Dog Catches Rat

"Ding-dong..."

"Sule, Cao Yang, Gaoxin, Jin Meimei..."

Number 97 named twelve people in a row. Gaoxin took a deep breath and, wearing nothing but underwear along with Sule, walked straight through the light screen.

Once they emerged, everyone froze. It was neither a corridor nor a venue, but another sealed metal chamber.

They waited for a while. There was no movement, nor could they hear anything shifting.

Yet everyone knew the place they were in was probably moving. It was simply moving horizontally, without the weightless sensation of an elevator.

About half a minute later, a door opened ahead, and the view suddenly widened.

It was an enormous room, large enough to contain a four-story mansion with a garden! It probably covered two mu.

They were outside the courtyard, where eight people were already standing by the gate.

Gaoxin quickly looked them over. Their clothes were nothing special, and most wore bewildered expressions. The people who had arrived first immediately glanced toward the elevator. Once they confirmed who had come and saw that most of them wore prison uniforms, delight appeared on their faces.

That basically confirmed Gaoxin's suspicion: the early arrivals were Glass People too.

"Phew..." He let out a quiet breath. If they were all Glass People, things would be much easier. Their chances of survival would rise greatly.

Gaoxin took the lead and walked to the courtyard gate, picking a spot for himself. Other than Sule, he did not want anyone else near him.

Then he noticed a bald man staring at him, so Gaoxin immediately glared back.

Their eyes met. Gaoxin stared at him without saying a word.

In the end, unable to figure out what Gaoxin was about, the bald man chickened out and looked away.

He turned to glare at Cao Yang and the others. "New arrivals. NPCs or players?"

The ten newcomers in prison uniforms exchanged looks and answered sporadically, "Players."

Not a single one of the newcomers who had come in with Gaoxin's group had signed the NPC Agreement.

The bald man raised his brows. "Pretty lucky bunch, huh? Who brought you here?"

Cao Yang hurriedly said, "Lord Sasaki."

The bald man immediately replied, "Oh, Lord Beast Fang."

"Beast Fang?" Cao Yang was stunned.

The bald man said disdainfully, "You don't know Lord Sasaki's codename is Beast Fang?"

Gaoxin was speechless. They were all newcomers. Wasn't it normal not to know? This guy was just showing off.

But Cao Yang looked enlightened. Seeing that the man was an old hand, he stepped forward to curry favor. "So Lord Sasaki's codename is Beast Fang. May I ask how to address you, Big Brother?"

"You're not qualified to know my name. Just call me Brother Guang," the bald man said coolly.

Cao Yang asked, "Brother Guang, what kind of game is this? This can't be your first time participating, right?"

The bald man said flatly, "Not that many times. I've only cleared a few."

Hearing that he had cleared several games, several newcomers crowded around him, calling him Brother Guang and asking for guidance.

The bald man was very pleased, though he still kept a stern face. "In the Redemption Game, your only goal is to survive. As for Redemption Vouchers, no one is allowed to keep any for themselves. They must all be handed over to the organization. Understand?"

Everyone answered in agreement. It felt just like listening to Sasaki lecture them.

The bald man nodded slightly. "This is only the lowest-level game. As long as you obey, I'll do my best to keep you alive."

The newcomers were immediately overcome with gratitude and all said they would stick close to Brother Guang.

The bald man led them aside. "Ask whatever you want. I have some experience."

After that, they whispered among themselves in the corner, clearly having formed a rookie alliance.

Gaoxin actually wanted to ask questions too. His head was full of them, but he held back and ignored them.

At the same time, he noticed that among the other early arrivals, a beautiful woman rolled her eyes. Especially when she heard the bald man claim he had "cleared a few" games, she looked utterly speechless.

Clearly, this bald man was not much of a veteran either. A few times? Maybe he had only done it twice.

He was probably not gathering newcomers out of kindness. For all anyone knew, he intended to use them as cannon fodder.

Still, after waiting several minutes, Gaoxin began to feel uneasy.

Why hadn't it started yet? Were people still missing? How many more did they have to wait for? Where could they see the game's content and required player count?

Could the game have already started, with only the newcomers unaware of it?

Gaoxin leaned against the wall, looking unmoved, though sweat had begun to form on his body.

