Chapter 357: Slacking Off?
"So can we do it later?" Su Shan asked. "Does your game take a long time?"
"Not really." Earth Dog shook his head and sighed. "But it's exhausting. I've already dealt with a batch today. Can we do it tomorrow?"
"Dealt with a batch...?" Attorney Zhang looked uneasy.
"Yeah, I'm a bit tired. Let's make it for tomorrow?" Earth Dog yawned lazily. "I'm afraid I'll fall asleep in the middle of the game."
Qin Dingdong turned to look at Su Shan. "Are you really sure about participating?"
"The question is... are you all ready?" Su Shan shot back.
Qin Dingdong sighed at that.
"Lin Qin and I are both 'Echoers,' so participating in this kind of game isn't that stressful for us. Even if we lose, we'll retain our memories. But what about you two?" Her gaze shifted between Su Shan and Zhang Chenze. "If you die before you 'Echo,' you'll forget all of this."
"I..." Zhang Chenze paused, then said, "Actually, I don't care either. I don't have any retained memories. If you hadn't explained the rules here earlier, I'd really think I only just arrived."
The others turned their attention back to Su Shan.
"I'm not afraid of failure," Su Shan said. "The more painful the failure, the more it can trigger my 'Echo.'"
Earth Dog stuck his pinky finger in his ear and scratched, sensing trouble. "Hold on... all four of you are veterans?"
"No." Su Shan shook her head. "To be precise, only two are veterans. The other two are newcomers."
"Two is still troublesome enough..." Earth Dog pursed his lips. "Can you find someone else? As much as I want to kill you, I'm really tired today."
"How strange..." Su Shan looked at the gaunt dog-headed man in confusion. "Can you 'Zodiacs' refuse to let us participate in your game?"
"Well, I can't refuse." Earth Dog frowned. "If I could, I would have already."
"Then..." Su Shan was puzzled. "If you can't refuse, why are you trying to talk us into going somewhere else?"
"Because I'm buying time." Earth Dog leaned back against the wall, resting his arms behind his head. "Maybe if I stall a bit longer, I can clock out."
"It's useless." Su Shan shook her head. "I've made up my mind. I have to participate in your game today."
"Ah..." Earth Dog slowly closed his eyes. "I'm not gonna lie... veterans are just way too hard to handle..."
Qin Dingdong, Lin Qin, and Zhang Chenze exchanged glances. After a moment, Qin Dingdong spoke up. "Xiao Shan, since he doesn't want to host us, how about we call it off? It's getting late..."
Su Shan glanced at Qin Dingdong. "Why don't you go rest first? I think time is precious, and I don't want to waste it on sleep."
"Huh?" Qin Dingdong hadn't expected such a flimsy excuse from Su Shan.
Su Shan then looked at Earth Dog again. "May I ask how many participants your game requires?"
Earth Dog looked at them with a dejected expression and answered quietly, "What bad luck... it just so happens I need exactly four people."
Zhang Chenze nodded upon hearing that. "Su Shan, I'll go with you too. Gathering more information will help me make better judgments."
"Oh?" Su Shan looked at her, then nodded with slight satisfaction.
Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong clearly lacked motivation. Both were leaning toward leaving.
"Su Shan..." Lin Qin called out. "Let me tell you from experience—the first people to die in this place are often the ones who are eager to join every game."
"In other words, it's always the good swimmers who drown?" Su Shan raised her unusually bright eyes to meet Lin Qin's gaze. "But this whole world is flooded. We either learn to swim immediately, or we slowly drown. Which do you choose?"
Lin Qin thought for a moment, then nodded.
The Land of Endings always had people like this popping up, which was exactly what made you feel like you were still alive.
"Old Qin, what do you say?" Lin Qin turned to ask.
"Ah... what can I do?" Qin Dingdong sighed. "I'm Xiao Shan's 'good friend,' after all."
"Alright." Lin Qin extended a hand. "Attorney Zhang, Su Shan—for safety's sake, let's shake hands."
"Shake hands?" Both were puzzled.
"That's right," Lin Qin said. "As long as you're willing to shake my hand, Old Qin and I will follow you into this game."
Without hesitation, Su Shan reached out and shook Lin Qin's hand. Then Lin Qin let go and looked at Zhang Chenze.
Zhang Chenze eyed Lin Qin warily, then said, "I'll pass. Unless it's an emergency or a medical situation, I don't want anyone touching me."
Hearing that, Lin Qin recalled that Zhang Chenze had participated in Earth Dog's previous game as well, and she'd said the same thing then.
"I don't know why you're so against being touched, but shaking my hand could give you a higher chance of 'Echoing,'" Lin Qin said. "Are you sure you don't want to?"
Zhang Chenze considered this, then finally reached out and lightly touched the back of Lin Qin's hand.
"Is this okay?"
Lin Qin nodded. "It's a bit reluctant, but it'll do."
The four women turned back to look at Earth Dog. Their expressions seemed serious now.
"Come on..." Earth Dog felt like he was about to break down. "When did you 'participants' get so competitive? All I wanted was to find a quiet corner and be invisible, and today I've had to host two groups!"
"Sooner or later, you'd have to face this if you open your doors for business," Su Shan said with a smile. "What's the entry fee?"
"How about..." Earth Dog pulled a coin from his pocket. "Let's play a coin-guessing game. If you guess right, I'll give your team one 'Tao,' and we'll call it a day."
"What do you think?" Su Shan asked.
Earth Dog's expression turned cold. He put the coin back in his pocket, slowly stood up, and smoothed the fur on his head, looking a bit annoyed.
"There are two types of people I hate most in this life," he said with a yawn. "First, people who slack off. Second, people who stop me from slacking off."
"Doesn't that mean you hate yourself?" Su Shan asked.
"Exactly." Earth Dog nodded. "Entry fee is three 'Tao' per person. You get ten per person if you win."
"Not bad," Su Shan said. "As expected from an 'Earth-level.' We worked all day and only earned three or four per person. One of your games can net us seven."
"I don't want to either." Earth Dog shook his head. "A lazy 'Zodiac' like me accidentally took on a few overachieving apprentices. Now I'm all conflicted—if I don't at least pretend to try, they'll look down on me."