Chapter 427: The Yellow Door
"The other end is the 'Cat House,'" said the Mole. "In other words, my room."
"You have a room too?"
"Yes." The Mole nodded. "Everyone, please rest assured. I won't lie in the rules. Our rooms are at opposite ends of the hall, with excellent soundproofing. I can't hear your discussions at all, nor will I enter your room."
Qi Xia looked again at the 'Cat House' on the far right. That room had a white door, separated from the 'Rat House' by five rooms. Even if the soundproofing wasn't perfect, it would still be hard to hear sounds from the other side.
"And the five rooms in the middle, plus this hall, are our playing field," the Mole continued. "Our main activities will take place here."
As he spoke, the Mole walked over to a yellow door and pushed it open.
The room inside was very spacious. At the far end stood a wine-red altar table, on which rested a white porcelain plate. The plate held several fruits piled up like offerings. On closer inspection, they appeared to be dragon fruits.
This was definitely a rare sight in the "Land of the End."
"Tsk, that's really unlucky. It looks like an offering for the dead..." Saturday remarked. "Who taught you to put three fruits at the bottom and one on top?"
"Lucky...?" The Mole gave a forced smile, curling his lips. "In a place like this, who cares about luck?"
He walked forward and pointed at the dragon fruits on the table. "These fruits can fill your stomachs... but only in the 'literal sense.'"
"What?"
"Dear leaders, for the next part, you'll need to put on the collars before I can continue explaining." The Mole gestured to everyone.
Qi Xia exchanged glances with the others. Knowing they had already signed up for the game and couldn't avoid this moment, they put on the collars without further ado.
Once all collars were connected, two lights lit up on each side of everyone's collar—two in total.
"Dear leaders... The lights on your necks represent your 'fullness value,'" the Mole explained. Feeling he hadn't made it clear enough, he added, "You have two bars now, meaning you are 'full.'"
"When does our 'fullness value' decrease?" Qi Xia asked.
"It decreases by one point automatically each round," the Mole said. "Leader, let me reiterate: each round is divided into two phases: 'Night' and 'Day.' After both phases pass, everyone's fullness value will decrease by one point collectively."
Seeing the group nod, the Mole continued, "Every time you 'steal' food, you can increase your fullness value by one point. Each fruit adds one point to one 'Rat's' fullness, up to a maximum of two points."
Qi Xia quickly calculated in his mind. Each of them started with two points of 'fullness value,' totaling ten points. Each round, everyone would lose one point, over six rounds, requiring thirty points of 'fullness value.'
Subtracting the initial ten points, they theoretically needed to find twenty fruits.
The room before them held four fruits. It was possible that the other rooms also contained four each. Five rooms in total would yield twenty fruits—exactly enough.
Luo Shiyi muttered to himself, "So we really have to act like rats and steal food?"
"That's right, leader. The 'fullness value' can drop to 0, but if it falls below 0, the collar around your neck will explode." The Mole glanced at him and continued, "During each Night, the 'Rat' faction has three options: Search, Transport, or Rescue. Each person may choose only one. Let me explain these three options in detail."
He walked over to the wall and found something resembling a switch. "There's a button here. Press it when you enter a room, and the door will lock. This is considered the 'Rat' deciding to search this room. The next day, you can take the fruit from that room. But please note: under any circumstances, each 'Rat' can only transport a maximum of three fruits."
"How do we trigger 'Transport'?" Qi Xia asked.
"To trigger 'Transport,' the 'Rat' must stay in the room for one full round. In the next round, you can 'Transport.' By the way, once someone triggers 'Transport,' they can carry items for their teammates, but the limit remains three fruits."
"That's a bit complicated..." Luo Shiyi scratched his head. "We've covered 'Search' and 'Transport.' What else is there?"
"There's 'Rescue,'" the Mole said. "To trigger 'Rescue,' I need to explain the actions of the 'Cat.'"
He paused, then said to the group, "For the 'Cat,' there are also three actions: 'Search,' 'Set Up Obstacles,' and 'Patrol.'"
"You have a 'Search' too?" Qi Xia asked.
"Yes, but my 'Search' is not for fruit—it's for 'Rats,'" the Mole explained. "After each of you chooses 'Search' and locks the door, I will randomly pick a room during the Day to begin 'Searching.' If I enter a room with a 'Rat' inside, I catch them."
"What happens if you catch someone?" Qi Xia finally asked the most pressing question. "Are they eliminated directly?"
"Not that ruthless," said the Mole. "A 'Cat' that catches its prey will slowly torment it, not devour it immediately. So I will bring that person to the 'Cat House' and eliminate them at the start of the next round. You can choose to enter the 'Cat House' during the Night to rescue them. Even though I'm in the room, I won't interfere. After six rounds, all surviving 'Rats' who are not in the 'Cat House' are considered winners."
"We can rescue people? Then how can you possibly win?" Luo Shiyi asked. "Don't you know what kind of team we are?"
"Heh, no problem, dear leaders. Feel free to rescue," the Mole chuckled dryly. "I sincerely hope you help each other."
Qi Xia's expression gradually darkened. He felt this game had some depth to it.
If a 'Rat' was caught, and the others chose to 'Rescue'... was that really a good idea?
That would mean one 'Rat' would have to give up a chance to 'Search' and spend one point of 'fullness value' to save someone. That round, at least one more fruit would need to be brought back by the other teammates to make up for the loss.
But it wasn't that simple. Rescued person would also have been starving for at least a day, needing to replenish with 'fruit' immediately. If they rescued someone when 'fruit' was scarce, it would only hasten the team's overall death.
The Mole game was clearly very different from the Dog game... It didn't require overly close cooperation. The focus was on 'hiding' and 'finding.' The five Rats could even operate independently. In the end, only one needed to survive for victory.