He guessed they might be able to call Number 97 directly to ask about the game, but he was afraid that might not be the case. He could only wait for someone else to try first.

Fortunately, it did not take long for the woman named Jin Meimei to think of it.

Among the newcomers, Gaoxin and Sule stood bare-chested by the wall. Cao Yang and the others had followed the bald man, leaving only Jin Meimei and another fierce-looking middle-aged man apart.

Meimei could not hold back any longer. Tilting her head up, she asked, "Number 97, when does the game begin?"

Number 97 indeed answered. "'Dog Catches Rat' requires 24 people. Four are still missing."

Meimei nodded and asked again, "Dog Catches Rat—is that the game's name? What are the rules?"

Number 97 replied, "The rules will be announced once everyone has arrived."

With that answer, everyone could only settle down and keep waiting.

Soon, Gaoxin noticed the bald man's group looking his way again.

He sighed inwardly. Cao Yang and the others must have told them I'm a newcomer too...

There was nothing Gaoxin could do about that. He had merely given himself another option. He had not expected everyone to be idiots.

It was not like it did any harm. Maybe it would come in handy.

"Hey, brat. You glared at me pretty fiercely earlier, huh? Who are you trying to impress? Why don't you take off those underwear too?" The bald man approached with a group of people behind him, making an imposing show of force.

Gaoxin said nothing. He stared coldly at the man, fists already clenched.

"I'm talking to you. What kind of look is that? You think stripping off your clothes lets you pretend to be one of those island perverts?" the bald man snapped.

Gaoxin said coldly, "You think saying you've cleared several games can hide the fact that you've only participated twice?"

The bald man froze. Guilt flashed in his eyes, followed by fury as he prepared to say something.

But the beautiful woman who had rolled her eyes earlier suddenly burst out laughing. "Baldy, can't keep up the act anymore? You can't even intimidate newcomers, yet you pretend to be an old hand?"

With that, the bald man's bluff was completely exposed. He immediately growled, "Liu Xu, why the hell are you yapping? You fucking tranny."

Liu Xu's expression instantly turned cold. "Ugly bastard. You're not qualified to become a woman even if you wanted to."

"Is that so? I wonder who offended a customer and got sent to the Redemption Squad, then spent the whole night in Brother Qiao's room?" the bald man retorted.

Liu Xu glared furiously, then sneered coldly. "What the fuck does that have to do with you? Brother Qiao said I only need to join this one game this month. What about you?"

The bald man froze. "You only need to participate once a month?"

Liu Xu burst into laughter. "What? Don't tell me you have to participate every week. How pathetic. Do you want to become a woman too? Too bad you're ugly as a donkey!"

The bald man snorted. "Still better than you. Even when a grown man curses, he sounds like he's acting cute."

The two of them then began hurling personal insults at each other, and their words became increasingly vile.

No one paid Gaoxin any attention anymore. He secretly let out a breath and studied Liu Xu.

So Liu Xu was actually a man... Gaoxin had not been able to tell at first glance. Even his voice was soft and pleasant.

The people here had truly terrifying biological modification abilities. If Luo Yan were modified, he would probably become even more beautiful. No wonder Sasaki had said he had the bearing of a courtesan.

"Ding-dong!"

Amid the commotion, the door in the white wall opened once more.

The scene instantly fell silent. Both Liu Xu and the bald man stopped speaking in tacit understanding and looked uneasily toward the door.

Four people walked out. At a glance, they were clearly no ordinary people. They wore well-fitted brocade garments of different patterns and carried different weapons.

Some had broadswords, others wore gauntlets. They clearly had money and were almost certainly Radiation Users.

Gaoxin smiled bitterly. Him stripping naked did make him look unlike one, so it was no wonder the bald man had seen through him and only said he was pretending to be an island pervert.

"So many newcomers? What a bonus round." A sword-carrying strongman spotted the ten people in prison uniforms and grinned wildly.

Beside him was a short man wearing a mask, clearly one of his companions. He laughed too. "That's why I said we should come to Yamaguchi Village, Brother Dong Can. Today is when they take in newcomers, so there are bound to be plenty of Glass People in matchmaking."

The sword-carrying strongman nodded approvingly while lecherously sizing up Liu Xu.

Liu Xu looked nervous, but he still forced out a smile in response to the strongman.

The strongman laughed loudly. Behind him stood two more people.

One was a young man whose hands and forearms were wrapped in silver metal gloves. A cigarette hung from his lips as he exhaled smoke. He seemed to have come alone and silently observed everyone present.

The other was a bearded white man, also alone, holding a massive mechanical battle-axe. Without wasting words, he stepped forward through the crowd and directly asked Number 97 about the situation.

Number 97 said calmly, "'Dog Catches Rat.' All 24 players have arrived. The rules will now be announced."

Everyone immediately focused their attention. Even the Radiation Users were no exception. Clearly, they knew that even if this might be a bonus round, they still had to take it seriously.

A projection appeared in midair, accompanied by Number 97's cold voice.

"Dog Catches Rat has 24 players. All players may be assigned one of three identities: Old Cat, Old Dog, and Rat."

"There is one Old Cat slot, three Old Dog slots, and twenty Rat slots."

"When the game begins, Rats may enter the designated game area to find hiding places. They may leave only after surviving for 120 minutes. At settlement, every Rat that leaves alive will receive 100 Redemption Vouchers."

"Twenty minutes after the game begins, Old Cat may enter the mansion area to hunt Rats. Old Cat may leave only after surviving for 100 minutes. At settlement, Old Cat will receive 100 Redemption Vouchers for leaving alive. For every Rat hunted, Old Cat will receive an additional 100 Redemption Vouchers."

"Thirty minutes after the game begins, Old Dogs may enter the mansion area and may leave after 90 minutes."

"The hunting area for Rats includes all areas within this mansion. Anyone who enters without an identity will be killed. Anyone who fails to enter within the specified time will be killed. Once inside, no one may leave before the specified time ends. Violators will be killed."

"Once all players have left the designated area, the game will be considered over and settlement will begin."

"Rats will now be assigned."

The rules were simple, and Number 97 finished quickly. In an instant, faint light descended and enveloped the ground.

The faint light seemed to contain streams of material particles. They violently collided and assembled around everyone's necks, even crackling with sparks.

"Ah!" Many newcomers jumped in fright.

Collars visibly formed around their necks, created directly there. Each bore a highly realistic image of a rat.

"So this is the legendary Electromagnetic Field printing." Gaoxin touched the collar around his neck. It was still warm!

He had no job and had never actually seen such productivity before, but he knew that ever since this technology had appeared, countless people had completely lost the right to work. Even the possibility of working in a factory tightening screws had been cut off.

Even when such jobs existed, the world's largest labor force was made up of "mechanical workers." Ordinary people had almost no job opportunities.

Even menial service jobs that required groveling had people desperately fighting over them.

Poor people like him could only receive a pitiful monthly allowance. They did not lack food or clothing, and might even have a little spare money to spend, but that was all.

Taking even one step upward was unimaginably difficult. Their purpose seemed to be nothing more than serving as consumers so that the social economy could keep circulating.

"Bzzzt, bzzzt."

The faint light continued, printing four more collars on the ground: one cat collar and three dog collars.

"The identities of Old Cat and Old Dog will be assigned by the remaining players themselves."

"The game officially begins now. Any player without an assigned identity after 30 minutes will be killed."

After Number 97 finished speaking, everyone stared at the cat and dog collars on the ground.

But a silver blur flashed past. It was the young man who had been silently smoking earlier.

He rushed forward first and scooped up all four collars in his hands.

The bearded white man immediately panicked. "What are you doing? Give me the cat collar!"

The sword-carrying strongman and the masked man were not slow either. They surrounded him, voices icy. "We'll vote on the assignment. Whoever gets the most votes gets the cat."

The silver-handed youth cursed, "Idiots."

As he spoke, he moved like lightning and put the cat collar around his own neck.

"You!"

The sword-carrying strongman flew into a rage. He and the masked man lunged forward and grabbed the remaining dog collars. "Let go!"

The youth sneered. Sharp claws instantly shot out from his silver gloves.

The two did not dare take the attack head-on. At such close range, they had a chance to counterstrike, but neither wanted to risk their lives from the start.

They simultaneously released the collars and stepped back, dodging the claws.

"You bastard, you already got the cat. Why are you still holding on to the dog collars?"

The youth said teasingly, "What's it to you?"

"Brother Dong Can, what do we do?" the short masked man asked quietly.

The sword-carrying strongman frowned deeply, then raised his head and shouted, "Fuck, Number 97! What's the Old Dogs' mission? Say it already!"

Number 97 said calmly, "The game rules have been fully explained."

"What?" They were stunned. "Can Old Dogs earn Redemption Vouchers by hunting Rats?"

"No."

"Then... can they earn Redemption Vouchers by killing Old Cat?"

"No."

"Huh?" They were completely dumbfounded. "Then what the fuck are Old Dogs for?"

At that, even the silver-handed youth laughed. "So it really is Dog Catches Rat—meddling in other people's business?"

"In that case, all meddlers can die."

As he spoke, the youth flicked his hand again and actually threw two dog collars over the courtyard wall, sending them far away inside!

The other three Radiation Users were instantly dumbfounded. They had not even figured out the game's rules yet.

But they had heard several rules very clearly: if they failed to get an identity within thirty minutes, they would be killed.

And without an identity, they could not enter the mansion...

"Ah, fuck..." The sword-carrying strongman's eyes turned red as he angrily cursed in his dialect.

Then he roared at everyone, "What are you Rats still standing around for? Get in there and bring the collars out for me!"

The silver-handed youth stood guard at the courtyard gate and said blandly, "If anyone throws them out, I'll throw them back in."

"Just try it!" The sword-carrying strongman could not take it anymore. He charged forward with his blade raised.

The short masked man shouted at Big Beard, "The three of us attack together and kill this bastard!"

The bearded man was equally impatient. Without saying a word, he swung his axe and charged.

The silver-handed youth had immediately provoked public outrage, drawing the aggression of three powerful enemies.

Yet facing all three attackers, he merely laughed softly and threw the last dog collar in his hand far away, landing it behind the three men like a tossed dog bone.

Seeing that, the hot-tempered Big Beard from moments ago turned and sprinted after it, lunging for the collar.

"You..." The other two brothers-in-arms were a beat slower. They cursed, but had no choice. Unwilling to fall behind, they also turned to fight for the collar.

That was the last one.

"Ha ha!" Big Beard snatched the collar and was about to put it around his neck.

The sword-carrying strongman had already drawn his blade and slashed at him, roaring, "Let go!"

Big Beard's beard and hair bristled. "Whoever gets it owns it! You want to fight here? I'm not afraid of you!"

He raised his massive axe and swung it down. The power source on the mechanical battle-axe immediately glowed with an eerie blue light and unleashed a shockwave, abruptly accelerating the axe.

The strike was powerful and heavy. They were all of the same level, yet the two men facing him did not dare take the blow head-on and hurriedly joined forces to block it with their blades.

Clang!

The clash of metal was deafening, and sparks burst from the collision.

The tremendous force sent the two of them staggering backward.

Big Beard hurriedly tried to put on the collar again, but as the masked short man retreated, he flicked out several darts toward Big Beard's neck.

His axe-wielding hand was too clumsy. At the critical moment, if he did not want his neck to be hit, he could only use his hand to block them.

Several bloody holes instantly appeared in his hand. Who knew which tendon had been severed? His fingers involuntarily opened, and the collar fell to the ground again.

The sword-carrying strongman seized the chance to chop at him, while the masked short man coordinated with him, rolling across the ground to snatch the collar with astonishing speed.

Facing attacks from above and below, Big Beard had no choice but to raise his axe high and cleave downward, knocking back the sword-carrying strongman while forcing the masked short man away.

But this was a matter of life and death. How could the two give up? They attacked madly around Big Beard, moving back and forth in seamless coordination, refusing to let him pick up the collar.

The three fought fiercely, and before long, all of them were wounded. Their eyes were bloodshot as they battled to the death.

What teaming up? Their brief shared hatred of a common enemy was utterly fragile.

Meanwhile, the young man who had stirred up all of this stood to one side, watching the show with a faint smile as if it had nothing to do with him.

He even mocked them, "Now you know how to fight for your lives? Why didn't you fight like this earlier?"

"In a place like this, one step back means a bottomless abyss."

P.S. Sorry.