"Player Two's {wish} completed. Player Three, kindly {draw}." The broadcast from Terrestrial Dog echoed through the glass chambers.
Lin Qin gripped the table inside her glass room, gritting her teeth as she shakily stood up. Trembling, she reached out and picked up her new {fortune stick}.
She blinked, nearly convinced that the repeated falls had dulled her mind—for the {fortune stick} in her hand was unlike any she had drawn before. It wasn't a {Default}, but was inscribed with five distinct words:
{Flowers Bloom With Spring Warmth}.
She shook her head, trying to clear the dizziness, and studied the words carefully.
Could it be that the {fortune sticks} the others had been drawing were never just {Defaults}, but all carried anings like this?
And the arrow pointing right beneath the text—did it an this {fortune stick} would take effect in the room to her right?
"My luck is just awful…" Lin Qin laughed wryly, cautiously placing this {fortune stick} on the table before placing a {default stick} into the slot.
At this mont, her priority wasn't treating her leg, but to exhaust all her {default sticks} as soon as possible, and accumulate more {wish sticks}. Only then could she have the ans to confront {Calamities}, whether through {gift} or {wish}.
A trace of relief passed through Su Shan's eyes as Lin Qin regained her spirit. She knew well that in this ga, if anyone died, it ant total defeat for all.
The four of them ford a {loop} as the {four seasons}, linked end to end, supporting one another.
If there was a break in this {loop}, the rooms on either side of the gap will fall into danger, since a dead person cannot protect the neighboring {Calamities}.
Moreover, even {gifting} would be affected—for example, {sumr} cannot skip {autumn} and directly {gift} to {winter}.
…
Qin Dingdong glanced nervously at Lin Qin. Seeing she was alright, her tension eased sowhat, and she began to compose herself, waiting for her next {fortune stick}.
But several seconds passed, and her new {fortune stick} still had not appeared.
"You've done well, clearly veterans and experts alike," Terrestrial Dog remarked in a profound manner. "But you've fallen right into my pace."
"What?"
"You all spent an entire year trying to nd the scars left by last year's {Calamity}. That's a noble thought. But what will you do about this year's {Calamity}?"
Only then did the collective truly snap back to reality. Indeed, the {Calamities} would never cease.
As long as Terrestrial Dog, playing the role of the {NianBeast}, remained, they would remain ensnared in the loop of {Yearly Calamities}.
Terrestrial Dog nodded solemnly, then picked a {fortune stick} from before him, speaking with gravity, "After all these years as an employee, the only truth I've co to understand is this—for ordinary people, {blessings never co in pairs and misfortunes never co singly[1]}."
He inserted the {fortune stick} into the hole on his right, directly facing Zhang Chenze. "Everyone brace yourselves. This round's {Calamity} is called {Locust Plague}."
Seeing Terrestrial Dog's move, Zhang Chenze visibly panicked.
"Locust Plague...? W–Wait a mont—"
Her expression turned to pure terror. Though she had long known she would face a {Calamity}, she never imagined it would be the one she dreaded most.
Before she could even utter another word, a deafening buzzing erupted above Zhang Chenze's head, as countless creatures sward the airspace overhead.
"No…not {Locust Plague}…" Tears welled in Zhang Chenze's reddened eyes as she cried out in desperation, "Get them away from …"
With a subtle shift of the ceiling grid, a massive swarm of locusts burst forth, their relentless chirping filling the room as they blackened her chamber like spilled ink.
The horrifying scene forced the other won nearby to recoil a step. They were all city dwellers;
none of them had ever witnessed a Locust Plague in such close proximity.
Inside her chamber, Zhang Chenze flailed desperately, but the more she tried to shoo them away, the more they clung to her.
One locust hopped onto her tall nose bridge, locking eyes with her.
Its body was a mottled gray-green, its hind legs thick and powerful.
On its hard, expressionless face, two enormous eyes stared unblinking at Zhang Chenze.
The fear was too much to contain;
Zhang Chenze finally broke down as she let out a piercing scream—but before her cry could fully form, a swarm of locusts crawled into her open mouth.
She had never eaten insects before, nor had she imagined that live locusts could feel so cold as they squird inside her mouth. Their rigid limbs scraped against every tender surface, painfully against every inch of her oral cavity.
Zhang Chenze could no longer breathe, her stomach churning violently, desperate to expel everything.
"I'm going to die… I'm going to die in the most hideous and agonizing way in this world…"
Zhang Chenze's mind was filled with hopeless thoughts. She was utterly lost amid the overwhelming swarm, unable to tell which way she faced or where her teammates were.
"Zhang Chenze!!" Su Shan pounded hard on the glass in front of her, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Stay calm! The {locusts} in this {Locust Plague} don't eat people!"
Unfortunately, Zhang Chenze couldn't hear Su Shan's desperate calls.
"Player Four, please {draw}." Terrestrial Dog turned a blind eye and continued to speak in a cold, detached voice.
Bathed in the cool glow of blue-tinted glass, Qin Dingdong stood quietly. Her lips held a trace of a smile, and instead of reaching for her new {fortune stick}, she studied the lawyer opposite her with a pensive gaze.
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