# Chapter 358: Calamity
"What do you mean?" Su Shan turned around and looked at Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong with confusion, her eyes seemingly hoping that the two seniors could give her an answer.
But Qin Dingdong and Lin Qin had never been on a Zodiac train either, so naturally they didn't understand the meaning behind Earth Dog's words.
"It's nothing." Earth Dog replied on his own. "Just daily griping."
Su Shan turned back, took three tickets from each person, and handed them to Earth Dog.
Earth Dog curled his lip but ultimately accepted the tickets unwillingly. He stretched his muscles, seemed to transform into a different person, and turned to open the door behind him.
It looked like a glass shop of considerable size.
"Slacking off is one thing, but once the tickets are paid, it's my work time." Earth Dog said with a serious expression. "For the next little while, I will do my utmost to kill all of you."
This short sentence sent a chill down Zhang Chenze's spine.
It was hard to imagine that a statement completely contrary to the law could be uttered with such conviction, as if it were as casual as an ordinary job.
The group followed Earth Dog through the door and found that this venue was different from the game grounds they had seen before.
This glass shop, nearly a hundred square meters in area, had been cleaned spotlessly—every fragment and piece of debris cleared away. Even the various glass items displayed inside had been wiped free of dust, making it no different from a shop in the real world.
How could this be something a "slacker" would do?
"Have we been deceived?" Su Shan said. "You've cleaned this place so thoroughly—clearly you wanted people to come in and take a look, right?"
"Don't flatter yourself." Earth Dog said coldly. "When I'm working, I only want to do my job well. No one can make me slack off. And when I'm slacking, I only want to slack. Anyone who tries to make me work will have to fight me."
"What a strange person." Su Shan said.
"A strange dog." Qin Dingdong corrected.
Earth Dog led them to the center of the room, where several large glass structures stood, reaching from floor to ceiling, looking like giant fish tanks.
Qin Dingdong reached out and tapped these massive fish tanks, finding the glass very thick—apparently a special material.
"Be careful not to leave fingerprints." Earth Dog said. "They're a pain to clean."
Qin Dingdong rolled her eyes at Earth Dog in annoyance, and when he wasn't looking, she smeared a big handprint directly onto the glass.
Su Shan peered into these large fish tanks and saw that each contained something like a lecture desk, with two small holes on the desktop—their purpose unknown.
The floor and ceiling of the glass rooms were made of iron mesh, and there seemed to be many mechanisms set into the ground nearby.
Earth Dog walked to the wall, reached out, and pressed a switch. The atmosphere in the room shifted.
Several spotlights fell from various directions, illuminating the five large fish tanks in the center. The rest of the shop became pitch black. The entire venue seemed to transform into a large stage, with only the fish tanks gleaming brilliantly under the lights.
"Everyone, please allow me to explain the rules."
Earth Dog brought the group beside the large fish tanks and explained: "The rules of this game are very simple. As long as any one of you four can defeat me, you win."
"Defeat?"
"Yes." Earth Dog nodded. "Each of us five will have our own glass house. When the game starts, everyone will be inside their respective glass houses."
At this point, everyone looked at these floor-to-ceiling fish tanks. They were arranged in a pattern.
In the center was a cylindrical glass room, and directly in front, behind, to the left, and to the right of the cylinder were four square glass rooms. The rooms were about two or three meters apart. Since they were made of glass, everyone inside could see each other's situation.
Interestingly, the glass used for the four square rooms differed—upon closer inspection, each had a faint color.
Pink, green, orange, blue.
And the cylindrical glass in the center, upon careful examination, was made of bright red glass.
"It looks like the five of us have five rooms." Su Shan said. "The four of us have surrounded you, but we can't touch you. How are we supposed to 'defeat' you?"
"You don't need to physically defeat me. As long as you can defeat me within the game rules, it counts as your victory." Earth Dog patiently explained. "You can think of this game as a simple prop battle."
"Prop battle?"
Earth Dog nodded and pulled out several wooden slips from his suit pocket.
Everyone gathered to look—these slips looked like the fortune sticks drawn at temples.
"Each of you starts with two different 'lots.' When it's your turn, you'll receive one new 'lot.' Different 'lots' have different functions." Earth Dog walked to a square glass room and opened the door. "If you want to use a certain 'lot,' insert it into the right hole on the desk—this counts as 'making a wish' with that lot."
Lin Qin stepped forward to look. The principle was probably similar to playing a card. The lecture desk inside the glass room stood on the floor, with two small holes that could each accommodate one "lot."
"And the other hole?" Zhang Chenze pointed to the left hole.
"That's what I'm about to explain." Earth Dog replied. "If you insert the 'lot' in your hand into the left hole, it will be passed to the next person on your left—this counts as a 'gift.'"
"'Gift'?"
"Yes."
Earth Dog casually picked up a "lot" and inserted it into the left hole. The lot quickly disappeared into the opening, and a few seconds later, it popped out on the desk of another glass room.
"This is the gift." After demonstrating, Earth Dog explained: "Each round, you can only choose one action. If you choose to 'make a wish,' you cannot 'gift'; if you 'gift,' you cannot 'make a wish.'"
Su Shan frowned and examined the room. From the inside, the glass was indeed very thick—if you stayed here, you probably couldn't hear any sounds from outside.
In other words, although the four of them were supposed to defeat "Earth Dog," they should be unable to communicate during this game.
If they couldn't communicate, the "gift" rule would seem very strange, since neither the person sending the "lot" nor the person receiving it would know the other's thoughts.
"Also, one more thing to note..." Earth Dog added. "Whether you choose to 'gift' or 'make a wish,' you can only consume one 'lot' per round."
After hearing the rules, both Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong felt that things were not looking good—
This game was a bit too difficult.
But Su Shan didn't seem too concerned. She looked up at the ceiling of the glass house, where there were many grids, suggesting that things might fall down during the game.
Su Shan nodded and turned to ask: "Earth Dog, what is the name of this game?"
"My game is called 'Year of Calamity.'"