Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma
The Winchester had blown away a big part of the Desert Ferocious Tiger’s head, however, the bullet from the sniper rifle didn’t aim for the robot’s head. What Dispirited had aimed for was the tiger’s chest that was hit before. This shot successfully pierced through the steel cover, hitting its energy core.
There was no violent burst or explosion, and the monster also didn’t wiggle desperately in death. It was just like a household appliance that got its electricity cut off, losing its ability to move and to react.
Little Tan’s and Dispirited’s nerves didn’t have time to relax as something strange happened again. The blazing sun hanging on the sky suddenly started to move with a speed that naked eyes could observe. As the source of light was drifting away at high speed, their shadows on the ground were also stretched. At the same time, the temperature was decreasing. They looked up and saw ‘the sky’ above their head was open, and that blue sky was like the lid of a shoebox, and the sun was like a light bulb installed under this lid. And now, someone was lifting up that lid…
Outside ‘the sky’, in somewhere pretty far far away, they could see the black and white tiles pattern of the ceiling. An unknown source of light became like a man-made indoor light. Not long after that, a giant face, which looked nice and honest, gradually appeared, towering the whole sky. The eyes from that face were looking down on the two players on the ground. This scene looked absurd, but it could actually explain many things.
It could be described as follows. This Arena was a rectangular box, which had a flat bottom paved with a layer of sand. The four walls and the top lid were also made from cardboard, but visually, they were all disguised as real sky background. Little Tan and Dispirited were like two ants being put into the box, and the Desert Ferocious Tiger was just a miniature toy.
And now, the man outside the box, Mr. Yu, had lifted up the lid, that’s why the ants inside the box could see the ceiling and light…
Right after the Desert Ferocious Tiger got killed, the big screen in the studio had stopped streaming live. And, Mr. Yu was still standing at his spot on the stage, not even moving an inch. Of course, as a ‘Demigod’, it wouldn’t be difficult to be present at two different places at the same time.
Little Tan and Dispirited were dumbstruck seeing what was happening above their heads. Mr. Yu smiled at them and then used his plump hand to put two telephone booths into the ‘desert’. He talked to Little Tan and Dispirited with a tone that was enough for them to accept, "Just get in." Then, he took the lid and closed ‘the sky’ once again.
The two of them exchanged looks. Little Tan spoke up first, "No wonder why Jue-Ge indicated us not to mess up… Monsters in this scenario are not only numerous but also too tremendously powerful that heaven finds it hard to accept them."
Dispirited brushed off the sand on her head and retrieved her weapon. "This scenario has many odd features. Until now, we haven’t received the Main Quest yet."
"Oh, right. If you didn’t mention it, I wouldn’t remember," said Little Tan.
"In short, just follow him," Dispirited walked towards a telephone booth, which was closer to her. "Get in, and we can return to the studio. Huh… this place is so hot!"
Little Tan retrieved his weapon and entered the other booth.
The two of them had been well prepared, so when they felt the void under their feet, they weren’t too panicked. They naturally fell into a vast sea of darkness, then the invisible force appeared once again and guided them back to their seat. Their seats then spun upwards as they appeared in the game show studio of the Deadly Jeopardy.
"Welcome back!" Mr. Yu excitedly greeted them.
The audience also burst out cheering.
"Oh wow, that super big something was you?" asked Little Tan.
"Of course it’s me. If I wish to, being present in many places at the same time is not a big deal. However, the process when I got you guys back here wasn't streamed live," Mr. Yu answered him then shifted his body to the camera. "My audience, if you are interested in our behind-the-scene work, please send a text to the number below on the screen, or log in to our website to join us directly. In the last year of the Sexagenary cycle (1), our program will randomly choose six hundred lucky people who will receive our limited recording version of our game show, which includes some behind-the-scene images that you have never seen before!"
Having finished his advertising, Mr. Yu turned back to the three distinguished guests and got back to business. "Alright, do you have any comments on the performance of Player Number Two and Number Four in the Arena?"
The screen focused on Superbia. She said determinedly, " All men should go to hell."
"Yeah, good one!" Dispirited imitated Superbia’s posture, crossing her arms under her bosom and nodding in agreement.
"Hey! What did I do?!" Little Tan cried.
