Chapter 127: A Fifty Percent Survival Rate?
After announcing the game rules, all the screens went dark simultaneously.
As the broadcast ended, half the city fell into a deathly silence.
About half a minute later, everyone's phones began buzzing incessantly with message notifications. In an instant, the entire city was like boiling water. Within just a few minutes, videos and messages about the Black-and-White Life-or-Death Game were spreading online.
Most people initially refused to believe it. But as more and more people tried to walk out of the giant roulette wheel, the death toll climbed sharply. The government had no choice but to issue a warning, telling everyone to stay put and wait for rescue.
Xu Huo kept scrolling through videos. Whether on the ground or in the air—cars or helicopters—once they entered the range of the black-and-white roulette wheel, the only way out was to explode into a bloody mist. A large number of vehicles and helicopters crashed or fell from the sky, and thick black smoke billowed near the black roulette wheel.
Some people tried using cats and dogs as experiments, but they too met the same fate.
"So, once you enter the Life-or-Death Game, unless you participate, there's no way to get out alive?"
He frowned, staring at the black grid on the ground. District 014 had entered the game too recently. The vast majority of players were still stuck in closed instances. Even he, let alone understanding the game system, hadn't even figured out the basic rules. He couldn't even imagine what effects the items might have.
But regardless, this Black-and-White Life-or-Death Game didn't seem explainable by items. Yet, shouldn't the instance background and tasks be announced by the game itself? Could it be that high-level players who could open instances had to read the rules themselves?
No, the Skinner's instance was also a mobile instance, and the tasks were announced by the game.
"Fake! It has to be fake!" the chef suddenly shouted. "What black-and-white, what life-or-death—it's all nonsense to scare people!"
"Some lunatic is planting bombs on people! I'm getting out of here!" He threw off his apron and went to grab his keys.
"Master, don't be impulsive!" his assistant quickly grabbed him. "Look at the videos online. Anyone who steps out of the roulette wheel explodes. Even the police and military are the same. We can't get out now!"
"I don't believe it! The videos must be fake too!" Veins bulged on the chef's forehead. He shoved his assistant aside and was about to open the door when Xu Huo intercepted him. "The explosions just now were all people outside. Staying here is the safest for now."
This stopped the chef. He stared at Xu Huo for two seconds, then retched over the bloodstains on the door.
"Brother, what do we do?" Wang Chaoqing leaned in and asked.
Xu Huo looked at the Painting Woman. "Can you tell if this is an item or an instance?"
The Painting Woman shook her head.
"What's the difference between an item and an instance?" Wang Chaoqing pressed, confused.
"If it's an instance, the players and non-players inside have no choice but to participate in the game. But if it's an item, maybe you can escape with a ticket."
The rules of an item shouldn't override those of a game instance.
"I don't have a ticket..." Wang Chaoqing was first disappointed, then looked at Xu Huo with wild hope. "Brother! You must have a ticket!"
"Give me one! I'll do whatever you say from now on! I'll listen to everything you tell me!"
Xu Huo shook off his grabbing hand. "If I give you one, can you guarantee you'll survive other instances?"
"Who cares about that? At least it's better than staying here!"
"Do whatever I say?" Xu Huo asked again.
Wang Chaoqing nodded frantically.
"Alright. Before I give you the ticket, go to the skyscraper first."
Wang Chaoqing's face immediately changed. "That's the center of the roulette wheel. Even I know that's dangerous. I'm not going!"
"Then no ticket." Xu Huo didn't force him.
Wang Chaoqing's eyes turned angry, but before he could lash out, the Painting Woman slapped him back.
"Are you players?" the waitress who had crawled on the table spoke up. "You know so much—you must be players, right? The people who appeared on the big screen just now—are they players too?"
"If you're all players, you must have a way, right?"
The two men slumped to the side and the several waitresses huddled together all looked up at Xu Huo and his group.
"I don't have a way." Xu Huo said without changing his expression.
"But you're a player too!" a male waiter blurted out.
"Never played an online game?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Do you think you can just rank up whenever you want?"
"What about the ticket? You mentioned it just now." The shop owner quickly interjected.
"Dream on! Only players can use tickets!" Wang Chaoqing jabbed back with deep resentment.
The light in the eyes of the people in the shop immediately went out again.
"I don't want to die..." another female waitress began to cry.
"Maybe it's not that bad. So many people are fine..." The chef's assistant's words of comfort were cut short. His face suddenly stiffened, and his eyes went blank as he stared ahead. "A roulette wheel! A roulette wheel has appeared!"
Xu Huo followed his gaze but saw nothing. He quickly asked, "Describe what the roulette wheel looks like."
But the assistant didn't respond. Instead, he shouted, "The countdown has started!" and his eyes rolled back!
Xu Huo grabbed him and pressed on his philtrum. A few seconds later, the man came to, but his eyes were still unfocused, and he muttered dazedly to himself, "I'm going to die, I'm going to die..."
The Painting Woman raised her hand and slapped him. The assistant stumbled and fell to the ground, then just sat there trembling, completely unresponsive to the outside world or to pain.
Xu Huo's heart sank. He had thought this might be a game of luck, but it didn't seem that way now.
He turned to look at the square outside. Among those who hadn't managed to escape and some who had returned, a few were in the same state. No matter how much the people around them kicked or hit them, they couldn't snap out of it. Their consciousness seemed to have separated from their bodies. Their eyes were wide open, staring ahead. Some collapsed on the spot, while others ran around in a daze, but all of them kept repeating the word "countdown."
Even under severe physical blows, ten minutes should be enough for a person to calm down and regain their senses. But not like this—completely consumed by fear, driven to madness.
This roulette game must have some effect on a person's mental state.
"What's wrong with him?" The people in the shop looked at the chef's assistant and backed away in fear. Only the waitress who had crawled on the table asked Xu Huo.
"It depends on his luck." Xu Huo glanced at the man whose face was already swelling, then added, "Stay calm. This is just a game. There's a fifty percent survival rate. Don't let it scare you."
His words only made them more afraid.
But Xu Huo didn't give them time to adjust. He said directly, "Panic won't help. Instead, use that fifty percent survival rate to find a way to save yourselves."
"What should we do..." the waitress who had crawled on the table asked, her lips trembling. "I'll do whatever you say..."
The others didn't respond, but Xu Huo didn't care. He continued, "When the game starts and the roulette wheel appears, other people probably can't see it. So if you enter the game, try to describe everything you see as much as possible."
"Even if you can't feel the outside world, you can still speak and move. Focus on the roulette wheel and say as much as you can."
"I'm guessing this game is related to mental willpower. Staying clear-headed can only help."
"So, the sooner someone sees the roulette wheel, the more likely they are to die..." The shop owner's face turned pale. He lunged at the chef's assistant. "Say something!"
But at that moment, the assistant suddenly raised his hand. "I'm going to spin. I'm going to spin. I'll definitely be fine. My luck is good..."
"Boom!" His entire body exploded!
"Ah!!!" The waitresses, who had just washed their faces, were splattered with blood again. As they screamed and ran for the door, people in the square also began to explode one after another!
Everyone inside and outside the door went mad with fear. Cries and screams erupted everywhere!