Chapter 43: Twenty Seconds
Black Bear attacked seven or eight times without pause, each strike lighter than the last.
The heavy thuds gradually turned into feeble pats.
"About right..." Qi Xia said. "Its attack should stop here."
Just as Qi Xia predicted, after one final powerless strike, Black Bear cautiously stared at the iron sheet in front of it, snorted a few puffs of hot air, and gave up.
It didn't look very tired, but it stopped attacking.
"That's it?" Qiao Jiajin peeked from the side of the iron sheet. "That thing should still have some strength left."
"Animals are different from humans. To deal with the dangers that are everywhere in nature, they rarely let themselves become completely exhausted. Even if it still has some energy left now, it won't fight to the death against this iron sheet."
Sure enough, Black Bear silently turned around and walked toward a corpse on the ground.
This was the woman who had died at the very start of the game.
She was also a more stable and safer food source for Black Bear.
Black Bear's eyes fixed on the direction of the iron sheet, then it sniffed the corpse on the ground. It opened its mouth, and with a "plop," it bit through the corpse's abdomen.
The sound was like biting through a plastic bag full of water, and bright red things splattered all over the ground.
Then, Black Bear nosed around and began using its tongue to pick out its preferred organs. Before long, there came the sound of "smack, smack," as if it were eating with relish.
Everyone turned away, unable to bear watching the scene.
Black Bear ate while glancing toward the iron sheet, creating a strange standoff.
Fortunately, there was little time left.
In the tense, oppressive atmosphere, Black Bear made no further move, only hollowing out the corpse's abdomen, revealing several stark ribs.
Qi Xia checked the time. Only about thirty seconds remained. It seemed the game was about to end.
But at that moment, Black Bear, now sated and rehydrated, suddenly let out a low growl and once again twisted its massive body and charged over.
It seemed to know that time was running out and was ready to go all out.
"It's coming!! Get ready!!" Qi Xia shouted, alerting Qiao Jiajin.
Qiao Jiajin planted his feet and leaned diagonally against the iron sheet.
The people lined up behind him quickly got into position. Now the group was a bit more united, each person steadying the one in front.
They thought this attack would also pass safely, but they never expected Black Bear to rear up and stand on its hind legs in front of the iron sheet. Its over two-meter tall figure brought immense pressure to everyone.
"Damn..." Qi Xia felt something was wrong.
The next second, Black Bear placed its two front paws on top of the iron sheet and poked its head over. Its mouth was open, with shreds of human flesh stuck between its teeth.
"ROAR—!!"
A huge roar; Qi Xia felt his ears were about to go deaf, and Black Bear's rancid saliva splattered all over his face.
"Hold it!" Little Glasses shouted.
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and pushed hard against the board. He could clearly feel hundreds of kilograms of force pressing forward, trying to crush him into a meat patty.
"I... f*cking... hell..."
Qiao Jiajin could barely speak. Qi Xia immediately went forward to help him brace. Black Bear's strength was terrifying, and the people behind were frozen in shock.
Black Bear pushed forward a few more times, but finding the iron sheet wouldn't budge, it suddenly grabbed the edge with both paws and yanked it toward itself.
Qiao Jiajin and Qi Xia had been pushing outward against the board, but they never expected Black Bear to also pull outward, flipping the board over onto the ground.
Both lost their footing and fell to the ground with a crash.
"CLANG!!"
As the iron sheet hit the ground with a loud noise, everyone was exposed to Black Bear — especially Qiao Jiajin and Qi Xia, who were the most vulnerable.
Before they could react, Black Bear immediately swung a front paw at Qiao Jiajin.
Qiao Jiajin rolled sideways, narrowly dodging the strike.
"Hey! Liar! Get up!!" Qiao Jiajin, who had rolled aside, bellowed. "If you keep lying down, you're dead!!"
Qi Xia was rolling on the ground, feeling like he had hit his chest and was having trouble breathing for a moment.
Qiao Jiajin stood up, looking anxiously toward Qi Xia. "Shit... Liar, get up!"
Qi Xia wanted to get up, but the pain was too severe. He tried several times but fell back down.
Black Bear seemed to notice Qi Xia's predicament, abandoned the agile Qiao Jiajin, and lunged toward Qi Xia.
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth, took a couple of running steps, leaped sideways, and executed a jumping knee strike that slammed into Black Bear's face.
Black Bear cried out in pain, closed its eyes, and swiped a paw, hitting Qiao Jiajin in the abdomen.
"Ugh—!"
That strike, though seemingly casual, hit the softest part of the human body. Qiao Jiajin was sent flying straight back.
"Cough... damn..." Qiao Jiajin felt like his ribs were broken.
"W-what do we do?" Little Glasses said nervously. "We have to save them..."
Then an idea struck him, and he turned to the middle-aged man. "Old Lyu! Take off your shoes! I have a way to save them!"
"Don't be stupid!" the middle-aged man said. "Little Glasses, do you want to bring trouble on yourself?! Right now, once Black Bear eats them, we'll be safe! Time is almost up!"
Little Glasses looked up — indeed, less than twenty seconds remained until the game ended.
Black Bear was now reaching out its forelimb toward Qi Xia. Given the situation, even though the game was about to end, Qi Xia was as good as dead.
This man had been doing his best to fend off Black Bear in front of the iron sheet the whole time. Whatever his ultimate goal, he had saved everyone's lives.
After a second of mental struggle, Little Glasses made up his mind.
"Hey! Bastard!!" he shouted, jumping forward a step. "Don't touch him!"
Black Bear paused and recoiled slightly.
The middle-aged man was also startled. He growled, "Holy crap! Little Glasses, have you lost your mind?!"
"You blind bear..." Little Glasses ignored the middle-aged man and instead cursed at Black Bear. "If you've got guts, come chase me..."
Before he could finish, Black Bear pounced.
Little Glasses was terrified and turned to run. He had thought he could tangle with the bear for a few dozen seconds like Qiao Jiajin did.
But he never imagined being chased by a huge, bloodthirsty predator would be so terrifying. A constant stream of hot, foul-smelling air hit his back. Though he tried to stay calm, his legs kept trembling, and he fell down every two steps.
He could only keep getting up and falling, falling and getting up.
At this rate, he might kill himself by falling before Black Bear even got him.