Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1219: The Card-Switching Game

Chapter 1219: Chapter 1219: The Card-Switching Game

With Xu Huo determining the general direction, Mu Yan chose the passage with more people traveling through it. Their journey was relatively smooth, and over the next half-day, they uncovered three clue cards and one number card. This excludes the cards with effects like "Move forward 100 meters" or "Move backward 100 meters," which were essentially meaningless.

The three clues were:

"The content on the card is absolutely accurate."

"One player has already collected six flower cards."

"The maze’s endpoint will not change location."

The first two pieces of information weren’t particularly significant, but the third one—regardless of its truthfulness—seemed to imply that the maze’s structure might not be fixed.

"Could it mean the maze’s endpoint could change?" Mu Yan furrowed her brows in surprise. "Whether before or after the instance upgrade, there’s never been any circulation of similar information. Could the maze be intentionally creating a false impression?"

"That might be true for pre-upgrade copies, but post-upgrade, who knows?" Xu Huo remarked, "I’ve reviewed strategies for prior instances, and the maze’s basic setup hasn’t changed much. If the maze increases in size, it would be perfectly logical to place obstacles at both the starting point and the endpoint."

"Aren’t the maze’s passageways along the journey obstacles in themselves?" Mu Yan replied, "Without accurate clues, forget ten days—even a month might not be enough to navigate out. Plus, there’s always a chance you’ll encounter random teleportation doors. You could get teleported away even when near the endpoint. Clearing the maze might depend on luck."

"For a Rank-C instance," Xu Huo said, "this level of difficulty should be expected. Besides, merely navigating the maze isn’t particularly challenging."

Navigating the maze could only be considered a dull method of clearance. Even with the traps Mu Yan mentioned, they would at best add a touch of intrigue to an otherwise boring process. In fact, judging solely by the maze’s clearance requirements, the greatest challenge of this instance lay in finding correct directions, while other factors were secondary.

Adding a layer of difficulty involved the cards—specifically obtaining fixed cards within the maze.

Number cards would indicate the location of flower cards—intended to lure players into competing for them.

By the evening of the second day, after traversing one more passageway, Xu Huo and Mu Yan received a maze notification:

"Congratulations to both of you for completing a third of the route; this automatically triggers the card-switching game."

As the voice echoed, their surroundings moved backward at high speed. To the naked eye, it seemed as though someone had pushed them, yet the sensation felt more like crossing through space, instantly transporting them from the passage to a ring-shaped maze wall. Inside the wall were four other players.

Upon entering, six floating cards appeared in front of each person. The cards faced their respective owners, but their fronts were hidden from others, making it impossible to see anyone else’s cards.

As soon as they entered, Xu Huo and Mu Yan behaved as though they had never met, each walking their separate paths.

The six players scrutinized one another; all were unfamiliar faces.

A hexagonal projection table materialized at the room’s center, and the mechanical maze voice continued:

"Participating players in the card-switching game have one chance to draw a card from another player."

"Simultaneously, each player will have one chance to be drawn from by others."

"Please note: not every player possesses six cards. During the drawing process, there may be blank cards."

"If someone draws a blank card, their opponent gains an additional draw chance."

"The first card cannot be drawn; each player in this room holds a minimum of two cards."

"If any card-draw combination is incomplete within the allotted time, the combinations will be re-randomized."

"Next, pay attention to the numeric allocation displayed on the table; identical numbers form a group. Once matched, players may proceed to draw cards."

After the rules were announced, the projection table displayed six fan-shaped sections. Numbers danced across each section before settling, and the player paired with Xu Huo was the person directly opposite him.

The opponent glanced at the number and smirked wickedly as he lifted his head, but when his gaze met Xu Huo’s, he hesitated briefly. The grin and arrogance in his eyes ebbed inch by inch.

Xu Huo averted his gaze and scanned the other players. The distribution was straightforward: pairs were formed between opposing players.

The countdown began for the first set.

The cards belonging to the opponent moved toward Xu Huo. He raised his hand, briefly pausing over the six cards before drawing the second one. When flipped, it revealed the Gemstone Cloak—a flower card among blank ones.

However, since Xu Huo already had six cards, gaining one meant that all non-first cards entered into randomization. Upon opening his card frame, he found that the randomly discarded card was the Clue Card, Black Card 11.

In essence, even within the card-switching game, the overarching maze rules applied. Despite knowing that opponents would soon draw a card, the system first randomized one of his cards.

Seeing Xu Huo take away the flower card, the opponent was shocked and furious. When Xu Huo’s cards moved before him, he glared maliciously at Xu Huo and mimicked his actions, slowly hovering his hand over each card.

Xu Huo subtly exposed a flaw in White Card 12. The opponent, who didn’t seem particularly clever, immediately drew the card, which turned out to be a Trap Card.

The moment he realized he’d taken a trap card, the opponent angrily exclaimed, "You dare trick me!"

Xu Huo raised his right hand, forming a Spatial Barrier to stop him. "Take it outside if you have issues; don’t hold up the card-drawing process."

The opponent slammed his hand against the barrier but fell silent a moment later, realizing the air-bound barrier had automatically disappeared.

Upon meeting Xu Huo’s expressionless face, he hesitated and withdrew his prop, seemingly wary of potential manipulation.

With the first group completed, the second group began. Leading the draw was a player with a braided hairstyle who glanced dismissively at Xu Huo and Mu Yan. He made no attempt to probe and casually drew a card from his opponent’s deck.

"Haha! Seems like luck’s on my side!"

His laughter was met with the gloomy glare of the other player. While the braided player’s gloating persisted, the six cards belonging to the shadowy-eyed player began shifting. Exercising caution, he hesitated briefly over the cards before making his draw, only to end up pulling out a blank card.

"Impossible!" the shadowy-eyed player blurted out.

The braided player chuckled smugly, "What’s impossible about it? I specialize in blank cards!"

Infuriated, the shadowy-eyed player immediately threw out a prop shaped like an umbrella. Its metallic skeleton unfolded rapidly and spun, flying straight toward the braided player!

"Been waiting for this!" The braided player stepped back two paces and raised a metallic pillar. Pressing an unseen button, the body of the pillar rapidly opened, releasing over twenty hidden weapons of varying sizes and shapes, spreading densely across an area of four to five square meters in front.

Just as both sides’ props appeared on the verge of collision, an unexpected force intervened, neutralizing not only the flying umbrella weapon but also forcing the hidden weapons to unfurl one by one!