“o,waitamont...”BaiinetuggedatQiaoJiajin’ssleevefrombehind.“Qiao ge,heardthatinerrestrial-gradegas,youcan’tlearntherulesunlessyoupaytheadmission.”
“uh?here’ssuchathing?”QiaoJiajinturnedtolookaterrestrialRabbit.“ey,bigrabbit,’mafraidofgettingtricked,can’tyoutellustherulesfirst?”
“Sure.”errestrialRabbitnoddeddecisively.“fcoursecan.”
“Wow!You’requitereasonable!”
“justhatetrouble,”saiderrestrialRabbit.“nce’veexplainedeverything,ifyoufeelitdoesn’tworkforyou,justleave.Don’twasteti.”
“fcourse,ofcourse.”QiaoJiajinnoddedrepeatedly.“fit’saphysicalorcombat-typega,we’lldefinitelygiveitatry.”
“hen’mafraidyou’llbedisappointed.”errestrialRabbitshookhishead.“nthebuildingbehind,therearesixteenroomsintotal,arrangedinasquare—fourroomsperrow,fourrowsaltogether.”
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“Uh-huh...”QiaoJiajinnodded.“A–Andthen?”
oticingQiaoJiajin’scuriosity,errestrialRabbitcroucheddownandsketchedaroughpictureontheground,whichlookedsowhatlikeachessboard.
“achroomhasadooronallfoursides,makingfourdoorsintotal,”heexplained,pointingtothetop-leftroom.“Allparticipantswillenterfromthisroom.”
henhepointedtothebottom-rightcorner.“You’llescapefromthisroom.notherwords,aslongasyoucanmakeitfromthetop-leftroomtothebottom-rightroom,youwin.”
“h...?”QiaoJiajinfeltheunderstoodthegistofthega,yetsothingaboutitseedoff.“Sohowdowegetthrougheachroom?Byjust...runningstraightthrough?”
{Soundnsulation}Yunineteenwasthefirsttorealizetheflaw.“hatdoesn’tmakesense...fdirectescapewerepossible,theentireconceptofthe{rooms}wouldloseitsaning.”
“ndeed.”Baiinenoddedaswell.“Arethereanyrulesabouthowparticipantsmovewithintherooms?”
“uh?”QiaoJiajinturnedtothetwoandwooden-headedlynoddedalong. ‘Sothere’smoretoit...?’
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“fcourse.”errestrialRabbitturnedtothesketchontheground.“veryoneactsinsequenceby{turns}.hegaisdividedintotwoparts:the{Participants’urn}andthe{arthlyBranch'surn}.Participantsmayopenonedoorandmoveonce,whilearthlyBranchesareallowedtwomovesperturn.”
Baiinestaredatthedrawingforalongwhilebeforeasking,“Whathappensifwegetcaught?”
“You’llbetornapartby,”repliederrestrialRabbit.“’lldoitmyself.”
“see...”BaiineandYunineteennoddedatthesati.“t’sastrategyga.hesevenofusmusteachchooseourownrouteandreachthegoalwhileavoidingthe{arthlyBranch}.”
heotherfivenoddedoneafteranother.“see...”
QiaoJiajin,lookingslightlyembarrassed,turnedtoBaiineandYunineteen,thentotherestofhisteam.“Whatdoyouan{see}?Youallunderstandthisalready?”
“Yes,Qiao ge,”Baiinerepliedwithanod.“hegashouldn’tbetoodifficult,buttherewilllikelybecasualties.fyou’refinewiththat,wecanpaytheadmission.”
“Uh...well...whatanis...”QiaoJiajinscratchedhisheadawkwardly.“suddenlyhaveanewidea.”
“Anewidea?”
hembersof{Cats}anderrestrialRabbitallturnedtheireyestowardhim.
errestrialRabbitseedtorealizethatthemanbeforehimwasthecaptainofthegroup. Washetryingtoraisethestakes?
“–veryone...”QiaoJiajingaveanawkwardlaugh,glancedaterrestrialRabbit,andsaid,“’vedecidedweshouldplayadifferentga.”
“uh?”
hembersof{Cats}werecaughtoffguard,unabletorespondforamont.
