Chapter 1190: Good Luck and Bad Luck
Xu Huo still used the name Xu Zhi. After exchanging a few words with Ye Bingxin, he learned that she came from Zone 015, which seemed to have entered the game earlier than Zone 014.
"The order of game zone numbering isn't very strict," Ye Bingxin said. "But Zone 015 was pretty lucky—no resources to speak of, and it never encountered a Super Item incident, unlike unlucky Zone 014."
"Pretty unlucky indeed." Xu Huo nodded.
"Whether a new zone can rise sometimes depends on fortune," Ye Bingxin said. "I really believe in fate and destiny."
"Do you have a trait in that area?" Xu Huo asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Ye Bingxin touched her hair. "I just believe. And my divination is pretty accurate."
With nothing else to do, she said to Xu Huo, "Want me to do a reading for you?"
"Sure." Xu Huo extended his hand. "Palm lines or face reading?"
"No, no." Ye Bingxin laid out a row of self-made cards. "Just draw one."
Xu Huo casually picked one. The card face showed a sun, moon, and star pattern, but each symbol had a pointer, all pointing to different times.
Ye Bingxin looked at the card and exclaimed in surprise, "This is the first time someone has drawn this card!"
"What? Is it bad?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"Not exactly." Ye Bingxin pointed at the star pattern. "This is a one-bad-two-good card. The star is closest to you, meaning in the near future you'll encounter a significant calamity. But don't worry too much—the moon and sun behind it represent extreme misfortune turning to good fortune. This calamity might even bring you unexpected gains."
Xu Huo gave a slight smile. Before he could speak, the hat-wearing player nearby laughed. "Every player living in the game has one bad and two good, right?"
Every instance was dangerous, but as long as you cleared it successfully, the final rewards were always decent. In other words, that card could apply to any player.
The people in the carriage all showed faint smiles. Ye Bingxin wasn't annoyed. "I'm just interpreting based on the card face. I had this deck custom-made by a professional Artificer—no markings, no memorization possible. If you don't believe me, you can draw one yourself and see if you get the Sun-Moon-Star."
After speaking, she turned back to Xu Huo, a hint of envy in her eyes. "Judging from the card face, your luck is really, very good."
The hat-wearing player didn't buy it. He stared at the card Xu Huo had put back and voluntarily sat down at their table.
Ye Bingxin's expression cooled slightly. To prove her deck was accurate, she deliberately slowed down her shuffling.
Once the cards were rearranged, she warned, "Let me say this first: if you draw a bad card, don't come looking for trouble. More than two-thirds of the cards in this deck have unfavorable meanings."
"Then let's see my luck." The hat-wearing player deliberately teased, his fingers gliding over the cards before finally selecting one from the edge. "This must be the same card as before."
But when he flipped it over, the pattern showed numerous small stars.
The hat-wearing player raised both eyebrows and said to Ye Bingxin, "Did you rig it?"
"I told you, these are prop cards. Even if you memorized the card, you might not draw the same one. It's related to your luck." Ye Bingxin started to put the cards away.
"Aren't you going to interpret it?" The hat-wearing player blocked her.
"Would you believe me if I did?" Ye Bingxin countered. "If you don't believe, then there's nothing to say."
"I'm curious." Xu Huo interjected. "Earlier, the star on that card represented bad luck. This card is covered in stars—doesn't that mean nine chances of death and one of survival?"
Ye Bingxin glanced at the hat-wearing player. "Close enough. This is an unlucky card. The three larger stars indicate that in the coming period, you'll face at least three life-or-death crises."
The smile vanished from the hat-wearing player's face. Believing or not was one thing; how the words sounded was another.
"Are you setting me up?" he asked suspiciously, staring at Ye Bingxin. "Is this a prop that can affect a player's luck?"
Ye Bingxin looked exasperated. "Have you ever seen a prop like that? I wish I had one."
"Only people can influence objects. I've never seen an object influence a person."
The hat-wearing player refused to let it go and forcefully demanded that Ye Bingxin draw a card herself.
Ye Bingxin was straightforward. She shuffled the deck herself, then solemnly drew one. To her dismay, she flipped over the same star card as the hat-wearing player.
Their eyes met. Ye Bingxin was clearly more upset. "I shouldn't have flipped it."
The hat-wearing player burst into laughter. "Didn't you say the card face can't influence people? This just means it's a calamity destined for you."
Drawing cards to test fortune was quite appealing, especially after Ye Bingxin drew her own card and looked like disaster was imminent, making others think the deck might actually be accurate. Another female player in the carriage walked over. "Let me have a draw too."
Xu Huo gave up his seat and moved to sit next to the buzz-cut player.
"Meteorite card." Ye Bingxin interpreted for the female player. "Your recent luck isn't great either. You might be about to lose some wealth. For players, losing wealth usually means prop loss. You might lose quite a few props, but don't be stingy—giving up props is always better than giving up your life."
The female player's mood soured.
Then two more players came to draw cards, and the results were all bad. One male player in particular drew a certain-death card. When Ye Bingxin reluctantly said he might die on this train, the man nearly flipped the table. He glared at Ye Bingxin with a fierce expression. "Then let's see if your prediction is accurate!"
"Come on." The hat-wearing player felt something was off. "Are all the people in this carriage this unlucky? Everyone has a life-or-death crisis. Is this train about to crash?"
The group exchanged glances. After a moment, someone said, "Come on, you guys actually believe in this fortune-telling?"
"Just killing time. Besides, what day do players not take risks?"
The crowd chattered, and the tense atmosphere that had just formed dissipated.
But Ye Bingxin seemed to take the hat-wearing player's words to heart. She put away her cards and moved to sit right next to Xu Huo.
The others noticed. Some sneered; others were half-convinced, half-doubtful.
"As long as the Xenomorphs don't break the train, there shouldn't be any other accidents on the train," Xu Huo said to Ye Bingxin with a smile.
Ye Bingxin refused to budge.
The fortune-telling, originally just a way to pass the time, had cast a shadow over the players in the carriage. By the afternoon, when another batch of players boarded, that shadow almost instantly expanded—a group of C-level players came on, all covered in blood, clearly fresh from a brutal battle. But judging by the two who entered their carriage, these people weren't badly injured. Instead, they were murderous and razor-sharp!
The expressions of everyone in the carriage shifted subtly. Those who didn't want trouble actively distanced themselves.
But the two didn't want to walk any further. They pointed at Xu Huo's table in the middle and said, "You. Move."
(End of Chapter)