Chapter 21: The Little Red Riding Hood That Picks Mushrooms
Everyone carefully walked through the light curtain and appeared in a quaint hall like the palace interior seen in historical dramas.
Nine pillars, which needed two people to hug, supported the dome ceiling. Five-clawed dragons were carved on the pillars, while various ancient and exotic beasts could be found along the walls and on the floor.
They were extraordinarily lifelike and ferocious. Regardless of the angle, the players would always make eye contact with the beasts; it was terrifying.
Gulp!
Everyone swallowed a mouthful of saliva while their heart thumped.
“So, this is what the transference hall looks like in person!”
Sun Yuan wasn’t afraid.
The place was an exact replica to that of the mobile game he played
Every country made up a game area. Not only was the tower of god styled differently, so was the transference hall.
When there are enough players gathered in the hall, they would be transferred into the tower of god.
As Sun Yuan was about to look around, he was suddenly grabbed by his left sleeves.
“What?”
Turning around, Sun Yuan saw that it was Li Wan.
She seemed frightened and looked around frantically with her neck tucked in, just like a quail.
“S-Sorry!”
She retracted her hands and apologized but was still afraid. The murals and reliefs made her feel as though she was in the depths of hell. She reached out and grabbed onto his clothes again.
“Li Wan, why don’t you leave?”
Sun Yuan suggested.
She was unable to challenge the tower in her condition.
While she wasn’t as pretty as Shen Jingran, her face still ranked among the top three within the 02 cohorts. She had also practiced ballet in the past, giving her a unique temperament.
She was usually mellow, quiet, and soft-hearted.
She only came in because she was persuaded by Shen Jingran.
“T-that doesn’t seem right, does it?”
Li Wan was embarrassed to leave not long after entering as she didn’t want to be a coward.
“Who would blame you in such circumstances?”
Sun Yuan consoled her.
“I-In the case, I’m leaving!”
Li Wan turned towards Shen Jingran.
The only reason goddess Shen brought her in was to take advantage of her weak personality. No matter how useless she was, she could serve as cannon fodder.
But she immediately smiled when she felt Sun Yuan’s gaze on her, “Don’t worry! We’re still good friends even if we aren’t challenging the tower together.”
If it wasn’t because she was afraid Sun Yuan would find her calculating and abandon her, she would have tried her best to make Li Wan stay.
“I’m so sorry! Please, give it your all!”
Li Wan then ran towards the gate, only to hit her head on the light curtain and land on her butt.
She couldn’t leave.
Those who saw what happened felt their hearts sink.
Picking herself up, Li Wan gave it another shot, but it was futile. The light curtain sealing the entrance was as tough as steel.
“Don’t bother trying anymore; it’s useless. From the looks of it, there’s no running away from this place.”
Chewing his bubblegum, Tang Yan said.
“W-What should I do?”
She teared up and cried when no one replied to her.
“Student.”
Dean Wang Shuyuan walked over and comforted kindly, “Don’t be afraid; we’ll protect you.”
“Sun Yuan, it’s Chu Yuntao’s group.”
Zhen Yu tugged on his sleeve and softly said.
Turning his head, Sun Yuan spotted Chu Yuntao staring daggers at him.
“You son of a b*tch, I’ll play you to death.”
Chu Yuntao spat.
“Silver Trojan, when is it starting?”
Tang Tang urged impatiently, “Can you hurry up?”
She was an irritable person.
Silver Trojan, who was outside the tower of god, was feeling upset.
“Only so many of you are willing to challenge the tower. There aren’t even 500 players; how disappointing!”
Its mood soured when it realized that there weren’t any divine beings in its channel, “I will be holding a random selection right now. The selected players are to enter and challenge the tower; refusal equals death!”
An avatar of every player appeared on the virtual screen in the sky. They then rotated and spun for 10 seconds before coming to a stop.
Every student had their hearts in their mouths as they stared at the screen.
712 avatars showed up on the screen.
“This is a warning for the selected players to enter the tower. You’ve exactly one minute to do so. Failing to adhere to instruction will result in death.”
As this was its first time hosting a tower of god challenge, it had to acquire at least three subscriptions by the divine beings to be deemed successful. Otherwise, it would forever lose its chance to enter the front page as a famous streamer.
“F*ck, why was I chosen?”
Cui Xueren scolded and cursed when he saw his avatar on screen. How unlucky was he to be chosen?
The players chosen by Silver Trojan were mournful and helpless as they entered the tower one after another.
All of them understood the result of defying Silver Trojan’s orders. Their heads would explode just like the 900 plus students who failed to arrive at the field.
1,000 players soon gathered within the teleportation hall.
“Dean Wang!”
Cui Xueren approached Wang Shuyuan and smiled, “I came in because I was worried about you!”
“I’m already old; it’s fine if I die here. But you students are still young, you have a bright future ahead of you. We must clear this game!”
Wang Shuyuan preached.
While Cui Xueren appeared to nod in agreement, he was secretly thinking about how he could survive this predicament.
Crackle!
A black cube the size of a watermelon appeared within the teleportation hall in a flash of silver arcs.
