"So, can't you work a little overti?" Su Shan asked. "Does your ga take a long ti to complete?"
"Not really," Terrestrial Dog shook his head and sighed. "But it's exhausting. I already killed a batch today, can't we do this tomorrow?"
"Killed a batch…?" Lawyer Zhang showed a look of unease.
"Yeah, I'm a little tired. Let's schedule it for tomorrow, okay?" Terrestrial Dog stood up and yawned lazily. "I'm afraid I'll fall asleep in the middle of the ga."
Qin Dingdong turned to look at Su Shan. "Are you really set on participating?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you all, areyouready?" Su Shan shot back.
Qin Dingdong let out a sigh.
"Lin Qin and I are both {Reverberatees}. Participating in this kind of ga isn't that stressful for us. Even if we lose, we'll retain our mories. But what about the two of you?" Her gaze shifted between Su Shan and Zhang Chenzhe. "If you die before you trigger your {Reverberation}, you'll forget everything that happened here."
Everyone's gaze then shifted back to Su Shan.
"I'm not afraid of failure," Su Shan declared. "The more painful the failure, the more likely my {Reverberation} will be triggered."
Terrestrial Dog scratched his ear with his pinky, sensing incoming trouble. "Wait a minute, you… four are all veterans?"
"No," Su Shan shook her head. "To be precise, only two are veterans; the other two are newcors."
"Two is still troubleso…" Terrestrial Dog curled his lip. "Can't you find another venue? Though I really want to kill you, I'm pretty exhausted today."
"How strange…" Su Shan looked at the gaunt dog-headed figure in puzzlent. "Can {Earthly Branches} refuse us from joining your ga?"
"Not really," Terrestrial Dog frowned. "If I could, I would've refused already."
"Then…" Su Shan was puzzled. "If you can't refuse, then why are you advising us to find another venue?"
"Because I'm stalling for ti," Terrestrial Dog leaned back against the wall, resting his arms behind his head. "Maybe if I stall a while longer, I'll be off the clock."
"That won't work," Su Shan shook her head. "I've made up my mind. Today I must participate in your ga."
Terrestrial Dog slowly closed his eyes and sighed. "Not to complain, but veterans are really the hardest to deal with…"
Qin Dingdong, Lin Qin, and Zhang Chenze exchanged glances. After a mont, Qin Dingdong spoke, "XiaoShan, since he doesn't want to entertain us, maybe we should just forget it. It's getting late…"
Su Shan glanced at Qin Dingdong and said, "How about you go rest first? I think ti is precious; I don't want to waste it sleeping."
"Huh?" Qin Dingdong didn't expect Su Shan's reasoning to be so tenuous.
After speaking, Su Shan looked back at Terrestrial Dog. "May I ask how many participants your ga requires?"
Terrestrial Dog's eyes dimd as he looked at everyone, then replied softly, "What terrible luck; we just happen to need four people."
Zhang Chenze nodded. "Su Shan, I'll join you. Gathering intelligence will help make better decisions."
"Oh?" Su Shan looked at her, then nodded with slight satisfaction.
Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong clearly lacked motivation, both showing signs of wanting to leave.
"Su Shan…" Lin Qin called out, "Speaking as soone with experience, those who are most eager to play are often the first to et their end."
"So you're saying those who drown are the ones who can actually swim?" Su Shan lifted her unusually bright eyes to Lin Qin. "But this whole world is flooded; we either learn to swim quickly or slowly drown. Which do you choose?"
Lin Qin pondered for a mont, then nodded slightly.
It is the continual ergence of such figures at {End Point} that reminds one of their own existence.
"Qin, what do you say?" Lin Qin turned and asked.
"Alas…what else can I do?" Qin Dingdong sighed dramatically. "I'm Su Shan's {bestie}."
"All right." Lin Qin extended a hand. "Lawyer Zhang, Su Shan, for precaution's sake, let's shake hands."
"Shake hands?" Both looked puzzled.
"Correct," Lin Qin said. "As long as you're willing to shake my hand, Ole Qin and I will follow you into this ga."
Without hesitation, Su Shan extended her hand and clasped Lin Qin's. Afterward, Lin Qin released her grip and turned to Zhang Chengze.
Zhang Chengze eyed Lin Qin cautiously before saying, "I'll pass. Unless it's an ergency or dical situation, I prefer not to be touched by anyone."
At those words, Lin Qin's mory returned to her last Terrestrial Dog ga with Lawyer Zhang, where she had said sothing quite similar.
"Although I don't know why you're so averse to being touched, once we shake hands, the chances of triggering your {Reverberation} will increase," Lin Qin explained. "Are you sure you don't want to shake hands?"
After a mont's thought, Zhang Chengze ultimately extended her hand and gently touched the back of Lin Qin's hand.
"Is this acceptable?"
Lin Qin nodded. "It's not ideal, but we'll take it as is."
The four young won then turned to Terrestrial Dog, their expressions growing serious.
"Oh co on…" Terrestrial Dog felt his composure slipping away. "When did you {participants} start getting so caught up in this rat race? I only wanted to hide away in so empty corner, but today I'm stuck hosting two batches of guests."
"Since you've opened the door for business, scenarios like this would inevitably occur," Su Shan smiled. "So, how do you charge for admission?"
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