Chapter 307: Colosseum (15) — ‘I Am Going to Be Killed’

Apart from Qi Si and Nian Fu’s team, every other player team had spent four game coins to finish four rounds; the point rankings were almost unchanged.

First place was still Chu Xun and Green’s “Tiger” team, with a total of 3,200 points.

Dong Xiwen and Lena Ann’s “Leopard” team followed closely behind with 3,100 points.

Next were Qin Mu with 2,600 points and Chang Xu and Liu Yuhan with 2,500.

Lin Ye and Fan Zhanwei’s “Lion” team had 2,200 points, while Qi Si and Nian Fu’s “Fox” team trailed at 2,100.

After Lena Ann exhausted his coins he replaced Dong Xiwen on the board. Studying the rankings, he gave a shy smile. “Qi’s stalling tactic failed; he’ll probably try to clear as many stages as possible now.”

“Though we don’t know what the rankings are for, finishing last definitely isn’t good. He needs to farm points while there’s still time and turn the tide.”

“Not necessarily.” Green folded his arms and shook his head. “Surviving four hours on the board is far harder than surviving one. If he clears out right away he’ll almost certainly die; staying inside the tower a while longer gives him a chance to live.”

Lin Ye sneered. “Just delaying the inevitable. Even if he survives today’s Colosseum Game, what then? Dead last in points—there’ll be plenty of chances to kill him.”

Chang Xu stood impassively and glanced at Nian Fu. “Knowing Qi Si, he never cares about a teammate’s life. He’ll stall for his own safety, letting your team’s points fall further and putting you at risk. I don’t see why you’d help him at the cost of failure.”

Nian Fu looked sideways at him, smiling. “Chang Xu, I’ve watched your streams. Most of us think of you as a brute who disdains words—seems that’s not entirely true.”

She shrugged. “To have the rookie rank one deign to sow discord makes me even more certain my investment is sound: Qi Si is a rare commodity.”

Chang Xu’s eyes darkened; he said no more.

After Green chose a move point as his reward and Chu Xun shifted one square, nearly every player opted to chase the point rankings.

The animal chess board never changed again; players did nothing but trade barbs and watch the Glazed High Tower, making for dull viewing.

The beasts in the stands grew restless. The smaller beasts in the lower rows howled, while the elephants in the top row trumpeted angrily—one even wrapped a lion in its trunk, ready to hurl it onto the field.

The Goat, presiding beside the board, wiped cold sweat and announced loudly, “Looks like our players are playing it safe. I’ll have to offer a bounty to spice things up.”

“Next, I’m adding a mini-game for friends outside the tower: volunteer for a 1-v-1 against the ‘Rat.’ Each victor gains 500 points!”

At the edge of the arena, below the stands, a squat iron gate creaked open; two masked goat-men dragged out a creature with a rat’s head and serpentine body.

It looked like the rat-men that attacked players last night, only more grotesque: jagged white teeth jutted from a ruined maw, crimson eyes glaring as if ready to pounce and bite.

The Goat pointed at the monster, grinning nastily. “Beat it and you’ll instantly earn five hundred points. Anyone care to try?”

Players exchanged glances, tempted.

Last night they’d learned rat-men were simple to handle—just bleed a little.

“I’ll go!” Lin Ye shot his hand up, afraid of being beaten to it.

But The Goat added lazily, “Fair warning: this game is strict—if you bleed, you lose…”

…Ninth floor of the tower. After his fifteen-minute break, Qi Si pushed open the third door.

In the upper left of his vision the Colosseum Game timer read 【04:00:00】, the stage timer 【03:00:00】, and his coin balance was zero.

Which meant once he cleared this level he’d have to leave the tower, exposed to Chang Xu for whatever time remained.

How long would Chang Xu need to kill him? A question worth studying.

But it definitely wouldn’t take a whole hour.

Qi Si rubbed his chin in annoyance and stepped forward into the darkness beyond the door.

