Nearly Caught by a Dirty Trick

Their team had obtained six playing cards in total. To guard against unforeseen circumstances, Tao Yuan had arranged for An Ying and Qin Rang to carry one each, while she and Sheng Qingqiao carried two apiece.

Looking back, if all their games involved playing cards, that arrangement had also bought them some time at the start.

They just didn't know whether the games in the other rooms also involved comparing card values.

An Ying had never played cards. After all, he had still been a child ten years ago, before the Weird invasion, and had even less time to play after it began. Still, he knew the basic rules for comparing cards.

The eight of hearts wasn't a particularly high card, but it wasn't low either. Still, since this was a game, one card was surely not enough.

Who knew whether the cards could only be used once or could be reused?

Even if they could be reused, once others knew the value of his only card, it would be easy for them to target him. He needed to find more cards.

With that in mind, An Ying pushed open a door and entered a room. Someone had already searched it, leaving everything in a mess, with no sign of any playing cards.

The next several rooms in a row were empty too. An Ying knew what his luck was like and didn't get discouraged. He went straight up to the fifth floor.

As soon as he arrived, he ran into two teams fighting over a playing card floating inside a glowing light bulb.

So playing cards could be hidden in places like that too.

Fighting over an item was all too common in a dungeon. Having confirmed where cards could be hidden, An Ying had no interest in interfering. He only caught a glimpse from a distance and saw that the card seemed to be the four of clubs.

When the two teams saw that it was An Ying, their expressions stiffened for a moment. Then, seeing him head up to the sixth floor with no intention of joining the fight, they all breathed a sigh of relief and resumed their struggle.

There weren't many people in the sixth-floor hall. An Ying stopped.

[Dungeon time: 3:30. The second round of the survival hunt begins.]

The system notification came without warning. An Ying's expression changed, and the moment he looked up, he found himself face-to-face with three Weirds that had suddenly appeared in the sixth-floor hall.

He wasn't alone. Another team was searching the sixth floor, and they were closer to the three Weirds.

"Didn't we already enter the game arena? Why has this damn survival hunt started again?"

"These Weirds never intended to let us find the playing cards easily!"

All three Weirds were old opponents: one wore a black dress, another carried a spiked hammer, and the third was an unfamiliar Weird with a bluish-gray face and a three-meter-long tongue.

The cards dropped by these three Weirds should be hearts and diamonds, while the one that looked especially supernatural should drop a club.

In the instant he spent thinking, all three Weirds awakened at once. An icy aura swept across the entire sixth floor.

An Ying's expression changed, and he turned and ran.

If his teammates had been here, he could have fought alongside them. But alone against three Weirds, he had no chance of winning!

At the same time, screams rose and fell on the other floors. Some unlucky souls found themselves face-to-face with Weirds and were immediately smashed to the ground by spiked hammers.

The spiked hammer Weird's hammer had a rule that inflicted severe injuries, not death. The unlucky fellow could only writhe desperately, screaming without end. His teammates had already fled without mercy, leaving swiftly and decisively.

"He's running already?"

On the top floor of the game arena, Moonlit Night sat high on a railing and leaned forward to watch the people below in chaos. His green eyes settled on An Ying, who was darting nimbly around the sixth floor, dodging attacks.

"All right, at least he's not an idiot, or a bleeding heart who'd throw his life away to save people." Seeing that An Ying wasn't going to die anytime soon, Moonlit Night turned back to watch the Weird he had sliced in two come back to life. With plenty of patience, he drew his long blade once more and chopped the spiked hammer Weird to pieces.

The spiked hammer Weird's entire body had a sticky, heavy quality to it, and anyone struck by its hammer was guaranteed to be injured. These were all rules belonging to this Weird, but none guaranteed death, so it was relatively easy to deal with.

"This Weird can take a beating," Moonlit Night muttered, killing it yet again. After he had killed it several times, it finally dispersed into a playing card with an unusual suit.

It was a monster playing card depicting the spiked hammer Weird. The pitch-black Weird wore a crown, and a letter was printed along the edge: K.

Moonlit Night put the card away in a good mood, then glanced back and spotted two Weirds climbing onto the top floor.

I might as well kill them all.

A few minutes later, looking at the two cards floating in the air, Moonlit Night picked up the seven of hearts first. When he reached for the five of spades, he suddenly stopped.

His expression grew grave as he gripped his long blade and stared at the five of spades for a long time. At last, his brow relaxed.

Just as he had reached for the five of spades, an unprecedented sense of danger had made him stop instinctively. If he had actually picked it up, he would definitely have died to a rule.

He had nearly fallen for a dirty trick. If he had died, he would have lost all face.

Moonlit Night placed everything he had on him on the ground, then reached for the five of spades again and picked it up without trouble.

No wonder even the protagonist's party would lose members in this dungeon. There really were plenty of insidious hidden rules like this.

"Boom—!!"

The enormous rumble caught his attention. Moonlit Night looked down. Good grief, a dark mass of Weirds had surrounded the center of the building so tightly that nothing could get through.

How many points would that many Weirds be worth?!

"Huff... huff..."

A person who had just escaped from the Toddler Weird stumbled back into the temporary gathering place and scrambled to shut the door. Under the hopeful gazes of more than a dozen people, he shook his head grimly. "Three downstairs, two outside the door, and three upstairs. They've surrounded this place. There's no way we can get out."

"So many!" someone exclaimed, then quickly forced the rest of the cry back down his throat. "Then aren't we doomed...?"

"As long as we hide, we'll be fine, right? If we hide, we won't trigger their rules!"

"How are we supposed to find playing cards if we hide? We'll still die when time runs out!"

"Why are there so many Weirds here? I regret coming in..."

As people chattered among themselves, the lookout keeping watch on the Weirds outside the window suddenly said, "Wait, look! It's big shot An Ying!"

Looking down from his window, they could see a white-haired youth dart out of a sixth-floor window and race back and forth along the stairs at incredible speed. He jumped up and down to dodge attacks from time to time, moving as easily as if he were on level ground.

Moonlit Night stopped and sat up high, watching the white-haired youth bounce around without pause. "Is this guy made of springs?"

"Bang!"

A two-meter-long spiked hammer rose high and came crashing down, striking the wooden railing with a thud and sending wood chips flying.

Spring-loaded An Ying turned slightly and ducked under the hammer. In that same instant, he reached out, grabbed the woman who had run out after him, and pushed her forward.

"Thud!"

The spiked hammer grazed the woman's back and slammed down beside her head. Even though it hadn't hit her squarely, she still felt as if her body had been struck hard. She fell, dazed and disoriented, as a few drops of blood seeped from the wound on her back.

While the hammer was being drawn back again, An Ying grabbed the woman and hoisted her up. Dodging the attacks as easily as if he were carrying a toy, he then threw her several meters forward in an arc.

"Holy shit!"

The woman hit the ground hard enough to see stars, but she still found time to complain that Lord An Ying really did like throwing people around. Her brains were about to be shaken into mush.