“Qiao–Qiao ge...”Baiineaskedfromtheside,“do❖оvеl𝚒ght❖(xclusiveonоvеl𝚒ght)youthinkthisgaistoodifficult?”
“uh?”QiaoJiajinwasmontarilystunned.“D–Difficult?Well,maybefor...”
“stheresohiddenrulewehaven’tdiscoveredyet?”Baiinemulledseriously.“knewit—thisisn’tjustanordinarystrategyga.he{errestrial}-gradegasaregettingharderandharderthesedays...”
“Yeah,Qiao ge,didyounoticesothing?”
“o,no,nothinglikethat,”QiaoJiajinrepliedwithasheepishgrin.“t’sjustthat,ifjoinedthisga,’dbeaprettysorrycaptain,unabletodoasingleusefulthing.”
“Whatexactlydoyouan?”
“t’snothing,really.”QiaoJiajinsighed,steppedforward,pattederrestrialRabbit’sstrong,solidshoulder,andsaid,“Bigrabbit,sorryforthetrouble.Youradmission’sabittoosteepforus;we’realittleshortonfunds,sowe’vedecidedtotrysowhereelse.”
venerrestrialRabbithadn’texpectedthemanbeforehimtoturnandleavesodecisively.eledhisteamawaywithouthesitation,asiftheyhadneverbeenthereatall.
“Wait—”errestrialRabbit’sexpressiontwistedintooneofgrievance.“Youcould’veatleastaskedhowmany{Dào}theadmissionwas...”
Beforehiswordsevenfaded,anotherteamappearedatthefarendofthestreet.
Strangelyenough,thisnewgrouplookedalmostidenticaltotheonebefore.
“hisyoungmastercompletelygivesup...”Alazyvoicedriftedcloserfromthedistance.“Sononeofyouknowwheretofindaerrestrial{arthlyBranch}?Areweouthereona{sightseeingtour}today?”
Amanwitharoguishairstrolleddownthestreet,leadingagroupofpeoplealldressedinblackleatherjackets.
“Werarelytakepartingasanymore,”remarkedthemanintheblackleatherjacketbesidehim.“Solet’sjustseewhatwecanfind.”
Afteronlyafewsteps,thegrouphappenedtocofacetofacewitherrestrialRabbit.
“Well,’llbedamned!”hemaninfrontletoutaloudexclamation.“SongSeven,SongSeven,SongSeven—lookatthat!”
hemancalledSongSevensighedhelplessly.“Whatisitnow?”
“Abigfatrabbit!”thecaptainexclaid,awickedgrinspreadingacrosshisface.“hisyoungmasterhastrulyseenitalltoday;neverthought’detsuchaplumprabbit.”
errestrialRabbitfeltthatthemanbeforehimwasbeingfartooflippant.fhelearnedthecontentofhisga,thismanwouldlikelyboltjustasthepreviouscaptainhad.
Butwhatwasgoingontoday,exactly?
Whyweretheresomanypeopleinblackleatherroamingthestreets?
“ey...”saiderrestrialRabbit,“doyouwanttotakepartinmyga?”
“fcoursewedo,”repliedthemanleadingthegroup.
“ood.henallowtoexplaintherule—”
“eadusin,”thecaptaininterrupted.“Doesn’tmatterhowmuch{Dào}itcosts,mynwillpayinfull.You’reinlucktoday,punk,you’vejustrunintoamanwithmoneytoburn.”
“uh?”errestrialRabbitwascompletelytakenaback.“Waitamont...canexplaintherulestoyouinadvance.Don’tyouwanttohearthemfirs—”
“oneed.”hecaptainwavedhishanddismissivelyandstrodestraighttowardthebuildingbehinderrestrialRabbit.“hecreedthisyoungmasterlivesbyis:{We’llcrossthatbridgewhenwegettoit;itwillbeallrightbythenight}.hat’sthat.”
“W–Whatintheworld...”errestrialRabbitstaredblankly,turningtolookatthemancalledSongSeven.
“Ahem...”SongSevengaveahelpless,bittersmile.“hat’sjusthowourcaptainis.Pleasebearwithhim.”
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