Chapter 422 – Snowy Mountain (22) The Second Batch of Sacrifices

【Name: Colosseum】

【Type: ##】

【Effect: Can be deployed in the “real world” to seize any living beings and force them to fight to the death inside the arena;

After deployment it will randomly move across the globe; no one but the deployer knows its exact location;

The Colosseum always houses exactly ten thousand living beings; when casualties occur, new beings are captured to replenish the number.】

【Note: The world itself is a giant Colosseum.】

A European-style edifice of marble texture quietly materialized beneath the dome, like a rain-laden cumulonimbus casting a thousand-mile shadow across the land.

Most of the parading, fleeing, war-trapped masses sensed nothing, though a few felt a vague unease and glanced skyward, only to find no clue to pursue.

The oppressive calm, no different from the undercurrents of recent days, made people mistake the sudden chill in their hearts for anxiety over the times; they did not know that endless death was about to descend, that the true monsters had arrived.

Lu Renjia sat on the train, watching mountains and fields flash past the window, as the dark maw of a tunnel ahead swallowed carriage after carriage.

Beside her, an elderly couple chattered nonstop.

The man said, “Look how things turned out—suddenly we’re at war. I remember when I was young, they predicted war every year and none came; now that we don’t want it, bang, it starts without the slightest warning.”

“It’s not about war—it’s the end of the world!” the woman hissed, still plenty loud. “I heard the front lines are full of ghosts; ghosts exist in this world. I went to evening class last week—they told me the Almighty is angry…”

“Old woman, you’ve nothing better to do than hang around those frauds—watch you don’t throw our funeral money away!”

“They’re no frauds, all good people—give out free eggs every weekend!”

…

Lu Renjia listened listlessly, knowing the two weren’t seeking answers but only venting helplessness, using small talk to pretend they had some control over the crisis.

Lu Renjia had majored in psychology and naturally became a counselor after graduation; with innate sharpness she habitually analyzed people’s minds, usually hitting close to the mark.

Yet such analysis… was honestly just another way to dispel unease.

The tunnel mouth drew closer; Lu Renjia stared as the light outside dimmed inch by inch, the brightness at the entrance receding until everything turned pitch-black.

A sudden terror rose in her—as if something eerie and dangerous awaited—but she quickly reassured herself: fear of darkness is normal psychology; limited vision makes the brain imagine predators lurking, an ancient memory encoded in our genes… 【Welcome to the Eerie Game… Player data loading… Load complete…】

【In the Eerie Game… you can obtain everything you desire—wealth, power, health… everything…】

【All you need to face and overcome… is the fear of the eerie…】

A jumble of whispers suddenly rang in her ears, broken electronic tones mixed with static, spouting incomprehensible jargon.

Clang!

A deafening crash came from the front of the train; the carriage lurched violently and Lu Renjia slammed face-first into the window before she could react.

The entire train flipped, flung high and smashed down; passengers near the front were hurled against the ceiling, shattering into a rain of blood.

Thick gore cascaded down the windows like a waterfall; survivors screamed, wails and groans mixing with small explosions and falling rocks.

Pinned between two deformed seats by the window, Lu Renjia felt her ribs snap, her chest throbbing; shards of glass embedded in her cheek, blood flowing until it filmed over her eyes.

The whispers in her ears grew clearer, now resounding through the carriage for everyone to hear.

【Instance Name: Colosseum】

【Instance Type: Multi-player Survival】

【Foreword: Man is also a beast. Man was not born to be a beast.】

The ceiling lights flickered on and off; for an instant absolute darkness fell, pain and the stench of blood fading as though the soul had left the body and floated in the amniotic fluid of pre-birth.

What’s happening? What’s going on? Lu Renjia blinked, unable to think straight.

The elderly couple beside her were badly injured; the man lay unconscious, the woman weeping as she slapped his face, “Wake up—God willing—wake up…”

After an unknown span the darkness lifted again; Lu Renjia found herself on a vast elevated platform surrounded by crowds, a long saber slanted at her feet—and at nearly everyone else’s feet lay weapons of every sort, purpose unknown.

Tiered stands rose around them, row upon row, nearly touching the sky. The seats were crammed with every kind of animal, howling and shrieking in earsplitting cacophony.

It was unmistakably a Colosseum—only humans and animals had swapped roles.

Lu Renjia breathed deeply again and again, spotting several familiar faces among the sea of people—fellow passengers from her train.

Piecing together the information in her head, the rumors of recent days, and the bizarre scene before her, she made her judgment and raised her voice, “Everyone, quiet! I know what’s going on!”

All heads turned toward her, though the crowd did not fall completely silent; the woman still sobbed, her husband nowhere to be seen—presumably dead.

Lu Renjia raised her voice further, “Have any of you read unlimited-flow novels, or heard of unlimited-flow games?”

“I think we’ve been pulled into a game as players—if we can complete the mission and clear this instance, we can survive!”

“The relevant information should already be in your minds—everyone calm down and let’s think of a way together!”

A red-haired youth asked, “I know unlimited-flow games, but… what’s the mission?”

Before the words faded, a cold electronic voice sounded above them all:

【Main Mission: Kill everyone except yourself】

The crowd exchanged glances; bewilderment receded into wariness and panic, like trapped small beasts shifting their eyes to size up the companions beside them.

The standoff lasted barely half an hour when a scream erupted in a corner—a gaunt woman collapsed, a pool of blood spreading beneath her.

“Murder…”

“Someone’s killed!”

In an instant everyone went mad; some sprinted for the edge of the platform, others snatched up weapons… Lu Renjia drew the saber at her feet and edged backward—she had no intention to kill, only to protect herself. She knew her stamina could never win in a brawl… If only she could find an ally… she thought.

Yet the next second a chill pierced her heart; she looked down to see a blood-stained blade tip protruding from her chest… Scenes like this were unfolding across the globe.

High on the snowy mountain, Qi Si sat beside the sacrificial pit, watching the pile of corpses slowly rise, his face expressionless.

He had deployed 【Colosseum】 into reality and rewritten its main mission and rules.

In the catastrophe he brewed, no possibility of survival remained.