The Second Half

As they spoke, the floor beneath their feet suddenly rippled like water. Their bodies grew light as a sensation of weightlessness spread through them in an instant. It was like riding a very fast elevator, their bodies plunging ever downward.

When they opened their eyes again, they were in the hall on the game room's first floor.

The NPCs who had vanished from the hall had reappeared. As if nothing had happened, they each found the master they were there to serve.

"Honored guest, congratulations on winning the first half of the game. Please take your seat and rest for a moment. The game will begin shortly." An NPC approached An Ying, obediently lowering her head and bowing.

An Ying followed her toward his seat. As he walked, he noticed that dozens of comfortable sofas had appeared in the splendid hall.

A dazzling array of food surrounded the sofas, and everyone was led to a separate seat. If one ignored the wounds and bloodstains on them, one might have thought they had truly come here to enjoy themselves.

An Ying sat on a soft sofa. Two male and two female NPCs gathered around him and knelt before him without speaking. Their revealing clothes made him very uncomfortable.

The scene seemed to show him the former "true nature" of this casino.

Perhaps, before the gambling den's games had turned bizarre, they had used these people as stakes, humiliating them with their lives, dignity, and bodies. That might have been why such powerful entities had now been born.

Some of these entities had been the perpetrators here, tormenting people in life and continuing to kill as entities after death. Others might have been victims, still trapped here and killing other people instead.

The scantily clad NPCs obediently lowered their heads beside the players, many of whom wore guarded expressions. But some people cast furtive glances at the NPCs, concealing certain dark thoughts.

"Welcome, guests, to Game Room No. 2. On behalf of the exalted, I wish you all a satisfactory reward from this game room."

At the familiar opening, everyone turned toward the voice. At the very front, the man in the neat, refined formal suit had appeared once again on the central steps. He no longer made any effort to conceal the malice in his eyes.

An Ying moved his limbs and felt a powerful resistance around him. He could only move his arms a little; his lower body was completely restrained in the sofa, unable to budge.

"The first half of this game has ended. Congratulations, guests, on successfully obtaining playing cards from the bodies of our dear employees and from the gambling den's surprise hiding places. At the same time, however, many guests unfortunately failed to obtain cards and lost their eligibility to participate in the second round."

The few people who had failed to obtain cards instinctively grew wary, but the host seemed to have no intention of dealing with them. He continued, "A contest with only a dozen or so people is too boring, and some new guests have strongly requested to join in. Please forgive me for indulging myself and agreeing to their request. Let us welcome them~"

As soon as the man finished speaking, the empty seats suddenly filled with people. Some had been watching the livestream and were bewildered to find themselves somewhere else. Others had already been preparing for battle outside this instance and instinctively went on guard.

Everyone looked at one another, at a loss for words.

Someone tried to speak, but the game had not begun, and he could not make a sound. All anyone could see was his mouth opening and closing.

"These new guests will voluntarily pay a certain price to obtain stakes for the game."

There was a new player beside An Ying. He watched the player go from bewilderment to composure, only for his expression to suddenly change when the man finished speaking. After hesitating for less than a second, he raised a blade and chopped off one of his own arms.

A familiar playing card appeared at the severed end of the arm.

An Ying withdrew his gaze and stopped looking at the others, quietly waiting for it to end.

None of them were novices fresh on the scene. They knew how serious the consequences of breaking the rules were and could make the "correct" choice. A few, however, were a little slow to react, and no cards appeared after they chopped off their limbs.

"Time's up!"

"I hereby declare the next stage of the game room's high-card contest officially open. Guests, please follow the prompts to choose a card to play. We will randomly assign opponents, and the winner may plunder the loser's playing cards. After the first round, guests with no cards in hand will lose their guest status and join our ranks."

"The first game of high card has officially begun! You may now choose your cards."

Once the game began, the restraints coiled around their bodies disappeared. An Ying tried to stand and found that his movements were no longer restricted.

He looked around but did not see Moonlit Night. He did not know where Moonlit Night had hidden himself this time, such that even the entities here had been unable to teleport him over.

Once the restraints around them disappeared, the atmosphere among the players changed at once.

Not everyone had obtained a playing card.

Even among those who had come to this game room at the start and survived until now, a few were empty-handed. The entities were hard to kill, and those who had not dared fight them or search for the playing cards hidden throughout the game room during the survival chase naturally had nothing to show for it.

Some of the newcomers had not obtained playing cards either. Some had been slow to react or had hesitated when paying the price. Others had paid a different price, but the entities had not accepted it, leaving them empty-handed.

Most of the newcomers who had obtained playing cards were missing arms or legs. Leaving aside the few who had used other items as a substitute for the price, their already injured fellow humans were clearly easier targets than entities they would have to risk their lives fighting.

More than one person had the same thought.

[Time remaining to choose a card for the first high-card game: 10 minutes]

An Ying set aside his extraneous emotions. The NPC beside him had already picked up a tray with a single recess, lined with red velvet and exceptionally luxurious.

But looking at the red, he could not help glancing at the blood sprayed across the floor by the young man next to him who had lost his arm. A game like this had been built entirely on human lives.

Although their cards had dropped after they killed entities, it was not hard to guess from what the man had said that the cards at this gambling house had once been hidden inside people's bodies.

To obtain the cards, one had to cut open their bodies. It was naked, indiscriminate killing. Even the color of the tray seemed especially bloody.

"Whoosh—!" A sound cut through the air.

Someone had made a move!

A tall, gaunt man holding an animal-hide bow shot a younger, one-armed man dead with an arrow. He openly picked up the dead man's cards and pulled the arrow from his corpse, splattering himself with blood.

Seeing this, the others grew restless too, while the injured people tightened their grips on their weapons.

The atmosphere in the room froze in an instant.

A woman dressed in black leather suddenly gave a scornful laugh. It was not loud, but it was full of mockery.

The person beside her hurriedly poked her. "Boss, don't stick your neck out at a time like this. This has nothing to do with us."

The woman said no more and closed her eyes, putting it out of sight and out of mind.