Chapter 1201: Round Hall Lottery
To avoid the situation Ye Bingxin mentioned under the new rules—accidentally entering the same door and eliminating each other—the four of them ultimately chose to maintain a certain distance while searching for doors. They exchanged contact information and reported their positions at regular intervals.
The first to enter an instance was Jiang Zifeng. Just half an hour after they separated, he went silent.
"Did he really go in? That's some luck, no kidding." Liang Shuang found it hard to believe, because in Card City, there were people who wandered around for half a month without ever entering an instance.
"Where are you opening doors?" Ye Bingxin sent a voice message. "I found a place that sells door access. Pay a fee, and you can open every door once."
"He's pretty lucky. I'm queuing up in the square," Xu Huo replied.
That was right—Card City was full of doors, but not every door could be opened casually. If you went to a restaurant, the staff wouldn't allow customers to open and close doors repeatedly. If you went to a restroom, that was a bit degrading. And places like the Thrill Ball Castle were too expensive. So a new industry had emerged: merchants and ordinary people could sell access to their doors, and even the government had set up dedicated doors in the square—pay up, and you could open them.
It was a very cheap method.
"I rented a room in someone's house," Liang Shuang said. "I plan to stay there until I enter an instance."
Everyone had their own way. When they would enter an instance was entirely up to luck.
The second to enter an instance was Xu Huo.
The third time he paid to pass through Door No. 1 in the square, he vanished from his spot and instantly switched to a circular room made of dense greenery. The plant walls originally had three doors, but after he entered, a new one formed.
Four doors total, four people.
At the same time he stepped onto the ground, the room began automatically playing the selection rules.
"Players, please note: among the doors corresponding to the number of people, only one is the correct door to enter the instance. No matter how many players enter this round hall, there is only one correct door."
"Before it is confirmed which player will enter the instance, players may continue to enter the round hall until someone enters the correct door."
"Players can obtain a door number through a lottery. When a paper slip with the corresponding door number is drawn, that door can be opened. Only one slip can be drawn at a time. Once a player successfully enters the instance, all other players in this round will be eliminated."
"Players are allowed to forfeit."
In the center of the room was a half-meter-wide round table. On the table sat a plant-made box with four circular openings, one on each side, allowing a hand to reach in.
The other three had likely just entered as well. The moment they saw each other, all four rushed toward the round table. A long-haired female player on Xu Huo's left was the first to reach into the box, but before she could grab a slip, the person opposite her opened his mouth and shot three poison needles at her face!
The needles pierced her first layer of defense barrier. She tilted her head to dodge them, but then faced an attack from another player on her left.
"Peaceful Separation!" she said to that male player. Both of them were pushed back ten meters by the prop's power. As she escaped danger, she also pulled out a paper slip. But just as she lowered her head to look at the number, a hand grabbed her wrist!
"Peaceful Separation!" she tried the same trick again, but the one grabbing her was Xu Huo. As he stepped back, he took the slip from her and quickly moved toward the corresponding door.
However, the moment he stood in front of the door, the ground rapidly shifted backward, and a space barrier blocked the door ahead!
Xu Huo swung his sword backward, slashing at the person behind him, forcing them to cancel the prop effect. Then he turned his sword into the Tang blade "Cake Slice," cutting through the barrier in front of the door from a distance.
But the female player caught up and stood directly in front of him, throwing a glass ball onto the ground. The paper slip in his hand uncontrollably dropped. The player on his right said, "Swapping Flowers for Trees," and the slip he retrieved from midair turned into a leaf.
In close-quarters combat, some small props had surprisingly good effects. But even if the opponent successfully stole the slip, they couldn't open the door.
Xu Huo manipulated space rays and set up three barriers in front of the door.
However, this player was clearly skilled. A few small stones flew from between his fingers, striking the barriers one by one. The invisible obstruction became a tangible obstacle because of his move—since it was visible, breaking through became more targeted.
When the female player and the other player who had come to seize the slip clashed with the slip holder, they casually broke the barriers. Soon, the slip was in another player's hands, but it didn't stay there for five seconds before returning to the female player.
But the person who had just passed it off directly disengaged from the fight and lunged toward the door.
He had swapped the slip.
Xu Huo saw it clearly but didn't stop him. The door opened successfully, but it wasn't the correct passage. From the pitch-black doorway, several vines shot out, wrapping around that player at lightning speed and dragging him inside!
The other two, who had been locked in a fierce fight, both stopped. The female player said in shock, "He was taken away by a mutant plant!"
The other person recognized that plant and said warily, "That's cowhair vine. It doesn't just entangle people; before it moves, it shoots out its tiny spines at the target. Those spines are very small, numerous, and poisonous. They can paralyze a person's nerves in less than a second. He probably fell for that."
After the vine dragged the player away, that door also disappeared. Now only three doors remained.
The three of them looked at each other. The female player said, "I think we don't need to fight anymore. We shouldn't end up losing our lives before even entering the maze."
"If you put away the knife in your hand, I might believe you," the male player said, his triangular spike brushing against his pant leg. His gaze flickered between Xu Huo and the female player before he sneered, "Looks like we have to eliminate external interference before the lottery!"
As he spoke, he moved in front of Xu Huo, clearly targeting him first.
Xu Huo stood still. The space barrier formed by the A-grade prop "Inviolable Domain" was not as fragile as the ones he created with space rays. The triangular spike couldn't advance a single millimeter. And the player, only a meter or two away, had a look of shock that hadn't even faded before a black metal bead pierced through his temple!
This was the first time Xu Huo had used "Holder's Demise" so smoothly. It might have been because the opponent was only a C-grade player.
With one dead, another door disappeared.
Kicking the corpse aside, Xu Huo looked at the remaining female player. "To avoid lowering the odds for any newcomers, let's finish this quickly."
The female player didn't say a word. She stepped back and gestured for him to go ahead with a "please" motion.
(Chapter End)