In an instant the world spun; in the lightless void he lost all sense of direction, feeling as if he were falling yet also rising.

At one moment his back touched something hard and cold—planks, most likely wood.

He reached out; within inches he met the same wooden walls on every side.

He was sealed inside a wooden rectangle.

A nailed-shut Coffin, and he the corpse buried alive within.

Qi Si lay flat, breathing again after who knew how long, hearing his long-absent heart pound against his back, the thuds traveling through the wood and into the earth, stirring dull subterranean echoes.

He seemed human once more—back inside his own body, alive rather than some ghost.

Shuangxi Town; this stage was Shuangxi Town.

Qi Si pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the beat, and in that instant knew how to clear the level.

—This wasn’t his body; there was no need to cherish it.

He didn’t rush to escape; instead he sank his mind into the Hall of Thought to touch the last remaining scarlet leaf in its depths.

“Lin Chen, I’m about to die.” Facing the soul of his sole believer, he said… “Damn it!” Outside the tower Lin Ye was smashed to the ground by the Rat-Man, feeling his organs shatter.

A thick red python clamped his wrist; he squealed like a slaughtered pig as the bitten flesh turned stone-gray, stiffening to rock.

The beasts in the stands roared in delight; an elephant trumpeted, “Rip him apart, rip him apart!”

“Stop! End the game!” Sensing mortal danger, Lin Ye screamed, “I surrender!”

The Goat seemed deaf, watching the Rat-Man’s one-sided slaughter with relish.

Scream after scream tore the air as Lin Ye was crumpled like a rag.

Chang Xu stared at the carnage, then suddenly tore off his mask and dropped it.

A black broken blade materialized; he gripped it, appeared beside the Rat-Man a second later, and swung the scythe down in a fierce arc.

No system voice stopped a player from killing a god; the scythe cleanly severed the Rat-Man’s head, burying itself deep in the ground.

Splattered scarlet blood flew onto his face, threads of it seeping down pale cheeks into black cloth, adding a lethal, bewitching air.

Chang Xu held his knife stance, standing motionless, slightly stunned.

Why had he been able to kill the Rat-Man?

Was it because the Rat-Man wasn’t a god?

Right—if the Rat-Man itself were a god, how could it have begged for divine mercy last night?

Yet why had nearly every animal become a god while they alone were left out?

“I’ve heard that in every wolf pack there’s an omega wolf, last to eat, scavenging leftovers, skin and bones, bullied by all.”

“If it dies, the pack simply picks a new omega. They need a wolf living in misery so the others can comfort themselves: ‘At least I’m not the worst-off, the unluckiest.’ Only then do they feel secure.”

Qi Si’s words echoed in memory; Chang Xu felt he’d grasped the key, but there was no time to ponder.

For a heartbeat the spectators fell silent at the sudden twist, then burst into wilder cheers two seconds later.

“Wolf! Invincible Wolf!”

They clapped for Chang Xu’s victory, though the dead one had been an animal closer to themselves and the victor was human.

Perhaps in their eyes Rat-Men and humans were the same—lowly beings abandoned by the gods.

Whoever could give them drama, whoever could give them more amusement, they would flock to applaud.

Entertain unto death—so what?

After a brief startle The Goat too applauded, a smile of encouragement at his lips: “This friend from Wolf Team has shown us his valor. Unfortunately, the dead Rat-Man was the opponent chosen by Lion Team.”

“So for this round Lion Team gains five hundred points!”

Lin Ye’s squad total rose to 2,700, jumping to third place and overtaking Chang Xu and Liu Yuhan’s team at a stroke.

Booing rose from the stands; no one liked the unfair twist of saving someone and suffering for it.

The Goat calmly motioned downward and added, “But don’t lose heart—there are plenty more chances ahead. I believe this friend from Wolf Team can harvest plenty of points.”

“Of course, the rule must be stressed again: from now on neither side may bring weapons onto the field!”

