“The other end is the ‘Cat Room’,” the mole said. “Which is my room.”
“You have a room too?”
“Yes,” the mole nodded. “Rest assured, everyone, I won’t lie about the rules. Our rooms are on opposite ends of the hall, with excellent soundproofing. I can’t hear your discussions, nor will I enter your room.”
Qi Xia glanced at the “Cat Room” on the far right. It had a white door, separated from the “Mouse Room” by five other rooms. Even if the soundproofing wasn’t great, it’d be hard to hear anything from the other side.
“The five rooms in the middle, plus this hall, make up our game area,” the mole explained. “The main parts of the game will take place here.”
As he spoke, the mole walked to a yellow door and pushed it open.
Inside, the room was spacious. At the far end stood a wine-red altar table with a white porcelain plate on it. Stacked on the plate like offerings were several fruits—upon closer inspection, they appeared to be dragon fruits.
In the “Land of the End,” these were definitely rare.
“Tsk, how unlucky—it looks like offerings for the dead,” Saturday remarked. “Who taught you to arrange three fruits on the bottom and one on top?”
“Unlucky?” The mole grinned stiffly. “At a place like this, who cares about luck?”
He walked forward and pointed at the dragon fruits on the table. “These fruits can fill your stomachs… but only in the ‘literal sense’.”
“What?”
“Leaders, the next part of the game requires you to wear collars before I can continue the explanation,” the mole gestured to the group.
Qi Xia exchanged glances with the others. Knowing they were already committed to the game, they silently fastened the collars around their necks.
Once all the collars were connected, lights on both sides of each collar lit up—two in total.
“Everyone… the lights on your collars represent your ‘Satiety Value’,” the mole clarified. “Right now, you have two bars, meaning you’re ‘full’.”
“When will our ‘Satiety Value’ decrease?” Qi Xia asked.
“One point per round,” the mole replied. “Leader, let me reiterate—each round consists of ‘Night’ and ‘Day’ phases. After both phases pass, everyone’s Satiety Value will drop by one.”
Seeing the group nod, he continued, “Every time you ‘steal’ food, you can regain one point of Satiety. Each fruit can restore one point for one ‘Mouse’, up to a maximum of two points.”
Qi Xia did a quick mental calculation. Each of the five players started with two Satiety points—totaling ten. Each round, every player would lose one point, and with six rounds, they’d need thirty points in total.
Subtracting the initial ten, they’d need to find twenty more fruits.
This room had four. If the others also had four, five rooms would total exactly twenty.
“So we really have to play as mice stealing food?” Luo Shiyi muttered.
“Exactly, Leader. Your Satiety Value can drop to zero, but if it goes below, your collars will explode,” the mole added, glancing at him. “During each ‘Night’, the ‘Mouse’ faction has three choices: **Search, Transport, or Rescue**—each person can pick one. Let me explain each in detail.”
He walked to the wall and pointed at a switch-like device.
“Here’s a button. Pressing it while inside a room will lock the door, signaling that the ‘Mouse’ has chosen to **Search** there. The next day, you can take the fruit inside. But remember—no matter what, each ‘Mouse’ can only carry **three fruits at a time**.”
“How do we **Transport**?” Qi Xia asked.
“To trigger **Transport**, the ‘Mouse’ must stay in the room for a full round. The next round, they can **Transport**. Also, if someone triggers **Transport**, they can carry items for teammates—but the limit is still three.”
“This is getting a bit complicated…” Luo Shiyi scratched his head. “You’ve explained **Search** and **Transport**—what’s the last one?”
“**Rescue**,” the mole said. “To explain that, I’ll need to cover the ‘Cat’s’ actions first.”
He paused before continuing, “The ‘Cat’ also has three actions: **Search, Block, or Patrol**.”
“You have a **Search** too?” Qi Xia asked.
“Yes, but mine isn’t for fruit—it’s for ‘Mice’,” the mole clarified. “Once you choose **Search**, your room locks. During the day, I’ll randomly pick a room to **Search**. If I enter a room with a ‘Mouse’, I’ll catch them.”
“What happens if you catch someone?” Qi Xia pressed—this was the question he cared about most. “Are they eliminated immediately?”
“Not that harsh,” the mole said. “A ‘Cat’ toys with its prey before eating. So I’ll take the caught ‘Mouse’ to the ‘Cat Room’ and eliminate them at the start of the next round. During the night, you can choose to **Rescue** by entering the ‘Cat Room’. I won’t interfere. After six rounds, all surviving ‘Mice’ not in the ‘Cat Room’ win.”
“We can rescue people? Then how do you win?” Luo Shiyi scoffed. “Do you even know what kind of team we are?”
“Ha, no worries, Leaders. Rescue all you want,” the mole chuckled dryly. “I genuinely hope you help each other.”
Qi Xia’s expression darkened slightly. There was something off about this game.
If a ‘Mouse’ got caught, was **Rescuing** really the best move?
It meant one ‘Mouse’ would have to skip a **Search** opportunity, spend a Satiety point, and go save someone. That round, the team would need an extra fruit just to break even.
But it wasn’t that simple. The rescued person would’ve starved for a day and need immediate replenishment. If fruits were already scarce, rescuing would only accelerate the team’s demise.
This “Mole Game” was clearly different from the earlier “Dog Game.” It didn’t demand tight cooperation—instead, it focused on **hiding** and **seeking**. The five mice could even act independently, with just one survivor counting as a win.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage