The game begins.
As a “conflict” game, the Earth Rooster has pushed “conflict” to its limits.
One side battles with wit, the other with courage.
If either side falters even once, both are doomed to perish.
Amid the oppressive atmosphere, the girl across the table finally spoke.
“Will you draw first, or should I?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Qi Xia replied. “You go ahead.”
The girl nodded, drew a card, and placed it face-down in front of her without looking at it.
Qi Xia also reached out, drew a card, and set it down without peeking.
Neither of them glanced at their cards while drawing—their eyes remained locked on each other.
This card game was now a matter of life and death, so the mind games had already begun during the drawing phase.
Taking turns placing cards face-down in front of themselves, neither showed the slightest hint of weakness.
Inside the glass room, Dr. Zhao and the tall boy watched nervously, swallowing hard.
Once both had drawn five cards, Qi Xia gathered his hand and slowly spread them to look.
The situation was grim.
Shield, stone, rope, rope, rope.
Though called “weapon cards,” the selection felt like something from the Stone Age.
He slowly closed his hand and looked back at the girl.
Her expression remained unchanged as she briefly glanced at her cards before locking eyes with Qi Xia again.
“My name is Qi Xia. What’s yours?”
“Su Shan,” the girl answered.
The game has begun.
As a “conflict” game, Earth Chicken has pushed “conflict” to its extreme.
One side battles with wits, the other with courage.
If either side makes a single misstep, both are certain to meet their doom.
Amid the oppressive atmosphere, the girl across the table spoke.
“Will you draw first, or shall I?”
“It makes no difference,” Qixia replied. “You go first.”
The girl nodded, drawing a card. But she didn’t look at it—instead, she placed it face down in front of her.
Qixia also reached out, drew a card, and placed it face down before him.
Neither looked at their cards while drawing; their eyes remained locked on each other.
This card game was a matter of life and death, so the mind games had already begun during the drawing phase.
Taking turns, they placed cards in front of themselves without revealing the slightest hint of their hands.
Inside the glass room, Dr. Zhao and the tall young man watched nervously, swallowing hard.
After each had drawn five cards, Qixia gathered his hand and slowly fanned them open to take a look.
The situation was far from ideal.
Shield, rock, rope, rope, rope.
Though they were called “weapon cards,” the hand looked more like something from the Stone Age.
He slowly closed his hand and looked up at the girl across from him.
Her expression remained unchanged. She glanced briefly at her own cards before meeting Qixia’s gaze.
“My name is Qixia. And you?”
“Su Shan,” the girl answered.
“Shan?” Qixia found the name interesting. “As in ‘shining’?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Qixia said with a perfunctory nod, then turned his attention to the deck on the table.
In his hand, he had one rock and three ropes. Perhaps the deck contained a higher proportion of rocks and ropes.
If that were the case, then among the so-called “weapon cards,” the ones with higher lethality would naturally be rarer.
“Sticks” would be scarcer than “rocks,” and “knives” would be the rarest of all.
Of course, there was another possibility—all cards were equally distributed, and he had simply been unlucky.
So… what cards had this girl named Su Shan drawn?
Was she stuck in the “Cold Weapons Era” too?
Did she have a “knife”?
Did she hold two “life cards” and one “death card”?
“If you two are ready, please play your cards!” Earth Chicken interrupted their thoughts, tapping the table.
After a moment of contemplation, Qixia silently placed a card face down on the table and looked up. “Su Shan, do you think it’s possible…”
“What?”
“That we could play all our cards without either side winning, ending in a draw?”
“Would that happen?” Su Shan replied dismissively, placing a card face down in front of her. “But a draw… wouldn’t that be for the best?”
“Then let’s both play gently. There’s no need to push each other to death,” Qixia said.
“Fine,” Su Shan nodded, pushing her facedown card forward.
Qixia also nodded, sliding one of his cards forward as well.
The cards were played.
Dr. Zhao and the young man named Zichen were so tense they could barely breathe. Seeing the two in the distance calmly choose their cards, they hurried beneath the ceiling to watch the openings above.
This was where their first “weapon” would drop.
“Reveal your cards,” Earth Chicken said.
As soon as the words were spoken, Qixia and Su Shan flipped their cards simultaneously.
