it could protect us."
"Damn... you sure know how to pick 'em..." Qiao Jiajin looked at the iron plate practically under the black bear's feet, his expression troubled. "That item's out of stock right now. Would you like to pick something else, sir?"
"Stop wasting time!" Qi Xia said. "If we don't use that iron plate to block the bear, our deaths are just a matter of time."
"Alright..." Qiao Jiajin seemed to make up his mind. "I'll lure the bear away. You go get the iron plate."
"Lure it away...?" Qi Xia hesitated but knew it was the only option now. "A black bear can run up to 48 kilometers per hour. You can't outrun it—just try to keep it occupied."
"I got it." Qiao Jiajin nodded.
The two settled on a plan and split up.
Qiao Jiajin slowly approached the black bear, then suddenly shouted, "Hey! Idiot!"
The black bear paused, lifted its head to look at him, its eyes filled with cautious murderous intent.
It took a slow step forward, as if probing. Qiao Jiajin didn't back down—he also took a step forward.
This action made the beast hesitate. It couldn't gauge Qiao Jiajin's strength.
"You idiot, you want to go a few rounds with me?" Qiao Jiajin forced a smile and gestured with his hand. "Come on, hit me."
Though the black bear didn't understand human language, it was clearly provoked by Qiao Jiajin's attitude.
It slowly straightened its upper body, standing on two legs to make itself look even larger.
"Roooar—"
The black bear roared, as if boosting its own momentum, spraying out the stench of rot from its mouth.
The massive roar echoed through the confined space, making everyone's hair stand on end.
A cold sweat slowly trickled down Qiao Jiajin's face. He felt like he had just provoked something terrifying.