“The tower will officially open in one minute. You should write your will while you have the time because the death rate here exceeds 95%!”
Its words shook everyone to their core.
Wasn’t it as good as saying that only 50 of them would survive?
“Actually, you shouldn’t bother writing a will since I don’t feel like providing pens and papers. Besides, your family could all be dead by now.”
Silver Trojan was full of malice as it joked around with the players.
As a matter of fact, some players attempted to contact their families. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any signal.
“Oh right, now that you have entered the tower of god, the only way to survive is to clear the tower and reach the top. Those who fail to reach the top will be killed the moment the challenge ends.”
Everyone felt a chill down their spine at its words.
Many players assumed they could simply retry the tower if they failed; they never thought that there was only one chance.
Failing to reach the top equals death.
“The countdown will be starting now, so you should savor the silence before you die!”
60!
59!
…
Silver Trojan captured the players’ expressions on screen as they were the selling points.
Fear, panic, apprehension, nervousness…
Even the righteous and awe-inspiring Dean Wang was feeling dejected. He hadn’t had the chance to see his grandkid grow up, get married, and have children of their own.
Wait, what’s up with this Sun Yuan?
How is he maintaining his cool even now?
You aren’t out for an excursion but participating in a death game!
Can you respect the people behind the games and show some expression on your face?
[Noble Saintess enters the channel]
Silver Trojan got happy when it heard the notification.
There’s finally a divine being.
She should be here for Sun Yuan, right?
She rewarded him with a divine coin previously, after all.
Sun Yuan, you must perform well so that Noble Saintess will subscribe to my channel!
[Extravagant Little Princess enters the channel]
Silver Trojan was excited about the entrance of another divine being.
[You actually forced so many players into the first tower of god. Are you hosting a death game? What an interesting idea.]
[Hey, I spotted two good-looking guys. They are wearing a tracksuit and holding a baseball bat each.]
[You must do a featured story for them when they die!]
Extravagant Little Princess seemed like a chatterbox as she quickly sent three messages.
Silver Trojan understood that the divine being was referring to Tang Yan and Sun Yuan with a sweep of its gaze.
The countdown had ended. It was time to start transferring the players.
All the players were atomized and transferred inch by inch into the tower of god, where the game begins.
…
With the return of his vision, Sun Yuan instantly grabbed his Explosive bat as he scanned his surroundings.
He was in a hilly terrain where rocks eroded by the mountain breeze stood all over the place.
They stood silently like tombstones; it was as though monster corpses could be found beneath them if one was willing to dig.
The stones lying on the ground were covered with tender green lichens. It was like an ever-growing carpet as it spread as far as the eye could see.
There weren’t any traces of humans nor their machinery, and absolutely none of the pollution they caused. There was only nature in this place.
Sun Yuan couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
“This place is gorgeous!”
Sheng Jingran was surprised.
Kasha! Kasha!
Zhen Yu was full of excitement as she took pictures with her Canon R5 camera.
It was the perfect location for filming fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.
“Who cares if it’s gorgeous? Can it keep our stomachs full?”
Zhuo Wen scratched his head with a worried face, “I’ve just noticed a problem; what are we supposed to eat in the wilderness? Are we going to live a primitive lifestyle?
“Even the survival shows you watch on television start you off with flints and knives, but we started off empty-handed.”
Wang Xu was suddenly struck with the realization that he had taken the game too lightly.
He thought that all he had to do was fight and kill the monsters on every floor to proceed upwards in challenging the tower. He never expected to be transported into the wilderness.
Everyone had a solemn look on their face. This would be the perfect place for an excursion because it was much more magical and magnificent than the 5A1 scenic spots in their country. It was even worth a 1,000 yuan admission fee.
But now, none of them were in the mood to take in the view.
“Great Saint, what should we do?”
Zhuo Wen asked.
“We wait!”
His current situation was like the mobile game, where his character was transported into the wilderness. The only difference was the level of immersion between a character and his real body.
All 1,000 players were here.
Sun Yuan swept his gaze across the players before shifting his attention to the primeval forest in front of him. Looking closely, he noticed that the trees weren’t actually trees but gigantic mushrooms larger than century-old trees.
Dingdong!
[You have received a system notification, please check it immediately.]
Every player opened their game panel to read the notification.
[The theme for the first floor of the tower of god is the little red riding hood that picks mushrooms.]
[Every player is required to pick three honeydew mushrooms to clear the level and gain access to the second floor.]
[The honeydew mushrooms have a thick stalk and are yellowish with spots. They also have a white cap shaped like a jellyfish.]
“Picking mushrooms? That sounds like an easy task!”
Wang Xu breathed a sigh of relief.
Their mission was described such that even a grade-schooler could understand. The only issue was that no one knew what a honeydew mushroom looked like.
Sun Yuan closed the game panel, and the corner of his mouth turned up slightly in a smile as he looked towards the primeval forest.
Steady now.
Even though the game was challenging, he already knew how to clear it.
~~~
1 5A is a grading standard for top tourist attractions in China.
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