Chapter 864: You're Good, I'm Good
"Friendship has no high or low status, and it certainly shouldn't be treated with discrimination. In the past, to witness friendship, we would let the guests participating in the show form their own teams freely." The host said with a smile, "People say there's a kind of eye chemistry between individuals. Those who don't click at first sight often find it hard to become friends in the end, so previously we respected the guests' choices to the greatest extent."
"But self-chosen friendships inevitably carry other emotions mixed in. How can they be called true friendship?"
"Two people meeting by chance, getting along by chance, then experiencing hardship and happiness together by chance until they confirm the other is a true partner—this entire series of changes should be random, involuntary, and accompanied by a thrilling, wonderful feeling!"
"Therefore, every guest present today will have a friend truly arranged by fate. Two strangers, carrying different experiences and different emotions—what kind of sparks of friendship will collide? I believe all the audience members are just as eager as I am!"
The cheers from outside surged in instantly, and the host clapped with high spirits, very satisfied with the lively scene he had created.
But for those inside the Friendship Garden, this was far from wonderful, especially for the participants who had come together. Aside from anger and helplessness, there was more fear. Some who couldn't accept it even ran toward the edge of the square, shouting that they wanted to withdraw from the show.
The cheers and applause stopped, followed by sporadic laughter. The host looked down at them, his smile unchanged, and said, "The Friendship Garden will only reopen when friendship is born."
Those trying to run clearly had some understanding of this game. Someone loudly shouted "inside information," saying that the survival rate of the show "You're Good, I'm Good" was actually very low, but this time, just before it started, the registration conditions had suddenly been relaxed, clearly luring people in to kill them.
But these voices meant nothing to the host and the audience, because ordinary people had no ability to destroy the Friendship Garden, and the players who did have that ability had to complete the instance.
"I know many friends are familiar with the rules of 'You're Good, I'm Good,' but for the sake of the new friends about to arrive, I still need to repeat the details of the show."
The host began to introduce the gameplay.
"Every guest will randomly match a partner to play the game together. These two will form a temporary team to complete the following three-color competition. If a teammate dies, that's okay—after all, on the road of friendship, no one can say who will leave first. The surviving guest will automatically match with another guest whose teammate has died."
"Friendship can involve mutual companionship, but it can also involve mutual competition. Therefore, in the three-color competition, each guest has one chance to choose from three colored spheres: black, white, and yellow. The black sphere represents choosing a dangerous task for your teammate, the white sphere represents choosing a lower-risk task for your teammate, and the yellow sphere represents choosing the same task as the other party."
"Please note that the danger levels represented by these three colored spheres are 75%, 25%, and 50% respectively. When the two teammates choose spheres of different colors, this round will be completed by the party with the higher danger level to undertake the friendship adventure task. When the chosen sphere colors are the same, one of them will be randomly selected to complete a task within the corresponding danger range, and the next round will switch."
"If both parties choose the yellow sphere, they will receive an additional survey on whether they are willing to complete the adventure task together. If the survey result is yes, they can complete a white sphere task together. If either party vetoes, the task will revert to the yellow sphere task and randomly select one person to complete it."
"Additionally, regardless of whether the teammate changes, each guest's task selection danger level in the three-color competition will not be lower than their first choice."
"The selection time for the competition is three minutes, but the time to complete the adventure task is not fixed."
The host paused here. "Hearing this, I believe everyone is curious: what if someone gets a bye or their teammate hasn't returned for a long time and they can't match a new teammate?"
He shook his head, speaking with regret, "If such a situation occurs, we can only apologize to that guest. In this round, you will lose the opportunity to build friendship with a friend and can only watch others' friendships in solitude."
"But don't worry too much if this happens. We can obtain friendship from many people."
"Admittedly, sincere friendship cannot be measured by data. However, to show fairness, we will evaluate the show's guests using the characteristics of sincere friendship voted on by all citizens of the Sea World. When someone obtains sincere friendship, their name will appear above the Friendship Garden, witnessed by everyone present!"
Another round of applause erupted from outside, and the host was slightly excited. "The thrilling moment is about to arrive. Now, please have all guests write their names on the projection screen. If you are unwilling to disclose, the 'You're Good, I'm Good' show will replace it with a number."
As soon as the gameplay was announced, a projection screen appeared in front of everyone. It was an arc-shaped screen with a row of rolling numbers at the top, likely undetermined serial numbers.
Xu Huo wrote down "Yu Cong" on it, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Xiao Xianglin had written "Xiao Yong" instead.
Xiao Xianglin noticed his gaze but didn't feel embarrassed. He lowered his voice and said, "Bro, using a real name is more reliable. Who makes friends with a fake name?"
Xu Huo smiled and nodded but didn't erase and rewrite like others.
He looked around and saw You Si, the female player Zhuang Mengtian, the fingerless player Gan Yi, the meditating player Shajia, and also the bronze-skinned player Pu Donghai.
They were all "acquaintances" from the same bus. Their reactions varied upon meeting eyes.
Zhuang Mengtian gave him a cold glance, Gan Yi smiled and nodded, while You Si and Shajia were much friendlier.
"...You need to think of something!" Someone nearby was arguing—it was the man who had mocked the female couple on the bus. He angrily said to his companion, "I never heard about any rule changes before coming!"
His companion was a middle-aged man who looked very honest. He said darkly, "Since it's come to this, we can only pray that the random match will be easy to deal with."
"How is that possible!" The man instinctively lowered his voice, then shut up under the honest-faced man's glare.
"Isn't the way to gain friendship to discuss and choose the task difficulty together to get through safely?" Xiao Xianglin found it strange. "What's the benefit of harming your teammate?"
Most players were in the dark, but the insiders weren't just those two. Soon, some players forced out the reason: the show had a limited number of successful candidates. In the end, those who obtained friendship would have a score ranking, and only those who entered the ranking could become legal residents of the Sea World.
"There are three hundred and eighty-one people here, most of them ordinary. How many pairs does the Sea World want to select?"