A new rat-headed monster was dragged out from behind the iron gate, looking even more belligerent and brawny than the last.

The Goat’s slit pupils watched Chang Xu playfully: “I wonder if this friend dares accept the challenge?”

…“I will be killed by Chang Xu.” On the ninth floor of the tower, Qi Si lay in pitch-black Coffin and calmly told Lin Chen.

“During the eight hours of the Colosseum Game players may harm one another. I have barely three hours before I must leave the tower; the remaining hour will be enough for Chang Xu to kill me.”

“Even if he can’t finish me in one strike, he can wound me. And as the Ghost ‘The Undying’, I can’t heal; eventually I’ll bleed to death.”

Lin Chen asked hoarsely, “Brother Qi, what can I do? The Eerie Game never sets an absolutely fatal situation—there has to be a way…”

“What if the Eerie Game wants me dead too?” Qi Si let his pupils drift apart, gaze scattering into shards.

A faint smile curved his lips, voice dreamy: “I remember telling you about the Gods Gamble—a wager on past, present and future. Sunk costs no longer matter.”

“Unfortunately, in that game Chang Xu and I are both pieces on the board—candidates. If one has been confirmed chosen, I suppose the other’s existence is no longer necessary.”

“Destroying him out of hand, or giving him a grand-sounding reason for failure before destroying him—either is a casual trifle for those lofty gods.”

“Lin Chen, can you understand?”

“But why?” Lin Chen’s pace of speech quickened. “Because of the rookie rank? That list only looks at martial strength, not cunning…”

“Because of desire.” Qi Si’s eyes were unfocused. “I have no desire; Chang Xu does. People without desire aren’t allowed to live—only those who crave can be content to be pieces on the board, toyed with by the gods.”

“Someone like me holds no value for the gods and may even cause internal friction; I’m destined to be scrapped.”

“But… that’s not fair!”

“The world has never been fair.” Qi Si sighed and continued, “After I die, help Jiuzhou Guild clear its name in the name of the Unnamed Guild—say I died to game mechanics and Chang Xu is blameless. They’ll owe you a favor and allow you to stand in the Ruins of the Sunset.”

“If you feel you can’t manage, disband the guild at once and pretend nothing happened. They don’t know your face; with the Human Skin Mask you can melt into the crowd…”

“Brother Qi, found it.” Lin Chen cut off the near-last-will with a cold, firm call.

He enunciated each word: “I found a stream of a player named ‘Lin Ye’—Chang Xu is in the picture.”

“Chang Xu is fighting a rat-headed, snake-bodied monster; they’re evenly matched and will be locked in combat for a while yet.”

“That monster was released from the iron gate beneath the stands… Brother Qi, if you leave the tower now, could you slip through that gate while Chang Xu is tied up and use those monsters against him?”

“Straw Tiger should hold out for a bit; Chang Xu doesn’t seem to have any better way to deal with monsters… Brother Qi, if you kill Chang Xu, can you survive?”

“Maybe. Thanks.” Qi Si chuckled, drew a blade from his special wristband, and slit his own throat.

The instant his carotid burst he felt most of his weight disappear, drifting up out of his body as light slowly returned to his eyes.

The solution to this level was lifted straight from Shuangxi Town: perish first, then live.

From the heartbeat and breathing inside Coffin it was clear this body wasn’t a player’s—Qi Si had long been a ghost without breath or pulse.

He was trapped in the Coffin only because the heavy body anchored him, preventing escape.

The flesh was a prison; he shattered the prison and burst from the earth.

As vision settled again, Qi Si found himself seated on the Coffin-lid, a black-robed, golden-eyed idol standing in the shrine before him.

Three sticks of incense stood straight, neither too many nor too few, neither long nor short—sacred yet eerie.

The idol’s features were blurred, clearly a copy of the Mourning-God statue, only most details skimped away.

Qi Si rose, walked to the foot of the idol, looked up for a moment, then smiled: “Li, long time no see—care to strike a deal?”