Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1239 - 1240: Advanced Card Switching Game

Chapter 1239: Chapter 1240: Advanced Card Switching Game

"Turn around and go back... Brother Xu, do you know the direction?" Chen Chou asked cautiously.

"No," Mu Yan said flatly. "But no matter which way we go, we’ll definitely run into new players."

"Hey, everyone, I’ve got a small suggestion," Chen Chou tested the waters. "How about we try to find the end point first, and once we’re close, lie in wait... With Brother Xu’s skills, most players in the instance are no match for him. That way, it’ll be a lot easier. As for the extra cards, I can help out. You guys first—there are dozens of cards, and several are Exchange Cards and Counteraction Cards. We’ll definitely pick up some along the way, and at that point, whatever card you want, you’ll have it. You could even swap for the first card!"

"You seem to know quite a bit about this instance," Xu Huo said coolly.

"Not really, I just know there are a few types of cards, and each type has roughly the same quantity," Chen Chou couldn’t resist buttering him up. "But Brother Xu is amazing—your goal must definitely be the special cards."

"You sure have a lot to say," Xu Huo’s gaze turned cold.

Chen Chou immediately clammed up.

Blocking others near the endpoint? It did sound like a decent idea, but it wasn’t a novel one. The six Counteraction Cards and six Exchange Cards seemed like a lot, but in practice, gathering them in a short time was nearly impossible. Especially Counteraction Cards—many players used them midway, which caused the cards to return to the starting point or some random maze walls. It was rare for any to reach the endpoint—unless a player got lost somewhere near it.

In other words, even if their group included players capable of picking up cards limitlessly, obtaining special cards in this manner was still difficult and energy-consuming. After all, new players kept joining the maze instance. If there were only fifty-four people, it might make sense to track everyone down.

Besides, Chen Chou’s proposal wasn’t just for the group’s benefit.

Without exposing his intentions, Xu Huo said to Mu Yan and Li Cheng, "When the boat reaches the pier, it’ll straighten out itself. Maybe there are other card-swapping games like this one hidden in the maze."

The two female players had no particular obsession with high-ranking clears. Since they had to find the maze’s endpoint anyway, they deferred to Xu Huo’s arrangement.

And so, they continued wandering aimlessly in the maze. Gradually, they ran into a few more players who had gotten lost in the thick fog. Several of them opted to join Xu Huo’s group, and together, they continued searching for an exit.

For now, finding the right direction was the priority. The players seemed less concerned about the cards, and the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.

But when the group grew to nine people, they triggered a card-swapping game.

This time, the game’s rules were much harsher than before. It was no longer the simple, straightforward "take turns" format. Now, players in the game could select someone to duel. By killing their opponent, the victim’s cards would be flipped over, and the killer could choose to take some or none of the cards. They could even decide exactly how many cards to take.

This rule gave players a very forgiving choice environment. It directly addressed the previous dilemma of "not daring to randomly kill in case one’s own cards were redistributed."

Especially for players holding "good cards."

As a result, the moment the rules were announced, the previously cheerful players instantly scattered, pulling away from one another.

"But there’s one person too many," Chen Chou said. "Nine people can’t divide equally."

"That’s easy enough," said a middle-aged player in his forties. "Just kill one of us. The game asks you to pick an opponent to duel. It didn’t say anything about four versus four. Anyone capable could kill all eight others, right?"

Mu Yan and Li Cheng exchanged a glance. This game had a problem—there was no clear condition for ending it. Was it enough for a single duel to finish the game, or would it only end when there was one survivor left?

"Should we try forfeiting this game?" Chen Chou forced a smile.

If only one person could walk out alive from this game, it certainly wouldn’t be him. He couldn’t resist glancing at Mu Yan and Li Cheng, his eyes hinting—if push comes to shove, would Xu Huo abandon them?

Mu Yan and Li Cheng had been given a second chance at life, but that didn’t mean they would willingly throw it away.

After the middle-aged man’s comment, an injured player immediately snapped. Not daring to attack others recklessly, they started trying to smash the maze walls, shouting out questions about how this game could end and if surrendering was an option.

But the only response was dead silence.

They were entirely sealed off in this plant-constructed Arena.

"Crack!" Xu Huo flexed his fingers with a sharp sound, "Let’s get started."

He turned to the middle-aged man. "Seeing how confident you are, why don’t we have a round first?"

The middle-aged man, having already deduced that Mu Yan’s team followed Xu Huo’s lead, sneered. "Are you really planning to kill us all?"

After speaking, he looked at Chen Chou and the others. "You didn’t follow him willingly, right? To clear this game, do you think he’ll spare the three of you cannon fodder?"

"Maybe three against one isn’t enough, but what about eight against one? Even if we can’t kill him, we should at least be able to protect ourselves."

"You’re not quite done talking, are you?" Xu Huo picked up where the man left off. "You think Chen Chou and the others are too scared to resist me? You assume I must have the best cards, maybe even the special cards? Three against one isn’t viable, but eight against one is a guaranteed comeback—kill me first, and then split my cards fairly, right?"

"Do you think everyone else is an idiot?" He smiled faintly, then added, "Even if they were fools, anyone willing to listen to your nonsense would also consider my sincere suggestion: I’ll kill you first, and then the remaining eight can duel one-on-one, leaving life and death to fate. The four survivors by default will end the game."

"The game can’t possibly keep us trapped here forever."

"If the game still doesn’t end by then, we’ll come up with other solutions. Anyway, it doesn’t matter which of the nine dies first. The best possible outcome is exactly what I just said."

This game was designed to force players to kill each other. Surrender wasn’t an option for walking away unscathed.

It made sense.

For the other players, as long as it wasn’t them, it didn’t matter who died. Ideally, Xu Huo and the middle-aged man would end up taking each other down.

Still, Xu Huo’s words managed to cool the heated minds of Mu Yan’s group. They had seen his strength firsthand, especially Mu Yan. During the maze’s earlier stages, Xu Huo hadn’t explicitly admitted anything about dismantling the maze, but it was clear Xue Lang wasn’t an easy opponent. The players traveling with him didn’t even realize how they had been killed, leaving no ripple behind. This alone demonstrated Xu Huo’s extraordinary capabilities. A man who could rival him wouldn’t be much weaker... In other words, were eight others really a match?

When Li Cheng and the others had faced Xu Huo earlier, they hadn’t even managed to make a single move before being restrained on the spot.

Moreover, Xu Huo still needed people to help him collect cards. For this reason, cooperating Mu Yan and her team seemed much more convenient than finding replacements, didn’t it?

Of course, this alone wasn’t enough to guarantee their safety. But at this point, they didn’t have any other options.