When the Wild Beast is Trapped in the Nightmare Cycle (BL)
Chapter 553: You Lose!

Chapter 553: You Lose!

The holographic projection of the fake Santa Claus was suspended in the air, his murky gaze sweeping over the crowd with a tinge of malicious satisfaction. It was obvious that the decreasing number of players had pleased him immensely.

"Congratulations, my dear children, for surviving the thrilling challenge until the end!" he exclaimed in a cheerful and jubilant tone, forming a sharp juxtaposition with the thick lethargy in the air. "Did you have a lot of fun? Hahaha, I bet you did!"

The players collectively shot him a resentful glare, and if their current thoughts could be extracted, then it would definitely be something along the lines of— ’Fun, your ass!’

But the other party remained unfazed, seemingly taking no notice of the players’ state of mind, and proceeded to announce, "We will now enter the most exciting part— crowning the champions! Let me see... wow! Out of five silver tickets, three golden tickets and a single platinum ticket, all of them had been snatched away! That means we have nine biggest champions!"

In an instant, a low buzz of discussion spread across the crowd. Everyone’s eyes flickered as they glanced left and right, trying to guess who the lucky bunch were. At long last, a spark of anticipation ignited the previously sluggish atmosphere, making the players a little more alert and energetic. Even if they didn’t manage to find the main rewards, knowing the final winners still made them feel fairly excited.

Only the Veteran and Elite players, who had missed their chances, appeared regretful and even gloomy.

"Hell yeah!" Jin Jiuchi was so excited that he was nearly buzzing on his feet.

His demeanor earned him a disdainful snort from Shen Nianzu. "Why are you acting like you’ve won already?"

In the next second, however, Shen Nianzu could no longer maintain his composure.

Starting from the silver tickets, five players were surprised to find their faces suddenly showing up on the large projection screen in the air. But soon, their expressions morphed into one of excitement and delight.

"Congratulations to the player ranked 267th, Mingkui, the player ranked 196th..."

Loud applause, cheers and sharp whistles broke out when the five names were listed one by one, turning the atmosphere lively and raucous. The five players were relatively low ranked. For others, the silver tickets might not be worth much, but for them, it was akin to receiving an extra life, which was a priceless reward.

Meanwhile, Shen Nianzu’s expression was getting more and more stiff as the names of the players were announced. Until the end, he could no longer smile or utter another word. He could feel a smoldering gaze nearly drilling a hole on the back of his head, but he didn’t turn around— he was very, very unwilling to acknowledge it.

But alas, a certain husky just wouldn’t let him off.

"Nian’er~~" Jin Jiuchi prodded his shoulder with a finger, but Shen Nianzu sullenly swatted him away. He then twisted his body and slipped down from Jin Jiuchi’s arms like a slippery eel before going over to stand on the other side of Gu Luoxin. Undeterred, Jin Jiuchi poked his head over, unable to contain the schadenfreude grin on his face. "Nian’er, do you hear that? You do, don’t you? The winners of the silver tickets have been announced and my name is not on it, which means..." he trailed off in a singsong, his index finger swaying in the air.

Then he pointed at Shen Nianzu, declaring loudly, "You lose!"

That single sentence sounded so grating to Shen Nianzu’s ears that he couldn’t resist snapping back, "You did it on purpose!" he seethed.

It was unknown whether the flush on his cheeks were due to anger or embarrassment – perhaps both.

"Me?" Jin Jiuchi arched a brow. "What do you mean ’on purpose’? Care to elaborate?" Though his tone sounded genuinely puzzled, he did not even bother hiding the fact that he was gloating over Shen Nianzu’s misfortunes. In fact, he looked so smug and so full of himself that Shen Nianzu had to resist the urge to throttle him over to the sea! The sheer audacity!

Gritting his teeth, Shen Nianzu bit out, "You knew! You knew from the start that—"

A sudden uproar interrupted him midway. The duo, who were bickering so zealously that they lost track of their surroundings, abruptly discovered that... a lot of people seemed to be staring at them?

"Huh?" Jin Jiuchi instinctively raised his head, only to blink in surprise upon seeing his own face – rugged, caked with dirt and blood but still handsome regardless – being presented on the large holographic screen. Some players recognized him as the one who had singlehandedly confronted the scarlet trees and savagely tore a few players apart, and they screamed in reflex as soon as he came on screen— which was the original source of the commotion.

"Congratulations, player JJ! You have now become an Elite player, ranked 15th!" the fake Santa Claus declared.

Amidst the deafening applause, Jin Jiuchi ran his fingers through his hair and flashed a brilliant beam before performing a gentlemanly bow in all directions with flourish. "Thank you, thank you so much, everyone!" As he said that, he still did not forget to shoot a ’see how handsome I am?’ look toward Shen Nianzu.

Shen Nianzu: "..."

So damn angry.

The other winner of the golden ticket was an Intermediate player who shot up to be a Veteran player, a simple-looking woman who appeared to be in her late 20s. Compared to the hype generated by Jin Jiuchi’s sudden appearance, hers could be considered bland at most. But still, she was so happy that she couldn’t resist shedding tears.

Next to be mentioned was the last and biggest winner of all— the player who had obtained the one and only platinum ticket which could catapult them straight to the Legendary rank! Imagine if the one who got this reward was an Intermediate player, they were no longer a rising star but a super rocket launching straight to the sky!

For over two years, the top three spots on the leaderboard had remained unshaken; it was unknown whether things would stay the same after this. One thing for sure, this was going to be a piece of sensational news that would catch the forum by storm!

Shen Nianzu himself couldn’t resist scanning the players around him, his gaze flicking from face to face, trying to see if he could guess who the final winner was. However, everyone’s expression was tinged with similar excitement and anticipation as they waited for the official announcement, rendering him unable to discern anyone who stood out.

With a quiet sigh, he could only give up on the futile search.

Still, the curiosity continued to gnaw on him. After all, it was the ticket he had been eyeing from the start!

Who could that lucky fellow be?

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Mini theater

Xinxin: no thoughts, head empty.jpg