At that moment, the two openings above Dr. Zhao and Zichen’s heads slid open, and something dark fell out.
They scrambled to pick up their “weapons,” but Dr. Zhao was stunned.
What dropped was a “rope.”
He quickly grabbed it and turned around, only to see the tall young man ten steps away slowly picking up a machete that had fallen to the ground.
“Ah!” Dr. Zhao screamed in despair. “What kind of crap is this?! Qixia, are you fucking with me?!”
Without another word, he rushed to the glass wall, slapping it frantically with the rope. “Qixia! Are you fucking with me?!”
Fortunately, the glass wall seemed custom-made and incredibly sturdy—no matter how hard Dr. Zhao hit it, not a single crack appeared.
Qixia slowly furrowed his brow.
So she really had drawn a “knife.”
She must have guessed he wouldn’t play a “shield” in the first round and boldly bet on the “knife.”
Qixia took a deep breath. “Using rock-paper-scissors logic for this game isn’t wrong, but there are other factors to consider.”
“Such as?” Su Shan asked.
“Such as… ‘human nature.'”
Earth Chicken picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. “First round, ‘combatants,’ you may begin.”
A broadcast echoed through Dr. Zhao and Zichen’s room.
A ten-second countdown began beside them.
“B-Begin?” Dr. Zhao stumbled backward in panic.
“Ahhhh!” Zichen let out a roar to bolster his courage, gripping the machete and stepping forward.
Dr. Zhao held the rope with both hands, his entire body trembling.
He knew he was no Huang Feihong—he couldn’t possibly disarm his opponent with a mere rope.
The other man was taller, heavier, and now wielded a far superior “weapon.” How could he possibly win?
“I… I!” Zichen trembled as he held the machete; he seemed no better off than Dr. Zhao.
“D-Don’t come any closer!” Dr. Zhao cried out desperately. “You’ll be killing someone!”
“I know!! Even if I kill you… I… I…” Zichen gritted his teeth, continuing to advance.
But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Suppose you suddenly lock an ordinary person in a glass room, hand them a knife, and tell them they’ll die if they don’t kill.
How many strikes could the average person land within ten seconds?
The answer is none.
Qixia watched expressionlessly through the glass wall as the tall man struggled.
Ten seconds was far too short.
Due to “normalcy bias,” he hadn’t mentally prepared himself enough, always believing things wouldn’t get this bad.
Little did he know that Su Shan had already planned everything. She had moved past the “normalcy bias” phase and devised a thorough strategy, ready to unleash her deadliest moves from the start in an attempt to win the game outright.
Their cooperative mindset had fractured.
Or perhaps their intellects were simply on different levels.
Playing a “knife” in the first round was a masterstroke in the battle of wits—it would cut off the opponent’s reaction time. If the glass room had contained two mindless virtual characters, Qixia would have already lost.
Unfortunately, human nature is complicated.
The ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye—the action time was over.
In those ten seconds, the young man named Zichen had done nothing but take three steps forward.
It was the most an ordinary person could muster.
“Please discard your道具 into the openings,” Earth Chicken said into the walkie-talkie.
“Zichen… you!” The girl slammed the table in frustration, looking utterly disappointed. “How could you be so foolish?!”
Qixia shook his head helplessly. In this game, even if the person inside were the battle-hardened Zhang Shan instead of a young man barely twenty years old, it was unlikely he could coldly kill his opponent in the first round.
Zichen懊恼ly tossed the machete into the opening, then angrily slapped himself several times.
Dr. Zhao, as if he had been given a second chance at life, tremblingly discarded the rope as well.
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“Pleasure,” Qi Xia said with a perfunctory nod before glancing at the deck.
Right now, he had one stone and three ropes—likely because the deck contained more stones and ropes.
If so, then among the “weapon cards,” the deadlier ones must be rarer.
“Sticks” should be scarcer than “stones,” and “knives” the rarest.
Of course, there was another possibility—that all cards were equally distributed, and he had just been unlucky.
So… what cards had this girl, Su Shan, drawn?
Was she stuck in the “Stone Age” too?
Did she have a “knife”?
Did she have two “life cards” and one “death card”?
“If you two are ready, please play your cards!” The Earth Rooster interrupted their thoughts, rapping the table impatiently.
Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then silently placed a card face-down on the table before asking, “Su Shan, do you think there’s a chance…”
“What?”
“That we might exhaust all our cards without a winner, ending in a ‘draw’?”
“Would that happen?” Su Shan replied dismissively, placing a card of her own. “A draw… would be best, wouldn’t it?”
“So let’s play gently. No need to kill each other,” Qi Xia suggested.
“Fine,” Su Shan agreed, pushing her card forward.
Qi Xia did the same.
The cards were played.
Dr. Zhao and the boy named Zi Chen were so tense they could barely breathe. Watching the two at the table remain expressionless as they chose their cards, they hurried beneath the ceiling to stare up at the window above.
Their first “weapon” would drop from there.
“Reveal your cards,” the Earth Rooster commanded.
In unison, Qi Xia and Su Shan flipped their cards.
At the same moment, the two windows above Dr. Zhao and Zi Chen opened, and dark objects fell.
They scrambled to pick up their “weapons,” but Dr. Zhao froze in disbelief.
A rope had dropped in front of him.
He snatched it up and immediately turned—only to see the nearly two-meter-tall boy slowly pick up a machete that had landed before him.
“Ahhh!” Dr. Zhao screamed in despair. “What kind of sick joke is this?! Qi Xia, you fucking bastard!”
Without hesitation, he rushed to the glass wall, slamming the rope against it. “Qi Xia! You’re screwing me over?!”
Fortunately, the glass was reinforced, showing no cracks despite his frenzied pounding.
Qi Xia frowned slightly.
She really had drawn a “knife.”
Because she assumed he wouldn’t play a “shield” in the first round, she had gambled on the “knife.”
Taking a deep breath, Qi Xia said, “Playing this game with rock-paper-scissors logic isn’t wrong, but there’s more to consider.”
“Such as?” Su Shan asked.
“Such as… human nature.”
The Earth Rooster picked up a walkie-talkie and announced, “First round—combatants, begin.”
A broadcast echoed in Dr. Zhao and Zi Chen’s room as a ten-second countdown started.
“B-Begin?” Dr. Zhao stammered, stumbling backward.
“Ahhhh!” Zi Chen roared, trying to psych himself up as he stepped forward with the machete.
Dr. Zhao clutched the rope, trembling uncontrollably.
He wasn’t some martial arts master who could disarm a blade with a rope.
His opponent was taller, heavier, and now better armed—how was he supposed to fight?
“I… I!” Zi Chen’s hands shook violently around the machete. He seemed no more composed than Dr. Zhao.
“D-Don’t come any closer!” Dr. Zhao sobbed. “This is murder!!”
“I know!! Even if I kill you… I… I…!” Zi Chen gritted his teeth, forcing himself forward.
But he couldn’t do it.
If you locked an ordinary person in a glass room, handed them a knife, and told them to kill or be killed—how many strikes could they land in ten seconds?
The answer? None.
Qi Xia watched coldly through the glass as the tall man hesitated.
Ten seconds was far too short.
Due to the “disaster bias,” Zi Chen hadn’t fully processed the situation, still hoping things wouldn’t escalate to this point.
But Su Shan had already planned everything. She had moved past denial, crafting a ruthless strategy to secure victory from the start.
Their cooperation had fractured.
Or rather, their intellects operated on entirely different levels.
Playing a “knife” in the first round was a masterstroke in terms of strategy—it robbed the opponent of reaction time. If the glass room held mindless NPCs, Qi Xia would have already lost.
But human nature was unpredictable.
The ten seconds passed in a blink, and the action phase ended.
In that time, Zi Chen had only managed to take three steps forward.
That was the extent of what an ordinary person could muster.
“Please discard your weapons into the window,” the Earth Rooster ordered via walkie-talkie.
“Zi Chen… you idiot!” The girl slammed the table in frustration. “How could you be so stupid?!”
Qi Xia sighed. This wasn’t just about the boy—who couldn’t be older than twenty. Even someone as battle-hardened as Zhang Shan might not have been able to kill without hesitation in the first round.
Zi Chen, filled with regret, slowly dropped the machete into the window before slapping himself in anger.
Dr. Zhao, as if granted a second life, shakily tossed the rope away.
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