"There’s not much to compliment about the competences of these two. Anyway, there are two problems, the boy number two has made bad choices." Pestilence always gave an objective, orderly assessment. "First, you shouldn't break the jar with your bare hand. Second, the shot you gave to the Desert Ferocious Tiger on his head is useless. Even if you had shot all of its head to pieces, you would only destroyed its sensors and information gathering system. What had killed it, after all, are the two shots by Player Number Four. The first shot had destroyed the metal shells, and the second shot had pierced through the energy core."
When Pestilence had just finished, Hephaestus sitting next to him spoke up, "Hey boy, crushing the jar is a dangerous behavior since the dust of time will be absorbed into the cut on your hand…" Hephaestus reminded him seriously, "the time of your left arm has been consumed. If you don’t treat it well, your hand will soon turn into dust."
"Eh? That serious?" Although Little Tan didn't understand it thoroughly, he had a feeling that this was going to be bloody scary.
"Doesn’t matter."
The audience and the three distinguished guests all gazed at the one who just uttered.
Feng Bujue continued with a natural tone, "Could be cured with one SCP-500 pellet."
"Ho, ho, ho, not bad, Player Number One. He immediately came up with a solution," Mr. Yu said, "well then, we are going to play the Deadly Jeopardy, round two!"
The DJ played a short, powerful BGM and the spotlight shone on the center of the stage again. On the auditorium, the audience was cheering, jumping and dancing; it was such a ghostly, magical and flurry scene.
"Alright, some of the audience please calm down. Do not breathe fire around your seats or in the air. The audience sitting in D3 section, yeah, it’s you. Please spit out the monster near you. Do you think I didn’t notice that? That's right, thank you!" Mr. Yu tried to calm down the scene for a while before turning to Feng Bujue. "Player Number One, do you still remember that I’ve mentioned the player who scores the highest in the first round will receive a mysterious advantage?"
-----------------------------------------------------
(1) Sexagenary cycle: also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi, is a cycle of sixty terms used for reckoning time in China and the East Asian cultural sphere. The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with the old Chinese system still in use in Taiwan.
Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma
The Winchester had blown away a big part of the Desert Ferocious Tiger’s head, however, the bullet from the sniper rifle didn’t aim for the robot’s head. What Dispirited had aimed for was the tiger’s chest that was hit before. This shot successfully pierced through the steel cover, hitting its energy core.
There was no violent burst or explosion, and the monster also didn’t wiggle desperately in death. It was just like a household appliance that got its electricity cut off, losing its ability to move and to react.
Little Tan’s and Dispirited’s nerves didn’t have time to relax as something strange happened again. The blazing sun hanging on the sky suddenly started to move with a speed that naked eyes could observe. As the source of light was drifting away at high speed, their shadows on the ground were also stretched. At the same time, the temperature was decreasing. They looked up and saw ‘the sky’ above their head was open, and that blue sky was like the lid of a shoebox, and the sun was like a light bulb installed under this lid. And now, someone was lifting up that lid…
Outside ‘the sky’, in somewhere pretty far far away, they could see the black and white tiles pattern of the ceiling. An unknown source of light became like a man-made indoor light. Not long after that, a giant face, which looked nice and honest, gradually appeared, towering the whole sky. The eyes from that face were looking down on the two players on the ground. This scene looked absurd, but it could actually explain many things.
It could be described as follows. This Arena was a rectangular box, which had a flat bottom paved with a layer of sand. The four walls and the top lid were also made from cardboard, but visually, they were all disguised as real sky background. Little Tan and Dispirited were like two ants being put into the box, and the Desert Ferocious Tiger was just a miniature toy.
And now, the man outside the box, Mr. Yu, had lifted up the lid, that’s why the ants inside the box could see the ceiling and light…
Right after the Desert Ferocious Tiger got killed, the big screen in the studio had stopped streaming live. And, Mr. Yu was still standing at his spot on the stage, not even moving an inch. Of course, as a ‘Demigod’, it wouldn’t be difficult to be present at two different places at the same time.
Little Tan and Dispirited were dumbstruck seeing what was happening above their heads. Mr. Yu smiled at them and then used his plump hand to put two telephone booths into the ‘desert’. He talked to Little Tan and Dispirited with a tone that was enough for them to accept, "Just get in." Then, he took the lid and closed ‘the sky’ once again.
