Chapter 1041: The Terrified Pig
Han Yimo pulled his "Horse" piece out of his pocket. After hesitating for a moment, he handed it to Wen Qiyun.
"Good boy," Wen Qiyun said. "This 'Word' is your ticket to earning my trust. But for us to fully trust you, we'll need your second 'Word.'"
"Okay... but there's still one problem..." Han Yimo said, Sis Qiyun... you do know that if we lose this game, the entire losing team will be eliminated, right?"
"Yes." Wen Qiyun nodded. "Don't worry about that. Right now, both teams have a mole planted in the other's ranks. Maybe the moles can survive."
"Really...?"
Han Yimo didn't sound particularly afraid of death, because he knew that every time he died, a brand new life was waiting for him.
After all, this situation had gone on for many years. Compared to those years, this cycle had been an incredibly long life—he even had a vague sense of having lived long enough.
So what he needed now was neither survival nor death, but an opportunity to fully display his protagonist ability.
"Don't worry," Wen Qiyun said. "Didn't I just say? Your team also has a mole planted with us. If the mole couldn't survive... how could both 'commanders' have adopted this strategy simultaneously?"
Han Yimo's mind couldn't process that quickly; he could only nod blankly. He even forgot that his 'mole' identity hadn't been arranged by Chu Tianqiu, but by Dr. Zhao.
Meanwhile, the person wearing the wild boar mask—the Human Boar—turned back to look at the two of them with a strange expression and asked in an odd tone, "I wanted to cut in earlier... You two are ready to end the game just like that?"
"What?" Wen Qiyun looked at the wild boar with confusion. "Is there something else we need to confirm with you?"
"No... that's not it... I mean..." the wild boar said, "I don't know if this is how it's supposed to work... but we have our own procedure here!"
Wen Qiyun found this amusing and asked, "Then tell me, what is your procedure?"
"Uh, well..." The wild boar clearly hadn't expected that question. After hesitating for a moment, he replied, "Normally, isn't this supposed to be a game...? I'm the referee of this game. I haven't even announced that the game is over, and you two have already made a deal privately... That doesn't seem right, does it?"
Hearing this, Han Yimo felt that the wild boar in front of him might ruin his good fortune. He quickly said, "Big Brother Pig, can you please stop causing trouble? I'm really scared right now... Just let the game end and let me go."
"Jeez, I'm scared too!" the wild boar shouted. "Are you the only one in the whole world who's scared?!"
"Huh?!" Han Yimo became even more anxious. "You're the referee of this lousy game. You're the villain... What's a villain afraid of?"
"Who the hell is a villain?!" The wild boar felt he had heard something extremely absurd. "All of us have our heads on the line because of you people showing up! Who's the real villain here?! I'm a thousand times unwilling too! Don't you two mess things up for me. Let the game end properly!"
Wen Qiyun frowned slightly. If the referee really intended to invalidate their deal right now, how could she refuse that proposal?
After all, she couldn't win in the time remaining. This was already the best outcome.
Fortunately, Han Yimo, who usually didn't seem very sharp, actually came through this time.
Before Wen Qiyun could say anything, he spoke first to the wild boar: "Proper end, proper end? Proper my ass?! I don't even have any 'chips' left—I've already handed them over! If you end the game now, what do I lose? My life?!"
"Well... this..." The wild boar seemed never to have encountered such a situation. "But this really puts me in a difficult spot... If the higher-ups come down on me..."
Wen Qiyun found the wild boar's reaction strange. She looked around the room the three of them were in now—this was the first time she remembered ever stepping into a game venue.
So she really wanted to ask: were all the "Zodiac" game venues this shabby?
It was just a pitch-black room with wooden walls, light well-blocked, a single wooden table in the center, and a lamp that had just been installed overhead.
In other words... the only "props" used in this game were just the "lamp" and the "coins." They could be brought in at any time and taken away at any time.
So was this really a game venue?
"No..."
Wen Qiyun lowered her head and looked at the only card left in her hand—the "Reroll Card." These brand new cards were also props.
The strangest thing about this game was that all the props were new.
The smooth surface of the coin didn't even have a single scratch. A coin that was tossed around every day without a single scratch... was that normal?
Wen Qiyun looked up at the lamp again. It was a bright white bulb, looking very clean, without a speck of dust.
It seemed there were many things to figure out about this game... not just those "Words," but also these strange referees.
"Mr. Pig..." Wen Qiyun called out.
"Human Boar," the wild boar corrected.
"Fine, Mr. Human Boar," Wen Qiyun said. "You must encounter all kinds of game participants every day, right? But the way you're acting now, it's like you've never seen anything like this before... Is it because you've only recently become a 'Zodiac'?"
"What nonsense are you talking about..." the Human Boar said. "All the people you'll meet today are 'veteran Zodiacs.' But our peaceful lives have been disrupted by you! You're the ones who deserve to die!"
"We... disrupted your lives?" Wen Qiyun felt the Human Boar might have gotten something wrong. "Even if we hadn't shown up, you'd still have to receive 'participants' every day, right?"
"Bullshit!" The wild boar frowned. "We were the cushiest idle employees in the entire 'Peachland,' with no worries about food or clothing! But because of this game of yours, the higher-ups had to transfer a bunch of us over to serve as temporary referees. Not only do we have to come up with games on the fly, but we also have to hang our heads on the line, waiting to die at any moment."
Now Wen Qiyun finally understood what the Human Boar meant. But she still knew too little about this place. From the literal meaning, it seemed that this Human Boar had never been a game referee before... and had only become a temporary referee for this round of "Cangjie Chess"?
Not a game referee, yet still a "Zodiac"?
"Mr. Human Boar, what were you originally responsible for...?" Wen Qiyun asked.
"We're just 'assistants'!!" The wild boar said, looking aggrieved. "We only need to work once per cycle—open the door to let the participants out of the room! Who knew we'd end up stuck with this crappy mess?!"
"Ah...?" Han Yimo was taken aback.