Chapter 113: The Brave Girl
Could there be such a coincidence?
In some cycle, it just so happened that none of the nine of them heard the "Echo," so they all lost their memories at the same time.
Additionally, the other "participants" they had known from before also happened to have no "Echo," so no matter how they acted here, they would rarely run into "acquaintances."
The possibility of this happening certainly existed—it was just extremely low.
"The Infinite Monkey Theorem," Qi Xia murmured to himself.
If you let an infinite number of monkeys spend an infinite amount of time randomly typing letters on a keyboard, one of them would, on some day, continuously and accurately type out all of Shakespeare's works.
Although the probability was infinitely low, it was still something that could happen.
Qi Xia was in that very situation now.
If they had reincarnated enough times, then at some point, with a minuscule probability, a situation of "total amnesia" would inevitably occur.
This would make them think they had just arrived here.
But if that were the case... wasn't that too terrifying?
Just as the "White Tiger" had said, they were trapped here.
Born to die, died to be born again.
No one could ever leave.
"Chu Tianqiu, what exactly is the way out?" Qi Xia asked, somewhat despairingly. "Do those three thousand six hundred 'Tao' even mean anything?"
"Qi Xia, I'm glad our conversation has reached the core issue. What I'm about to tell you from here on is all classified information." Chu Tianqiu slowly stood up, his expression equally hopeless. "No matter how you look at it, three thousand six hundred 'Tao' is an unattainable goal. Even if we can obtain 'Tao' through cycle after cycle, this world still has the 'Extreme Path,' who will do everything to stop us. So on the surface, we collect 'Tao,' but in reality, we carry out our own plan."
"Yes," Yun Yao chimed in. "We have many enemies."
"Then what is your plan?" Qi Xia asked again. "The people from 'Heaven's Gate' keep saying 'we must break all the games.' What does that mean exactly?"
"I don't know if you've noticed..." Chu Tianqiu said in a low voice. "We can reincarnate, but the 'Zodiac' in the city cannot."
The image of the human-rat corpse flashed through Qi Xia's mind.
"What does that signify?"
Chu Tianqiu pushed up his glasses and said seriously, "It means that as long as we spend enough time, we can definitely force all the 'Zodiac' to their deaths."
"What?" Qi Xia was stunned. "So that's it... No wonder they said 'break' all the games, not 'clear' all the games."
"Exactly." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "If all the 'Zodiac' in this city are dead, then 'games' and 'Tao' become meaningless. The people at the top will have no choice but to come out and see us. That will be our chance to escape."
"In other words... 'Heaven's Gate's' ultimate goal is to confront the 'Organizer,'" Qi Xia said. This method felt absurd, but perhaps it was feasible.
"To achieve this goal, we might die many times," Chu Tianqiu said. "But just like the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem' you mentioned earlier... as long as we persist, we will eventually achieve it someday."
Qi Xia nodded slightly. His view of 'Heaven's Gate' had changed a bit.
"But I still have one question," Qi Xia said. "I've participated in two 'Earth'-level games, and I couldn't find an opportunity to 'bet my life.' In 'Earth'-level games, we're destined to die anyway. How can we drag the 'Zodiac' down with us?"
Chu Tianqiu and Yun Yao fell silent at the same time.
They seemed to know the answer, but from their expressions, it was hard for them to speak.
"We only attempted a life-bet with an 'Earth'-level once, and it was shelved for the time being." Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "That game was almost lethal. So until we find the right method, we won't consider betting our lives against 'Earth'-level."
"Lethal?" Based on his understanding of this place, Qi Xia found it hard to believe there would be a truly "lethal" game.
"Qi Xia, each 'Human-level Zodiac' has nine to twelve animals, while each 'Earth-level Zodiac' has two to three. Just betting our lives against the 'Human-level' Zodiac has already caused us heavy casualties." Chu Tianqiu's tone grew grave. "We advanced from the city center all the way here, almost wiping out the 'Zodiac' along the way, but we've only eliminated half of the 'Human-level.' Three months ago, we set up our base in this school, planning to use it as a stronghold to push outward again."
Upon hearing this, Qi Xia seemed to understand something.
He had been to the city center, and there were very few 'Zodiac' there—mostly locals.
So that was the work of 'Heaven's Gate'?
Seeing that Qi Xia didn't quite believe him, Chu Tianqiu explained, "We once had a teammate who bet her life against the 'Earth Horse'..."
"What happened then?" Qi Xia asked.
"Later..." Chu Tianqiu's expression turned extremely sad. "She lost, and she never appeared again."
"Never... came back?" Qi Xia was taken aback. "Did she..."
"She didn't resurrect." Chu Tianqiu said. "That one 'game' she lost made her disappear forever."
Qi Xia slowly widened his eyes. "You mean... she was truly 'eliminated'?"
"Yes. She came from the same room as me." Chu Tianqiu murmured. "Ever since she lost that life-bet against the 'Earth-level,' no matter how many times we reincarnate, that seat is always empty."
Hearing this, Qi Xia took a deep breath.
It seemed that joining 'Heaven's Gate' was a very correct decision. Not only did Qi Xia now have a better understanding of this damn place, but he also had a clearer direction for action.
"Can you tell me about that life-bet?" Qi Xia asked.
"Yes." Chu Tianqiu nodded and slowly began to recount the story.
The brave girl's name was Xu Liunian.
She came from the same room as Chu Tianqiu, Yun Yao, and Jin Yuanxun.
Their 'interview game' was: Human-Pig, Human-Horse, Human-Ox.
The overall difficulty wasn't too great, but it wasn't until the third cycle that they could guarantee the survival of up to eight people.
At that time, the 'Echo' users—Chu Tianqiu, Yun Yao, and Xu Liunian—began to stand out, leading the group through the difficulties.
Xu Liunian was an ordinary girl, but she had an extraordinary dream.
She wanted to become an actress.
For that dream, she went to Hengdian at the age of sixteen and stayed there for a long time.
Because Xu Liunian's appearance was too plain, she could only play corpses at first.
The pay was forty yuan a day, and she usually had to lie down for eight hours. If the crew worked overtime, she would get an extra five yuan per hour.
In those years, Hengdian wasn't like it is now. Even playing a corpse wasn't a cushy job you could get every day.
Xu Liunian soon struggled with food and rent.
She could only earn a few hundred yuan a month. Even if she ate instant noodles every day, she couldn't always save up enough for rent.
Later, she decided to change her career path. She learned some martial arts online, and on a whim, she went to an interview to be a stunt double.
Female stunt doubles were rare, whether as body doubles or extras, the pay was decent.
Xu Liunian managed to earn a bit of money.
She thought she could slowly rise from an extra to a big star, just like many predecessors in the acting world. But things didn't go as planned.
During a stunt performance, she was seriously injured. A scaffolding hit her in the lower back.
That injury nearly damaged her spine and could have left her paralyzed.
From then on, Xu Liunian's body couldn't tolerate standing for long periods. Her dream of being an 'actress' was shattered.
But she couldn't bear to leave Hengdian. So at the age of twenty-four, she used the money she had saved to buy a taxi there and became a taxi driver.