Chapter 56: Wheel of Life
"Didn't you see the notification in the group? Goddess Mu is holding a concert at the Sports Center tonight!"
"What? Seriously?!"
"Goddess Mu just made it into the top ten of the national spiritual song competition yesterday. Since it's the off-season preparation period now, and today happens to be a music festival, she partnered with the school to organize a concert."
Mushroom shoved a costume into Xia Feng's hands, urging excitedly, "Hurry up and put this cosplay outfit on! Goddess Mu mentioned she's a fan of Spade Venerable too. She even designed the tickets to look like these masks. Today's concert is a special event arranged by Tao."
"..." Xia Feng took the clothes with a blank expression, his mind flooded with confusion.
What is this Witch of Destruction up to now?
Shouldn't she be focusing on improving her strength? Why is she still competing in spiritual song contests?
He had a nagging feeling she was plotting something big, but after racking his brain, he couldn't figure out what.
The theology class soon ended, and the group quickly dispersed.
"Hurry, hurry~" Mushroom eagerly pulled Xia Feng along with the crowd. But the moment they stepped outside the venue, his expression froze.
"What's wrong?" Mushroom glanced back, puzzled.
Xia Feng's face paled. "You go ahead. I think... my stomach isn't feeling well."
"Huh?"
"No, really—go on without me. I need to hit the restroom first." Xia Feng nudged her toward the entrance, waved her off, then swiftly turned and headed for a nearby building.
Of course, his stomach was fine—the problem was the Forest Scepter.
A message had just flashed into his mind from it:
[The second round of evolution is about to begin.]
[Teleportation countdown: 3 minutes.]
[...]
A flood of information overwhelmed his thoughts. Xia Feng stood stunned, piecing together that the Forest Scepter bore a teleportation mark linked to another dimension.
When the time came, the mark would activate, pulling him into that space.
And within that space, a mysterious game awaited.
Xia Feng paused, an idea forming.
The dark-green Forest Scepter materialized in his grip.
"Sever the connection." As he willed it, his link to the scepter briefly vanished—but with no alternate spiritual weapon to anchor him, it reconnected instantly.
Yet instead of frustration, his eyes gleamed.
According to the rules, the teleportation judgment was instantaneous.
If he could disconnect from the Forest Scepter precisely at the summoning moment, the system would register its owner as "deceased" and abort the teleportation.
But based on the information he'd received, this game didn't seem too dangerous—at least not yet. In fact, it might even offer some… opportunities.
After a moment's thought, he decided to check it out.
The Forest Scepter's countdown continued.
[2… 1…]
Stepping into the restroom, the surroundings dissolved into a swirling storm of fragmented pixels.
Dazzling light forced his eyes shut. When the vertigo faded, Xia Feng blinked—only to find himself in utter darkness.
"What the hell is this place?"
Then, a faint glow emerged.
Before him stood an odd control panel. He stepped closer.
Embedded in the console was a softly illuminated display. Beside it lay a thick stack of cards, while a dark-gold card slot occupied the upper right corner.
The panel was minimalist, its center dominated by a dark-red symbol rotating clockwise.
Xia Feng tapped it tentatively. The screen flickered.
[Serial No.: 10]
[Identity: Ace of Black]
[Game Stage: Second Evolution Round]
[Remaining Cards: 16]
[Remaining Life Points: 9]
A card game? Some kind of bizarre disaster realm? Xia Feng frowned, baffled.
Then—
A sound. He looked up.
Distant, dim lights flickered ahead, to his left, to his right. Thirty-six in total, their positions forming a vast, encircling ring.
Xia Feng squinted. Against the dim light, he could barely make out thirty-six circular platforms, each two meters in diameter, with shadowy figures standing atop them.
He glanced down. Sure enough, he stood on an identical platform—though "platform" wasn't quite accurate. It was more like a bottomless cylinder beneath his feet.
Peering over the edge, he saw only darkness yawning like an abyss. The lack of solid ground left him uneasy.
No time to dwell. He quickly pulled up the panel, searching for a detailed rules explanation.
Just then—
A spotlight flared at the center of the ring formed by the thirty-seven platforms. There stood a man in an elegant tuxedo, top hat, and a pure black mask adorned with a dark-red symbol.
A booming, theatrical voice echoed from behind the mask:
"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! We now commence the second round of evolution. This round's skill cards include—"
Xia Feng skimmed the rules while listening:
This was a real-life survival game called [Life Roulette].
Thirty-seven players participated, their identities locked in a hierarchy. Killing a target you dominated earned life points—the game's victory metric and currency.
During the evolution stage (auction phase), players could spend life points to buy skill cards, which helped secure more points later. The highest scorer by game's end would claim the final prize.
Boring. High risk, uncertain reward. Xia Feng shook his head, eyeing his life points: 9.
Players started with 20. Clearly, Yan Xujia had blundered and lost 11.
"Game Skill Card—Bloodthirst: Players who obtain this skill—"
Bids erupted from distant platforms. The card was popular—its price skyrocketed to 9 points. Xia Feng's eye twitched at his meager balance. Are these people made of points?
"Real Skill Card—Spiritual Material: Jupiter Flower. Opening bid: 11 points. Once—twice—"
"Sold!" The masked auctioneer slammed his gavel. "Congratulations to Player 11 for securing the Jupiter Flower at 11 points!"
Xia Feng stiffened. Jupiter Flower? One of the rarest materials for wood-attribute spiritualists advancing to Tier 2?
In reality, wood spiritualists struggled to progress precisely because of two scarce materials: Jupiter Flower and Wood Evil Spirit.
Goddess Mu's a wood spiritualist. I wonder if she's found these yet...
As he mused, more spiritual materials flashed up—even a C-rank spirit robe!
Xia Feng stayed indifferent, though the rules hinted at B-rank or even A-rank gear appearing in later rounds. Absurd.
"The evolution stage concludes. We now enter the 30-minute trading phase. Tick-tock~"
A new icon unlocked on Xia Feng's panel: [Trading Room].
Per the rules, players could request trades with specific numbers. If accepted, both entered a private negotiation space.
Xia Feng rubbed his chin. Intel is crucial here.
The game's core lay in its identity system:
37 players, each with a hidden identity.
Three colors: Red, Yellow, Blue—each dominating the next in a cycle (Red → Yellow → Blue → Red).
Twelve zodiac signs per color (Rat, Ox, Tiger... Pig), forming another cycle where each preys on the next (Rat → Ox → Tiger → ... → Pig → Rat).
For example:
[Red Rat] could only earn points by killing [Red Ox].
If [Red Ox] attacked [Red Rat], it'd fail, losing points to the Rat instead.
But there were 36 standard identities—and 37 players.
The outlier? The [Ace of Black].
[No restrictions. It could hunt anyone—and be hunted by anyone.
Extremely dangerous. Exposure meant becoming a collective target.]
Xia Feng checked his identity card and sighed.
[Ace of Black]
Hell of a starting hand.
Yan Xujia's luck was abysmal. At least Xia Feng could opt out of this damn game next time—but first, he needed to dissect this game's mechanics.
A suspicion nagged him:
With my golden finger… is this game hiding a massive exploit?
(End of Chapter)