The two of them exchanged looks. Little Tan spoke up first, "No wonder why Jue-Ge indicated us not to mess up… Monsters in this scenario are not only numerous but also too tremendously powerful that heaven finds it hard to accept them."
Dispirited brushed off the sand on her head and retrieved her weapon. "This scenario has many odd features. Until now, we haven’t received the Main Quest yet."
"Oh, right. If you didn’t mention it, I wouldn’t remember," said Little Tan.
"In short, just follow him," Dispirited walked towards a telephone booth, which was closer to her. "Get in, and we can return to the studio. Huh… this place is so hot!"
Little Tan retrieved his weapon and entered the other booth.
The two of them had been well prepared, so when they felt the void under their feet, they weren’t too panicked. They naturally fell into a vast sea of darkness, then the invisible force appeared once again and guided them back to their seat. Their seats then spun upwards as they appeared in the game show studio of the Deadly Jeopardy.
"Welcome back!" Mr. Yu excitedly greeted them.
The audience also burst out cheering.
"Oh wow, that super big something was you?" asked Little Tan.
"Of course it’s me. If I wish to, being present in many places at the same time is not a big deal. However, the process when I got you guys back here wasn't streamed live," Mr. Yu answered him then shifted his body to the camera. "My audience, if you are interested in our behind-the-scene work, please send a text to the number below on the screen, or log in to our website to join us directly. In the last year of the Sexagenary cycle (1), our program will randomly choose six hundred lucky people who will receive our limited recording version of our game show, which includes some behind-the-scene images that you have never seen before!"
Having finished his advertising, Mr. Yu turned back to the three distinguished guests and got back to business. "Alright, do you have any comments on the performance of Player Number Two and Number Four in the Arena?"
The screen focused on Superbia. She said determinedly, " All men should go to hell."
"Yeah, good one!" Dispirited imitated Superbia’s posture, crossing her arms under her bosom and nodding in agreement.
"Hey! What did I do?!" Little Tan cried.
"There’s not much to compliment about the competences of these two. Anyway, there are two problems, the boy number two has made bad choices." Pestilence always gave an objective, orderly assessment. "First, you shouldn't break the jar with your bare hand. Second, the shot you gave to the Desert Ferocious Tiger on his head is useless. Even if you had shot all of its head to pieces, you would only destroyed its sensors and information gathering system. What had killed it, after all, are the two shots by Player Number Four. The first shot had destroyed the metal shells, and the second shot had pierced through the energy core."
When Pestilence had just finished, Hephaestus sitting next to him spoke up, "Hey boy, crushing the jar is a dangerous behavior since the dust of time will be absorbed into the cut on your hand…" Hephaestus reminded him seriously, "the time of your left arm has been consumed. If you don’t treat it well, your hand will soon turn into dust."
"Eh? That serious?" Although Little Tan didn't understand it thoroughly, he had a feeling that this was going to be bloody scary.
"Doesn’t matter."
The audience and the three distinguished guests all gazed at the one who just uttered.
Feng Bujue continued with a natural tone, "Could be cured with one SCP-500 pellet."
"Ho, ho, ho, not bad, Player Number One. He immediately came up with a solution," Mr. Yu said, "well then, we are going to play the Deadly Jeopardy, round two!"
The DJ played a short, powerful BGM and the spotlight shone on the center of the stage again. On the auditorium, the audience was cheering, jumping and dancing; it was such a ghostly, magical and flurry scene.
"Alright, some of the audience please calm down. Do not breathe fire around your seats or in the air. The audience sitting in D3 section, yeah, it’s you. Please spit out the monster near you. Do you think I didn’t notice that? That's right, thank you!" Mr. Yu tried to calm down the scene for a while before turning to Feng Bujue. "Player Number One, do you still remember that I’ve mentioned the player who scores the highest in the first round will receive a mysterious advantage?"
-----------------------------------------------------
(1) Sexagenary cycle: also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi, is a cycle of sixty terms used for reckoning time in China and the East Asian cultural sphere. The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with the old Chinese system still in use in Taiwan.
